So heat stroke is a thing, apparently. Remember last week how I talked about my trying to get back into ketosis from glycosis? So in the middle of this week (adhering to my previously mentioned three on-two off schedule), I went for an 11 mile trail run. No big deal, under 2,000 feet of climb.…

So the general plan is paying off.  I am avoiding listening to the dirty little must-go-faster demons in my brain stem, and I am achieving gains without injury or the crushing fatigue that I encountered in my road training in previous months. The training schedule that I am experimenting with is short run, long run,…

It's been an interesting week here in The land of Brady.  As promised, I increased my training, and started to get serious. I had a short three mile run from Schoolhouse Road to the end of the sidewalk and back, which was a speed record breaker for me, at an average pace of 8:18 per…

So another uneventful week passes in the “Brady Training Camp.” I am doing maintenance work, some running, some cycling, some walking. Nothing of extraordinary length or difficulty — I’m not running Killington Road nor riding East Mountain Road. I’m not exerting a whole lot of effort. However, we are about two months away from the…

This week I didn’t do much but work my little tail off. The office has been busy, the open mic is back on, and I have been being straight-up lazy. I have been using this respite as an opportunity to make a brief but well-earned swan dive into obesity. I am still as hungry as…

I am not going to fool myself into thinking that you are all waiting with baited breath to hear what happened at the big trail run in Canada.  But, also, I am not going to fool myself into thinking that I won’t tell you all anyway. My last missive was a sad little tale about…

By Brady Crain This week I had big plans for a push. Crushing fatigue and malaise put an end to that idea. I am overtrained, and so my last big workout was ten days before my event. This week I did a two-hour bike ride and a six-mile 2,000-foot climb/descent in the mountains. Admittedly, both…

By Brady Crain The view from about halfway up Ascutney Mountain on Tuesday, June 16.  It quickly clouded over and the peak was socked in in no time. This week was a rough one for training. I have stopped lifting weights until the event, and have been pushing harder in endurance exercise. My ride this…

By Brady Crain While they look alike, Pip is a feral version of Stinky Pete. So I stand kind of corrected as to the rest period being beneficial, yet again! In the end, despite my initial worry, I did not lose distance leg. I had a mild bug. I did some cycling and running all…

  My rest period theory was incorrect. The rest was welcome and I popped off several shorter uphill/downhill runs at record paces, but when I went for a longer run (up Killington Road and up Killington Peak to the top — about 12 miles and almost 3,000 vertical feet) I experienced severe reduction in the…

I am giving myself a rest period for a week or so to recuperate from my 28+ mile run. There were no real bad side effects to the run, mind you, but I think that given the nature of that type of effort, a rest period is worthwhile. I have been walking, lifting, riding my…

Courtesy of Brady Crain Crain in 1997 at 235 pounds. “#$%@#$ *#$% God @#$*%^& stupid @#$*% East Mountain Road!” After my big run last Friday, I did a bunch of basic recovery stuff, hiking, biking, and skiing. Sunday I went for a run on Superstar. My legs betrayed me, and I crossed my tips and…

By Brady Crain The view from Deers Leap looking out to Route 4 and Pico Mountain. One of the perks of running trails is view like this! It’s been an interesting week of training. Last week I did an 18.11-mile run (a loop through Plymouth and Bridgewater on Routes 4, 100 and 100A, with approximately…

A gangly nerd avenges his past with extreme forays into athletics I was born a sickly child. Asthma, pneumonia, and scarlet fever frequented my childhood home. Moving to Vermont at the end of my seventh year, I grew up a wheezing nerd (a moniker I wear proudly). I grew up believing that I would never…