5+ local miles - Tue. Aug. 29

Home quite late but in need of a stretch; headed out into dark and damp (no rain, fortunately) for something like a 5 miler or even a 10K. Past S&S and VFW to 202, up to Allen then right, heading up the hill and along to Enfield; right again down to cross 9 and uphill again to the common, then right and down the hill past CVS to stop just past S&S. Walk and jog home, stopping to look at glowworms (even picked one up and took it home in my mesh vest to show R).

Time: 41:34
Speed: 8.4 mph
Distance: 5.85 miles

Comment: still pretty sore after Sat. (tag sale, mid-upper back) and Sun. (long run, thighs), but felt pretty good for a bit after about three miles. Ran hard for the most downhill mile (6:45 or so), but then really felt it. Looking forward to doing similar distance in sunshine on Thu. (thus wearing my newer shoes, and no jacket) and then going for 10 on Sat. -- thus getting a 30+ mile week. Woot/arg!

10 miler at last - Sun. Aug. 27

After being spared rain on Sat. for the tag sale (and doing a number on my back during clean-up) there was no such luck on Sunday. It rained lightly in the morning, but by the time I felt ready to head out in the p.m. it was pretty heavy. So, older shoes and my rain jacket -- headed off toward the rail trail, because despite puddles it has some tree cover. It was a better option also because the older shoes don't have so much spring/padding, but it was heavy going. Dodging puddles (and sideslipping into one early one, for one wet foot and grazed arm) gets wearying, and though it's railway grade downhill pace was slow. Plugged away to 181, then decided on road back. The rain was lighter, and it was still light enough not to need a flashlight (I was wearing my reflector vest). Followed 181 all the way, making decent pace mainly; one hour showed 7.85 miles, and I tried to kick for the last quarter mile, nudged on by a real downpour. Stopped a bit short of home and then jogged.

Time: 1:22:01
Speed: 7.9 mph
Distance: 10.79 miles

Comment: warmed up by 4 miles, and really felt good for lots of it after that. Mile 8-9 was hard, but after that I picked up and felt just about ready to go for a complete half -- that's the training goal for next weekend. The sodden jacket felt heavy by the end, but the nipple vaseline worked a treat! Small mercies.

Short local - Aug. 24

Home from Canada and again wanting to stretch out after a long drive, took off with no real plan and ended up doing a little loop with hills: left on Geo Hannum and then left to head for Jackson, then up 202 to town, across and down the other side and left on 9, back to the DDonuts junction, then right and left again at VFW. Homewards, stopping watch just after Stop and Shop.

Time: 33:50
Distance: 4.64 miles
Speed: 8.2 mph

Comment: just a short one, and it felt mainly okay, though I was piling on pace when I thought about it. Solo speed above 8 even with few hills: quite cheering.

Backpost/Canada hike - Aug. 23

The second day we did a family hike (with the usual reluctant beginnings) up the highest thing we could see nearby. It's called Mont Chauve, so it's the local equivalent of our Bare Mountain up by the Notch -- but the one in Quebec is about twice the height. The plaque on top gives 600m, which is 1,968.5 feet: nice for lunchtime walk! No running involved, but got some good scrambling in, both up and down, going from rock to rock to avoid the soggy mud where many feet had trod. All in all it took us about 3 hours from the campsite to the top and back, and the distance was about 6 km (we had to walk around the lake to get to the climbing trail, etc.). Good x-training, for sure.

Backpost/Canada run - Aug 22

First night at the campsite, after a five hour plus drive (shared with F) and then setting up the tent, we were all a bit surprised at how cool it was -- very nice conditions for running. However, there was a shortage of pitstop facilities in the campsite area; made for an uncomfortable run until I found an solitary hutski with a composting toilet, off a trail behind the cabane sucre. The run was in fact split into three parts: first four miles running to the main gate, then wandering around looking for a loo (but in fact the whole welcome area was closed and remained so throughout our stay; very Gallic, somehow), giving up and heading home; stopping at the sugar shack, then finally doing the remainder of the run quite hard as I was getting cold and it was getting dark.

Time: 1:00:36
Distance: 8.19 miles
Speed: 8.1 mph

Comment: toilet tribulations aside, it was a gorgeously scenic woods run with sunset over the lake occasionally in view. I thought I'd be doing about 10K, so the added distance was a bonus. Fair pace, though it did tire me out the next day...

Norwottuck Hike run - Sun. Aug. 20

Met with Mark at 5 p.m. after a good refresh at home, and we started on a hillclimb loop. From the Notch visitor center, straight up to Mt Norworttuck's top --that's a 600-foot climb in just over a mile--then down past the Horse Caves and using trails veer left and down to Bay; take a left and follow almost to 116, then take the old rail trail (?) back up to the Visitor Center. Incredibly muggy--you could practically catch hold of the air-- so we took a slow pace:

Time: 1:04:39
Speed: 4.6 mph
Distance: 4.93 miles

Comment: very pleasant limbering run, despite the morning's exertions. Probably partly so good because I didn't use hill muscles this a.m. Big test is how I'll feel tomorrow. . .

Just peachy - 5 mile race, Sun. Aug. 20

Weirdly, this is going to be the first of two runs today; I'm about to go off for the second. The race was the Wilbraham Peach Festival 5 Miler - tempted by the post race peaches and pancakes breakfast I went along to this one with a mere 24 hours forethought, opting for a bikeride yesterday instead of a run so I'd still have legs. It was an 8:30 a.m start and I registered when I arrived. Small race, 168 registered (Cool Running shows 158 finishers, I think); a mainly flat course in suburban sprawl (very like running in Delmar), though with LOTS of 90 deg. turns which got to be a bit of a chore near the end. I recognised a bunch of the runners, but none in my average speed group. Here's teh deets from Cool Running (I forgot to press stop on my timer until well after the finish, , , )

Time: 33:46
Speed: 8.9
Distance: 5 miles

Comment: a really fun run, and nice distance. I ran it fairly hard, though steady, aiming not to get burnt at the start. The readout was over 9 mph for much of it, and consistent, at least for the first 2. 5 miles. Then I kept losing pace, and had to force it a bit. I ended up being pushed along by the #2 woman runner, a person whose name I know well from the winter runs. I'd trailed her to nearly mid point, overtook on a downhill but never got much ahead of her. Aiming for the two guys in front of me (one 16, one 61!), I managed to stay a bit ahead, and pulled clear at the very end (after initially sprinting early and nearly losing it). Felt fine for me (she improved on her last year time by over 2 minutes I think), and I did a warm down run back to the car of about 1.5 miles.

Sausages, pancakes, maple syrup and peach hash with coffee and orange juice, courtesy the festival and the St Cecilia KofC. Mm-mm! Then home to sleep a bit...

bike ride and a plan - Sat. Aug. 19

Discovered last night that there's probably time to register for the Peach Festival classic tomorrow, so I guess I'm planning to run it. Five miles, mainly flat, in Wilbraham, with pancakes to follow. Can't be bad, even if I have to do it alone. 8:30 start will be tough, but worth a shot. Needed however to stretch some today and so took a bike ride (in the very humid weather, the breeze at speed felt great). Gulf Hill's lower section of road has been newly paved, so up 202, along Packardville and then down the hill. Back via Federal and 9.

I cycled: 12.65 miles
it took: 47:07
ave. speed: 16.1 mph

Good x-training, and I hope that 12 hours is enough to recover some legs for the peach run. . . We'll see.

Friday evening 7 miler - Aug 18

Managed to stay at work until nearly 6, then jumped into the hot car and headed up Pelham to the old church car park. Stretched a bit (not enough?) and headed off on the loop route I've done lots before. Thought it was a bit longer than 7.1, but oh well. Aimed at good speed the first couple of miles, but then the uphill took its toll and I really faded. Picked up a bit whenever I met company (a biker who I chatted briefly with and a couple of other runners); the final third is pretty solid downhill, and I got some good pace there. Here's the overall:

Time: 53:53
Speed: 7.9 mph
Distance: 7.09 miles

Comment: well, speed doesn't come at will, and fade happens. It's definitely a good trail to do--starting and finishing on rough surface and steep up and down, with long straights up hill and downhill, and the ncie rough loop at the top. But I thought I could do it at over 8. That's going to have to be a training target...

social 10K, and a bikeride- Wed. Aug. 16

In company, running roads is much more pleasant, especially when you're running at chatting speed. Met Mark at 7 p.m. and we did three laps of campus, for just over 10k, on a hot, still but beautiful evening.

Time: 55:42
Speed: 7.2 mph
Distance: 6.7 miles

Comment: started nicely, three miles sub 8 minutes, then next two were mid 8s and the last one was 9:24. It's a working day, and no pressure. It was a nice loosening run.

Then I biked home the 11 miles or so, in increasing darkness. Made it home safely but not at great speed. Bike felt great -- must do some more of that.

Homemade Hillrun 10K - Mon Aug14

After work feeling the urge to run, although my digestion was not quite with it. Hot day, after a cool start, and very still humid air; still, stretch a little and away. Left ankle feeling vulnerable after jamming it in the Bare Mountain hike yesterday, and right foot bruised somehow(old crock!), but mainly feeling ready to run. Planned a hilly course, a figure 8 going Hamilton-> Bay ->Allen ->9 -> Federal -> Metacomet-> Bay -> 9 and home. It was indeed hilly, and despite a good start, my pace suffered:

Time: 45:13
Speed: 8.3 mph
Distance: 6.22 miles

Comment: challenged myself to aim for 8.5-9 mph on the flats, at least. It was fine for the first couple of miles, but then faded. The lack of someone to chase (or to push me) definitely affected things, as did the fact that the hills were near the end of the run. Still, consider hills and speed done for the day. Next run, maybe just one or the other.

BOF 10K Classic - Sat. Aug 12

So we made it to the Bridge of Flowers run: Ivan, Mark and me, all awake and more or less ready for the 9 a.m. start. Shelburne Falls was nicely turned out for the occasion, and the weather was perfect: dry, sunny, cool turning to very nice (about 70 F at race end). The hill was every bit as steep as threatened, but after that the course was pretty standard. Decent turnout (550 or so) and very nice service all the way round, from closed road to time callouts at every mile, friendly water stops and even calling out finisher's names as they crossed the line. Here's how it looked:

Time: 43:14
Speed: 6:58 mins/mile (8.68 mph)
Distance: 6.22 miles

Comment: overall my big impression is that I was (a) underprepared, in terms of overall strength, and (b) that I was even so too cautious. I could have done the whole thing a good bit harder, and at the end (after maybe 20 seconds - literally before I even got out of the chute) I was feeling good to go and run another 5-10K. So, like Ivan I was a bit psyched out by the hill; also I was evidently underprepared in that I haven't got enough miles on my weekly clock, haven't had for a few months now. Should aim to fix that so I'm feeling a bit more ready for the Monson run. Caution is a bit harder to explain . . . I did feel like retching in the last mile, just as I felt enough confidence to pick up the pace -- probably should have had that pre-race banana, it would have staved off hunger pangs just a little. In the end I only kicked in the last 200 yards, having lost maybe 4-5 places and a good 15-20 seconds through not going for it when I wanted to. but my caution, lack of confidence in even finishing the run, was surely misplaced overall. I could have just tried harder, it wouldn't have killed me (or made me stumble/fall, which was somehow my chief fear). Live and learn. The fast-ish start, especially the first mile when I was following Ivan at a distance, made me think I'd burned up reserves, too, probably.

Enfin, I need to work on flat speed (so I'm comfortable with running 10 mph), hill skills (more of Holland Glen, etc.!) and distance again (so I'm back to ease with 10-12 milers). A tall order, but this is the season to try. It's perfect running weather, and will be so for a few months now. I'm back onto evening running, I think (couldn''t fool the body with Jetlag for ever) and I'll start with a target of 28-32 miles per week (10k, 10k, 10k, 10-14 miles). Do it!

morning 5k plus - Fri. Aug. 11

Last stretch before the hill run tomorrow. Went out at about 6:30, feeling mildly ok; headed past S&S and VFW, up 202 to Allen and back over to 9, then uphill and down Bay to Hamilton, then just before the dump took to the trail for variety. Came out at the ball field and ran to start of Clark.

Time: 28:41
Speed: 8.4 mph
Distance: 4 miles

Comment: nice mix of pace, and didn't feel too bad from the last run. Tomorrow morning may be a different matter, but がんばらなくちゃ、ネ.

a look at the lake - Wed. Aug 9

Medium run, but switching to a day's end schedule after failing to feel up to it (and being pressed for time) in the morning. Not very comfortable, enfin: both weary and sore, but pushed ahead with a couple of incentives. Started out slow, and stopped for a few mulberries to take my mind off aches. Pushed on past Stop and Shop and then VFW, along 202 to Allen and then up the hill along to Enfield; turn left for the dead end and cross the gate to head down to the water. The view was a real treat. Then a slow loop along the water's edge (no beach to run on, as the Q is still really full) and double back on the utility trail to Enfield. Follow that road to 9 and follow 9 back to town. Stop clock at D n D, then slower run home, very low energy.

Time: 49:50
Speed: 7.8 mph
Distance: 6.51 miles

Comment: slow, but a couple of the early miles were okay (6:58 and 6:57). Yappari need to work on hills!

Monday 8/07 -- early 5K

[second attempt at posting; Blogger-itis again, I guess]
Started early, but not early enough to get out before the rain. Dead humid, and then a downpour: it faded a bit by 7:00 a.m. and so with my older shoes I went out for a basic Hamilton 5K. Started downhill first, and managed a fair pace given the way I felt. Finished the run with a push towards Dunkin Donuts to get the distance in without having to cross the road. Then warmed down with another half mile or so back home.

Time: 22:14
Speed: 8.5 mph
Distance: 3.14 miles

Comment: small step towards getting back on form after the three weeks off. Sore in various spots after my Saturday 8-miler; needing to do some more hills, but that will have to wait until I have a little more time.

Delmar rail trail -- Saturday Aug. 5

Early morning start for my first run in three weeks. One week busy in Sapporo, one exhausting week on the road (well, rails actually), and then the flight home--too tired to contemplate running for several days, and a cold to boot. Now I'm just about recovered, thanks to time, an end to the heat wave, and the nurtures of family. Drove out here yesterday; definitely needed to stretch a sore back, among other grumbles. Went along usual back roads to old rail line behind the plaza, aiming for the waterline or just down to Normansville. But (had this been so before?) no rails or sleepers, so I followed the rail line. It curved away from the river, but I pressed on until finally they connected, after about 3.5 miles. Alas, the bridge was a bit nightmarish: 25' above the deep muddy river, perhaps 30-40 yards long, gaps between the sleepers, many of which seemed rotten and/or not well fixed. Gingerly stepped across, wondering why I was doing it and also why the bridge was left in that state. Must be another way back. But no. No side roads, only the throughway high above. Back across, some on hands and knees, then running again; turn off trail later at a road bridge and make it down to Normansville. From there home by road, up the lane to Delaware Ave.

Time: 1:01:14
Speed: 7.8 mph
Distance: 7.98 miles

Comment: good for a return-to-running trek; maybe a bit longer than the 10K I'd planned, but interesting. Almost all flat, but I'll do hills once I get home properly. Need to get back into the swing while August is here; September it all gets so difficult. Time too to register for a couple of runs, some targets: maybe one in Oct. and one in Nov.? Also perhaps the NoHo x-country runs, finally. I should plan a regime through the winter 5k and 10k series, and then think about a spring marathon? Maybe.

Yama-nobori, take 3 (7/15)--Triangle mountain (backpost)

[Last of the Japan runs, alas, and so last of these backposts too]

Bike to Nijûyonken 二十四軒, looking for a parking spot. Find a medium-sized park with a baseball ground and 100 year kinen-hi, evidently put up by families of tonden; _large_ stone. From there run towards Maruyama (asking directions as well as consulting map), then head up into hills with the triangular mountain (looking like a big green musubi) as my target. Find a way up steep trails (at first not vey easy, and *accidentally* on private land) into nature reserve area with proper climbing trails marked. Head up to top; pretty steep, with steps in several places. Summit 311 meters, I think. Pause there for pics (cell phone, so only Tall One ever saw them), then head down via a slightly different route (the mountain hikers have several options; chatted to a few in passing, too), coming out finally at the proper entry place (yama no iriguchi). _Next time_ that's how I'll go in. Then take roads back to bike.

Time: 58:10
Speed: 6.2 mph
Distance 6.04 miles.

Comment: Hard but good climb, and a fitting end to the Saturday run sequence this trip. Next Saturday we'll be on a train bound for Kantô, we hope.

P.S. Here's confirmation of the trail and height.

a familiar trail--Friday July 14 (backpost)

Just had to do the Ivan run at least once. Bike to Jikan, then run along roads across to Fushiko Park (linear, north-south, marked distances, etc.). Do a single lap once there, and then take roads back to Jikan.

Time: 47:04
Speed: 8.0 mph
Distance: 6.25 miles

Felt like hard work, partly the solid roads and partly the many stops for crossings. Low on pace today.

nen no tame--Wednesday July 12 (backpost)

A re-run of the basic loop round top half of campus.

Time: 21:38
Speed: 8.7 mph
Distance: 3.12 miles

Short and swift, pretty satisfying for a solo run.

Yama-nobori, take two--Saturday July 8 (backpost)

Saturday stretch time! Made a late start (7:45) with Bôya in tow on his bike. Headed off for Citizen's Forest, with him, but when we arrived he was ready for home. He biked off (after we'd looked at a shrine and taken a hilltop view), and I headed into the mountains: got the route right this time, though the going was still very slow. Made it up and over the edge of that particular mountain, using a yamanobori trail with several stepped sections, and back via the park and home the way I'd come.

Time: 1:43:35
Speed: 6.4
Distance: 11.02

Comment: good stretch, but no chance for pace. It was a good change to do serious climbing, even if it was a bit all-on/all-off. Oh for undulating hills -- there are some in the area, but they take time to get to. Train on what you can find, I suppose.
n.b. Later in the day we biked as far as the sea along the Shinkawa and then had to walk about 5K of the return trip when the bôya got a flat. All good x-training.

Campus half loop -- Friday 7/07 (backpost)

To diagonal road, down to Jikan 時館, into campus, then right onto Keiteki dorm memorial stone road, then out onto highway and back up to Kita 24, but cross highway and rivers a couple of times en route to make a timed 5K.

Time: 22:11
Speed: 8.4
Distance: 3.12

Almost drizzling, humid but cool. Wear full leggings and not aiming too fast at first, but gradually speed up. Stop timer before home, then warm down.

5K+ -- Wednesday 7/05 (backpost)

A new (short) exploratory run: head out to the Joy supermarket, then straight north up to beyond the big highway, then loop across east a bit and back.

Time: 28:17
Speed: 7.7
Distance: 3.65

Comment: slowish, but probably feeling yesterday's run a bit.

Note: later in the day, we did the Moerenuma park visit: lots of hillclimbing, wallclimbing, running, etc.--the end result was that I was too tired the following morning to do my Thursday run.

Morning nearly 10k -- Tuesday 7/04 (backpost)

[No Monday run--time for a rest after Sunday, and laundry to do anyway]
A river run, the slightly longer version of the Shinkawa morning run: all the way up to the river junction, then cross the river by the Fire Service Training Center, and back along the other river to the No-shi park.

Time: 44:30
Speed: 8.2
Distance: 6.05

Biking Toyohira River -- Sunday 7/02 (backpost)

A sightseeing trip for Sunday with Tall One, but, Scrooge-like, I thought we should _bike_ to Jozankei, not take a bus. I knew from last time (thanks to Kasumi-san) that we could do at least Ishiyama by bike, which is over halfway. So why not the whole thing -- about 30km from Sapporo-eki, supposedly. Took the GPS and it measured about 21 miles from our place; could have been shorter, but some of that was the vagaries of our river-run route (less traffic, more shade, generally nicer). The return trip was much quicker, obviously, being basically downhill, but it was a great trip overall for putting us in the middle of nature. Times and distances rounded off:

[outbound]
Time: 2:23:00
Speed: 8.7
Distance: 21 miles

[return]
Time: 1:50:00
Speed:
Distance: 20 miles

Comment: Given the granny bike I was on and the traffic, etc., this was quite a trip. Fantastic views and air, and a couple of good snack stops. Ride home was mainly downhill and nearly all road, skipping some river trail; hence faster overall, but I ended up killing my left arm from yanking the bars up over the bumps (argh). Good exercise? Not sure, but definitely an exploit.

Yamanobori, etc. -- Saturday 7/01 (backpost)

Later start, after a better sleep: out by 6:30 and off to No-shi park's southern tip, then follow the river southwest and head to the hills. Aiming for one place (Miya no sawa) but miss it and so head uphill anyway (asking another runner for a hint en route); end up on a real mountain trail (= bear warnings!) and stumble over a couple of streams through to the next valley. Find a way down, then intersect with the route I was looking for. Head back up it, but too tired to try it today. Home with much meanderings, sort of feeling my way. Good workout, probably the limit for now (if not for the mountain trail, probably a couple of miles more).

Time: 1:30:27
Speed: 6.9 mph
Distance: 10.48 miles

Comment: definitely a "try over" route, though I should perhaps bike it to see where it all is first. A. could bike it while I run, perhaps. Seems that Saturday mornings will be good for the long run, and then Sunday rest day (but see next entry...)

Stepping out -- Friday 6/30 (backpost)

Early out into bright sunshine, after some rainy and cloudy days; follow Shinkawa (riverside) trail again, going up as far as the road junction at Hassamu East 13, then back along Hassamu river to the No-shi park, and home by usual roads.

Time: 36:39
Speed: 8.20
Distance: 5.01

Comment: Despite short nights, the bright sun (dawn starts at about 3:45) by 5:00 has me raring to go. Aimed for a bit more pace this time, and somehow managed it. As with a couple of the other runs, I stopped the clock well short of home; then I either warm down, or do a sprint or two.

Stretched 5K -- Thursday 6/29 (backpost)

Out before 6 a.m. again, but busy schedule ahead so keep it short: out along North 23/24 to the large park, Mikaho koen, on East 4-6 or so (baseball games going on there already, bien sur). Loop around it and then find a similar way home.

Time: 26:24
Speed: 8:00
Distance: 3.52

Comment: This is a pretty minimal run, and I'll probably need to do more than this unless I really run *every* weekday. We'll see -- tightness is disappearing but ankles are full of weak spots and sore stretches. Lack of sleep, leading to no recovery?

Shinkawa basic -- Wednesday 6/28

[Next in the series of backposts from the time in Sapporo -- quite a few more to come]

Again early start and out to the river; on turn-around, head across as far as the No-shi gakuen, then home from there. By 6 a.m. it was already full of folks exercising. . .

Time: 33:39
Speed: 8.14
Distance: 4.57

Comment: aiming to add distance a bit, and find my way around a bit more. Probably a bit more rested, so the run was faster, but with traffic lights it's hard to get a sense of real pace (and to get a good flow). I'll adapt.