Runhome -- Tue. August 28

The eleven miler that is really never the same twice. Hottish day, pretty humid, and i set off as the evening cool was coming in. Almost full moon, but of course on the trail it's pretty dark because of leaf cover. Ran from the office directly along the rail trail, then to Orchard and up to Federal and then 9, stopping at S&S which was almost exactly 11, thus:

Time: 1:21:43
Distance: 11.02 miles
Speed: 8.1 mph

Comment: the dark impeded speed on the trail, but the overall average seems to be fine -- slowest was the uphill section near the end, but it only just broke 8 minutes. After a 13 this was a bit tough, but as it was mainly flat it didn't leave me feeling wiped. Just hungry!

double 10K -- Sun. August 26

After a couple of days with no chance to run, needing a long stretch and wanting some hill work, headed up to the observation tower over the lake. It''s been murderously humid and pretty hot, and both Fri. and Sat. I got some exercise time (or at least avoiding sitting at a desk) doing tag sale setup and cleaning house. This was a somewhat less hot, but still v. humid morning. Headed out at about 10:30 on an unfortunately mainly road route -- turns out to be almost exactly 10K to the top of the hill with the tower on it, starting from home. Then stopped the clock and went up and down the tower, restarted the clock and headed home, stopping it after I'd done a clear total of 13.1 (just as a goal). The outbound run was fairly fast until the hill, and the run back felt rough but went well, thus:

Part 1
Time: 49:35
Distance: 6.63 miles
Speed: 8.0 mph

Part 2
Time: 45:34
Distance: 6.49 miles
Speed: 8.5 mph

Comment: good start to the week (hard to follow!) and it felt pretty tough but do-able. Half marathon time would be 1:35 ish, not half bad for a solo run with a big hill (but Monson has hills a-plenty, so maybe that's normal).

Evening nine -- Thu. August 23

Wanting to add distance, as there's no time for a Saturday long run this week, so an Enfield, partly also for the hill work. Started gently after a good first mile (doing the Hamilton - Allen start), but thrown off a bit by a large dog (called Einstein!) coming at me on the uphill off 9. Flashlight shone at him (and a loud "Sod off!") distracted him till his careless owner came running out to reclaim him. Annoying, and it messed up a good rhythm, but no harm done. Then the usual route, slow but steady, to the water's edge -- quite a lot of beach there now, as we've hd a lot of dry weather -- and then back down Enfield, round the dealership on 9 and up to the far end of the common. Extended the ending past TownMart to VFW to get an extra bit of distance, stopping the clock at S&S.

Time: 1:09:28
Distance: 9.47 miles
Speed: 8.2 mph

Comment: Though I wanted not to hurry, I did put effort into maintaining speed on the hills. So apart from a couple of 6:50s (first and downhill near end), the range was 7:00s to 7:40s, with no big slowdowns. Now I'm pretty sore in the calf muscles, but it was worth the effort to see the consistency.

NoHo 5K X-country (new PB!) - Tue. August 21

Yes, it was a perfect chance -- cooler evening after a low 70s but slightly muggy day. I warmed up by parking down at the river/marina and running two miles along unpaved roads up to the starting point. There was a bit of a wait there, and I definitely chilled off a bit, which perhaps contributed to the front thigh pull I got on lap one, but the pace was also part of the reason for that. There were two very fast women runners (Kelli and Amber) and none of the usual gaggle of fast young men. So I figured follow the women and stay up near the front. And aim for high 9s for the first two miles, based on my Sunday experience.

Well, the first two miles were certainly fast, though I was not exactly racing -- always thinking of that killer hill and stretch in the last mile. But two sub-5:50s is the best I've ever put together, and so I was feeling good at the start of mile three. Of course it went on too far -- my digivice measured the final distance as 3.25, in fact -- and though I went up the hill well, making ground on the guy ahead, he then pulled it right back after the hill and finished 10 seconds ahead. But, even with a (left) pulled thigh I pushed toward the end, solo as ever, and clocked my best ever 5K time (placing tenth overall in the race). Woot!

Time: 19:36
Distance: 3.1 miles (official)
Speed: 9.51

[note: total distance for the day was this run, plus two miles up and two miles back to my car, for 7.27 miles at a fairly good overall pace]

Comment: while I know this makes no difference for competitive runners, going fast on a hilly course makes me very happy. This is a tough 5K for one that is neither a dedicated climb nor a trail run. So to get my PB on it is very gratifying, and gives me hope for getting lower still in the snowstorms later this year. Colin B. set his own best on this course too -- it made the several runs in awful heat and humidity seem worth while!

Peach Festival 5 miler -- Sun. August 19

Invited F and R along for the post-run breakfast, and Ivan was there too with C. Nice turnout and a _perfect_ day -- cool, but going on very sunny, dry but no wind. The Peach Festival Queen started us off and it was helter-skelter at first, the Wilbraham HS x-country team all out there very keen. Aiming to go steady for the first two miles, I kept right on target, between 6 and 6:30 (6:12, in fact), then mile three (which felt tough) was a 6:23. The course doesn't vary much, and it's pretty fast: road, some inclines, but no hills, lots of corners. Half way into mile 4 it was me going solo, as I overtook the last guy I could still see ahead (the last of the leaders were just out of sight), and I managed to just pick up the pace for a 6:21, then I got some more encouragement from the traffic cop (on a bicycle, go Wilbraham!) and pulled a 5:56 (!) but still not the end--0.11 miles more before the finish, and I slowed up a bit back to 8:6 mph range. Still, the race is a 5 miler, so my time goes down as follows:

Time: 31:53
Distance: 5 miles
Speed: 9.41

Comment: Not that I run it often, but a new PB in the distance. I was aiming for 32:30 (6:30s) and *hoping* to break 32. Just managed to get my wish, and the 5:56 mile is a bonus. After doing the 13 miles on Friday, it feels even better.

Accidental solo half -- Fri. August 17

Wanting to get some mileage in before a rest day I figured I'd try for 10-11 going down the rail trail. But, early evening became later, and so it was too dark to do that safely after the first bit, the ground being dry and hard; left the trail at NWashington and followed that down to the intersection w/ Bardwell. Here, a bit confused re the layout, I went left instead of right, and afetr a while realised there was no connecting N/S road until 181; plodded on anyway, and made it to Michael Sears and then back up (now in real nighttime) to 181, then started the long haul back. Not aiming for speed, but I'd not planned on 12 miles, and this was turning into 13. In the end I stopped to recharge my torch and take a leisurely drink at 11.31, on the uphill just short of town. Then started off again for a very gentle plod of almost two miles to home. Here's how it was:

Time: 1:40:37 (1:25:06 and 15:31)
Distance: 13.25 (11.31 and 1.94)
Speed: 8.0 mph and 7.5 mph

Comment: Happy to have gotten the miles in, but definitely weary. Need to get in some proper weekend long runs again, somehow. A bit worried about feeling v. stiff on Sunday a.m. at Wilbraham, too.

Longer Enfield -- Wed. August 15th

Having missed the NoHo 5K because of lack of time, went out on Wed. evening determined to get a longer run. Did the extended Enfield, starting with Hamilton and doing all of Allen, but at the Quabbin had to do a 180 as it was too dark to do the trail loop (though that is actually a very short addition, so not much effect on distance); then coming back up to the common the longer way round and down to 9, then going on up to the VFW to get a bit more distance, stopping the clock just before reaching S&S. Here's the bare stats:

Time: 1:07:11
Speed: 8.5 mph
Distance: 9.53 miles

Comment: the weird thing is the lap speeds. I was feeling good and aiming to increase training speed, so 7:00 or below was target. Of course the long uphills make that uneven, but here's what the Garmin readout was:

6:29, 6:59 -- starting downhill and flat, mainly; 7:43, 7:40 -- going up and over Allen's two big humps; 5:08 -- that's what it said! going down hill and flat along to the Quabbin; 8:01 -- coming back out of the Quabbin, with a bit of a pause at the turn; 6:45 -- going down Enfield; 7:42 - up to the common; 6:49 -- down to 9; and then another half mile, at 8.6 mph.

So, maybe the Garmin tripped up? Still, it's a fun thought, and I can aim for 6:45 as a solo lap speed from now on. Interesting. . .

Monday evening shorty -- Mon. August 13

The Sunday after the BOF we went to the ocean for what will probably be our only dip this year. It was a gloriously sunny and hot day, and I had plenty of fresh air and exercise - -a little bit of swimming (at the end; took a while to get used to the water's cold), and a lot of digging (a sand hole, aided by Raphael - chest deep by the end, I was). Managed to get well sunburnt too, unfortunately.

So, Monday I was ready for a run of some sort, but nothing too big, so I went for a shortened reverse Enfield: out to 9, along to Enfield, up all the way to Allen, up and over there, cross 202 then up and over to 9 and home. Nice handy run:

Time: 38:38
Speed: 8.5 mph
Distance: 5.46 miles

Comment: was keeping this short so I'd have legs for the NoHo 5K, but in the end I didn't make that. So, longer run Wed. . . .

BOF Classic 10K - Sat. August 11

Second attempt at this one, and with the benefits both of last year's run (43:14) and a good review of the course when Ivan and I went up a couple of weeks ago, it went pretty well. Conditions simply couldn't have been better -- Friday was cold and rainy, but the weather cleared up in the night, and the day became sunny. So, cool, dry, no wind, bright morning sun, just perfect. Hadn't run since Wednesday, as a planned trip on Thu. p.m. didn't come off. But I ended up getting a good warmup. . .

Ivan had picked up my reg. packet early, but I forgot that my phone won't work in Shelburne, and we didn't manage to find each other before the race. I was later than planned in arriving, which didn't help. Parked beside the river near McCusker's, then jogged in to look for the VFW, our rendez-vous, but took a while finding it, jogging a useful distance in the process. No-one was there except runners in the two mile race., so I went out the the reg. spot, a couple of blocks away and confirmed that Ivan had indeed picked up my reg. (#200); he had. After some discussion, they advised me to get a new number, so I became #819, by which time it was nearly 9:00 and I had to hustle to make it to the start line. There on the bridge I found Christi with the #200, and Ivan ready to run. So all was well, enfin.

A minute later and we were off. Nice steady first two miles, trying to keep in the low 9mph range, then the hill: it felt slow, but steady and possible, as I knew exactly how long it would go on. Took a while to recover at the top, so I guess I had tried a bit beyond my training (pushed by a young teenaged boy who was phenomenal, and who then overtook at the top). After recovering I just kept pushing for a good pace; on mile 5 I could feel that my speed training has been deficient (sore thighs and no push left), but then in mile 6 it got a bit better as the downhills varied the rhythm a bit. Made my last dash a bit too late, overtaken by 3-4 people before I went for it, though I closed to within a second of the last one. Here are the laps by my digivice's count:

6:14, 6:15, 8:39, 6:24, 6:26, 6:16 and a faster finishing bit (6:00 or better)

and here's the official stats:

Time: 41:59
Speed: 8.88
Distance: 6.2 miles

Comment: I would have been happy to match last year, or break 43:00, but to break 42:00 (albeit by ONE second) was a real boost. I was pretty knackered by the end, in fact, though ready to jog again in a few minutes. Two days later I'm still pretty sore, so I think I tried pretty hard. Maybe could shorten it a bit with more speed training -- but we'll see. Definitely happy with the hill work (even though 8:39 sounds awful, I'm happy -- you'd need to do the hill yourself to see what I mean).

Campus in company -- Wed. August 8th

Ivan joined me on campus and we headed off thinking about a 10K, but ended up stopping at 5 miles, using the figure of eight setup we ran with Mark the other time.

Time: 39:27
Distance: 5.04 miles
Speed: 7.7 mph

Comment: Ivan not feeling too well after his NoHo race the day before, but this was enough to set us up for the BOF. That's next. . .

Run home -- Tue. August 7

On an exceptionally muggy day, oh my goodness, it was humid!! Not so hot, but dripping wet. Ran home from the office, carrying only keys, water, flashlight and phone (plus a spare T-shirt in case it got cool, hah!). Rail trail from campus to the end, then along Warren Wright to Orchard, and directly home from there. Stopped the clock at S&S, as 11 miles were up.

Time: 1:26:29
Distance: 7.7 mph
Speed: 11.04 miles

Comment: not aiming at all for speed, in fact quite the opposite. Trying for steady and easy, though the heat/humidity kind of messed up the latter. But useful miles, and lovely to run in the near dark.

Enfield hills -- Sun. August 5

I mean the Old Enfield run, with multiple hills. Did the full Hamilton road, all of Allen, and then to the Quabbin loop and back down to 9 and up on to the town common. Feeling really pretty good after two days off, and the uphills didn't slow me down so much somehow:

Time: 1:06:08
Distance: 8.2 mph
Speed: 9.01 miles

Comment: good hilly mileage to start the week - need it less than seven days till the scary BOF run. . .

Two runs in PA -- Wed. & Thu., 1-2 August

Based at Shawnee State Park in lovely Bedford county, managed to run both days we eveninged there. First day I was bushed from the drive and set-up, etc., but I followed the 3. 4 mile lakeshore trail, laid shale around the (artificial) lake, nice course; stretched it by running from the tent, and all the way back, thus:

Time: 37:52
Distance: 4.95 miles
Speed: 7.8 mph

It was pretty hot (middle of a heatwave, in fact, probably still over 80 even in the early evening) and I was flagging. The next day it was similarly hot, but I had had an easier day (only in the car for 50 miles, instead of 200 or more!) and was willing to take on a hilly trail off the lakeshore. I ran with the camp map, and had to check as I went, but the highlight was part of the historic Forbes Trail, an army marching route from pioneer times (steady uphill in woods), then doubling back on to some other trails with wicked steep patches, up and down. Overall:

Time: 1:04:23
Distance: 7.53 miles
Speed: 7 mph

Comment: I seemed to have less time and less energy than I'd expected throughout the trip, but these two runs were definitely worth the effort.

Some bike mileage - end July/early Aug.

Just going to note these as the running was a bit thin, for various reasons. These were also intended to help with my knees, and I think they did:

July 29 = 12.62 miles in 48:59, on road (taking 9 and the lane to the Trombly Farm) and trail (back up the length of the railtrail).
August 1 = 3 miles on campsite trails, w. steep hills!
August 2 = 5 miles on lakeshore trail, similar (w/ F. and R.)

That's all.

BOF rehearsal - Sat. July 28

With Ivan, off on a muggy morning to Shelburne Falls and a run over the course there. It's just an insanely tough hill, no two ways; also the two plus miles before the hill are tough and yet fast enough to tire you out. We did the whole course (at a leisurely 49 minute pace), then took a break and did the hill again. Here's the total:

Time: 1:05:32
Speed: 7.16
Distance: 7.82

Comment: good refamiliarization, and something of a strategy presents itself. After the steepest part of the hill, it's really all quite fast, so you need energy there. To have that, you need either to go v. slow on the hill, or at least bit restrained on the pre-hill. I'll aim for the latter, I think.

Seven by road -- Fri. July 27

Out for mileage but with limited time--morning run, so a road run near home. Out before 8 a.m. but it was still pretty hot. Geo Hannum all the way to Stebbins, then back to 202, up to Boardman, and then home. Steady and not v. hilly, but useful:

Time: 52:07
Speed: 7.25 miles
Distance: 8.3 mph

Comment: Not my usual hour, but turns out it's a fellow runner/parishioner's hour and route we passed each other twice, presumably doing sort of opposite loops. Must ask him for a joint run some time (though a few years older, he's a bit faster than me; 5K pace is sub 20 mins).