First Fifteen -- Thu. June 26

Psyched up to go for a seriously long run, and probably more or less ready. Too tired for an early morning outing, so go after work instead. Not too hot, a bit muggy, and some initial rain, but not enough to really soak me -- it let up after the first couple of miles anyway, so I didn't alter plans any (if it had been too wet I was afraid of getting chilled, but this was just enough to make sore nipples a cert). I had plotted a 15 miler, and a hilly one -- total of 985 ft. ascent and same descent (loop course). I was in two minds about direction: climb in the first five miles, or spread it out a bit. Decided for the latter, which meant going to the lowest point via geoHannum, Allen, 9, and then Federal, and then climbing hard. From 5 to 7.5 miles, solid climb, up Gulf all the way; then a break on Packard and a descent into the Quabbin and one more big pull up the back end of Juckett. Unfortunately just as I hit the Quabbin and took my shirt off cos of chafing, the blackflies got my range and I had to reshirt and run like hell -- pulled a sub-7 there. Very slow up Juckett, but then down the other side, onto Allen, and left to Enfield, right to 9 and home. Definitely getting sore at that point, but able to keep it going. Here's the details:

Time: 1:56:22
Distance: 15.29 miles
Speed: 7.9 mph

Comment: not quite up to the 2-hour barrier, but I think I can break that next time. As it is, this is the furthest I've run in one go, I'm pretty sure. And the pace is just above my predicted endurance pace. Woot! Must take bug spray if I'm going into the Quabbin; also, I need to try a distance like that without the excess hills -- maybe half that much climbing and a 16-18 miler. Next week some time. Route TBA.

NoHo 5K plus four-- Tue. June 24

In between-ish weather, not too hot and some showers during the day; feeling generally pretty tired and a bit wooden legged on account of the bike rides previous night and this morning. Still, wanted to add the miles and maybe try running a controlled race instead of an all-out. Parked as usual by boathouse (got mosquito bite instantly on ankle when changing shoes, arg!) and ran somewhat briskly up to the course, slowly warming up a bit. *Very* muggy. Good turnout, and spot Ivan early. Return knife to April (long story), then it's time to go -- tell Ivan I'll stick on his shoulder as he's feeling good and should make perfect pace. Very little air, so it feels like a push all the way: at the end, make a bit of an effort but pretty tired, so don't catch the chap ahead.

Time: 20:49
Distance: 3.14 miles(GPS)
Speed: 9.0 mph

Comment: Ivan makes it a course PB by a few seconds, and I get a solid race. Brief eats, then we both headed back to the car, so I have these extra miles again:

Time: 30:52
Distance: 4.09
Speed: 7.95

Evening bike -- Mon. June 23

Not enough energy or digestive time for a run, but a bike ride on damp roads and slippery muddy-ish trails? Yes, why not. Headed out on a sort of figure of eight loop that started over the trail from GeoHannum to come out past Wallace Pond, then roads, down 21 and up Turkey Hill and down Summit, loop back into town and home with a quick VFW loop to finish.

Distance: 9.1 miles (est.)
Time: 45 mins (est.)
Hills: 300 feet climb, 300 feet descent.

Nice workout, and quick.

SRRC Ten -- Sun. June 22

Very muggy and somewhat hot day, with thunderstorms in the offing -- small turnout, again (the fast three, plus Ken, Savanna, and me), so S goes to the school track, and the fast three do an extra preliminary loop while Ken and I start on the main course: railtrail, Michael Sears and Cold Spring, then down the dirt trail and 181 to the canal. Steady pace after a couple of faster miles at the start, ending thus:

Time: 1:25:57
Distance: 10.6
Speed: 7.4

Comment: good for both distance (double digits, great start to the week) and duration. I think I can try working up to two hours and even more, see how I wear. Fingers crossed

Greenfield Eight -- Sat. June 21

Celebrated the mid-point of the year with a trip out to run with Ivan in Greenfield -- sunny and decently summery, probably low 80s, and a good bit muggy, but after a cool night the shade was still nice. We headed out just after ten a.m. and took Leyden Road, Barton and then Country Club back. Slightly hilled, and all road, but lovely Vermonty surroundings and three of the four rectangle's sides were very quiet, traffic-wise. Took an easy pace in the second half, after a brisker start -- very pleasant case of "recovery" or "tickover" pace, overall, since both of us were at personal record miles for the week:

Time: 1:04:37
Distance: 8.04 miles
Speed: 7.5 mph

Comment: looking at the map after the run I noticed that we stopped short of the real hills. To reach them would need a double digit run, but they are *substantial* and interesting. Maybe worth a drive or bike to a starting point like Leyden. . .

Dawn Twelve - Thu. June 19

Got the arrangement set this time with Bill, and when I came out a couple of minutes past five a.m. he was already walking towards the place. He agreed to a Mountain View 12 miler, so off we went. A misty mild and slightly muggy morning, cool enough for pleasant running: we started at a good pace, as the first two miles are basically downhill, and thus warmed up I figured we'd keep pushing. Bill led on the uphills, as we crossed 202 and started up Burton to Mt View; I tried to stay with him or close, and he only had to stop once, briefly, after the last and toughest bit, to wait for me. I used the flats for strong recovery and kept the pace up on the downhills, so we made good time. Found our way along to Granby Rd and then 21 up to OldSpfld and along to BHS; then we crossed straight into the state school and round to Jackson. I was ready to stop as we hit GeoHannum but Bill said if we kept it going all the way home we'd reach 12 miles, so, we did. *Tough* last mile. Here it is:

Time: 1:30:26
Distance: 12.35 miles
Speed: 8.2 mph

Comment: good long run with a challenging hill runner; he commented it was a fast pace for training, but I was definitely not pushing all the way. More of an enduro-stamina run. Now I'm sore but glad to have the miles. And it was a beautiful morning, just right for running. Here's to more of same and to dawn running in general!

NoHo 5K plus four -- Tue. June 17

Finally made it to my second one of these, and truly it couldn't have been a nicer day for it. Low 70s, perhaps, during the day, but by 6:30 it was cooling, with dryish air, and sunny. There was a very good turnout, not surprisingly. Ivan (and his boss!) there, and also among others the fast red-shod chap from the Granby 10K, Bill R from the snowstorms, and lots of other familiar faces. I parked by the boathouse and ran up there, nice two miles, then jogged about a bit. Fast start, pushed a bit and had fleeting memories of Downside starts; then steadied and headed down the first shaded hill; Redshoes passed at a steady clip, and I thought I'd try and keep tabs, but his pace was inexorably quicker than I could keep; Bill R went by at a heck of a lick after a slower start, totally smoked me and I didn't see him again. The first mile was okay (6:02) but I was already feeling it in the second (6:21)--folks who'd passed me were now out of sight and I was running solo. A bit confused about route at one point, but I was on track. By the third with the uphill to face, I just didn't want to lose another spot; I was struggling to recover after the hill, but quite strongly enfin; only near the end (after a 7:05 mile) did I hear someone closing, who like me pushed as we entered the last straight. Somehow I had a sprint on top of the push and I blasted the last 100 (finishing with 12 mph for the last 0.2 miles). Here's the digivice time:

Time: 19:57 -- ETA: Time confirmed on CoolRunning; placed 16th
Distance: 3.09 miles (Digivice)
Speed: 9.3 mph

Took a while to catch my breath, but felt good. After brief eats Ivan joined me for the run back to the car for another two miles. Those two runs combine thus:

Time: 32:30
DIstance: 4.1 miles
Speed: 7.57 mph

Comment: If it's confirmed, a sub-20 time would be very nice. Again it was harder than I remembered, but I *know* I can do more. Just got to keep working up to it. And I >think< I can match Bill R, though he was on track for sub-19. We'll see.

SRRC Enfield Plus -- Sun. June 15

Again a smallish crew at Dunkin's: Mark at work, Andy and Bill on the Mt Graylock Half, so it was me, Jim F. and Ivan, plus Lisa and Savanna (from Little Springtime's grade) to make us five. We set off together and started under 202 to get to Howard and then separated into two parties, heading to Jackson, across GeoHannum and along Hamilton (ladies elsewhere, not sure where). A crew was digging up the rail crossing, but we jogged around them and the bemused policeman with a wave, then down Bay to Allen and the long uphill, across 9 and 202, and on. Just before Enfield decided to do the Quabbin loop, which was very pleasant till Jim turned his ankle; however he recovered and we pressed on, up the extra hill out and then long down to 9, round the dealer and up Jabish hill, crossing straight over and all the way to our start, thus:

Time: 1:18:39
Distance: 9.44 miles
Speed: 7.2 mph

Comments: still a bit sore in the thighs from the combination of running and biking yesterday, so this was a pleasant outing -- an 8 followed by a 7:30 and then much slower, so we all got a chance to both work the hills and yet stay comfortable. Egg and cheese bagel afterwards was just perfect!

Granby 10K -- Sat. June 14

This one was a double treat -- won my age (got a trophy!) and shared that honor with Dick Hoyt and his son Rick, aka Team Hoyt. Wow -- still can hardly believe that. There were four other Swifties there for company, and our youngest member won her age too - -all in all a good showing. It was a deceptive course: first half mainly flat, easy roads, and the slight up inclines were short; with the start of mile four, however, and it got much tougher--or was it the mugginess getting to us? I don't know for sure. But I lost the guy ahead and then entered into a long struggle with the guy behind. I had biked to the start, and I think that contributed to making my legs feel a bit stiff and unresponsive at the last, and I also zoned out a bit in mile five, with noone to chase and having gotten a bit away from guy behind. In mile six, he caught up and as we entered the trail for the last tiny bit, he pushed and went by; I tried to stay level, but I had nothing, and he surged to make sure I couldn't attack at the line. He got 15 seconds in the end. Ah well. Fifth overall is still pretty satisfying. Here's the details:

Time: 41:15
Distance: 6.2 miles
Speed: 9.0 mph

Comments: for the first half I really thought I could get close to 40:00, or even break it. The guy in front of me (who came in third) certainly did. But I was too tired. As Ivan said today, we need to find a strategy for mile 4 of the 10K. It's always rough. More distance, and some speed training for me, I think. But I'm still going to focus on hills for now.

ALSO: did a warm up mile+ with Jim F before the race, and a mile+ (sort of following the Nedeau bros) after, slowly, so total mileage for the day was 8.8 (to say nothing of the biking).

Dawn Seven -- Thu. June 12

Potential company and busy rest of day meant I signed up for a 5 a.m. run. In the end it was just me, but that worked out okay. Jogged round the development (chased a rabbit briefly), then out on to GeoHannum and to Hamilton, road all the way and much birdsong. Full light, nice and cool, very pleasant; almost noone around. Then down Bay and along to Metacomet, right and through to lake--all steaming in the early light--and back up Federal to 9; up as far as Allen, then decide to add that hill, so up and over and right on 202. Target mileage is over 7, so along to junction and loop through the early breakfast traffic at McD's and down to head home -- now almost 6 a.m. Run as far as S&S:

Time: 55:27
Distance: 7.54 miles
Speed: 8.2 mph

Comments: definitely a time to run in, though it takes a while to wake up. Distance felt comfortable, and I kept running intensity just above endurance, pushing a bit where I could and with a nice smattering of hills. Must try for another at this hour. Next week.

Solo Six -- Tue. June 10

On the first really unbearably hot day of the summer, very humid and just under 100 deg. in early afternoon, I came out of the evening high school event and figured I could risk my ?bruised right foot (or dodgy nerves, whatever - the numb-leg thing transposed, as i see it). Set out for a reverse Enfield, starting via 9 and up 202 into town, cut left before the common and down EWalnut to Jabish, then back up to do the Jensen&Johnson loop and rejoin Jabish (lots of Js!) and go on down to cross 9 and go up Enfield; thre possible endings at that point, but opt for the shortest, taking 202 as far as VFW and then cutting through to cross 9 and run to past S&S. Target was to reach 15 for the week:

Time: 46:25
Distance: 6.3 miles
Speed: 8.1 mph

Comment: felt tough on all fronts, but stopped well before limits; hydration definitely a factor (body just can't adapt quick enough!). *Just* made my minimum endurance pace (over 8 mph); hope to get it up to 8.5 soon, even on fairly hilly runs like this one.

SRRC Enfield -- Sun. June 8

A very hot morning. Long sermon and kids serving, so no time even for a coffee before heading out (in car, even) to DnD for the SRRC gathering. Only Bill and Lisa, then Mark arrived, so we went as 3 and 1 (too bad! we really need to get more people to come along, somehow)--decided to do some sort of Enfield. Took roads to Jackson, then trail behind Dana Woods and Hamilton, trail at end and up Bay to Allen, then up and over all the way. Stopped a couple of times to cool off and regroup; it was *really* hot and humid--ended up running shirtless most of the way. Down Enfield and across to Jabish; at top of hill Mark went on straight, Bill and I to OldSpfield, but I took the trail while he went along back via BHS. Here's the data:

Time: 1:15:04
Distance: 8.86 miles
Speed: 7.1 mph

Comments: boy, I was really sore, and tired. Funny, as I felt I was holding back a bit in the race yesterday. Right foot also pretty sore, the numb-leg, nerve-tangle thing again, but feeling much more like a bruise this time. Need a rest day, I guess.

Northfield Mountain race -- Sat. June 7

Day of BHS graduation, but time for a race before that. Forecast was for very hot, but fortunately the night had been cool and muggy, and there was mist and almost no direct sun throughout the race. Good thing they started at 9 am, though it was a haul to get there in good time. Noone else from SRRC was there, though I recognised plenty of Snowstorm names (Sri B, Rich C, among others) and Abby W from the CaveHill. Arrived at 8:15, and found there was only one loo -- no portables, which seems pretty lame, given the 150+ field. Ouf. Warmed up with a short run:

8:18 for 1 mile @ 7.3 mph

then stretched and got nervous: my first start in a mainly serious race (very USATF-scoring oriented). Start was pretty much on time: bit of a crush, but I was happy at first to jog along, given the hill ahead. Then I got a bit worried about getting too far behind, so pushed ahead a bit. Basically that was the story of the first half: going cautiously, overtaking little by little, until as we turned downhill I had noone ahead; it stayed that way until the end, noone overtaking me, so I guess I paced it about right - with one exception. The course markers were small and coyly placed, and I lost the way twice. First time just before the powerline straight -- a fork in the trail with no clear sign, so I chose one but was slowing up as I was v. uncertain. Finally at the bottom of a long descent I stopped and looked back, to see a crowd a bit behind me. I was about to yell and apologise for taking the wrong fork, when one of them said it was okay, to keep going. So I lost time there, but at least didn't have to backtrack. The second time was after the powerline section, very near the end; I went straight and came to a fence and gate with no way through: looked back just as someone (the second person to go by) called me back. I raced back on to the main trail, thanked him as I passed and cursed the signage, overtook the next guy and tore down the hill, vaulting the gate the others were going round, and then pushed on almost up to the guy who'd been well ahead of me when I took the wrong turn. For some reason I backed off then, and we were in the chute, him 4 seconds ahead.

I was livid, and in a hurry to get back for the graduation, so I stayed only to grab some food and get a sense of my placing (about 50th, I thought, though it turned out to be 46th) then I took off. I can understand from the race report that signage is an effort to put up, yet there were mile markers laid out -- why not two or three more signs, big arrows at the critical forks? Gah. Things to remember for when Ivan and I organise a race.

Here's the data, a good target for next year:

Time: 48:34
Distance: 6.5 miles (official distance; GPS said 6.3, though signal was wonky a couple of times)
Speed: 8 mph (7.8 mph)

Comments: despite the signage trouble, this is a great race. Has lots of very steep bits, both up and down, and a nice crowd, w/ lovely scenery. Nothing technical, strangely--no single track, no rough bits, all very civilised. I think I could get it down to sub-48, but more than that? Abby Woods did 47:39, even though she was only two places ahead of me. I'd need to get more hill work to try for that, but hey, that's what this summer's for, right?

Evening ten plus -- Wed. June 4

Dithered between Thu morning and Wed evening as last run before Sat. mountain race. The race is psyching me out right now, so I wasn't going to go very far on Thu am; opted instead for a mid-long on Wed. evening (plus it was nice and cool, if a bit muggy buggy). Aimed for Turkey Hill, but doing Mountain View instead of Summit --as discovered by bike on Sat. So GeoHannum, Boardman and Eskett, then Barton/MtView/MapleCrest/Granby (a little bit lost, enfin) and finally Ludlow before hitting 21; then north to OldSpfield and back through BHS. Crossed right into the police station area and stopped the clock just after 10 miles. Then Jogged the remaining mile plus through state school and trail to home. At which point it was getting properly dark -- couldn't see the trail really!

Time: 1:15:52
Distance: 10.2 miles
Speed: 8.1 mph

Comments: Target was 8 or so, and the ten felt tough, but more for rawness/soreness than exhaustion. やっぱり over 1 hr 10 makes me feel pretty battered, but I can keep working up, I hope. Total distance was probably 11.4; good enough. The pace was just nice, considering I was not pushing (except on sopme hill sections); mainly trying to relax.

Sunny solo 8 -- Tue. June 3

Can't go out this evening, and had to wait in town with A till noon, so headed out on a sunny hot day for a try at the Enfield extension that Andy told me about. Along 9 to Enfield, up the hill and all the way along to the gate, then head right along Earley. Nice lane, not too buggy (yet?); came to a couple of junctions that I should have reviewed better before starting, but ended up playing it cautious and heading towards where the road was -- hit an orchard and had to exit eventually out of someone's driveway, but then it was 9 all the way home, from just short of Sabin. Pretty naked sun on 9, so to be avoided at that hour next time. Still, a good distance, and I stopped the clock just short of the 202 junction as I'd hit target -- also a pain in my shin turned out to be a (dog) tick biting, but I got it off without too much trouble, no mark. Here's the stats:

Time: 1:00:21
Distance: 8.15 miles
Speed: 8.1 mph

Comment: tired now, still feeling the weekend, but this will help a bit with Saturday I hope. One more short hard run on Thu., I think, perhaps the hill loops I've been avoiding.

Bike ride -- Sun. June 1

Went out with R on a long planned ride to NoHo for icecream. Started from the house, doing 9 and Federal and Orchard to Warren Wright and then the rail trail. He kept a solid pace the whole way, and only tired as we went up and down King St. looking for the Friendly's. After getting such fuel, we headed back as far as the mall, where F picked us up.

Approximately 21.5 miles in about 3 hours riding time, so 7+ mph.

SRRC run -- Sun. June 1

Invited Neil B., but he said perhaps next week. Arrived on bike to find Ivan and Mark, plus three women, two of whom had run Boston _and_ the Burlington marathons, but hadn't SRRCed since winter. We went out for a 9 (Enfield), they for a 7 (Jabish Canal). Steady mild pace, with some pushing away at the uphills. Also added a loop off Jabish hill to the left, coming back up Jensen. Here's the result:

Time: 1:14:40
Distance: 9.02 miles
Speed: 7.2 mph

Comment: comfortable distance and time. Hot, sunny mainly, but with a nice intermittent breeze. Must take water next time!

Bike ride -- Sat. May 31

Thought about a morning run, but low energy; feeling pretty beat most of the day, in fact, so went ahead and braced up with an aggressive ride. Did the Turkey hill Rockrimmon and Chicopee St. route, with a stretch back up 202 on the way home. Got stopped half way down the long hill (and stopped the clock too) because of a heavy thunderstorm, rain and some hail. Raining so hard I could hardly see a few yards, and the road turned into three rivers, two downhill and one apparently up! (wind effect). It abated after maybe ten minutes, and I was chilly so I headed on down the hill. The other side of the cloud came a minute later, but it was much milder, and I was totally drenched so no point in sheltering. From the bottom of the hill the effort of pushing along Chicopee was pleasantly warming, and I made good time. Here's the whole dataset:

1:06:28 for 17.78 miles @ 16 mph.

Quite a satisfying blast, enfin.