SRRC long run -- Sun. December 28

Just four of us at D&D this morning, Jay, Dawn, Ken and me: decided to go out together for a 6+ miler, and then Jay and I could do a bit more. Insanely mild weather for the time of year, though still icy snow slush on the shaded parts of the roads. Headed out under 202 and up to Jackson, then down along Hamilton and back up to 9, taking it very gently. Ken headed up 202 into town, and the three others of us decided to go as far as Jabish; good climb there, and enough energy left to include the high school loop on the way back; ended up with a 7.5 mile loop, then after a quick stop Jay and I headed back out for one more round, a bit faster (7:40s instead of 8:50s). Went up to town, down 202 and round to GeoHannum and back up Jackson -- pushed a wee bit on the hills, for a total all told thus:

Time: 1:37:09
Distance: 11:58 miles
Pace/Speed: 8:23 / 7.15 mph

Comment: at last a distance run again -- thank goodness for Swifties! This was just what I needed, no soreness after and we didn't even get rained on (unlike yesterday). Wore a hat but tookit off after a mile -- it was *really* mild. Good times.

Snowstorm 5K -- Sat. December 27

My first chance at a Snowstorm, and after a dodgy start (still a bit under this cold) arrived on a rainy chilly morning at 9:30 and parked as usual. Warmed up in the brick house, and then jogged under my umbrella to the boat house. Good crowd there already. Changed to shorts and headed out for a warm up mile, then joined the mob for the start. Close to 140 people, a possible record for a 5k there. Lots of highschoolers, and various old familiars. Started gently enough, being cautious, what with the hill start and my lack of condition. Then decided to get out there a bit, as it was spitting chill rain, and I was feeling a bit more comfortable. Made a bit of progress on a couple of people, holding place more or less into the second mile, but as we headed out to the main road one guy passed me, and then another as we entered the last mile. A bit blurry after that, I think I took one place and then lost one -- one guy a bit younger got me on the last straight as he picked it up, taking the guy in front too. No final sprint (noone on my shoulder or really in reach), but I did push a bit without sprinting.
Happy with the time, all things considered:

Time: 19:37 (official; 19:36 digivice)
Distance: 5K (official; 3.14 miles GPS)
Pace/Speed: 6:14/ 9.6

Comments: came in 13th out of 138, enough to win my age group. Went for a long warmdown lap, so in addition to the race I ended up with a total of 3.61 more miles at about 7:30 pace. Felt excellent after that, so all in all a very postive day for running!

Xmas Eve roadrun -- Wed. December 24

Between choir mass and midnight mass, well dark, and with light-occasional drizzling, but not too cold: off on a road run to get some miles, as I still intend to do the Snowstorm this Saturday. I'm still stuffed up with a sinus cold, and aching from the toboggan crash (argh@! age sucks sometimes), so just aiming to take it easy. Headed down GeoHannum and Boardman to Rural, then round and back to GeoHannum again, and head back from there; entered the devpt via Greenwich to add/complete the extra mile:

Time: 44:47
Distance: 6.05 miles
Pace/Speed: 7:24/ 8.11 mph

Comments: felt surprisingly nice, though I was battling numb-leg from mile 4 or so onwards. Focussed on keeping my back moving, and maybe that helped. By the end it was gone, though I was feeling *tired.* When will I be able to get my distance legs back? Sigh.

SNOW!!! and solo SRRC run -- Sun. December 21

We're in the middle of a minor snowpocalypse, ongoing since Friday morning (so over 50 hours at this point) in a snow-showery sor of way.  And I've been head-colded since Monday, so haven't run since then.  Didn't get out yesterday as I felt lousy first thing, catching up on a sleep-deficient week, and then I burned energy clearing the driveway and moving the tall one out of college.  So today, come what may, I was going to run.  Got to D&D just at 10, and put out the sign, but noone else showed, so I took off for a short one -- the going was heavy, and I had limited time.  Took the trail down to Old Spfield, then up to NoWash and right all the way down to the re-intersection with the trail; then back up the trail as far as Old Spfield, and left to come back to the start via the high school and state school, thus:

Time: 40:48

Distance: 5.11 miles

Pace/Speed: 7:59/ 7.51 mph

Comments:  Wearing my road shoes, so even where the snowmobiles had gone before me I had little traction.  Also getting snow-dazzled by the end, and eyelashes sticking together with icicles, etc.  Didn't feel chilly, though.  Still, it was a hard slog and I felt pretty tired as I ran - this head-cold has been a bit of burden, so I think I've got to spend a week going for frequency without worrying about distance.  I should be able to get out at least twice more this coming week, and then do the snowstorm on Sat.  After that, then I can think about distance building again. And staying cold-free. . .

Morning shortie -- Mon. december 15

Sore from yesterday, and free (ish) to rack up some miles this week, so out after a bit of fruit and a few chores on a *very* mild and dampish morning. Bored with roads, decide to take to the trail past the water processing plant on GeoHannum.  Up along the trails back to Lake Wallace, then round it on the trail still to come out at the police station; then follow state school roads to come out opposite Checkers; cross over and go back round under the road and up along Howard, then take rail trail connection back into the development, ending on an uphill just past Bill's place:

Time: 35:11

Distance: 4.5? (tba)

Pace/Speed: 7:43/7.77 mph

Comment: surprised to feel still a bit sore after this one.  Trail and hill made some bits slow, but I got a sub-7 mile in as well.  Good little loop for some hard work and moderately light trail.

SRRC extended Enfield -- Sun. December 14

Slight milding in the weather, sun and temp moving just above freezing probably, though still icy patches on roads. Bill, Andy, Jay, Nick (high school) Eddie G, and Ken all there. Set off and quickly separate into two groups, Eddie me and Ken as caboose for a very gentle first mile. Then as we started into Hamilton, Ken suggested I catch the other guys, so I booked it a bit the length of Hamilton and caught them just at the end. Jay and Nick split off (Nick still building to longer runs, with Jay being the generous coach) and we other three started off towards the Brandywine line. Well, Bill was aiming to go steady (at about 7:15-30s) so I chased Andy, sort of. He made 25 seconds on me over the last hill and following flat. Then we took off again, and I recommended going left down to the water to add a mile or so. We did this, a lovely quiet extra loop, and then stretched out a bit on the downhill to Jabish, where I made a go at getting ahead of Andy this time. Made it up as far as St Francis then Andy surged by. . . He wasn't really trying too hard, as he's doing 17-20 today. Then back to D&D via the high school, with a bit of a push at the end:

Time: 1:20:02
Distance: 10.37 miles
Pace/Speed: 7:43/ 7.77 mph

Comment: this was hard work after a week of no running, but worth the effort. Ran in shorts, but with three layers on top and hat and gloves. Also ate a normal breakfast, as part of the training to mix eating and running more.

SRRC Enfield -- Sun. December 7

Out in slight drizzley sleet to D&D to find a core crew of Jay, Andy, Steve L., Amy (I think -- I'm sure there was someone else), and Bill . Not feeling like too long a run, but all seemed fine with an Enfield, so off we went, starting under the road and into Jackson. Bill and Andy started out for the Brandywine "townline" as soon as we hit Jackson, and once we got to Hamilton, Steve and I made a move too. He runs much stronger than I can, but he stayed with me as we went up Allen and acrossx 9 and 202, until we got to the last hill, then he pulled away a bit. That was a good stretch --this and the next one turned the run into an interval session, sort of. We headed along as a group again until we got to Jabish, then pushed on that one too, Andy and Steve leading, then once more caught breath and finished off via the high school, with a bit of a push at the end too.

Time: 1:07:41
Distance: 9.06 miles
Pace/Speed: 7:28/ 8.03 mph

Comments: this is a new sort of run, and it may be helpful. It's what those guys do, so who'm I to question it. I still need to get more overall mileage in, but I can work on that once classes stop.

Noho Hot Chocolate 5K -- Sat. December 6

My first attempt at this one, after a week of no running and not enough sleep. But the start was not too early, so I arrived feeling quite good at about 9:20, just in time to register. Actually, then I had a hard time finding parking, so the walkers had already started when I found the registration tables (in a night club!). But got the packet, with chip, and jogged back to my car to change -- decided to keep on fleece collared top as well as hat and gloves, but went with shorts. Temp. was about 25-30 degrees maybe, and *very* dry, but not windy. Back to the start, with no time for a warm-up run beyond that; stretched a bit, then it was start time. Sri B. said hello, and then Ivan appeared. We all lined up at the 20-21 mins mark, aiming to break 20 (though I said I'd be happy to get sub-21). Start was a bit mushy, then I figured I had to get past the crowd, and surged up a bit. First mile was slightly uphill: aimed at fast but not terminal, and clocked a 6:09 (same as at the Holyoke 6 miler, so that's a good pace for me for now). Middle mile I caught up with Abby W. (one of my 目当て) and then passed her; felt like harder work, but I didn't want to relax. Then mile three she pushed up and started to pull ahead. I kept her in sight and tried not to lose too many more places -- counted six overall before the end, which was okay. It felt like I was slowing, but according to the GPS I was keeping 6:08-9 for all three miles. At the end I pushed to catch the person ahead, and closed about a 5 second gap to 1 second, but didn't quite make it. Still, it was a PB !!

Time: 19:15
Distance: 3.1 miles
Pace/Speed: 6:10/9.66 mph

Comment: placed 48th, out of over 1,300 runners, and *chip time* was even faster: 19:08 (9.7 mph) !! So, I'm definitely going to have to try for a sub-19:00 in the coming season or two.

After the run, and a delish mug of cocoa, I took a leisurely run from my car to the rail trail-- headed to the river, crossed the bridge and then came back, thus:

Time: 25:37
Distance: 3.04 miles
Pace/Speed: 8:26/ 7.12 mph