SRRC 9er -- Sun. March 29

Finally we got rain today--not snow, as it's really quite mild by now. Still, it was pretty wet, occasionally heavy showers, so I wondered if maybe nobody would be at Dunkins at 10. Hah! Apparently that's what *everyone* thought, and we all turned up--TEN of us (Andy, Jay, Amy, Bill, Ken and me, plus the four high schoolers, two boys and two girls). Amazing! So we headed out thinking about 10 miles using the Enfield route, and there was a splashduel for the first mile or two (Andy and the high school boys, natch). Howard, Jackson, etc. quite slowly, then pushed up the hills a bit, but noone went for the line until we reached the top--then John got Andy going and they sprinted off. Needless to say, John burned out, following Andy in, and I waited to close to the line until I did a bit of a stretch, solo. Nick and Amy battled it, Amy won. Then Andy and I went back to join up with the HS girls, and we jogged with them from there. Got a bit ahead by Jabish, and took that smoothly but not slowly--pretty good feeling; then checked back to see how the girls were doing: they went straight on down the hill, so Andy and I picked it up a bit (low 6s) for the stretch round the high school bit. I faded at the very end; last 3/4 mile was sub 6.
Good run, enfin.

Time: 1:16:08
Distance: 9.33 miles
Pace/Speed: 8:10s/7.35 mph

Comments: good varied pace and conditions (well, wet, but beyond that...). Ended up with a wicked sore nipple cos of the wet: 仕方がない。 SRRC is a real boon: I think most of us wouldn't have run alone... The fast finish with Andy was useful--I really should start to work on speed, as I don't have much right now.

Solo 15 -- Sat. March 28

Busy week meant I didn't get out at all, and I was v. short of sleep too. Still, a slow Saturday morning allowed me to catch up a bit, and I was ready for a good LSD run by about noontime. Gorgeous warm day, dry, cool breeze, just *ideal* running weather. Took a water bottle, but no gloves, no hat, no longs --just a T-shirt and a long sleeved T-shirt on top. Started on to trails at AustinGaughan, just to see how it was: a bit wet on the downhill, but clear; did the second bit of trail through to Bay, then up Allen and on up over to 202, across and on to Jucket. At the top of that hill took off the long-sleeved T, and chugged on. Reached the top and found the trail was strewn with fallen trees and branches -- from the ice storm back in February? Made going pretty tricky, as the branches were untrimmed and it was hard to find a smooth way through or over. Slowed me down a bit, and I got a couple of stabs in the knee. But good trail prep, with the April race I'm planning. Down the other side and figured I'd try for 14-15 miles, so needed a bit more than straight home: went right, all the way down to the water (which added 1.5 miles each way, to my surprise and momentary consternation!), then turned and came back up all the way to 202, then followed that home, aiming to speed up a bit as it was downhill a lot and clear road. The last three miles were at a good pace, low 7s. I took the VFW turn and stopped the clock as soon as I reached GeoHannum, as 15 miles were already clocked:

Time: 2:00:38
Distance: 15.06 miles
Pace/Speed: 8:01s/7.49 mph

Comment: very happy to get two hours running with no problems, no hunger, and a good progressive pace despite the hilly course. Good to pull a 15 miler out of the hat too -- my body is starting to be happy with the longer ones, I think.

SRRC group run -- Sun. March 22

One more lovely day, and a nice if somewhat reduced group at Dunkins. Bill away, Jay at the Nationals, and the high schoolers all recovering from yesterday (all four, two boys two girls, did good runs), so it was Andy, Amy, Dawn, Ken and me. Decided on a 10 miler, with Dawn opting for a shorter run as her injury is still not recovering. Windy, chill, but sunny--head out along geoHannum and then Hamilton: Dawn goes up Bay to 9 and we others do Allen. No racing up the hills, but just before Brandywine Amy and Andy take off so I give chase and *sprint* but can't catch Andy, who's got speed to spare. Still, a fun stretch over a hundred yards or so. Then we jog on and to add distance take a left at Enfield and go down to the water, then loop around (Amy rolls an ankle, alas; suggest packing with snow, which she does) and back up then down to Jabish and take that very slowly and steadily, then Amy goes straight back while we other three do the high school extension. Andy and I stretch out one more time at the end. Here's the record:

Time: 1:32:15
Distance: 10.63 miles
Pace/Speed: 8:41s/6.99 mph

Comment: Good post-race stretch out, I think. Still sleepy afterwards...
n.b. Amy recommended vascular check for the numbleg, if it's not disk related. I think that makes sense. Hmm.

Holyoke St. Pat's 10K (PB) -- Sat. March 21

My first time running this one, and I was very tense because I had no idea about where to register or park. That was symptomatic--the organization of the whole thing was haphazard at best and comically poor at worst. 3700 registered runners -- evidently they ran out of numbers and chips, as news reports gave 4000+ runners, amazingly. The registration was a melee, but not *too* bad: Savanna pointed me to the location, after I'd arrived and parked a bit of a way off from the evident crowd, on Dwight and Beech. Jogged to the start, then registered, jogged back to the car and then did a couple of miles warmup. Somewhat reluctantly stripped down to T-shirt and shorts: it was v. sunny, not cold, but a bit chilly in the wind. Headed to the start, stopping for a DnD hot chocolate (sampler size, nothing silly), and some water -- greeted a father/daughter from St Francis, but didn't see anyone else I knew. Then found my way to the start, but it was a mob scene: a line in the road and 3000+ people trying to stand by it. Ouf. I got somewhat close, but off to the side, and then we all waited nearly ten minutes without moving. Meh.

At least it started on time. I'd heard there wasn't much uphill after the beginning, but in fact after a fast first mile (first half of which was me trying to get room to move and see ahead of me) it became more or less uphill for all of miles 2, 3, 4, even a bit of 5. I caught up with Sri and a couple of others around mile 2, and finally got a sense of where I was, then started to chug ahead. Making 6:30s or better, which was very much my goal, and I hoped it would be safe from numbleg -- but alas, it wasn't. At about half way I was in the high 90s (guy counted off as we passed and I heard 97 as I went by), and I also saw Steve L who was out on his bike instead of running. Mile 4 I caught Mike L, and we both grinned: he fixed on my tail after that, and finished not far behind enfin.

Mile 5 was sub-6 (with some downhill), and that acceleration started the numbleg--as we started mile 6 I wondered how I could keep going, but somehow (Gott sei dank) it didn't go totally numb and the road was straight (corners are the worst on a dead leg). April's mum yelled a greeting as I passed, near the end of mile 6, as I was tussling with Doug G. who'd crept up on me as the leg went dead. I determined to stay with him or as close as I could, and I was *so* up for it, except for the leg. Ouf!

Then we turned (nearly fell!) for the last 0.2 miles to the finish and as another person surged by I pushed hard, but the stress was a bit much and I faded again, just concentrating on staying upright. *Just* managed to beat 40 minutes, to my great relief and considerable chagrin re the leg. Stumbled and went down, so chap rushed over to check on me. Saw one guy puking hard, and nearly joined him, but managed to keep it down.

Mike L and I traded congrats, and then I just wanted to get away. Got water and jogged off, then did a two mile plus cool down. Here's the official report: the time was from gun to mat, so not super accurate--but it's official.

Time: 39:55
Distance: 6.2 miles
Pace/Speed: 6:26s/9.32 mph

Comment: mixed blessing, to be sure. Came in 92nd (of 3705 registered runners) and 15/485 in my age-group. Next year, ah, next year...

Figure of 8 -- Thu. March 19

Rather later than I'd planned, and the intended 10 miler seemed a bit long with the race coming up on Saturday, so I figured a 7-8 miler would do. Measured up the Baconville run on MapMyRun (7.44 miles, starting at the church car park on Pelham Rd), but too dark for that, so home and then go out for a GeoHannum figure of 8 run, as done on March 10th. This time though, skip the extension to Stebbins and also avoid the longer finish, so end up with this:

Time: 52:51
Distance: 7.37 miles
Pace/Speed: 7:10s/8.37 mph

Comments: This was a bit of a tempo run with a two mile warm up. So pace was 7:30 or so for the first two miles, gently considering it's downhill at first; then apply pace and see how it goes. I did two miles at 6:45 or so, and then wanted to slack off, but decided to push on, and felt *really* good going up one of the hills (really, like stepping up stairs, no strain), so then pushed on until seven miles done, with 5 at pace (slowing to 7:07 with the uphills near the end). Then for the last 0.37 I slowed right down, cool-off really. Good useful workout, hopefully not too much before Saturday's race. We'll see. . .

Reverse Gulf -- Tue. March 17

Goal today was to get double digits in on a (late) morning run; mileage without *too* many hills, and with a progression pace (negative split). Decided on a reverse Gulf, so there's no downhill at the start--this meant I could use the first 4-5 miles to warm up on the steady 202 uphill. Feeling pretty comfortable at first, with a good pace, so I had to slow down a bit, although I wasn't exactly full of pep on the hills. reached 6 miles just at the top of Gulf, with a time set at about 45:45. Then going down the hill I lost GPS signal and it stayed gone all the way down. This must have confused the device, as it behaved oddly in the last three miles, reading impossible paces, and the distance was off, I think: it read 12.41 miles, while MapMyRun gave it at just a hair over 12 miles. Hopefully this isn't a sign of the digivice's aging, and it won't be a permanent glitch. Here's the map-checked data:

Time: 1:29:10
Distance: 12.02 miles
Pace/Speed: 7:26s/8.07 mph

Comment: got the negative split nicely, though it was hard not to with miles 7, 8 and even 9 being substantially downhill. I think I was steady on the uphill too, and overall it felt pretty good. I remained tired afterwards, so the recent high mileage is probably getting to me. Not the ideal way to prep for the St. Paddy's 10k, but you gotta do, etc.

SRRC club run -- Sun. March 15

Nice run with the regular crowd: Ken, Andy, Amy, Savanna, Nick and John. The highschoolers have trials on Monday, so only do an easy 5-6, but we other four head off for a full Enfield (at a pretty gentle pace). Amy pulled ahead as we went over the first bit of Allen, and once we crossed 202 I pushed to pursue (Andy and Ken taking it steady). Almost caught her up by the top of the hill, then she doubled back (thinking that was the end), and then we pushed on again as far as Brandywine. The hill had really pushed me breathing wise -- probably because of the 18 miler day before. So I was happy to take it steady again, all four of us, as far as Jabish hill, to make another push just the two of us. Legs felt like lead at that point, once I pushed, so Amy got that one. We finished going via the high school, thus:

Time: 1:12:24
Distance: 8.86 miles
Pace/Speed: 8:10s/7.34 mph

Comment: this felt remarkably good considering the 18 miler, and I wanted to avoid getting seized up. But a rest day tomorrow, for sure.

18 miler (new PB) -- Sat. March 14

Seemed like the right time to go for the next step in distance -- building on my almost 17 in England (January), time for an 18 (and then in another 2-3 weeks, 20!). With a bit of help from the Tall one I figured that I could get a refueling stop at Atkins Farm with about 9.5-10 miles done, then go home a shorter way for a total of about 18. Goal being to take it steady, not swift: maybe 7:45s to 8:00s. Started out to GeoHannum and then Stebbins (stopping en route to point out a disconnected maple tap to a farm by the road, and greeting Mr Pare out on his 6 miler) then left as far as Batchelor (stopping to answer question on directions from two guys looking for a junkyard) and follow that all the way. Passed a couple of other runners, and a bicyclist, but very few people out, despite the *gorgeous* weather. Got to Rt 116, right up the hill as far as the Notch Center, then into the trails to avoid the dangerous bit of road down the other side. The trail is still snow/ice covered, but mainly soft enough to be runnable. Come out the bottom end and go left back to Atkins -- inside to buy and Odwaller bar with the clock stopped at just 10 miles, then after a couple of mouthfuls store the rest and head back via Bay Road. Take Old Bay for that section, and then straight up out on to 9 and homewards, stopping as soon as 18 miles shows (at the supermarket, I think it was). Here's the data:

Time: 2:13:59
Distance: 18.02 miles
Pace/Speed: 7:26s/8.07 mph

Comments: apart from some chafing in a delicate spot, this was a perfect run -- had a bottle of water, and it lasted just right, and I didn't feel hungry at any point. Pace was comfortable all the way, albeit faster than I expected. A marathon at that pace would be about 3:15, which would make me very happy! So, good day's work, and all spring break to recuperate.

Midweek 8+ -- Tue. March 10

After trip to Lexington for funeral, home in time to stretch out a bit, and with the daylight change there's still light after 5:30. Decide to do the GeoHannum figure of eight. Out on GeoHannum to Boardman all the way to 202, then back up to Eskett and round again to Boardman and on to Rural, then back that way to GeoHannum. To add a tiny bit of distance I followed GeoHannum left to Stebbins, then doubled back and followed it home, running round the development for a bit of extra distance at the end too, getting this total:

Time: 1:03:53
Distance: 8.62 miles
Pace/Speed: 7:25s/8.1 mph

Comment: pleasant slightly chilly afternoon; met a young family out walking, too, which was nice. A deliberately not too long and not too fast run, given the busy week ahead.

SRRC club run -- Sun. March 8

Nice if a bit chilly -- six of us, me, Andy, Bill, John, Nick, and Savanna for the run, and we all decide to do the 7-9 miler, Enfield-ways. Out via Howard, Jackson, and Hamilton, then up Bay. I take it gently, and Bill and Andy do the hill at a bit more of a pace, with John giving them a run for it as far as Brandywine. I push a little but don't race. Then we all join up again and take it steady on Enfield, and as we hit Jabish I decide to push a bit. Andy and Bill sit back, but John picks up the tag and pursues hard. By the top of the hill we're both going flat out, me just nicely keeping a dozen yards or so ahead. Good race though, and it won't be long before I'm chasing him. Then we all opt to do the high school finish, taking us up to almost nine miles:

Time: 1:13:55
Distance: 8.93
Pace/Speed: 8:16s/7.25 mph

Comment: a nice gentle run with some hill work-- good for a Sunday morning.

Quabbin solo -- Sat. March 7

On a gorgeous day, with the return of spring weather after a suddenly very cold week, out in late morning to do an Enfield, with the goal of attacking hills and getting some miles in--and taking some pictures (first time I've carried a camera, I think). Start on GeoHannum and Hamilton, then up Allen and over 9, across to 202, then pause to take pics of the old mill site; continue up the hill and then left on Enfield to go down to the water -- except it was still ice! More pics, with one taken from out on the ice a bit; then round the trail (which was slippery) and back up out of the reserve, down Enfield and across to Jabish. Attack the hill, but it seems pretty long this time (five minutes from river to top). then back along the common and home, thus:

Time: 1:09:16
Distance: 9.04 miles
Pace/Speed: 7:40s/7.83 mph

Comment: fun to take the camera, even if it meant stops (and I didn't stop the clock on all of them). Jabish is a tough one, but I think I'm starting to get the measure of it.

SRRC run -- Sun. March 1

[Backpost, so short on details]
Good sized group (nine of us? including Ken). All feeling like a long run, so do a first run with the group at a very leisurely pace, then go out again (with Jay, Bill, and Andy?) and do another few miles. Here are the two runs:

Time: 1:15: 13
Distance: 9.05 miles
Pace/Speed: 8:19s/7.22 mph

Time: 39:24
Distance: 5.29 miles
Pace/Speed: 7:27s/8.06 mph

Comment: this was two weeks ago; I think it was cold but nice conditions, and I was feeling great--though I had no speed for when we pushed it on Jabish Hill. But a good session.

Final Snowstorm (10K) -- Sat. February 28

Late decision to do this one, having not run all week since the Sunday race -- but decide and head out, a bit late: arrive at 9:40, but manage to get in just over a mile before the start. Ivan also there for his first run in ages and his first race in a new age group ; - ), and a good turnout: 100+. Decide to set up behind Mike L, and take it steady, but as I spot him going up the hill it seems he's making a fast pace. Still, not uncomfortable, so stick with him, and the first mile is under 6:15, but then we ease back to 6:20s ~ 6:40s. Entering mile 3, I feel he's slowing down to follow runners ahead, so I go out past and lead off. He follows, so I'm pacing off him still, but with him pushing. Stick with this pattern, and then focus on not going fast enough to trigger numb-leg. Tricky to juggle that with keeping place, but more or less manage it: from mile 4 focus on trying to catch the guy ahead, Scott R. He's about 20 seconds ahead, and I whittle that down to 17 as we reach the downhill back into the park: numbness appeared slightly, and I jumped about a bit (hopping up and down the kerb as I ran), and slowed down a bit. Then down the hill I felt precarious but it stayed moderate, and I was pushing out on the last straight figuring if it got worse I was close enough. The effort did kill my sprint, and as we hit the last bit of sidewalk to the finish tall Norm F galloped by Mike L, me and Scott R, and I pushed to chase him. Closed on Scott (got it down to 3 seconds!); Mike L was only 5 behind me. Finished 9th, pretty satisfying:

Time: 41:38 (Digivice = 41:38)
Distance: 6.2 miles (Digivice = 6.54 miles)
Pace/Speed: 6:43/8.94 mph (Digivice = 6:22s/9.43 mph

Comments: Not a PB, but better than a couple of weeks ago, and a satisfying finish to the winter season. It was a *perfect* day for running, given that it's still February. Ivan and I went for another 2.5 miles after (slowly) to get into double digits for the day. Good stuff.