Boston -36 -- Mon. Mar. 15

Rainy blustery day, and schedule ends up nudging me towards an evening run. Taking advantage of the extra light, head out at 6:30 to do a rail trail, aiming to get muddy! In fact the sandy trail bed was mainly un-puddled, so I barely even got wet (the rain was as much wind as water, though I was glad to have my showerproof cagoule on). Started on road, down GeoHannum to Jackson, up to state school, then stretched a bit; continued through, past Checkers and into the trail. All the way down, across NoWash, and on, past the high bridge over river, up to one of the old stone bridges, then (at 5+ miles) turn round, and back into gathering dark with footing a bit harder to see. Aim to keep pace overall steady, bringing it down to an average of 7:30 after a gentle start; final section on road (w/out reflective jacket, but w/ finger flashlight from R) past Small Farms and up to get the 10 miles in (just short of the underpass), thus:

Time: 1:16:00
Distance: 10.12
Pace: 7:31s

Comment: after this, went out w/ F for another 0.75 miles of cooldown. Felt good, overall, though the effort to keep high stepping on the trail (to avoid any obstacles and keep ankles safe) meant for a weary midriff afterwards. That and the ongoing cold (which I hope I'm sort of recovering from...) left me pretty socked. Still a long way back to good form. . .