SRRC run - Sun. May 30

Usual early start, and hungry by 9:30, so eat a Boston creme donut w/ coffee before heading for my first club run in several weeks. Jay's there, and Bill; noone else shows, so after chatting a bit I propose a ten miler w/ hills I'd planned, and we agree to keep it slow. Through State school to Jackson, then GeoHannum to enter Wallace pond trail, but go right onto Underwood, and out onto 202. Then right and along all the way to Barton, and up the hill to Mt View, then along to Rockrimmon and out to 21, finishing along OldSpfld to come back through HS and past DnD to get a neat ten:

Time: 1:20:28
Distance: 10.01
Pace: 8:02s

Comment: Jay very happy with this, and Bill (who'd planned to do track) seemed happy too; nice. We talked about lots, including my planned 10K in Quabbin; it was a perfect day for running, sunny and not too hot, a pleasant breeze -- awesome!

Long run -- Sat. May 29

Just couldn't get on track for the race; I'm really not ready yet, still coughing too much, and tired. So, instead a Quabbin run, starting out by car a bit after 10; park at the visitor center, and start off directly--a bit too much so, as achilles in both legs felt leaden. But by the other side of the dam I was fine; it was hot, but I was carrying water and the sun wasn't too bad. Up toward tower, but past it and on all the way to Goodnough Dike--road closed in parts from fallen trees (this week's storm) still not cleared up. Cross dike and go on into trail, climbing the steeper part but slowed down by a series of big trees right across the trail (had to clamber through them, carefully). Continue to the main trail, then left and follow on aiming to reach the water, but run out of time, so instead follow a side trail down by a stream bed--leads to a beaver pond, not the Quabbin, apparently; then turn round and head back, intending to head out on to 9 and go back the shorter way--but after Goodnough dike, taking the low route this time, as I approach the main Quabbin park road I see a bear ahead: black, about as tall as me when it stands up, which it does as I approach. Talk and whistle at it, and eventually it decides to hop into the woods again (phew!).

Slower after that, but backtrack exactly with a target of 15 miles, and pick up a bit on the downhill to the dam. Finish up thus:

Time: 1:55:18
Distance: 15.01 miles
Pace: 7:41s

Comment: too bad I missed *another* race, but this was a useful long run, and brings me almost to 40 for the week. I'll take that. Refilled empty water bottle at visitor center and got information on doing an organised run at Quabbin. Looks good for the fall.

Evening eight -- Thu. May 27

Wanted one more run before the (possible) mountain race on Sat., so after a long day out around 9 p.m. under a hazy, buttery, full moon -- not too hot, just pleasant, though I carried water out of renewed habit. Fireflies a plenty, too. Road shoes, aiming for minimal hills, so down GeoHannum gently (two miles at 7:45ish) and on out all the way to Stebbins. Keep pace easy, but find next two miles are 7:20ish, so pace will be decent. Run comfortably, not hard; head on to School St. and out to 202, then left and up to Boardman and back in to GeoHannum and thus home. Go past turn off and push to supermarket to get full 8 miles in, with a little burst at the end just for the sake of it:

Time: 59:46
Distance: 8.06 miles
Pace: 7:25s

Comment: felt good once I was warmed up, at about 4.5 miles, and then fairly quickly felt like I was working, from about 6.5 miles. Definitely need some time to get back to distance comfort, but no pressure --yet!

Sweaty eight -- Wed. May 26

Heading for 95 deg. today, already seriously hot when I headed out just after 9 am. Road shoes and a proper warmup, running down to Stonesoup Farm to meet F, stretching and chatting, then heading out for a hilly-ish short-ish run. To Hamilton, then up Allen over 9 and over to 202, then up Allen further to Enfield, slowly getting looser (but feet recovering from blisters still). Then down Enfield, gently and back along 9, with a good average pace over the whole distance--keep running all the way home, and go up Greenwich to get almost to 8 miles:

Time: 1:00:14
Distance: 7.94 miles
Pace: 7:35s

Comment: *very* hot after this, and pretty tired; still working towards recovery, but at list a good step in that direction.

Test run -- Mon. May 24

Normal working day, with enough vim to tackle a run in late afternoon, and throat much better. Decide on a mild trail/road mix, 7-8 miles: out onto 9, head towards Quabbin as far as Blue Meadow, then up and in as far as the junction with Early, then follow that all the way back to Enfield, and out on to Allen, over to 202 and home via VFW and super market. Stop clock once 8 miles are done:

Time: 59:25
Distance: 8.03 miles
Pace: 7:24s

Comment: started *very* gently, with a couple of sub-8s, then a 7:30 and another slow one, then (spooked by rumors of bears in the area) picked up pace a bit as I was feeling okay. Legs had been getting very tight over last couple of days, but the run helped --then numbleg hit at about 6 miles, not terminal but quite heavy. Slowed down and shortened stride, eventually running through it, and pace was overall pretty good (only one sub-7 mile). Back in the saddle again, I hope -- but maybe Saturday's trail race is still a bridge too far? We'll see.

Out sick -- a May week [backpost]

It seems I wasn't just tired, I was getting sick. Took my two days off doing grading, etc., and Wed. was solidly busy with a trip to Harvard-Yenching, but by day's end I felt lousy (head/throat). Woke up Thu. feeling lousy all over; spent the day mainly in bed.

Fri. felt marginally better, but all energy focussed on work chores then a four hour drive to and from RPI.
Sat. managed to recover a bit, enough to go out with le garçon down to the bridge beside the rail trail. Pretty buggy, muggy evening, but good to exercise a bit; ten miles in all, about 40/60 trail and road. Throat worse, if anything, but still no bad cough.

Sun. early start (lectoring) and then work, with no energy left for a run. Throat no worse, and cough still absent. But, there went a whole week. The best laid plans. . .

I've got most of my energy back and my throat isn't trying to choke me any more. I missed the Northfield Mountain trail race, alas, and probably won't be up for next weekend's race either, but better to recover properly, I guess.

Tough tower run - -Sun. May 16

We all slept in this morning, so I missed the SRRC run, but went out after the later mass and phoning home, probably a bit after 1.p.m. It was sunny, warm, but dry, really nice, with a gusting breeze and some clouds occasionally. After much dithering, wanting a trail AND hill run, with about 13 miles, I figured I'd head out to the Quabbin tower via a possible route for the B'town 10K. GeoHannum to rail trail, into state school and stretch; then out by Checkers and up 202 and down Jabish, then along 9 directly to Blue Meadow, and in: the lane proves to be a tough climb (given how clunky/tired I'm feeling), but chug away, and eventually come to a gate, which I go over and on along past the refueling spot, then back to tarmac as road heads to Quabbin main; continue over the dam, then up the hill--lots of tourists and bikers, perfect Sunday for it. Hit the top just as clock hits 8 miles and 1 hour, plus a few seconds. Forgo a climb up the tower, but eat one part of PB sandwich as I jog round then restart clock and head down hill. Inevitably fast down the hill, but keep it going over the dam too, then run into the visitor center to refill empty water bottle (leaving clock running). As I head out suddenly overcome with tiredness, at only ten miles; keep running, but decide to do Early street and Enfield to Allen and 202, as maybe a bit shorter or easier on way back. Heading to Early feel even tireder, and stop once or twice to walk while getting a drink; moving very slowly, but leave clock running all the way. Finally as I reach trails end and come out onto Enfield, feel a bit better; eat remaining sandwich half and chug along the road section, still not very brisk, but at the downhill to 202 pick up a bit of speed, which stays with me to the end. Stop clock as soon as 16 miles are up, just by the supermarket, thus:

Time: 2:00:09
Distance: 16.01 miles
Pace: 7:30s

Comment: this should have been a negative split, but I used all my energy (clearly!) on the way out, so it almost ended up a positive split. I'm still amazed that the second 8 was as fast as it was, on average, given how awful I felt -- really ready to lie down beside the trail and sleep at several points. I was tired afterwards, and drained a third complete bottle of water, but I don't think fluids or food were the real problem. Trail running is hard, and this was after my first 40+ mile week since Boston. I'm just TIRED. So, two days off now (though I did a 5 mile trail hike with F in the evening to show her the beaver dam. . .)

BTW, the ascent for the first 8 was 738' while for the second it was just 194' -- really should have been a negative split. . .

Graduation day shortie -- Sat. May 15

Arrived home very late, so a slow start, arriving at graduation as the speeches were finishing, but in time to chat with folks and then spend the afternoon on campus doing the CHFA ceremony. Home very tired by 5:30, eat and nap, then walk Molly, so finally it was 7:30 before I could get out -- but I wanted to hit 40 miles for the week, so out I went. A lovely evening, and only aiming to stretch my legs a bit: down GeoHannum to Hamilton, then up Allen to 9 and down past Tilton's to the trail entrance on right: not feeling too aggressive, but chug up there okay, then at the top pick up pace on the main trail heading back to Allen, where I take a left to go up and over to 202, then home via VFW, fully warmed up and opening stride a bit. Stop clock just past the supermarket, thus:

Time: 45:00
Distance: 5.7 miles
Pace: 7:54s

Comment: the road miles were quick, after the first two, but the trail was very slow. Still, this brings me to 43 for the week, yay!

Central Park NY -- Fri. May 14

In town for the wedding, and a big dinner with red wine last night, so out with a purpose at 7:30. Road shoes, and long sleeves, cool but quite muggy; zig zag from hotel up a mile to the Park at 61st street, then stretch and get a digivice bearing. Run north on the east side, with some stops, but eventually find the Jackie K.O. reservoir (Marathon Man) and join the folks on that cinder trail, starting at about 91st. Some headwind on the westward bit (at the top) but warm up as I get about 3/4 round, so decide to do another lap, finally stopping clock at the machine house on the southern shore the second time I passed it. Here's that bit:

Time: 33:37
Distance: 4.78 miles
Pace: 7:02s

Then I ran back, having reset the device, but it lost signal once I was back in the streets, so approximately 2.5 miles @ 8:00 pace, adding to the 1 mile before the timed bit.

Good enough for a city day, and I was well warm after, and a bit tired.

Stitching trails -- Wed. May 12

Late afternoon run, and didn't have a whole lot of time, so a mixed bag kind of run, going through a number of small trails stretches and joining them up with road sections. Started down to water plant, wearing woolly hat and Boston shirt, though not too cool enfin. Stretched after that first mile, then up the hill and take the right on the Underwood trail, but then left and up/back to the Wallace pond trail again, then down and back into Underwood -- it adds a couple of short hills and extends the tougher trail a bit. Out after that to Underwood, up to 202, back to courthouse, then follow last bit of Wallace pond trail to police station, and round State school lanes to come out at Checkers, then into rail trail to OldSpfld, then up hill to the old farm trail back toward Dave's place, then down to rail trail again and home the shortest way. Overall:

Time: 52:42
Distance: 7.08 miles
Pace: 7:27s

Comment: w00t! I was using the short distance to encourage a more aggressive run, but not thinking about pace so much as enjoying the breath workout the trails were giving me--they're just higher effort all round. So the pace is pretty good, and that makes 30 so far this week.

Tuesday Trails -- Tue. May 11

My day for a long run this week, and nice opportunity for a trail run. Cool, but not hat weather; Boston shirt and Kanada shoes, water bottle and two quarters of a PBJ as bonk-proofing (not that I planned to race, but planning 12-13 before real breakfast. Out at 9:15, enter trails right at undiscovered country and wake up pretty quickly there; dry, firm, and a bit overgrown in places--I'd forgotten how tricky the rocks are on this trail, so it's a workout along the top trail then down the slope and out onto Hamilton, briefly, then continue across and out onto Bay. Head uphill, out onto 9, then down past Tilton and back onto trail after crossing tracks, giong past town beach and starting along dike; beavers have patched a bit of it, but still too deeply puddled to cross, so go back to rail tracks and follow along till I'm past the lake, then up and rejoin trail; follow through and out on to 9 at bottom of Holland Glen. Already at 4+ miles, and not feeling very sharp, so start slowly up the stream-side, and at the top switch to the subsequent trail, up towards the belvedere, even more slowly. Then trip and go sprawling, cutting right knee; not too bad, so go on after brief clock stop. Long haul up that trail (discover one section has been clear cut, news to me) and then try to find way to Gulf road, but end up at a massive beaver dam--stop a bit there, just so awesome! Then back and out onto Gulf, down the hill, past the pond and down the next stretch, out to 9 (going easy pace, but with the hill inevitably clocking one sub-7:00). Cross to Federal, and along to rejoin railtrail again, just as far as Cheryl, then back out to Federal and road all the way home. Feeling strong despite the hill, so chug up nicely and at the Roadhouse open up a bit, clocking another sub-7:00 as I head to the supermarket. Final stats:

Time: 1:50:32
Distance: 13.17 miles
Pace: 8:24s

Comment: a mainly trail half marathon--awesome! Felt mainly very good after, given the overall slow pace, though as well as two sub-7:00s there were a couple of other quick ones, to make up for the *very* slow ones going uphill. Progress, maybe, in the trail training.

Club run! -- Sun. May 9

Surprisingly cold day with a stiff wind, *such* a contrast w/ last week! Feeling pretty tired, but out to DnD (w/ woolly hat) in time for the meet. Nick D there, not running as there's a HS meet tomorrow; he did the BFC 5K yesterday, but was the only Swiftie there, evidently. Bill also there, and next comes Ken -- so three of us to run, and we go with Bill's suggestion of a 10 miler reverse Enfield. Out and off through CHCS and BHS, nice easy pace and chatting (but cold!). Wearing the new road shoes, comfortable as ever, but right calf still very tight. Keep pace easy to Enfield, feeling okay going down Jabish (quads more or less recovered now), then step up a bit, all the way to Brandywine, then we turn in for the added Sheffield loop. Good pull up the final hill there, feeling great, then back to Allen and on as usual. Crossing 9 we're all together, and from Hamilton pick up to 7:35 ish pace, then as we come to GeoHannum Bill and I go to 7:20 or so, and keep it to the end-- adding a tiny bit on to make our planned distance, thus:

Time: 1:18:35
Distance: 10.01 miles
Pace: 7:51s

Comment: good to be running in a group again. Last week I hit my 35 mile target; this week, maybe up to 40, but whichever, this was a good start.

Longer, slower -- Sat. May 8

Thunder and lightning, heavy showers after a stormy night, so a trail run looked set to be a mud run. Fair enough: headed out late morning, down as usual now to the Wallace pond trail; stretch there, then up a bit, but head off on the Underwood lane, and out to 202; left to the courthouse, then across to 21 and over behind the gym to come out at CHCS, then up 202 again to DnD, and onto the rail trail. Along as far as the underpass, then NoWash to the cut back into the trail at the car place; round the furthest link and then back up the trail to NoWash again; feet a bit soggy by now, so decide to finish by road: up into town center, then along common (calling R on mobile as I run, since I'll be late for lunch) and down 202 as usual to 9 and home. Stop clock just entering development, thus:

Time: 1:24:50
Distance: 11.14 miles
Pace: 7:37s

Comment: aiming for a bit slower today, and the mix of terrain plus tiredness kept me from changing mind too much, despite the challenge of the clock. Figured it would be 7:45s, but by the last road bit I was flowing nicely--though still lots of soreness in quads, and right achilles tight. Step by step, I guess, and lots more sleep.

Pick-me-up run -- Fri. May 7

Yesterday, waking from a p.m. micro-nap, I felt for the first time since Sunday completely able to walk again (!). It faded as I got tired, but I definitely am over the hump. So, figured I could get a quick run in this morning, while still keeping to plans for a long leg stretch tomorrow. Sunny but cool, so headed out wearing my Boston shirt (first time), but with a water bottle as the sun was heating the day up fast. Down GeoHannum to the water plant where I did a fairly thorough set of stretches, then up the hill trail, as if for Wallace pond, but then back down again a different trail to intersect with the one leading out to Underwood, then out to 202 and left up as far as the police station, then round the state school lanes to come out again on 202 and cross directly at PLanet Gas, then rail trail to OldSpfld, up to the trail leading back to 202 through Piper Farm, then up to town and home via 202 and 9, thus:

Time: 53:26
Distance: 7.16 miles
Pace: 7:28s

Comment: nice mix of trail and road, hills and flats. Worth a repeat or two, I think. Stopped clock at entry to Clark, so that was maximum length. Pace felt comfortable, with some good working stretches; felt a bit tired at 4-5 miles, but perked up, though re-feeling soreness by the time I was coming down the hill to 9. Looking forward to a long one tomorrow.

Bike & ride -- Wed. May 5

Still very sore, but figured I might improve with a good stretch out, so out (on another hot dry day) by bike. Head along 9, slowly enough, to Enfield, then up all the way to the Quabbin gate. Lock bike there and start along Early St -- still quite painful, but moving okay. Uphill feels initially better, but then legs just feel tired. Wearing new road shoes, but running on green trail, quite pleasant; take a right and head up to gate at end of Warner, then follow Warner out to 9, and back along to Enfield (sans shirt by now, really nice day!), then up and back to the bike. Go down main trail a bit so I can get full 5 miles, then stop and bike back home.

Time: 38:28
Distance: 5.01 miles
Pace: 7:41s

Comment: this was about 7 miles of biking, really just to get me moving before running. The bike needs new pedal and crank bearings, by the sound of it, but that's one of a whole slew of bike chores I have to do. Reasons to prefer running, number 2: minimal equipment!

N.B. There's a great route possible starting on Early St and ending up at the Quabbin tower -- perfect 10K. Time to start organising it!

Seven Sisters result

No sooner do I post about it than they finally get the results posted. Turns out people come from all over for this one, from Oregon to Quebec (Sherbrooke and Ayers Cliff, familiar places!)--totally neat!

Time: 2:42:33
Place: 51/266 (49th male; 18th of 40+ males)

After listing the 266 finishers, the first 100+ of whom were under 3 hours, and the last of whom was over 6 hours, they then list nine DNF and even a bunch of no-shows (?I think -- DNS).

以上です。

Seven Sisters! -- Sun. May 2

Well, now I know I'm bonkers. But not because of the risk to life and limb, so much; more the sheer depth and breadth of soreness and muscle dysfunction that a run of barely a dozen miles can bring. It's Tuesday evening now, and my legs still feel foreign, out of my control. Ouf. I guess the organisers won't be posting the results any time soon, so I can't give any official details, but here's my approximate report.

To be fair, quite parallel with the encompassing soreness, I feel a continual sense of glee (relief?) at having survived and completed the race. It was a blast, no two ways about it, and (inshallah) I'll be back next year. But I'll be a bit more careful about preparation, specifically, I'll carry Gu packs or similar, and take them at 4 and 8 miles--there's a handy gentle interlude at the Summit House that would be perfect, both out and back. This year was probably as hot as it's likely to get in early May--90 degrees and mainly sunny, dry and dusty. But that didn't bother me so much, as I had plenty of water: I carried a bottle, drank gatorade before starting, grabbed another cup at the turnaround point, and refilled the bottle twice en route, as well as drinking at water stops. I was thirsty at the end, but not dehydrated, and the heat didn't seem bad at all. I wonder if it even helped me, in getting me warmed up and loose very quickly, so I didn't worry about cramping up; maybe.

The route felt pretty much as I expected it would. I knew I could do the first leg strongly, but I wondered about the way back, and finishing--at all, let alone running--so I went out at medium effort, tagging along with some faster runners, but letting others go. The only part I pushed a bit was at the start (first mile and a half) so I could get out from the real crowds as soon as possible; chugging past people on the ups and the downs was also quite encouraging, though I knew some of those guys would be getting back at me later.

The ups and downs are really quite staggering: it's kind of like a primitive stair-climb race, only there's descent as well. I don't think they do that in real stair climbs, and I know why: even yesterday, when I couldn't balance very well on the flat and going downstairs was murder, I felt better going upstairs (it's maybe how we're built? Or how I'm built? Anyhow, once I recover some mobility I'll be interested to see how the rest of me feels). I started to get proto-blisters by the time I reached the Summit House, and the descent to the halfway point was where my quads started to get a bit painful. Up to that point, from about mile 2, I'd been sticking close behind a top female runner Deb L (who fell just after the Summit house, but was unfazed, and shortly after that got away for good). As we headed down the tricky descent (slanted slabs of rock, not kind to tiring feet), we met the first returners, one by one, so that as I reached the turn around I'd lost count after 10 of them. I was in the mid-late 20s place wise, according to one spectator, but already I was starting to rein back. Stopped to eat half a banana while some helpful chap refilled my water bottle, then started back up the hill, but that long haul up really took it out of me. Passed Rob L and Joe B somewhere up there as they were coming down, and I felt pretty grim at that point. At the Summit I regrouped a bit, and then it was a mainly solitary slog for a while, realising slowly that I needed real food, real soon. There was none. I asked. Asked the water stop folks, the sky, the plants --those fresh green leaves started to look chewable, but some were surely not good for me, and I didn't (at that point) want to stop.

Inevitably, hunger turned to faintness, and eventually, I had to walk; a real bonk like the Monson half that time. Told myself I'd just walk the ups and downs, but with maybe two miles to go I was only intermittently jogging even on the flatter bits. Some others must have been similarly bushed, as fewer people overtook than might have--but I was wondering if I'd even be in the top 100 at that point. Finally spotting the concrete foundation and then the iron pipes coming down the slope that meant Bare Mountain was close, I felt I'd rested enough, and tried to push a bit more, but I was tired. I'd wanted to lie down and sleep by that point, but then a spectator cheered on a woman and her dad coming up behind me, and I bucked up enough to get running. Sore, sore, sore, down the mountain we'd climbed in a crowd, with people on my heels -- let one guy past, but held off the others and suddenly, it was over. My digivice measured 2:42:35, which was fine by me. I think that's good enough to be within the top 100, and with food (assuming I recover proper use of my legs!) I think there's maybe 8-10 minutes I can take off that. That's a target, anyway for next year: 2:35.

Coming down and out of the trail there was no finish line, just a small crowd of recuperating runners and supoprters/family grouped at the side of the road, plus a truck with lots of bottles of icecold water. I downed about half of one, and then crossed 116 to find my way to the food! Up to the Visitor Center, blissfully cool and shady, where I got yoghurt, granola, banana halves, apple and orange juice, lemonade, bagels w/cream cheese, cookies, and more granola. MUCH better! Took off my shoes and wandered back to the start/finish line, waiting to see if Rob and Joe would appear, but there was a cool breeze that started to chill me a bit -- I stretched a while, then headed back to my car. Home, drink more, and then sleep, thinking about next time.

Night miles -- Thu. Apr. 29

Early morning meeting and welter of work for Saturday's conference, so, after work -- not feeling too bright, but. Get out around 9, right between the twilight and the moonrise, so pretty dark; mild enough to go with two layers and no jacket (but a hat too, as it was cooling off). Head down GeoHannum, slowly, and not stopping to do stretches; reach Rural, loop round to Boardman, then back to Eskett and out to 202, then down to Chicopee Rd, and go left, past Bagg Hill, and back to finish along School St. and GeoHannum again. Keep pace milder for 5 miles (around 7:45s), then feel a bit warmer and looser, adn open up to get the average to 7:30 by the time I hit 8 miles, then push a bit longer, to 10 (fastest mile was 7:08), then slacken off a bit.

Time: 1:24:14
Distance: 11.21 miles
Pace: 7:31

Comment: a hard workout by the end, running all the way up to the development before stopping the clock. Definite residual soreness from last Sunday, but condition otherwise fine. Wore the newer road shoes, quite comfortable; keeping the trail shoes for crazy Sunday's race. . .