It was a warm morning, nearly 60 degrees which is just wrong for Oct 28. My first mile, the slow one, didn't feel bad at all so I pushed the pace a little. At Sanders Theater I watched the pedestrian crossing light count down and I tried to race it, but pulled up just a little short, reaching the crosswalk just after it hit 0 and the traffic started across. Oh well, there are always more lights. On to the river, along the dirt paths (I put new batteries in my headlamp, still need a brighter one) and enjoyed the early morning warmth. At the Elliot bridge I noticed a shell in the water, gliding silently along in the darkness with nothing but a bow and stern light to bring notice. They pulled up along side me as I came closer to the water and for a while we paced each other down the Charles in the darkness. A rabbit jumped out of the bushes in front of me and decided she was going the same direction I was and hopped away directly ahead. I picked up speed to catch her but no such luck; that was not a race I was going to win.
Waiting for the light at the JFK bridge I noticed the crew boat was now well ahead of me so I decided to race it to the River St bridge. Fortunately, they had no idea I was racing them and it was easy to catch up and pass. I suspect they were fishing. Just before the last bridge a collection of about 20 young folks in matching running gear and snazzy reflective belts all ran by the opposite way, almost in unison, in stark contrast to my solitary morning. Back to Cambridge and I spied another runner that I attempted to reel in. There was a second runner as well, but he was clearly too fast to catch so no race was initiated on my part. I caught my prey at Western Ave just in time to meet up again with the group of 20 identical outfits, passing by me in clumps of 3 and 4 now. Back towards home and a pretty fast time for me. It was my fastest run since the half marathon, except for the first mile I was right around 8:30.
I loved the little races I could make for myself. Traffic lights are great, but the consequences for losing can be dire. Rabbits and other game are classic targets, but you have to prepare yourself for lifetime of disappointment. Crew boats are great fun, but it works best IMO when they don't realize that they're racing you, and it's best to avoid the 8's if you're slow like me. Other runners can be fun, but it's hard to sneak up on them when it's pitch black and you're running with a headlamp. And, as it turns out, they are all variations of running against yourself.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Suburban Wildlife
It was such a nice warm day near the end of October that I wanted to get out in daylight and not have to worry about running under a headlamp. I finished my last meeting of the day around 4:00 and started my run before 4:30 in a t-shirt and shorts. It was nearly 60 degrees and it felt great to be out there, MP3 player churning out new tunes I recently added. Never underestimate new tunes. As usual, the first mile was slow but not awkward, always a good sign, but by the end of mile 2 I had a stitch in my side so I slowed down again. I had decided to take the 5 mile loop and turned left at the cul-de-sac.
The leaves on the ground made it a little difficult to see my footing but I was on a sidewalk, what could happen? At the halfway point the stitch was gone and I picked up the pace a little. A pleasant day out, my pace became deliberate and faster. At 3 miles I knew I could make this a good overall pace so I switched my watch to see my pacer and started reeling him in. On Princess Pine Dr, less than a mile from the office, I spotted a deer standing on the edge of the road, just staring at me as I approached. She ran across the road in front of me, then paused as I went by. I forgot about the time, my pace, work, and just locked eyes with her as we ready each others body language.
And then I was past, chugging up the last hill and across Rt 3 towards home, or at least the office. I went 5 miles, just under 9:00/miles, and ended up one suburban wildlife encounter richer.
The leaves on the ground made it a little difficult to see my footing but I was on a sidewalk, what could happen? At the halfway point the stitch was gone and I picked up the pace a little. A pleasant day out, my pace became deliberate and faster. At 3 miles I knew I could make this a good overall pace so I switched my watch to see my pacer and started reeling him in. On Princess Pine Dr, less than a mile from the office, I spotted a deer standing on the edge of the road, just staring at me as I approached. She ran across the road in front of me, then paused as I went by. I forgot about the time, my pace, work, and just locked eyes with her as we ready each others body language.
And then I was past, chugging up the last hill and across Rt 3 towards home, or at least the office. I went 5 miles, just under 9:00/miles, and ended up one suburban wildlife encounter richer.
A good run
At the end of last week my legs were pretty beat. I started with the Bay State Half Marathon and ran 4 more days during the week, including a nice albeit slow trail run in the Fells on Saturday. On Monday my legs were still sore and I wasn't holding out a lot of hope for a good run. I elected to run from home rather than from work, since the Charles River always seems to energize me. Friends had run the Bimbler's Bluff 50K race over the weekend and had some great finishes, even in the face of physical adversity, so I was determined that I would get out there one way or the other. Watching the Head of the Charles also helped my inspiration.
As I changed into my running gear my body felt energized; I'm not sure where that energy came from. As I stretched out front of my house I thought about going for 6 instead of 4 miles. It was warm and being out in shorts made my legs eager for a run. The first mile was slow, as it always is, but it wasn't awkward or painful, a good sign. I saw Mimi just before hitting the river, she was finishing her run as I was headed out. By then I'd made the decision to go up to the Elliot Bridge and extend the run. My headlamp illumination proved inadequate for running on the narrow dirt path next to the bike path, so I stayed on the pavement most of the way. It's amazing how few runners or bikers carry any sort of illumination. Silly people.
At the bridge I checked my pace and saw that I had stepped it up quite a bit, this might even be a fast run. Thinking about the rowers who had been on the river the past two days kept my brain occupied, and the next mile flew by. There were still a bunch of the big white tents near the footbridge and I thought I heard some people still out on the water but didn't see any bow lights. Ghost rowers, perhaps? The turn at River St and now I was headed back home. It's tough seeing the ground when the headlights of the oncoming cars are in your eyes, so I went back on the paved path, before cutting across Memorial Drive. The run was going to be a little short so I added a loop around my block to make sure I had 6+ miles. It ended up pretty fast, nearly my half marathon pace. If I took out the first mile it would have been faster.
I wonder where that energy came from? It wasn't there when I started getting ready for the run. Never look a gift run in the mouth.
As I changed into my running gear my body felt energized; I'm not sure where that energy came from. As I stretched out front of my house I thought about going for 6 instead of 4 miles. It was warm and being out in shorts made my legs eager for a run. The first mile was slow, as it always is, but it wasn't awkward or painful, a good sign. I saw Mimi just before hitting the river, she was finishing her run as I was headed out. By then I'd made the decision to go up to the Elliot Bridge and extend the run. My headlamp illumination proved inadequate for running on the narrow dirt path next to the bike path, so I stayed on the pavement most of the way. It's amazing how few runners or bikers carry any sort of illumination. Silly people.
At the bridge I checked my pace and saw that I had stepped it up quite a bit, this might even be a fast run. Thinking about the rowers who had been on the river the past two days kept my brain occupied, and the next mile flew by. There were still a bunch of the big white tents near the footbridge and I thought I heard some people still out on the water but didn't see any bow lights. Ghost rowers, perhaps? The turn at River St and now I was headed back home. It's tough seeing the ground when the headlights of the oncoming cars are in your eyes, so I went back on the paved path, before cutting across Memorial Drive. The run was going to be a little short so I added a loop around my block to make sure I had 6+ miles. It ended up pretty fast, nearly my half marathon pace. If I took out the first mile it would have been faster.
I wonder where that energy came from? It wasn't there when I started getting ready for the run. Never look a gift run in the mouth.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
End of a long week
I've already run 25+ miles this week, including the half marathon on Sunday and the night trail run on Thursday night. Today I wanted to do some more trail running, but in the daylight this time. The Fells are close to home, have lots of interesting trails to choose from, and the standard loop is 7 miles which is just what I was looking for. After pottery in the morning I headed to Sheepfold but as usual, the parking area was full, so I parked over on South Border Road by Bellvue Pond. A quick look at the map reminded me of where the trails went and off I went.
Right away I could tell that my legs weren't feeling great. They were tired and so was I. Do runners think of their legs as separate entities? I picked my way though the usual trails, climbing over some downed trees and skirting some mud and running water. Ah, this was rugged. At Sheepfold I paused a bit to have a Gu and pet some dogs before headed back on the mountain bike loop towards the hill. I ended up in a warren of tiny trails before coming out on a yellow blazed trail that led me to the water tower where I got the first comments on my Dirty Girl gaiters. After a brief stop for the view and running into a friend who was out for a hike I started down to the mountain bike trails in the back corner of the Fells.
I finally got into something of a rhythm here, not a fast pace but a comfortable gait. The discomfort and soreness drifted into an inconsequential haze and my mind drifted to thoughts of friends running or rowing this weekend which made it easy to continue. Around the corner of the reservoir and some fun switchbacks then onto some fire roads again where I could pick up speed. At one point I noticed an orange and white station that looked like an orienteering marker and sure enough some fast young people in spandex carrying maps went running by. They were running in all directions through the woods and on the myriad of trails, which made my casual run a bit surreal.
After passing though the start/finish line and seeing dozens of orienteering participants I headed through some random woods until I caught my trail to Bellvue Pond. The finish felts strong but I didn't have any desire to go further, 7+ was fine. I had to rush back, get food, pick up my rebuilt bicycle wheel and head to the river to catch some of the Head of the Charles Regatta. It was a busy run, one that never completely clicked, but a good day to be out. It was good to push through a bad start and persevere. I'm sure the ability to do that will serve me well some day.
I finally got into something of a rhythm here, not a fast pace but a comfortable gait. The discomfort and soreness drifted into an inconsequential haze and my mind drifted to thoughts of friends running or rowing this weekend which made it easy to continue. Around the corner of the reservoir and some fun switchbacks then onto some fire roads again where I could pick up speed. At one point I noticed an orange and white station that looked like an orienteering marker and sure enough some fast young people in spandex carrying maps went running by. They were running in all directions through the woods and on the myriad of trails, which made my casual run a bit surreal.
After passing though the start/finish line and seeing dozens of orienteering participants I headed through some random woods until I caught my trail to Bellvue Pond. The finish felts strong but I didn't have any desire to go further, 7+ was fine. I had to rush back, get food, pick up my rebuilt bicycle wheel and head to the river to catch some of the Head of the Charles Regatta. It was a busy run, one that never completely clicked, but a good day to be out. It was good to push through a bad start and persevere. I'm sure the ability to do that will serve me well some day.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Semi-Rugged - trail running in the dark
This run was something different, for sure. Mines Falls park in Nashua has a great collection of trails and will be host to the Jack London 10K trail run in early November. A bunch of friends all entered the race and Cathy organized a run of the course so we'd be familiar with it even though we've all run at Mines Falls in the past. I pulled into the parking area at 5:50 to see Cathy and Bob already there. They'd never met but had seen pictures of each other online so had already introduced themselves. Dani was going to try to make it, but told us not to wait if she wasn't there yet. We dressed for the run (hats, gloves, headlamps) and started out on the first loop.
It was still light and Cathy thought we should take advantage of being able to see so she took off at a blistering pace. Bob and I wondered what we had gotten ourselves into. The first part of the course is good footing so we were able to keep up, just barely, we even saw a muskrat in the canal. Over the bridge and back towards the gate house we heard a yell "Cathy" from the other side and concluded it was Dani. We decided to wait at the gatehouse at the end of the first loop and on we went on the rougher trails. I was pressing hard to keep up with Cathy who knows every root and rock so was running with purpose. Dani was waiting for us at the gatehouse when we arrived and we pressed off into the woods as the light dwindled.
Soon after that I turned on my headlamp and was centered in the cone of light. My concentration was on the reflective patch on the back of Cathy's pack, her feet, and the trail. If I allowed anything else to catch my attention I stumbled so I was forced to focus. There were a series of downed logs that we had to jump over, so naturally I tripped on the flat ground in between them, no blood - no foul. Cathy and I were running a bit faster than Dani and Bob (who ran faster than me in the half marathon on Sunday) and unfortunately we lost them on the other side of the highway. Since Bob knew the trails I assumed they elected to stay on the better trails while I plunged on following the reflective triangles that darted and skipped past obstacles.
Night time trail running is challenging. I stepped on a few roots and rocks that threatened to twist an ankle but never did. I tripped once and caught myself on my hands with no damage (except to my pride) and slowed down a bit after that. We kept up a conversation the entire run in our two little cones of light. Back to the major trail and we headed back towards home. But the Jack London has a trick or two up its sleeve as we headed back to the river, down and up a nice hill that had me slowing down due to not being able to see far enough ahead. Cathy, knowing the route, could run with more confidence and she sped ahead. Back to the last turn and a sprint for the finish, where we met Bob and Dani who had run their own route.
I've liked the trail running I've done in the past, but night time training is its own special world. As winter is coming up and sunset is now before 6:00 this may be a regular option until the trails are full of snow and ice. It's definitely a way to break up some boring training runs, and have fun on what would otherwise be familiar trails. Next time, rain and mud! Rugged!
10/21/2010 - Mines Falls trail run by metsky at Garmin Connect - Details
It was still light and Cathy thought we should take advantage of being able to see so she took off at a blistering pace. Bob and I wondered what we had gotten ourselves into. The first part of the course is good footing so we were able to keep up, just barely, we even saw a muskrat in the canal. Over the bridge and back towards the gate house we heard a yell "Cathy" from the other side and concluded it was Dani. We decided to wait at the gatehouse at the end of the first loop and on we went on the rougher trails. I was pressing hard to keep up with Cathy who knows every root and rock so was running with purpose. Dani was waiting for us at the gatehouse when we arrived and we pressed off into the woods as the light dwindled.
Soon after that I turned on my headlamp and was centered in the cone of light. My concentration was on the reflective patch on the back of Cathy's pack, her feet, and the trail. If I allowed anything else to catch my attention I stumbled so I was forced to focus. There were a series of downed logs that we had to jump over, so naturally I tripped on the flat ground in between them, no blood - no foul. Cathy and I were running a bit faster than Dani and Bob (who ran faster than me in the half marathon on Sunday) and unfortunately we lost them on the other side of the highway. Since Bob knew the trails I assumed they elected to stay on the better trails while I plunged on following the reflective triangles that darted and skipped past obstacles.
Night time trail running is challenging. I stepped on a few roots and rocks that threatened to twist an ankle but never did. I tripped once and caught myself on my hands with no damage (except to my pride) and slowed down a bit after that. We kept up a conversation the entire run in our two little cones of light. Back to the major trail and we headed back towards home. But the Jack London has a trick or two up its sleeve as we headed back to the river, down and up a nice hill that had me slowing down due to not being able to see far enough ahead. Cathy, knowing the route, could run with more confidence and she sped ahead. Back to the last turn and a sprint for the finish, where we met Bob and Dani who had run their own route.
I've liked the trail running I've done in the past, but night time training is its own special world. As winter is coming up and sunset is now before 6:00 this may be a regular option until the trails are full of snow and ice. It's definitely a way to break up some boring training runs, and have fun on what would otherwise be familiar trails. Next time, rain and mud! Rugged!
10/21/2010 - Mines Falls trail run by metsky at Garmin Connect - Details
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Another early morning
Went to Tavern at the End of the World to welcome Rebecca back to the States, if only for a brief visit, and to have a few beers with friends. Even brought a few of them back to the house for the night. :) So I ended up going to bed late and getting up early, but had a similar run as yesterday, a little slower but just fine. I made the decision early on not to worry about speed and just try to keep a steady pace.
I'm getting familiar with the other runners out there in the morning. And all the tents are set up for the HOCR by the boathouses. I'm hoping to spend some time along the river this weekend taking photos and cheering on the rowers.
I'm getting familiar with the other runners out there in the morning. And all the tents are set up for the HOCR by the boathouses. I'm hoping to spend some time along the river this weekend taking photos and cheering on the rowers.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Morning run after race
I ran the Bay State Half on Sunday, took Monday off, and wanted to get back into my routine by Tuesday. I felt much better than I expected so I planned for a morning run today. Got up at 5:30, put on my new shirt from the Bay State :) and reflective vest, hat and gloves, and headed out with my headlamp in flashing mode. It was cool but felt about the same as the temp at start time on Monday.
I really like the stillness of the morning when the streets are mostly empty and a few runners and bikers are the only ones moving. I checked my pace a few times but was mostly interested in stretching the legs. Some of the other early morning runners are becoming familiar faces; a community of people with a common interest but who never speak to one another. I run on the little dirt paths next to the paved bike path but I'm concerned about tripping in the dark so if it gets rough I cut back over.
The turn at River Street behind me, I headed for home feeling pretty good. There was no soreness, no twinges of pain when I stepped over curves. It was still dark as I pulled in front of the house, just under 9:00 pace. Time to start my day.
I really like the stillness of the morning when the streets are mostly empty and a few runners and bikers are the only ones moving. I checked my pace a few times but was mostly interested in stretching the legs. Some of the other early morning runners are becoming familiar faces; a community of people with a common interest but who never speak to one another. I run on the little dirt paths next to the paved bike path but I'm concerned about tripping in the dark so if it gets rough I cut back over.
The turn at River Street behind me, I headed for home feeling pretty good. There was no soreness, no twinges of pain when I stepped over curves. It was still dark as I pulled in front of the house, just under 9:00 pace. Time to start my day.
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