Alleviating Guilt

Took the past two days off. Wednesday, I gave some errands precedence but yesterday my actions transformed me into a hypocritical moron... it was cold and raining out, and I didn't feel like running in that kind of weather. This after I raved on Tuesday's blog post about how much I love running in cold weather. Normally, that's true. Yesterday, it wasn't. I instead used this being a chill-out month as an excuse to come home, crawl into bed and read Dan Simmons's Endymion. For what it's worth, it's the third book in his Hyperion series, a highly recommended read if you enjoy nerdy, intelligent, existential science fiction.

So with that, I sought to alleviate some guilt today by running a hilly seven mile route. It went really well. Legs didn't feel too rusty. Very enjoyable, aside from the old lady who nearly hit me with her SUV.

It's time to start creeping the mileage up some. Kind of a ramp-up to the ramp-up, though that sounds (and probably is) redundant.

Ran 7.1 miles @ 7:47/mile pace.
Paved roads.
Very hilly.
50 degrees, sunny.
Saucony Kinvara 3, shorts, long sleeved shirt.

Cold Snap!

I absolutely love running in colder weather. For one, I'm pretty comfortable with it. My races and training runs have also told me I run faster in the cold and the antithesis is also true... I don't do as well in hot weather and tend to overheat rather easily.

Today it was nice and chilly, so after I voted and swung by the Hannaford for a few things Kate and I forgot to pick up the other day, I changed and set out for a run on my 5K route. The legs felt pretty spry and the refrigerated air running over the bare skin of my face and legs felt great. Really enjoyable.

December will be here quickly. I hope to have a training plan for Boston mapped out by then. Will focus on being more regimented and disciplined this time around. I really, really want to go after that sub-3 and think it's within my realm, but talk is cheap. In the meantime, will continue to keep the mileage low while keeping my sanity.

Ran 3.1 miles @ 7:26/mile pace.
Paved roads.
Slightly hilly.
Upper 30s, sunny.
Saucony Kinvara 3, shorts, windbreaker, short sleeved shirt, gloves.

Trail Run and Trail Maintenance at the Brad

A fun day at Bradbury Mountain today. I hit the trails with Mindy and Dora for a little over five and a half miles. We kept the pace easy and there was no shortage of conversation which focused a lot on education, literature and film. Both Mindy and Dora are super cool and intelligent women, so it was naturally a blast. Glad we were able to run together again.

As we ran back to the parking lot, several others had arrived for some planned maintenance work. Kate, Amy and I cleared the Summit Trail. We primarily raked the trail, which might sound kind of silly but wet foilage on rocks and roots can make things quite slippery, which is of special concern for families hiking with small children, which there was a lot of today. Besides, the trail looked great after we were done with it! I should have taken a picture. 

Afterwards, Kate and I took care of some shopping at LL Bean and then hit Gritty's for lunch before heading home. Fun day. 

Ran 5.7 miles @ 13:27/mile pace. 

Trails.

Extremely hilly. 

Mid 40s, sunny. 

New Balance MT110, shorts, windbreaker, short sleeved shirt. 

A Haiku

A short run today.
Ran a mix of roads and trails.
It was fun, ya know?

Ran 2.4 miles @ 8:53/mile pace.
Paved roads, trails.
Slightly hilly.
Lower 50s, overcast.
Merrell Bare Access, shorts, short sleeved shirt.

WD-40

I actually felt like a runner today. Only felt a little bit of rust and my legs appeared to be much less confused. Good hills on this route as well. Sweet.

Was going to take tomorrow off but I think it would be prudent to compromise a bit and get in a short 2-3 miler, just to keep the momentum moving forward. It'll be hard to draw the line in keeping my mileage low this month, but giving the body a break while also making myself chomp at the bit for December is a good thing. 

Ran 5.5 miles @ 7:38/mile pace. 

Paved roads. 

Very hilly. 

Mid 50s, sunny. 

Saucony Kinvara 3, shorts, long sleeved shirt, cap. 

Boo!

In the spirit of Halloween, something that's a bit scary is how much rust one accumulates after taking nine days off. Not worried though. Tis normal, especially when the marathon was about two weeks ago. Some light residual coughing still, but it's nothing bad at all and I'm otherwise officially over that ugly cold/flu virus thingy. 

Nice and easy. No rushing it on the pace. Could have went longer, but figured four was good for today.  Short runs on tap for the rest of the week and will probably make Friday another rest day. Next week, runs a touch longer and will incorporate some stride work. Starting next week, should be okay to get in the goal 20-30 miles a week of light running through November and then will begin ramping things up for Boston. 

Ran 4.0 miles @ 8:39/mile pace. 

Paved roads. 

Slightly hilly. 

Upper 50s, overcast. 

Brooks Mach 13, shorts, short sleeved shirt. 

Rust, Sandy and Venison Chili

It's been a long nine days... a nasty cold virus moved to my lungs and was the source of regular coughing fits that happened for several days. The nasty deep down congested kind of coughing, to boot. Running just would have been stupid, especially since I'm in a recovery-followed-by-long-term-rest period anyway. I was worried I might have bronchitis, but just as I was getting to the point to where I was ready to call the doctor, I started getting better.

So, today I felt good enough for a short and slow run. Yeah, the outer fringes of Hurricane Sandy are hitting us, but I really wanted to go for a run, despite the wind gusts close to 50 mph at the time. No big deal, just kept a sharper eye on the cars and the trees.

Felt really rusty. I think my legs were confused. It felt unusually hard, but that's totally to be expected after nine days off. However, at the same time it felt great. Giving the legs some turnover while feeling Mother Nature's wrath as the wind whipped light rain in my face... it was freedom. I loved it.

Got home and showered, and shortly thereafter our power went out for about 2.5 hours, thanks to a tree falling on the power lines about a quarter of a mile down the road. It's back on now, and hopefully it'll stay that way. But while it was out, Kate and I were well prepared and we made a killer venison chili for dinner under the light of kerosene lamps. It ruled.

Adjusting the wicks on the lamps. 

Cooking sans electricity. 

The final product: a most delicious venison chili. 

Recipe for the chili, if anyone is interested. 

Ran 3.1 miles @ 7:58/mile pace.
Paved roads.
Slightly hilly.
Mid 50s, overcast, light rain, very windy.
Saucony Kinvara 3, shorts, long sleeved shirt.