Chills and Hills

You'd think we're living in Denver right now. A month ago I forgot what the sun looked like but now it's the clouds that have been absent from the skies. Crisp, cool air to boot, so it's been perfect running weather lately.

Solid run today on a hilly route. Felt a little cold at first but once I hit the uphills after about a mile, I felt fine. Good energy and after four miles at an easy pace I let it loose on the last three. Worth mentioning those were downhill and flat miles, but still. Felt nice to let'er rip (7:04, 6:41, 6:13).

Running has been feeling great lately. I can tell I'm ready to start ramping it up here soon and can't wait. Sticking with the master plan but thankfully there's not much time before it's time.

Ran 7.1 miles @ 7:22/mile pace.
Paved roads.
Very hilly.
Lower 40s, sunny.
Saucony Kinvara 3, shorts, long sleeved shirt, short sleeved shirt.

Trail Exploration

A nice treat this morning as Kate joined me for a portion of my trail run in the woods out back. She just wanted to get in a mile and a half, so after three quarters of a mile she headed back and I continued on.

I hadn't run the route I had planned in a while, and I realized halfway through that it was going to be a few miles short of the five miles I wanted to do. So, I explored some new trails and also some paths that I hadn't been on in a long while.

One trail dissolved into the woods, and after bushwacking around a bit I decided it was a lost cause and backtracked. Another trail has been closed to ATV traffic. Unfortunately, most people in my area don't venture far into the woods unless they're on something with a gas motor. As a result, there wasn't enough foot or bike traffic to make the way clear, and after getting off track a few times I headed back to the main path again. It's always fun to explore, one of the reasons why I love trail running. Great way to spend part of the morning. Perfect late autumn weather, to boot.

A mere 21.6 miles for the week. Last week was 21.3. The week before that, just 20.6. Nice. Just as I planned. It feels weird not doing a lot of mileage and also nothing very intense, but that'll change soon enough. I'll probably get close to 30 this upcoming week, and tack on 5-10 miles a week through December until I'm up to ~60/week. Then I'll introduce the intensity more regularly and be in full I'm-gonna-get-you-Boston mode. Bring it!!!

Ran 5.0 miles @ 11:14 (includes several where-the-#%&@-am-I stops and slow downs).
Trails.
Very hilly.
Upper 30s to lower 40s, sunny.
Nike Waffle Racer VIII, shorts, windbreaker (shed after 1.5 miles), short sleeved shirt, long sleeved shirt, beanie, gloves.

The Land of Pine

Fun run at Pineland today and it demonstrated how out of touch I am with my running senses. Myself, Ian and Zak are all undergoing chill out periods before ramping up for what's next. I think we all knew we were going a bit fast but wrote off the effort as being relatively out of shape (or in Ian's case, recovering from a trail marathon two weeks ago).

Low and behold when we ended the run and I looked at the pace for the first time, it turns out we were indeed going relatively fast. I would have guessed our pace at 8:50/mile but it was actually just over 8:00/mile, which was a fun surprise to see. I think it's safe to say that Pineland is about a minute slower per mile than roads with an equal effort, so nice to get in a decent moderate pace. 

Lot's of others out running today as well. Ran with a new person in our group, Jeannie, for quite a bit. She's a really strong runner and just moved here with her significant other (forget his name, unfortunately) from Tennessee. Both really nice folks. 

Afterwards, Ian and I had coffee and breakfast sandwiches at the visitor's center while waiting for Emma to finish her run. Julia joined us for a bit as well. Nice end to the morning. Now I'm ready for an afternoon nap. 

Ran 7.8 miles @ 8:01/mile pace. 

Trails. 

Moderately hilly. 

Upper 20s to mid 30s, sunny. 

New Balance MT110, long tights, windbreaker (shed after a few miles), short sleeved shirt, beanie, gloves. 

Turnover

I didn't want my legs to forget what a faster pace felt like so I did a very light track workout to give them some turnover.

Warmed up for a few miles then did five 400M repeats on the track. Hard to quantify these things, but I'd say ~80-85% effort is probably accurate, so pretty light. Felt great. Running fast is simply fun.

My Brooks Mach 13 flats now have 460+ miles on them. Might have to retire them soon. They just feel a bit tired and worn out. My other flats are Nike Waffle Racers but they don't exactly fit me very well and are also a bit too knobby of a tread for anything on the road. Not bad for shorter trail runs though. Will have to keep my eyes on Running Warehouse for a good pair on sale.

w/u: Ran 2.0 miles @ 8:05/mile pace.
5 X 400M @ 80-85% effort w/ 2:00 static rest. 1:25, 1:21, 1:20, 1:19, 1:19.
c/d: Ran 1.5 miles @ 8:03/mile pace.
Paved roads (w/u and c/d), track.
Slightly hilly (w/u and c/d).
Lower 40s, sunny.
Brooks Mach 13, shorts, long sleeved shirt, short sleeved shirt.

L'esprit Vide

There are few things more aggravating than pulling into the parking lot at work and realizing that you forgot to pack your running shoes. 

Because of the small window that I had to run today, the track workout will have to wait until tomorrow. No time during the day to retrieve said shoes. 

Dead Owls

Just a slow and short out and back along Rt. 5. Legs felt great, despite the run up Ossipee yesterday. Still, kept the pace very pedestrian.

Saw a dead northern saw-whet owl by the side of the road. Poor little guy. I've heard them at night before but had never seen one in the wild, until now. I don't think dead ones count as official sightings though. If they do, it's certainly not as exciting.

Ran 4.1 miles @ 8:39/mile pace.
Paved roads.
Mostly flat.
Upper 40s to lower 50s, sunny.
Merrell Bare Access, shorts, long sleeved shirt, cap.

Ossipee Hill and Writing

Hit the local mountain this morning, running an out and back to Ossipee Hill. Given how I've been feeling lately, I figured I could do this run without any difficulty and I was glad I was right. It's official: a lot of the rust is now off, my legs are recovered and they feel primed for a ramp-up to a rigorous training cycle for Boston, which will begin in December.

Perfect running weather and a great day to be out. No hunting allowed on Sundays, but I kept an eye out for poachers nonetheless and was dressed in bright colors (notably the vibrant orange gloves, courtesy of volunteering at the Craig Cup). I've heard too many friends report hunters for poaching or trespassing in non-hunting areas this season, so best to be very careful. Thankfully no incidents though. Just a nice day in the woods. 

Did the usual climb up the firetower and saw the ocean and the White Mountains. Too hazy/cloudy to see the Presidentials though. Let the wind dry off my sweat but started to head down before I got too cold, and I had a nice gallop back home. 

Thought a lot about the current writing project while I ran. Getting married over the summer was obviously a pretty big life change, though one for the better obviously. With that, the start of the school year, cross country season and training for MDI, I just didn't seem to have much time for other projects. However, I also really hoped that my writing wouldn't be like exercise is for most people: something you want to do and feel like you should be doing but just never seem to have the time. 

But not having as much on my plate obviously makes doing projects easier, and that's the case now. The school year and married life have reached cruising altitude. Cross country season is over. Boston training doesn't begin for another month but even when it does, it shouldn't impact things too much. 

As a result of the above, I've picked back up on a story (horror/suspense) I had began working on earlier this year. I've read through what I've wrote and decided that I really like it. I rewrote the outline all the way to the ending, and the actual writing is going great. I feel like I have a rhythm going and most importantly, I'm having fun doing it. Not to get too corny here, but running obviously provides a nice physical outlet. I think it's just as important to have a creative one as well. Glad I've got mine going again!

Ran 11.1 miles @ 8:59/mile pace. 

Paved roads, dirt roads, jeep roads, trails. 

Extremely hilly. 

Lower to mid 40s, overcast. 

Saucony Kinvara 3, shorts, short sleeved shirt, long sleeved shirt, beanie (off and on), gloves.