Baldface Mountain Loop Run

Epic day running the Baldface Mountain Loop with several friends. Big group of us this year, but we broke up into respective groups based on paces. My legs felt great and today was simply a blast.

Ian, Jeremy and I cruised up to South Baldface, reaching it in about 1:15 despite not really full-on pushing it and also stopping a few times to help Ian's dogs, Jet and Kip, up some of the more difficult ledges. I was really impressed with how well those dogs danced up the climb to the summit. It gets really steep at times and you have to Gollum your way up using your upper body quite a bit in addition to the legs.

We reached the top and not much longer Nathan got there as well. From there, we ran the ridge over to North Baldface and then Eagle Crag, where we headed down. Nathan dropped back on the descent, and I struggled a little to keep up with Jeremy and Ian (both of them are very proficient on downhill technical sections), but I kept up pretty well.

We reached the Emerald Pool near the end and man, the water was COOOOOOLD. Very refreshing though and a great way to rinse off as well. Lot's o' fun!

Some of the below pics stolen from Ian without permission:

Puppies!

Making our way up.

South Baldface Summit.

Looking back on the trail.

Mt. Washington looms. 

North Baldface summit. 

Ran 10.0 miles @ 19:57/mile pace (includes most stops, sans the Emerald Pool)
Trails.
Insanely hilly.
Lower 60s to Mid 70s, sunny.
New Balance MT100, shorts, short sleeved shirt, cap, Nathan double water bottle carrier.

Viva Variety!

Ran on a mix of paved roads, dirt roads and trails this morning, taking advantage of the cooler air. Went well. Easy pace but even still the rust feels like it's continuing to fall off. Very happy about that.

As the mileage ramps up, I'll also gradually widen the gap between the hard and easy workouts, minimizing the moderate stuff. I anticipate being back in somewhat decent race shape by the end of the month. Yes, my wedding and preparations could complicate the training, and of course that takes precedence, but I should be able to work around everything.

Ran 5.1 miles @ 8:42/mile pace.
Paved roads, dirt roads, trails.
Very hilly.
Upper 50s, sunny.
Brooks Mach 13, shorts, short sleeved shirt, cap.

Rail Trails

Hitchhiking inch worm.

Another step towards kicking off the rust today. Legs felt a little heavy from yesterday, but that dissipated after a few miles. Goal is to end up with 40 miles for the week this week, and hopefully continue to climb upward from there. Will also be interjecting more speed work as well.

Hit the rail trails after school was out. Saw three other runners, a father and son mountain biking and three geocachers. Always makes me happy to see others out getting exercise on the trails as opposed to riding something with a motor on it.

Another similar run tomorrow and a mountain run on the agenda for Sunday. Good stuff!

Ran 6.0 miles @ 8:31/mile pace.
Rail trails.
Slightly hilly.
Mid 70s, partly cloudy.
Nike Waffle Racer 8, shorts, short sleeved shirt.

A Fine Run on a Fine Day

I had meant to run yesterday, but I had to get recertified for First Aid/CPR and the class ran late. Afterwards, opted not to run, which I hated to do and kicked myself for it later.

I was a little concerned about feeling mentally drained again as I had a meeting today after school to get recertified for teaching, but it went smoothly. It only took ten minutes and now I'm good to go for another five years. Afterwards, I quickly changed and hit my 12 mile route. 

I definitely felt a little rusty, but I expected that. I haven't gotten in any double digit mileage runs since the stomach bug fiasco at Sugarloaf. Kept the pace easy as planned and it went well enough. Fortunately, the weather was awesome out. Varying clouds and 62F/17C outside...simply great running weather. Really appreciated that. Fun run. 

Ran 12.1 miles @ 7:49/mile pace. 

Paved roads. 

Very hilly. 

Lower 60s, varying clouds (light rain at start, sunny in the middle, clouds at the end). 

Saucony Kinvara 3, shorts, short sleeved shirt. 

Bunk of Kenny Where Land is Trusted

Hitchhiking slug during today's run.

Great afternoon trail run with Mindy at the Kennebunk Land Trust. Any signs of the perceived funk I was in for the past week or two were gone. Though the pace was easy and the technicality of the trails here don't allow for much speed, my legs still felt very spry and my head was in a great spot. Having a good friend to run with really, really made a huge difference, so thanks Mindy!

Mindy provided some very valuable notes on the upcoming book and we talked about literature and a whole smörgåsbord of other stuff as well. Good times!

Seems like I always fall here and I did eat it once, but I was no worse for the wear. Some puddles and muddy spots but the trails here seem to drain really well, despite the buckets of rain the past several days. We also managed for the most part to not get lost but there was some light confusion at one point. And while the elevation changes are pretty subtle here the pace always ends up being surprisingly slow. Yeah, the trails are technical, but every time I run here I see the pace afterwards and I'm like "Really? That slow?" This place is definitely an enigma.

Ran 7.5 miles @ 10:58/mile pace.
Trails.
Slightly hilly.
Upper 60s, partly cloudy.
New Balance MT110, shorts, short sleeved shirt.

Slight Rebound

Today was better than yesterday. Contributing factors were no doubt getting nearly 10 hours of sleep last night and it was also cool and raining during the run. Still didn't feel super, but an improvement nonetheless and I'll take it.

Plan was to run by feel. I anticipated it being an easy pace but if fell on the line between my easy and moderate. Also ran in the Merrell Bare Access for the second time. I liked them better this time around. I still prefer a bit more of a thicker rubber on the sole for protection, but the flexibility is nice and there is a thin but ample amount of cushioning for the forefoot, which I prefer.

Ran 5.4 miles @ 7:42/mile pace.
Paved roads.
Mostly flat.
Lower 50s, overcast, heavy mist/light rain throughout.
Merrell Bare Access, shorts, short sleeved shirt, cap.

On an unrelated note, M83 rocks:
 

The Slump

Easy trail run this morning while I was up in Bangor. Ran at the City Forest, and pretty much felt like a one-legged cat trying to bury turds on a frozen pond. Legs felt very heavy. Energy was okay, but the legs felt like they had run a 12-mile tempo run the day before, which unfortunately was never the case.

Running is definitely in a bit of a slump right now. Just haven't really been feeling very on. It's not like I've been overdoing it. In fact, quite the opposite. For the past month, weekly mileage has only been in the lower 20s, which was for tapering or simply not feeling it. Perhaps rest isn't the answer.

Regardless, I've been in similar slumps quite a few times before. They happen. They also always pass. Will tweak the diet to try and bring things around quicker. Despite the run not going so well, I still enjoyed it. The Bangor City Forest is a great place to run and I always enjoy spending time in the woods there.

Ran 9.1 miles @ 10:36/mile pace.
Trails.
Slightly hilly.
Lower 60s, mostly cloudy.
New Balance MT110, shorts, short sleeved shirt, cap.