Still running

Almost didn't make it out today, but mustered up the energy to get outthe door for an easy 35 minutes. It is a short week. so i didn't feel too bad about the short outing. This weekend promises rain starting on Thursday and lasting into Saturday, but will clear up nicely on Sunday and Monday.

Pure Grade A Maple Syrup

I went to NW Mass today to visit a customer site. This is by far the most beautiful part of MASS, and a place that most people who visit Boston fail to appreciate. This part of MASS is is very hilly/mountainous, aka The Berkshires. I will be making 2 trips per month out this way and plan to make stops in the state forest areas for some running on my future visits. These are short site visits, which leaves me a couple of hours to get in a nice run.
While I was driving through the hills I noticed that many of the trees had cables?/tubes?/ropes? running from one tree to another. At first I thougth it may be some sore of irrigation, but there didn't seem to be any pattern to the connecting tubes. After some thought and further investigation, I realized that these were maple trees. Near by on the roads I saw the infamous sugar houses. This is where the maple drains to for reduction. So I took it upon my self to stop in and puck up a half gallon of the good stuff. The flavor is amazing, and I kinda wish I could use it for my marathon fueling instead of the damn gel packets, it certainly tastes much better. I can't wait to make the first batch of pancakes and use half of the bottle on the pancakes.

On the running front, I got in 70 minutes at the arboretum.

Waiting and waiting and waiting..

This happens every time the week before the marathon. Can't do anything to get better at this point, but much can be done to ensure a disasterous race. So, I just wait for the day. Trying to eat right, run just enough, and not think about it too much. About to head out for an easy hour or so....

Fun in the sun

Easy 65 minutes. Nothing too seriuos just trying to keep the legs alive. Ifeel a bit drab from the 15k, but I am sure recovery is just around the corner.

15k

TR - no run
Friday - no run
Saturday - Upton 15k. Felt nice and rested for this one, as I should have taking off 2 days before. The race went pretty well. 55:40 final time. I felt like I had a solid close and the cooldown afterwards wasn't really taxing.

It was a Scorcher!

We got up to 89 deg today, but it didn't really feel like it when I headed out at 530. I got in an easy 75 minutes.

MARATHON!

I'm pretty sure I can run under 252. I am not exactaly sure how I am going to go about doing that, I'm not really good at detailed race plans, but I figured I can go out to run 252 pace for 20 miles then hammer the last 10k. Yeah that sounds good. I am sure I will have a couple of faster miles here and there due to course conditions, but that should even out, because I hear there are some hills towards the end of the race.

First outdoor track workout

I was on the fence about a hard track workout today since I felt pretty worn down from the past few days. My plan was to run to the track and see how I felt after the warmup. The fact that I ran to the track was a pretty good sign that I wasn't going to do much on the track, since it is 5ish miles from my place. So I got there in time to catch the group for the "warmup", another 3ish miles. So, by the time it was time to start the workout I had 62 minutes on the clock. I wasn't feeling too bad, but I knew what a couple 1600's would have done to me, so I opted for a run home instead. It was a good steady HMGP feeling pace.

Total for the evening. 100 minutes.

Running games

The first 20 minutes of the run really sucked. Felt dead, flat, ....and on and on and on. Then this guy rode by me not really fast but just slow enough where I felt like I could keep up. So I decided to give him about 10 meters on me then tried to keep pace for as long as I could. We made it to the intersection and then I ran through and he had to stop for traffic. It wasn't too long before he passed me again, but this time he was going way too fast for me.
That pretty much sums up my run. Got in 55 minutes.

The hay's in the barn!

Saturday was the Snow Flake invit at Tufts University. Myself and about 6 other guys from the club ran the 10k. Warmed up, 21 minutes, 10k 36.30, 41 minute cool down. Not a bad day.
Today I went for an easy run on the end of the marathon course, 100 minutes. My legs were pretty dead from yesterday. Nontheless, it was a pretty good weekend and I feel good about where I am going into the marathon. All that is left to do now is not loose any fitness and I figure the best way to do that is just keep running.

Blue hills.

Stopped by the blue hills on my way home and got in an easy 50 minutes. Not the most exciting run because of all the rocks and dwn hill breaking, but still a run. Prob would have been better if I had trail shoes, but I didn't think the trails would be so rocky and nasty evil. I was thinking soft and supple when I took my running gear with me this morning, but that was not the case. Some parts were really nice, but others were more technical than I was wishing for this today.

Just go running

Taking the advice of Tom. I am going to just go running until the 10 k on Saturday. Got in 75 minutes with the last 15 minutes kinda faster.

Heard something funny today regarding the track meet on Saturday. The 10k is starting an hour and a half earier since it is going to be hot on Saturday. By hot they mean 70 deg high. The initial starting time was 1145 and not it is 1030. So 70 deg is hot up here. I guess I'll find out how I feel in the heat. Whewww!