Friday I took the day off and ran 8 in the morning, with thoughts of an afternoon run that never materialized. Thursday was Ben's last day of first grade, so Friday we headed down to the Scout store in Woburn to pick up a few Wolf Cub items for next year and a reward for completion of his first year of scouting.
Saturday I got in 15 on the roads and rail trail at 6:17 pace, giving me 88 miles for the week.
Sunday I did 12 in the afternoon on the roads and rail trail again. Miles: 6:38; 6:25; 6:10; 6:20; 6:11; 6:12; 5:54; 5:48; 5:51; 5:41; 5:32; 5:36; 1.07 for last .21. 6:00 average.
Monday I got out at 6:00 am for 14-plus on the roads of Hamilton, Wenham, and Ipswich. Included a run up "sacrifice" hill off of Sagamore Road. Then Ben, Grace and I took Emma to her swim lesson. From there we piled into the van and headed to Lincoln, NH for a couple days in the north country. We stayed at the Kancamagus Motor Lodge, a mile and a half from Loon. Spent some time in the pool Monday afternoon/evening after we arrived and got dinner at the restaurant on the grounds there.
Tuesday I was up early and jogged the bike path from our motel to Loon. I carried along a ski map that I had sketched the course on as well as some notes from Paul Kirsch's description of the XC trail portion of the course. (Thanks, Paul!) The run-through went pretty well, and I think I stayed the course the entire way. The two tough sections were the ski trails (lower speakeasy and of course upper walking boss). I felt like the first 4 miles or so were pretty runnable and will be interested to see just how fast everyone goes next weekend at the Mtn. Champs.
I anticipated Upper Walking Boss being pretty difficult and so I settled into a super-low gear and did some zig-zagging to get up it. I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't seem to be as long as I had heard, and ran similarly to the top section of Cranmore last year that we had to do three times. I'm sure it will be different on race day, but I'm at least confident that it can be done.
(On a side note, I've been scouting the registered runners for Loon and see at least 30 names of guys who could beat me on any given day, plus I'm sure there are a few up and comers that I've overlooked. About half of those names are people that I never beat, so it is going to take some serious help to finish higher than I did last year (15th, 13th US). Plus, there are quite a few names missing from the RunReg list that will probably pop up in the next week.)
We spent the rest of the day Tuesday at Story Land in Glen, riding the rides and walking around until they closed at 5. We had dinner at a great burger place back in Lincoln and then had smores for dessert at the motel campfire.
Wednesday Heather did her own AM Loon ascent at dawn, and I felt crummy with the high humidity so I only did 5 miles before we packed up and headed for home. We had a brief and ill-advised stop to hike the Dilly Trail from the Lost River Reservation in North Woodstock, NH. The trail is short but very steep and we were not prepared to get up it with all 3 kids. We turned back about a third of the way up, which put me in a sour mood, even though I knew it was the smart decision.
We were home to Hamilton before it was too late, and Heather wisely suggested I go for another run. I got in close to 7 miles and felt much better about the day as a whole.
Thursday I did the fourteen mile loop plus sacrifice hill again. 6:16 pace.
Yesterday (Friday) I ran to the Hamilton-Wenham track (about 5k away) and did 3 x 2-mile tempo. The first was 10:29, jogged a lap; second was 10:24, jogged a lap; third was a rough 10:36. In my defense, the wind really picked up during the last mile.
Today I pushed the distance slightly and did 16 at 6:16/mi.
95 miles for the week, my best week this year. This is also the most mileage I have ever run for the month of June.
We were home to Hamilton before it was too late, and Heather wisely suggested I go for another run. I got in close to 7 miles and felt much better about the day as a whole.
Thursday I did the fourteen mile loop plus sacrifice hill again. 6:16 pace.
Yesterday (Friday) I ran to the Hamilton-Wenham track (about 5k away) and did 3 x 2-mile tempo. The first was 10:29, jogged a lap; second was 10:24, jogged a lap; third was a rough 10:36. In my defense, the wind really picked up during the last mile.
Today I pushed the distance slightly and did 16 at 6:16/mi.
95 miles for the week, my best week this year. This is also the most mileage I have ever run for the month of June.
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