Reverse Pelham Hills Loop

Time: 70:50
Distance: 10.5 mi.
Map

Hilly afternoon run in Amherst. I was undecided about where to go, and only decided on this loop as I was heading along Harkness. It was a good decision as I really like this loop, though I am pretty run down from the last week (and still somewhat dehydrated and underfed), so the hills "found me out" a bit (a Bill Bowerman expression). The run was only interrupted by having to shout down and then outrun two dogs near the top of Gulf Road.

I ran with some music again, this time getting through selections from the Notorious B.I.G. classics Ready To Die and Life After Death. So many of the songs on these albums are stories that I felt like I was basically listening to an audio version of a gangster movie. Things could be worse.

Also, there's an article in Slate about John L. Parker Jr.'s classic running novel "Once A Runner" that is worth reading, though I have to say that I disagree with the author's dismay that the book is going back into print. If anyone reading this hasn't had a chance to read "Once A Runner," you'll be able to grab a new copy in April (for less than $100).

Pelham Hills, North Valley

Time: 94:10
Distance: 14.5 mi.
Map

Back to the medium long run, as I start to build my Sundays up past 20 miles. Snow had been lightly falling all morning, but the only sections of this run that were really cold were along Amherst Road where it was very windy. I did this run once at the end of July and decided it would be a good road-based 90-minute run for today. The first 8 miles are very much uphill (I ran about 7 minute pace) and the next 6.5 are predominantly downhill (I ran just over 6 minute pace). My legs and lungs both felt surprisingly good, and I very much enjoyed clearing my head and enjoying the fresh snow.

I didn't have anything to eat before I got out for the run a little after noon, so I was hurting for fuel by the middle of the run, which was a little tough. I listened to some shuffled Radiohead for the run, including "Idiotheque" a few times.

Pelham Hills, North Valley

Time: 99:00
Distance: 14 mi.
Map (approximate)

This is about as hilly of a run as I could've done. I'm not sure exactly why I chose that, as my legs were sore from the workout on hills yesterday, but it's a fairly nice loop. In under an hour (~8 miles) I climbed about 850 feet. My legs were fairly tired on the way down. And I was dehydrated.

Pelham Warren Wright Hills

Time: 93:00
Distance: 14 mi.

Target: stready/tempo up the Pelham hills (a classic AR/XC workout)
Workout: 5 x Warren Wright hills (~1100m) (the last one was 100+m short)

Things were not working in my favor this morning... Matt's dentist appointment was earlier than he thought so we left his car at the top of the Pelham hills so that he could drive straight to it, then we realized that part of the road isn't maintained during the winter, then we realized that most of the rest of that hilly road was really icy there so we ran on the other side of Rt. 9 to run on flat roads, then when I dropped him off and went to finish up my run (and hopefully get a good effort in) I was interrupted near the end when a train came through in the middle of the long hills.

I got 40 minutes in with Matt before I had to drop him off and then did a few minutes to get back into it before I started the hill on Warren Wright. I did the first hill in low 3:50s and was mid 3:40s on the rest of them. I measured the last 800m of the hill and was hitting it in 2:50ish. Legs felt stiff and I was rigging a bit on the steep part at the end. Overall it was a little mediocre, but all things considered it was fine. Right now I think I just need to get back running hard.

Pelham Hills

Time: 84:00
Distance: 12.5 mi.
Map

Pre-Christmas gathering morning run back into the Pelham hills not far from the hilly sections of my Sunday run. Definitely still feeling the effects of that this morning as my quads seemed totally shot, especially coming back down. Turned around at the church at Amherst Road.

Johnny G used to give us Christmas off, and there was some debate about whether we should really take it off or not...