Week of 9-7 to 9-13 (Post Nipmuck Relaxation Week)

Ahhhh...the weight of Marathon Week and the weeks leading up to it has been lifted, the weather is becoming more Fall-like, and it's time to really enjoy the foliage, and running in New England in what I'd consider to be the best season of the year.  Cool, crisp and colorful runs, a distinct lack of bugginess in the woods, and generally easier conditions to run in.  I'm looking forward to some long trail runs and group runs, as well as some shorter races!  I survived another Nipmuck Marathon, so I'm good.  The recovery time was way less than last year's, too!  So let's take a zero on Monday and get some good times rolling...

Monday, 10-7 - 0 Miles (Obviously) - Slowly wandered around town, taking care of shit I'd blown off all last week...

Tuesday, 10-8 - 3 Miles (Trails/Roads) - Lantern Hill.  Cool day, and I went to drop off some junk at the transfer station but it was closed, soooo...Lantern Hill it is!  Three miles, gorgeous view, and I'd paused Strava at the transfer station for a second to check a message but forgot to turn it back on...whatever, it was a good run!

View from the bottom today...

...and from the top!

Wednesday, 10-9 - 3 Miles (Trail/Road) - Lantern Hill part 2.  I got gipped on the last stretch on the road the day before, and had to make a run to the transfer station anyway to get rid of some junk...so I did the Lantern run again.  Some kids up there rock climbing today with all their gear, and a couple of hikers to sneak up on...solid effort, I beat my CR for the big climb segment, and hammered the road section back to the truck.  Then hauled ass to the soccer field for Soph's game, which they won 4-1!  Good times :)



(Somebody just hit exactly 666 feet of honest, technical elevation for the week...cue the Iron Maiden reference in 3, 2, 1...)



Thursday, 10-10 - 4+ Miles (Trails) - Hell Hollow portions of Pachaug/Quinebaug trails, Sterling, CT.  Headed up to Sterling with Jim and did this loop, which was quite overgrown and narrow in a few places (see below) but very runnable in others.  Good trails, cool morning.  Lots of hunters' trucks parked in various places along the road, but after talking to a couple of them, turns out they're duck hunting, so their guns are pointed at the lake and not the trails.  We wore orange anyway and tried not to quack too loudly...

Narrow, but still runnable...

Now that's narrow...

Descent into Hell (Hollow)

Phillips Pond foliage

Friday-Sunday - 0 Miles - Decided to take a much-needed 3 days off!  Watched some baseball, some football, cooked a lot of food and ate it :)