Of course I'm behind on the blog. And of course we're going to begin the week with record highs, temps in the 50s and 60s, then plunge into single-digit wind chills by Saturday. Then climb again, plunge, repeat. Why not? And there's a flu, bug, whatever going around, so that's fun! Currently I'm the "Last Man Standing" at my house, and if I don't get what they're getting, it'll be a Festivus miracle. Don't breathe on me!
Monday - 0.
Tuesday - 2.5. Hibbard Trail at Whitney Forest, Lebanon. The newest blue-blazed trail in the CFPA list is a 1.5-ish mile loop trail in Lebanon, CT, and I had enough time before work to run it in both directions. Tons of stream crossings, twisty singletrack, and fun!
Wednesday - 4. Airline Trail, Lebanon. Had a go at this section of the Airline Trail, and had time for a 4 mile progression run of sorts before heading to work. Misty and drizzly until the last half mile, when the sky opened up and it poured, a good soaking rain. Hey, I'll take 55 and rainy anytime!
Thursday - Friday - 0.
Saturday - 5. Beach Pond loop with Rachel. Single-digit wind chills, sunny and a stiff, cold wind blowing off the pond. Fun, right? Showed Rachel the Pachaug/Arcadia mashup of trails at the CT/RI border, had some fun climbs on technical singletrack. Wind was not an issue in the woods, but as soon as we got back to the cars, WOW. Winter ain't done with us yet!
Sunday - 0.
Monday - 0.
Tuesday - 0.
Wednesday - 6.5. Lantern Hill repeats. Had an early day, and decided to get some much-needed climbing done at Lantern Hill. 1,400' of climbing done. And hey, now it's 55-60 degrees! Shorts and a t-shirt again!
Thursday - 0.
Friday - 4. Rocky Neck trails w/Adam. Got done with a shitty day at work and needed to stop off for some trail time. It had snowed all morning, and I kept looking out the window, wondering if I was going to get to run. Finally we finished up, and I went straight to the trailhead and texted my friend Adam, who lives up the road. Got 4 miles in (he's tapering for a 50 next week) on picture-perfect trails, the temps had warmed to 30, the Sun came out, and all was right with the world again. Funny how that works :)
Saturday - 7-ish. Belleville Pond 10k Trail Race. Holy Farking Hell, it's cold out! I'd made the bold statement that my running tights were being shelved for the season, and that I'd be running in shorts, weather be damned! Whoops. Turned out that on race morning, the standing temp was like 15 degrees, with winds 15-20, gusting to 40? Wind chill hovering around zero, give or take. So of course I had to wear shorts, along with a couple other dudes (we won't talk about the guy who ran in JUST shorts and shoes, nothing else). When I told The Gazelle about my plan to wear shorts, he gave me the "Well, duh! What else would you wear on such a lovely day?" look. I puttered around, went through a few clothing options before deciding on Speedcross 4 shoes for digging into the snow, shorts, and a compression shirt, t-shirt, and Merrell windbreaker, along with a hat and gloves. RD Mike Galoob got us lined up on time, and we were off! I figure I could have pushed the pace more, but it was just a totally enjoyable run. Start to finish. Lots of fun trading beers before (and after) the race, a great lunch with friends at a local tavern afterwards, and an all-around great time! Blizzard of '17 coming up in a few days! Hahahaha :)
Sunday - ???
Good job wearing shorts at Belleville. Sorry I didn't have more of a positive expression to your short stance, but yes, you about summed up my reaction! I did give you credit on my blog for the shorts! I didn't even get to go to the lunch due to other commitments, but it doesn't change that it was an all around great time. Agreed!
ReplyDeleteHa! The tights are retired for the season. I figure if I could do Belleville in shorts on Saturday, then it's shorts going forward, period! Great to see you there, and congrats on the podium finish!
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