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1:00 PM - Went for a hike off of Rte. 7 to Ice Glen. There was a Fire Tower at the top and Emma and I decided to go on the trail, as last time we tried to go, there was too much ice and I was slipping.  This time it was gorgeous and it was an awesome feeling of accomplishment to get to the top and look out over the Berkshire Mts. I want to go back in the fall, and truly understand the beauty that James Taylor sings about in his songs. (Awesome thing too, is I found out James Taylor is a member at Emma's gym, so I hope that one day I run into him there!)

Highest Elevation: 1531'

Total Time: 41:00 Total Mileage: 1.77 miles Average Pace: 23:11/ mile

WATCHED THE BOSTON MARATHON TODAY! Absolutely amazing! I don't know how Cheriyout does it, but he truly is one of the most amazing distance runners I have ever watched. He knows strategy so well, and knows how to use the course to his advantage :)

On another note, found out my neighbor PR'ed in the marathon and also beat his time by about 6 minutes from last year!!

71

53

Shaun P. Evans

30

M

Middle Grove

2:31:46

**(This is good, considering where we live, the lack of an organized running club and the fact that this guy logs all his miles by himself, all while working full time as a physical therapist) I wish I could get even a 3:31!!! Man Shaun is amazing too!

3:45 PM - Temp was in the high 70s, sunny. Was in Pittsfield still, and after class on Monday, I wanted to go for another hike-walk-jog with Emma.  We chose the Pittsfield State Forest this time, and it was amazing!.  We experienced backwoods offroading. There was an access trail that was covered with rocks and last years leaves as no one had cleared the trail for some time. We started off on a "loop" but we noticed we were just going further back into the woods with no loop in site.. It was extremely hard work climing up there and we averaged less than three mph on the way up! This is how the day's excursion ended up going splits wise (I'm surprised neither of us slipped off the edge of the trail or hurt ourselves more than our battle scarred legs and a couple rolled ankles!) To put things into perspective.. it took us about 33:00 to go up ~1.5 miles, and only 16:00 to come down! We are trail blazers to the max! Raaaaaawwwwr!

Max Elevation: 2125'

• Mile 1: 22:06 (Hi ho Hi ho it's off to work we go!)
• Mile 2: 18:23 (Hmm.. where's the loop? Time to free-run!)
• Mile 3: 10:49 (It's a bird, it's a plane, it's SUPER BENN!)
• Mile 4: 10:29 (Whoah! Pavement feels so cloudlike after that! cooldown)
• Mile 5: 20:17 (walking on another trail in the park hand in hand ;) )

Total Time: 1:22:04 Total Mileage: 5 miles Average Pace: 16:24/ mile

2:00 PM - After five days in Pittsfield, I had to give a goodbye hug and kiss to Emma and reluctantly come back to New York, as I had work from 4 to midnight tonight. Got home at 2 and I have to leave by about quarter after 3 to get to work on time, so I decided rather than unpack, I would hop on the treadmill.  Did a 5 minute warm up walk, eased into 3 miles of steady, painfree jogging, and then ended with a short cool down walk and stretching. Then headed off to work. My achilles feels fine and pain free after all the bumps and bruises from this weeks hiking! I really want to plan out a marathon training plan but I just don't know if it's simply "too early"; I know that Sasha often suggests to people to get up to 6 miles a day for 6 days a week before starting to even think about long runs.  Should I start to try to shoot for 4 miles of jogging at a time for 5 times a week at first? and then go from there? I think I had about 17 miles of jogging last week.

Total Time: 38:00 Total Mileage: 3.5 miles Average Pace: 10:51

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF OUR AWESOME FRBloggers WHO WENT OUT AND COMPETED THIS WEEK. I'M TRULY SORRY IF I HAVEN'T HAD A CHANCE TO COMMENT ON YOUR RACE REPORT YET, BUT IT DOESN'T MEAN IT'S FALLEN ON DEAF EARS (OR EYES?). I look forward to reading more of your blogs in the coming weeks, after school crazyness dies down.  And I am also anxiously awaiting news to be able to run in St. George Marathon 2008!! Yay! Keep on truckin' friends!!

10:00 AM - Started with a 5 minute warmup walk on the treadmill, and then eased into jogging while reading June's issue of Running Times. Felt really good, a little soreness in the quads from that escapade in the woods a few days ago, but other than that felt really good. Ended up doing  the most miles I've done since being injured! 5 MILES OF JOGGING today!! (53:28, good for 10:41/ mile pace) and then cooled down with .6 miles of walking. 15 minutes of stretching and 200 situps and crunches followed. Felt really good! And now I'm ready to tackle all this killer homework I have!

Total Time: 70:00 Total Mileage: 6.1 miles Average Pace: 11:28/ mile

4:30 PM - Have been really tired the last few days, and after working all day yesterday, was too tired to get out for a run or anything, so I waited until my "short" day today, as I only worked until 3:00. So I came home and went for a bike ride with one of my brothers and my mom to the high school track, 5.17 miles biking there in 19:34 (Splits were: 4:42, 2:58, 2:55, 4:07, 4:03, :49), then stretched and eased into 3 miles of continuous, painfree jogging: 30:00 exact (9:05, 10:21, and 10:34). Then stretched with Mom and Harry and cooled off with a bike ride home after about .6 miles of walking on the track. Riding home, the splits were between 4:00 and 5:19 a mile. Took it easy. So happy to get the first decent bike ride in . And weather was gorgeous! About 70 with sun and slight 5-10mph wind.

Total Time: 1:17:19 Total Distance: 13.11 miles Average Pace (running): 10:00 / mile (biking) 4:00

*Note Current 2008 Max Sustained Speed for Bike: 35 MPH (has to be held for 5 seconds)