Highlight of today: running up the mountain road in Pittsfield State Forest. ~2.5 miles up and down; Starting Elevation: 1200' Ending Elevation: 2400' :D
8:00 AM - Today is going to be a gorgeous day! I woke up and it was sunny and 60 degrees at 6am. I made coffee and watched some Law and Order and then Emmy woke up. We were going to run together but her knee is still sore from bonking it on the hike the other day. I headed off to the Causeway and parked my car and then jogged to the trailhead at Pittsfield State Forest, about 2 miles away. I decided to run up the Berry Pond Circuit Road. It was a tough climb. I see now how MOUNTAINS HUMBLE BOYS AND MAKE MEN OUT OF THOSE THAT KEEP CLIMBING. Was huffing and puffing and huffing some more. The road is closed to traffic and I only saw one woman and her dog. I like running without running into people and bikes and rollerbladers. Much better than the other day at the bike path! I was sweating a ton however and by the time I got home I STANK so much Emma said I had to take a shower immediately because she said my smell lingered in the room. I told her I'd just dry my clothes in the sun and use them tomorrow and she gave me one of those "Oh no you wouldn't... but wait.. yes, yes you would!" looks. LOL. Coming down the mountain, my quads were burning. I like running UP mountains much more than running DOWN them. I feel like going up I can dictate the pace and control a steady output of energy. Coming down you're just fighting gravity and inertia. It is good training though I suppose. Once I was down the 2.5 mile circuit road I ran back to my car at the Causeway. Next time I want to do the entire circuit road up and down which I believe is 8 miles from the start of the park. :). Feeling good! Now to enjoy this weather. They say a predicted high of 81 degrees and sunny!! Splits were a bit over the place, especially with the 2.5 miles of climbing. However, to me, the thing that stood out the most was my sheer consistency running on the flats and downhills and running 5 miles at a steady clip: 8:44, 8:43, 8:43, 8:44, 8:39
- Mile 1: 8:44
- Mile 2: 9:04
- Mile 3: 11:13
- Mile 4: 12:02
- Mile 5: 10:00
- Mile 6: 8:43
- Mile 7: 8:43
- Mile 8: 8:44
- Mile 9: 8:39
Total Time: 1:27:29 Total Distance: 9.18 miles Average Pace: 9:32 1:00 PM - Sunny and 77 degrees. Gorgeous out today. Went for a fast walk with Emmy up Dublin Road and then onto some on East Slope. On the way back we noticed that there was a crazy amount of cans. Emma and I have come up with a neat idea. We want to be scavengers at least once a week now and pick up cans and see how much $ we can collect. Today in just about 10 minutes we collected $2.35 in cans on Dublin Road. I guess those Irish sure like to get their drink on. I want to save up the money and do something fun with it! Total Time: 37:00 Total Distance: 2.30 miles Average Pace: 16:05
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