Motivated to Succeed

6:00 PM - Sunny and temperature in the high 60s today. We are in for a warm spell the next several days! Came to a few conclusions today:

1. My students need to think before they act. Nearly 20 students got I.S.S. today and then O.S.S. tomorrow for deciding that April Fool's Day was prime time for a game they called "Slap a f*g" in which they use obscene language and slap each other in the face. Oii. Stressful.

2. My students seem to like me enough not to pull any pranks on me (that I know of). They are for the most part great kids!

3. I am getting stronger. I am logging some decent miles now.

4. REEBOK SHOES STINK!!!!!  Less than 20 miles on the $134.00 pair of sneakers and the heels are nearly completely trashed. I need to stick to the shoes that are worth it for big runners like me, the Brooks Addiction and the Brooks Beast! Grr. Just angry I blew all that money on them.

Went to the bike trail and ran by myself. I wanted to do a couple faster miles so I did mile 2 and mile 4 "on", not all out, but steady, as if I were running a steady 5k or something. I felt good and not too out of breath. This is good considering I haven't done any speedwork this year. Splits were:

• Mile 1: 8:16
• Mile 2: 7:19 "on"
• Mile 3: 8:09
• Mile 4: 7:48 "on"
  
• Mile 5: 8:48
• Mile 6: 8:24

4:45 PM - Sunny and temp around 74 degrees!! Despite it being good Friday BArT had a 1/2 day for students today. I let my two classes go outside and work on political cartoons and throw a football around. I didn't see any point in trying to introduce new material with in some cases 1/2 of the class missing! After the students left, staff still had a full day so we had meetings and assignments all afternoon. Got to leave around 3pm however so I rushed home and got changed and went with Emmy to the bike trail.

Emm and I wanted to do an hour. It was really tough because the bike trail was packed today! I didn't want to push it too hard. I'm supposed to do a long run tomorrow and then we are driving to NY to see my family for Easter this weekend. We rode out 30:00 with the wind, and then battled it on the way back, coming in the second half in 31:48. Not bad however too considering how many people we had to dodge, not to mention roller bladers, toddlers, Chihuahuas on 20' leashes and bimbos. Time for some television and resting up a bit. Up early to try to do some miles.

P.S. Today was the first day we drove by and Dairy Kone was open!!! So naturally we had to stop and get some ice cream!

Total Time: 1:01:48 Total Distance: 14.51 miles

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

12:30 PM - Sunny and temperature in the low 70s. Went running at Spa Park in New York after church with the family. Harry and Emmy came with me. Harry decided to go longboarding while Emma and I ran. Emma didn't know how far she wanted to go and my legs were tired from the run yesterday so we opted for a short, faster run. We were really slicing and dicing at the end and we duked it out. Emma barely beat me. We were running 4:58 pace the last bit. Flying. Afterwards I played about 30 minutes of bocci and then 30 minutes of tag with Harry on my team and the two of us vs. our two St. Bernards. We beat them but barely. Turns out St. Bernards like to find people (go figure for a rescue dog eh?) and they would do whatever it took to find us in the trees. A very fun time. Counted the tag for about 2 miles of barefoot. Probably ran more. We were running the whole time! Exhausted! Splits at the park:

• Mile 1: 9:06
• Mile 2: 7:53
• Mile 3: 7:56

6:00 PM - Overcast and temperature of about 60 degrees. Long day at school made longer by not getting enough sleep last night and forgetting my lunch again at home. Got home from school and scarfed down a couple bagels w/ cream cheese and then went to the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail with Emmy. On Saturday I helped her get her first official trainers (a pair of Brooks's Defyance). Also, the place is taking back the P.O.S. Reeboks and ordering me a new pair of Addictions. Sweet. Well Emmy is fast in her Defyances! She was really cruising at the end and I was laboring hard to keep pace. Funny that I can go long and slow for hours and yet we "whip" up the pace to 8:00ish or faster and I die. Got some work to do on speed. Splits were:

• Mile 1: 9:02
• Mile 2: 8:44
• Mile 3: 8:47
• Mile 4: 8:19
• Mile 5: 7:18

6:00 PM - Sunny and 84 degrees! at the start. Talk about a warm spell! I had a long day at school, but I still do like working at BArT. The kids make it worth it. Lots of correcting to do tonight. I had them do political cartoons on War of 1812 and Spanish-American War. I can't wait to read them.

So my run. I started at the Causeway and went up into Pittsfield State Forest via Caldwell. It was mucho calor out. Highlight was that at about the 3 mile mark as I was busting up a huge 10-12% incline and the quads and hammys were burning,  I came across 4 high schoolers smoking up some reefer. I must have scared them because 5 mins later they were gone as I came back. Phew. Didn't want to have to call the coppers. Splits were slow considering the heat and the trails:

• Mile 1: 9:09
• Mile 2: 9:26
• Mile 3: 11:28
• Mile 4: 10:02
• Mile 5: 9:27
• Mile 6: 9:37

6:00 PM - Temp of 71 and gusty winds 20-30mph. A hot summerish night. Have had quite the week. I feel bad because I am sure my crankyness has been noticed by Emmy. I am hoping to make it up to her this weekend with a hike and lunch out on the town. We had plans to go to Mission and see a musician tonight but I was too tired and once we got there it was packed and I was just ready to sleep. I can't even tell you how drained I am. I ran as soon as I got home, a Vibrams run. Went to the Causeway and ran into Pittsfield State Forest and back. Just wanted to do a good run. Started clicking miles away somewhere around: 9:00, 8:44, 8:18, 7:50. Pounded out the last one. Felt good.

Total Time: 34:07 Total Distance: 4.07 miles Average Pace: 8:23

Today's Run = LONGEST run ever in a training run besides the 2 marathons. :)

1:00 PM - North Adams, MA. Emm and I went to see two of my coworkers up in Williamstown last night. We didn't get home until 2:30 and I was wide awake at 7. Not exactly a restful night's sleep. To make things worse, today was supposed to be my long run and it was overcast, temperature of 46 at the start and winds steady at 25mph with gusts up to 35 to 40mph (Found these gusts at the summit!)

Today's mission: Summit the tallest mountain in Massachusetts, Mount Greylock (3491' elevation). The mountain road going up is 8 miles up. I was running by myself and had my 24 oz Amphipod and 2 HAMMER gels. I ran out of liquids 1:45 mins into the run so I need to plan ahead for the next long run and keep a stash either at the car or prestash another bottle out on the route.  I followed the route up from the Williams Resevoir where I parked my car to the summit, same route as the road race that's held every September here. Going up is always a beast. Especially in the first few miles where there are seriously some 12-15% grades and numerous hairpin turns.

I got some weird looks from people, especially some hikers that I came across at mile 6. Miles 6-8 had snow covering the roads and there is still upwards of a foot up there! Crazy considering we had 4 days in a row last week with temperatures between 75-87! At the summit I ran around the top and took a couple pictures with my cellphone and then started down because it was incredibly windy and cold! At some points the wind ripped through two layers of spandex, my fleece and long sleeve shirt, and hat/gloves. Coming down felt faster and I had to lean back to keep from falling.

The way down went well overall and I got to the car and was planning on pushing the run out to 18 miles but I had run out of liquids and I was dying. My mouth was so dry and I decided that I had had enough. I wonder what my first 20 miler will feel like! :D HAMMER gels were at 45:00 and 1:30:00ish. After I got home I downed 2 powerades and my first recovery drink a 4:1 carb:protein drink. It said Fruit Punch, but Emma pointed out that it looked like toxic Pepto Bismal. HAHA. Splits:

Going Up:

• Mile 1: 10:13
• Mile 2: 11:34
• Mile 3: 11:59
• Mile 4: 11:38
• Mile 5: 12:28
• Mile 6: 10:50
• Mile 7: 10:47
• Mile 8: 10:45
• .2: 2:05 (10:39 pace) 
• Total Time for Climbing the "Beast": 1:32:21
  

 Going Down:

• Mile 9: 9:03
• Mile 10: 9:07
• Mile 11: 8:44
• Mile 12: 8:56
• Mile 13: 8:57
• Mile 14: 8:58
• Mile 15: 9:03
• Mile 16: 9:34
• Mile 17: 10:00
• Total Time for Descending the "Beast": 1:12:25 (omits mi. 17)

Total Time: 2:54:46 Total Distance: 17 miles Average Pace: 10:17

War Memorial at the top of Mt. Greylock (above) View from top (below)

10:00 AM - Legs were trashed when I woke up this morning from the 17-miler yesterday. Went to Emm's work and hopped on a pretty fly treadmill and cruised at 9:13 pace for majority of run. Walked to make it to 50:00 the last .25 miles. Felt good by the end though. Afterwards I went with Emm to get tea and a muffin at Dottie's cafe and then we went to TJ Maxx/Marshall's/CVS, etc. and errands.

Total Time: 50:00 Total Distance: 5.26 miles Average Pace:  9:30

6:00 PM - Sunny and temp around 55 or so. Breezy. A little cool. Long day at school. We had an official lockdown with the Adams police coming in to inspect and do a walk-through. Will be interesting to hear how it went. I fortunately was "stuck" in my office writing progress report comments. Shh! Don't tell! Got home and met Emmy and Mary Rose was on break. Decided to go for a jog and then go to Mission for open mic night. I needed to do 4 miles so I went with Emm to the Causeway. I decided to run up into the entrance of Pittsfield State Forest and back. Well going out was nice and easy but woooeeee can Emmy run. I don't think she has any idea how fast she was going.. but we were going sub: 7 pace for the last .5 miles and sub: 6 minute pace for the last .1. She is a speed demon! I am sure I will feel this workout in the a.m. :D Happy Tuesday! Splits:

• Mile 1: 9:40
• Mile 2: 9:29
• Mile 3: 7:58
• Mile 4: 7:12

6:00 PM - Sunny at the start and about 58 degrees. However it was getting late and the sun set and after the first two miles I started to get cold. Ran up into Pittsfield State Forest and hit the trails. Not too bad. A bit slippery in spots on the oak leaves from last fall, yet the surprise came around mile 3.25 when I came around a corner and ran into another Reefer Monkey Hang Out group. Grr. Just really makes me mad that they bring their junk in there. That's what I get for running late at night though. Felt good; legs were not that tired from the tempo run that Emm dragged me through yesterday. 

Today at school we were happy to welcome a woman that produced an independent documentary called "Shooting Beauty" about a group of people with disabilities that allowed them to "shoot" (or photograph/videotape) a day in their lives. I was surprised that all my kids were able to take it seriously and were actually on the verge of tears. I truly have some good kids though. Afterwards we worked on my president assignment I gave them.

My run was good. I got an extra helping of protein today because I ran into a cloud of gnats or black flies at mile 6. I swallowed several and got another one up my nose and one in my left eye (not to mention however many got lost in my hair and beard!). Fun fun :). Looking forward to this weekend. I am going to try to do a long run on the Appalachian Trail on Saturday - first official run on the trail!! Exciting! Splits today:

• Mile 1: 8:57
  
• Mile 2: 9:05
• Mile 3: 10:48
• Mile 4: 10:27
• Mile 5: 9:41
• Mile 6: 9:10
• Mile 7: 8:57

7:00 AM - Rain and overcast 40 degrees. Went out this morning with the intention to do a long run. However it was raining and then it turned to SNOW. I had trouble finding the AT because it is not well marked and the access road was closed. I jogged 1-1.25 miles on the fire road and then got to the trail but it was so wet and uncleared that it was downright nasty. On top of that it was raining and my sunglasses kept fogging up so I couldn't see (prescription sunglasses). Blargh! Decided to save my effort for another day and bagged the run and back to the car. I am hoping to get another run in later today of 5-6 miles, even if I have to get it in on the treadmill.

 Exciting news: I called "Tux Express" and made reservations for me and 6 other fine fellows to get measured for our tuxes next Saturday! This will be the first time that Emmy sees me in a suit (if I try one on.. not sure how the whole thing works).

8:30 AM - Overcast and downright cold. Temperature around 36 at the start. Felt like those December days before snow as I headed out. Went running in the Pittsfield State Forest today. I am going to try to get a few more miles in later too. Did a full loop this time of the Berry Pond Circuit Road. As I was going up I saw a group of hikers coming down. They gave me a thumbs up and one lady said " Way to go guy! Keep it up! You look strong!" I said thanks and continued on. About .5 miles from the summit a white-tailed deer when sprinting out across the road, startled by a dog I think. I continued, enjoyed the view at the summit and came down the other side of the circuit road, passing this pond "Berry Pond" which I found out was the highest elevated natural lake in the state of Massachusetts! Emm took some pictures of me after the fact. I will try to post them in a little while. We are still celebrating Nonno's 87th birthday. At the end of my run at the Causeway I ran into two runners. One heading out. Seen him before. I waved and so did he. The other was a high school age boy and he was coming down the hill and I found him trailing me and trying to race me to my car. At least I turned it into one. The last .3 or .4 I steadily increased pace from 8:00 to 7:30, to 7:00 and eventually down to 5:46 a mile. Felt strong. I beat him to my car by 3 seconds. My splits were:

• Mile 1: 8:42
• Mile 2: 8:35
• Mile 3: 10:31
• Mile 4: 12:12
• Mile 5: 10:33
• Mile 6: 9:12
• Mile 7: 8:28
• Mile 8: 8:29
• Mile 9: 7:24 

 4:30 PM - Put on the new pair of Brooks this afternoon after going to Nassau to meet my mom and dad for coffee. Just went 30:00. Nothing fancy. Emm did the elliptical and then we both did crunches afterwards. New shoes always feel weird. I like them after they are broken in I have decided!

Total Time: 30:00 Total Distance: 3.333 miles Average Pace: 9:00

5:20 PM - Happy spring break indeed! Spent the day with Emmy and Mary Rose. We went to Silvanus Lodge and booked the place for the Friday and Saturday of the wedding and then went to the country club and met with Mary McGuire our event coordinator who actually worked with my dad! Small world :). Afterwards on the way home we went to a really sweet diner "Dad's Diner". Really cute place and super nice waitress and SUPER GREAT food! I ate so much food! (including SIX pancakes!) mmmm. When we got home I went for a jog with Emmy at the bike path. First mile hurt a bit but then I started to warm up and it hurt a little less. The way back was better. Emma helped me along and I helped her and by the end we were flying. We like finishing up the runs on the bike trail with the last .5 miles from the bridge at a progression run usually ending in a good speed by the end. Today we got down to 5:21/mi pace in the last stretch :). Splits:

• Mile 1: 9:18
• Mile 2: 8:58
• Mile 3: 9:07
• Mile 4: 9:00
• Mile 5: 8:08
  

20.75 miles - 17.3 up and down Greylock and then another 3.45 @ the gym after bringing Emm her chapstick. More to come later. I am going with Emma to an open mic night with some coworkers. Was a good run today. What I learned is need to overplan for water. Despite 64 oz of water I ran out at mile 13. Also, learned what hurts more than actually running 20.75 miles... CHAFING for that 20.75 miles lol. More to come when I have time to do a real entry. Time for some much needed FOOD and cervesas.

10:00 AM - Sunny and about 55 degrees at the start. I drove the 40 mins up to Greylock and parked on Notch-Pattison Road by the Williams Reservoir. Brought a Camelbak and some snacks for the way. Way up was really tough. My legs were shot from doing the mountain in Pittsfield State Forest on Sunday. Maybe this is good practice to know what it feels like to run on tired legs? I went a bit slower on the way up than last time, though I felt better as a whole. I got a wave from a maintenance guy driving a lawnmower on the mountain road. He saw me ~2 hours later on the way down and he waved again, but it was funny because he waved 200 yards before I actually got to him. He was cute. He turned the lawnmower off as I jogged past and took out a piece of fruit. Overall a very nice guy. There was still snow up at the summit in the shade. Windy at the top and I was glad I brought my hat.

The way down was fun. It is such a blast to enjoy the scenic overlooks. I got squeamish one time as I looked down where the electricity wires were coming up the side of the mountain and kind of got vertigo. Despite bringing 64 oz. of water in my Camelbak I ran out of liquid 13 miles into the run, thwarting any ideas I had had about doing an 18-20 mi single run. I had a CliffBar at 45 mins, Gu at 1:30, and another CliffBar at 2:20. Splits:

• Mile 1: 9:58
• Mile 2: 11:55
• Mile 3: 12:39
• Mile 4: 11:54
• Mile 5: 12:17
• Mile 6: 10:19
• Mile 7: 10:38
• Mile 8: 10:59
• Mile 9: 9:34
• Mile 10: 9:29
• Mile 11: 8:42
• Mile 12: 8:39
• Mile 13: 8:55
• Mile 14: 8:47
• Mile 15: 9:40
• Mile 16: 9:54
• Mile 17: 10:06

Did 17.3 miles and then drove home, showered and got changed into another set of workout clothes. Went to Berkshire West Athletic Club where Emmy works and got on a treadmill and did a short run before she got out of work.

Total Time: 31:00 Total Distance: 3.45 mi Average Pace:  8:59

I am writing this the morning after and my legs actually don't hurt too much. The thing that hurt the most especially yesterday was the chafing! Have to remember to wear more body glide next time.

7:00 PM - Today was a very productive day. I woke up and actually wasn't that sore from the 20+ miles of running yesterday. I had breakfast with Emmy and then we commenced a ton of errands and yard work. Cleaned up the back yard and got a fire permit for the day so we were able to get rid of a lot of brush. Also went grocery shopping, returned our cans and bottles for the scavenger can $ (Current Total : $6.50), got my hair cut because it was time, and then hung out a bit before going to get a free engagement photo taken that Emma won.

Got home and was feeling really blah despite Emm trying to cheer me up with some softserve ice cream yummyness. Went for a jog while I watched Seinfeld. Really felt the 2% incline from Emm's treadmill even though I was running at a fairly slow pace. However, I think running on tired legs is good. This will make me stronger :).

Total Time: 40:00 Total Distance: 4.27 miles Average Pace: 9:22

5:00 PM - Temp around 62 at the start and sunny. Drove with Emm to Monument Mountain and decided to try something new. We ran to the top and down again. Never tried it before but we both did real well. I felt fine and actually felt pretty strong going up. I seem to be a goat going up, but she is a mountain goat coming down and left me in the dust! She told me I just have to let gravity do the work and not ride my heels, but I can't help it. I would rather be slow and cautious and limit the damage of falling I guess. Took us 16 minutes going up and 19.5 minutes coming down. Coming down was slightly longer, but we were clipping along at a good pace at the end.

Total Time: 35:30 Total Distance: 3 miles Average Pace: 11:50

This is the 3rd mountain I've scaled this week. I am getting in good form for this trail race! I did Pittsfield State Forest on Sunday, Mount Greylock on Tuesday, and not Monument Mountain today.

5:00 PM - Sunny and temp around 64. I went running with Emmy at the bike path. We had a big day of things planned because my groomsmen are coming up tomorrow to get sized for tuxes AND it's my little sister's 22nd birthday! We're going to have a barbeque here at the house :). On the way back Emm said she wasn't feeling well so I decided to go ahead and use it as a tempo run. I tried to get back as fast as possible. I was worried Emm might faint. I really pushed it in the last two miles. Was about 7 minute pace for a good portion of it! Running on adrenaline. Luckily she was fine. I went and bought her soft serve ice cream from our favorite ice cream stand and now we are chilling here at home.

• Mile 1: 9:16
• Mile 2: 9:06
• Mile 3: 8:48
• Mile 4: 8:07
• Mile 5: 7:03
  

2:00 PM - I went to BWAC with Emm. She went on the elliptical and rowing machines while I went on the treadmill. I started reading the April edition of RT but had to ditch that as the sweat started to flow. I wanted to get in a good run so I decided to try and get some hills in. I did the majority of my run at 5%-7% grade and ended up with more vertical feet gained then calories burned for the run which was a good feat. Felt pretty good and now I am tired out. Good run for a rainy day. 

Total Time: 56:00 Total Distance: 6.03 miles Average Pace:  9:17

Yesterday was tux fitting/measurement day and we had a blast. Joe, Dad, Jonn, Me, Steve, Emma, my Mom and others all went to Tux Express in Pittsfield and Jonn helped pick out our tuxes. They look really snazzy :D. Mine is only slightly different because I have both a brown and ivory pocket square whereas everyone else will have just brown. Jonn posed to let me snap a shot :D.

6:20 PM - Rainy and drizzly in the mid to high 50s when finally got home from work today. Exhausted. I ended up hopping on the treadmill and then doing 6.10 miles as I read a back issue of RT that they mailed to me. Have not been getting them since I moved to Massachusetts. Felt pretty good, but afterwards I was exhausted and unable to do any school work. Got up at 5am on Tuesday to do some instead.

Total Time: 56:00 Total Distance: 6.10 miles Average Pace:  9:11

7:00 PM - Really long day with a poor amount of sleep. Was up tossing and turning all night. Alarm went off at 430 and I was out the door by 515. I was taking my junior class with Barbara's seniors to the statehouse in Boston for the Diploma Plus exhibition. They had to bring a project that they were proud of that represents their hard work to share with other DP schools. BArT is not a full DP school, however despite this we represented well. I was really proud o the kids and they did a super job. I blundered a bit however when they called us up to give out awards and made us go first. We did not really know that much about the exhibition as I had never gone before, however all the other schools knew what was up and named each kid as "most improved in English", "most outstanding essays" etc. etc. Some of the kids felt let down but I told them afterwards how I was still very proud of them and I apologized for not knowing about how we had to give them awards. It was difficult because I don't teach any of them in class, I only have them in advisory. Oh well. Next time perhaps. We left the school at 6am after some issues with laptops. I ended up letting one of my students use my personal laptop. Got back to the school at about 630pm, drove home and hopped on the treadmill. Felt blah because I did not run yesterday. Ran 40 minutes easy, then got 2 x footlong "Veggie Delite" sandwiches from Subway. Didn't eat much all day and was HUNGRY! Haha. 1 month until my birthday today! :)

Total Time: 40:00 Total Distance: 4.34 miles Average Pace:  9:13

6:00 PM - Cool, 55 degrees. Long day at work. Got home exhausted but needed to get in a run to relieve some stress. Went running up into Pittsfield State Forest and did the mountain loop, 2 miles up and 3.25 down and around. Going up I averaged ~11:00 minute miles; pretty strong! Coming down I had a 7:50ish and a 7:24. Really cruising. Hurt on the way down, however it felt good afterward. Went home and had dinner with Emm and then passed out. Long run on Saturday. Oh, the top of mountain had almost every tree down. Wind was ~43mph when I ran. Gusts of 50+ though earlier in the day. No trees fell on me however. Hopefully do 20-22 miles on Saturday!

Total Time: 47:30 Total Distance: 5.25 miles Average Pace:  9:03

4:45 PM - Partly cloudy and temperature in the low 60s. Perfect spring weather. Emm asked if I wanted to go hiking. It was wonderful and I had a great time. It was also the start of a crazy 24 hours with over 6 hours of exercise squeezed in. How about that for ultra conditioning? (hiking, running, biking). It took us 1:09 to get up the mountain and 1:01 to get down. Went up the Cheshire Harbour Trail. Took a few photos at the summit before heading down. Got down and went out to dinner at Zucchinis. A lovely night. I have such a wonderful fiancee :D.

Total Time: 2:10:00 Total Hiking Distance: 7 miles