Motivated to Succeed

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