Monday June 30 (pm) - 6M - Aqueducts

Ran 6M with Cliff, Aidan, and Will from Cold Springs Park. The run encompassed both Newton Aqueducts and was at a nice easy pace. My legs were stiff at the beginning of the run, no doubt the result of Sunday's 10-miler with Noah, but felt fine by the end.

Day 6M
Week 6M
Summer 122M

Sunday June 29 (pm) - 10M

It might not have been the smartest thing to head out for a long run in the middle of the afternoon of a hot, humid day, but the morning was too busy and Noah was free to run at the same time, so... we left from his house and ran to Wellesley H.S. using several trails - including the Waban Ave trails, Wellesley's crosstown trail, the aqueduct...

Over all I felt good on the longest run I've done for quite a while. We didn't run fast - finished in about 1:16, but my legs felt pretty good the whole way.

Day 10M
Week 46M
Summer 126M

Saturday June 28 (am) - 5M

I met Anna and Kyra at Walden Pond and we ran for a little over 40 minutes, which I'll call 5 miles. It was great to see them, and running on the trails was a welcome change.
I also feel quite recovered from Thursday's long run's journey into night.


Day 5M
Week 36M
Summer 116M

Friday June 2007 (pm) - 5M

I needed an easy day after the last several days of longer, sometimes faster runs, so I chose my standard four-mile loop that includes a stretch along the Charles River by the "Flowed Meadows" of Auburndale. As I expected, my legs were tired and it took a long time to feel comfortable. As I was returning home, I ran into Jess Barton, and extended the run to chat with her. As soon as I started chatting, I felt much better and easily tacked on an extra mile. One of the mysteries of running.

Day 5M
Week 31M
Summer 111M

Thursday June 26 (pm) - 7M

There are some days where you throw training out the window and running is just another way to transport your body from one place to another. Thursday was one of those days. I was signed up to work the Medical tent at the J.P Morgan Corporate Challenge in downtown Boston. I parked at Alewife, and took the subway in to the city. when the event was over -- at about 8:30 p.m. -- I strapped on my backpack and started a very slow shuffle back out to Alewife, about 7 miles with a long stretch along the Boston side of the Charles River.

The pace was pedestrian, but I was still plenty tried by the time I pulled up to the T station almost an hour later.

Day 7M
Week 26M
Summer 106M

Wednesday June 25 (pm) - 6M

A beautiful day to run from Cold Springs. Ran about 6M in 43:45, following the aqueduct to Quinobequin Rd, and back via Waban. Had a good conversation with Sam about injuries and returning to hard workouts.

Day 6M
Week 19M
Summer 99M

Tuesday June 24 (pm) - 6M

After yesterday's excitement, it was nice to run my standard 6-mile loop past the Johnny Kelley statue. I started slow (7:50), but finished with three miles all at sub 7:00 pace. Very little discomfort in the glute/hamstring area, but overall fatigue from last night's longer, harder run with Dave and Noah.

Day 6M
Week 13M
Summer 93M

Monday June 23 (pm) - 7M - Singing in the rain

This was one of those days when it really helped to have other people to run with. Severe thunderstorms hit Eastern mass in the afternoon, and I decided to cancel the group run from Cold Springs Park. I ended up staying at work until quarter to seven, and arriving home at quarter past. By this time it was late, gloomy, and I was getting hungry and feeling tired.

Then David called and said that he was running with Noah in 10 minutes. Did I want to join them? Absolutely! We ran 7 miles from Noah's house, finishing with a pretty solid last two miles up the Firehouse hill. My legs were hurting, but I had breath enough to belt out the lyrics to an Arlo Guthrie song while David expounded on his off theories of education, social inequality, and life in general. Yes, it was a little strange.

Day 7M
Week 7M
Summer 87M

Sunday June 22 (pm) - 4M

No long run for me today. After driving 6 hours back from New York, I settled for a short, fast run out to and along the Charles River ("The Cove"). I must have had a lot of pent up energy, because the final mile was close to six-minute pace.

Day 4M
Week 37M
Summer 80M

Saturday June 21 (am) - 6M

My niece's wedding day. Luckily the ceremony isn't until the afternoon and I got a little bit more sleep last night. I managed a nice 6-mile run through the back roads of the Village of Cazenovia. It was cool when I started at 7:30, very hot as I climbed the hill back to the motel 45 minutes later.

Day 6M
Week 33M
Summer 76M

Friday June 20 (am) - 4M

It's always a challenge to run well when traveling. You don't know the lay of the land, or where your next meal is coming from. Laundry is a bit of an issue, and there's always somewhere else you're supposed to be.

Anyway, I managed to get up early enough to run 4 miles this morning in Cazenovia, N.Y. (where I'm in town for my niece's wedding). The first mile is all downhill. The last is all uphill. I felt wiped out, as we arrived at about 1 a.m. last night. Not sure I would have done this run if I didn't know I'd have to put a "0" in the log if I didn't get it done.

Day 4M
Week 27M
Summer 70M

Thursday June 19 (pm) - 6M

Ran six miles while waiting for Joni and Loren to arrive so that we could all drive out to Syracuse for Anna and Stephen's wedding. Still felt a bit sore from Wednesday, but no major problems. Not sure how the running (and blogging) is going to go over the next few days...

Day 6M
Week 23M
Summer 66M

Wednesday June 18 (pm) - 5M

Ran from Cold Springs with a small group. Ok, but never felt good on this run, for some reason. We intruded on the Brae Burn golf course, running along the edges, and had to keep an eye out for late afternoon golfers -- maybe that was the problem.

Day 5M
Week 17M
Summer 60M

Tuesday June 17 (pm) - 6M

It was one of those days where it helped to know that no matter how late it got, I WAS going to get a run in. It also helped that at 7:30 p.m. there was still over an hour of daylight. Anyway, I ran my usual 6-mile loop, out to Auburndale, up Comm Ave, past the statue of the two Johnny Kelleys, and back through Newtonville.

I spent about twice as long as usual stretching afterwards, as everything on my right side felt tight.

Day 6M
Week 12M
Summer 55M

Monday June 16 (pm) - 6M

Ran from Cold Springs with a bunch of folks watching the sky the whole time. We lucked out, getting our run in before the lightning came.

Again, I felt surprisingly good. I don't quite know what to make of that, since I was expecting to feel tired from yesterday's puddle run.

Day 6
Week 6
Summer 49

Sunday June 15 (am) - 9.5M

Had a good run with Doug and Noah from Wellesley HS to Elm Bank Park and back, about 9.5M (69 minutes). I felt surprisingly good, probably because they kept the pace very moderate. It was raining lightly for most of the run, exept for one 10 minute stretch where it came down a bit harder. The puddles at Elm Bank were outstanding!

Day 9.5
Week 43
Summer 43

Saturday June 14 (noon) - 5.5M

Again with the 0.5 miles!

Actually, I felt very good today. It was pretty hot and humid so I ran very easily and enjoyed a nice run through Newton. I also dropped off a summer training log with Oliver... it was only a little bit sweaty when I gave it to him.

Day 5.5
Week 33.5
Summer 33.5

Friday June 13 (pm) - 6M

Ran my old standard route past the statue of Johnny Kelly on Comm Ave. The whole run felt pretty quick, and I finished the last 3M in 20:40 or so.

Day - 6
Week - 28
Summer - 28

Thursday June 12 (pm) - 5M

Repeated my Tuesday run at Minuteman trail. The temperature was perfect and I had a lot of energy compared to 95-degree Tuesday, but strangely I was 20 seconds slower! Go figure.

Anyway, hamstrings still tight and a bit sore, so lots of stretching after the run.

Being able to start a run at 7 p.m. and finish with plenty of daylight -- priceless!

Day Total 5
Week Total 22
Summer Total 22

Wednesday June 11 (pm) - 6M

Ran from Cold Springs park with Noah and Dan Hamilton. We ran through the park, along the aqueduct, out to Chestnut, and Echo bridge -- then returned the same way. They were very kind to me and didn't push the pace. We finished in about 43:30, so six miles in "Badger miles."

Weather was great, with temps down to about 80 degrees.

Day Total 6
Week Total 17
Summer Total 17

Tuesday June 10 (pm) - 5.5M

Temperature at 6:30 p.m. when I left work was 97 in Boston. I drove to the Minuteman Trail Visitor Center and ran a five-mile out and back loop, adding on a half mile at the end to make it 40 minutes.

I took it easy for most of the way, and although it was hot, running on the trails in the shade and with a slight breeze made it feel fairly comfortable. I didn't have water in the car, so I had to make do with a bottle of Gatorade that had been in the back seat all day.

My right hamstring continues to be sore when I start, but seemed to loosen up alright after a couple of miles.

Profound thought of the day: there's really no reason you would ever want to try hot Gatorade.

Day Total 5.5
Week Total 11.0
Summer Total 11.0

Monday June 9 (pm) - 5.5M

Waited for it to cool down and left the house at 8 p.m. I ran very slowly at first, and never pushed the pace. It was hot, but not too bad and I actually extended the run a little bit at the end.

Day Total 5.5
Week Total 5.5
Summer Total 5.5

First steps...

I started this blog to share my summer training with the runners I coach and anyone else who is interested. I asked the XC runners of Concord Academy to consider running this summer and I threw out this challenge: run 300 miles over the summer and get a t-shirt designed by the well-known Concord Artist Duncan Sherwood-Forbes.

Well, it's always easier to take on big challenges when you have company, so I thought I'd blog about my own attempt to recover from the injury that has plagued me all spring. I'll be starting modestly and trying to build up. Let's do this together.

If you feel inspired, leave a comment about your own running. I'd love to hear from you.