Sunday Run

The second weekend in March, this year that means time to ‘spring ahead’, moving the clocks up an hour. For those of you who couldn’t wait to lace ‘em up and get out on the roads, this worked in your favor as 8AM at Brueggers came an hour sooner.

This week was a little different off the bat. The extra sleepy faces stumbled into Brueggers and congregated in the back of the store instead of the usual location in the front. Everyone was assessing their wardrobe choices. This was a “what to wear” week. With temperatures below freezing and a howling wind providing a wide range of windchills it was nearly impossible to gauge the perfect number of layers. Once that choice was finalized the routes were reviewed, 20 miles for most, 10 for a few, and with much prodding out the doors 14 runners went.

West Wyoming was the first test of our fortitude. A strong wind hit us square in the face for most of the first mile but nobody backed down. The lead pack (Barry, Judi, and Erin) pushed ahead and was out of sight by the time most of us hit Grimsby’s. The next pack (Brian, Ed, Walt and Andys Pate and Goldberg) moved ahead of Nick and I along Spot Pond. Another pack was very active at the zoo… all three wolves were on the prowl behind the fence as we passed by. The final pack with Tracy, JoAnn, Nancy, Sue, Joanne and Ed Morris kept close behind. At some point Ginny joined in on the run, I’m not sure when because she was dressed EXACTLY like JoAnn. The swirling winds buffeted us from every direction all the way to Winchester where we stopped for the first water stop. Lois and Mike joined in the run there bringing the total participation this week to 17 (unless I missed someone).

The second leg was through Winchester Highlands along Forest St and Highland Ave all the way to the end. Dubbed the “over the river and through the woods” section when we discovered that yesterday’s deluge caused bubbling brooks from the Winchester Reservoirs to become raging rivers through yards and basements of some homes. Icy streams crossed driveways and intersections searching out the nearest storm drain. This made for some fancy footwork and wet shoes along the way to Nick’s car and water stop 2.

Next up was a trip through Medford, making our way to the Mystic Lakes before circling back around to Winchester. Highlights included more wind, playing chicken with a train, and watching white caps on the lakes. Running along Mystic Valley Parkway is one of the best sections of this route, nice views, a quiet road, and some surprisingly windless sections put some spark back into our runners as they made their way over to Nancy’s car for water stop 3 at Winchester Middle School.

Some runners stopped here completing 10 miles, taking Nancy’s car back to Brueggers for her. For others we were only half way done. The route took us down Washington St, where I scouted out locations of restroom facilities. For future reference there is a nice, quiet bathroom in the basement of St Mary’s Church. Churches and Fire Stations: a runner’s best friend. Turning off Washington St we headed up the hills of Forest St. It was noted by many that this felt like the easiest run up these challenging hills ever! It could be we’re getting fitter, or it may have been the high winds pushing us back to Lois’ car for water stop 4.

With Mike stopping back at the water stop, Nick circling back around to his car, and Ginny turning off to head home, I headed off alone along the backside of Spot Pond, climbing the hills to Liz’s car and the last water stop of the day. With Liz and Lia doling out the Snickers and Gatorade, sugar fueled the push through the final hills on Fellsway East, and with the wind on West Wyoming now at our back, we were gently eased back to Brueggers to end a 20 mile run.

For those running Boston, congratulations on completing one of your two major training runs! This one took some concentration and fortitude to get through. The wind sapped our strength early and some upset stomachs affected our runs, making for a great run no matter what you did. We are all one step closer to your goal.

Now it’s time for a nap!

[Note: In two weeks we’ll be running on Saturday due to Easter Sunday. Plan accordingly]

There is only one training run bigger than this one, which means we’re getting close to the spring marathons. You wouldn’t know it by the weather though. Despite some hint of spring in the air, the pattern of wintery Sundays continues. With that in mind, I want to remind marathoners that this week is a good chance to test out some of your marathon day routines. Pre-race meals, running clothes, and refueling regimen are all very important for race day and should be tested out on these very long runs. You don’t want to find out that mom’s spaghetti sauce sit well in your running stomach somewhere around Framingham! Or that your favorite MRC singlet starts chafing around Heartbreak Hill. Test out these things this weekend where they might effect a long training run but they won’t screw up your major marathon.

That goes for all you half marathon trainers too! It might be half the distance but its just as important to be confident about your race day plans.

The routes are set, the full route heads out to Winchester, passing through Stoneham and Medford at points, and includes views of Spot Pond and the Mystic Lakes. The half route also heads into Winchester, includes some fun hills and fancy houses.

Our waterstop plans are just about set with Lois, Nancy, Nick, and I providing stops, with the possibility of Tracy and/or Liz pitching in. Watch comments on Ed’s post for the final plans. We’ll try to have the minimum of water/gatorade, gu, gummies, and snickers at each water stop.

Pate, you win! Good job catching the somewhat obscure musical reference… I’m planning on including at least one in every recap to see who catches them. The winner gets to keep their water stop buck for the week.

That’s about it… except for the running part of it… so who’s in? It’s roll call time!

This week we headed out for 18.1 miles for the marathon trainers and 9.1 miles for the half marathon trainers. As the races get closer the routes stretch out longer and the water stops become more important. This was a short week for me, coming off a Tuesday return from my Florida vacation, Saturday was upon me and I had 5 water stops to plan. With some hectic last minute organizing I came up with an overly complicated plan that called for the use of four cars and six people to make sure there was Gatorade, Gu, and Snickers hidden around Saugus and Wakefield for everyone. Thanks to Nick, Walt, Joanne, Sue, and Nancy for helping pull everything together and a special thanks to Mike for providing a rolling water stop that followed runners around in every direction to ensure nobody was left thirsty.  [Note: Ed Torres will be helping out to coordinate water stops for me. Watch here for announcements earlier in the week]

March came in like a lion I guess with a Saturday storm but as we gathered for the Sunday Long Run we would be running under a bright blue sky and temps in the high 20s climbing to the 30s. What we may have underestimated, despite some accurate warnings by our weatherman Walt, was the strength of the wind and what a significant wind chill feels like. The crew headed down Main St into the wind, and approaching Ell Pond the strength of the wind became obvious. Shortly after though we had turned onto the Lynn Fells with the wind at our back and things began to feel warmer. The gusts pushed us all the way to the Saugus entrance of Breakheart giving a false sense of how easy this run would be.

After some quick sips of Gatorade and water from Mr. Quigley most headed into Breakheart for a 3 mile loop. The first half of the loop (the flat half) was plowed and for the most part dry. While I was enjoying the easy side I’m sure Linda was the decision to run through there to Mike Murphy or Judi was badmouthing me to Erin as they were the first to attempt the frozen tundra on the hilly side of the loop. As Ginny, Ana, and I got closer to the unplowed section a runner coming from the other direction said “Gilroy’s complaining about you”. Brian, Walt, and Ed were up ahead taking on the challenge of running on ice and snow now. As I trudged through the snow up the first hill I came to realize this wasn’t easy. I’ve run in worse there, but this was a close second. The middle of the path was iced over and very uneven. The sides had some loose snow that made it possible to dig your running shoes in, but underneath was ice so occasionally your feet would slide as you put weight on them. Even the scenery, accented with snow, didn’t hold enough charm this time of year to make it seem worthwhile. But in my opinion, which some would discount as crazy talk, keeping track of my footing and the constant crunching of snow distracted me from the fact that I was running through some incredibly steep hills. Before I knew it I was back at the water stop for another refresher.

The next section of the run began an hour long fight with the wind. Coming out of the northwest, a strong wind was in our faces on any road going north or west. Unfortunately the next 6 miles was all on road heading north or west. We circled around to a water stop at Wakefield High where I lost my company, Ginny headed out Nahant for a 13 mile run and Ana stopped her run due to a sore hip. I headed out alone, northbound on Montrose, and west on Rte129 and crested a hill to bring Lake Quannapowitt into view and taking the wind tunnel run to its crescendo.

To this point Nick had been running his own altered route, and Walt, well ahead of me for most of the run, had inserted an extra 2 miles somewhere. Out of the blue all three of us converged at water stop #4 at Comverse. From there Nick headed back to his car to finish a run of who knows how long, and Walt and I headed out to follow the prescribed route back to Melrose. Heading down North Ave Mike stopped by to ask where he should be heading next. I had no clue. I knew there were people still running, but didn’t know where in their routes they would be. He headed out to take attendance and did a great job keeping track of everyone.

Walt and I circle the lake over to Main St and headed south, wind finally at our back now. A short stop for water again at the corner of Nahant and Main and the wind nudged us toward the finish. Along the way a little beep from Joanne and a funny face and wave from Sue in the passenger side window brought a smile to a tired, salty, windburned face.

Back at Brueggers we swapped notes on the run. Grumbles about the ice and wind were common. The location of the waterstop cars was another hot topic. Satisfaction that another very long Long Run is behind us kept the mood light though.

For those training for Boston, there are only two runs longer than this coming up. You’re almost to Hopkinton!