Sunday Run

No foolin’, this is the last run of the winter season of the Sunday Long Run. This week the S in SLR should stand for spring, because its finally here! While we had a relatively mild yet stubbornly long winter to train in this year, Sunday has been cold every week until this one. We should be running in temps in the 50s and 60s. Even though this is a short taper, you may want to test out the clothes you plan to wear on race day on this run.

The plan for this run is the same roads for the same distance we ran in Week 2 back in January, but in reverse. Just to be clear you run forward through the roads in reverse order than we did in Week 2. Don’t do anything stupid like run 12.5 miles backwards. Again, this is a taper run so keep your pace while I decrease your miles. We’ll start up
Main Street towards Ell Pond. Give Clarence DeMar a good luck tap as you pass by. You won’t win Boston like Mr Marathon did seven times but know you trained on the same roads as him, so you couldn’t be any readier. When you get to Melrose Street, turn left, and take another left on to the LynnFells Parkway. Continue on the LynnFells past Grimsby’s as it becomes the Fellsway East. Through the hills and down to the Highland Ave traffic circle, turn right onto Highland and make your way to the first water stop.

After the stop both short and long runners will run the “front side” of Spot Pond, straight through the Highland Ave rotary onto Woodland Rd, past the hockey rink. Short route runners will turn right at Pond Street, past Grimsby’s to West Wyoming Ave, turning left on Main Street and finishing at Brueggers. Long runners will circle the pond by running past the Stone Zoo, cutting through the Straw Point water stop on the left, turning left on Main Street in Stoneham and following that over I93, past the Sheepfold entrance to the Fells, under I93, to Elm Street where you turn left. Elm Street will bring you up to the Highland Rotary where you turn right to find the water stop again.

After this water stop, turn left on to East Border Road, and left again at the lights on to the Fellsway East. Through the hills, and down to Grimsby’s, turn right on West Wyoming Ave and make your way to the left on Main to finish up your 2017 Long Run training for the Boston Marathon at Brueggers.

Water Stops. I’ll be taking care of Highland Ave. Anyone that wants to help is welcome. If I get a helper I’ll send them over to Straw Point for an extra stop.

After this. Well, some of you will have a great Boston, others will continue training for marathons later in the spring. Typically unofficial runs continue into May, with unmanned water stops sprinkled about. Facebook or the MRC forum is where those runs are communicated.

After that. We typically have an MRC Long Run Brunch after the races have been run. I likely will be out of town when we do that. If someone wants to host, let me know. They are typically pot luck brunches where everyone brings a dish or a drink and we chat about our experiences on the race courses.

See you in the morning. Roll Call, who’s in?!

After a perfectly executed Hopkinton to Boston College run (thanks to all the volunteers for being where they needed to be when they needed to in order to make this such a great day, and for all the runners for making it a joy to keep you running strong along the course!) it’s time to taper. For those in this for the first time, Taper Time is that time where you let your legs recover from all the training runs, making them as ready as possible for Boston. To do this we do shorter runs at normal training pace. Back in the first week in January you probably didn’t think of a 15 mile run as taking it easy, but this Sunday you’ll see that it is.

This week’s run if 5 laps of Breakheart. April Fools! Actually the run is very similar to what we did two weeks ago. The weather seems to have spared us, there is snow on the ground but the sidewalks of Melrose are visible but wet.

We’ll start out East Foster up to Melrose Common, turning right on 6th Street and continuing straight as it becomes Swain’s Pond Ave. When you get to the pond, turn right at the stop sign to continue on Swains Pond Ave. Follow this to an intersection with a closed convenience store on the right and a very wide turn of Lebanon Street. As some of you know, if you don’t turn right here you’ll end up in Malden. Nothing against Malden but TURN RIGHT. When you get to a set of lights on Lebanon turn left, this is Forest Street which will take you past Oak Grove Cemetery and over to Main Street in Malden. Across Main you’ll find water stop 1.

After this stop, just like before, leave through the other end of the parking lot onto Winter Street, run past Oak Grove T Stop and straight through a 5-way intersection on to Glenwood. This street will wind its way to Highland Ave where you take a right and another quick right on to the Fellsway East at a traffic circle. Run through the hills, past Grimsby’s on to the LynnFells Parkway… unless you’re running short where the route turns onto West Wyoming which brings you to a left on to Main Street to finish up 7 miles. Long runners will follow the LynnFells Parkway to Melrose High School where they’ll find water stop 2.

After this stop continue up LynnFells Parkway to Saugus, turning left onto Main Street in Saugus. Follow Main as it turns into Farm Street in Wakefield, turning left on Nahant across from Wakefield High School, and running to Main Street in Wakefield coming out at Nick’s Pizza where you’ll have water stop 3.

After Nick’s Pizza follow Main Street back to Melrose and back to Brueggers.

Water stops. I only need one volunteer to help me. Who will it be? I believe Hank is taking a well deserved vacation. Tom?

Who’s in? Roll Call?!