“Running on – running on empty
Running on – running blind
Running on – running into the sun
But I’m running behind”
The story of today’s run was the humidity. We started out from Brueggers, 10 of us, up to the LynnFells heading towards Saugus. Within a mile the sweat was beading up, dripping down our faces, soaking our clothing. The temperatures were in the 70s but the dew point was not in our favor. With Jen and Brian taking the lead while I brought up the rear the string of runners made their way along the long flat stretches of the LynnFells. Already running on empty the group seemed to be struggling early, but still feeling better than the dead bird on the side of the road, who was bad off to begin with but things turned worse for him when Nick accidentally kicked him. We marched on, turning on to Main St in Saugus where we picked up our pack of shorter route runners. Ten more runners started at the parking lot of J Pace’s to partake in the more interesting miles of the long run. Heading through the hills of Main St the pack registered 7 mph on the school zone sign’s traffic radar gun as we pulled in to the Wakefield High School parking lot and our first water stop…. most of that is, Demi and Liesl joined us at Brueggers but opted to do a flatter long run today, and Catherine and Kelly just couldn’t wait to get to Breakheart and followed the LynnFells to the Saugus entrance (ok, really they didn’t look at the map).
Thanks Walt for the water stop. Already sopping wet with sweat we rehydrated with a plethora of fluids and headed up the hill by the Voc and into Breakheart. The shade helped the temperature and made the hills a tad easier, while the humidity sent streams of salty sweat into my eyes. “Running on – running blind.” Up and down the brutal hills of Breakheart, many of the shorter route runners finding out for the first time what a challenge this run is as their typical routes bring them up to Breakheart but rarely through it. As we ascended the hills many gave into the temptation to walk, today was not a day to push hard. On the descents, as I passed I threatened to physically push our walkers up the next hill if I saw them walking. We all made it through the hills though without me pushing anyone, past the water fountain for a quick sip, and along the flatter side of Breakheart where, as we pass a golf course I once again wonder why we all became runners and not golfers at this stage in our life. Weaving through a parade of visitors (a church group perhaps) making their way to the beach at Breakheart we made our way back to the Voc and down to the water stop.
At this point the shorter route runners headed back to J Pace’s for a 7.5 mile hilly run. Others headed out the full route along Water St to Wakefield Center and a return to Melrose via Main St. Some opted for a short cut taking Nahant St to Main St. Where I was in the pack Ginny and I headed out to Water St while Ed and Kaj took the short cut. My goal was to try to catch them somewhere on Main St. As Ginny trailed behind me I picked it up and kept my eyes open for Ed and Kaj to provide that goal to run to. It was tough to see ahead…. “Running on – running into the sun”. Somewhere after Billy’s Roast Beef I spotted them in the distance and decided to pick it up in my pursuit. Feeling good about the rate at which I was closing in on them but as I got closer and the glare of the sun subsided I noticed the two had been walking. As I approached I noticed they weren’t just walking they were having a relaxing conversation as well. They were nice enough to start running again as I went by, making me feel like I did accomplish something. Each step from there to Brueggers seemed sunnier and hotter, but we all straggled in completing whatever distance we settled for.
Today was a truely challenging run for just about everyone. Congratulations for finishing it, however you managed to do it. For those that haven’t run Breakheart before, welcome to the real hills, anything else we run will seem easy now. For those that were in Falmouth today running the Falmouth Road Race I hope you had a seabreeze today. Great job to everyone that ran today!
Just a note to tell you, as one of the shorter route runners that experienced Breakheart’s hills for the first time, all I can say is THAT WAS TOUGH!!!! We thought the hills would not end. So yes, Jim, we were cursing you and secretly hoping that the hill talk of this place was not true. I guess not! Actually we did like the scenery and not sure if any of you caught the woman in the bushes lying down on her stomach like in a sniper pose. She was actually taking pictures of not a tree or an animal but a mushroom.. A bit strange. Just thought I would share that w/ you all.
Again, thanks so much for the training and even though we may curse you, we do appreciate this program that you have put together…See you all Tuesday!!
Jen
I did see that older lady walking along curiously looking for just the perfect mushroom to take a photo of. To each their own I suppose… she’s probably telling her mushroom photo taking friends about all the crazy runners trying to run up those hills.
Regarding the hills… all those hilly routes we run don’t seem so bad now, do they 🙂
I was thinking the same thing! The hills on the way back that we were dreading at mile 1 or 2, I didn’t even see on the way back to our cars. What Hills? I don’t know any hills after seeing Breakheart! (Ok, maybe the hill on the Fellsway when we take a left at Grimsby’s is still a mini hill but doable!) Thanks for the route and the new run for us to get in 7.5 miles. All in all a good run! The lady laying in the grass scared the crap out of me! 🙂 Enjoy the rest of everyone’s weekends. See ya Tuesday!
Thanks for organizing, Jim. And Walt, thanks for the water stop. It felt like today was really hard work even given the lesser distance than past weeks so I am glad that everyone else felt kind of the same! I am on vacation until 8/23…so not sure if I will be there for 8/24…..but see you in 2 weeks or more. Jen
Oh….and thank you to Brian for setting a great pace for the run…..I felt like I really got in some good work today…..hay in the barn or whatever the saying is……:-) Jen
Jim!
Since I passed on the Breakheart ordeal, I headed out to Water St. by myself back to Main St, up the hill on Green St & into Melrose. The sign at car wash on Water St. said 79 degrees but when I got back to Main Street after detouring on to Greenwood (Hello to Paul Lynde), the Walgreen sign said 89 degrees which it what it felt like when running in the sun!
My goal was not to let front runners Jen & Brian catch me ( how embarrassing that would be), finishing up in 85 minutes I still had plenty of time to change & buy some Gatorade at CVS before Jen & Brian arrived.
Roughly 9.5 miles for the day, sorry I could not stay to chat but it was off to Lowe’s.
Not to smart to look at the map after the run. Ooops! Looks like Catherine and I got about the same distance in with our own route through Breakheart. And yes I did curse once during the hills. Thanks for all of your organinzing. I will read the map before next weeks run.
Thanks for the “I’m not running Breakheart!” recap Nick. It did feel much hotter than the expected high in the mid-70s. I saw Paul go flying by on his bike too.
Speaking of bikes, I forgot to mention that along Water St, Ginny and I ran by an abandon Razor scooter and she began negotiating “Can we take the scooter back, I’ll let you sit on the handle bars first”… and then a half mile later we passed a little girls bike on the side of the road which got a “verrrrry tempting!” from Ginny as we went be. It was that sort of run.
Anybody run Falmouth that wants to chime in? How about those that didn’t join us yesterday morning, any long run stories from the road?
I had an equally torturous long run, compounded by the fact that I started at 10:30 AM since my lazy butt decided to sleep in! That’s what I get for coveting some additional “shut eye”. My run took me down to the Charles where I slogged through about 13 1/2 miles or so. No dead animals or mushroom snipers on my run. In typical fashion, I was soaking wet when I got home. I don’t think I could have handled Breakhart yesterday so kudos to all of the “Breakhart Babes” who attacked the hills on a hot muggy day. Boys, you’ll have to figure out your own nickname:)
Glad I wasn’t the only one that felt like she was “running behind”. It was really hot and humid in the sun. For those who were new to Breakheart yesterday, congratulations. I hope the scenery, shade and cool outweighed the hills!