Monday, August 21, 2023

A Change of Pace

My posts have been "few and far between!"  And yes, some runners -- me included -- can become "determined" in an effort to keep complete lists of their running watch data.  But this post will be different today!!  Today is really all we have ... and I think today it would be better simply to skip all the listing of runs made since July 23.  Instead, I feel like sharing my running has been going well -- and that various other parts of life seem to also be coming together as they say.  Yesterday, following a farther than normal 6.47 mile run, I was tempted to stay home rather than go to an event my manager from work had said he and his wife and kids were going to go to.  Not having had any lunch yet following my mid-afternoon run, it somehow seemed like a better idea to be a little more social than I usually am, and to "change the pace' of my otherwise not very eventful day!

So, at 4:00 pm I found myself at (the very large) Roger's Field in my next door town of Devens.  It was "Devens Day" and the 3rd year of festivities -- which again included many vendors, GREAT music and food -- followed by what turned out to be one super impressive August 19th fireworks display.  I found my work friends there. We all watched the fireworks in awe on many blankets up close to where the crew launched them.

 
 
The following day was Sunday, August 20.  I put in 11 miles of hill running in Harvard.  My time was 1:50:01.  Pace was exactly 10:00/mile.  
 
 
 
This coming Saturday, August 26th, I'll be running with the New England 65+ Running Club in my second Race.  This one will be the 10 miler in Auburn/Manchester, NH
 
 
This picture above is a repeat image of the masters runners in our group prior to the August 13th Bobby Doyle 5 Mile race in Narragansett, RI,  Our team placed 1st in the USATF-NE race for the 70-99 division.  There were 26 runners in that division.  My pace was 8:44/mile.
From left to right, we have:  Mike Lozan, Susan Lovering, Bob Roemer, me, John Puleo, Steve Cryer, Bill Pine and Robert Randall.

 
 
 
 


Sunday, July 23, 2023

12 Days! July 12 to 23

Wednesday July 12 - rest day

Thursday July 13 - Biked 10.19 miles - ave 9.9 mph - max 22.6 mph

Thursday July 13 - Ran 6.5 miles - 11:15 pace  

Friday July 14

Saturday July 15 - Walked with Concord Group 3.9 miles

Saturday July 15 - Biked 15.01 miles - ave 10.5 mph - max 31.9 mph

Saturday July 15 - Ran 4.5 miles - 10:04 pace

Sunday July 16 - Ran 4.04 miles - 10:32 pace

Monday July 17 - Ran 5.0 miles - 9:50 pace

Tuesday July 18 -

Wednesday July 19 - Ran 6.51 miles - 10:25 pace

Thursday July 20 - Ran 3.18 miles - 11:32 pace

Friday July 21 - Ran 3.01 miles - 10:14 pace

Saturday July 22 - Walked with Concord Group 3.03 miles

Saturday July 22 - Biked 22.61 miles - ave 10.1 mph - 1,532 ascent

Sunday July 23 - Ran 7.0 miles -  10:01 pace

It was a busy week (and 1/2) and few pictures were taken!  Looking back on my phone, I see I took some on July 16th here at home following my run. It was a memorable day - and a memorable run.  Sometimes pictures "add" to memorable days!  This first one is of my perennial oriental poppy (now far past it's blooming) with an "infestation of little "Johnny Jump Up" flowers within and around it.  They always "look at you" -- or so they say.  The next picture. although not very picturesque, is of some white mushrooms now growing in a large newly sodded area in front of our building.

I've since updated today's post to include both my 7 mile run and 5 additional pictures (at the end) of one particular perennial garden very close to where I live. 

 
 

 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 


 

 



 

 


Tuesday, July 11, 2023

Taking To the Hills

 https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/11537471226

Above link - today's 10.33 mile bike ride on Harvard Hills at 11.4 ave mph

Elevation change was 598 feet.  Temp 81 degrees.  Ave HR = 105 bpm.

This ride was followed by a 5.0 mile run in Ayer at 10:03 ave pace.  The average HR was 137 bpm.  Vo2 Max was 38% (maximum oxygen uptake).  Temp 82 degrees on hot sun.  Humidity 51% 

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/11537888862

Later in the day (after a nap!) I took these pictures in Pirone Park.







 

 

Monday, July 10, 2023

Sluggish Monday 2 Mile Run After the Rain

 It was a slow run tonight.  Dinner came late and it felt like a chore to get it done.  I'd been thinking about skipping it on account of the steady evening rain.  The puddles outside my window were no longer being sprinkled upon -- and the evening sky was brightening a bit before dark.  So, the 11:59 pace for a 2 mile out-and-back run was good enough for me today.

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/11533022123

It was dark when I got back to the apartment and I was wondering how my phone's flashlight might work out for some picture taking -- for tonight's post.  Aside from some "jiggle" in the images, these longer-than-desired exposures worked out fairly well.  One is of my wet rose bush.  The other (also taken tonight) is of an "indeterminate" cherry tomato plant given to me by my astronomy friend, Marsha. 


 
 

 

 

Sunday, July 9, 2023

BayState 2023

I've entered the 35th Annual Baystate Half Marathon.  It will be on Sunday, October 15th this year -- about 3 months away.

It seems my hamstring has recovered over the last 3 months to the point where I can begin to think about ramping up mileage again.

Working three days a week has turned out to help with strengthening the legs more, so the idea of trying to meet or exceed my 2021 Baystate Half performance in Lowell later this year will be a good goal.  The race in 2021 went well.  I placed 1st out of 16 in my AG with a 9:08 pace for 13.1 miles.  I'll be 2 years older then and it will be slightly tougher since I am still in the same AG.  The time to match will be 1:59:34.


 Workouts since my last post on 7/4 were as follows:

Wed July 5 - rest

Thur July 6 - Biked 4.66 miles at 9.2 mph 

Thur July 6 - Ran 4.0 miles at 9:52 pace at Harvard track

Thur July 6 - Biked 4.85 miles at 9.5 mph

Fri July 7 - Walked 1.0 mile at 24:02 pace

Sat July 8 - Walked 2.83 miles with Concord group at 22:05 pace

Sat July 8 - Biked 4.77 miles at 8.7 mph

Sat July 8 - Ran 3.0 miles at 10:08 pace at Harvard track

Sat July 8 - Biked 4.70 miles at 9.1 mph

Sun July 9 - Ran 5.0 miles on Ayer roads at 10:14 pace

Weekly Summary:  20.0 running, 19.75 biking, 3.83 walking

 






Tuesday, July 4, 2023

A New Drawing Takes Form

 https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/11485776565  biked 4.98 miles

 https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/11486181031 ran 4 miles 10:23 pace

 https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/11486491300 biked home 5.26 miles

No nature pictures today.  Just a list of workouts.  It was a muggy 4th of July.  I considered a rest day from running, but decided to ride to the track in Harvard to put in a workout.  I added a bit to a new drawing started a few days ago.


 

 





 

 

Monday, July 3, 2023

Pre-4th of July Color on my 4 Mile Run

 https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/11481370682

Today's 4 mile out-and-back run after work was good.  Pace was reasonable.  I tried to keep it even and steady -- and slightly slower overall because  of a planned mileage increase from12 (last week) to 18 this week.  It was a hot evening!  82 degrees, but it felt like 85.  

At exactly mile 1 (and 3) of this 4 mile run I passed this annual flower bed planted a few weeks ago for a bank.  Each year they do a pretty nice job with an "explosion" of color.  Very appropriate here, since tomorrow is the 4th of July!