Weekly Run Log - Nov. 21-27, 2010

11/21/2010: Bennington Trail with an extender to the ledge viewpoint just beyond the junction of Upper Link and the Summit Trail. Beautiful day: upper 30's and sunny. :55, 4.0 miles, 1200' vert.

11/23/2010: Pack Monadnock and part of Temple Mountain by way of the Wapack Trail. Ran with Dena. 1:00, 3.5 miles, 1,100' vert.

11/25/2010: Windham Turkey Trot 5 miles. Very interesting running with hundreds of other runners, bikers, rollercoaster, dog walkers, walkers and scooter riders. Good energy. All pavement. 1:00, 5 miles, 150' vert.

Week Totals: 12.5 miles, 2,450' vert.

Not a terribly strong week but I did start actually working my snowmaking job this week. Now that I have seen a typical week of working I might need to reevaluate my plan to run 20 miles a week. I think any running that i can manage is good.

The Turkey Trot was fun. It was great to take part in this tradition that many runners embrace each Thanksgiving (regardless of it being on pavement and flat).

Weekly Run Log - Nov. 14-20, 2010

11/14/2010: Wapack Trail from the Windblown Crosscountry Ski Area (123) up over Barrett Mt. to New Ipswich Mountain and back. Slow because of the leaves. Nice to be out running again in a time I am getting sucked into a rut! We'll see if I can get out two more times this week. 1:25, 6.0 miles, 1200' vert.

11/16/2010: Craig Road to Rt 9 by Reed Carr. Cloudy. A fast run! 0:54, 5.8 miles, 450' vert.

11/18/2010: Crotched Mt. from the Crotched Mountain Town Forest in Francestown. Link/Summit east/Upper Link/Summit west trails. Trails need some work, cleaning up trees, but there are tremendous possibilities here. Links everywhere could make runs of any length possible. Beautiful views from many ledges allow for recon of future runs. I need to run it in reverse before I can definitely say this but running the loop from West to East might be easier. West is just one straight push the the top while East meanders causing me to search for the trail a lot on the uphill. 1:45, 6.8 miles, 1,300' vert.

11/19/2010: Crotched Mountain by way of the Bennington/Shannon's Trail. Went Anaerobic for one good steep stretch. Trail is in great condition but Shannon's Trail is filled with brick-size rocks, mud, roots, and water. Ran 1050' vert in 22 minutes! :45, 3.0 miles, 1050' vert.

Weekly Summary: 21.6 miles, 4,000' vert.

The drive to get out there is back. I have been exploring more this week mostly the Wapack Trail (I have one or two sections left to explore!) and the Crotched Mountain Town Forest. I am excited to have discovered he Crotched trail system as it offers 1000' plus of vert and it is within 20 minutes of home!

Also this week I applied for the Western States 100 lottery. I am pretty excited for the lottery which will be held on December 4th regardless of the fact that I have a slim chance of making it in. I would actually prefer to go to the Hardrock this year instead, but I will take what I can get. We'll just see what happens on the 4th. I can start worrying then!

Weekly Run Log - Nov. 07 - Nov. 13, 2010

11/11/2010: Ran Skatutakee by way of the Hariskat Trail instead of running the full loop. Saw a beautiful sunset mostly red with a dark alpinglow! Good time as well, I pushed it a little. 0:37, 3.0 miles, 660' vert.


Weekly Total: 3.0 miles, 660' vert.


I feel as though I am getting into a rut at home with the projects on the house in full swing. I am also a bit nervous about the new job so I have been worrying myself a little...

Weekly Run Log - Oct. 31 - Nov. 06, 2010

Took the week off from running. Household projects got the better of me this week.

Weekly Run Log - Oct. 24 - Oct. 30, 2010

10/26/2010: Wapack trail from Temple Rd. up and over Burton, Holt, and Temple Mountains to 101 then back. Runable in entirety. Like riding a rollercoaster in slow motion. My watch altimeter said 1500' vert but I bet it is mug more due to the quick gains and losses of 10-20' at a time. Technical fun! 1:53, 9.6 miles, 1,500' vert.

10/28/2010: Craig Rd. and Reed Carr Rd. to Route 9 and back. A fun way of linking my normal Craig Road run with somewhere I know in driving. :58, 5.75, 450' vert.

10/30/2010: What started as a quick run up Skatutakee turned into a fantastic discovery of a loop including Thumb Mountain! I think next time i should do it in reverse. The Harriskat Trail is more gradual and the running to Thumb would be pleasant (minus the short steep section to the summit). This would take advantage of the grades and technical difficulty.  1:01, 4.5 miles, 850' vert.

Week 8 Totals: 19.8 miles, 2,800' vert.

Weekly Run Log - Oct. 17-Oct. 23

10/17/2010: Bald Mountain loop near Willard Pond. Seriously technical seems to be the theme of trail running in the Northeast. Lots of roots and rocks to negotiate as well as steep trails. The going is slow. But the running is just as satisfying. I am convinced my joints will be in great shape when I go back to CO. The only question is where will I run when the trails are covered in snow? :42, 3.5 miles, 900' vert.

10/19/2010: Craig road/Girl Scout Trail in Fivefingers. :25, 2.0 miles, 150' vert.

10/20/2010: Wapack Trail from Old Road to North Pack and through to Pack Monadnock. Good running trail, steep in the north side of N. Pack but otherwise just enjoyably New England technical trail running. Good vert too in three good climbs. 2:00, 8.0 miles, 2,100' vert. A classic!

10/23/2010: From the cottage ran up the Goshen Trail to Sunapee's summit, down the north ridge by way of the Summit Trail and back by way of the Province Rd and Brook Rd. A great loop worth doing again. The  2 or so miles of road running detracted a small bit from the run as a whole but this run will be one of my "classics" for a long time. A dusting of snow at the summit and the snow-capped Whites in the distance reminded me that I need to get my turns this week. I might still make it! 1:47, 8.0'miles, 1,600' vert.

Week Totals: 21.5 miles, 4,750' vert.

Another good week of running though I would like to keep my weekly totals to about 20 miles until I decide to go about ramping up into serious training again. This will be hard because there are so many 8 to 10 mile runs I would like to do! One might say that these runs will always be there to be run but I don't know. So many of these trails run over private land. One never knows if a trail will be closed because a landowner decides it to be so...

Weekly Run Log - Oct. 10-Oct. 16

10/10/2010: Parked at the Goshen Trail TH and rand the Goshen Trail to the top. Quite happy with the running. No real pain to speak of in the knees. Hundreds of people at the summit. Welcome to the "wilderness" on a Sunday at a local ski hill. :55, 4.5 miles, 1,300' vert.

10/11/2010: Gregg Lake bridge to Price Farm and back. Quiet New England dirt road with smell of wood smoke in the air. Fivefingers. :25, 2.0 miles, 200' vert.

10/13/2010: Pumpelly Trail to the summit of Monadnock. Longer than I thought. Slightly better for trail running than the Dublin trail because of longer sections that can be run between the scrambly sections. Very technical the upper sections that can be run. the lower sections would be a nice semi-technical shorter run as well. 2:20, 10.0 miles, 1,800' vert.

10/15/2010: A short run in the Fivefingers from the Gregg Lake bridge out Craig Rd. Timed :10 out. :20, 2.0 miles, 100' vert.

Week 6 Totals: 18.5 miles, 3,300' vert.

It was a strong week for running. I guess I broke my goal of running two to three times for maintenance miles. I don't expect to be doing this again soon. Nonetheless, two of the runs were in the Fivefingers and the other two were moderately long. If I can keep to two moderately long runs for the week and one barefoot run I will be happy. We'll see what the body, weather, and schedule say about that.