Friday, September 5, 2008 [6M]

Newton Center. Out of the door this afternoon by 6:30PM for a short and easy run. I ran to the Reservoir and picked up Beacon St to Newton center. I looped around a couple of side streets and headed back to Beacon then around the Reseroir and back to Lenia's place. My legs were feeling decent and hopefully this easy day will keep them fresh for tomorrow's race. 

Thursday PM, September 4, 2008 [6M]

Harvard - Reservoir. I got out again around 7PM for my second run of the day. I headed from Lenia's place down Commonwealth and crossed to Beacon over Harvard St. I was only thinking of running 4 miles when I set out but I was feeling good enough to add a loop around the Reservoir and bump it to 6. Taking things easy this afternoon and just putting in the miles at something close to 7:00 pace. 

Thursday AM, September 4, 2008 [10M]

Jamaica through Fens.  I was up at 11 AM again and was planning on going for a regular 5-6 mile morning run but after getting a call from Jake I drove over at MIT at 1PM and met him for a run. We took the route to Jamaica through the Fens so we could have the option of running through shade for most of the run, which was well needed on such a hot day. We were moving fast from get the get go and kept it that way for the entire run. My legs were a bit tired, probably because of  yesterday's 20 mile day, but I got into it after a couple of miles.  We wound up back at MIT in right around 62 minutes and added a lap around the track to round it up to 10. We were just under 6:00 pace for that lap and were probably not that far off earlier in the run. We ran a few good strides on the track before I headed back. 

Wednesday PM, September 3, 2008 [14M]

Arboretum. I had a meeting again until 5:30PM so I got a late start again and had to run by myself. I decided to run over to the Arboretum and took the shortest way there, heading down Chestnut Hill and making my way to Jamaica. It was about 3.5 miles to the Arboretum and I made it there in 23:30. I ran one loop around the perimeter and was back out at 51:30. I was initially shooting for something close to 10 this afternoon but I was feeling good and thought about extending the run by a couple of miles. Instead of heading back once I got to Jamaica, I continued around the lake and went on in the same way as I would be finishing the loop at MIT. Of course I didn't end up all the way to MIT but turned on Beacon, crossed to Commonwealth over Washington St and headed back to Lenia's place. I ballparked the route back to be around 4.5 - 5 miles but it turned out to be right around 6 so I must have done something wrong in my calculations. I wound up back in 1:28 and I was planning to call this 13 but the trip to the Arboretum and back was about 9.5 and I was moving fast enough in the Arboretum to put in more than 4 miles in 28 minutes so I think I can round this up to 14. I've rounded down a couple of runs this week so I think I have some miles in the bank. 

Wednesday AM, September 3, 2008 [6M]

Reservoir - Harvard. I'm still on West Coast time and didn't wake up until 11 this morning. I got out from Lenia's place around noon and headed towards the Reservoir. I ran around the Reservoir, continued down Beacon then crossed over to Commonwealth over Harvard St and headed back up. Took things fairly easy,  averaging just under 6:50 pace. 

Tuesday, September 2, 2008 [12M]

Fartlek at Franklin park. I wanted to join the guys on their workout at Franklin Park this afternoon but I had a meeting to dial in to and didn't get out until 5:30PM. I drove over to Franklin Park afterwards and got there while everyone was finishing up their cool-down. I decided to run a fartlek on the 5 mile course and got started after a 2 mile warm-up. My hard efforts were 2:30 long and I kept the rest around 2:00. I started out somewhat aggressively on the first one, mostly because I was excited about running at Franklin Park again and started visualizing Saturday's race. I didn't stay aggressive the rest of the way though and I can't say that I was putting in my hardest efford. I haven't run a workout like this in a long time and I think I'm no longer used to running short and hard intervals. I could have pushed the rest some more but I wasn't focused enough to realize I had recovered. Ended up running the course in right around 28:00, which is nothing spectacular but I suppose not too bad considering how much effort I was putting in. I ran the course backwards for cool-down and called it day.  

Monday, September 1, 2008 [10M]

Ocean. I drove to MIT and met with the guys for their 3PM practice. I made it there just in time and headed out with Jake, Yermie and Khatch. We started out at a decent pace, not too fast but a bit faster than I'm used to. It took a mile or so for my legs to adjust to the early pace but after that I got into the rhythm and was crusing along. I felt good on the climb up G Street, which seemed shorter and less steep than I remember. Coming down from the monument we started rolling some more and we were probably running sub 6 the rest of the way. We added a loop around Boston Common and stopped briefly at the frog pond where Jake took a dip and quacked like a duck to pay off his dues to Khatch. Got back into it as soon as we got started again and took off with Jake  in the last couple of miles. We were probably running 5:30s all the way from  the commons to MIT. Turned out to be a pretty solid run overall, noticably faster than what I'm used to but I was feeling good the whole way. It was nice to get the legs moving and catch up with the guys again.

Sunday, August 31, 2008 [17M]

I took the red eye to Boston last night and landed at Logan at 8:15 AM. Not long after I made it to my sister's place in Brighton, Schmeck drove over and we headed out for a run. We started close to Cleveland Circle and first ran to the Reservoir then picked up Beacon and ran past BC. We continued all the way to Washington St and picked up the marathon course on the way back. Schmeck only wanted to run for about an hour but we wound up back in 1:25. We were taking it easy, just chatting and catching up the whole way, so hopefully this wasn't too big of a deal. I was content with not adding any more miles at that point and chilled with Schmeck for a while and had some water to drink. I thought that I could get out again in the afternoon for some extra mileage but eventually I convinced myself to get out right away and keep my afternoon free. I didn't get much sleep on the plane and was pretty tired but I thought I'd rather get the run out of the way and spend the rest of the day resting. I headed back towards the reservoir and went down on Beacon to Summit Ave. I went up the long side, crossed over to Commonwealth and headed back to my sister's place. I was out for another 35 minutes so calling this a 17 mile day is probably a safe bet. Not a bad start to the week considering all the traveling and lack of sleep. I was pretty spent by the end but a 3 hour nap in the afternoon was good enough for me to feel refreshed again.
August Miles: 359

Week Recap (24 August 2008 - 30 August 2008) - 90 Miles

I didn't have much trouble posting another solid 90 mile week. I decided not to bump up the mileage any more until Alumni and added my first hard effort on Wednesday. Nothing too hard, just a long, controlled tempo to get the legs moving a bit. I was feeling a bit tired the last few days of the week but I doubt it had much to do with Wednesday's workout. We got a heat wave towards the end of the week, with temperatures climbing in the mid 90s, and I was feeling a bit dehydrated on the end of a few runs. Perhaps I need to start drinking more water of maybe I've gotten used to this mild weather and I'm just getting soft.

Saturday, August 30, 2008 [6M]

Alameda - San Carlos. I had plans to go to the city for brunch so I was up at 9:30 and out of the door by 10 to get the run out of the way. Just a short and easy run to round up another 90 mile week.