Beautiful Day.

It's a beautiful day
Don't let it get away

You're on the road
But you've got no destination
You're in the mud
In the maze of her imagination

Thank you U2. This past Saturday's 17 mile team long run was cancelled due to the unsafe conditions out on the course. I had to make a tough decision to either run on the treadmill for 17 long, hot, sweaty, excruciating, boring, monotonous, tedious, boring (had to through another one of those in to highlight the dramatic) miles or get out in the great, magnificent, exciting, motivational, inspirational, wonderful, stupendous, fan frickin tastic great outdoors and run with all the glory and beauty that Mother Nature gave us (no I wasn't planning on running in my birthday suit, well... no, that would just be plain wrong!). Tough choice. Not!  

I decided to go into Boston to run because I figured that they would be pretty well dug out on the main routes at this point.  I took my usual scenic route from the Financial District over to the Seaport, into the North End and then over to Charlestown. Made my way back over to Boston and then along the Charles.  The sidewalks, paths and roads were as I had expected. Pretty much smooth sailing. Well, a bit too cold for sailing in the harbor and impossible on the frozen Charles but that is a totally different story.  

I ended up getting in 18.5 glorious training miles on Saturday. It's amazing what a simple thing as getting the chance to run outdoors again can do for your body and mind. It also gave me the chance to get some more pics for Instagram which isn't a bad thing. Beautiful day indeed.

Until next time, keep on runnin'!

Change Is Good.

So they say.  For those of you in and around Boston, you know that all of this snow has forced many temporary changes upon us like constant shoveling.  Very looooooong commutes (longer than normal anyway). More shoveling. Running indoors instead of outdoors.  I've been reminded through this all though that change can be a good thing even if just temporary.

The culmination of record breaking amounts of snow ended up canceling our 12 mile team long run last Saturday.  When I heard the news I was a bit disappointed as I look forward to running out on the course with my fellow team mates. It's a bright spot at the end of a long tunnel.  I understand and respect the decision of the coaches to cancel in the end as they are looking out for our safety and I appreciate that. It's helped me reaffirm that it is OK to have to make changes to the daily training plan and not feel guilty about it. I don't have to feel like I'm doing something wrong by not being rigid and following it to the T.  How did I change in light of the canceled team run?  I decided to go to my gym's new location that just recently opened a few towns away.  Yes, it was farther away than my home gym but I figured that change is good. If I'm going to the gym for 2 hours I might as well have a change of scenery. I'm glad that I did try the new location because I went into it with a much more positive attitude than if I had gone and done the same old thing at my regular gym. It paid off because I had a great workout and the time flew by. Well, it went as quickly as it could for running on a treadmill. 

The huge amounts of snow that has fallen over the past several weeks have provided for great cross training opportunities.  There have been several times now when I've had to change my training and instead of running I've had to spend the time shoveling, shoveling, roof raking (yes there is such a thing!), shoveling some more and then shoveling the roof. I didn't feel bad when I had to shovel instead of running because it is such a great aerobic activity.  You can burn around 300 calories every 45 minutes of shoveling. Who knew?  Since I averaged 2 hours of active shoveling each time, I made out pretty well. I definitely ended up using different muscles than I normally would have in running or other cross training. Change is good. 

Snowmageddon has certainly had a huge impact on commuting into and out of the city.  Late trains, cancelled trains, taking busses instead of trains. Trying to strategize how you are going to get where you need to when public transit throws daily obstacles in your way. It's all good in the end. Yes, it forces you out of the mundane daily rituals that come with commuting, out of a nice warm fuzzy happy place and into changed situations that you may not be comfortable with but that makes you that much better in the end. 

What does this all have to do with running?  I really don't know. Just kidding. It has taught me to change things up and to not stick with the same old regime. Find a new route to train on. Go to a different gym location to change things up. Don't be so anal when it comes to my training schedule and change. If I miss a day or have to move things around, it really is going to be OK at the end of the day. 

Tomorrow's 17 mile team long run has been cancelled due to continued unsafe conditions on the course. It's too bad because this was a special run where patients and their families were going to man the water stops.  17 miles on a treadmill?  That just isn't going to happen.  I guess I'm going into the city tomorrow to run before the next storm hits later in the day.  Oh, that's right, no commuter rail service tomorrow due to the MBTA trying to finish up the snow cleanup.  I guess I'll have to drive in.  Change is good Keith.  Change is good.

Until next time, keep on runnin'!

Hot. Sweaty. Mess.

OK, hot as in body temperature and not looks. Far from the looks end of things over here.  Let's just say a "sweaty mess" between us friends. You know that you've had a darn good old fashioned training run when you pause, reflect and can say "damn, that was good!"  All the while, standing there in sweaty running gear splattered in road grime and salt. Brand new sneaks crusted with salt. Wet like there is no tomorrow.  A couple of little stones and rock salt in your sock to top it all off.  There is nothing like it.  I guess there probably is something like it but nothing that I can think of right now.  Last week's long run was 16 glorious miles in the great outdoors.  There is such a feeling of accomplishment when you put your all into it, are rewarded with a runner's high and workout gear that seriously needs to be picked up with salad tongs and put in the washer (no idea where salad tongs came from).   

This past Sunday was the end of week 9 of training.  It felt like it was Ground Hog's Day was celebrated this week instead of last week because boy did it feel like Déjà vu.  It felt like it was Ground Hog's Day was celebrated this week instead of last week because boy did it feel like Déjà vu. Sorry, I had to. Snow.  Treadmill.  Snow. Treadmill. I did brave a night run on Beacon Hill and along the Charles a couple of days after a storm. All set there thank you very much. Wow, two lane streets turned into very narrow one lane streets. Cars still completely buried in snow from the first snow storm several weeks ago.  The only visible sign that a car was in a snow mound?  The tiny sliver of what resembled a side mirror.  I felt like I was the poor little frog caught in that 80's classic video arcade game Frogger. Ribbit. A player inserted their quarter, grasped the joystick and was now skillfully navigating me across streets while dodging cars, trucks and busses.  Moving onto the top of the screen and the river.  The Charles river.  Instead of dodging logs, alligators and turtles, it was ice, snow drifts and more ice.  Ribbit.  With another snow storm this weekend, I'm guessing I'm going to be spending a bit more time at the gym than I had wanted to.  Oh well, spring has to get here sometime with warm weather.  Right?  Warm weather to make me even more of a hot, sweaty, mess.  That's right.  A sweaty mess.

Until next time, keep on runnin'!
 

Monkey Business.

This past Sunday marked the end of week 8 of training.  Outdoor training has been a bit of a challenge the past two weeks with all the snow and frigid temperatures that we have had here in Boston. Yes, I have had to revert to using the old dreadmill again.  Ugh.  Not to be confused with Ugg.  You know, the Australian company with the fashion boots that everyone has to have (not the sparkly glittery ones though- sorry if you are wearing a pair as you are reading this- no offense intended).  I guess this year though, the fashion must have is the LL Bean duck boot. Sorry, "bean boot".  Not that I would know though. Just saying. OK, back to the "expression of disgust or horror" (thanks for the succinct definition Google)-Ugh.  I guess what I dislike most about running on a treadmill is the lack of freedom to get out and explore, the overall atmosphere of the gym and having the treadmill do part of the work for me. Darn it, I want the entire effort to be mine. Not a machine forcing me to move my feet by driving the belt below me. Nope!  On the flip side though, I do know that it is a love hate relationship with the old RunMaster Xtreme Turbo Propulsion Tread Tracker Max 5580 (I just made that name up if you couldn't tell. Had to have something dramatic).  There will be times that, for safety's sake, I will just have to buck up and pound the treadmill deck instead of the pavement.  Oh, that didn't come out sounding quite right.

There was a plus side this week.  It was the week's team long run where we were finally able to run up, and then back down, Heartbreak Hill.  I had drove it before. Oh, that one didn't come out sounding quite right either.  I road in a car down the hill once (that sounds better). That was my only experience with it before Saturday.  It is a pretty gradual hill so it wasn't too bad to run. I say that after having only run 7 miles before encountering it. Much different than running 20 miles and then encountering it like it will be on race day.  The highlight of running the hill was seeing the Boston skyline just past the peak. Highlight indeed. Well, then there was also the photo op at the bottom of the hill with Bill the gorilla who is the Heartbreak Hill Running Company mascot (the store is located at the base of Heartbreak Hill- very clever name that they came up with. The store that is). 

It turned out to be a fantastic and energizing 15.5 mile long run even though it was 10 degrees with a wind chill of -7.  I guess that is winter in New England though.  Once you get going and are a couple of miles in, you do end up warming up.  So much so that you end up having to unzip the layers to cool down and then zip back up to get warm again.  Zip, unzip, zip unzip.  Enough to make you go bananas!

Until next time, keep on runnin'!