Training week 11/14 - 11/20

Monday - Winnick Woods.  7 miles.  This is the run I've been looking for, really great. A bit cool at the start after talking with my cousin for a while on the phone as he trains for a fast Florida marathon. Hit the trails with gusto and didn't let up much running the outer loop twice. Felt nice and strong on much of the climbs and it felt good to charge up the tiny hills for a cardio workout.

Tuesday - Rest

Wednesday - Portland to Scarborough.  6 miles.  Ran home from Jeff Scher's house after helping him on a photo shoot. Filled my Nathan Synergy pack with my clothes so it was a good run to feel some weight on the back again. The route is all roads via Congress St. to Maine Mall Rd. and on to 114. Not the most ideal run but it worked efficiently enough and was over quick.

Thursday - Ossipee Hill.  7 miles.  I really wanted something fresh in terms of hill today and did not feel like driving to Bradbury twice in one week, or all the way down to Agamenticus or Sawyer. So poured over some topo maps and found Ossipee Hill to be a bit closer by and some moderate elevation.

The drive took a bit longer than I really wanted, but when I saw the hill at the end of the drive I got real excited. The only problem was I had little time left and could not find a trail head. Private Property signs dotted the couple roads I drove searching for a good pull-out and I finally just settled on a gas station for base camp.

Starting on the road, about a half mile in to the run the hill starts and climbs gloriously up for about another half mile. With a nice descent on the back side and a bit of undulating along I noticed a road that went straight up to the right. This road turned out to be a residence but was a great but kicker and forced me to power hike up the remainder.

Back on the road again there appeared a logging road to the right with a number of off-shoots ascending the hill. This was an absolute blast and had me working hard again on the soft and uneven terrain. I never found the actual top to the hill and assumed it had a tower on it as viewed from the road.

The way back seemed a bit more grueling than I remembered but I kept the pace as quick as possible as the chill was setting in. At the bottom of the first climb I looked at my watch and realized I had a few more minutes to go to fit in the full 7 I wanted. So it was back up the hill for another excellent climb.

Friday - Rest

Saturday - Planned 12.  Didn't get out on this run as Alison and I were gallivanting around New England and it just never happened.

Sunday - Shutesbury Mass.  14 miles.  Ran from our friends house Shutesbury Massachusetts on an excellent, hilly trail system. The run started out with about two miles of downhill on dirt roads. The first possible trail I found I took and it led me to the Houston and Gage loop of about 1.5 miles. A great meandering loop up and down, in and around a ravine with a tough climb up some power lines.

Next I took off in the woods along more single track and came out to another set of power lines which I headed right by down a small slope of loose, sharp rock. I took a right and headed up a gradual slope of double track which seemed to stay fairly low on the right side of a hill. This took me through some gorgeous areas with a lot of downed trees due to the recent storms in the area. After about an hour I curved back to the power lines and looked left up the hill. It was just too good to pass up with the steep, rocky, and sandy sectioned ascent, I had to hit it. This climb was an absolute butt-kicker with about a mile of climb and a crazy fun semi-out-of-control descent. I was rewarded with a 4 or 5 point deer about fifteen feet from me as I raced down the incline toward the sun.

Then it was back to the original trail for a tough undulating climb up rocky sections hurdling downed trees and limbs, and sloshing through muddy sections. At the end of the trail and now back on the road I had the two mile climb back to the beginning which proved an excellent burn to end a fantastic run.

Summary - 34 miles.  Except for intending to hit 44 miles this week, it was filled with great quality, butt-kicking workouts.