A hilly, exploratory week

Monday - Rest

Tuesday - Blackstrap, 6.  Sucking wind today in the balmy 65 degree weather with abundant sunshine. Had some fun with the three bitches doing laps back and forth.

Wednesday - Eastern Trail, 7.  Incredibly gorgeous day on the flat Eastern Trail. Given the fact this week entails two hill workouts and a solid back-to-back weekend I decided to go real easy today and just enjoy the sunshine and flat terrain.

Thursday - Skillins Tree Farm, 6.  Unseasonably warm and dry day today in shorts and no shirt. Hit Blackstrap again but this time did figure eights at the tree farm. Real enjoyable, but tough workout.  Got a nose bleed at the end due to the air...strange.

Friday - Rest

Saturday - Bradbury, 18.8.  Great run today with Ian and a bunch of TM's all over the place like Spring bees hunting for flowers. Ian and I went up and over the Brad and down Lunch Break Hill to the field so we could get another accurate reading of the 15.5 mile loop starting at the school. We hit the Brad again and looped all over the place, connector, East and West sides, a bit of bushwhacking and a whole lot of fun. It was good to catch up on current TM events and get to see the Brad without snow and ice.  Definitely a hilly and fun course with a little bit of everything!

I ran with my waist pack, two bottles and a 12 ounce coconut water, as well as two Raw Revolution bars. The pack wasn't too bad but I do miss the Nathan Endurance Vest.

Sunday - Mt. Agamenticus and surrounding, 23.4.  Up until last night I intended to run on the road and Eastern Trail for a flat, close-to-home and relatively easy run. That changed when Alison suggested "why don't you go to Agamenticus?" OK, why not? So I slept in a bit and donned the winter-type clothing and headed out in rainy, chilly 40 degree weather.

My plan was to hit most of the surrounding trails at Mt. A and only run up and down the mountain a few times as I've had some pretty solid hill workouts this week. I went down a trail I've been on a few times that I thought mostly circumnavigates the mountains. At the end of the trail I hit a road and assumed it would go right by another trail area so I ran on the shoulder for a few miles taking a few random turns. I basically realized I was not on the road I thought I was on but could not bring myself to turn around.  The sense of discover was just too strong and exciting.

Orris Falls

At around 9 miles I figured I'd turn around and back-track, but right at that point I found a trail leading to Orris Falls. So I cruised up with new surroundings and the excitement of adventure. The falls were relatively small but pretty. Continuing on the trail a sign stated I was in the Mt. Agamenticus conservation area. This was surprising, and good as I figured eventually I'd hit Mt. A. again. I was especially excited when I started ascending and saw another place of interest called Balance Rock.

Balance Rock

On down the hill and on to another road I realized I might actually have to back-track, bummer. I asked a guy along the way and he gave me brief directions which I quickly forgot. More exploration. A few more miles down the road I found my original trail-head and was surprised It was on my right and not my left. Man I get turned around on roads!

I hit that trail and picked up the pace a bit with the excitement of mud, rocks and roots under my feet again. A few miles down the trail a sign pointed to second peak. I headed up figuring I'd hit the peak, hit Mt. A. and head back to the truck for more liquid, as I'd run out a while ago. I recognized the entire trail from the Mt. A. 50k and had a blast on this section remembering that fun race. Then the trail ended and I was not at all where I thought I'd be. Looking at my watch I'd run for about forty five minutes without water and was getting thirsty. I downed my last bar and figured I'd be close to the truck any minute to quench my thirst.

With about 5 miles to go I was getting super thirsty and realizing I might as well just finish the run and not bother getting any more liquid. It might be some good training running to depletion. That thought went out of my head quick though as I really wanted to feel good at the end of the run and recover smartly. So I hit the peak for a bit of a view, snapped a picture and headed down.  (the picture wasn't that good.)

With only two miles to go I ditched my pack, sucked down some water and took off up the mountain for a final burn. I picked a bit more technical trail to ascend that I really love when doing hill repeats, but found real tough on rubber legs. Cruised around the back side and crested one last time before the careful, shaky steps back to the truck.




Time:  10:01
Distance:  61.2
Elevation:  8120