Training Log Archive: jjcote

Wells State Park, Blue middle distance course from last spring, alternating memory legs with Dessert Lady. A few inches of refrozen snow on the ground in most places, rotten underneath so that most steps were followed a split-second later by the collapse of an area of a couple of square feet by an inch or two. Kind of fun both to experience and to watch. I also managed to punch through the ice on a marsh at one point (didn't realize were were in a marsh, it looked like flat forest), while Sam happily danced along elf-like on top of the snow. Temps in the high 40s, so running in O-pants and a short-sleeve T-shirt was quite appropriate. I guess nine people showed up in all: coach did a Green course with Eileen Underwood, her parents went for a walk, and Ross went out for some instruction with newcomers Jen and Dmitri.

Sam and I each felt that the pace was a bit faster when the other person was leading, which appears to be some effect related to the fact that it's harder to run when you're looking at a map (each of us would plan the next leg while the other navigated by memory).

C • Breakthrough effect 2

Down the hill to the Brookview beach and partway across the lake, then back up afterwards.

Just scooting around on the lake, looking for decent ice. Spent a bunch of time over by the dam, thinking that was probably the best, although on the way back I found a reasonable area out in the middle where I could do a few tight laps. The ice itself was nice, but it was an intricate maze where about 50% of the area was refrozen snow about 1/2"-1" deep, which I could either hop over or skate through at the narrow spots, but it was tough to find any large enough open areas to really get moving. After the cold weather this past week I knew the ice would be good and solid, and with the warm forecast for this weekend, I figured it might be the last chance before it gets mushy and slushy. Stopped to chat with an ice fisherman for a few minutes; I was surprised to not see a lot of them out there, given the fine conditions. But it was early, maybe they weren't awake yet.

In The Cold And Dark (hatlamp). Not wanting to risk heatstroke by running during the sweltering part of the day, I waited until evening, when the Fahrenheit-o-meter dropped into the civilized single-digits (-13 C for you metric people). Kind of like the Lane-Horse-Seaver loop in reverse: down to the esker, through Hickory Hills to the Friendly Trail, north on that to the Mystery Blazes, followed them to Mulpus Brook, then I followed some bootprints that appeard to be a few days old that went upstream more or less parallel to the brook and took me to near the steep bank by Lane Pond, and home from there. Pretty much calm out, and I wore the same garb as on Tuesday, except for an old pair of O-shoes, and a different warm thing on my head that would accommodate the hatlamp. And I was quite toasty, almost a little too warm at times. Glad to have my footprints to follow, as the Mystery Blazes would have been a challenge in the dark. I was also surprised to see some lights on the southern horizon when I was up by the town line, which I think must be the ski area at Mt. Wachusett. I hadn't realized that the hill was high enough to see that far.

And the shower spirits deigned to cough up a pleasing amount of hot water. Go figure.

In The Cold. Down via the esker to the powerline trail, then followed the Mystery Blazes north all the way to where they hit the Friendly Trail just south of the narrow bridge, then back the entire length of the Mystery Blazes to Mulpus Brook, and back through the woods to the trail to Holman, and home from there.

So, today was an exercise day, but was I going to go out in the morning, or after work? Thermometer read 0.1 F in the morning, and it was Nancy's opinion that I was crazy if I went out in that kind of temperature. There was also a wind of Laramesque proportions blowing. So, I donned the following clothing and headed out:
O-shoes
thermal socks
long underwear
O-pants
long-sleeve synthetic top
long-sleeve T-shirt
short-sleeve T-shirt
light jacket
thick toque
lobster mittens
My chin was cold for the first few minutes, and my face got cold again for a little while when I was on the south side of the hill up by the border, where it's mostly hardwoods and more exposed, but otherwise I was nice and toasty. The running surface was actually very nice, since the refrozen snow smoothed over all of the bumps and dips, but was solid enough that I was able to run on top, with just enough give to provide great traction for the spikes. (I wore my newest pair of spikes today, because the old pair that I pulled out of the garage were so stiff from the cold that I couldn't get my feet into them.)

There was a fair bit of hesitation on the way north, because the trail was apparently blazed by someone heading south, and there are a lot fewer visible blazes when viewed from the south side, and the snowshoe tracks are almost invisible by now due to the melting. On the way back, I had better blazes plus my own footprints. And I spotted something that I had missed in the dark the other night: at the south end of the blazes, there's a notable feature, the oildrum teepee. Could be that it's the destination for the mystery blazes, although they do continue just past it to the brook. I had a better route up from the brook today, although the whole thing might be impractical if the marshes weren't frozen solid. I did see where I cross the blazes up north on the Lane-Horse-Seaver loop, and have a rough idea where I cross them after coming out of the laurel jungle.

When I got home, it had warmed up to a whopping 1.2F. But the shower spirits smiled on me, and granted me a fine allotment of hot water.

C • Never let it be said that embe... 9