Dirt Circuit

I love trail running! This is not news. I’ve written an ode to it here, photographed it here and dissected it here and painfully again here. So it should come as no surprise that I’m really looking forward to the rumored arrival of spring and the beginning of the “Dirt Circuit”!

We are blessed to live in New England and have a great many local trail races to choose from. Short, long or ultra. Rocky, rooty or grassy. Flat, hilly or mountainous. Dry, wet or Muddy Moose. Whatever conditions you like, you can find them nearby. And, many of these great, local trail races have been included in a number of great, local trail race series!

The granddaddy of all trail series is the Western Mass Athletic Club’s “Grand Tree”. The GT starts in April and doesn’t wrap up until November. During that 8 month stretch, the series hits 19 different locations with race distances ranging from 7 to 26.4 miles. You can run as many (or as few) races as you like and can accumulate points proportional to your pace as a percentage of the winner's pace. Your best six races determine your final standing for the series.

Half Meh-rathon

1:24:35

That’s the time that I ran at the New Bedford Half Marathon this past Sunday. It’s my fourth fastest Half Marathon (out of the 20, or so, I’ve done) since I began running them - back in 1999. And, it’s my fastest in 4 years, since I set my current PR on that course - back in 2009. But, I’m at a point in my running life where I’m not easily impressed by my “almost” successes. So, as a result, I’m left feeling a bit indifferent about this particular performance.

Group Love

I run at lunch and work in the middle of nowhere. So, needless to say, 90% of my workouts are done alone. And that’s fine. My schedule is my own. I leave when I want. Add detours where I choose and cut it short if things are going badly. No problem. That being said, the other 10% of my workouts are the true highlights of my training year!

Speed Weeks

In keeping with my “train fast to race fast” plan, over the last 4 weeks I have been doing a couple “up-tempo” training runs per week. During that time I have run an average of 52 miles per week which is down 10 mpw from this time last year. Less miles but more intensity. Here’s a quick summary on how things have gone: