2023 Unsupported Trail Race Unofficial Challenge #24

Metacomet - New England Trial 10km (6.4-miles)

North to South (and back), Beginning Phelps Road.

10:50 a.m. start on a 40-degree sunny day.

Turned at the spine (half-way), averaging 3.9 mph, finished averaging 4.1 mph. Not bad at all considering I ran hard yesterday as well.  Finished with 6.4-miles in roughly 1:34:00.

Heavy leaf litter on the trail made the going tough, especially the downhills.

2023 Unsupported "Non" Trail Race Unofficial Challenge #23

Cowles Park "Upland" 3.5-Miler

An Excellent day in Cowles, hit it before work with 30-degree weather.

Took about 2:30 off my previous attempt (Nov 17th).

Cowles Park Ramble #4

3.5-Mile Trail Run in 36:39 (5.7 mph).

"Black Lizard / Vintage Crime #27 for 2023...

"The Shark-Infested Custard" written by Charles Willeford in 1975, but first published in 1993 due to no publishing house wishing to touch it due to the depressing  nature of the tale (or, at least that is the story I got).

Over the weekend guess what arrived in the mail from "The Friends of Northwest Park"?  

My credentials for completing the 2023 NWP Trail Hike Challenge

2023 Unsupported Trail Race Unofficial Challenge #22

Bear Hole Reservoir Race Course 11.25 km (7- miles)

Back to Bear Hole to run the legal 7-mile route in low thirties for temperature.

Despite some tired legs from running "hard" the previous two-days, I made an attempt at pushing.

• Mile 1 - 5.1 avg
• Mile 2 - 5.1 avg
• Mile 3 - 4.9 avg
• Mile 4 - 4.7 avg
• Mile 5 - 4.7 avg
• Mile 6 - 4.8 avg
• Mile 7 - 5.0 avg

Completed in 1:24:00, which made me pretty happy.  

The first two-miles are pretty flat and open enough to get a good cushion.  

From 2 to 3 can be improved on as well.  

The Metacomet / NET section is going to be slow, as it is rocky with difficult footing, and there is half the climb (700' total) in that section as well.

Once done with the Metacomet, there is a nice section, probably close to a mile, where the steam can be picked up.  

And then, there is mile 5 - 6 where there are three or four short climbs that really can take the gas out of you.

From there, the last mile or slightly under can be whalloped if one is feeling pretty good with something left in the tank (legs).

2023 Unsupported Trail Race Unofficial Challenge #21

Whiting Street Reservoir 11.25 km (7- miles)

Drove to Easthampton with K2 to run the Whiting Street Reservoir at the base of Mt Tom.

The route included some of the New England Trail (Metacomet) and including the section out to the circle 'round the pond, one lap looked to be about 3.5-miles.

I went around twice, averaged 5 mph, and finished with 7.1-miles. 

2023 Unsupported Trail Race Unofficial Challenge #20

Bear Hole Reservoir 6.8 km (4.2-miles)

Kept to the lower portion and wider trails today, ran somewhat hard throughout.

Averaged 6.3-miles per hour, finishing the 4.2-miles in 39:29.

Drove to my sister's place for Thanksgiving.  Stopped at Notchview Reservation in Windsor, MA on the drive out to Western Mass  for a run to break up the drive.

Seems as though there is a much larger network of trails in Notchview from what I remember, with some of the paths made wider for the ski activities.

Slogged my way to the top of Judges Hill (from both directions), finished with 4-miles and roughly 700' of climb in the somewhat cold, snowy forest of Notchview.

3-mile run to the Soccer Bubble and back, at the conclusion of the work day. 

Began a short (hopefully) protocol of  Doxycycline for Lyme Disease threat (embedded tick).

Northern Nipmuck Trail Marathon

November 20th, 2005 - Union & Ashford, Connecticut

Completed my 32nd marathon distance run on this day in 2005.  Designated the "Northern Nipmuck Trail Marathon", with Wuzzam, Summer, and Tippi (6th completed marathon).  

My finish time was recorded as 6:28:18.  Looking at this, I think it was much further than 26 miles.

2023 Unsupported "Non" Trail Race Unofficial Challenge #19

Penwood State Forest 6.4-Miler

Adding Elevation to the Work will be necessary to jump-start my running fitness.

Today, I visited Penwood to tackle the 6.4-mile route from Wintonbury Road south on the Blue Blazed Metacomet Trail (800' climb) and back on the Yellow Path (500' climb).

Finished the 6.4-miles in 1:29:30 for an average of 4.3 mph.  With 1300' of gain, and difficult rocks and oak leaves throughout the journey, I am pleased with the effort.

2023 Unsupported "Non" Trail Race Unofficial Challenge #18

McLean Refuge "3-Peaks" 8.2-Miler

Weather Report mentioned the rain cleaning out between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m., and they got it completely correct today.

K2 and I rambled in McLean with a window of two-hours, and we both made it back to the car slightly ahead of time - with no rain and wonderful sunny sky for the duration of our exercise.

I don't know if the temperature reached 60-degrees, but it was at least into the fifties and very sunny, so it felt great.

I decided at some point to hit three peaks today:

• Stony Hill
• East Barndoor Hill
• West Barndoor Hill

At the end, I had slightly over 1200' of climb, which was pleasing.

Completed the 8.2-miles in 1:45:30 for an average of about 4.6 mph.

2023 Unsupported "Non" Trail Race Unofficial Challenge #17

Cowles Park "Upland" 3.5-Miler

Pretty good day in Cowles, it was busy at 2:30 p.m. due to sunny skies and 60-degree weather.

Cowles Park Ramble #3

3.5-Mile Trail Run in 39:05 (5.2 mph).

Early shift at work followed by DL & I driving back to Plymouth to assist TC.

"Non" Black Lizard / Vintage Crime #26 for 2023...

"The Witcher:  The Last Wish" written by Andrzej Sapkowski, first published in 1993 (Polish) and in 2007 (English).  It is considered the 1st installment of "The Witcher" fantasy series.

The Witcher was preceded by 1992's Sword of Destiny, but is officially considered the first entry in the series and Sword of Destiny the second. The collection contains seven short stories interspersed with a continuing frame story: Geralt of Rivia, after having been injured in battle, rests in a temple. During that time he has flashbacks to recent events in his life, with each flashback forming a short story.

What Played in Ed's Head -- 

Music listened to for the time-period October 1st through October 31st, 2023:

Black Lizard / Vintage Crime #25 for 2023...

"Two Trains Running" written by Andrew Vachss, first published in 2005.

On the drive to to Adams for another visit with my folks, I stopped off in Williamsburg to ramble along on their trails.

Explored a bit and found two bridges washed away during high flows recently, one being the old covered snowmobile bridge.

Crossed Route 9 on the "new" snowmobile crossing I had noticed, and followed decent forest road path and maple sugar lines up to a field at the Snow Farm (I believe).  Explored a bit of Snow Farm Loop and then bush-wacked back down to Route 9 and back to my vehicle.

Nice 4.6-mile adventure.

 

Today was going to be the day I located the Lost Acres Waterfall myself.  I had heard and read about it enough without having seen it.  I was prepared to bushwack until I was satisfied.

I parked at the spot near the intersection of Fuller and Lost Acres Roads, which I had explored back in January of 2022 or so. 

Rambled down hill on the road, saw a decent wood-road path leading towards the brook, and followed.  There was a pickup truck at the bottom (hunting season) and a difficult steep bank to get down to cross the brook.

Single-track for a bit, it extinguished, I picked it back up, all the while trying to keep the brook close.

Followed a game trail up a ridge which was west of the brook, and I could hear pounding water.

Back down to the brook, up the east-side, and there it was.  Pretty darn impressive actually.

There is some stone foundation work above the falls (on the east side), old barn or structure of that type.

Made it out after climbing to the top of the falls and on re-entry to the road, was almost directly across from the very large boulder on the east side of Lost Acres Road just south of Fuller Road.

2-miles and it was worth it.