As the cold rain began to fall, I shuffled through McLean Refuge for 3.7-miles.

Still Snowy in McLean

9.7-Mile Run along the Hill Street Extended Loop.

3-Mile Run along Main Street in the dark.

Black Lizard / Vintage Crime #31 for 2019...  "Down Here", the 2004 continuation of the Burke novels, by Andrew Vachss.

Black Lizard / Vintage Crime Edition Cover

Music 2019...

Effort #53,  Late summer recording of "I Still Haven't Found What I Was Looking For".  Teter, our Amazon Yellow Naped Parrot is singing background.

7-mile Hill Street Loop in the morning; then a drive to visit my folks.

8-mile run around town on the roads.

Another snowshoe day in McLean, 5.6-miles.

Entry at Canton Road

First Snowshoe of the year, 4.6-mile romp around McLean Refuge.

Plank Crossing on Bissell Brook

Black Lizard / Vintage Crime #30 for 2019...  "Double Indemnity",   the 1943 novel by James Cain.

Black Lizard / Vintage Crime Edition Cover

Here are my accomplishments for November 2019.

November 2019 High Points:

• Stony Hill, McLean Refuge, Simsbury & Granby, CT
• Westledge/West Hill, McLean Refuge, Simsbury & Granby, CT
• Eddy Loop Climb, McLean Refuge, Simsbury & Granby, CT
• Weed Hill, McLean Refuge, Simsbury & Granby, CT
• Metacomet Ridge, Cowles Park, East Granby, CT
• Little Mount Tom, Mt Tom Reservation, Easthampton, MA
• Big View, Williamsburg Trails, Williamsburg, MA
• Unquemonk Hill, Williamsburg Trails, Williamsburg, MA
• Petticoat Hill, Williamsburg Trails, Williamsburg, MA
• Scott Hill, Williamsburg Trails, Williamsburg, MA
• Battlecock Hill, Chesterfield - Williamsburg, MA
• Soapstone Mountain, Shenipsit State Forest, Somers, CT
• Kelly Hill, Metacomet / New England Trail, Agawam, MA
• Provin Mountain, Metacomet / New England Trail, Agawam, MA
• Harts Pond Hill, Metacomet / New England Trail, Southwick, MA
• Nicks Hill, Metacomet Ridge, West Suffield, CT
• West Suffield Mountain, Metacomet Ridge, West Suffield, CT
• Peak/Copper Mountain, Metacomet Ridge, West Suffield, CT

Music 2019...

Effort #52,  The twelfth piece from the July 21st, 2019  "Heat of the Day Session" by the Dark Heart Duo, "Just One Time".

3.4-mile run just as the snow began to fall, around the Bridge Street - Wisteria - Kent loop.

Lots of driving today with DL.

• We picked up some donuts at Mrs Murphy's for my folks.
• Visited Bellevue Cemetery.
• Visited Angelina's for a sandwich.
• Stopped at the folks for some hay to cover our plants.
• Shopped at Perkarski's in South Deerfield,
• Stopped at the Williamsburg Snack Bar for lobster rolls.
• Once back in Connecticut, we attended the town tree lighting ceremony.

Mt Greylock from Bellevue Cemetery

  McLean Game Refuge & Holcomb Farm Marathon

November 29th, 2019 - Granby & Simsbury, Connecticut

McLean Game Refuge & Holcomb Farm Marathon day in Granby and Simsbury, Connecticut.  

Not a lot of build-up for this, I was thinking an attempt at the Bullitt Reservation / DAR / Williamsburg Route, but two cars are necessary for that attempt and I had but one today.  I would be solo.

I got a good running start at just a little after 9:00 a.m., with two water plants plus the refill opportunity at my vehicle which was returned to around mile 8 or so.  

Rambled through McLean to the beginnings of the hills (Westledge, Pilfershire, West Mountain, Eddy, and Weed Hill) at 12.5-miles at 5.5-mph (which was an incredible pace for me).

Once the hills were finished, and I entered into Holcomb Farm Trails, I was still at 5-mph, which had me feeling really energized.  I was moving really well, running strong on everything other than the long steady climb up Westledge, the steepest portions of Eddy, and then the bushwhack type footing up Weed Hill.

Things slowed a bit through Holcomb, especially once crossing Simsbury Road.  The trail from there to the re-entry into McLean proper hasn't seen much traffic, had many leaves covering the roots, and I was beginning to tire.

I hung on to complete the 25.6-miles (gps measured, so this should be easily over 26.2) in 5:13:00.  Just dipped under 5 mph average to a 4.9.  Awesome performance on my third marathon of 2019, and 57th overall.