Long.
I ran about 18 miles today. It looks like I'm trying to get ready for for the Cape Cod Marathon that I'm running three weeks from now. I don't think I've posted much about this, which is consumate with how much I've trained for it. But with another long run down and with 17:58 and 18:12 finishes on my last two 5k road races, I think it may work out.
Yesterday was loads of fun. I got up early and biked down to Davis Square for the Somerville Homeless Coalition 5k. As an aside, these road races are now my preferred form of charity. For I am cheap and a generally bad person, but I have no problem giving twenty dollars for a tee shirt and a chance to do something I can generally do free of charge? And I may get a tax deduction out of them. Continuing, I arrived, registered, and warmed up for the race, all the while looking out for jbdowse, to whom I had sent a message about the race. At the starting line, I still hadn't seen him.
So the race starts. There's a gentle downhill over the first mile and my split is around 5:40. I had started a bit back so I spent most of the mile slowly overtaking runners and moving up pack by pack. The next half mile leveled off and by then I wasn't gaining any more places. A sharp left turn led to a steep hill climb. I was hoping to maintain my position and recover a bit but only the maintaining worked out. Then a left and some more gradual hill climbing into mile three. I wasn't going anywhere by then but mile three was sure fun: lots of downhill and a great view to the northwest. I re-entered Davis Square to the discordant groan and thump of a brass band a made a decent kick into the chute. I exited, heading towards my gear, and found myself facing jbdowse. It turns out that Googling "somerville homeless coalition 5k" leads one to the page for the 2005 race, a race that started an hour later than this year's one. So we have a laugh and I collect one more piece of evidence that I jinx his races.
Then to Franklin Park to watch the New England Cross Country Collegiate Championships. There were some fun times. I met Simonson's sister (Simonsdottir?), got to see four races, saw the bear cage that gives Bear Cage Hill its name (and found myself thinking of LOST), and mooched off the team's ever-abundant supply of food. And there was an attempt on The Bear.
The Bear is our (having graduated changes nothing) teams' totem. Going by Neil Gaiman's American Gods, for all the devotion and belief we have poured into its plush body, it should be a minor deity by now. And that which is powerful is coveted. It is an informal sport for other NESCAC teams to try to snatch The Bear, with the understanding that it will be returned in due time, perhaps with some small modifications. The Bear had been given to me to protect during the Men's JV 8k, as the Varsity Men were running a cool down. So I did my job with due diligence. The race had ended and I needed to hit the bathroom, so I passed The Bear on to Bill. From the Porta John, I heard a commotion and after a swift exit, I saw some unfamiliar folks dashing away with The Bear. There was a chase and some tackling and pile-up of which I was on the periphery, which led to The Bear being recovered. This was followed by story-telling and swaggering and tales of manly battle. It was all very hard-core.
So then we headed back to jbdowse's place with Lauren and there was a fairly quiet evening. I met jbdowse's housemate--Lauren's brother--and we all went into Boston for Ethiopian food. And then back home so I could rest up for the long run.
Yesterday was loads of fun. I got up early and biked down to Davis Square for the Somerville Homeless Coalition 5k. As an aside, these road races are now my preferred form of charity. For I am cheap and a generally bad person, but I have no problem giving twenty dollars for a tee shirt and a chance to do something I can generally do free of charge? And I may get a tax deduction out of them. Continuing, I arrived, registered, and warmed up for the race, all the while looking out for jbdowse, to whom I had sent a message about the race. At the starting line, I still hadn't seen him.
So the race starts. There's a gentle downhill over the first mile and my split is around 5:40. I had started a bit back so I spent most of the mile slowly overtaking runners and moving up pack by pack. The next half mile leveled off and by then I wasn't gaining any more places. A sharp left turn led to a steep hill climb. I was hoping to maintain my position and recover a bit but only the maintaining worked out. Then a left and some more gradual hill climbing into mile three. I wasn't going anywhere by then but mile three was sure fun: lots of downhill and a great view to the northwest. I re-entered Davis Square to the discordant groan and thump of a brass band a made a decent kick into the chute. I exited, heading towards my gear, and found myself facing jbdowse. It turns out that Googling "somerville homeless coalition 5k" leads one to the page for the 2005 race, a race that started an hour later than this year's one. So we have a laugh and I collect one more piece of evidence that I jinx his races.
Then to Franklin Park to watch the New England Cross Country Collegiate Championships. There were some fun times. I met Simonson's sister (Simonsdottir?), got to see four races, saw the bear cage that gives Bear Cage Hill its name (and found myself thinking of LOST), and mooched off the team's ever-abundant supply of food. And there was an attempt on The Bear.
The Bear is our (having graduated changes nothing) teams' totem. Going by Neil Gaiman's American Gods, for all the devotion and belief we have poured into its plush body, it should be a minor deity by now. And that which is powerful is coveted. It is an informal sport for other NESCAC teams to try to snatch The Bear, with the understanding that it will be returned in due time, perhaps with some small modifications. The Bear had been given to me to protect during the Men's JV 8k, as the Varsity Men were running a cool down. So I did my job with due diligence. The race had ended and I needed to hit the bathroom, so I passed The Bear on to Bill. From the Porta John, I heard a commotion and after a swift exit, I saw some unfamiliar folks dashing away with The Bear. There was a chase and some tackling and pile-up of which I was on the periphery, which led to The Bear being recovered. This was followed by story-telling and swaggering and tales of manly battle. It was all very hard-core.
So then we headed back to jbdowse's place with Lauren and there was a fairly quiet evening. I met jbdowse's housemate--Lauren's brother--and we all went into Boston for Ethiopian food. And then back home so I could rest up for the long run.