Ashley Reservoir, Holyoke

I used to call this my home turf. My workplace was just around the corner and I started running here, after discovering it as a good place for a long walk. Now, I no longer work nearby and just show up on Thursdays, for the weekly 5k. That's not entirely true, I show up weekly to run both the 5k and the summit run mapped above. I miss being close by, but the reservoir is only 30 seconds from route 91 and thereby accessible from anyplace. My current part-time work is in Chicopee, at FedEx, by the Westover Air Force Base. At the end of the month, I'll be a student again at STCC, in Springfield. Maybe there is new territory to stake out in that area. I am slowly becoming used to the workload, loading FedEx trucks, and the 4AM start time. Running after work is far, far from my mind these days. 

 

Almost time to head out for the weekly race. I haven't run since Monday, the long run. I bonked pretty hard, but dealt with it well instead of totally crashing. Experience seems to benefit both physically and mentally in this situation. The PB&J didn't work all too well. The terrain I chose to run was much too tough, too broken up with impossible footing. Running the M+M reversed from normal was really cool, better views. Worse than the bonk and the footing was the spiders, crashing into a dozen enormous nasty webs full of dead bugs and spiders. I freaked out for the first 5-7 of them. I need a long run with sustained RUNNING now, so I'll try to get in another long one next week.