Bumbling Towards Bimbler's

Only 6 days till Mr. Bimbler's Bluff 50k, time to start the taper. This is good becuase my foot was killing me this morning. The last two weeks have been run on a sore foot, I dropped a big box on it at work. That afternoon I ran 10+ miles on it at Mt. Tom. I iced and it calmed down, also I took the next four days off. That was my best behavior, then I started running on it again. I attempted the Reservoir Tour. This was one of the three long runs I posted about. The course morphed into something slightly different, but great fun. As it got dark, and my foot didn't agree with my choice to trailrun at night, I opted to switch to the roads for the return trip to McLean Reservoir, like so ...

East Mtn. Road was a great choice over the trails, I'd never run the whole thing before. There was little or no traffic, and the full moon was bright enough to be seen within the beam of my flashlight. Apremont Highway has a great hill, back up to McLean. I picked up the pace nicely back at the reservoir, into sub 8's.

My foot was a bit sore, but not bad enough to earn any therapy. No new ice baths, no problem. I ran on it two days later at the Thursday fun run, with the club. That was obviously a bad idea. It needed more time off. I needed more training for Mr. Bimble too, at least a 20 miler. I was able to push this off till Sunday, yesterday. My foot is pretty sore afterwards, but I can promise some rest time for it and plenty of ice. My son and I did this new course, him on his bike and myself running.

This went really well. My son ran into Stop & Shop for water at mile 7.5, which we stashed. I drank and ate well, but my pace slid markedly. From home on the Bike Path, I was 65:57 to S&S, 8:48 pace, feeling great. Then up to the end of Northampton's Bike Path and back in 50:48, 10:10 pace. This was a long slow uphill that never seemed to end. My foot was pretty sore by halfway and slow on the way down, only 1:32 faster. The end was largely a drag/slog/miserable grind, 72:05 I had a mile to go. That 11:05 pace ended with a water fountain stop, little over a mile left was inspring and I found some speed. I decided to clock the last mile and ran an 8:32. 

 

My foot was kind of swollen and after icing this morning is alright, but sore. It gets time off till Thursday, I promise. Of course, I'm injured. I'll run Thursday to restart the engines, biking in the meantime. Then, maybe I don't run till the Bluff. After the Bluff I can take a week off, or more. This feels like the equivalent of jamming your finger, sort of a sprained feeling that just needs some chill out time to heal. Worst thing about it, is that every muscle on my right side is tense and shortening becuase of the uncomfortable foot. So, just core and flexibility workouts with cycling this week, until Thursday.

Impulsive Foliage Chase

Thursday, stormclouds were rolling through and breaking close to sunset. Sunshine was pouring through cracks in the dramatic sky, and I just had to get the camera out. Mt. Tom's summit is a great spot to enjoy the weather from. Took close to 100 pictures on the short run, and here is a minimally edited selection ...

Twilight Res Tour

This is my best attempt at distance, this week. I'm trying not to worry too much about Bimbler's Bluff, but this prep is much different than my prep for Pisgah. What I can't get my mind around, is that Pisgah IS the prep for Bimbler's Bluff. Ridiculous names. I seem to be running well, despite kind of spraining my foot at work last week and hardly running much at all. Sunday, I showed up at Monroe after 4 days off a sore foot and took my Age Group while the normal competition was mostly hobbled by the technical terrain. I hope they heal up. Despite their obvious injury as I passed, I was pushed hard in the final smooth miles knowing they were back there. It was an idyllic day that I could go on and on about, but daylight is fading fast, and I want to be at Whiting by Dark. It's October, so blaze orange hat and red shirt. Trying out dates as well as the usual gel and dried mango. Going for 4 ish hours, no hurry. Added a mile on the map, up to the Bluff overlooking Hampden Ponds. There won't be sunlight to enjoy the foliage by, but I miss that hill.

Long Runs for Bimbler's Bluff

Since running the Pisgah 50k, there hasn't been anything longer than 10 for me. So, this week is a double header, a 20+ run and a run in the upper teens. Here's what's on the slate for possibilities:

 

The Mount Tom Madness, marathon distance climbing run ...

 

A Trip around the Holyoke Reservoirs, with a bonus trip up Mt. Tom past it's Reservoir ...

 

And/or a shorter extendable trip across the Mt. Tom escarpment and/or the rolling hills of Bray Valley ...

 

The trees are just beginning to turn, there is a chill to the air, and frost is forecast for tomorrow morning. Fall is here, tomorrow I'm probably going to hit Mt. Tom for at least 12 miles, maybe some combination of the runs above.

Last week's runs went well to prepare me for Conway, yesterday. I had a great run, seconds from a PR on a very tough course. My son got a great hand-made finisher's medallion and won a RoadID gift certificate. The sc enery was great and the course was fun. Next race will be Monroe Dunbar Brook, this Sunday