Day 52 - OMG, the bloodshed was horrible! But more about that later.
Sometimes the day never goes as planned. Sometimes it can be bad, while other times it can be good. Today was a "goad" day.
I had no motivation at 8AM to wake up and run 16 miles with Fil through the hills of Hudson, NH, so I texted and told Fil that I was just going to do the 3.1 minimum around the river. I went back to bed without any intention of ever waking up again...until much later.
When I woke up again at 10AM my left calf felt better, and the sun was shining nice and bright! Knowing Fil, he probably also went back to bed after getting my text and hadn't put in his run yet either. After a quick phone call that went something like this:
Jason: You run yet?
Fil: No.
Jason: Meet me at the NH/MA border in an hour.
Fil: OK.
From my place in Lowell to the border was about 5.8 miles, and about 5.1 miles for Fil from his place in Hudson, NH. I would be heading northwest, while Fil would be heading southeast. And of course, there was a nasty/nice (depending on which way you were running) wind coming out of the northwest. Headwind for me. Tailwind for Fil.
I left the apt at 10:40 with the mutually agreed upon pace of 8 min/miles, but I was feeling better than 8 min/miles! I basically had on my racing gear, minus the BIB. I completed the first 3 miles at a 7:20 clip. Then my route just got fugly! Hills, hills, and more hills. Along with the 15 mile per hour headwind, Mother Nature managed to slow my pace to 7:50 over the next 2.5 miles.
Meanwhile, Fil was floating on air and smelling roses all the way to the border.
I finally caught sight of the running orange (Fil) at about mile 5.5, just a little shy of the state border for me. Everything that made my run suck, made Fil's run a plus. Fil, you can start in Lowell next time!
We snuck back across the border to continue our run on the New Hampster side. The original planned route would give us about 11 miles, but what the heck is 11 miles? Literally, what an odd number for a run. That's when we decided to honor the Half at the Hamptons runners with our own half-marathon, which we cleverly named, Half at the Hudsons. Genuis!
Up and down the hills of Hudson we went at about an 8 minute pace. Fil was moving nice and easy up the hills, while I dragged my rotting carcass close behind. I just wasn't feeling it today even though I was hitting my target pace for most of the run. Calf was still tight, but not as tight as it was during the week. The extra two hours of sleep earlier in the morning definitely helped though. Here's to sleeping in on Sundays!
It wasn't until the final mile that I managed to shake off all of the rust from the week and put in a sub 7 minute final mile. Calf finally loosened up and has remained loose since. Crossing my toes, hoping it stays loose. Doh! Crossing my toes just made my calf cramp up again!
Final tally for the "Half" at the Hudsons:
Jason - 13.50 (7:56 pace)
Fil - 13.50 (8:13 pace)
You're probably wondering about the bloodshed that I mentioned earlier in the post. It wasn't that bad. Fil just had a cut on his foot that we didn't discover, until after the run, when he managed to bloody his kitchen floor. That's all. Nothing to see here. Move on. Don't make me pull out the Ferris Bueller clip again...
Congrats to the true runner's of the day at the Hamptons, on a very tough day to be running near the f'in ocean! Nice job Eric M., Doug S., and Cullen M.!
Complaint Box:
Dear T-Bones Management,
It took us longer to be served at lunch today than for us to do our run! And tell Amanda that we can do without the side of attitude.
Sincerely,
Fil "I broke 300 miles while crossing the god damn NH/MA border" Faria
Random Celebrity Sighting:
Johnny Weir-do at TJ Max in Nashua, actually, it was just some guy in drag.
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