Fall running in Maine

Fall is my new Spring. Growing up in Virginia, Spring was the best season. A beautiful dogwood in full bloom graced my parent's front yard. I still remember the smell. When I moved up here Spring all but disappeared. There is no Spring up here. So it seemed that everyone up here puts there hopes in Fall. Fairs, apples, cross country season, all kinds of great things. However my first Fall living here was consumed by my cancer diagnosis and chemo.

It has been five years since that first Fall and I have finally been able to embrace Fall with all the enthusiasm it deserves. I am on the eve of my five years cancer free and this is the best fall yet. The weather for running has been great, the leaves spectacular, and the apples tasty. Tonight I met the Trail Monsters, Ian Parlin, Chuck Hazzard, Chuck's dog Miss Ellie, and Eric Boucher out at Twin Brook. The evening air was chilly, like a good Fall evening should be, as we set out. The pace started out conversationally and got quicker after a couple miles and only got faster through the run. The conversation centered around the Bradbury Bruiser and trying to convince Ian that he is well prepared to run his first 50-miler at Stone Cat. His training has been spot on and we were trying to give him some confidence. Time will tell. What we do know is that he will be out racing the Bruiser. We all had a great time running under our headlamps as Miss Ellie guided us around the trails. The splits for the evening run or just under 6 miles was 9:12, 8:29, 8:16, 7:57, 7:59, and finally, 6:34. The 6:34 happened on the last straightaway as we all were happy to stretch out our legs. For you numbers people out there, my HR followed the trend of the pace: 137, 143, 150, 154, 161, and 172. The 172 average seems a bit understated to me as I felt like my heart was coming through my chest at the end. My max heart rate on the run, which happened at Mile 6, was 193. This is my max HR. So it was about to bust. Also, according to my Garmin, at some point during that last mile I hit a 4:41 pace. I don't know for how long nor am I sure I believe I actually got that fast, but we were all moving at the end. Good times.

And thanks to my buddy Blaine for his excellent write up on the upcoming Bradbury Bruiser. This weekend we are planning on running the Bradbury Bruiser course at 7 Am and then doing some trail maintenance afterwards at 9:30 AM. Everyone is welcome. Bring a friend.