7:55 AM - 14 miles, 1:35:30 - Borderland State Park.
Great run back at the Motherland this morning after an awesome night in Norton at the humble home of Sean and Melissa Kinney, who just celebrated three, yes, three, years of marriage. It seems like just yesterday I was waving goodbye to the usual suspects at the reception hall, bound for uncertainty in Oregon, only to return homesick and broke two months later. Now those two are thinking about having kids, Reino and Jess are getting married next summer, I'm building a house and Bergie has a serious girlfriend. Either we're getting old or Danny Ainge is getting ready to convince Michael Jordan to make his third NBA comeback with the Boston Celtics next season.
As for the run, it went pretty well. I felt strong, I was able to gradually ratchet down the pace and I was glad to be back on familiar ground. I'm not gonna wax nostalgic like I did last month, but I will briefly reiterate the fact that I LOVE running here, here referring to the Stonehill campus, Sheep Pasture, Town Forest and the crown jewel of this off-road collection, Borderland State Park. I don't know what's so appealing to me about these trails, but I suspect much of it has to do with the fact that this little dirt-covered piece of heaven on earth is where I became a runner. I learned a lot about myself every time I took off down these trails, and today was no different.
I'll keep this morning's self discoveries to, well, myself, but I will share something else I learned about 4 miles out from campus -- the current edition of the Stonehill men's cross country team is going to be nothing short of scary this season. I ran into those bastards this morning, all 21 of them (yes, 21!) and the early report from KcoachB sounded promising. These guys were 10th in the country last season, are led into by a pair of returning All-Americans and boast a class of incoming freshmen that would most assuredly make a lot of Division 1 coaches with a large scholarship budget jealous. The path this program has taken since clowns like me were running around in singlets emblazoned with a large purple feather is nothing short of amazing. I'm proud to call myself an alumni, and even though I never called any of these current Chieftains, I mean Skyhawks, my teammate, I look forward to watching KcoachB's boys tear up the grass this season.
I'm also looking forward to going to bed soon, but before I hit the hay, here's a few weekend performances worth noting:
1. NB-Boston teammate and resident trail bird, Ryan Carrara, on going 2-for-2 at the Thomas Chamberas cross country race and the Mt. Toby Trail Race yesterday and today. That's one tough double, but Ryan's one tough dude. Plus, anyone who bases the location of his home on its proximity to off-road running options is made for this kind of crazy stuff.
2. Fellow blogging badass and Whirlaway road whore Shad Miller on winning today's Marshfield Sufferfest, I mean 20K. A very impressive run over a tough course on a miserable day for a long race, not to mention perhaps the most physically exhausting means of raising the necessary funds to take your wife out for a celebratory dinner that I've ever heard of!
Great run back at the Motherland this morning after an awesome night in Norton at the humble home of Sean and Melissa Kinney, who just celebrated three, yes, three, years of marriage. It seems like just yesterday I was waving goodbye to the usual suspects at the reception hall, bound for uncertainty in Oregon, only to return homesick and broke two months later. Now those two are thinking about having kids, Reino and Jess are getting married next summer, I'm building a house and Bergie has a serious girlfriend. Either we're getting old or Danny Ainge is getting ready to convince Michael Jordan to make his third NBA comeback with the Boston Celtics next season.
As for the run, it went pretty well. I felt strong, I was able to gradually ratchet down the pace and I was glad to be back on familiar ground. I'm not gonna wax nostalgic like I did last month, but I will briefly reiterate the fact that I LOVE running here, here referring to the Stonehill campus, Sheep Pasture, Town Forest and the crown jewel of this off-road collection, Borderland State Park. I don't know what's so appealing to me about these trails, but I suspect much of it has to do with the fact that this little dirt-covered piece of heaven on earth is where I became a runner. I learned a lot about myself every time I took off down these trails, and today was no different.
I'll keep this morning's self discoveries to, well, myself, but I will share something else I learned about 4 miles out from campus -- the current edition of the Stonehill men's cross country team is going to be nothing short of scary this season. I ran into those bastards this morning, all 21 of them (yes, 21!) and the early report from KcoachB sounded promising. These guys were 10th in the country last season, are led into by a pair of returning All-Americans and boast a class of incoming freshmen that would most assuredly make a lot of Division 1 coaches with a large scholarship budget jealous. The path this program has taken since clowns like me were running around in singlets emblazoned with a large purple feather is nothing short of amazing. I'm proud to call myself an alumni, and even though I never called any of these current Chieftains, I mean Skyhawks, my teammate, I look forward to watching KcoachB's boys tear up the grass this season.
I'm also looking forward to going to bed soon, but before I hit the hay, here's a few weekend performances worth noting:
1. NB-Boston teammate and resident trail bird, Ryan Carrara, on going 2-for-2 at the Thomas Chamberas cross country race and the Mt. Toby Trail Race yesterday and today. That's one tough double, but Ryan's one tough dude. Plus, anyone who bases the location of his home on its proximity to off-road running options is made for this kind of crazy stuff.
2. Fellow blogging badass and Whirlaway road whore Shad Miller on winning today's Marshfield Sufferfest, I mean 20K. A very impressive run over a tough course on a miserable day for a long race, not to mention perhaps the most physically exhausting means of raising the necessary funds to take your wife out for a celebratory dinner that I've ever heard of!
Quote of the Day
"I hate it with a passion when I hear coaches talk about bad luck. I don't believe in bad luck, and I don't believe in good luck. I believe preparation puts you in position to have good results."
- Tim Pitcher
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