Trail Monster Running

Visit the official TRAIL MONSTER RUNNING website for information on upcoming group runs, local trails, trail races and more, including the Pineland Farms Trail Running Festival and the Bradbury Mountain trail Running Series.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Fall is Here

It was only in the very low 40s this morning when I headed over to Falmouth for a run, and I was actually excited about the addition of a little variety to my running attire that comes with cooler temperatures. To the normal shorts and t-shirt I added wool socks, a pair of very thin gloves and a pair of Moeben sleeves. Perfect for these temps, and even though my feet eventually got soaked they stayed nice and warm. Today's group was uncharacteristically small with only Erik and Jeff showing up, we did however have a couple of four-leggeed companions since Erik brought Django and I am looking after James' dog Maury for the weekend. Emma, who is feeling under the weather, decided to stay home and do an easy run on the roads. No need to push too hard since it's now only a week until the Vermont 50.


Jeff led the way for this run since he's familiar with these trails which was a nice break for me since I've been leading the group at Bradbury most recent weekes. The only down side to this - which is actually an up side - is that Jeff has made a triumphant return from injury and is very fast now, and I felt a bit like I was holding him back.


The cooler weather was perfect for running and with the sun shining it was a glorious day for a run. I felt really good throughout the run and am looking forward to the 50 miler next weekend. I remember a time, not too long ago, when I thought that running a marathon might be a once in a lifetime achievement. A few years later and I'm getting ready for my third ultramarathon of the year and already thinking about the Stone Cat 50 Miler in November. Thats trails for ya. I felt like I could have run all day today, lets hope I feel this way next Sunday morning in VT.

Jeff, Erik and I talked about organizing races since Jeff has been cooking up a race plan on some of the trails that we were running on this morning. Unfortunately he has run into a few road blocks along the way which is a shame since these trails would be great for racing and Jeff would love to punish participants as much as I do by creating a brutal (but very fun) course. One more likely event, or series of events, that we talked about is a weekly 5k series at Twin Brook in Cumberland. The idea is that this would be a fall series of free 5k cross country races, every Wednesday night, carrying on in the tradition of the Weekly Back Cove Series. It's a whole year away until this series would actually begin but it's never too soon to start planning.

So fall doesn't officially start until Monday, but it feels like it's already here and I'm loving it.

4 comments:

pathfinder said...

Ian,

I think a weekly at twin brooks would be great! I actually planned on making it to the back bay but my schedule dragged me down...but cumberland I can get to even if I work late....plus I would enjoy that trail much better than back bay.....I vote yes!

Unknown said...

Sounds like fun. Maybe consider choosing a day that doesn't conflict with the Back Cove series.

Blaine Moore said...

I'd make my way out for the series as long as some of the races fell after the BCWS ended, and can offer software to track results.

R. Ian Parlin said...

Being a FALL series the weekly Twin Brook XC 5k Series would happen after the Back Cove series finishes.