Everything goes better after a cup of coffee. ;-)

Besides Judson, it's good to see Amanda, Roxie, and Jeanne out there most mornings at 6.

for 8 mi, my legs felt good but I'm in a bit of a caloric deficit, I think, and just didn't have the energy for fast today. Swam a quick 600 yds after to get the cobwebs out, wrapped up in a sweater and towel, and went to the pier to soak my legs.

So, I haven't been to Sand Beach yet. Does anyone want to go to the beach with me some evening next week? I've only got one week left on the island and I'd love to make some sandcastles and have a picnic with a bunch of you.

I'm back to running stairs again. It was a tough three sets of running those 27 floors. Only timed the second set at 4:40 and my heart rate was close to max the third set at about 170+ bpm. Did some ab & lower back Nautilus, too.

Keep running!

Okay, this is random, but I'm so tired, because I was at a camp overnight, and we had to get up at 5:30, leave by 6:30, to get back to COA by 9:00, except we stayed up until about 1:30 or 2:00, so we only got 3.5 to 4 hours of sleep. So I am really tired. >.< zzzzz

Slow and Sunny on Seawall Road with my overly enthusiastic dog. The dog apparently did get enough sleep. Hike to beech mtn fire tower this afternoon with the kids!

I LOVE BLUEBERRY PIE!

Not sure of the time, but pretty easy around the lake with Brian.

I'm going to go run the NE Harbor 5-mile course later to get a feel for it for next week.

And of course, the Machias Blueberry Festival 5-miler tomorrow is a fun event. I ran 25:28 back in 2005 on the course and the Course record is, 24:45, Mike Gaige, which is pretty tough, but I'll give it a try anyhow.

I'm goinng to treat it like an allout 2-mile and get to the top of the hill, then cruise down the hill and see what's left in the tank for the final 2 miles. Someone should come video tape this one, pain face is going to be great.

Food for fuel: Olympian Phelps' unusual diet

Suddenly makes my pop tarts and raisin bran breakfast seem rather minimal.

So my little hike today up Beech Mnt got me thinking about adding a trail run into my weekly training schedule. Does any one have recommendations for trail runs on MDI?

More specifically 3-5 miles, hilly, preferably a loop, and runable.

Thanks

Trail runing is my favorite.

Pete Palmer and I once hiked/ran every mountain peak on the island in 14 hours.

I also have an extensive collection of maps from 1896 to present showing the current and abandoned trail system which for the most part is still very useable which helps when planning runs and hikes up multimple mountains.

A great one would be Gorham Mountain and running up over Gorham, up to the bowl, up Champlain and then down Bear Brook trail. If you knew the trail system from the end of Bear Brook trail you could take the Black and Blue path(abandoned) which takes you to Beaver dam pool, then around Beaver damn pool on the bicycle path(abandoned) which takes you to Bear Brook picnic area where you can jump onto the wild garden path(abandoned) which takes to you to the lower parts of the Beachcroft trail and then down to the tarn which is a great ending place.

So next time you're running on the carriage roads r trails and you see what looks like a path that isn't marked, well it just might be a path. Usually the park puts a pile of brush in front of abandoned trails so no one gets confused, but exploration is all part of enjoying the park. Plus if you look carefully you can actually see which trees had been trimmed when they first made the path and it's a helpful way to stay on old trails once you find the start of them. Someone should really give me a job for the information I know about the trail system. A few years ago the park had people up on some of the peaks which were used a lot collecting data on which trail people were using to get up and other information. Friend and I went up the McFarland Path which goes from the park headquarters thrhough the woods on the west side of Eagle lake, crosses over the carriage road just after the sixth bridge on seven bridges and goes up Sargents Mountain. We got up and the friendly guy collecting date was asked how we had gotten and we told him. He was surprized and we explained to him the name and route we went up. My guess is that was one of the less used ways up.

Anyhow, I always ramble on. John, the main thing is you want to try and go north to south instead of east to west for the most part if you're planning on running and either go really early, out of season or on paths not used highly to avoid having to deal with the hikers. Good luck and remember to have fun and explore.

Nice photo.

I'll be doing about a 4mi s-l-o-w sunset run a little later, here in lovely E-town. I really appreciate how welcoming people have been.

Alyie, Sand Beach sounds like fun, it would be nice to meet you and some others, if newbies are invited : ) I've enjoyed reading about your swimming, you've inspired me... I went out and got myself a new suit last night. I haven't seriously swum laps in a long time! In my younger days, I used to be a lifeguard/WSI, when I raced I did the 500 free and the 100 fly. Fly just kills me now.

Happy trails...
~Diane

...with the last 3 miles progressive. For miles 1-5 I averaged 9:30s, then miles 6, 7, and 8 were 8:49, 8:18, and 7:15. I'll take it! (As I was dropping the pace on those last miles, my goal was to be subtle, but you can see I failed miserably at that! lol)

I don't know why I've been avoiding it, but today was my first run out on the Lake Stretch since my Sugarloaf training. It was like meeting up with an old friend. What a great run.

back on the Lake Stretch, Suzanne.

Good luck tomorrow Blueberry Run racers!

Row/bike trainer combo for me for a few miles. I'm looking forward to watching the Women's 10k tonight (tape delayed) and I'm trying to avoid encountering the results in cyberspace..or here!

stayed the day in Seal Harbor. Ran the loop around little long pond twice. Soaked afterwards.

6 mile run with some strides.

1 m w/u, 3x1 mile with 3-4 min rest, almost 1 m c/d (I was fading.) I was aiming for 5 sets but my body was still weak from yesterday's stomach bug. We averaged about 7:40 pace. Bob's a great pacer, I hope to snag him again sometime. Thanks again, Bob, especially for the grand tour of your beautiful new home. By the way, we didn't find any deer antlers. Oliver's ultimate goal is to find a moose antler.