Matthew's Running: Massachusetts Trail Running- Weekly Log: May 15 to 21

Made three visits to Massachusetts this week for trail running- two challenging longer runs to start to get fit for mountain/technical running and the Dogtown Trail race on Saturday. Kept the mid-week runs short for a second week to fully recover from the build-up to Pittsburgh.

Monday: 3 Miles- Westerly, RI

Champlin road/trail loop. Heavy legs.

Tuesday: 4 Miles- Westerly, RI

Tom Harvey with some OABs on side roads to get to 4. Meant to do Rockridge loop but suddenly had to use the bathroom and the port-a-potty off Tom Harvey was the closest. 6:57 pace. Been having a slightly weak/uncomfortable achilles since Pittsburgh, but never bad.

Wednesday: 16 Miles- Milton, MA

Back in January (or perhaps December), I signed up for the Quebec Mega Trail 52K with my Dad. As the furthest I've raced is 25K (Pinelands 3 times as of writing, Catamount once), this is quite the step up. The course is supposed to be challenging with nearly 7,000 ft of elevation gain and some very technical spots. So really no time to just take a few truly easy weeks, need to get into technical, long and hilly/mountain runs right away to get ready. In 2020, I had pretty good mountain fitness- doing many mountain runs including a Presidential Traverse and Pemi Loop towards the end of summer. Since then, I have yet to have that level of endurance, climbing strength or technical ability. Part of it was with the lack of races in 2020, I instead got out for technical/hilly/mountain runs frequently when I would have been racing or training for races in other years. The other factor in not being as good in 2021 and 2022 was ankle sprains. In 2021, I never had a terrible sprain that kept me out for long but had frequent rolls/minor sprains that kept the joint from healing and crushed my confidence on any trails. It seemed like it finally healed for June 2022 when starting trail/mountain training again, but then I had a terrible sprain at Bear Mountain NY where I had to take a full week off and rely on a brace for any technical running the rest of the summer. I also sprained the other ankle in a cross country in September. I put a lot of band work into the rotation after that, and combined with the time off, my ankles are feeling pretty good again going into this summer. The hope is that 2023 is finally a return to trail running form for me.

In 2020, I started with techy/hilly runs in March. So I didn't have much of an issue running bigger mountains by June/July. In 2021 and 2022, I got a later start in June and felt my endurance and technical ability was quite lacking compared to 2020. This time I was starting in mid-May, so I at least had a few weeks on my 2021/2022 self. I like to start to smaller climbs/less brutal profile then build my way up. Blue Hills Reservation just outside Boston fits this profile well- it's quite challenging with many 300-400 foot steep climbs that add up but I wouldn't be taking on any monster mountain climbs or scrambling terrain right away. Mapped out a loop hitting some highlights of the park while also keeping a decent amount of runnable trails in there so it wouldn't be an absolute slog. 4-5 miles finishing on the skyline trail which traverses the hills of the park.

Hit some rough traffic, took an extra half hour to get there but fortunately I didn't have to drive as my Dad came (and Brady). Ran some moderately graded uphill before hitting the climb to Great Blue Hill- highest "summit" in the park. Really tough climb at 29% average grade, took a lot of focus to run most of this, only hiking over a few rock slab sections. But it was pretty short and I was at the top before I knew it. Felt like a manageable climb for now as I would have struggled if it was any longer. No views from Great Blue Hill. Continued on the skyline trail for a little longer. Extremely technical descent down Great Blue Hill- giant rocks everywhere, made last week's Mt Tom trail feel like a paved road in comparison. Got onto side trail before popping across the road into the Houghton's Pond area. Good 3 miles on really runnable double track/dirt road before another short climb. Then on dirt roads/runnable trail again until 8 miles. Ended on the last section of skyline trail- a few short steep and techy bursts but much more runnable than the first section of skyline. More runnable trail to follow after hitting the easternmost point in Quincy. After 11 miles the rest was on the skyline trail, meaning significant climbing and techy sections. I felt pretty good through 12 then started having some mini-bonks and having to stop for a gel/water refueling break. 300 foot climb up Buck Hill which is the only open section and has nice views of the Boston skyline. I recognized much of the trail for the next few miles from my previous run here in 2020. The last two miles were rough- ran out of energy on both climbs/hills. First one was okay but stopped to refuel and finished my water. The second climb back up Great Blue hill was totally runnable but I had nothing in the tank and walked most of it even taking a few breaks. Guess Dad felt even worse as he fell pretty far behind. Glad to be done- 3,396' elevation gain/loss on the day at 10:11 average pace.

Felt kind of rough last 4 on technical or steep terrain, but this was the first tough trail of the season and it usually goes that way. This is a really great park with so many miles of trails and I definitely recommend it.

Took some video below:

Thursday: 4 Miles- Westerly, RI

Rockridge loop. Really cold morning for mid day at 35 degrees. It's strange wearing long sleeves throughout May for morning runs (usually mid 40s), but this is the first year I've consistently run around 6am when it's a lot cooler.

Friday: 4 Miles- Westerly, RI

Ice Pond loop, love running through that neighborhood. Usually there's a bunch of turkeys at the pond section. Felt some significant quad soreness in my left side from the Blue Hills run which was slightly worrying for the race. Didn't feel bad running but certainly really sore to push on that area.

Drove up post work. Got out a bit early so it was nice to spend a few hours + eat at home before heading up. Camped at the same site as last week in Andover. Drive and sleep was much more pleasant- upper 60s instead of 80s and didn't hit any traffic.

Saturday: 7 Miles- Rockport, MA

Felt pretty bad/low energy in the morning. Figured I didn't feel great at Spring for the Trails and that went fine, so I'd probably be okay and had less miles. Had some really bad stomach discomfort driving over and terrible diarrhea at a rest stop which was a little worrying. This was almost like a partner race for last weekend's spring for the trails as it was being promoted there, despite being run by the Cape Ann Trail Stewards, a different organization.

I looked at segments to get a feel for potential competition- last year's winner is a 1:11/2:28 half/full guy so I definitely would not have an advantage on him. Got here about an hour before the race, slightly later than planned due to the bathroom stop. There was a 5 minute walk from the parking to start area on a steep and technical trail. Lost a bit of time due to this and had to rush/cut back on warm up since I didn't have a ton of time. I think this could have been better communicated on the race website. Did not feel good warming up.

Felt super sluggish the whole pre-race. I was confused at the start as it appeared we would immediately (as in 30 meters or so) bottleneck into a very narrow trail. I then realized we were going the other way and there was a lot more room plus the trail start was doubletrack. I looked around the start and didn't think last year's race winner, Connor was there as no one looked especially serious (I was wrong as he was on the front line). There was one fast looking teenager but I wrote him off when I saw him wearing XC spikes. He asked me if I thought the spikes were a good choice which is a tough question because it's definitely a bad call but I didn't want to discourage him before the race even began. Couldn't find any race photos so here are some photos of the trail we raced on.

Like last weekend, the race started downhill and I went out super hard off the line. The first turn into the trail was more than 90 degrees and a little awkward. Some rocks felt a little uncomfortable going low 5s pace downhill. The next section was flat, non-technical singletrack and I couldn't feel anyone right behind me. I felt low energy right away and had some weird chills. This seemed like it was going to be a rough one, but I reminded myself I felt absolutely terrible/had similar chills the first few miles during my 8K XC PR and this was a lot shorter than last weekend. I went by some bikers who pulled to the side but left their dog in the middle on the trail. Not a big deal, but I got really close to the dog and startled him/her. I guess the next guy wasn't happy about the dog being on the trail because 10 seconds later I heard someone shouting "Get off the f***ing trail!" presumably to the bikers which was a little jarring but I didn't know what was going on. Came up on some techier sections, all runnable and I tried to keep the pressure on as I was at least leading by enough that I couldn't see or hear the next guy. Another two bikers went by and made zero effort to move over which was frustrating.

The terrain was moderately technical for the first two miles, runnable and mostly fast but certainly not a dirt road/XC course- hitting about 6:30s for this. Things got really quiet coming up on the second mile in a pine forest section. I heard some noise and it sounded like a biker coming up on me. I turned and didn't see anyone. I heard the noise again and turned around to see Connor not 20 meters behind. This suddenly turned into an intense race. Unlike last week this wasn't super early into the race that I had plenty of ground to break away and I didn't have the best foot speed. I was going to lose which was suddenly really disappointing. Except on the next uphill I put in another gear and I could no longer hear/see him. I felt kind of crappy but not terrible and had enough there that I wasn't going to drop the effort/pace. Went by the water stop which was kind of a disaster- no tables, just volunteers ready to pour some water into a cup which you'd inevitably lose time waiting for them. They asked "do you want some water?". I gave a thumbs up to indicate I was all set, but realized this may have indicated "Yes, I want water". I tried to gauge how far of a lead I had and was at least far enough ahead that I couldn't hear any cheering for the second place guy- likely at least 15 seconds. Kept the effort on- remained 6:30ish until the last half mile which was all rock gardens and quite awkward to race on. 8 minute pace here. Came out to a familiar section again, realized I was in the final stretch and was going to win. I put in a surge up the final hill and was going to sprint the final section of the field but the race suddenly just ended there. Oh well. Glad I wasn't in an all out sprint because I may have lost because I expected another 50 meters to be able to move. 1st of 99 in 34:13. Course record as far as I could tell.

I was definitely happy with one. I felt my effort was not quite as good as last week- no way I would have held strong for 13 miles today and felt a bit worse, but I held on for the win when there was some doubt midway. Expected both races to be really easy wins and that wasn't the case, especially today. While Connor has some great road PRs, it seems I was the better trail runner. Turns out I put roughly 18 seconds on him in the last half mile really techy section. Not confident I would have won that if it was on dirt roads. Good back to back weekends to Essex County trail races. I took down the defending champion to win each race in what was potentially a course record. Can't be too upset with that. Got out of there kind of quickly as I didn't really know anyone or have anything to do. This race was marked better than Spring for the Trails, but I didn't like the course as much- rocky double track isn't really my thing. Both races were fun diversions, but I'd probably pass on doing them again given the amount of trail races out there (Shad Bloom and Soapstone are those weekends).

Took a brief break at Good Harbor beach in adjacent Gloucester- nice beach and felt it was worth checking out when I was so close to the coast. This is the site of the Lone Gull 10K which I may do in the fall. Cape Ann is a really nice area. I got a $25 gift certificate to New England Running company in Beverly. Wasn't going to do anything with it, but I realized I could get a bunch of gels instead which I did.

Sunday: 14 Miles- Amherst, MA

Right back at it with a hard trail run in the morning. At the Holyoke range state park, my fourth time here. Went here in 2017 after visiting UMass Amherst, then again in 2020 and 2022 for more extensive trail runs. This is another excellent trail system and the highlight is the 10ish mile long ridgeline trail (Metacomet-Monadnock/New England) that has continuous steep up and downs and technical sections. It's quite nice for a forested ridgeline and has a few views along the way. On the whole, not as technical/rocky as Blue Hills but longer and tougher climbs.

Ran with Dad and Brady, nice not to drive again (Brady drove). Started on some side trail through dark pine forest that was really pleasant. Few miles of that and then got up to the ridgeline. The seven sisters is 7 small summits, each with a steep incline and then descent. Definitely tiring, then forced myself to run up the last climb (about 250ft) to the top of Mount Holyoke. Mount Holyoke summit is actually a separate state park called Skinner State Park and is the only peak in the range to have an auto road, plus a summit building. There's a very nice view off of that. We ran half a mile down the summit road then a descent down to the forest floor on quieter (and darker) trails. Interesting how the pine trees are at the lower elevations here. Brief but runnable climb coming out to a surprisingly great view (only expected this on the higher ridgeline) then another descent to the Lithia springs reservoir. Few more miles of runnable trail before starting the Mount Hitchcock climb back up the ridgeline- rough climb 650ft in half a mile (22% grade). Started to bonk at the beginning of this so took a refueling break. Mostly powerhiking. This trail was awful with a ton of loose rock and didn't seem maintained by the park. Small ups and downs back to the visitor center including Bare Mountain summit which was a really nice summit.

View from top of Black Rock trail

Bare Mountain summit

Got back to the car, restocked on supplies and headed out to the east side of the park. We decided to cut it a bit short as I didn't wanted to be wrecked going into Pinelands next week. Cut off the last section to cut 2.5 miles and 500 ft of climbing out. One more climb up Norwottuck, the biggest peak in the park. I've had good climbs here in the past but felt super flat/heavy on this and definitely struggled but ran pretty much the whole way. The trail back was really nice on the Robert Frost trail and very runnable- got top 10 on that segments (most segments here were quite competitive). Went the wrong way with a quarter mile to go and bonked again. Had a gel then back to the car. Not loving the honey stinger gels, but their waffle and chews are great. Good run, great park. Good step forward and felt a bit better overall than Blue Hills. 3,570' gain for this.