The Hinckley Nine (Times Two)

It had been a while since I'd run the old nine-mile Heavenly Hinckley Hills course. It had been a long while since I'd done it twice. There had been some talk about a 7:30 loop to follow our standard 6:00 AM one, but those talks fell through. Not wanting to run so late alone for a second loop, I show up early to get it done and out of the way before the 6AM'ers even appear. Early means 4:15 AM or so.

Naturally, that first mile up Bellus Road hill is pretty darn slow. But I somehow find a slow but steady pace after that, and I somehow manage to complete the circuit before anyone else arrives. It's mighty warm and humid, just as it's been since the early morning gloom. Will I be able to stay with these fast folk for miles 10-18?

Surprisingly, I can and I do. My second loop gets done much faster than my first. Not bad. But now I gotta keep doing these doubles.

Alone Again, Naturally

Friday morning: It's time to run long on Lester, once again. Things go quite swimmingly, until they don't. You see, they left me all alone. I could be singing the song, Alone Again, Naturally, because I sure felt alone and lonely. You would think I would slow down as I often do when I'm left alone to my own devices. But I had taken a gel and I felt like I was still moving fairly well. Unfortunately, my Garmin begs to differ. I am indeed slowing down. But after having company for those first 14, I can handle 4 more. I can, and I do.

But it wasn't pretty. I averaged 10:29 for those 18 miles, about par for the course for me. But had I maintained that faster pace I did with my friends, my overall average would have been much better.

Sunday morning: 18 miles twice in three days? I did it this way before two weeks ago. And now I'm at it again. This time it's at Hinckley. Many are aware of the vertical challenge the Hinckley 9-mile loop presents. Today, I'm doing it twice, just like I did three weeks ago. And just like then, I've got company. Company for the entire run. Said companionship helps tremendously today.

I actually manage to run the second loop faster than the first. Last time, they were nearly the same. Finishing strong down those last hills really feels good. I'm not even very sore.

Here's to hoping that I can keep improving from here.

Tooting my own horn again

This marks two consecutive Sunday Hinckley runs, although today it was only one 9-mile loop, compared with last week's two. But today's run follows the long one I did yesterday, so I was happy to be able to run at all. Not only that, but I was able to finish strong. Even though the final two and a half miles are downhill, it still feels great to be able to do it.

The Hinckley nine is run clockwise. Blue is slow; red is fast. The hills help (and hurt).

While I'm tooting this horn of mine, permit me to go on a little further. Someone mentioned in passing that I must have good age-graded running results. I had seen my age-graded percentage in the past, but haven't considered it recently. Until today, that is. It appears that the Akron Marathon calculates this data and includes it in its results.

I'm only near the bottom of their top 50, with an age-graded percentage of 68.5%. Using this factor, my 3:59 marathon equates to 2:59. That's just one minute off my 2:58 marathon personal best. Also, I think my age-graded percentage has been in this same range even in the distant past. So, all in all, not too shabby.

Akron Marathon age-graded results

Okay, enough tooting. I'll go back to my usual humble self now.

The Second Loop

About a month ago, Dan ran the Hinckley 9-mile loop (the one with the hills from hell) for the first time in over a year.  John Hnat, had joined him then, and later suggested a two-loop attempt. That's crazy-talk, thought Dan, but he nevertheless went along with the suggestion for today's run. That's one thing you can indeed say about Dan: he abides.

The first loop had been run mostly with Theresa Wright. They'd fought the wind and rain/sleet/show mixture to crawl back to the Spillway. Now, along with fellow two-loopers John and Julie Boggs, as well as fresh, new folks Harold Dravenstott and Bob Pokorny, it's time to do it again. Dan had barely completed that first hilly loop; how the hell can he do it again? 

The intrepid group ponders their way up Bellus once more. They're all breathing hard and heavy. This shit is getting real. Despite the pain and fatigue, Dan doesn't fail to notice the splendid fall foliage that's apparent in the morning light now that the sun has risen.

After Bellus comes the downs and up (big up) of Parker Road, followed by the rollers of Ledge Road, and then, after five miles of torture... ((drum-roll))... Effie. Dan can only manage to run up as far as the MIA flag, and then he has to walk. But he continues to notice the beautiful autumn leaves as he slowly makes his way up.

At the top, he feels surprisingly good. He begins to run again, and he even enjoys it a little. Just a little. Soon though, he's running as fast as he has for the entire day. There are three and a half miles to go, but it's mostly downhill from here on. He catches up with John, and they talk and talk enough to complete the journey without further pain or mishap.

That second loop wound up being much faster than the first. Daylight helps. So does abiding.

11 of 9

I ran eleven miles out of the Hinckley nine-mile loop today. It appears that Ledge Road is closed for a while due to bridge construction, and the detour takes us farther south, to Remsen Road. While others have ventured those extra couple miles at times, the route was new to me.

My thought was that it couldn't be any more hilly than the original nine. Au contraire; my Garmin tells me the total elevation gain was 998 feet today, whereas I believe that it's around 750 for the usual course. And I felt every single one of those extra 248 feet. And we haven't lost Effie. Slow going, but at least I made it.

I made it back up to 80 miles this week. It wasn't easy, but now I'll try to do it again. And again.

Day 88: Another Hinckley Run

It wasn't easy to do after yesterday's long run, but I did manage to get out of bed and run the hilly nine-mile Hinckley run with friends today. That about did it for me. Except of course for the lake loop we walked afterward.

Day 66: Back in the Hinckley Saddle

What with travel and most notably, the Coronavirus, I have hardly been doing any of my used-to-be-weekly Hinckley 9-mile runs. In fact, I've only done a couple this entire year, and none since early March. But today, I was back.

I've written about the Hinckley Nine before. I've listed the instances (I've done lots more since this list was published), and I've written about doing multiple loops, sometimes as many as three.

I realized how much I missed it. I missed the hills. I missed running with my friends. Today, it was good - real good - to be back. I was joined by running friends Julie Boggs, Dennis Amstutz, and Theresa Wright. The morning was cool and pretty, the hills - especially Effie - were challenging, and I loved my run.

Now then. Next week starts the big push.

Day 46: Closing in

If my mileage for this first month and a half of GVRAT is around 580, that means I have about 55 to go before getting to the 635-mile finish. It should happen sometime this week. When it does, you'll hear it here first.

Today I did a slow four outside, then came in and onto the mill for some 1200 repeats over six miles. After that, and instead of the usual hike with the grandsons (and their grandma), we went to the track.

The thing is, those kids love to run. We will be walking the three-mile trail around Hinckley Lake, they will just break out in a run for no reason. Then they like to find a bench, sit down, and wait for us slow people. Note that even when I do try to run with them, I still wind up as one of those slow people.

So today we took them to the track where they could run with impunity. And Grandpa too.