Around moaning lakes with turkey vultures lurking

We've decided that it's getting a little strange out in the wilds of Maine backwoods. First up we compared shoes with Andrew quickly snapping pictures of everyone's feet. Last week it was 'butts', this week feet, next week who knows?

The long run started off normally enough but then just a mile in we scared up a couple of huge birds identified as turkey vultures. They have a 6 foot wingspan and are not very pretty close up. We couldn't decide if it was a bad omen and they were waiting for us to die on the side of the road or not. The conversation quickly turned to which one of us had the best meat for picking and went downhill from there! For awhile the pace seemed to pick up and I thought they (Steph and Andrew) were trying to leave me behind for the birds, but after several comments/complaints like 'Man, I'm tired, my legs feel like lead, there must something wrong with the new shoes, that hill wasn't there before...' I was able to slow them down a bit. Turned out we were going a little faster than comfortable for everyone but none (except me) wanted to give in 1st.

Once the pace was settled it was a much more comfortable run, or perhaps we just got warmed up after a few miles. The conversation centered on training plans, bonking, running long without fueling, running long with progressive pace increase as layed out in Lydiard Mike's recent post. There are some really good articles that he refers to on these topics that I would call required reading for those runners that want to push their limits. A note on fueling today - 40 oz of gatorade and one gel for me during the run.

There were some beautiful ocean views on this clear sunny day with light winds and cool temps (only -9C or 18F at start). One spot where the river from Boyden Lake empties into the bay was gorgeous with shining ice covering the banks of the river where the tide comes in and a family of 'black' ducks resting quietly in a spot of open water. Wish we had a camera!

Movin on the conversation continued with the focus of the next 4 weeks that Steph and I have until Boston. Only one more long run next week of 20 or so miles and then taper city! We're all considering a 1/2 marathon near Saint John on April 2 which we can either race or treat as a marathon pace run. It's called The Last Long Run Before Boston (LLRBB), this will be it's 2nd running and it's just a low key, low cost local race on a hilly backroad area starting near the Fundy Trail in St. Martins, NB.

Over the last few miles of the run as we went along the shore of the lake we noticed a strange noise in the quiet of the morning. At first is sounded like a far off plane but was more of a groaning, moaning even whale song type noise. Stopping to listen we figured out it was the lake ice moving and starting to melt with the high strong sunshine. Very unusual and quite loud with no traffic or other noise to interfere.

Finished up the 17 mile loop shortly thereafter and then added a quick 1.5 mile out and back with Andrew to make 20. We started out with me saying that I didn't really want to do the final miles at MP like my plan said but before we knew it....we were trucking along not able to talk any further! What would I do without training partners like this? Finished the run gasping and bent over in the standard runner pose with hands holding onto knees so not to fall face first on the pavement. Thanks Andrew, I really mean it too ;-)

Total for the week, 68 miles in 9hr 20 min, YTD 794 miles, 28 days and counting...