Run Your Age - Year 41 Edition

"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." Winston Churchill

On August 11th, I ran my age for the 7th consecutive year on my birthday.  The fact that it gets just a little bit harder each year makes this a fun project to keep up with.  

The last few years I have used this as a fundraiser as well.  Seeing the donations come in throughout the day and wanting to complete what I had committed too really gives me the motivation to push through when it gets tough.  

A recap of previous years is below.

Year 1, 2015, 35 miles: Bridgton - Windham ME (just 2 weeks after Nat was born) - Strava
Year 2, 2016, 36 miles: Wapack Trail and Walden - Strava 1, 2
Year 3, 2017, 37 miles: Belmont to Gloucester - Strava (Raised $211)
Year 4, 2018, 38 miles: Belmont to Hingham - Strava  (Raised $459)
Year 5, 2019, 39 miles: Woodstock to Plymouth - Strava 1, 2
Year 6, 2020, 40 miles: Belmont to Wachusett - Strava (Raised $704)

2021

This year I decided that I would keep it simple.  With forecasts into the 90's, my goal was to get majority of the miles done early and then stay near home to get water / cool off for the remaining.  

I started at 4:30am in Belmont with Keith, Karalyn, and Becca.  We knocked out the first 16 miles by heading down to the Charles River and out to the Museum of Science and back.  It was already 74 degrees with the humidity level around 94%.  Within minutes we were all drenched.  

One of the things that makes these runs so much fun is getting others to participate.  4:30am isn't even in most people's vocabulary, but a year or two of hanging out with me, it almost sounds normal.  

When Karalyn starting running with us a couple of years ago, I gave her a warning that if she continued, she would end up on some of these runs.  I don't think she believed me at the time, but here we are.  Later in the day Becca would post her run on Strava with the title, "The shit we do for Scot!"

We started off around 8:30 pace and once we got to the river picked it up a bit.  We took a quick break for a snack and to get our pic with the T-Rex at the Museum as we crossed the river.  Donal joined us somewhere around Western Ave and kept us company for miles 11-16.  All and all the first leg went pretty well.  Sweated quite a bit, but no other issues.  

We arrived back at my house a few minutes before 7 and the first crew headed home to go about their day.  After a Powerade and a change of clothes, Doug and I headed over to Bentley to do the Western Greenway Loop (Roads out, trails back).  It was getting quite hot and the shade of the trails couldn't come fast enough.  

Anyone that knows me knows that the Western Greenway is my favorite trail.  It was nice to incorporate it into this years run. 

Doug and I stopped for a 2 minute break at the bench, but had to get moving quickly as the mosquitoes were out in full force.  

Leg 2, 27 miles total, completed just before 9AM.  I had a few work meetings that I couldn't get out of, so after a quick shower, I worked from 9 to 12.  During this time, Amy, my hero, brought me a veggie omelette and egg avocado sandwich from My Other Kitchen.  I didn't realize how hungry I was until she put the food down.  

Feeling mostly revived when I finished work at 12, Mat and I headed out for leg 3.  Without a specific plan or distance in mind, we headed towards Arlington Center, then took the bike path to Alewife and finished with a lap of Fresh Pond.  I felt great for the first 3 miles, even knocking out a sub 8 at mile 29 before the heat caught back up with me again.  The last two of those miles were a bit of death march (for both of us).  35 miles down, 6 to go. 

The final 6 miles were broken into two 3 mile chunks.  Both before and after each I consumed 2-3 pints of ice water.  While it was pretty hot, I was able to slog along to get through without too much discomfort.  

I finished shortly before 3pm.

-- 5:58:41 Moving Time -- 8:45 / mile -- Strava

A couple hours later, Keith came back by with his daughters and we celebrated with a beer on the porch.  In the end I raised another $1399 for NF Northeast and for that I am forever grateful. 

- Scot