Lynn Woods Ice Run

I had today off so I decided to head over to Lynn Woods Reservation to get in a longish run. The wind was blowing about 20 mph with even stronger gusts so I didn't think running in Breakheart would be a good idea. Many of the trails I run there are exposed on high bluffs and I didn't feel like getting hammered from the wind. I planned to run a simple double out and back along a 3 mile stretch of dirt fire road that runs from the Pennybrook Road entrance to the Great Woods Road gate. Unfortunately there wasn't any dirt road. It was still covered in a thick layer of lumpy, uneven ice, with a thin layer of freshly fallen snow on top. Not a problem, I came prepared with my screw shoes.

Despite the ice and snow the running was relatively good. The tall pines lining the road on both sides helped shelter me from the strong wind. After starting out slow for the 1st 2 miles I ran very even splits the rest of the way. I started to fatigue slightly at 10 miles but I expected that. I've only run over 10 miles twice in the past 8 weeks. I pushed the last mile and finished with 12.6 miles in 2:08 for a 10:14 average pace. Yeah, I'm not going to set any records but considering the road conditions it's not so bad.

When I'm running in the woods I never think about getting clocked by a falling branch or anything like that but when I came across this widow-maker it made consider the possibilities!





















This pine snapped about 30 feet above the ground. The top half landed on the side of the road.





This tree was massive but the pictures don't show it's true size.





















This would have caused a serious headache.








A brief clip taken by a swift running brook.




Now that snowshoe season is over for me I hope we get some melting this week. I am planning a 16 mile run in the Middlesex Fells this upcoming weekend and running without ice would be a treat.

Have a good week.....