Sunday Run

Last week – A good sized crew wound their way through Swains Pond and over to Citizens Bank where Nicole serving snacks and beverages. Everyone continued through the hills of the Fellsway East, with half trainers heading back Wyoming to Brueggers. Some half trainers decided to put in a few extra miles, probably for a chance to visit Andy at water stop 2, before heading back to Melrose Center. A small group continued on to Farm Street, cutting across Nahant to meet up with Me for a beverage as we looped back to Melrose along Main Street. Thanks to the water stop crew!

SATURDAY This week – We’ll wrap the whole thing up Saturday at 7:30. The weather looks beautiful as we’ll head out to the Fellsway East, if you’re running long you’ll loop Spot Pond, and then run back. We’ll do this a little differently, for those looping Spot Pond this is the only week of the season the route loops the pond counter-clockwise.

Half route: http://www.melroserunningclub.com/sundayrun/longruns/week14-half.pdf

Full Route: http://www.melroserunningclub.com/sundayrun/longruns/week14-full.pdf

Start – We’ll head up Main Street towards Ell Pond. As you pass the pond look for the monument to Clarence DeMar. Clarence lived in Melrose for some time before moving to Keene, New Hampshire. He ran the same paths we run but 100 years earlier. Clarence DeMar is the man that has the most Boston Marathon wins to his name, winning 7 times over a 30 year span. The monument to him also mentions another Melrose resident that won the Boston Marathon multiple times, Bill Rodgers. As you finish up your training know we’ve been running the training routes of champions. Keep that in your head as you turn left on Melrose Street and left again onto the Lynn Fells Parkway heading towards our hills. Run past Grimsby’s, through the Fellsway East hills, and turn right on Highland Ave, making your way to the water stop.

Half Finish – The half runners will go through the Highland Ave rotary onto Woodland Rd, up to the right on to Pond Street. Run down to Grimsby’s and continue straight on to West Wyoming to finish up with a left on Main and a trip to Brueggers.

Full 2 – The full distance runners will also continue straight through the rotary onto Woodland Rd. Continue straight at Pond St, past the Stone Zoo, and veer left into the Straw Point parking lot. You should find Jose there for a little water before continuing left onto the Fellsway West, over I-93, past the Sheepfold, under I-93, and down to Elm Street. Elm will take you up, up, and up back to the Highland Ave rotary. Turn right on Highland for the next water stop.

Full Finish – From Highland, turn left on East Border, left at the lights on to the Fellsway East, and up to Grimsby’s. Turn right on West Wyoming and a left on Main to finish up at Brueggers.

Water Stops – Regina and Jose will be running the show this week! If you aren’t running but want to be part of the fun, show up to Bruegger’s at 7:30 and give Regina and Jose a hand.

Roll Call – Who’s in?!

Last Week – Last week was our longest run of the training season for our Baystate runners, wile many others ran varied distances to prepare for races that are farther into the future.  It was a great morning with support from A Lot of volunteers to get it done.  Thank you, Thuy, Maria, Jose, Rowena, Andy, and Tom.  And thank you to all the runners who have helped bring SLR back to life after a long break!! …time to taper!

This Week – Unless Manchester, NYC or Philly are in your future, it’s Race Month. October brings marathons and halfs everywhere and each week we’ll have people heading somewhere. The New Hampshire Marathon and Maine Marathon are this weekend, and Boston is just a week away! Good luck if you’re running any of those or any other races this month. For the rest of us, keep up the training and taper if its time! As this training focuses on Baystate, we’ll be winding down the miles. Over the next week or two we give our bodies a little recovery time as we head into our October races. I call this period “Don’t Do Anything Stupid” time. Your training is done and your legs got you this far. Human nature will be that you’re nervous that you didn’t do enough, you’ll think about that one long run that didn’t go right or you cut a few miles off and you’ll feel the need to cram in one last hard training run. Don’t do that! Recover instead. Your taper runs should be at the same intensity as your training runs, but the miles will be less and the toll they take on your body should be minimal. With that in mind we’ll all head through Swains Pond and the long runners will continue out to Farm Street.

Route maps on Strava:
Full 14.8M
Half 7.0M

Start – We’ll cross Main Street and head up East Foster to the Melrose Common where we’ll turn right at the Common onto 6th Street. This will turn into Swains Pond Ave and bring you up into a wooded section of Melrose. When you reach Swains Pond and Turners Pond there will be a stop sign, turn right here to stay on Swain’s Pond Ave. This will eventually bring you to Lebanon Street where you’ll take a sharp right. Lebanon will bring you to a set of lights where you’ll turn left on Forest Street which will lead you across to Main Street in Malden. Citizens Bank will be across Main Street with a water stop.

Section 2 – Leave the Citizens Bank parking lot onto Winter Street. Follow this past the Oak Grove T station to a five way intersection. Cross straight through the intersection on to Glenwood Street. Wind your way up to Highland Ave where you turn right with a very quick right onto the Fellsway East. Make your way through the hills down to Grimsby’s. If you’re running the half route you can turn right at Grimsby’s and head back to Brueggers for 7 miles along West Wyoming and left on Main Street. If you want a little longer of a run continue with the full route runners on to the LynnFells Parkway and keep going to you get to the knoll across from Melrose High School for a water stop. Half runners can then head up to a right on Melrose Street and a right on Main Street for an 8 mile run.

Full 3 – From the knoll, continue on the LynnFells Parkway until you reach the intersection with Main Street in Saugus. Turn left and follow Main Street, which will become Farm Street in Wakefield, and turn left onto Nahant Street. This will bring you across to Main Street in Wakefield where a water stop will be waiting for you at Nick’s Pizza… or maybe Dunkin Donuts.

Full Finish – Its taper time so we’re already heading back to the finish. Head south on Main Street from Wakefield to Melrose and finish up at Brueggers. That’s it, you’re done already.

Water Stops – There are three stops this week, Citizens Bank in Malden, The knoll across from Melrose High, and Nick’s pizza.  Looking for at least two volunteers so please let me know if you want to help.

Roll Call – Who’s in?

Last Week – The group wandered around Melrose, through Swains Pond, over by Oak Grove, along the Fells and for the few long runners out and around Breakheart.

This Week – Behind Brueggers at 7:30AM We bring the training to a crescendo for marathon runners with the “22 mile run” which is really 21.7 miles in the fall. Half marathon runners should look at their plans for their race. If it’s still a few weeks out, I would suggest you aim for a max distance 2 weeks before your half. If you haven’t run one before or have only a couple under your belts, look to do ~12 miles two to three weeks before. If you’re a more experienced half marathon I recommend running ~15 miles two weeks prior to the race. Those extra miles will make the 13.1 feel much more manageable.

Week 12

Half Route: 12 Miles

Full Route 21.7 miles

Start – We’ll start out from Brueggers at 7:30AM, heading north past Ell Pond. Turn left at Melrose Street and a quick left onto the LynnFells Parkway. Run past Melrose High School, straight along the LynnFells Parkway past Grimsby’s onto the Fellsway East. Run through the hills and down to the traffic circle at Highland Ave where you turn right. Follow Highland Ave until you get to the water stop on your left before the rotary at the end of Highland.

Section 2 – All runners will turn left at the rotary onto Elm Street and follow that to the end, turning right on to the Fellsway West. Run under I93, past the Sheepfold, and over I93. Half runners will turn right at the Straw Point Parking lot and find a water stop there before continuing this section on to Pond Street, past the Stone Zoo, straight onto Woodland Rd along Spot Pond before hitting the Highland Ave rotary again. You’ll finish this section off back at the water stop. Longer route: runners will not turn into the Straw Point parking lot, instead they’ll continue to the intersection where Friendly’s is, turning left at the lights onto North Border Road and following that straight past the on-ramp to I-93 onto Park Street. At the next set of lights turn left onto Marble Street and cross over I-93 where the street name turns to Forest Street as you enter Winchester. There will be a water stop on your left at Eugene Dr.

Half Finish – The half route runners will continue on Highland Ave, turning left onto East Border Road. Climb this little street to a set of lights, turning left back on to the Fellsway East. A few more hills will take you to back to Grimsby’s where you turn right onto West Wyoming, and then left on Main to finish up at Brueggers with 12.6 miles. Yeah, I know the sidebar said 11 something… I lied 🙂

Full 3 – The full route runners will run the same route through Winchester and Medford that they did for the 20 miler. This section will be down Forest Street with a left onto Highland, passing Winchester Hospital and continuing on Highland to the end. There will be a water stop at the end there.

Full 4- Take a left on Main Street and continue into Medford, crossing over to the right side of the road. Turn right on Playstead, follow that to the end at High Street. A Right on High brings you across the railroad tracks, past a Dunkin Donuts As you continue on High Street, there will be a slight fork where you want to stay left to stay on High Street. This will take you to a little rotary at the Mystic River where you turn right onto the Mystic Valley Parkway. Follow that past the Mystic Lakes to what seems to be the end of the road and turn right onto Bacon Street. Cross to the left side and turn left back onto the Mystic Valley Parkway. This will bring you to another water stop on your right by the Middle School in Winchester.

Full 5 – Continue on the Mystic Valley Parkway and turn left onto Washington Street. Cross Mt Vernon Street and bear right to stay on Washington. Follow straight on Washington until you get to the Gingerbread Construction Company where you turn right and run up, up, and up Forest Street to Eugene for another water stop.

Full Finish – To finish up the run you’ll cross over I-93 to Marble, turning right at the lights at Park Street. Follow this back to Friendly’s and cross Main straight towards the Stone Zoo. After the zoo turn left on Pond Street and left again at Grimsby’s. Follow the LynnFells Parkway past Melrose High School to Melrose Street, where you turn right. A quick right onto Main will bring you back to Brueggers and the start of tapering!

Water Stops – It looks like we have Andy and Maria(Highland at Flynn Rink Rotary), Nicole (Straw Point), Thuy (Eugene), Tom (Highland in Winchester), Jose and Rowena (Winchester Middle School) waterstopping people up this week!

Roll Call! Who’s in?!

Last Week – The group ran up to Lake Quannapowitt where half loop runners caught a glimpse of the lake before heading home to Melrose and full route runners circled it before heading over to Breakheart. The water stop stood at Nick’s for the whole run, with lots of help and a tailgate party atmosphere, thanks everyone for a fun day!

This Week – We increase the mileage as we work up to the peak next week. We’ll head over to the peaceful Swain’s Pond area of Melrose before cutting over to the Fells and around to Breakheart again. Sort of the Emerald Necklace of Melrose.

The Route:

Full Map: Full Route Map

Half Map: Half Route Map

Start-1 Everyone crosses Main Street and turns immediately left on to East Foster. Run up to Melrose Common and take a right onto 6th Street. Continue straight as this becomes Swains Pond Avenue. Swains Pond will take you up to Turners Pond where you’ll turn right at a stop sign to continue on Swains Pond Ave. There will be a point where you meet Lebanon Street, sometimes people just follow left and end up in Malden, don’t do that, instead take a sharp right onto Lebanon, then a left at the traffic lights on to Forest Street. At the end of Forest Street you’ll hit Main Street where you’ll find Water Stop 1 in the parking lot of Citizens Bank.
Start-2 Everyone continues together onto Winter Street, past the Oak Grove MBTA stop to a 5-way intersection. Cross straight across to get on Glenwood Street. This will take you through some hilly roads over to Highland Ave where you’ll turn right and then immediately turn right onto the Fellsway East. Continue on to Grimsby’s where you’ll go straight on to the LynnFells Parkway. When you get to Melrose High School look for a water stop at the knoll on your right.
Half-Finish If you’re running the half route you’ll continue on with the full runners down the LynnFells Parkway until you get to the stop light at Main Street in Saugus. Turn left, and immediate left onto Howard. Take Howard back to a left on Green Street. Green Street will merge with Main Street which will take you back to Brueggers with 11 miles under your belt.
Full-3 If you’re running the full you’ll continue along the LynnFells Parkway until you hit the Saugus Breakheart entrance. Head up to the headquarters and look for a water stop.
Full-4 Run the flatter side of Breakheart by entering to the left, keeping right at the beach and popping out at the Vocational School. Run down to Wakefield High School and turn left on Farm Street. Farm will become Main Street in Saugus where you’ll take a right at the second set of traffic lights back on to the LynnFells Parkway. Continue back to Melrose High School where the last water stop will be waiting for you.
Full-Finish To finish the full you’ll take the LynnFells back to Grimsby’s, turn left on Wyoming and left on Main and finish at Brueggers with 18 miles to your credit.

Water Stops We will have three stops this week: Citizens Bank in Malden, East Knoll Field Parking lot across from Melrose High, and Breakheart parking lot.

Roll Call! Who’s in?

Last Week – We started on an empty Main Street in Melrose, ran off to Winchester for 20 miles or 10 miles, and returned to Melrose Center. The weather was great, which led to a lot of upbeat runners stopping by the water stops. Thanks again to all the volunteers helping to support our runners!

This Week – One Month Until Boston!! A recovery week for everyone, the mileage goes down 4 miles for the long runners, and down two for the half runners. We’ll be running up to Wakefield along Main Street. Full route runners will continue on to loop Lake Quannapowitt and then loop Breakheart. Half route runners will run up to the lake on Main Street before turning back along North Ave. I do suggest veteran half marathon runners consider adding on some miles to this run. Ramping up to 15 miles in the near future will make racing 13.1 feel just a little easier. The weather looks comfortable again, primed for another good training day. This week’s run will have multiple legs that all end at the Nick’s Pizza parking lot for water stops. Yes, you travel all around but the water stop stays in one spot. Also, as we finish the Victorian Fair will be in full swing so please be mindful of others as we return up Main Street in Melrose and use side roads where possible.

Here are the routes: Full  Half

If you get lost easily, here’s turn-by-turn directions:

Start – Heading north on Main Street, we’ll pass Ell Pond, continuing on into Wakefield, and hitting the Nick’s Pizza parking lot at the corner of Nahant for a water stop.

Half 2 – Both groups will head through Wakefield Center along Main Street, but half route runners will veer to the left onto Common Street and turning right on Church Street. Run to the set of lights at North Ave and turn left. North Ave will bring you back to Main Street at Jiffy Lube. Cross Main Street and get yourself another cup of water at the Nick’s Pizza water stop.

Half Finish – The half route runners will then return to Melrose along Main Street the way they came.

Full 2 – Full route runners will continue to follow Main Street after they pass through Wakefield Center, staying on Main Street to run along the east side of Lake Q. At the end of Main turn left on Lowell Street, then another left on to Quannapowitt Way to continue circling the lake. Head along the path on the north side of the lake over to North Ave where you’ll turn left. Follow North Ave all the way back to Main Street where you’ll cross over to the Nick’s Pizza water stop again.

Full 3 – Next run along Nahant Street over to Wakefield High School. Head up Hemlock Street to the Northeast Technical Vocational School, through their parking lot to the Wakefield entrance to Breakheart. Go counterclockwise around the outer loop, staying right through the hills (Love the hills, they’ll love you back), past the headquarters, along the flat side, staying right at the beach, and back out at the Voc. Run back down Hemlock, crossing over to Nahant and back to Nick’s Pizza.

Full Finish – From here, head back down Main Street to Brueggers to finish up!

Water Stops – There is one water stop today. I’ll man the water stop but if anyone wants to join me so I can get a few miles in too, I’d appreciate it.

Roll Call – Who’s in?