Lake Waban Running Route

My awesomesauce friend Lauren just wrote a great post about "The Power of Place" and how your environment affects your overall health.  Do you live by the ocean? Do you live by an amazing running path?  Trails? A place that is totally walker/running friendly?  My guess is that most of us aren't so lucky to have all of that right outside our doorstep.  But I bet most of you are lucky enough to have a place that makes you incredibly happy not too far away.  I know I am.

Laurens post was perfect timing considering I've been struggling running lately.  Not that I have any less love for running but I'm not training for anything* and I haven't been motivated. The heat and humidity haven't helped. So I decided Wednesday would be my track day and I would go to Wellesley College, a track I absolutely adore. I drove into work yesterday and planned to do a fabulous track workout after work. 

The Workout was: 

Repeat the following 3 to 6  times:

400M at 5K pace (with 400 recovery)

300M at 1 mile pace (with 300 recovery)

200M at a little faster than 1 mile pace (with 200 recovery)

100M almost ‘all out’ (with 100 recovery)

(extra 400m recovery lap: optional)

(I WILL DO THIS WORKOUT SOON! I HOPE!)

Unfortunately, I was a little unmotivated to run around the track in 96 degree temperatures at 7pm.  Yes you read that right. NINETY-SIX DEGREES. So I decided to the next best thing: run around Lake Waban.

It's been awhile since I've run Lake Waban so I actually forgot how long one loop is.  I thought it was around 1.5 miles so I figured I would jog and take pictures THEN see if I felt ready to do a track workout. Well my friends, Lake Waban is three miles and three miles is about the extent of my runs these days so no track workout for me!  But please check out how gorgeous Lake Waban is.

I'd like to call this my ode to Wellesley.  Dear Wellesley, MA why are you so beautiful and why can't you be cheap enough for me to live here?! Oh and how do you people take pictures while running?  I found it virtually impossible which is I why I stopped for most of these pictures!

I love the mix of this route. Trails, covered bridges, grass, paths... you name it.  And the views are pretty incredible.

 Around mile 2, I stopped and saw a few swans.  I mean, c'mon, how often do you see beautiful swans on your running route?!  Gorgeous!

 The scenery around Lake Waban is perfect.  I've really missed running here.  When I was marathon training we used to work this route into our 15+ long runs and would always hit it around mile 12 so I don't think I've enjoyed it as much as I did last night. I went slow on the run, I took breaks to take pictures and I enjoyed the ride. Sometimes that's what running is all about.

I ended my run sprinting 100 meters on the track and doing loops around the parking lot until I hit 3 miles.  3 miles in 30 minutes with lots of picture stops.  It was a fun run that made me love running again.  Something I needed.

*So as I alluded to in this post, I will NOT be running a fall marathon.  Truth is, I just don't have it in me. You can't run a marathon if you're heart isn't into and I don't want to put myself through the training half-assing it.  I ran Boston with little-to-no training and well, it was REALLY hard.  I don't want to run another marathon until I really have the time and dedication to run a PR.  If I run another marathon now with my busy work schedule and weekend commitments, I know it will be another mid 4:20s marathon and I know in my hearts of hearts, I should be MUCH faster.  So my friends, as Becky put it, "Running makes me a runner.  Marathons do not. "

I promise you I will run another marathon and I will run a time that I'll be proud of, but it may be a few years.  So yes I still love running but no, I will not be running another marathon anytime soon. Marathons are not something you can do on a whim.  They are not something I can do "for fun."  They take dedication, determination, and desire.  The three D's I do not have in me right now. For now I will concentrate on shorter distances and focus on finding my running love.  I will find routes that make me happy, not just routes that get the distances in.


Questions for you:
If you live in Massachusetts: What is your favorite running route?  (I may be traveling all over for better running routes!) 
And how do you know when to push yourself or when to take some time off from distance running?