Are the Trails clear yet?

Spring is here.

I say this because i've begun training for - and participating in - Spring races. Therefore it must be Spring. By definition.

After a somewhat disastrous Fall campaign on the roads, I have decided to change things up a bit and focus more on off-road running this year. Consequently, i've signed up for a Trail Circuit. It's a fledgling trail series modeled after MDRA's Grand Prix race series. The climax of the circuit (for me) will be the Moose Mountain marathon on September 6th. I'm looking forward to it. So much so, that I had already purchased my trail trainers while the snow was still clinging to trails. As you can tell, they've yet to see any action.

In the meantime, i've stuck to the roads. I can tell i'm roughly where I was last year at this time after the Ron Daws 25K. I ran essentially the same tempo for the course as last year. I can only say this after running this race two years in a row, of course, because it's such a tough course. In fact, it got me thinking about how we as runners measure our progress. PRs give a decent objective yardstick, but PRs really are only meaningful on the track (and even then, conditions can have a ranging effect on performance.)

So, what's a good objective measure? PRs on a given course? Average times over a series of races? Race standings? All of these are decent but require too much explaining. Cycling has a catchall term for an athletes record: the rider's Palmares. Palmares encompasses your entire race performances; your wins, places, standings, stage wins, speed for a given stage or time trial, overall speed for a stage race, etc. Citizen runners should adopt this. As in, 'well, I didn't PR, but it was a tough course and I added a top ten finish to my Palmares.' This allows a runner to measure success in any number of ways!

This assumes, of course, that anyone cares. Anyone besides the runner in question.

In another week, i'll have no choice but to get out on the trails - snow or no snow - as the Trail Mix 25K kicks off the series. Judging from course photos i've seen on other blogs, the ski trails are still quite packed with a thin layer of ice the consistency of concrete. Reminds me of the City of Lakes Loppet!

The Monday following, I intend to hole up at work and follow the Boston Marathon race ticker, keeping tabs on my mates running Heartbreak Hill. Hopefully, we'll see a PR or two - or three - from the three Amigos (AKA, the True Finns).

Or, maybe just add to their Palmares.