(Sunday Paper, Year VII, Issue 12)

I’ve mentioned this before during the first round of marathon training:

It’s funny how your perspective on mileage changes as you go through the long runs.

Running that half marathon in February was actually a drop in mileage from where I was at in training - 13.1 fell in between long run weeks of 15 and 16 miles.

And we’re at a point now where 10 miles feels like we’re just warming things up.

But (obviously) it is significant mileage.

And in the grand scheme of the marathon, 10 miles feels like a big deal because it’s when you finally hit double digits.

And in the Boston Marathon that happens in Natick.

I like Natick.

I don’t know if that’s an unpopular thing for a Framingham resident to say. (I guess we’re supposed to be rivals. I don’t know. I’m still new here.) But I don’t care. Don’t drag me into your state/city/town insecurities.

We spend a lot of time in Natick - besides Framingham, it’s certainly the leader among the other cities and towns through which the Boston Marathon runs.

There’s the Natick Mall, of course.

A few years back Kathy and I discovered they have a great farmer’s market on the town common in the spring and summer…even into the fall now that I think about it.

I’ve always heard we had family who lived in Natick - grandparent’s cousins - so for a while I would ask anyone I met who had roots in Natick if they knew any Suciches. Occasionally I’d get a yes. I haven’t done that in a while.

Kathy and I looked at a house or two in Natick before we found our house in Framingham.

Regardless, I’ve certainly seen a lot more of Natick since I’ve been going through marathon training.

Because it’s right next door, it appears in the majority of my runs.

(And shockingly I don’t have a lot of pictures of Natick. I went through my phone to find one of the common and I always imagined stopping to take one…but I guess I haven’t. Way back I think I wrote about the farmer’s market and I must have a picture with that post - I’ll let you find it if you want. We’ll settle for the selfie I took with a sign that says ‘Natick’ in the town center, and that pic at the top of me in the October marathon that I like a lot.)

The Natick stretch starts at around Mile 8.75 and continues until you hit Wellesley, which I told you about last week. The terrain is nothing special - there’s a hill right at the start and it’s relatively flat. The people come out though - the lawns in front of the houses that are quiet through training are filled with people watching the runners on race day.

I write these posts thinking about people who might run the Boston Marathon - I know I enjoyed reading a little bit about what people had to say about their experiences and about the course before I ran it for the first time.

Even if you’re not reading it today, March 20, 2022, as I prepare to run the 126th Boston Marathon…it’ll be here to be searched up and read another time.

And the bottom line is this: first of all, if you’re someone looking for a nice place to watch the marathon, Natick is a lovely spot.

And if you’re running through Natick - it’s a good place to cruise along and coliect your thoughts as you hit Mile 10 and face 16.2 to go.

What I’ve Been Enjoying

“Nick Of Time” - Bonnie Raitt
“The Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 1” - Traveling Wilburys
“The Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 3” - Traveling Wilburys
Spencer
Turning Red

Notes

*I linked to last week’s post about Wellesley above. There’s also the stretch near my old apartment at about mile 24.5, the start line, and the part of the course at the end of the hills. Just a couple more weeks of these.

*Running Update: Listen, I’m the first to tell you when I have a great run. So I guess I need to make sure I tell you when it’s a bad run. Saturday was a bad run. Hoo boy I did not feel good about it. It was a 21-miler from Hopkinton to Boston College, and it was a struggle. I finished…but.I would not have been able to do 26.2 on Saturday, that’s for sure. Which is fine. Better Saturday than a month from now. But it was a blow to my marathon confidence, at the very least.

*A reminder that I’m running for Team Framingham and raising money for the Wonderfund of Massachusetts, and you can help me reach my fundraising goal by donating at this link. Thank you to everyone who has.

*A reminder, too, that you can follow my new-ish running Instagram account @johnnyrunsalot…and of course you can follow me on Twitter and Like my Facebook page.

*I used to make myself crazy this time of year with the NCAA Tournament. I’ve been enjoying watching the games this year - both on the men’s and the women’s side - but I have not done any crazy bracket stuff. I feel bad that I let the pandemic take my bracket fanaticism away from me…but this is much more laid back, that’s for sure.

*I put away the winter jacket this week. We’ll see if I come to regret that. I mean…there was snow in May last year. Or the year before. But you get the picture.