I decided to work on Easthampton as my next City Strides project. I forgot to check where I started – about 2%? – but after one long run I’m at 5.78%, 22nd place (and that’s having lost at least 5 streets I’ll have to redo because Runkeeper crashed and I didn’t catch it right away). I’ll get up as early as I can on Sundays, ride Valley Bike over, and pick up bagels from Tandem on the way home! The electric bike will keep my legs fresher, I hope, and Sunday bagels are an Elwitt family tradition that it’s fun to pick up again. Tandem opens at 7am so at least for the first few months I hope to be done with my run by then and have lots of day left. Riding to Easthampton adds almost an hour to the whole expedition, but the motivation of exploring new streets is worth it. I considered tackling Hatfield next, because it has fewer streets, I’m already at 15%, and the leader is only at 74%, but it’s uphill to the nearest access point and I’d have to ride my regular bike. The Easthampton exploration is off to a great start – I enjoyed parts of the Williston Northampton campus, spotted Bigfoot, and got some great views of Mount Tom.
Bigfoot! 
Early morning clouds on Mount Tom
A copy of Jeff Galloway’s Marathon! jumped out at me from a giveaway box and I’m making my way through it. I love his focus on enjoyment and his recommendations for runners as they age, so I’m trying out his “walk for a minute periodically” technique on long runs – experimenting with a walk break every half mile, which is about every 6 or 7 minutes.
| Date (temp/humidity) | Distance | Avg pace/fastest split | Time | HR (avg/highest) | Notes |
| Tue 6/22 (71°F/74%) | 3.31 | 12:10/11:42 | 40:17 | 139/164 | |
| Wed 6/23 (62°F/63%) | 3 | 11:44/11:20 | ~ 35 | 147/176 | forgot to stop the timer |
| Thu 6/24 (54°F/81%) | 2.86 | 12:25/11:30 | 35:28 | 129/162 | Intervals |
| Sun 6/27 (72°F/92%) | ~ 6.75 | 14:19/13:05 | ~1:30:00 | 126/153 | Runkeeper crashed |
| Totals | ~16 miles | ~3.3 hours | Weight avg 116.1, resting heart 57 |
