Star light, run bright

Saturday night, I went to the Rocky Neck art colony in Gloucester, MA with Laura and our Westie Daisy. A solitary runner did a hill climb in reflective vest and sneakers. I could see why this peninsula holds an attraction for night runners.
First, the hilly ground will test your legs. That seems true of the area in general, based on reports I heard about the Lone Gull 10K at nearby Good Harbor Beach. Second, the colony offers an inspiring view of the evening sky. Laura and I picked out the constellations of Cassiopeia and the Big Dipper, not to mention a crescent moon, as we passed art galleries, restaurants and houses (one of which boasted a baby grand on the second floor!).
It's a good idea to make yourself visible here at night. Cars whiz by at speeds considerably faster than the posted 15 miles per hour. Still, there is a good amount of foot traffic, both two-legged and four-legged. Daisy met a sheepdog named Niles -- "like the beach?" Laura alertly asked -- and they exchanged sniffs.

All together now...

One way to get yourself out the door for a run is to join a group run.
Group runs offer a chance to meet new people, get in a 3-5 mile training run and enjoy some socialization afterward.
In the Greater Boston area of Massachusetts, for example, I found groups that run each week: the Somerville Road Runners' Bur-run (Mondays) out of The Burren in Davis Square; the Runfellow apparel company's run club on Tuesdays; and the Marathon Sports run club on Wednesdays in Boston, Brookline and Wellesley.
Running on local roads with a group can acclimate you to the terrain in your neighborhood -- where the flats are, and where the hills are. You'll also learn about safety precautions; the groups I looked at all stress wearing reflective clothing at night, a good idea on congested streets and sidewalks.

A chip off the old block

Part of the Stone Tower Spahtens' obstacle-race group workout in the Lynn Woods Reservation on Sunday mornings involves chopping wood.
So, early yesterday, I chopped away at a log -- kindly provided by organizer Nakri Dao of Lynn -- as splinters showered in the late-fall chill. I never managed to split the log, or even make it halfway through. But it felt good to raise and lower the yellow-handled axe. Every now and then the blade would get stuck and I had to pry it loose.
Chopping wood, they say, is good for your upper body. You get to lift and lower the weight of the axe, and you descend into a squat position for the actual chop. I believe it is also good to be out in nature, and to engage in work that might also benefit the environment, chopping wood that needs to be chopped. Fellow Spahten Joe Armstrong of Lynn once told me of a log so big it required six or seven people to clear it from the trail and roll it up Burrill Hill to the Stone Tower.
Wood chopping figures big in life and literature, too. Leave it to Robert Frost to actually know, in "Two Tramps in Mud Time," what kind of wood he was toiling away at -- "Good blocks of oak it was I split, As large around as the chopping block." And last Monday, when I went to the Topsfield Fair with Laura and her mother, the groups performing at the Grandstand included the Axe Women Loggers of Maine. (We caught the end of the show.)
The Spahtens do many kinds of workouts at Stone Tower -- 450-pound tire flips, rope climbs and spear throws. But because of its connections to the earth, chopping wood just might be my favorite.

Sunset, Sunrise

Almost four years as a running columnist for The Daily Item of Lynn, MA have come to an end. Here are some closing thoughts, on everything from the Boston Marathon to the Lynn Woods Summer Cross Country Races to, ahem, cartoons about mountain goats.