Talk about rattling some jewelry in the front row.

Write a little something about the Beatles and their influence on local street names and the email inbox veritably twists and shouts. No fewer than six kind readers weighed in on our local Beatles-loving street signs. A couple writers suggested I visit one more.

So, I did. On Sunday.

A nice little out-and-back run to The Long and Winding Road in Kennebunkport. It’s found off of Arundel Road, about a mile-and-a-half from Town House Corners. My 13-mile route included a stretch along River Road, a thoroughfare I avoid May through October because of the high volume of vehicles, the speed of said vehicles and its scrawny shoulders.

I figured middle of February would be OK and it was. Not much traffic on a Sunday morning and lots of waves from friendly motorists. I like that. Signals that we see each other. There was also a kindly “beep, beep” from somebody, but I didn’t catch who it was.

Maine Coast Marathon

Three weeks into my 15-week Eastern Shore Training plan for the Maine Coast Marathon and the tide is beginning to turn. It’s taken a solid six weeks to turn the page on that Jan. 5 indoor marathon and begin to feel some normal strength returning. Whatever normal is at age 59. The aches and pains last longer and differentiating between serious and niggling is sometimes difficult.

Ice is never far away. Outdoors and indoors.

Despite the weather challenges the past couple weeks – and Mother Nature has thrown everything in the gumbo pot lately – I’ve been able to stay on point with the map charted by coach Rob Gomez. And a map is exactly what it is.

When developing a personal plan, Gomez asks questions and takes into consideration numerous factors, such as past performances, recent injuries, work schedules, race schedules, chronic conditions (that’s a big one for me) and goals. And then he lays out a course of action.

Having a day-to-day goal is important to me for two reasons – motivation and reward. Push, pull. Yin, yang.

I know that following the workout schedule to the best of my ability, will result in a reward. It may not come in the form of a attaining a goal time for a particular race (chasing an age-group Boston qualifying mark may be a fool’s errand; we’ll see), but there’s so much more to this avocation than a singular goal. So, I just keep the metronome clicking.

For more information, visit www.easternshoretraining.com.

Twine Mill

A while back, I wrote about the tiny-but-mighty Twine Mill Road hill. In it, I referred to the cornerstone of the old mill building. My memory was off by 11 years. The correct date is 1922.

On deck

The only events on the calendar before the Maine Coast Marathon in May are the Irish Road Rover 5K, Portland (March 1); and United Airlines New York City Half Marathon (March 15). The two events will provide motivation to plow through these final weeks of winter and valuable training feedback. And, oh, yeah, there might be some fun involved with a dash from Brooklyn to Central Park.

Dan King is editor/page designer for the Kennebunk Post and South Portland-Cape Elizabeth Sentry. The closest he ever got to the Beatles was a Beatlemania concert in 1978 or ’79 at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis. He remembers the adrenaline rush when the Faux Four launched into the show with, “Well, shake it up baby …”

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