Weekly Log 1-23-12 to 1-29-12

Monday: 10.5 miles - Saunderstown Hilly Roads alone.  I couldn't talk anyone in the office to run hills with me today so I went out by myself.  I haven't done this course in a while and the woods seemed like they might be rather messy, so this seemed like a good idea.  I began at the park and ride and then ran around the Plum Beach neighborhoods on both sides of 138.  I then had to complete the rather boring flat roads to get to the star attraction - the Gilbert Stuart Rd hill.  It never feels good doing it, but there is a sense of accomplishment afterwards, plus running down it is fun in an out-of-control sort of way.  I made it a point to not check my watch so I wouldn't race myself, and was happy with the 1:16:30 finish time.  Here's a link to the run - of course I can't get the elevation map to work: 

http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/65640540

Tuesday: 6.5 miles - Calf Pasture Point roads, trails, and beach alone.  This was a very easy effort as my legs were tired, but I couldn't resist running in the warm (high 50's) and sunny conditions.  I explored some side trails (actually deer trails) that ended up as dead ends.  The run on the beach with an extremely low tide was nice, and I thought I might be able to run in front of the houses in Mount View, but it looked rather rocky and slippery.  Total time: 53:08. 

Wednesday: 8.5 miles - Ryan Park trails with Muddy and Mike.  The plan was to run the course of Saturday's 10K while mixing in some 2 minute intervals.  The first one was on a somewhat technical trail and the pace seemed really fast, but Mike looked like he wasn't working at all.  They felt progressively easier after that.  On the railbed (straight, flat, and fast) his watch said we were going 5:50 pace, which didn't feel fast to me, so I'll take that as a good sign.  The last interval was on the narrow rooty trail near the pond, and with the setting sun in our eyes, it made for quite the far out experience.  After finishing the course, we ran a two mile cooldown around the pond.  Total time 63 minutes.  At night, my body was absolutely exhausted.  I'm going to keep it really light before Saturday. 

Thursday: 0 - smartly took a zero and feel better for it.  I walked instead, briskly at times, checking out the waterfowl in Allen's Harbor. 

Friday: 5.5 miles - Quonset Bike Path (4.6M) alone plus Ryan Park course marking (1M) with Mike.  I waited out the rain (or so I thought) and then went to run an easy 5.  About a 1/4 mile in, my left calf felt tight and sore, which sort of came out of nowhere.  I've had this before, so I just kept running on it to see if it would loosen up.  It didn't, but it didn't get worse either.  I cut my run short (only ran the bike path) and then met up with Mike at Ryan Park to help him mark the Belleville Pond 10K course.  I was a little nervous at first that either I was using too many flags or not enough, but I got into a nice rythm and enjoyed the process.  I met back up with Mike at the water crossing, and then we finished up as darkness set in.  Massaged and applied heat to my calf at night. 

Saturday: 10 miles - Belleville Pond Trail 10K - 41:16, 9th Overall - separate write up to follow.  Very fun race.  My calf was tight and sore.  I can't tell if I ran well or not. 

Sunday:  0 - busy day with the kids, but could have snuck out early for a run if I felt up to it.  I decided to rest my calf for at least one day. 

Overall:  Light week of running, but when I look back I had a hill workout, a speed workout, and a race, so it was a quality over quantity thing.  My body felt tired most of the week as I was recovering from a head cold, and this plus the speedwork on Wednesday may have contributed to my calf issue.  I feeling good now, so as long as my calf cooperates, I want to pack on some miles for the upcoming week. 

Weekly Total: 41 miles
Last Week: 59 miles
Year to Date: 213 miles