Weekly Log 3-19-12 to 3-25-12

Monday: 3 miles - loops around trails on my property.  Instead of running on my break at work, I got talked into playing basketball.  It's funny how tiring it feels right away, but then I gradually gain energy as the time goes on.  Three of us played hustle for an hour in the midday heat - high 70's.  Not bad for the last day of winter.  After dinner, I ran loops with my kids in our woods.  I billed it as a trail fun run.  My daughter did two laps and my son did three.  He was moving pretty fast on the third one and navigates the technical spots nicely.  After the kids went to bed I ran 6 more laps of a longer loop before it was pitch black.  I was moving at a pace that felt like 7 minutes, but undoubtedly it was slower.  Still a fun way to get a short run in and I was a sweaty mess afterwards.  Seriously considering opening the outdoor shower. 

Tuesday: 14.55 miles - Wickford/Saunderstown roads alone.  I mapped this 14 mile route before running, but after I finished something wasn't adding up with the last four miles, so I re-mapped it, and it came out to be longer, which makes more sense.  My 5 mile split was 33:20 (fast first mile of 6:27), and my second 5 mile split was 33:54 (long uphill into the wind on Rte 1A).  I felt tired the last 4 miles and extremely hot the last two (wind at my back and 78 degrees), but I felt like I was going faster, but my split was 29:04.  This was calculating to 7:13 pace which was definitely off.  Remapping it, the final 4.55 miles I did in 6:23 pace.  Overall, this was a great confidence boosting run - total time 1:36:19.  I averaged 6:37 miles on an unseasonably hot day, over a good distance.  I was feeling discomfort in my legs after descending Snuff Mill Rd, but the only other factors I had to deal with were the heat and my mind.  I wanted to do a longer road run to keep up with the South County Joneses.  Now I can return to trail running and avoiding roads.  Here's the link to the run. 

Wednesday: 0 - another basketball day.  Another 77 degree day.  Played hustle again and finally won.  It's annoying to be the only one trying on defense and then never get the rebounds.  Good workout.  Then we played 2 on 2 with this familiar looking guy.  Finally figured out it was fellow bassist Joel from Badfish.  I'm happy to get in basketball on easy or zero running days.  My legs were tired and I wasn't planning on anything crazy for a run.  It's great to play basketball again. 

Thursday: 15.5 miles - Ryan Park trails (10M) and Wickford road (5.5M) to and from Ryan Park alone.  Yet another scorcher - sunny and 80 degrees with no sea breeze today to cool me off at times.  My loose plan was to run to Ryan Park and then do some sort of loop and then return on the roads.  I instantly felt tight and slow on the roads, probably a combination of Tuesday's hard run and basketball yesterday.  I was surprised that I was going about 7:15 pace however after two miles.  I then entered the park and ran the normal woods section clockwise.  At the halfway point, I jumped onto the fields trails (no longer in the field) and did a long outer loop, and then a shorter interior one.  Despite not feeling 100%, I was happy with my ability to keep running at the same pace for so long.  I was baking in certain exposed spots, but there was enough of a dry breeze to keep me from overheating.  Lot's of characters out today on the trails, but nothing annoying.  I was feeling tired by the time I finished the 10 mile trail loop (73:33), but I had enough energy on the roads to add an extra half mile to even out Tuesday's half.  Total time: 1:53:13.  My average pace on the roads was 7:15 and the trail pace worked out to be 7:21 (not GPS - that pace would be 9:21). 

Friday: 11 miles - Quonset Bike Path warm up and 4x800 workout with Mount View/Calf Pasture Point roads, beach, and trails cooldown alone.  (Map here).  I didn't have a lot of energy in my legs, but I wanted to get in some speed work this week.  I blatantly stole the workout from Boj.  I didn't feel up to the challenge of more reps, and I wanted the 800's to be fast (for me).  The weather was a more manageable 70 degrees, but I was still hot during the workout as I opted to wear a shirt - I feel like a tool running shirtless like a maniac on the bike path passing the elderly and mom's with strollers.  I also didn't feel like warming up, but as soon as I began running, I knew I needed to.  My body was tight.  So I ran a mile warm up and then began the workout.  I ran the 800's hard, and each one was terrible in it's own special way (1st one hurt, 2nd one really hurt, 3rd one into the wind, 4th one into the wind and hurt).  Results: 2:48/2:47/2:49/2:51.  After the 4th one, I did a slow recovery jog to a shaded bench and stopped.  I stretched and assessed what to do next.  I opted to leave the path and jump onto Fletcher Rd.  I felt really slow for the first 10 minutes, but eventually got back into a decent grove.  I distracted myself by checking out all the early blooming going on and with all the golfing activity at Quidnesset.  I reached the beach and was amazed at the very low tide - I then remembered it was a new moon.  The footing was good, and I didn't mind the stiff headwind.  Entering the trails, I instantly got hot again, and my legs were beginning to fatigue.  My time was telling me that the run was going to be a little over 10 miles, so I added on a side trail (paved) to get to 11.  Total time: 1:22:09. 

Saturday: 17 miles - Burlingame trails with Tom, Muddy, and Jeff.  The Westerly trail crew met up at 6AM at the picnic area for the usual two hour run.  Originally I thought I might be running alone, but things came together, including a jet-lagged Jeff just back from India joining us.  I thought there would be adequate light for the trails, but due to the cloud cover, we had to run on the roads for a while.  We headed north up Kings Factory Road and then took the dirt road down to Schoolhouse Pond.  After a brief stop we headed back up the dirt road and across the street onto Schoolhouse Pond Trail, where there was now enough daylight to see.  I was curious what sort of pace we would be doing today as I had a lot of miles on my legs for the week, Muddy was recovering from an epic rock running adventure, and Jeff was barely awake.  Tom was the X-factor, and he took the lead on the trail.  He pushed it up the hill and was moving well until I shouted out the wrong direction at an intersection (the first of a few).  I lead the group through Secret, VG, and Governor's trail at a slower but steady pace until we reached the wider trails of north Burlingame.  We climbed Ledge Trail and then did the River Trail loop.  Jeff and Tom gazelled down the hill to the river.  My legs were still holding up well, but I didn't try to stick with them.  We stopped at the river, and it looked like Jeff might try the rope swing.  We made our way back to the VG trail, stopping to check out an old dam on Buckeye Brook.  We worked our way counterclockwise around VG.  My legs fatigued, and I knew I was going to have a miserable last two miles.  Luckily, no one pushed too hard on the last dirt road, so I was able to finish with the group.  Total time: 1:11:34. 

Sunday: 0 - trip to Boston

Overall:  I'm happy with the mileage despite only really 4 days of running.  The hard runs this week give me confidence going into next Sunday's Chariho 5K.  I hope to get under 18 minutes.  I'll try to be rested for the race which means light runs after a workout Wednesday.  We'll see. 

Weekly Total: 61 miles
Last Week: 51 miles
Year to Date: 662 miles