Weekly Log 3-26-12 to 4-1-12

Monday: 10 miles - Ryan Park trails alone.  What began as a run with no expectations (and into the annoying wind) turned into a nice progressively faster run with a fast finish (thanks wind).  I parked at the athletic fields and ran half of the woods section before I jumped onto the new field trails.  I was not enjoying myself at first.  It was so windy, especially near the pond.  I also was kind of cold.  Somewhere in the middle miles I picked up my effort, and I was working pretty hard on the technical trails before hitting the railbed.  I naturally went faster, but also had the wind helping too.  I kept up the hard effort for the 2+ miles back to my car.  Total time: 1:10:08. 

Tuesday: 6+? miles - Big River trails alone.  I really was unmotivated today, especially since I was cold sitting in my office all morning.  Running around Carr Pond seemed like the best choice on this windy day, although I didn't have a lot of energy.  I decided to loop around the pond and explore a couple of side trails.  This worked out well, as I linked together some single track that will add distance and avoid some wider and busier trail sections.  Also, there are some new markers out there that make it easier to find the trail between the ponds.  I had to improvise my running outfit today as I wasn't prepared for a 40 degree day.  Total time: 49:28. 

Wednesday:  10 miles - CHS track workout with Muddy, Mike, and Ben.  A rainy afternoon turned into a sunny, warm, and humid evening.  We arrived late enough that the track was empty.  We ran a warm up through the woods, fields, and roads around the school.  Mike's plan was to take it easy on us today, since Muddy and I have a 5K coming up on Sunday.  Ben, Muddy, and I ran 7x400 at 5K pace with a 600 at the end.  My goal was to run 85's, which is probably faster than my 5K pace.  However, once out on the track, I ran slightly behind the other two, and clicked off the following:  80/81/82/81/81/82/80 2:03
We cooled down as a group before Mike and Ben had to leave for their next workout.  Muddy and I then ran around for a few extra miles.  Total time: 1:10.  The 400's seemed easy at first, but did get harder.  I don't think I overdid it.  Excited for Sunday's race. 

Thursday: 10 miles - Ryan Park trails solo.  It's funny how I almost quit as soon as I began and then I ended up running ten miles.  I was lacking motivation today, and the overcast 48 degree weather with a damp breeze didn't help.  I ran about 4 miles of technical fun trails and then I wandered down the railbed and around the pond, changing things up enough to keep it fresh.  My pace was okay, but I hit the downhills hard as well as a few other sections.  Total time: 1:16:34. 

Friday: 0 - basketball at Wilson Park for 1.5 hours.  We played fullcourt for a while.  Gip and I ran circles around these 18-20 year olds.  Good crosstraining.  The rest of the time we played 3 on 3 and my shot was off.  Still fun.  I was thinking about not running anyway or going extremely easy. 

Saturday: 0 - instead of running, I'll be spending the day "playing" fantasy baseball with the usual group of math nerds. 

Sunday: Chariho 5K - sub 18 or bust.  Update: bust.  8 miles total.  18:19 2nd Overall. 

Weekly Total: 44 miles
Last Week: 61 miles
Year to Date: 706 miles