Monday: 0 - drove to Ryan Park, but couldn't get out of the car. 53 degrees. Light rain. Windy. June? No thank you.
Tuesday: 10 miles - Ryan Park trails alone. I wanted to run rather hard today. Yesterday's zero combined with a stressfull day at work left me in a rather anxious state of mind. I began at the athletic fields and worked myself up to a good pace once on the railbed. On the rather technical single track I maintained the intensity. About four miles in, I felt tired and not confident about keeping it up. After seven miles, I was confident again. I began running the railbed hard - close to all out. I had about two miles to go from the beginning of it. I slowed down a bit on the more technical stuff, but I had it in my mind to run each particular section at PR pace, and I've run in here a lot. Total time: 1:08:00. Felt relaxed the rest of the day.
Wednesday: 13.1 miles - "Saunderstown Half Marathon" with Mike in celebration of National Running Day. I found out last night that today was National Running Day. I then read about Mike's ambitious plan for the day on his blog. It worked out that I could join him for his half marathon portion. I set up the course in Saunderstown figuring he'd enjoy a few hills thrown into the mix. I was hoping the first three runs of the day would slow him down enough that he wouldn't kill me out there. At the one mile mark he made a comment that we were going a good honest pace. After trudging up Gilbert Stuart Road and then pounding back down it, I was having trouble recovering. My breathing was heavier than normal for over a mile. I wasn't sure I could keep it up. Eventually, my body settled back down as we wound our way around the roads off of Waldron Avenue. Back on Rte 1A, we were greeted with a stiff headwind and a long gradual uphill. We then headed down and up Plum Point Rd as a cruel finish to the run. Total time: 1:26:11. Solid 6:34 pace. Really happy with this run!
Thursday: 7 miles - Calf Pasture Point beach, trails, and roads alone. Today was a recovery day, but I was excited to get out and run in the sun (until it rained of course). My legs were tired as expected, but felt decent to run on. As I was on a messy trail about to jump on the beach something black and yellow caught my eye. I thought it was a large bee or a butterfly, but it turned out to be a small fiddler crab. I stopped and then noticed a bunch of them. I was surprised with how small they were. I continued on the beach, but the sand was soft. I had to take my shoes off to cross the tidal stream. I decided to loop around again, mostly to check out the fiddler crabs. On the road back, I could see the rain falling from the clouds ahead of me. I picked up the pace and finished in the raindrops, but avoided the heavier showers. Total time: 52:15.
Friday: 13 miles - wandering around the trails off the South County Bike Path alone. Another quiet Friday at work plus nice weather equals long run for me. I parked at Rte 108 and ran some trails of TriPond Park. I briefly ran the bike path to the Spring Forward course, which I ran in reverse. Besides feeling weird, I had trouble finding the trail at times. I then ran the bike path out to South Road and then ran north. Despite being on a road, there was a sidewalk and it was mostly in the shade. I reached Potter Wood, and ran a perimeter loop and then zigzagged some internal trails before reaching Biscuit City Road. I ran the road south and took a right at the split, as I planned from viewing the area on Google Earth. I reached the powerline, and it looked like I could jump on it there, and avoid a little more roads before I took the trail on the powerline further down near the bike path. I began running the powerline. No problem until the trail ended and I was waist deep in brush, mostly lowbush blueberry and sweet fern. Instead of turning around, I felt so close to the next road, so I bushwacked on, sometimes in the middle of the powerline, and sometimes on the sides. There were house nearby, and I felt like an idiot. Eventually I reached the road where the familiar powerline path was on the other side. I ran down the hill and then began taking random mtn bike trails. I made one loop, and then found a really fun, newish looking trail. I was heading east, and knew at anytime I could jump back on the bike path. I kept exploring for a while, before opting to hit the bike path back since I had been running for 1:18. The bike path was quieter than usual, but I grew tired of it, so I hit up more TriPond trails before returning to my car. Total time: 1:42:12. This was a fun run. My legs were sluggish today, but I never felt terrible out there.
Saturday: zero
Sunday: 8 miles - Back Road Ramble 3.4 Mile Race - 2nd Overall, 20:03. See separate write up.
Overall: Three hard runs. I'm very happy with the half marthon effort on Wednesday - good time on a hilly course, without consciously trying for a good time. The "trail" race on Sunday was fun, and I was happy with my effort on a warmish day. No set running plans for the upcoming week. Hopefully, I'll be able to do a group long run eary Saturday.
Weekly Total: 51 miles
Last Week: 58 miles
Year to Date: 1254 miles
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