Weekly Log 9-17-12 to 9-23-12

Monday: 8 miles - Rome Point beach and trails alone.  Woke up feeling good after yesterday's trail race.  The weather was nice, so I headed down to Rome Point for any easy run in the September sun on the beach.  I ran about 2 miles of trails to the point, and then hopped onto the rocky beach and headed south.  The tide was super low.  I ran under the bridge and continued until the beach ends at some ledges.  I turned around and repeated my beach journey to the point, and then ran different trails back to my car.  Total time: 1:06:55. 

Tuesday: 6AM - 6 miles - CCMS track workout with Galoob.  Again, my legs were in decent enough shape to head out to the track to try some speedwork.  I wasn't sure how I'd feel, but I did fine.  I awoke before my alarm at 4:45AM.  I was out the door shortly after 5AM, and I was impressed with the starry dark sky and the cool temps (I thought it would be overcast or raining and muggy).  I ran a mile before a glowing Mike showed up in full reflective gear.  We ran a few more laps and discussed the workout.  We wanted to get back to short fast intervals after working up to the track 5K last week.  First we began with 4x200 with 200 rest.  My first one was 32 (my fastest ever), and then I struggled to maintain that time - next three: 32, 33, 33.  According to my watch, all four were within .6 seconds of eachother.  Then we attempted 4x300 with 100 rest.  These were outrageously hard, and we stopped at 2 reps: 53, 53.  I would blame my legs (still recovering from Sunday's race) if Mike wasn't tired as well.  It was just a hard workout.  We finished with 2x400 (200 rest) at 1 mile pace.  Despite feeling slow, these still hurt - 78, 78.  We then did a cooldown on the track.  I have to admit I really enjoyed doing the short speedy intervals. 

               1PM - 6 miles - Ryan Park trails alone.  The rain held off, but it did get really muggy out and windy.  I opted to head out for a recovery run, as my body seems to bounce back better if I do one.  Nothing too exciting to report, other than no trees or branches fell on me.  Total time: 50:01. 

Wednesday: 13.5 miles - unplanned road half marathon (w/ .5 cooldown) alone.  Oops!  I have a running problem.  This was going to be a zero, then a short run with a coworker, then a solo easy 6-8 on relatively flat roads.  When I reached the bike path parking area, there was heavy construction going on at Calf Pasture Point, so I headed down the bike path to Fletcher Road.  My legs felt terrible (finally), but the weather was pleasant.  I decided to just explore and make up a loop.  At the one mile mark, despite a very slow start, I ran 7:33.  Then a 7:01.  Man, flat roads make running seem easy.  I wasn't feeling great, but after a slightly slower 3rd mile (7:10), I began a run of negative splits.  I also decided to run 10 miles.  The next few miles were 7:01, 6:53, 6:50, 6:38, 6:34, 6:27. I realized that my run was going to be over 10 miles (6:23 mile 10 split), so I decided to keep going for an 11th (6:19).  What's two more?  I kept running.  I had to make an awkward turn near Allen's Harbor due to construction and had to climb a hill into the wind which slowed me down slightly for mile 12 (6:27).  The last mile was torture because of the wind and construction road blocks, so I finished up running away from my car on the bike path (6:19).  My GPS half marathon time was 1:28:20 (6:44 pace).  Not bad on crummy legs.  I stopped and jogged slowly back to my car. 



Thursday:  9.5 miles - Big River trails alone.  I had trouble coming up with a run today, but knew I had to be out there in the fantastic weather.  I decided to go to Big River on a quest to find the mythical "Overlook".  I had a general idea of how to find it, and it seemed like a fun adventure on an easy running day.  I parked at the Hopkins Hill Rd lot, and then headed west.  I crossed the paved road and then looked for a trail heading south.  I found one that was a dead end (I checked twice to see if I missed something).  I then found a faint narrow side trail.  I followed it to a No Tresspassing sign.  I turned around and then found yet another small side trail, that had fresh looking mtn bike tracks on it.  It seemed to be heading in the right direction, and was climbing steadily.  Soon I could tell I was close to an overlook and hoped it was the one I was looking for.  Sure enough, I rounded a corner to a spectacular view, but got spooked when I noticed a guy sitting in a chair possibly smoking something.  He had a mtn bike with him, and pleasantly said to me, "what a beautiful day".  Far out dude.  I kept going, not wanting to linger.  I also had no idea where I was going.  I thought maybe the trail would reach Henry Brown Rd, but it was a twisty mtn bike trail that kept doubling back on itself.  I ran on and on.  All of a sudden I see a pickup truck and a few guys loading wood into it.  Was I still in Big River?  I quickly turned around and ran back to the Overlook.  I passed the mtn biking dude going the other way.  I reached the Overlook and took a break.  It is an impressive view.  If I can find my way back, it would be nice to visit after the leaves are down.  I then headed back to where I began, but got confused.  Eventually, I made it back out to the paved road.  I decided to run some of the single track here that I was familiar with, since I wasn't too far from my car.  Somehow, I wasn't exactly where I thought and I began to make poor decisions.  At one point, I found a dead end, not a big deal if it wasn't on a steep hill.  I did finally make it out of there after 1:15:27. 



Friday: 8.5 miles - South Kingstown trail fartlek alone.  It took me a long time to figure out what to do today.  I eventually settled on the idea of running around the TriPond Trails and getting my name on a few KOM leaderboards.  I figured I could make it into a mini-workout.  I parked at the usual place on 108 and immediately had to run fast through the most technical trail (roots, rocks, and bridges).  I reached the bike path in 3:50 - not a record, but way better than the 4:56 posted on Strava.  I then ran briefly on the bike path and then entered the south side trails of the park.  I reached California Jim's Pond and then searched for the overgrown entrance to the trail I was going to sprint next.  I found it and then took off.  I felt kind of slow and the trail was hard to negotiate/follow.  Still, it was a rather fun activity.  I then jogged around some trails for a half mile before attempting the same trail I just did, but in the opposite direction.  This way was much easier, and felt much faster.  I emerged from the trail, and then headed west towards the Spring Forward course (2 miles), for one more trail interval.  The side trails are overgrown here as well, but I've run them enough to know where I'm going.  I felt like I was moving pretty well, but not all out.  I was happy to be done.  Back on the bike path, I now had to deal with middle school kids just out of school.  Not wanting to deal with them, I ran back through the woods to get to my car.  Total time: 1:03:29. 




Saturday: 0 - my only chance to run was before sunrise, and I wasn't motivated to get out of bed.  Busy day with lot's of out-of-town visitors. 

Sunday: 16.5 miles - Burlingame trails alone.  I was able to run later in the morning.  I was debating a long road run, but it's hard to give up a chance to run my local trails.  I was out the door and ran a mile on the road before reaching the trails (7 min flat).  Soon after, I was feeling tight and slow, but I was still moving well.  I ran Sammy C's, crossing paths with a couple of friendly mtn bikers.  I then reached the Vin Gormley Trail, and followed it clockwise to the campground.  I then left that trail for the singletrack on the southside of the campground.  I had to stop for an unleashed growling dog.  By the time I rejoined VG, I was already at an hour and twenty minutes.  Oops, I told my wife I would be gone an hour and a half.  I continued running clockwise, checking out the new bridges.  I had to stop again for more unleashed growling dogs.  I reached the road and couldn't imagine running up the hill back to my house (shortest distance), so I hopped back into the woods and popped out at the top of Buckeye Brook Road.  I hobbled the road back to my house.  Total time: 2:04:40.  Solid run.  I'm a bit frustrated that my legs were so tight, despite feeling fresh at the start. 



Overall: nice week with plenty of variety.  I couldn't ask for better running weather. 

Weekly Total: 68 miles
Last Week: 58 miles
Year to Date: 2163 miles