Weekly Log 10-15-12 to 10-21-12

Monday:  10 miles - Ryan Park trails alone.  My legs felt fine after the long trail run the day before, but I was experiencing some soreness on the inside of my left foot.  It loosened up enough after a few miles.  I parked off of Lafayette Rd, and ran the "woods" 5 miles.  I then ran the "fields" trails.  Despite the planned easy day, I did decide to run the Rte 4/power line segment hard, and I was able to lower my best time.  I ran the last mile + really easy back to my car.  Total time: 1:09:21. 



Tuesday: 11 miles - Saunderstown hilly roads with Nokewa trails mixed in alone.  A very windy day.  If work wasn' t so busy, I would have run at Big River today.  Instead, I ran some hills at a good clip (all about 6:50 pace) and spent some time roaming around trails.  The first 4 miles I ran negative splits (even with 2 good climbs) - 6:50/6:40/6:31/6:18, before running 6:47 (includes Gilbert Stuart Rd climb).  I had one more fastish mile in 6:28, before GPS lost me in the woods.  I was able to find some obscure, thorny side trails, and also ran into a woman on a horse with a loose pony following behind.  I was having a lot of fun exploring.  Unfortunately, it was all uphill back to my car.  Total time: 1:17:48. 



Wednesday: 9 miles - Quonset speedwork solo.  I had two goals for today's intervals: get in a nice tune up for 2 upcoming road 5K's and run on a straight, flat, wide open section of road for more accurate GPS times.  Mission accomplished.  I programmed in the workout onto my watch: 1 mile (@ ambitious 5K goal pace (800 recovery) then 4x400 at 10-15 seconds faster pace (200 recovery).  My three mile warm up around Allen's Harbor was snappy (7:01 pace).  I then began the mile on Davisville Road.  My watch was showing low 5:30 pace throughout, and the mile passed rather easily.  I then backtracked half a mile to begin the 400's.  These felt really smooth and fast - way better than last week.  My watch was showing about 5:10 pace for all four, even the one I ran into the wind (rather light).  I then cooled down by running out to Rte 1 and then hopping onto the bike path.  After my body recovered, I was again running sub 7 miles (overall 3 mile cool down pace was 7:08).  Total time: 1:01:26 (6:47 pace).  The interval results had to wait until I uploaded the data onto my computer: 5:30/76/76/77/76 (the 400's were within .7 seconds of eachother and were run between 5:05 - 5:08 pace).  I am very happy.  I hope this bodes well for the fast approaching races. 




Thursday: 14 miles - Big River trails alone.  A nice planned long run in the beautiful weather.  My legs were tired today, but I still enjoyed myself.  I wanted to do a big loop of trails I've figured out so far.  Once I began, it became obvious that with all the fallen leaves and pine needles I was going to have trouble navigating the unmarked trails.  I made my way around Carr Pond to the ridge, before missing the turn for Foster's Folly, despite trying my best to find it.  I reached the New London Turnpike and then ran west to the creepy trails.  I eventually crossed the turnpike again and headed south on Dead Shed, falling at the exact spot of the dead shed.  I wasn't hurt, but worried about body fatigue.  I pressed on across Hopkins Hill Rd at Tarbox Pond and ran some trails on the west side of the road.  I forgot how hilly it is, which was not what my legs wanted to do.  I gutted it out, and even extended my run by a few minutes to get to a more reasonable time for 14 miles (based on my effort).  Total time: 1:47:14. 





Friday: 6+ miles - Old Mountain Trail 5K course x 2 alone.  Nothing was sounding appealing today, but I wanted to do something.  I finally settled on running the Old Mtn course since I hadn't run it since the spring and the race is coming up in December.  My legs were extremely tight when I began.  I felt terribly slow on the technical stuff, but it was meant to be an easy day, so I was okay with it.  I nimbly followed the course, fighting through a couple of overgrown spots, but mostly the trails were in good shape.  Despite my slow pace, I was sweating like a pig on this muggy gray day.  By the end of the first lap, my body loosened up, and I enjoyed the second lap much more.  My pace was better, and I didn't hesitate on the tricky parts.  26:39 for the first lap and 23:13 on the second.  Last year's race  I ran in 20:36.  Total time: 49:20. 





Saturday: 0 - 8AM soccer, corn maze, dinner and bonfire with friends cross training. 

Sunday: 7 miles - Westerly Run for the Pumpkins 5K - 2nd overall, 18:00.  Super happy about this race (hilly course).  Separate write up to follow. 

Overall:  Fun week with a great race.  I just wish I could have done a group run on Saturday early.  This coming week may be shorter on miles due to work, but I'm hoping for a really fast 5K PR at the Charlestown FOP race on Sunday (completely flat course). 


Weekly Total: 57 miles
Last Week: 65 miles
Year to Date: 2402 miles