Weekly Log 1-14-13 to 1-20-13

I'm looking for another high quantity and quality week and then keep the intensity lighter next week for the upcoming Bellevue Pond Trail 10K.  I'm bummed about missing the Big River sufferfest last Sunday, and hope to get in a long trail adventure with the crew this weekend, unless I go to NH.  If that's the case, then I might get to do some more snowshoe runs.  No more snow, and not much mud left around here. 

Monday: 11 miles - Calf Pasture Point & Mount View roads, beach, and trails alone.  My legs were unusually tight at the start, which I'm blaming on wearing my New Balance MT10's on yesterday's long trail run.  I'm not used to that distance in "barefoot" shoes.  Anyway, the weather was obnoxious - 62 degrees and sunny at the start, with a light breeze.  My plan was to run the Calf Pasture Point beach and trail loop 2 or 3 times and assess what I wanted to do from there.  After the 2nd loop, I decided to check out the beach north of Mount View.  Then I ran the grid of roads in this neighborhood for a while.  After 9 miles I headed back on the bike path, and since I was at 10.4, I decided to tack on more to get a full 11 on the day.  Total time: 1:24:17. 

Tuesday: 10+ miles - Ryan Park trails with Mike G.  We met up at the athletic fields to run the upcoming 10K course.  I had a few tweaks in mind (newer single track to use) that I wanted to show him.  The weather was much cooler (41 degrees) and overcast.  The newish single track will probably work out well, but mostly the course should be the same.  I decided to push the "Roots Run" Strava segment.  We were almost derailed by an unleashed dog on a very narrow section, but I was able to regroup and retake the KOM from my coworker - sorry Dan.  We finished up the course and then headed out for some more miles.  We took the road up to the high lot, and then I showed Mike a few different cool sections that aren't part of the course.  I again decided to go for a long Strava segment on the rail bed and was able to eek out a PR.  It was fun, but we'll see how I feel running the hill repeats tomorrow.  Total time: 1:18:20. 





Wednesday: 10 miles - Yawgoo 3 x hilly 5K workout with Muddy, Galoob, and Gunshow.  I was able to join the guys for a hill workout today at 4PM, beginning at the ski lodge.  I was happy to hear that we were not going to just repeat last week's brutal and demoralizing routine, but run laps around the block, which happens to be 3.1 miles.  We began with the steep hill right away and then it evens out, decends for a long time, rises, falls again, and then levels out with some rollers.  After attacking a couple of segments yesterday, I was content just to go with the flow, and not worry about results.  Running straight up the steep hill with no warm up hurt.  It took a couple of miles to get back to normal breathing.  We completed the first loop, at a moderate to easy pace.  After a quick stop to drop gear, we began the second loop.  I made sure to not attack the hill too hard and my breathing was much better at the top.  The overall pace was still on the moderate side.  I jumped right into loop #3,  feeling a time crunch.  I climbed nicely, and then increased my pace on the flat section.  I was getting into a good groove, so I picked it up even more, and felt like I was going low 5 minute pace on the endless down hill section (it was too dark to read my watch).  I was beginning to hear footsteps behind me which I recognized as Mike's.  I also was coming to a long (but not that steep) hill.  My goal was to keep motoring up the hill and avoid being passed.  In the dark, it was impossible to know when the hill was going to end.  Finally, the road leveled off, and then dropped.  Mike went screaming by me  and disappeared by the end.  I was able to maintain a high intensity pace through the finish.  I did a very short cool down and then had to leave. 

3 x 5K results: 22:59/21:30/18:20

Total time: 1:08:52 Elevation gain: 822'




Thursday: 9 miles - Saunderstown roads alone.  The Rome Point lot was full of cars, and the idea of zigzagging through the trails full of people and dogs was not at all appealing to me.  So I kept driving to the park and ride lot and began my run there.  My idea was to run a loop, and maybe check out the trails in Camp Nokewa.  I ended up running the roads of Plum Point and then continuing south on Rte 1A and ran around neighborhoods on either side of the road.  I kept the pace very comfortable and never looked at my watch.  I wasn't excited about the two mile finish into the chilly wind, but it was a good challenge mentally.  Total time: 1:06:30. 




Friday: 11 miles - Narragansett intervals with Galoob and Gunshow.  Ugh.  This was a bit of a grind.  The weather was cold and windy.  We met up in Wakefield and then ran some roads and the Canonchet Farm Trail to the wall in Narragansett.  The plan was for some long intervals on the upcoming Super 5K course.  The good news was that the chilly wind would be at our back for the most part.  The bad news is that it became apparent we were all dealing with dead legs from Wednesday's hillwork.  The first interval was to be 1.5 miles from the race start to the turnaround point.  I felt good at first cruising along the seawall.  My pace was snappy.  Then at the end of the wall (about 1K in) my body felt terrible and my pace was dropping.  I turned the corner onto the castle road and was now running uphill and into the wind.  This was awful.  I felt uncoordinated and slow.  I turned the next corner and finished up the best I could, at least with the wind at my back again and level (or slightly downhill) terrain.  I didn't know the exact place to stop and I ended up going 1.53 miles in 8:43 (5:41 pace).  We regrouped and jogged back to the pier.  We decided to use just the seawall as the interval distance, thinking it was about 1200 meters.  It turned out to be 1000.  I felt good for a while, but this distance felt really long.  The next one felt really hard, and my form was starting to go.  Results: 3:24/3:28.  We decided to stop the intervals and head back.  I was feeling really slow and tired at times.  I did enjoy running the trail though.  Total time: 1:21:14. 




Saturday: 1+ miles - Burlingame trails with my son.  After yesterday's debacle, I had decided to rest up today and hope that tomorrow I would feel good for the long run.  I mentioned to my 7 yr old about running a mile on our home trails at breakfast.  He said he wanted to run, but that the home loops were beginning to get a little boring.  Well said.  He then came up with his own course in Burlingame that ended up being 1.2 miles on GPS.  He had his longest run of 17:26, and this was on some of the best single track around.  Fun afternoon spent playing on boats at the boat show in Providence and Indian food for dinner. 

Sunday: 18+ (or 19?) miles - Pachaug trails with Galoob.  This was an awesome long run on trails I had never been on.  Mike did an awesome write up on his blog here.  For me, it took me some time (45 minutes?) to relax and get into a good groove.  I wore my old Inov-8's that are sure-footed, but feel clunky after two hours.  I like the mix of single track and old dirt roads.  The farm was sketchy.  The single track climb up Mt. Misery is legit, and despite being near the end of the run, felt good (but really hard!).  The pace was comfortable throughout, a little snappy at the end.  Total running time was just over 2 hours 30 minutes. 

Overall: Solid week of training.  Lots of highlights.  Race week coming up, so I'll tone down the intensity and mileage. 

Weekly Total: 70 miles
Last Week: 65 miles
Year to Date: 185 miles