Monday: 9 miles - Wickford roads alone. My plan was to get in a fast mile on the loop off Waldron Ave and then log some miles. I parked at the Rome Pt lot and then headed north on 1A. My first mile was pretty quick (6:18), and I slowed it down a bit for mile 2 (6:49). I then did the mile loop at a fast pace. I didn't look at my watch, but was happy with my effort. I was a bit disappointed when I found out it was 5:27, but it did feel good to do it. I then recovered on the neighborhood roads with awesome views of Narragansett Bay. I was feeling content with my run, and wanted to just finish it at 5. The dark side of running took over, and I felt compelled to run more miles. My legs were tired and I couldn't get back to a good pace as I ran more side roads. Finally, back on Rte 1A, I began running faster when I thought a group of high school runners turned my way (I could hear them talking) and I didn't want them to pass me. I passed my car and continued on up the hill and back down for a full 9 miles on the day. Total time: 1:01:40.
Tuesday: 8.5 miles - Big River mostly trails with various amount of snow on them with Galoob and Gunshow. Driving to the Exit 7 parking lot, it seemed like the snow was really melting along the highways. The weather was borderline nice - 46 degrees with some sun. Maybe the trails would be okay? Nope. Still plenty of snow. We all just wore trail shoes, so this run was quite the workout. At first, Mike was going at a good clip, and I was struggling to keep up. After a mile or so, the snow slowed him down, and the pace was fine for me the rest of the way. It was still hard to find some of the trails. We did find Dead Shed and some other familiar ones before heading back on the snow covered New London Turnpike. A fun adventure, but exhausting. Total time: 1:17.
At night, I got a text from Boj asking if I was in Big River today. Apparently he was there running as well. He didn't see us, but saw our footprints. How did he know it was me?
Wednesday: 7.5 miles - Quonset soggy and wet intervals (12x200) alone. The radar showed a break in the rain, and I thought I could run some easy 200's with the 30-40 mph wind mostly at my back. I was actually excited about it as I got ready to go. I parked in the usual lot and ran into the wind on the bike path heading towards Calf Pasture Point. Wow it was pretty miserable out. And then it started to rain again. I ran over a mile and then turned around. Instead of running all the intervals on the open road (for maximum GPS accuracy) I decided to begin them on the bike path. I knew the first few would be on the long side because of the tree cover, but I didn't want to run another mile to reach the open road. I worked hard on the first two and was having trouble invisioning another 10. 3 and 4 were more to the south, so I had the wind in my face (they ended up being the two slowest). The rest were on my usual stretch of open road. I ran them relaxed. I didn't expect to be running in completely wet shoes and clothes. After seeing the results, I probably should have worked these harder, but the conditions were so miserable I was just happy to get the full workout in. Results: 34,35,38,38,36,35,37,36,37,35,36,36
I then had to run all the way back to my car into the wind. I worried about how cold I might feel since I was so wet and it was only 41 degrees out. I muscled through. There was some serious tree carnage on the bike path, and still snow in places! Total time: 51:20.
Thursday: 12 miles - Wickford roads alone. My goal was to do a longish fastish run. I mapped out a 12 mile course online, and had the idea to run around 6:50 pace. I didn't check my watch until the 2 mile mark. I then tried to maintain that effort, which was on the challenging side, but not hard. I was suffering a bit on mile 8 (Snuff Mill Rd climb), but I was able to then cruise back on Rte 1A at a faster clip. Total time: 1:18:07 (6:30 pace). Good run. Splits below:
| Mile 1 | 14ft | ||
| Mile 2 | 16ft | ||
| Mile 3 | 27ft | ||
| Mile 4 | 3ft | ||
| Mile 5 | -38ft | ||
| Mile 6 | 19ft | ||
| Mile 7 | -7ft | ||
| Mile 8 | 155ft | ||
| Mile 9 | -106ft | ||
| Mile 10 | -49ft | ||
| Mile 11 | -15ft | ||
| Mile 12 | -17ft | ||
Friday: 7 miles - Big River snowy trails alone. Welcome to March - where the trails are still a mess and most likely covered in snow! I was excited for today's recovery run in Big River. My plans fell through with Boj, so I hit the trails alone. Still snow in the Hopkins Hill lot, and I was afraid my car was going to sink in the mud. I thought the trails would be mostly clear, as I barely saw any snow left anywhere else. Wrong again! They were still close to 100% snow covered, and still relatively deep in places. Some trails I was laying down the first human tracks. My plan only included heading out to the overlook, and then making it up from there. My feet got wet crossing the little brook on the way out, and with all the snow, my shoes felt heavy and waterlogged the rest of the way. I found the overlook, but didn't go the way I normally do. I then wanted to run some other single track, but messed that up as well, but at least I knew where I ended up. I then explored (and broke) trails to the west of the paved road. Deep pockets of snow in spots. How is this still possible? I eventually spilled out onto the New London Turnpike near the beaver dam and then crossed over on more trails to Tarbox Pond. At this point, I decided to stay closer to my car, and finished up in 1:01:00. I fell twice, and slipped often. It was fun, but I wouldn't mind getting my trails back.
Saturday: 0 - confirmed I will be joining others for a Sea to Summit run tomorrow. Better rest up since I'll be running with some fast dudes.
Sunday: 27 miles - RI Sea to Summit (separate write up to follow)
Weekly Total: 71miles
Last Week: 53 miles
Year to Date: 545 miles
See? This is why you need to keep your blog posting up to the minute...if we had known you were feeling down we would have gone out of our way to make you feel better (and/or harass you). Surely another shitty snow slog had you skipping merrily around the office after lunch right?
ReplyDeleteSay it Jonny - I hate winter - say it
ReplyDeleteMike B: I hate winter - by the end of February. Mike G: group runs, no matter the conditions, always perk me up!
ReplyDeleteSounds like March in New Hampshire! I don't start thinking about snow free trails til the first week of April most years. Enjoy!
ReplyDelete