I'm looking forward to a long trail adventure on Saturday morning. Separate write up will follow.
Monday: 11 miles - hilly mix of dirt roads, trails, and paved roads with Galoob. This was a fun one. We met at the intersection of Rte 102 and the New London Turnpike (yes, it is everywhere!). We ran the long dirt climb and then back down the other side (unimproved dirt). The weather was nice and we had plenty of weekend running news to catch up on. We then reached pavement before exploring an old overgrown road through Dawley State Park. Back on blacktop until then heading through Arcadia on old roads and then a fun part of the Arcadia Trail. Because of time, we needed to begin heading back, which we first ran up Bates Schoolhouse Rd (dirt), before making the long climb up Rte 165, which was in the process of being repaved, and a messy, smelly construction zone. It was a good distraction from the tough hill. We then ran the unpaved section of Ten Rod Road (one more climb that was the toughest of the day) before taking the New London Turnpike back down to our cars. Total time: 1:19:33 with 880' of climbing (felt like more!).
Tuesday: 12 miles - hilly mix of dirt and paved roads alone. I set out for an easy run, but decided I should mix in some hills to keep me honest. I parked at the Cuttyhunk Preserve and then ran the trail up to the messy Stony Lane. I made my way over to Pardon Joslin Rd (my favorite dirt hill) and ran down then right back up. I turned around and headed west up the other side to Widow Sweets Rd (paved). Here I just wandered, trying out hilly side streets, getting further from my car in the process. Looks like I was going to run much longer than anticipated. Oops! I made my way back, returning up the big hill on Pardon Joslin Rd and then the trails of Cuttyhunk. Total time: 1:32:35 with 1,272' of climbing! Didn't feel like that much since my pace was easier.
Wednesday: 11 miles - Ryan Park trail workout alone. Instead of meeting Mike at URI for R-paced intervals, I gouged on a big lunch and then headed out to Ryan for a rainy run. He did successfully guilt me into making a workout of it, which I was not intending. The rain was light when I began, and I ran loops of all the east side trails, while I debated if I should make another attempt at the Strava segment Garvin took from me a couple of weeks back. After over 35 minutes of easy running, I decided to give it a shot. I began the interval earlier than last time, and ran my heart out for the duration (3/4 mile or more of smooth trail). My watch was showing a good pace, and I felt terrible when I finished. I regrouped on the other side of Lafayette Rd. What next? The rain was steadier, but not terrible, and I had managed to keep my feet dry so far. I decided to push another couple of segments (powerline and middle trail, both a little over a half mile). I felt fast on the powerline and my watch confirmed it. There was a huge puddle I had to plow through near the end. The middle trail, which is much more technical - twisty, short hills - felt slow. Ok. Almost done, but what about the rail bed segment the other way? I decided to go for it. It measures almost a mile. I was not confident I was holding a good enough pace for the course record (which I own). I then had about a mile back to reach my car, now soaked to the bone. Total time: 1:21:13. I was pumped when I uploaded the run to see that I had set the CR for the first three segments I did, and missed the CR on the last one by one second. 5:15 pace on the first one! It felt good to put in 3 miles of hard trail running intervals on a day I was feeling lazy.
Thursday: 8.5 miles - Big River trails with Galoob. Really muggy out. I was sweating profusely right away even though we were keeping the pace easy. We ran west from the Hopkins Hill lot and quickly found a newly groomed trail. We had to explore it. Eventually we spilled out onto the Cardi Rd, nowhere near I thought we would. We then ran further west on New London Turnpike (there it is again). I was in unfamiliar territory. We made our way to a fun single track called "I See Dead People". I don't want to know the story of how it got named that. It's a great trail I probably won't be able to find again, and frankly, I shouldn't run alone. Then we hit more familiar territory - the single track surrounding the Overlook. You never exactly know where you are, but you aren't lost. After 55 minutes, it was time to make our way back. Total time: 1:08:34 with 636' of climbing.
Friday: 2 miles - home trails loops. Running around today not in the running way. No big deal since I'm doing a really hard run tomorrow, but the weather was too nice not to do any actual running.
Saturday: 22 miles - Narragansett Trail East to West with Muddy and Seth. Total time: 3:27:38 (running time 3:21:31). Really tough trail. Fun adventure. Separate write up to follow.
Sunday: 5.5 miles - Cambridge roads with Chris. This was just an easy run with my brother-in-law up in the city. My legs didn't feel horrible, but they didn't have much life in them when running. Red Sox game with the family followed.
Overall: Really fun week of running, capped by Saturday's adventure. Body still feeling good. Strava had me at 5,271' of climbing for the week. Not bad for a flatlander.
Weekly Total: 72 miles
Last Week: 75 miles
Year to Date: 1114 miles
April Total: 300 miles
May Total: 38 miles
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