Monday: 12.5 miles - WTAC group run on MLK Day. There were 8 of us today: 2 Gazelles, Mr. & Mrs. FiveK, 2 Mikes, Janky Knee, and myself. It was warm for our late morning start of 8am, except that the roads were very icy. We ran from Jeff's house out to the wall in Watch Hill. We then ran along the shore back to Misquamicut. The group split up for this portion and regrouped at the end. I was hanging back with Crutch until he ordered me to go catch up with the other guys. Thus began a sub 6, 6 minute sprint. Fun stuff. We stopped for a quick photo:
Crutch, FiveK, Gazelle Jr., Mike B, Seth, Me, Gazelle Sr.
Photo courtesy of Mike Crutchley
We then took roads back to Jeff's road where we split up. I continued on with the Gazelles, while everyone else returned to their cars. The three of us jumped into the Glacier Park for some trail fun. I love these trails and have been wanting to run them as it's been quite some time since I was here. We entered near the overlook and then we ran north via the green trail, making sure to hammer the Moraine Coaster Up segment I created a year ago or so. I was happy to lower my CR by quite a bit (now 3:50), but Jeff was only one second back. We then ran south through the "guts" of the park before heading north again on the west side. We finished up on local roads. A really fun Monday mix with excellent company. Total time: 1:36:21. Later in the afternoon I took the kids down to the Burlingame Campground. We brought bikes (I used my wife's - I didn't feel like running anymore today). We road mostly paved camp roads. We did ride on some dirt, but it was really soft and mushy. Whining ensued. Took a break at the playground that was muddy and gross, but they didn't complain. 3 miles of easy riding total.
But wait, there's more! I had band practice at night, as we are playing our first show in a year and a half. We'll again be performing at the Relay for Life Dinner Dance on March 7th at the Crown Plaza in Warwick. Good two hour practice session. Busy day!
Band practice photo by Jim Avizinis
Tuesday: 11 miles - East Greenwich hilly road loop alone. I feel like I've gotten away from hills unless I'm running local in Burlingame. I wanted an easy day today and decided to run a rather hilly road loop. It ended up not being as much elevation gain as I was looking for, but it does rise from 60' to 400' in the first three miles and then has smaller ups after that. My pace was much quicker than I thought for an easy day. I don't know if that means my easy pace is faster than it should be or what. Total time: 1:15:46. 637' of climbing.
Wednesday: 16 miles on two runs. First, I decided to stop at the URI indoor track on my way to work. My hope was that the track would be quiet and this might prove to be a good option for me. Plus it can give me the opportunity to run doubles. My plan was to run R pace (5:00/mile). I ended up running 400's. As usual, after a couple of intervals, I doubted that I could finish my plan of 8 repeats, but I stuck with it, and got through it without issues. Results: 75/75/74/75/75/74/75/75 with 400m recoveries. I was super pleased for a couple of reasons. First, I was running blind - I didn't monitor my progress during the interval. I ended up right on my target and was extremely consistent. Second, I didn't overexert myself. They felt smooth. Third, I ran them on lap 4 rather than lap 1. The women's tennis team was practicing at the time, and they had parts of lane 1 blocked. Plus, tennis balls were continually flying or rolling across the track. I ended up never getting hit by one. Lane 4 gave me more room to maneuver. The 400 start was marked in the lane too, so it made sense to use it. More gradual turns and less tight turns was a plus too. 7 miles total in 52:56.
Later in the afternoon I ran 9 miles on the Quonset Bike Path and around Calf Pasture Point. My legs felt okay. Total time: 1:05:51.
Thursday: 11.5 miles - Ryan Park trails alone. I was not motivated to run at all today. I finally left work to go run and just went to Ryan Park. My goal was just an easy recovery run for an hour or so. My attitude improved quickly, mostly as I thought about trying this race (the short version). It seems like a good challenge that would be in (or slightly outside of) my wheelhouse. Based on the finish times, it seems like it is the time equivalent to Nipmuck. If I can fit it into my schedule, then it should keep me motivated with my training this winter/spring. Back to the run, I ended up running way longer than I thought, and just kept tacking on more trails. Total time: 1:27:32.
Friday: 11 miles - hilly trails and dirt roads alone. This was sort of a slow paced workout. My plan was to grab elevation on trails. I parked at Cuttyhunk and ran the trails there and then did repeats on unimproved dirt roads (Stony Ln and Pardon Joslin Rd). I ran up and down a rugged rocky climb 3 times on Stony Lane and then did the long dirt (but frozen) climb on Pardon Joslin 3 times. I finished up with more climbing on techy trails in Cuttyhunk. My legs were tired and I took it relatively easy. Total time: 1:25:48 with 1,304' of elevation gain.
After discussing with my manager (wife), I've gone ahead and registered for the Wapack 21.5 Mile Trail Race. I can't wait! To say I'm excited is an understatement.
Saturday: 0 - I didn't meet the guys for the long run in the morning. It was snowing with snow already sticking to the roads and my wife needed to go into work early to clear the walkways. Lazy day with the kids at home.
Sunday: 18 miles - Burlingame long trail run with Yaktrax. Awesome run!! It was sunny and 40 degrees when I left after an early lunch. The trails had a coating of either snow/ice or snow/slush/mud. Perfect Yaktrax conditions. GPS wasn't showing it, but I was pushing myself the entire time. I spent an hour on the north side, going up and down all the hills. I then crossed over and ran down Sammy C's to VG to Schoolhouse Pond trail. Here I caught and passed 4 different mountain bikers who thought I was crazy. I loved it! I continued on to Secret, surprised to see mtn bike tracks in the snow. This trail is incredibly technical. I can't believe anyone can ride it on a normal day, forget about snow. I rejoined the VG trail ready to make the north camp loop when a large animal came charging at me. I froze and the adrenaline pumped through my body. It was a large dark dog - black lab with a large round head (pitbull mix?). I shouted it down. It was acting "friendly" but I was so angry that it scared me that I yelled at the owner to "control your dog". He or she was way back down the trail and did not say anything or react to their dog running away and harassing someone. Immature, but I got caught up in the moment. Anyway, I did not take the camp loop and instead made the loop on the new mtn bike trail and back up VG. I crossed back into north Burlingame and ran more hills before reaching my house. Total time: 2:17:36 with 1,357' of climbing.
Overall: Big week of quality miles, even with a day off. Next week looks challenging with plenty of snow coming.
Weekly Total: 80 miles
Last Week: 73 miles
Year to Date: 255 miles
January Total: 255 miles
I heard from Jess there was gig in the future! Enjoy!
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