Monday: 7 miles - 1:01:15. Snowshoe run in Ryan Park with Gunshow and Galoob. It felt like old times, meeting up with these two guys for a midday adventure. The temperature was still nippy (20's). We headed out in the still deep snow from Ben's new house/farm that borders Ryan Park. Breaking trail was tough, but conditions were much better on the railbed. It was relatively hard packed by cross country ski tracks and walkers. To my surprise, most of the single track trails were also well tracked. We weaved around the east side of the park and then returned to the railbed and did a short loop on the west side before ending back at Ben's. GPS had this at 5.6 miles, but it felt like 7 to me.
Tuesday: 11 miles - 1:37:43. Long solo snowshoe run in Ryan Park. It was a quiet day at work and I had the opportunity for a 1.5 hour run. The rain was holding off and the temperature was now in the 40's. This was perhaps my last chance to snowshoe run for a while so I went for it. Conditions were awesome! The packed trails were melting, but solid footing for my snowshoes. Trail shoes would have been posthole hell. I wore less winter layers. I pretty much exhausted most trails in the park, except that extreme west side was not packed at all. I did the Rte 4 trail, following one pair of boot tracks - that's it. This was tiring, but the rest of the run was mellow and pleasant. GPS had me at 9.1 miles.
Wednesday: 10 miles - 1:23:48. Saunderstown mix. I parked at the King Preserve parking lot on Rte 1A. Very warm (50's) and rather sunny. I ran around the Plum Beach neighborhood roads before jumping on the beach and running north. The tide was super low, and I debated ditching my planned loop to see if I could make the Plum Point - Casey Point connection. I decided to press on with my course. So much coastline was exposed and I was clearly running well under the normal low tide mark. I made my way around Rome Point and then jumped back on the roads, this time heading south, mostly on Gilbert Stuart Rd. It was then time to hit the trails in King Preserve. The trails were in worse shape than I thought, and I had low expectations. I tried to find the firmest options, and made my way over to the dirt road on the south side. This hardpacked dirt road was so soft. I got rather messy. I finished up with a mile plus heading north on 1A, mixing in 5 strides.
"GPS looks like Bart Simpson giving someone the finger"
Quote by BLS 1-11-2017
Thursday: 11+ miles - 1:25:29. Narragansett loop with Galoob. Easy paced run mostly on roads in Middlebridge and Bonnet Shores, but included some dirt on Walmsley Ln and Bonnet Shores beach. Very warm (56 degrees).
Friday: 11 miles - 1:21:40. Charlestown Chili 5K course finalizing in Ninigret Park. Quiet in the park, and I had a good chunk of time to work on the course. I was happy that my idea squeezed in rather nicely. Out on the bike path to the crit course and back on the bike path. My first run at 7:15 average pace netted 3.09 miles. The second run was faster (6:35 ave. pace) with optimal tangents(?), and came out as 3.06. I'm not surprised that faster on GPS usually equates to shorter. I will run it again (same start and finish line) nice and slow and see what I get. I may need to tweak start or finish lines. Here is a quick course map I did (looks like a toddler may have done it....):
Charlestown Chili 5K, Saturday January 28th, 1PM
New bike path!
Can't wait to have the race use this!
Saturday: 16 mile double. AM 10.5 miles - 1:21:44. Burlingame trails with Jon Short and Jeff. Up Sammy C's at a brisk pace (I was dragging a bit), then VG to Lenny's Lane, over to a loop of VG, unnamed trail, Stillwater Rd, and white dot. VG back to King's Factory Rd. Chilly, but good fun. I went home and stacked wood for about an hour. After lunch - 5.5 hike with Sarah and the kids to my parents' house via Burlingame trails. 3 miles of no whining, and the kids carrying their backpacks with gear necessary for their overnight stay. Sarah and I hiked back, cutting off part of the trails as it was very cold and looking like it may snow any minute. Met up again with Jon Short and his better half in Westerly at the Malted Barley before heading over to the Knickerbocker to watch Soulshot play. Missed the Patriots game, but I always enjoy this talented 10 or 11 piece band play. Tiring day!
Sunday: 19 miles - 2:15:00. Long run / workout mix solo. I wasn't going to be able to join the group long run that I was planning which was frustrating. Oh well. I hoped I could still get a good run in at some point during the day, but truthfully, my body was rather tired from a busy Saturday and a big week of miles. It turned out that I could get out around 11am for the long run I desired. I quickly put together a nearby loop of trails and roads. My idea was to run the road sections at marathon pace and run easyish on the trails. I began at Meadowbrook Pond and saw Galoob's car in the parking lot. I thought about running my loop in reverse thinking that I might run into him, but I figured he had been running for quite some time and probably wouldn't want to join me for my loop. I warmed up for 1/4 mile on the road, then picked up the pace since I was on roads, and a flat one to boot. The speed felt challenging without a proper warm up, but after tackling the rise over the train tracks, it was a breeze to speed down hill and then the flats leading to Carter Preserve. I ran the frozen and lightly snow coated powerline trail. I was wearing road shoes, and I was slipping a little bit with every step. Not a big deal, but it proved to be tiring as the run went on. Anyway, I jumped onto the wooded single track and made my way over to Charlestown School. After this pleasant 3 miles it was back to pavement, and my longest stretch of it for my run - almost 5 miles. I ran down into Shannock and then had to battle a continuous uphill the rest of the way (North Rd and Beaver River Rd). After a while, I got into a good groove. I was moving too fast for true marathon pace, but I was doing work and feeling good about it. I finally made it to my turn off - still briefly paved but snow covered, and I fell into a jog. 4.67 miles at 6:12 ave. pace. I was happy, although struggled up the slippery Wilbur Hill in the Grass Pond Preserve. My respite on the trails was short lived, and it was back on pavement. I now headed west down Wilbur Hill Rd and along Kenyon Hill Rd. I reached my planned turnoff onto the NST in Carolina, but decided to tackle the huge hill in front of me. I was again moving well (sub 6:10 for almost 2 miles), and I was making good work of the hill. The steepness and length eventually took its toll, and I stopped once the road turned into dirt. Kind of lame, but I was toast. I jogged up the rest of the hill and then into Carolina. I missed a planned turn, which added distance, more hills, and better trails. I'm pretty sure I was seeing Galoob's tracks in the snow. After a pleasant stroll (except for my tightness from slipping), I reached Pine Hill Rd. This would be a short paved section, but uphill on tired legs. It was a grind, but indeed short. Back on trails. I was feeling really good for 2 hours of running (and 80+ miles for the week). I reached the open fields and the sun felt warm and the snow was gone. I jumped onto Rte 91 for one more mile of speed (6:08), and then did a short cool down before stopping at 2 hours and 15 minutes. My lower core was very tight and pain was setting in. I took some vitamin I and felt fine ever since.
Week to Date: 85 miles
January to Date: 135 miles
Year to Date: 135 miles
