Weekly Log 17-Sep-12 to 23-Sep-12

Monday:  0

Tuesday:

4 miles at 4:30AM.  Comfortable 53^o under a starry sky.  Tom Harvey / Wicklow loop.

Wednesday:
28 mile 5-town ride solo 6:30AM.  Heavy winds accompanied by light rain at start; one half of my brain told me to go back home where it's warm; fortunately the other half called me a pansy and told me to keep moving.  Headed through downtown, and then 2 to 49 to junction of 216 in North Stonington.  Hilly and headed into the NW wind from Pawcatuck all the way up 2 / 49.
I was getting up into Crutchley territory here, but didn't see the man; he was probably out doing his favorite pasttime:  face-plants into spider webs while running local trails.

This massive guy freaked me out when I came around the darkish corner on 216; good thing I realized
he was made out of stone and wasn't going to eat me.  I think the chain he proudly wears around his neck
was the bike chain from the last cyclist he ate, shortly before being turned to stone.

Rode 216 the entire length through Clark's Falls (beautiful farmlands and fields), Ashaway, and down into Charlestown, then Route 1 / Shore Road home.  Pushed it on long sections of 216 and Route 1 at 25+ mph steady, but that was courtesy of a tailwind that I had fought in the first half.  Good workout:  28.3 miles, average 17 mph, max 33.  Rain went away, and then sun came out just as I finished.
1 mile.  Why bother, right?  Because it was just to simulate T2 and getting into the run after a long bike, both as prep for Sunday's tri. 

Thursday:
7+ miles mid-afternoon.  Perfect tonic to a rotten night of repeated phone calls from India and getting only 3 hours of sleep.  2 mile warm-up, then a mile hard into the wind on Atlantic Ave at 5:55 pace.  Follow with 2+ miles of bliss:  on the beach, near low tide, sunny and tailwind, nary a soul in sight.

Friday:
7+ miles at 4:45AM with Tom from my house.  Along the water in Avondale, then Browning cut-through to Ocean View and Misquamicut, and back.  Good run, solid 6:43 pace.
1/2 mile ocean swim with Steve at 6:15.  When I told my mother and brothers two days ago that I would be swimming in the ocean before sunrise, they really thought I was nuts.  Telling them that was after I would be running with another friend at 4:45AM didn't help my sanity case.  Water was really smooth, out and back 12-minutes each way.  Fairly straight line except having to swim out further into the ocean around a group of men fishing from shore.  Water was still warm, but shivered for a long time getting out of the water into 48^o air.

Saturday:
6 miles. 1st day of fall. From my HS alma mater south on Switch Road to 91, then North-South Trail to Pine Hill Road, and back local roads just in time to see Mark and his JV soccer team beat CHS JV. (Varsity was a different story, so we won't talk about that.)

Sunday:
1/2 mile likely final ocean swim of the year.  OCY Tri.
24 miles.  OCY Tri, plus ride to/from, and warm-up.
4 miles.  OCY Tri - see separate write-up.

Weekly totals:

Run:  29 miles
Bike:  52 miles
Swim:  1.0 miles

Week wrap-up:
The summer and tri season have now sadly come to an end.  I may go on some fall casual bike rides, but the competition has ended and the swimming is done.  As usual, the summer has gone by far too quickly, but now it's time to focus on the fall.  Next weekend will be a new pinnacle for me with a trail marathon - trying to stay calm and keep it as a "fun" event.  Beyond that, I've got way too many races on the calendar and am thinking of scrapping the Penguin and maybe even Pumpkin run, and get back to 2-3 races per month tops instead of the more recently 1-2 races per week.