Weekly Log 26-Jan to 1-Feb-2015: Blizzard and Super 5K Week

Super 5K week.  With no specific training, I'm without any time expectations heading into the race.  I would say my goals are more to win my age group.  I would super psyched with that.

Monday:
Spin class with Beth.  An unusually quiet and mellow Beth.
750 yards.  Felt sluggish.
5 miles.  Start of the snowstorm.  Run in Champlin.

Tuesday:

Good to know.
I guess I won't go swimming in the ocean today after all.

5 miles.  Snowstorm run with Matthew.

Took a break from shoveling to
go for a run.  The mailbox and newspaper boxes
are in there somewhere.
 

Wednesday:
5 miles.  Ran snowy roads close to home.

Finished shoveling.
No snow in the front yard,
as the blizzard deposited 3' drifts
in the driveway.  Tough shoveling.
We'll leave the newfangled snow
blowers to the young'uns. 
When I was a kid, we walked 10
miles to school ... uphill both
ways ... in a foot of snow ...
barefoot... and we liked it.



Tough going running the
trails in Champlin today.



These back roads were great for running in Yak-Traks today.

Thursday:
8 miles.  Around the pond run at Noontime in high 6s.

Friday:  0
Woke up with achy legs.  Time to take a day off.

Saturday:
5 miles.  Bitter cold and windy.  15 degrees with a 20mph sustained wind.  Brrr!

Sunday:
6 miles.  Super 5K.  Write-up to follow.


Weekly mileage totals:
1x, 0.5 miles
1x, 45 minutes
34 miles

Weekly Log 19-Jan to 25-Jan-2015

Monday:
12 miles.  MLK group run of 8.  After running out to Watch Hill on roads and back the via, most bid their adieu while Jonny, Matthew, and I continued on a romp through Champlin trails.


Very cool pic along the ocean in Misquamicut.  Photo by Shara.

Tuesday:
5 miles.  Solo run from Wahaneeta up into Woody Hill, around the pond and back. Stumbled across some new cut single-track off the main "road".

Wednesday: 
6 miles.  Cold run through Avondale at sunrise.
850 yards.  Lunchtime swim before meeting up with WLT prez to get my latest assignment:  pen a written history of Avondale and the preserve.  I'm up for it and like this kind of research, but just need to take some time to fit it in.

Thursday:
10 miles.  Morning.  Needham, MA.  Track workout with 5 x 1K.
5 miles.  Late afternoon.  Foxboro, MA.  Returning home from a day working in Wellesley with time to kill before a 7:30 indoor track meet (Matthew's) in Providence, I decided to check out Chris' recent run in F Gilbert Hills State Park:

Started off on double-track

Frozen Sunset Lake

Of course the 50-year old kid had to stop and climb this rock

View of the single-track trail I
was running from the rock I just climbed

Friday: 0
Impromptu rest day.  Tired after travels and long day yesterday (left home at 4:30am, returned at 10:30pm).

Saturday:
16 miles.  This early morning run with Muddy had it all:  snow, rain, ice, slush, puddles, and mud.  YMCA to Barn, Barn trails, and return.  Any intention of running MP for any part of the run quickly evaporated due to slick conditions on snow covered trails and roads.  Snow/rain mix start had turned to a soaking rain by finish, and after 2+ hours out there, I was chilled to the bone.  Muddy found the fortitude to continue on the treadmill for a few more while I headed to the sauna to warm up.

Sunday:
5 miles.  Watch Hill very windy run with Matthew.
4 miles.  Plotting 2015 potential Pumpkins course in Woody Hill

Weekly mileage totals:
1x, 0.5 miles
0
63 miles!  Biggest week for me since September.  Of course 63 miles doesn't even get you on the top-3 Strava leaderboard with mileage monsters Muddy, Jonny, and Joe Strafach.

 

Weekly Log 12-Jan to 18-Jan-2015

Monday: 
Spinning.  45 minutes.  Music everything from rap to Michael Jackson, but they did throw me a bone with one AC/DC song.
Pool swim.  900 yards.

Tuesday:
8 miles.  Loop around the pond.  Average 6:28 pace.  Really happy with this one.

Wednesday:
12 miles.  Frozen Blue Heron trails in Dedham/Boston, MA.  15 degrees.  Shorts weather, but barely.  Another runner dressed to the max just looked at me, and said, "Wow!  Really?".  I'm not sure if he was impressed with my toughness or my stupidity.

Thursday:
Zero.  Crazy day.  Went to the funeral of my godfather.  (I'm curious: does that concept still exist?)  He was friends with my parents and he and my father both went to Worcester Academy.  Hadn't see him in almost 3 decades, so I debated going at all.  There were no problems; our lives had just drifted apart. 
You know how when you haven't seen a relative or close friend for a while and you may have remarks typically towards youth like "My, have you grown?".  Well, after 28 years, my godfather's son was himself a grandfather now.  Even after 28 years, his wife and kids recognized me instantly, and showered me with hugs and regaling of stories of me running around with their son as a kid on their 172-acre SK farm.  When they asked me to please not let another 28 years go by, it left me with two moral values:  life is short, and keep up those relationships that you value.

Friday:
6 miles.  Solo coastal run at sunrise.

Saturday:
14 mile group run with Mike B and Jeff Duda.  11 degrees!!  Had to put on tights for the second time this season.  Started out with a 4-mile loop, which worked out well as I was overdressed and stopped back at the car to take off my balaclava and a layer of  clothes.  I was warm for the rest of the run, but meanwhile Mike was collecting ice on his facial hair.

Sunday:
5 miles.  RI section of Narragansett Trail with Matthew.  His suggestion.  Our first part of run was from North Road up to Camp Yawgoog Road, then up and around Hidden Lake and back.  This part of the run was a lot of fun; we just had to slow down quite a bit at frozen stream crossings.  The last part of our run was Long-Ell section, and just too ice choked to be runnable.

Ice covered rocks on the trail made sections un-runnable

Along a ridge;
unauthorized shot

Looking down on frozen Long Pond

Weekly total:  45 miles.  Getting closer to where I want to be.

Resolution 5K

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Not having run much lately and with virtually no training, I had no expectations for this one.  Chilly, but not cold, about 20 degrees at the start with no wind and plenty of sunshine.

Beautiful sunny day at the beach!

Today's WTAC uniform was gray shorts and green shirt.
(We gave up on trying to make Chris presentable)

Mile 1:  After a short warm-up, we exchanged quick pleasantries and were ready for the start.  The siren goes off, and the pace out is FAST.  After 1/2 mile headed southward, you round a cone 180 degrees and head north on the beach.  This is where Dave Principe went by me, and Seth pulled up alongside me.  Ahead of Principe, I could see a group of runners including Muddy and Matthew, and I presumed ahead of them were Chris and Jonny.

Brightman near the front, Muddy two positions behind him in (green),
Matthew chasing down (singlet) before his fall
(All pics here from Jana)

Principe in front of this pack (black), followed by me, then Jonny, then Seth

Mile 2: On the second mile, I hear someone coming up on me on the trail about to pass me and I figured it was Seth.  Jonny?  Where was this guy hiding?  Jonny passes by me and I know Seth is right behind.  On Ocean Road, I can see Matthew just behind Muddy, but once we turn onto the Black Point trails I can't see them anymore.  Just Jonny ahead of me and Principe ahead of him.

Streams to jump over made for an interesting diversion.

Mile 3:  The trail section goes by really quickly, and towards the end of trails and getting close to the stone house, I see Matthew again.  Jonny pulls up to him and passes him easily like he's at a crawl.  Did Matthew just run out of steam?  No, his gait seems off, like he's limping.  I catch up to him and follow him through the stone house.  Exiting the stone wall, onto the beach, I see he's in pain, so I break off to jog with him.  As I do, Seth passes me.  Matthew mentions his fall on ice, and I'm ready to jog him in, when he selflessly waves me off and tells me to get going.  OK, my heart no longer really in it, but I head off in an effort to chase down Seth.  I pass him barely, but as with last year, finish just a few seconds ahead of him.  Final finish?  12th to 15th maybe?  Did win my age group.

*** Viewer's discretion *** - Matthew has posted a pic of his leg on his blog (click to read/view).  I don't know where he gets this notion of posting bloody legs on a blog :)

In the end, his leg is fine and he'll just have some good bruises for a while.  I think he was more upset at not posting a great finish and that it'll likely be a while (due to his schedule) before he's able to run with the WTAC team again.  For myself, I liked this run and had a good time, although I have to say not the thrill that I found at Old Mountain.  I'm questionable for Belleville as it's the same day as Matthew's indoor meet (if it's on 2/7) and unlikely for Big River (if it's on 4/11) as it's one week before Boston, so I'll hopefully make it to Brrr-lingame to close out this fun series for me.

Weekly Log: 5-Jan to 11-Jan-2014: Icebox

Welcome to a new year!  Time to buckle down and get into both starting triathlon training as well as Boston.

Monday:
Spinning 45 minutes.  5:30am class; aiming for this to be a routine.  Liked the instructor and varied workout; didn't care for the music.  Only saving music was the final song, "Ramble On" by Led Zeppelin.  I never knew that this had Tolkien lyrics!  Seth, being a Led Zep and LOTR aaficionado probably did.
850 yards.  3rd time in the pool this season; gradually increasing the yardage.

Tuesday:
6 miles.  Lunchtime Misquamicut run.  21 degrees was the high!  Felt fine until I reached the beach, sunk in sand with both feet, and ocean water poured over me up to my calves.  Long hot shower back home trying to revive the frozen toes.

Wednesday:
7 miles.  Wellesley, MA.  15 degrees.  Shorts.  Decided to stay nearer the [Charles River] YMCA in case I got too cold.  Thought about a track workout, but when I got to the track, it was covered in snow and slick in a few spots.  Ran laps around an athletic field that is almost 1 mile in circumference.  Was happy to see two other runners, albeit not in shorts.

Thursday:
5 miles. 1 degree!  This is the weather that separates the men from the boys.  Dug out my tights for the first time of the season, and donned a balaclava as well.  By Mile 2, I was toasty!

Brrr!

The latest in running fashion!

Friday:
5 miles.  Champlin trails on freshly fallen snow.  Fun!

Saturday:
3 miles.  Run with Jana on South County Bike Path, in between events at Matthew's invitational at URI.

Sunday:
7 miles.  Resolution 5K.  Write-up shortly.

Weekly mileage totals:
1x, 0.5 miles.
1x, 45 minutes.
34 miles.

Week wrap:  On the plus side, happy that I actually started biking (spinning) and swimming, and had a fun time as usual as Resolution 5K.  On the downside, really disappointed with 34 miles of running.  Yes, cold weather and on-and-off shin splints played into that, but on the other hand, I only have 14 weeks left before Boston (YIKES!) and need to step it up.