Miscellaneous ramblings:
Is "elbow grease" still in the vernacular? Gave Mark his first lesson on pumping gas, and he took out the nozzle too fast and spilled gas on my car.
I had him use a squeegee to try to get some of the gas off the paint and when I told him to apply some elbow grease, he looked around and asked me where they keep it!
Turned away from this band for a number of years, when one day this week I heard "Thunderstruck" play on the radio. Not one of their most popular songs and I generally think of any music from the 1990s to be too new, but what a cool song!
Time to revisit AC/DC.
Monday: 0
Tuesday:
Morning snowshoe in Grills with the Westerly Land Trust crew. This was a lot of fun. Will have to get snowshoes for 2015-16 winter season.
 |
Snowshoeing on Grills Orange trail
with Westerly Land Trust crew
(7 of us in total) |
 |
Looking towards Kedincker Island from Blue Trail:
mid-March and still frozen over and covered in snow |
5 miles. Peppy lunchtime run in Avondale.
Wednesday:
6 miles. Needham, MA. FINALLY the streets and paved paths were clear enough to go outside. My winter running on the treadmill is finally done. When I ran past the track, I could see snowpiles in there, so I ran through freshly plowed paths to the track to take a look-see. Mistake!
I got close to the track to see it was plowed but still a thin coat of snow/ice, and then it happened. Wham! Slipped on ice and went down hard on my right knee. Stayed down for a minute or two to gain my composure, as it really smarted. Got up and seeing the stream of blood, put my knee in the nearest snowbank to try to stem the flow. Did that until my knee was too cold, and then onwards. By the time I got back to the Y, I looked down and saw blood had soaked into my socks and shoes and was still coming down. My first instinct was to get my phone and take a pic for the blog, but I saw the sight was freaking out a Mom and little kid, so into Y and shower. Fortunately, no one else in shower as the blood was turning the water red. After a long shower, went to get dressed but the damned thing is still bleeding! It won't do to have blood stained dress pants at the office. I can't go out to the front desk and ask for a Band-Aid while I'm naked. Hmmm, what to do? Thought of shaving cuts and how tissue stops the blood, and did the same on a larger scale with toilet paper on my knee. It worked!
Thursday:
3 miles. The distance belies the effort, as I ran in deep snow trails in Grills to prepare for Saturday's race. Fun, but exhausting!
 |
Deep, deep, slushy snow at
Big Hill made the going challenging
and slow for me
(No human footprints this far in other than my own) |
Friday:
6 miles. When I got the e-mail that Brrr-lingame 10 Miler was to postponed for two weeks, I was so bummed and depressed. (I know FiveK and Mikey felt the same.) I respect Mike G's decision, but I figured deep snow and predicted pouring rain for Saturday would make for the ultimate sufferfest.
Fast forward to the afternoon. Working downtown with a vendor session finishing up early, my boss' boss told me not to return to the office and just get a head start on the weekend! With my running gear in the car, you don't need to ask me twice! Changed at the Y and ran out Canal, Springbrook, Boombridge, and back through the North End. Running, as usual, did help with my mood.
Saturday:
20 miles. It turns out I'd have my own private sufferfest. Not knowing where I wanted to run, but knowing I wanted a break from running from the Y or Misquamicut, I drove to Burlingame Campground and made it up as I went along. Started running up Klondike when a pickup truck drove past me and then stopped, putting the window down. It turned out to be Charlestown trail runner and multiple Ironman Eric Winn who drove alongside me for the next few miles and chatted. He was disappointed on today's race postponed as well, but he had a real gripe as it was his 4th race cancelled in recent weeks!
Continued north up to Buckeye Brook and back Route 216, a local neighborhood, and then crossed Route 1 to run West Beach, Central Beach, and East Beach. East Beach still looked like mid-winter with ice covered slick roads and deep puddles that I waded through. Back to the car at about 15 miles in, I paused for a Gu and a drink. Light rain when I started, but it was pouring by now. Changed my dripping wet gloves for dry ones and thought about changing into dry shoes, but why bother? Carried my Yaktrax, ran 4 more miles on Burlingame roads to make 19, then donned the Yaks and hit the trails. Just as Mike G described, deep slushy snow made it really difficult to maneuver. I was going at about a 15-minute pace, but still glad to be out here on yet another snow run as I suspect that may be about it for the season. Got back to the car cold, drenched, and weak, but glad I put the effort in.
Sunday:
8 miles. Got a text from Mikey the evening before that people were running from Tom's in the morning so I figured I'd join. 8 people showed up! Usual Weekapaug roads and beach. Was thankful for the stop on the beach, as the run felt fast paced on my fatigued legs. Good way to end the week.
Weekly Mileage Log:
0
0. Gotta back to the biking and swimming.
49
miles. Started out really slow, but got in some good miles late in week.
