Weekly Log 6-Feb to 12-Feb-2017: The Return of Winter!

February picture on my 2017 running calendar in my office.
Why am I toiling behind a desk, instead of out on adventure runs in cool places?
Oh, yeah, I need to toil in order to pay for cool adventures.
Or, as a running friend quipped to me today,
"I work so I can live, not live to work".

Monday: 7
Course scouting at Stonington High School.  Really happy that Tom, as both a WTAC runner and Stonington school system employee, is helping out with negotiating events at SHS.  Tom joined me today to help evaluate and plan out a course for an August event which I think we'll call Summer Cross Country Fun Run.

Tuesday:  5


Wet rainy run on slippery rocks at Riverbend Preserve.  Did a little exploring on an alternate trail that also starts near the campground, but veers out of Riverbend.  Boy, did it get sketchy real fast.  Ended up behind what looked like some sort of industrial dumping ground off Frontage Road.

One sketchy trail led me to this.
I don't think this vehicle has moved in a few decades.
 

It's a shame this area is defiled.
Some really neat rock ledges.
I hope the WLT is successful one of these days
in expanding Riverwood and getting
a better access point.

Wednesday:  6
Late afternoon progression run on local roads.

Thursday:  7
SNOWSTORM!!!  6 mile run with Matthew in whiteout conditions in a winter snowstorm.  No other runners or walkers out on this run.  Fun to be out there, but in open spaces the snow was stinging my face.  Winds up to 32 mph.

Whiteout!

Matthew running in the snowstorm.

1+ mile snowshoe run 'round the neighborhood.  Unplowed streets at night with a headlamp.  Tough going.  My neighbor Greg was out shoveling when I came by running in snowshoes with my pulsating headlamp.  He said, "Jeff, I would call you crazy, but you just go way beyond that.".  I like Greg!

What the run and snowshoe didn't take out of me,
the heavy and deep shoveling the next morning did.

Friday:  9
Roads, ice, and deep snow.  Ran CCW on the 'Round the Pond loop.  As Matthew had warned me, the ice was not unexpected on Atlantic Ave.  In fact, it was welcomed, as I had put Yak-trax in my pockets.  Had fun running on the ice, even did a few fast strides on them.

The micro-spikes in front and
coils in the back kept me upright on Atlantic Ave.

Bummed when the ice ended and resumed on bare pavement until I got to Cove Road and was able to put them on again for another short trek.  After the next few miles on pavement and now in the dark on Shore Road, it was good to duck into the woods in Champlin.  Deep powder!

Deep powder in Champlin under a full moon.

Saturday:  5
A planned full moon snowshoe run fell apart Friday evening.  Another attempt at a group snowshoe run for Saturday morning fell apart.  I got an invite for a 16-mile road run from two of the newest club members, who are both new to Westerly and training for Boston.
What I should do:  accept the run invite, promote community running, and get in some marathon training myself.
What I actually did:  reflect on the invite for a while and eventually decline in favor of a solo snowshoe run.  I knew if I didn't get out on the trails, I would be cranky.   Making fresh tracks on NST from the campground was quite tough.  Once I got to VG, it was "easier", due to fresh snowshoe tracks already out there.  I caught up to the snowshoe track maker, passed her and her dog saying hello, and trekked on as far as the covered bridge before turning around. 

Snowshoeing in Burlingame:
I never get tired of the majestic beauty of winter.

The Covered Bridge, aptly covered in snow.

Perry Healey Brook ensconced in powdery snow.  Beautiful.

After reading "Running While Female:  A Special Report on the Scourge of Harassment" [Runner's World, December 2016], I am careful to just say hello to single female runners I encounter and keep going, so hopefully I don't make my female counterparts uncomfortable.  However, after I turned around at the bridge, and caught back up to the same woman snowshoeing, something made me stop and talk to her.  She was very comfortable talking to me about this being her first time on this trail, so I decided she was OK talking to me and I stayed for a couple minutes to talk about the trail and her dog.  I felt badly as she explained her dog had just gone blind, the dog used to like coming out snowshoeing with her, etc.  Next I came across an XC skier, also a female out by herself, and I got the sense that she was keeping her distance from me, which is fine, so it was a "hello" and move on.



Back home and making more snow adventures.
Some day I will grow up.  Today is not that day.

Sunday:  7
Another day of skipping a long run.  Yes, it was cold and snowy, but Jonny got in a 21-miler, so no excuses.  Actually, I am full of excuses:  a very late night out [anything beyond 9pm constitutes a late night], a neighbor cracking open a very fine 21-year old single malt (does that count instead of a 21-miler?), and rich food at a neighborhood party. 


Way out of my budget, but oh so smooth.

Went out in a snowglobe, ran wet snow covered streets until I got to the beach, where I was just pelted by freezing rain on the face and legs.  Returned in a snow-rain mix before it went over to all rain.  :(

Weekly mileage:  48

Weekly synopsis:  Disappointing quantitative effort.  Great qualitative effort.  I should be upset with myself for skipping the long run, and it's certainly not going to help me with the marathon, but life is short and playing out in the snow was much more appealing to me.  Have fun out there, friends!