Monday: 0
Planned rest day.
Tuesday: 0
Cold, dreary, and raining. Just not into it at all. Tired of seemingly endless dreary days lately. Maybe I'll run a double tomorrow. Maybe not.
Wednesday: 5
Blue Ridge Reservation, Needham, MA. Tried a new place today, and wasn't disappointed. 350+ acres, but because a lot of wetlands, there aren't a lot of trails.
Early on, I took an unmarked single-track that ended up on a very wet grass field. There was an old road that led here and ended and not much else. It gave me the sense that this was a remnant of something else from the past, and I was afraid it was a former landfill or worse, some sort of contaminated site. Researching this later, it turns out this field was a former missile site from the Cold War! It was built in the 1950s to be used against the USSR, but of course never was.
Thursday: 11
Noon: 6 mile progression run on a day when the sun finally appeared after many dreary days. 7:05, 6:51, 6:40, 6:17, 6:09, 5:53. Was sucking wind the last two miles.
PM: 5 mile "easy" trail run through Woody Hill. The pace was easy enough, but the legs were feeling it from the progression run just 3 hours earlier.
Friday: 5
After a single day of sunshine, the weather returned to dismal rain. Leaving work in rain, I drove past the Y and was very tempted to turn in the parking lot and just run on the treadmill for the first time in two years. Then the thought of so many other people doing the same thing in this cold rain turned me off.
Off to Wahaneeta. It wasn't a downpour, but a steady rain at 35 degrees is no picnic either.
Saturday: 14
Tommy and I had plans for a final long run with MP. The plans were 14 miles in Misquamicut, with 6 at MP. And then the bad weather came. April Fool's Day, but no April Fool's joke. Pouring rain overnight, temps in the 30s and wind 30+mph. Not the best conditions for a workout run.
Tom opted for an indoor (i.e., treadmill) run, but that's not my thing, so I held off until the afternoon when the rain let up and I took a 2-pronged approach:
Recovery run. Led a Back Road Ramble course preview for two of my fellow race committee members. They both enjoyed the course; looking forward to this race June 11!
Weekly mileage: 41
Weekly synopsis:
Quarter 1 finished with 599 run miles to my credit. Against a 2017 full year goal of 2,400 miles, I would say I'm pretty much exactly on track. (No, I didn't game it.)
In taper mode now for the marathon. Just less than two weeks to go.
Planned rest day.
Tuesday: 0
Cold, dreary, and raining. Just not into it at all. Tired of seemingly endless dreary days lately. Maybe I'll run a double tomorrow. Maybe not.
Wednesday: 5
Blue Ridge Reservation, Needham, MA. Tried a new place today, and wasn't disappointed. 350+ acres, but because a lot of wetlands, there aren't a lot of trails.
 |
| Slick in a few places with residual snow and ice, but April is 3 days away and even I am now looking forward to [somewhat] warmer temps and dry trails. |
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| Spooked a couple of ducks in this pond along the trail. This reservation was completely deserted except for me, two ducks, and close to a dozen deer that I later spooked. |
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| Generally very well marked trails. |
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| Very cool boardwalk on the "Swamp Trail". |
Early on, I took an unmarked single-track that ended up on a very wet grass field. There was an old road that led here and ended and not much else. It gave me the sense that this was a remnant of something else from the past, and I was afraid it was a former landfill or worse, some sort of contaminated site. Researching this later, it turns out this field was a former missile site from the Cold War! It was built in the 1950s to be used against the USSR, but of course never was.
Thursday: 11
Noon: 6 mile progression run on a day when the sun finally appeared after many dreary days. 7:05, 6:51, 6:40, 6:17, 6:09, 5:53. Was sucking wind the last two miles.
PM: 5 mile "easy" trail run through Woody Hill. The pace was easy enough, but the legs were feeling it from the progression run just 3 hours earlier.
Friday: 5
After a single day of sunshine, the weather returned to dismal rain. Leaving work in rain, I drove past the Y and was very tempted to turn in the parking lot and just run on the treadmill for the first time in two years. Then the thought of so many other people doing the same thing in this cold rain turned me off.
Off to Wahaneeta. It wasn't a downpour, but a steady rain at 35 degrees is no picnic either.
 |
| Stopped in my tracks in this mud, as a sucking sound indicated my shoe was about to become separated from me and swallowed in the mud abyss. |
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| While the stream was cold, it seemed a good move to get rid of a lot of the mud on my shoes. |
Tommy and I had plans for a final long run with MP. The plans were 14 miles in Misquamicut, with 6 at MP. And then the bad weather came. April Fool's Day, but no April Fool's joke. Pouring rain overnight, temps in the 30s and wind 30+mph. Not the best conditions for a workout run.
Tom opted for an indoor (i.e., treadmill) run, but that's not my thing, so I held off until the afternoon when the rain let up and I took a 2-pronged approach:
- 7 miles solo at MP in Misquamicut. Really tough going in the wind, but I got it done. Average 6:24 pace for 7 miles.
- 7 miles with Matthew in Green Hill. Fortunately Matthew has his first outdoor track meet in 2 days, so he was taking the pace a bit easier. The wind was still strong, but a bit more protected for the most part as compared to my Misquamicut run. Matthew mapped this one out, a mix of roads and trails through Trustom. I hiked with the family many years ago at Trustom Pond, but this was my first time running there. A sign stated "No jogging", so we made sure we stuck to running and avoided jogging.
Recovery run. Led a Back Road Ramble course preview for two of my fellow race committee members. They both enjoyed the course; looking forward to this race June 11!
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| They both loved that I'll have the course go right onto the beach, and stopped to check it out. |
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| A dense woods section on Sammy C's. |
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| Parts of the trail were flooded today. I was happy just splashing right through, but I'm not sure my enthusiasm was shared by all. Regardless, these will likely be dry on race day in June. |
Weekly mileage: 41
Weekly synopsis:
Quarter 1 finished with 599 run miles to my credit. Against a 2017 full year goal of 2,400 miles, I would say I'm pretty much exactly on track. (No, I didn't game it.)
In taper mode now for the marathon. Just less than two weeks to go.
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