Weekly Log 30-Apr to 6-May-2018

On a whim, I entered the lottery for next year's London.
Unlikely that I'll even get in.  If I do, I'll have to assess at that time.
Certainly one of my favorite cities to visit, let alone run in.

Monday:  0

Tuesday:  8
Fun road run.   "Fun" and "road run" can sometimes by an oxymoron to me, but I really do enjoy running the quiet country roads in Richmond and Hopkinton, as I did today.  Even dragged Tommy out here once for a change of scenery.  Fast (for me) average pace of 6:40, with one downhill mile of 5:57 thrown in towards the end.

Wednesday:  6
Lunchtime run in Woody Hill.  First 70 degree day of the year, and I paid for it.  Ran shirtless, which felt really good, but I feel like even in the woods I got a little sunburned.  The trails were fun, and especially a relatively new MTB called "Leaning Chimney".  I was thinking that I already knew where all the original foundations were in Woody Hill from the pre-1936 US Government purchase, but this will be really fun to see and go by a "new" chimney.  Looked the whole way, and was disappointed never to see the chimney.  Googled it later and it turns out it's a beer reference.  Darn, I was excited to find some more history.  (On the plus side, "Leaning Chimney" is my kind of trail:  twisty, climbs, relatively long, and mostly uninterrupted by trail intersections.)

Thursday: 6
Early for me run at 6:20am.  (Mid-morning for JV)  Road run from the house, through River Bend, up by the hospital and back roads through to Rotary Park.  In Rotary Park, saw a large deer that didn't quite know what to make of me.  (Most people don't know what to make of me, let alone animals.)

Friday:  5
Ran a lackluster neighborhood road run in the evening, but my heart was just not into it.

Tough day today.  Spent most of the day at services for Steve Bousquet, who passed away suddenly and much too early at age 68.  While my association with Steve is through my friend Tommy 5K, over the years Steve and Mary have become extended family friends of ours, as well as vocal supporters cheering us on at many running events.  The last time I saw Steve alive was a few weeks ago at the Clamdigger.  He came up to me before the start of the race and told me that he had scouted out the competition and was pretty sure I would win today, and offered me good luck.  I thanked him, but told him I didn't think it would happen.  Steve was right; I was wrong.  I came from behind in the 2nd half of the 5K and won.  That is just such a great personal memory for me of the kind and supportive man that Steve was.  I was honored to serve as a pallbearer for Steve, but will miss his smile, warmth, and gentle teasing.

Rest in peace, Steve.

Saturday:  7
Ran trails in Big River with WTAC teammate Jonathan Short, who fortunately was also my guide.  Ran for only the 2nd time ever in the SW section of Big River, and would have been completely lost on my own.  Ran just about all single-track, excepting a few connecting sections on dirt roads.

Sunday:   7
Nice run of the Groton Cross-Town Trail with Matthew.  About 1 mile of roads to start, and then pretty much all single track.

Weekly mileage:  40 

Weekly synopsis:  40 is probably laughable to Jonny and some of the others at the top of the WTAC leaderboard, but for me, this was the first 40-mile week since February.  Trending in the right direction.  To keep my motivation and mileage going, started looking into and registering for a few run races.  Updated my race schedule, and will continue to evaluate and look for other fun races.