Monday: 6
Christmas Eve run with Brady in Burlingame. There was a light coating of snow, but really more run mud than snow on this run. Put an orange vest on him as we were going in hunting areas; he hated it and pulled at it. On Sammy C's, he would stop at the bottom of rocks, until I went past him and up the rocks and he finally figured out to just go up and over the rocks each time.
On a rock bridge crossing a swollen river, he fell off right into the river waist deep! It was my turn next on a low-lying puddle that he impressively leaped over, while I tried to cross on a snow-covered log and went into the drink. Ankle-deep, no big deal, but my feet were now soaked and it's 32 degrees.
Tuesday: 7
Christmas Day
Christmas Day run with Matthew and Brady. Road/trail/field mixer, including trails in Champlin, and fields in Winnapaug Farm Preserve. Brady would take off like a bat out of hell for the first mile or two, but was tiring towards the end. He did a lot of sprints to get ahead of us on the trail, then wait for the slowpokes (especially me) to catch up to him, and then repeat, so I guess no surprise that he finally tired out. We'll have to work out some pace training for him.
Wednesday: 12
Boxing day in Newport and Middletown with Matthew. After a mile warm-up from Newport County Y to Easton's Beach, ran the Cliff Walk as a tempo. Was running about 6:40 pace until the terrain turned to rocks, jagged rocks, ice patches, and soft sand. 22 degrees, but bright sunshine warmed me about 1.5 miles in. Inside the first tunnel, my eyes had trouble adjusting, and then I completely missed the hard right turn for the 2nd tunnel and had to backtrack. This was actually the first time that I traversed the entire length of the Cliff Walk (3.4 miles).
After the Cliff Walk tempo, we ran easy on Bellevue Ave past the mansions, and then out on the Pie Run course. After a temporary break at Purgatory Cliffs, we ran repeats on the Paradise Road Pie Run hill, before finishing back at the Y, shower and change, and coffee and a scone at Custom House. Legs a little sore.
Thursday: 13
AM: 8 miles with Matthew, Sam, and Tom at Ninigret Park. Mix of roads and easy trails.
PM: 5 miles with Matthew and Brady at Bradford Preserve. Ran the Pumpkins 8K trails, with me lagging behind them pretty much the whole way.
Friday: 18
Solo run from Richmond (Arcadia Y) into Exeter and Hopkinton on very quiet, very rural roads, including at least five miles on dirt roads. 1,500+ elevation gain on rolling terrain. Cold, soaking rain the whole way. As it was 42 degrees at start, I wore just shorts and a long sleeve shirt (no outerwear, hat, or gloves). I was debating on the gloves, as my hands never really warmed up until I got into the hot shower back at the Arcadia Y, but also didn't want to wear soaked gloves.
It was hard to even get out the door, and I was making up all sorts of abbreviated courses even from the start. After a while I got into a groove and was committed to finishing the eighteen I had planned. On Blitzkrieg Trail deep in the woods, there were actually a few slick spots with fresh snow that must have fallen overnight there, but the rest of the terrain was just wet. Shoes, socks, everything soaked to the skin. No other fools outside during my run. Glad to have gotten this in.
Saturday: 6
Arcadia recovery run with Jonathan Short. Brady joined us and was very well behaved, save for stopping in the middle of the trail. Parked at Midway parking lot; ran up Mt Tom.
Sunday: 15
Road / trail mix with Matthew. From Meadowbrook Pond in Richmond, through Carter Preserve out to Route 112 in Charlestown, through Shannock, Shannock Hill to Pine Hill, and then back North-South Trail. I figured four miles on trails, but it ended up being eight!
About halfway through the run, my legs were getting really tired and I knew I was holding Matthew back, but glad to have gotten this in.
Weekly mileage: 77!
Weekly synopsis: My highest weekly mileage since September 2014! Back then, I was between jobs, had a month off, and ran 102 miles in one week. Somewhat similar conditions in that I had the past week off from work, affording me more mileage opportunities.
Weekly highlight: The 18 mile solo run. I can't say it was really enjoyable in the cold rain, but it was the satisfaction of getting it done and a successful return to long runs. Looking back to this summer when I was unable to run at all, I feel I've come along way and am pretty happy about that.
Weekly lowlight: It's hard to have a lowlight when I got in 77 miles and ran all 7 days. Nope, it was just a great week!
Christmas Eve run with Brady in Burlingame. There was a light coating of snow, but really more run mud than snow on this run. Put an orange vest on him as we were going in hunting areas; he hated it and pulled at it. On Sammy C's, he would stop at the bottom of rocks, until I went past him and up the rocks and he finally figured out to just go up and over the rocks each time.
On a rock bridge crossing a swollen river, he fell off right into the river waist deep! It was my turn next on a low-lying puddle that he impressively leaped over, while I tried to cross on a snow-covered log and went into the drink. Ankle-deep, no big deal, but my feet were now soaked and it's 32 degrees.
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| He did not like the orange I put on him. |
Tuesday: 7
Christmas Day
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Christmas tree 2018:
A 8' concolor fir
|
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| Christmas tree 2017: the majesty of a 16' tree required a lot of back-breaking work behind the scenes |
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| Christmas loot is much about the running for me: new pair of road shoes, trail shoes, running shorts, and gloves |
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| Brady's first Christmas, so glad he came up to RI |
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| At my Mom's house later Christmas Day. Christmas to me is not about the gifts and money spent, but rather the festivities and decorations and lights of the season and getting together with family and friends. (l-r: my sister-in-law Tina, my two nieces, my Mom [seated upright in black], my sister-in-law Caroline [on carpet], my brother Kurt, Matthew, Mark) |
Wednesday: 12
Boxing day in Newport and Middletown with Matthew. After a mile warm-up from Newport County Y to Easton's Beach, ran the Cliff Walk as a tempo. Was running about 6:40 pace until the terrain turned to rocks, jagged rocks, ice patches, and soft sand. 22 degrees, but bright sunshine warmed me about 1.5 miles in. Inside the first tunnel, my eyes had trouble adjusting, and then I completely missed the hard right turn for the 2nd tunnel and had to backtrack. This was actually the first time that I traversed the entire length of the Cliff Walk (3.4 miles).
After the Cliff Walk tempo, we ran easy on Bellevue Ave past the mansions, and then out on the Pie Run course. After a temporary break at Purgatory Cliffs, we ran repeats on the Paradise Road Pie Run hill, before finishing back at the Y, shower and change, and coffee and a scone at Custom House. Legs a little sore.
Thursday: 13
AM: 8 miles with Matthew, Sam, and Tom at Ninigret Park. Mix of roads and easy trails.
PM: 5 miles with Matthew and Brady at Bradford Preserve. Ran the Pumpkins 8K trails, with me lagging behind them pretty much the whole way.
Friday: 18
Solo run from Richmond (Arcadia Y) into Exeter and Hopkinton on very quiet, very rural roads, including at least five miles on dirt roads. 1,500+ elevation gain on rolling terrain. Cold, soaking rain the whole way. As it was 42 degrees at start, I wore just shorts and a long sleeve shirt (no outerwear, hat, or gloves). I was debating on the gloves, as my hands never really warmed up until I got into the hot shower back at the Arcadia Y, but also didn't want to wear soaked gloves.
It was hard to even get out the door, and I was making up all sorts of abbreviated courses even from the start. After a while I got into a groove and was committed to finishing the eighteen I had planned. On Blitzkrieg Trail deep in the woods, there were actually a few slick spots with fresh snow that must have fallen overnight there, but the rest of the terrain was just wet. Shoes, socks, everything soaked to the skin. No other fools outside during my run. Glad to have gotten this in.
Saturday: 6
Sunday: 15
Road / trail mix with Matthew. From Meadowbrook Pond in Richmond, through Carter Preserve out to Route 112 in Charlestown, through Shannock, Shannock Hill to Pine Hill, and then back North-South Trail. I figured four miles on trails, but it ended up being eight!
About halfway through the run, my legs were getting really tired and I knew I was holding Matthew back, but glad to have gotten this in.
Weekly mileage: 77!
Weekly synopsis: My highest weekly mileage since September 2014! Back then, I was between jobs, had a month off, and ran 102 miles in one week. Somewhat similar conditions in that I had the past week off from work, affording me more mileage opportunities.
Weekly highlight: The 18 mile solo run. I can't say it was really enjoyable in the cold rain, but it was the satisfaction of getting it done and a successful return to long runs. Looking back to this summer when I was unable to run at all, I feel I've come along way and am pretty happy about that.
Weekly lowlight: It's hard to have a lowlight when I got in 77 miles and ran all 7 days. Nope, it was just a great week!
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