Weekly Mileage Log: 31-Dec-2018 to 6-Jan-2019: Musings from the Road, and a Farewell

Monday:  11
Vin Gormley loop, plus Burlingame Trail and up to Kettle Pond ocean lookout tower, with Matthew.  While trails aren't quite as wet as the day of Rhody, the back half was still quite wet.

Tuesday:  9
New Year's Day.  From Canonchet Brook Preserve - North Road trail head, ran Canonchet trails up to Stubtown, the first part of Narragansett trail, and a few roads, with Matthew.  Much of the trails were just soaked from the unusual amount of rain we've had in the fall and winter to date.

In the afternoon, we took Brady for a walk at Grills Preserve.

Brady got lots of attention at home,
including from Matthew and spoiled with a new bed and toys
we bought him.

Wednesday:  6
Back to work.  Ugh.  Solo North End pensive run at lunch.

Thursday:  7

Final run with Brady in RI for a while.  Matthew brought him and met up with me on my lunch break, running CCW from Fallon Trail through Wahaneeta and Woody Trails.   Really fun to watch him bound over fallen logs, blast through stream crossings, and scramble rock faces, all seemingly effortless.

Friday:  0

Long, long drive from Westerly to Myrtle Beach.  Left the house at 4:20am and arrived Myrtle Beach about 9pm.  In between were numerous stops for coffee, meals, bathroom breaks, and dog exercise breaks.  It’s amazing how well Brady travels; certainly much better than me.  We open the back door of the Volvo wagon, he jumps in, lays down on his blanket and makes no noise or fuss.

I drove most of the way, until it started to get dark.  Mark finished the drive to Myrtle Beach.  He started to put on music and I’m reminding myself that everyone’s tastes in music are different and to indulge his hip-hop without complaint.  When what do my wondering ears do hear is none other than the Stones, I am befuddled.  He said, “Dad, I’m going to play some classic rock for you; is that OK?”  Um, yeah, if you insist.  He said the Stones are his favorite rock band, and that’s what most of the music is, but is sprinkled with Def Leppard, Foreigner, and even AC/DC.  I think I’m just tired and this all just a dream.  Weird.

Saturday:  6

Myrtle Beach, SC.  I would be on a tight schedule to get to the Charleston, SC airport for flying home, so I had set my alarm for 6:15am the night before and reviewed the Strava segment that I was planning to gun for.  No dice; I got up in the morning fine, but the black dog was up and waiting for me.  Well, maybe I'll take him and run the segment with him.  It's only a 1.5 mile segment.  Ran the two blocks from the hotel to the beach, and took him off the leash on the beach.  Once I did, he was having fun sprinting up and down the beach, chasing sea foam blowing in the wind, and just enjoying himself.  This would be my last few hours with Brady for months, so I nixed the segment plans and just had fun with him on the beach.

Brady:  a happy dog at the beach

Very well behaved.

Part frolic with Brady, part run, as the sun rose over the ocean.  Warm 51 degrees, so I was just in shorts and short sleeve shirt, but seeing others on the beach, they looked like they were dressed for a cold winter day.  Is 51 degrees cold for SC in January?  After a shower and breakfast, came back to the beach with Mark and Brady for a short playtime, then it was off to the airport with a hug from Brady and sad sendoff as I got on a plane back to RI.  Oh yeah, I'll miss that Mark guy too.

I did have dogs in my childhood, but it's been a while.
(Left to right above:  me, my Dad, my Mom, and our dog Zenta)

I don't know if Brady is smiling as much as I am in this photo,
but I am really missing him now.  I never imagined that.

Musings from the road:

• Tolls in NY and NJ are ridiculously expensive relative to other states.
• Rest areas in NJ are dirty and lack decent and healthy food choices (Roy Rogers greasy food at nearly every stop), whereas the rest areas in MD were very clean and had a wide variety of food choices.
• Pet exercise areas are a nice touch at many rest areas, especially VA and NC.
• I had no idea so many hotels are pet-friendly, but you have to watch their pet cleaning fees, ranging from $0 to $175 per night.
• I am much more awake and alert on the road at 5am than I am at 3pm.
• Our first president should have been honored with a more regal bridge than the one bearing his name crossing from NY to NJ.  That is a really unappealing area.
• Charleston (SC) airport has to be one of the cleanest and most efficient airports that I've ever traveled through.
• The Volvo wagon I gave to Mark is still on the road and in good shape at 202,000 miles.  While it wasn't his first choice, it was free, and seems very suitable to transporting a dog, crate, and various supplies.  Hope it lasts him a while.
• Westerly to Myrtle Beach is a damn long drive, and I "only" drove as far as NC.  It would have been much harder alone, and I can't imagine Mark driving solo (even with Brady) straight through from FL.

Sunday:  12
Arcadia Management Area, with Matthew.  I'm always reticent to run in Arcadia without folks that know the area better than me (that would be most anyone who goes to Arcadia on a semi-regular basis).   However, recent runs there, mostly with Jonathan Short leading the way, have boosted my confidence and this run went really well.  Started on eastern end of Mt Tom trail, ran the length of Mt Tom Trail, followed by Escoheag, Breakhart, and JB Hudson trails.  Mt Tom north of 165 was absolutely flooded and not too much fun, but all the rest worked out great.

Weekly mileage:  51

Weekly synopsis:  It's odd that 51 is a "down week" for me, but it is.  So happy to be running injury free.

Weekly highlight:  I really had a lot of fun runs this past week, so it's hard to pick a single one.  I would say the Woody Hill trail run with Matthew and Brady, only because I loved the terrain and the trails weren't flooded like so many other recent runs.  The way Matthew and Brady were bounding about suggests it wasn't a bad run for them either.

Weekly lowlight:  That's easy:  the departure of Brady.