Weekly Log 25-Mar to 31-Mar-2019

Miscellaneous ramblings:

• If I were to resume running Boston some year, it seems like the Eastern States 20-miler in March, from ME to MA, would be a fun and good final tune-up race.
• Americans are no longer the tallest people in the world, and the Dutch now have that title.   Yeah, sorry to bring you down, USA; I definitely didn't help.
• Why is it that coffee syrup is so much more expensive than chocolate syrup?  Is it because there isn't much of a market outside of RI?
• Why do a number of people think that Marty is creepy?  He did get in my way a couple of weeks ago when I was picking out fruit, but I still think he's pretty neat.  I wish I could talk to him and ask him questions (like where can I find wasabi?, or what's his best 5K time?), and I think I heard that's in the future plans for him.

Marty, the relatively new Stop & Shop robot,
moving about the store today.

• I'd really like to run a trail race with a water crossing this year.  At least knee-deep would be good.  Any suggestions?

 

I'm thinking something like this
(last month at USATF 50K trail championships in CA).

Monday:  10
AM:  6 miles at Wilson Mountain, Dedham, MA.  2 loops up and down Wilson Mountain.  Tried to push it moderately on the "up" sections, and took it a little easier coming down.  Panting pretty good by the top.  Cooled down in the flat trails of Whitcomb Woods across the street.  Seven dogs on the trails today; fortunately, in contrast to my last visit here, these were all gazelle-friendly.

PM:  4 miles at Big River, West Greenwich, RI.  Cliff Dimon, on the recovery from a bad foot burn, was my willing tour guide this afternoon.  Appreciated his taking the time to point out trail intersections and where they go, including two places where I've gotten lost in the past.

Tuesday:  5
Noontime run at Barn Island.  Low 40s, felt very warm.  Trails drying up nicely.  Stuck to mostly single-track.  A few "old people" out on the trails; must be nice to be retired.  Some day ...

Wednesday:  9
AM:  5 miles.  Actually got up when my alarm went off and got out there!  Went to Bradford Preserve, only to find that I brought two different shoes, a minimus trail shoe and a regular trail shoe.  Ugh.  Well, I'm here, so I might as well as get something in.  5 miles, including 5 x Pumpkin Hill up, and 2 x Monument Hill down.

PM:   4 miles.  Got out of the dentist with just an hour before having to pick up my car from service.  Was hoping to run Burlingame, but with that short time window I'd have to stay in Westerly.  Went to Woody Hill fearing a scourge of mountain bikers when what I really wanted was solitude, so I made sure to go to Fallon Trail trailhead instead of Bradford Preserve.  Success!  The only person I saw was Tom Beattie out walking with his three dogs on the trails.  Made a quick loop around the pond and a little bit into southern part of Woody, before having to turn around.  Was told I had to pick up my car by 5pm, and got there at 4:59pm!  So I guess I could have run just a little bit further before turning around?  :)

Thursday:  5
South Woody Hill.  Morning run.  There aren't many trails in the southern portion of Woody Hill, but they're definitely getting more use.  The old blue-blazed trail from Robin Hills north has been quite overgrown for a number of years, but starting last fall, someone has been cutting and maintaining, and also cleared out the junk that presumably a homeowner on Twig Drive had used to block the trailhead there.  They even put a bridge over the stream crossing near Twig Drive.  This leads me to believe it was a mountain biker.  (Runners can jump from rock to rock to get across the stream; mountain bikes - not so much.)

I noticed two other extensions of old trails nearby.  Neither were in as good a shape as the blue-blazed north-south trail, and both seemed to terminate at private properties.

I stopped and looked around much more than normal, and was shocked that I had never seen the very well preserved remains of a house foundation just off "East Woody Hill Road" between the gate and golf course.

Friday:  0

Saturday:  10
Bandied about several ideas for a run, and then ended up going to Grills Hopkinton.  Ran the first seven miles without seeing anyone at all, then saw two women hiking down "Cole's Climb" near Polly Coon Bridge, and then again saw no one for the rest of my run.  Was happy with that.  Ran nearly all single track.  The orange trail (former WHS XC course) was a muddy mess near Big Rock, but pretty much everything else, save a few small spots, had dried out nicely.  I could hear lots of frogs near the ponds.

On the way back, lifted up my shirt to wipe sweat off my brow, and almost threw up.  You know that phrase in Clement Moore's The Night Before Christmas to the effect of "a round belly that shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly"?  Well, substitute "when he laughed" with "when he ran" and that's what you have.  This past week, I ate a whole 9" chocolate pie (no lie).  It was delicious, but time to smarten up and lighten up.  I'll likely never give up desserts, as they're my Achilles heel, but how about a little moderation?

In the afternoon, Jana and I went to an owl program at
Westerly Land Trust's main building.
Rehabilitated injured owls, a peregrine falcon, and a
red-tailed hawk were brought out.
This barred owl had to have one eye surgically removed after a car accident,
but still seemed pretty feisty.

The rest of the afternoon saw my 2nd failed attempt (final attempt)
at cord-cutting.  My first attempt was an indoor antenna to try to pick
up the local major network stations (failed; only picked up useless channels
like QVC, Home Shopping Network, etc, out of Norwich).
------------
Today I was up on the ladder with a new exterior antenna supposed to pick up stations up
to 60 miles away (Ch 10,6,12 are 45+ from my house), but obviously topography
and other factors weigh in.  I got a few more channels than with the indoor antenna,
including one interesting adventure channel in Spanish, but no dice on the
major local Providence channels.  Grrr; looks like I'll keep paying my hefty subscription
television service for now, with little competition (Verizon Fios not available in my neighborhood).

Sunday:  10
Solo road from and to The Bakery in Charlestown.  Ran through my old neighborhood, and past the first house I bought and lived in from 1990 - 2002, and then ran down to Charlestown Breachway, and a little bit into SK before returning.  Average pace 6:36!  Felt really good out there today, and even picked it up the last couple of miles.  56 degrees and sunny, but windy.

First run in these shoes:  NB 1500 v4
Cherry wouldn't be my first color pick, but I could either get this pair
for $51 or a v5 in blue for $110.  Easy choice for me.
--------
It often takes me 2-3 runs in a new shoe to get used to them
and for them to mold to my feet decently.  These felt great right
out of the box, and I loved them!  Lightweight at 8.6 oz,
but not minimus super light.

March mileage:  205

Weekly mileage:  50

Weekly synopsis:  Pretty good week, actually.  I'm still old, fat, slow, and lazy, but managed a good number of runs despite all that.  I got in 7 trail runs, and one road run.  With my marathon done, I'll want to get in the majority of my runs as trail runs for at least the next three months, with at least one semblance of a workout each week, and 1-2 road runs per week.  I hit all those criteria this week!

Weekly highlight:  My one road run this week!  I just felt really smooth on the roads today, and despite dipping down to sub-6:30 for the final three miles, felt like I could go a few more miles.

Of course, a post-run iced coffee and a heated
white chocolate / blueberry scone waiting for me
at the finish line
could be skewing some favoritism for this run as well!

Weekly lowlight:  Foolishly wearing two different shoes at a Bradford Preserve run on Wednesday.  I made the most of it, but just felt "off".