After a 7-week hiatus from racing, since the Myrtle Beach Marathon in early March, it's time to toe the line again. Saturday I'll be racing the Sleepy Hollow Mountain Race. It's the first race in the USATF-NE Mountain Series that I'm trying complete this year, and my first time running this race. Steve Brightman told me it's my kind of race; we'll know very shortly.
Miscellaneous ramblings:
Monday: 600 yards swim
I don't love swimming laps, so why do I do it? 1) I believe the reason I got the sustained injury last year was because I wasn't doing any type of stretching or cross-training and my muscles were extremely tight, and 2) I still want to race in triathlons from time to time.
Tuesday: 7
Lunch time run from Bradford Preserve, looping through Woody Hill around the pond and back. Sunny, windy, upper 50s.
Wednesday: 5
Ridge Hill Reservation, Needham, MA. Had been here but once before. Decided to run some trails I had not been on the first time. I wasn't 1/2 mile in, when I found myself horizontal on the ground, chest striking the ground and knocking the wind out of me, and one knee smashed into a root. Ugh. I lay dazed on the forest floor for a good minute until I started to get cold (it was 35 degrees). Got up and saw the root protrusion that I tripped over. Cracked part of my phone at camera lens; I think that explains the lighting issue in my pics below. Hobbled a bit, but got my cadence back. Finished the run, but with many stops to check a map on my phone for where I was.
The rest of the day working the knee hurt and I tried my best not to limp.
Thursday: 0
Between the knee still sore (but no longer any pain) and a busy work day and retirement party, just conservatively took the day off. I'll run an easy day tomorrow (Friday) before race day Saturday.
Friday: 4
Easy shake-out in Portsmouth, NH, before having dinner with Matthew in Dover and continuing on to Vermont. Pretty much on the way, went to YMCA of the Seacoast to change, run, and provide a place to shower post-run. I brought my phone with me and figured I'd make a road loop, but very early on I saw a sign for "Urban Forestry Center, Division of NH Lands and Forests". Hmm, let me run down here and see if this gets me off the roads for a few minutes...
Saturday: 7
Sleepy Hollow Mountain Race, Huntington, VT. Separate race write-up coming very soon.
Sunday: 7
Easter Sunday. Local roads around Avondale and Misquamicut. Mis-timed catching up with the Run While You Can group run from Avondale by about one minute, and ended up just ahead of them. Felt surprisingly good.
Weekly mileage: 30
Weekly synopsis: This week wasn't about mileage at all. It was about taking it easy and racing Sleepy Hollow, and when I banged up my knee, I conservatively took another day off. Certainly a good week overall. I get bored running the same old, same old, and I mixed it pretty good this week (4 trail runs [including 1 race], 1 road run, 1 swim) and some diverse runs in RI, MA, NH, and VT.
Weekly highlight: No question here at all: Sleepy Hollow Mountain Race!
Weekly lowlight: Banging up my knee at Ridge Hill and letting myself worry about it and the impacts to my race.
Miscellaneous ramblings:
- Fun watching the Boston Marathon on Monday. Congrats to all, but especially Brightman and Principe for turning in really impressive performances at 2:42 and 2:39, respectively. Kind of piques my interest to return.
- Clamdigger races in one week, to kick off the WTAC season. Registrations running 30% lower, but don't know if that's just temporary or part of the overall trend of local race participation in general less over past few years.
- Best one-liner I heard this week: I'm waiting in line at D'angelos to pay for my sandwich, and the man in front of me is conversing with the checkout clerk (I actually think he's the manager, but I digress). The customer is complaining about some recurring shoulder pain, but says he hopes it will feel better tomorrow because he's going to a place to get a massage. To which the clerk/manager retorts: Your massage isn't in Florida, is it?! (I'm not even sure the customer got or appreciated the Robert Kraft reference, but I literally laughed out loud.)
Monday: 600 yards swim
I don't love swimming laps, so why do I do it? 1) I believe the reason I got the sustained injury last year was because I wasn't doing any type of stretching or cross-training and my muscles were extremely tight, and 2) I still want to race in triathlons from time to time.
Tuesday: 7
Lunch time run from Bradford Preserve, looping through Woody Hill around the pond and back. Sunny, windy, upper 50s.
Wednesday: 5
Ridge Hill Reservation, Needham, MA. Had been here but once before. Decided to run some trails I had not been on the first time. I wasn't 1/2 mile in, when I found myself horizontal on the ground, chest striking the ground and knocking the wind out of me, and one knee smashed into a root. Ugh. I lay dazed on the forest floor for a good minute until I started to get cold (it was 35 degrees). Got up and saw the root protrusion that I tripped over. Cracked part of my phone at camera lens; I think that explains the lighting issue in my pics below. Hobbled a bit, but got my cadence back. Finished the run, but with many stops to check a map on my phone for where I was.
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| Typical of many of the pine covered trails I ran on today. |
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| Generally well marked. Part of Town of Needham trail system. |
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| The Swamp Trail boardwalk was long and pretty neat. |
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| At one point the markers changed to "Wellesley Trails". It seems it connects to a trail system in that town. For another day ... |
The rest of the day working the knee hurt and I tried my best not to limp.
Thursday: 0
Between the knee still sore (but no longer any pain) and a busy work day and retirement party, just conservatively took the day off. I'll run an easy day tomorrow (Friday) before race day Saturday.
Friday: 4
Easy shake-out in Portsmouth, NH, before having dinner with Matthew in Dover and continuing on to Vermont. Pretty much on the way, went to YMCA of the Seacoast to change, run, and provide a place to shower post-run. I brought my phone with me and figured I'd make a road loop, but very early on I saw a sign for "Urban Forestry Center, Division of NH Lands and Forests". Hmm, let me run down here and see if this gets me off the roads for a few minutes...
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| Neat view of Sagamore Creek |
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| Some technical stuff ... |
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| but mostly just a lot of easy, relaxing, fun stuff like this ... |
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| and this ... |
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| and this. |
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| Fun place. Ended up spending pretty much my whole run here. |
Saturday: 7
Sleepy Hollow Mountain Race, Huntington, VT. Separate race write-up coming very soon.
Sunday: 7
Easter Sunday. Local roads around Avondale and Misquamicut. Mis-timed catching up with the Run While You Can group run from Avondale by about one minute, and ended up just ahead of them. Felt surprisingly good.
Weekly mileage: 30
Weekly synopsis: This week wasn't about mileage at all. It was about taking it easy and racing Sleepy Hollow, and when I banged up my knee, I conservatively took another day off. Certainly a good week overall. I get bored running the same old, same old, and I mixed it pretty good this week (4 trail runs [including 1 race], 1 road run, 1 swim) and some diverse runs in RI, MA, NH, and VT.
Weekly highlight: No question here at all: Sleepy Hollow Mountain Race!
Weekly lowlight: Banging up my knee at Ridge Hill and letting myself worry about it and the impacts to my race.
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