Monday: 8
'Twas the night before the night before Christmas, when all though the Garvin 'hood,
Bright lights on houses twinkled, and put our septet of runners in a festive mood,
A clear warm night did await us, for our 8th annual Christmas Light Run,
Despite Jonny's threat of wearing a red speedo, the night was second to none,
Runners Matthew, Gazelle, Jonny, Mikey, Puddin', and even FiveK
Made the long and arduous journey to join Chris way over in SK,
The window candles, how they shone, the lights how they glistened,
The holiday spirit burned strong, as we ran, chatted, and listened,
Despite Chris' odd talk of evisceration,
It was quite the holiday celebration,
After completing the chatty six mile run,
Chris invited us in to cheerily continue the fun,
Thanks to the warm hospitality of Katie and Chris,
This was such a fun night we're glad we didn't miss,
I heard Chris exclaim, ere we drove out of sight,
Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!
(With apologies to Clement C. Moore)
Tuesday: 10
Christmas Eve morning run around the pond with Tommy and Matthew. Pretty spirited pace with my average being 6:37/mile, with theirs a tad faster reflecting that we separated for the last two miles and they were both ahead of me. Happy with this brisk holiday run.
Enjoyed Christmas Eve at home. Being Christmas, we entertained everyone's individual dinner requests, with Mark having a steamed lobster, Matthew home-made beef stew that Jana cooked, and the ol' folks enjoying delicious salmon on the grill. I made pumpkin bread, baked acorn squash, and added mashed potatoes to round out an eclectic but satisfying meal.
Wednesday: 9
Unfortunately no white Christmas this year (I heard that statistically RI only enjoys a white Christmas once out of every three years). Relatively balmy 43 degree and sunny weather for our Christmas Day mix run. Out to Avondale to run grass trails, next to the beach where Brady sprinted around crazily in and out of the ocean, ran Winnapaug Preserve where it was cool that the Westerly Land Trust had two huge wreaths on cairns deep into the preserve, and finished up in Glacier Champlin Preserve, where there were a surprising number of hikers (and one other runner!) on the trails for Christmas Day.
Thursday: 12
Newport Cliff Walk. Same basic run Matthew and I did last Boxing Day, but with better results this year. Last year I ran it in 23:58, and this year somehow took exactly one minute off in 22:58. Ran the first two miles pretty consistently at 6:24 and 6:28, before the more technical sections where I dropped off into mid-7s. Meanwhile Matthew lowered his own PR and FKT on the 3.4 mile Cliff Walk. Tiring but fun.
Friday: 9
With Brady, from Wahaneeta. 100% trails in Wahaneeta, Woody, and Bradford Preserve. Since we weren't going on roads and I expected we wouldn't see many people, I opted just to leave the leash in the car. Brady was completely fine the whole way. Saw two mountain bikers late in the run, and then as we were finishing up, saw Tom Beattie working on a new bridge in Wahaneeta. He called Brady over and was remarking on how dog-friendly Wahaneeta was as leashes are not required as long as you can control your dog.
Saturday: 8
Ninigret Park with Tommy, Matthew, Riley, and Brady. Easy conversational pace run. Felt fine.
Sunday: 16
Charlestown long run with Matthew. Counter-clockwise loop from Dave's Coffee, with half the run in the hills north of Route 1, and half on flat Quonnie roads. First of many long runs to come this winter. Can't say I did great on this one at all. Sure, there were some hills early on, but I can't use that as an excuse, as even on the flat sections in Quonochontaug in the latter half, I was dogging it and couldn't pick up the pace. Really glad I got this in, despite struggling a bit.
Weekly mileage: 72! (versus training plan of 58)
Weekly synopsis: Super happy with the mileage. Being off all week for Christmas holiday made fitting in runs a lot easier.
Weekly highlight: Wow, really had so many good runs this week that it's tough to pick a favorite. If I had nailed it or felt great on the 16-miler, that would count, but I didn't. Loved the Christmas Light Run and ran surprisingly well on the always fun Newport Cliff Walk, so that's as far as I can narrow it down.
Weekly lowlight: None. Even though I was struggling on the 16-miler, I got it done.
'Twas the night before the night before Christmas, when all though the Garvin 'hood,
Bright lights on houses twinkled, and put our septet of runners in a festive mood,
A clear warm night did await us, for our 8th annual Christmas Light Run,
Despite Jonny's threat of wearing a red speedo, the night was second to none,
Runners Matthew, Gazelle, Jonny, Mikey, Puddin', and even FiveK
Made the long and arduous journey to join Chris way over in SK,
The window candles, how they shone, the lights how they glistened,
The holiday spirit burned strong, as we ran, chatted, and listened,
Despite Chris' odd talk of evisceration,
It was quite the holiday celebration,
After completing the chatty six mile run,
Chris invited us in to cheerily continue the fun,
Thanks to the warm hospitality of Katie and Chris,
This was such a fun night we're glad we didn't miss,
I heard Chris exclaim, ere we drove out of sight,
Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!
(With apologies to Clement C. Moore)
 |
| Fortunately nothing gaudy like this in Chris' neighborhood, but rather a lot of classic holiday light displays. |
Christmas Eve morning run around the pond with Tommy and Matthew. Pretty spirited pace with my average being 6:37/mile, with theirs a tad faster reflecting that we separated for the last two miles and they were both ahead of me. Happy with this brisk holiday run.
Enjoyed Christmas Eve at home. Being Christmas, we entertained everyone's individual dinner requests, with Mark having a steamed lobster, Matthew home-made beef stew that Jana cooked, and the ol' folks enjoying delicious salmon on the grill. I made pumpkin bread, baked acorn squash, and added mashed potatoes to round out an eclectic but satisfying meal.
 |
| Brady was none too sure what to make of Mark's lobster walking around on the floor. |
 |
| Christmas Eve at home, while watching the classic "Christmas Vacation" post-dinner |
Unfortunately no white Christmas this year (I heard that statistically RI only enjoys a white Christmas once out of every three years). Relatively balmy 43 degree and sunny weather for our Christmas Day mix run. Out to Avondale to run grass trails, next to the beach where Brady sprinted around crazily in and out of the ocean, ran Winnapaug Preserve where it was cool that the Westerly Land Trust had two huge wreaths on cairns deep into the preserve, and finished up in Glacier Champlin Preserve, where there were a surprising number of hikers (and one other runner!) on the trails for Christmas Day.
 |
| For Christmas, my gifts included a few good reads, some delicious chocolates to make me fatter, trainers that I'll probably run Boston in, and a gift card to one of my favorite post-run coffee joints and Rhody sponsor (Dave's Coffee). |
 |
| While we don't have any kids left in the house to exhibit the magic of Christmas, this house guest sure seemed excited to get new toys ... |
 |
| ... and a bone. He finally calmed down a bit after being all wound up Christmas morning with the flurry of activity. |
Newport Cliff Walk. Same basic run Matthew and I did last Boxing Day, but with better results this year. Last year I ran it in 23:58, and this year somehow took exactly one minute off in 22:58. Ran the first two miles pretty consistently at 6:24 and 6:28, before the more technical sections where I dropped off into mid-7s. Meanwhile Matthew lowered his own PR and FKT on the 3.4 mile Cliff Walk. Tiring but fun.
Friday: 9
With Brady, from Wahaneeta. 100% trails in Wahaneeta, Woody, and Bradford Preserve. Since we weren't going on roads and I expected we wouldn't see many people, I opted just to leave the leash in the car. Brady was completely fine the whole way. Saw two mountain bikers late in the run, and then as we were finishing up, saw Tom Beattie working on a new bridge in Wahaneeta. He called Brady over and was remarking on how dog-friendly Wahaneeta was as leashes are not required as long as you can control your dog.
Saturday: 8
Ninigret Park with Tommy, Matthew, Riley, and Brady. Easy conversational pace run. Felt fine.
Sunday: 16
Charlestown long run with Matthew. Counter-clockwise loop from Dave's Coffee, with half the run in the hills north of Route 1, and half on flat Quonnie roads. First of many long runs to come this winter. Can't say I did great on this one at all. Sure, there were some hills early on, but I can't use that as an excuse, as even on the flat sections in Quonochontaug in the latter half, I was dogging it and couldn't pick up the pace. Really glad I got this in, despite struggling a bit.
 |
| Post-run, I was intrigued by the snow globe on our table at Dave's. Had these as kids when they were popular, and seldom see them now. |
Weekly mileage: 72! (versus training plan of 58)
Weekly synopsis: Super happy with the mileage. Being off all week for Christmas holiday made fitting in runs a lot easier.
Weekly highlight: Wow, really had so many good runs this week that it's tough to pick a favorite. If I had nailed it or felt great on the 16-miler, that would count, but I didn't. Loved the Christmas Light Run and ran surprisingly well on the always fun Newport Cliff Walk, so that's as far as I can narrow it down.
Weekly lowlight: None. Even though I was struggling on the 16-miler, I got it done.
No comments:
Post a Comment