Miscellaneous ramblings:
Normally Monday is a day off from running (or day of cross-training) for me, but with the holiday and snow in the woods, how could I resist getting out there?!
Headed all the way to Hopkinton (the next town over), and ran some of my favorite trails at Yawgoo and across the state line at Green Falls Pond.
Tuesday: 6
Chilly 11 degree AM run with Brady into Champlin Glacier Preserve, and back.
First day drug free in seven months! Yeah! The rheumatologist had gradually weaned me down to 1 mg, and today was the first day at zero. Go back to see him in two weeks, and then hopefully that's the end of this malaise.
Wednesday: 8
Noontime solo run from the Y, on as rural as I could find for streets from downtown Westerly. 31 degrees and sunny felt warm after a recent cold snap. Felt good on this run. 6:50 average pace.
Thursday: 5
"Early" morning pre-work run with Brady at Woody, from Fallon Drive. 14 degrees and nobody there. I put orange on both of us, and just left his leash in the car. Never saw a soul out there.
Friday: 6
Woke up in the morning with mild shoulder pain and limited arm movement above my head. Uh-oh, this isn't good. Should I just go back on the Prednisone? No, I remember the rheumatologist had told me this might happen after I went off the drug and to suck it up, cupcake. Well, I think he worded it nicer than that, but that was the gist of it, and if it really degraded to extreme pain or loss of movement, to give him a call. OK, I'll hold on. By end of day, it was completely gone.
Burlingame sunset trail run with Brady. Reminded myself to go easy given tomorrow's race. I ran most of the old Brrr-lingame loop, which interestingly is now marked with white and green plastic markers. Must have been very recent. The campground section of the old course was not marked of course, so I was surprised I was able to navigate that. Saw Ironman and ultramarathoner Eric Winn and his dog early on, and then nobody out there.
Saturday: 7
Chili 5K. A 5K followed by many different kinds of chili for finishers. Good stuff. Write-up to follow shortly.
Sunday: 11
Bagged my plan long run on the roads in favor of a trail run at Burlingame with Brady. Mud in a few spots with last night's rain, but overall the trails were drained and fine. Saw three hikers and a group of five mountain bikers. Just a fun run at an easy pace.
In the afternoon we went on a group hike:
Weekly mileage: 54 (against a planned 58)
Weekly synopsis: Acceptable week overall. The mileage was fine, but absence of any long run wasn't. Really happy with Saturday's race result.
Weekly highlight: Tough choice. A lot of good runs this week. But as I'm a sucker for the rare snow run in RI, I'd have to say our 10-mile Yawgoog and Green Falls run in the snow.
Weekly lowlight: As I said, it was really a good week of runs. I guess I'd go with the lack of a long run.
- A young gentleman I recently hired returned to work this week after the birth of his daughter. I asked him her name, and he said, "Lola", to which I asked, "as in the Kinks?". His response: "What are the Kinks?". Oh, man. Sacrilege! Young people! He probably was thinking "Old geezer's reminiscing about something from the Civil War again".
- Got a call from our credit card company that someone with a Sarasota, Florida number was trying to attach our credit card to his Apple Pay mobile phone app. Yikes. Glad that was caught.
- When I was trying to activate the replaced card that was sent me, I was amazed by the challenge questions I was asked to confirm my identity. Everyone is used to having to provide their address, last 4 digits of Social Security, etc., but this was the first time I was asked the color of my eyes and year/make/model of the car I drive. It's good that security features are enhanced, but also kind of scary the amount of personal info my credit card company has on me.
- Finishing out the cord cutting saga: last month I reported about our ditching of our landline and saving a few $$$. This month, I called to cancel our cable (satellite dish, actually), explained the kids are gone, we only typically watch news, etc. They said they appreciate our long patronage (of course, they do, right?) and would offer a "loyalty discount". I was prepared to nix that as I'm expecting $5 off our $80 monthly bill, but she shocks me with stating that would reduce our bill from $80 to $21 per month! The catch is it expires in 12 months, but good enough for me to hold on for now. It's crazy the profit made if you don't speak up.
- While eating at a Japanese restaurant this weekend, a man one table over was repeatedly committing a culturally offensive faux pas by sticking his chopsticks straight up into his meal. I remembered learning this, but I have the benefit of having spent a fair amount of time in Asia professionally and personally. My guess is he's not intentionally offending his hosts, but rather he is just unaware. Do I tell him, and risk offending him or embarrassing him in front of his girlfriend? The first time I let it go, but when he did it again, I discreetly went over to his table and explained the custom to him, not knowing if his reaction would be hostile or friendly. He immediately removed his chopsticks, stuck out his hand to shake mine, and thanked me for letting him know. Whew, OK, I feel better. Should I have minded my own business? In this case, I think I did the right thing.
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| Brady seemed a little uncertain of some of the wood plank crossings, and really slowed down on these. |
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| He walked across this one. |
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| This one was our diciest crossing of the day; you can see why. At 18 degrees, I really don't want to fall crossing that "bridge". (I didn't) --- Green Falls Pond, CT |
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| Don't know what Brady was trying to do here, but I love the shot. |
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| Isn't it cold to sit in the snow? (and that's ice on his belly, as a result of jumping into the water at 18 degrees) --- (overlooking Green Falls Pond) |
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| Post-run huddle with my canine friend, before the drive home. |
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| I'm in! Final award for completing the Mountain Goat from last year's USATF-NE Mountain Series. |
Tuesday: 6
Chilly 11 degree AM run with Brady into Champlin Glacier Preserve, and back.
First day drug free in seven months! Yeah! The rheumatologist had gradually weaned me down to 1 mg, and today was the first day at zero. Go back to see him in two weeks, and then hopefully that's the end of this malaise.
Wednesday: 8
Noontime solo run from the Y, on as rural as I could find for streets from downtown Westerly. 31 degrees and sunny felt warm after a recent cold snap. Felt good on this run. 6:50 average pace.
Thursday: 5
"Early" morning pre-work run with Brady at Woody, from Fallon Drive. 14 degrees and nobody there. I put orange on both of us, and just left his leash in the car. Never saw a soul out there.
Friday: 6
Woke up in the morning with mild shoulder pain and limited arm movement above my head. Uh-oh, this isn't good. Should I just go back on the Prednisone? No, I remember the rheumatologist had told me this might happen after I went off the drug and to suck it up, cupcake. Well, I think he worded it nicer than that, but that was the gist of it, and if it really degraded to extreme pain or loss of movement, to give him a call. OK, I'll hold on. By end of day, it was completely gone.
Burlingame sunset trail run with Brady. Reminded myself to go easy given tomorrow's race. I ran most of the old Brrr-lingame loop, which interestingly is now marked with white and green plastic markers. Must have been very recent. The campground section of the old course was not marked of course, so I was surprised I was able to navigate that. Saw Ironman and ultramarathoner Eric Winn and his dog early on, and then nobody out there.
Saturday: 7
Chili 5K. A 5K followed by many different kinds of chili for finishers. Good stuff. Write-up to follow shortly.
Sunday: 11
Bagged my plan long run on the roads in favor of a trail run at Burlingame with Brady. Mud in a few spots with last night's rain, but overall the trails were drained and fine. Saw three hikers and a group of five mountain bikers. Just a fun run at an easy pace.
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| What is the first thing Brady did when we got back to the car? Found a good stick to chew on, and laid down and got to work on it. |
In the afternoon we went on a group hike:
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| Just before starting out on group hike at Wahaneeta Preserve. |
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| About 30 of us on the hike today. |
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| Mid 40s and sunny. Quite comfortable out there. |
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| Hot homemade soup (choice of 4 kinds) and fresh cranberry, blueberry, and corn bread post-hike. The cabin was a bit packed, so Jana and I opted to sit outside with our neighbors. |
Weekly mileage: 54 (against a planned 58)
Weekly synopsis: Acceptable week overall. The mileage was fine, but absence of any long run wasn't. Really happy with Saturday's race result.
Weekly highlight: Tough choice. A lot of good runs this week. But as I'm a sucker for the rare snow run in RI, I'd have to say our 10-mile Yawgoog and Green Falls run in the snow.
Weekly lowlight: As I said, it was really a good week of runs. I guess I'd go with the lack of a long run.
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