Miscellaneous ramblings:
My usual planned cross-training day. Pool was super crowded so every single lane was split. I really don't like split lanes, not because I don't want to talk to people to have to ask them to share (well, maybe that's part of it), but because I'm always concerned about hitting the lane buoys (I did that 3 times today) or drifting into the other guy's/gal's 1/2 of the lane. Got it done. Arms sore as usual. I'm such an upper body weakling.
Tuesday: 11
Second day in a row of just rain, rain, rain. Really depressing. Especially in February when we should be getting at least some snow. The alarm woke me up at 6am to go for a run, but being dark PLUS hearing the rain coming down killed any interest I had in running. Set the alarm for another 90 minutes of sleep, and went back to sleep.
Fortunately, I did manage to get out at Noon time for a quiet, rural run (Boombridge into North Stonington and back). I can't really say it was enjoyable, as about 40 degrees and a light, but steady, soaking rain.
Wednesday: 14
AM: 6 miles. Hale Reservation, Westwood, MA. Slow and easy pace on tight legs, hips, and lower back. Not sure what gives, but just made the best of it, as it wasn't painful, but just a tad awkward.
PM: 8 miles. West Thompson Lake, Thompson, CT. This 1,800 acre parcel in the northeast section of the state is actually on federal land, owned by US Army Corps of Engineers. There were a number of young people playing at the frisbee disc golf course, and then a few people walking dogs on the trails right near parking lots, but after that, really quiet and I went for miles without seeing anyone. Unlike last time, when I had trouble finding and staying on the trail, this time I had no issue at all, so other than a few spots I remembered, I think the signage (especially on orange trail west of lake) has increased.
Thursday: 5
Another gray rainy morning. Brady came up to my bedside and nudged me to get out. Oh, OK. Of course, once I got out there, I was fine, and Brady was excitedly running sprints on the trails at Champlin Preserve. At one point, I was running along and noticed I didn't see Brady anywhere. All of a sudden, I was startled by the noise of some animal making quite the commotion from inside a kettle pond. I looked over into the pond; oh, there's the Brady dog!
In the afternoon, I FINALLY got my car back after being without it for nine days. It took a while for the Audi dealer to get the parts in. The ignition lock cylinder had completely seized up and needed to be drilled out, replaced, and reprogrammed. The car's been great for a while (going on two years), but now having two 4-figure repair bills in just 2 1/2 months, both requiring dealer work, has given me pause. Surprisingly, instead of trying to talk me into a new car, the repair technician just said sometimes with older cars you'll go through a few expensive car bills in rapid succession, but my car is in great shape, and I could go another couple of years without another major repair bill. OK, that's encouraging. He then said if I ever did decide to part ways with the car, to please come see him first, as there are a number of employees at the dealership that are car enthusiasts and won't drive anything except a manual transmission Audi, which are becoming scarcer. Good to know!
As another employee brought my car around for me and was opening the door, he said to me, "Wow! You don't see many of these anymore!" You'd think he was talking about a Model T or something, but he meant an Audi hatchback with manual transmission. He encouraged me to take really good care of the car. (I'm guessing he was one of the employees so described.)
Just got the car back in time to head to our monthly WTAC board meeting. A lot of early planning for the 40th annual Clamdigger, plus finally resolving distance for Li'l Rhody 2020. We had a lot of good discussion at both the January and February meetings. Many runners of our 2019 10-mile course (which we changed for USATF-NE trail championships to match previous USATF-NE distances) wrote in to tell us they loved the course (as did I, although obviously biased!), but for every runner that liked the 10-mile course, it seems we had an equal number of runners express that they much preferred the classic 8-mile course, some even vowing not to return if we kept the 10-mile course. Add to that the USATF-NE members running the race didn't bring in anywhere near the draw we had hoped, as they numbered only 23, with about 10 of those being past runners of the race anyway, plus all the confusion over the awards, the extra work required, and nearby USATF-CT members feeling left out. Against that backdrop the board voted to return to the classic 8-mile course for 2020. (For those that loved the Sammy C's single-track, final 3 miles of the trail section, I would highly suggest to run the YMCA's Back Road Ramble 5.7M course on June 20.)
Friday: 8
Pre-work run with Brady. 29 degrees with full sunshine. Felt great. Out to Avondale, where we ran the field trails, then ran on the beach for a bit, and then home.
Saturday: 6
Got up in the morning, looked at the temperature (12F), and bagged a morning run. By the time afternoon rolled around, the long run was out, and an easy trail run with Brady was in. Burlingame campgrounds. Still only 23F in early afternoon, but felt fine once I got going. Almost no one out there. Each time I go recently it seems there is more trail work done. This time chicken wire had been stapled on top of the bog bridges on the "Bog Bridge Trail" (NST just before it connects with VG). I liked the roof shingle idea; the jury is still out on the chicken wire. I'm assuming it was to reduce slipperiness, but I do hope they stay stapled down hard, otherwise could be tough on Brady's paws.
Sunday: 20 run, 1 hike
Had planned out a 20-miler in Charlestown and set the alarm for 6:30am. The alarm clock went off twice, and I kept hitting snooze. Took Brady out for his duties, and as I felt cold in the wind, I was starting to make excuses. Maybe I'll cut the run short. Maybe I'll just run from the house.
Fortunately, I slayed these obstacles that were in my head, brought Brady back inside, and headed off solo to Dave's Coffee. 4 mile warm-up in flat, but chilly, Quonochontaug, and then got to work. 4 miles at "MP" (target 6:30 - 6:40, actual 6:38, 6:40, 6:51, 6:28, varying with the hills heading up Klondike). Repeated the same (4 miles easy, 4 miles MP), except for the 2nd and final MP stretch, both the hills and periodic headwinds were taking a toll on me, and I was running closer to 7-flat than 6:30s. During the last four, I felt a few odd twinges here and there, but since I have to get back to the car anyway, just kept going. At run's end, treated myself to a Dave's iced coffee and a cranberry/cinnamon scone while checking up on what everyone else was doing on Strava. (Treat on Matthew actually, thanks to a gift card from Christmas).
Weekly mileage: 65
Weekly synopsis: Finally, a week I'm totally happy with. Had the usual excuses, but pushed through them all for a change.
Weekly highlight: From an accomplishment standpoint, the 20-miler through hills today. From a fun factor, the 8-mile trail run at West Thompson Lake. Those are my kind of trails.
Weekly lowlight: Just the dreary weather and lack of a real winter. No running disappointments this week!
- When are we going to get snow?!!
- I'm disappointed to learn that the Boombridge Road bridge is finally going to get replaced and re-open to traffic. It's been closed for 10 years (due to being on the state line and requiring 4 agencies to agree and co-plan: State of RI, State of CT, Town of Westerly, Town of North Stonington). Personally and selfishly, I love that it's closed, as it makes for perfect traffic-free running.
- While changing at the Y mens' locker room, I heard "I weigh too much". I look over and see one rather large guy naked on the scale, and no one else in the room besides me. I glanced at the scale: 315 pounds. Now, I also think I weigh too much, but this is on a totally different scale (pun intended). I think hard, but can't come up with a single positive thing to say that won't sound trite, so I just say nothing and hope that he was talking to himself and not me.
- The Mystic Y Tri is cancelled this year. It was never my favorite tri, as the ratios were not runner friendly (.75M swim, 12M bike, 2.7M run). Still, it's sad to see it falling fate with so many local tris I've done that are now gone (OCY Tri at Misquamicut, Rhode Warrior at Misquamicut, Crabman in SK, FirmMan in Narragansett, Amica Ocean Beach Tri in New London, Oh My Goddard in Warwick/NK). What's left locally? I think just Block Island and the new Wave Tri in SK?
My usual planned cross-training day. Pool was super crowded so every single lane was split. I really don't like split lanes, not because I don't want to talk to people to have to ask them to share (well, maybe that's part of it), but because I'm always concerned about hitting the lane buoys (I did that 3 times today) or drifting into the other guy's/gal's 1/2 of the lane. Got it done. Arms sore as usual. I'm such an upper body weakling.
Tuesday: 11
Second day in a row of just rain, rain, rain. Really depressing. Especially in February when we should be getting at least some snow. The alarm woke me up at 6am to go for a run, but being dark PLUS hearing the rain coming down killed any interest I had in running. Set the alarm for another 90 minutes of sleep, and went back to sleep.
Fortunately, I did manage to get out at Noon time for a quiet, rural run (Boombridge into North Stonington and back). I can't really say it was enjoyable, as about 40 degrees and a light, but steady, soaking rain.
Wednesday: 14
AM: 6 miles. Hale Reservation, Westwood, MA. Slow and easy pace on tight legs, hips, and lower back. Not sure what gives, but just made the best of it, as it wasn't painful, but just a tad awkward.
PM: 8 miles. West Thompson Lake, Thompson, CT. This 1,800 acre parcel in the northeast section of the state is actually on federal land, owned by US Army Corps of Engineers. There were a number of young people playing at the frisbee disc golf course, and then a few people walking dogs on the trails right near parking lots, but after that, really quiet and I went for miles without seeing anyone. Unlike last time, when I had trouble finding and staying on the trail, this time I had no issue at all, so other than a few spots I remembered, I think the signage (especially on orange trail west of lake) has increased.
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| Nice view of the lake along the trail |
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| A few fun stream crossings. In case you're wondering, yes, I did make it running across that log, but not very gracefully. |
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| Lots and lots of single-track covered in pine needles, which I love |
Another gray rainy morning. Brady came up to my bedside and nudged me to get out. Oh, OK. Of course, once I got out there, I was fine, and Brady was excitedly running sprints on the trails at Champlin Preserve. At one point, I was running along and noticed I didn't see Brady anywhere. All of a sudden, I was startled by the noise of some animal making quite the commotion from inside a kettle pond. I looked over into the pond; oh, there's the Brady dog!
In the afternoon, I FINALLY got my car back after being without it for nine days. It took a while for the Audi dealer to get the parts in. The ignition lock cylinder had completely seized up and needed to be drilled out, replaced, and reprogrammed. The car's been great for a while (going on two years), but now having two 4-figure repair bills in just 2 1/2 months, both requiring dealer work, has given me pause. Surprisingly, instead of trying to talk me into a new car, the repair technician just said sometimes with older cars you'll go through a few expensive car bills in rapid succession, but my car is in great shape, and I could go another couple of years without another major repair bill. OK, that's encouraging. He then said if I ever did decide to part ways with the car, to please come see him first, as there are a number of employees at the dealership that are car enthusiasts and won't drive anything except a manual transmission Audi, which are becoming scarcer. Good to know!
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| Good to have my car back again. Fun to drive. |
Just got the car back in time to head to our monthly WTAC board meeting. A lot of early planning for the 40th annual Clamdigger, plus finally resolving distance for Li'l Rhody 2020. We had a lot of good discussion at both the January and February meetings. Many runners of our 2019 10-mile course (which we changed for USATF-NE trail championships to match previous USATF-NE distances) wrote in to tell us they loved the course (as did I, although obviously biased!), but for every runner that liked the 10-mile course, it seems we had an equal number of runners express that they much preferred the classic 8-mile course, some even vowing not to return if we kept the 10-mile course. Add to that the USATF-NE members running the race didn't bring in anywhere near the draw we had hoped, as they numbered only 23, with about 10 of those being past runners of the race anyway, plus all the confusion over the awards, the extra work required, and nearby USATF-CT members feeling left out. Against that backdrop the board voted to return to the classic 8-mile course for 2020. (For those that loved the Sammy C's single-track, final 3 miles of the trail section, I would highly suggest to run the YMCA's Back Road Ramble 5.7M course on June 20.)
Friday: 8
Pre-work run with Brady. 29 degrees with full sunshine. Felt great. Out to Avondale, where we ran the field trails, then ran on the beach for a bit, and then home.
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| Finished up the run, and upon entering the house, here in the mudroom, what is he eating? |
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| Oh, somebody left him a bowl of strawberries! We don't spoil him too much! |
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| Really? They have Valentine's Day cards "From the Dog"?! And apparently they're popular, as they were sold out! |
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| And, of course, Brady got a Valentine's Day gift, which he is still very excited about. |
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| You can see it clearer here. He throws it around, catches it, and brings it to play with you. |
Got up in the morning, looked at the temperature (12F), and bagged a morning run. By the time afternoon rolled around, the long run was out, and an easy trail run with Brady was in. Burlingame campgrounds. Still only 23F in early afternoon, but felt fine once I got going. Almost no one out there. Each time I go recently it seems there is more trail work done. This time chicken wire had been stapled on top of the bog bridges on the "Bog Bridge Trail" (NST just before it connects with VG). I liked the roof shingle idea; the jury is still out on the chicken wire. I'm assuming it was to reduce slipperiness, but I do hope they stay stapled down hard, otherwise could be tough on Brady's paws.
Sunday: 20 run, 1 hike
Had planned out a 20-miler in Charlestown and set the alarm for 6:30am. The alarm clock went off twice, and I kept hitting snooze. Took Brady out for his duties, and as I felt cold in the wind, I was starting to make excuses. Maybe I'll cut the run short. Maybe I'll just run from the house.
Fortunately, I slayed these obstacles that were in my head, brought Brady back inside, and headed off solo to Dave's Coffee. 4 mile warm-up in flat, but chilly, Quonochontaug, and then got to work. 4 miles at "MP" (target 6:30 - 6:40, actual 6:38, 6:40, 6:51, 6:28, varying with the hills heading up Klondike). Repeated the same (4 miles easy, 4 miles MP), except for the 2nd and final MP stretch, both the hills and periodic headwinds were taking a toll on me, and I was running closer to 7-flat than 6:30s. During the last four, I felt a few odd twinges here and there, but since I have to get back to the car anyway, just kept going. At run's end, treated myself to a Dave's iced coffee and a cranberry/cinnamon scone while checking up on what everyone else was doing on Strava. (Treat on Matthew actually, thanks to a gift card from Christmas).
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| Finished up the day with a short hike with Jana and Brady at Tillinghast Preserve, West Greenwich. My left quad was quite sore after the 20-miler, but I think it did me good to get out and walk. |
Weekly mileage: 65
Weekly synopsis: Finally, a week I'm totally happy with. Had the usual excuses, but pushed through them all for a change.
Weekly highlight: From an accomplishment standpoint, the 20-miler through hills today. From a fun factor, the 8-mile trail run at West Thompson Lake. Those are my kind of trails.
Weekly lowlight: Just the dreary weather and lack of a real winter. No running disappointments this week!
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