Monday: 0 run, 2 walk
Finally got around to taking out the blowdown on the "rock" on Hansel & Gretel trail on the Pumpkins course. Thanks to mountain biker "Roy" for coming back and stopping and offering to help me with the final parts of the really thick and heavy tree trunk. Felt good to get this done.
Tuesday: 8
Working in Providence today for several meetings that my boss' boss asked me to come in for. Drove to Cranston Y and ran on the bike path from there. The first couple miles were pretty depressing, as I ran north (close to the Providence line) and there was a lot of litter, industrial smells, and a few smokers. Turned around at the northern terminus and notice a dead fat rodent. What is that thing? OMG, it's a rat!
As I headed south the surroundings got marginally better. RI DOT shows the bike path is 19 miles long and ends in Coventry. I'm thinking the bike path just has to get better and better as you head away from the city. Maybe a point-to-point run at some time? Obviously it would have to start in Cranston. BTW, thank you so much to my grandparents for moving from Cranston to Charlestown in the '50s. The Walkers lived in northern RI from arrival from Scotland in 1690 until then, and in my biased opinion, the southern coastal towns are just so much nicer.
Wednesday: 0
Unplanned zero. Just a crazy, busy work day.
Thursday: 11
AM: 8 miles with Brady. Periods of light rain kept everyone else away. Muddy in spots, but mostly fine on the gravel trails.
PM: 3 miles solo at Canonchet. Why bother? Well, because I had about a 45-minute window on my way heading up to a corporate event in Warwick, so I might as well put it to use. And I'll be in a better mood for it!
Friday: 10
Kingston with Matthew, after meeting him getting off a southbound Amtrak to come home for the weekend. He planned out the route, and other than a busy section on South Road, it was all good. Ran on some roads for the first time ever (including Hundred Acre Pond area), and was momentarily surprised/confused when I saw a sign announcing our arrival into Exeter (are we off track?) but it was just a short jut into the rural town before a return to SK. Felt good on this run.
Saturday: 18
Long run from Mystic Y with Matthew. From the get-go, I really struggled on this one. I had some self-inflicted pains early on (stupidly and awkwardly kicked the hardwood floor last night playing with the dog and trying to flick his toy) that led me to question my ability to finish. After a few miles, I forgot about that pain on the bottom of my foot. Ran the Tarzan Brown course in Groton before crossing back into Stonington on again new-to-me roads. I'm not sure I had even heard of Al Harvey Road, never mind run on it, but it was a bucolic delight along pastures and farms.
Unfortunately, by about ten miles in, the struggle got real and I got a bunch of odd sore leg muscles and twinges that I couldn't blame on last night's shenanigans. What is going on? Matthew rightly grumbled as my pace slowed to 7:50s. I urged him on, but alas he didn't know the way on the hastily created run course. Fortunately, once we got to Cove Road, with about 3 miles to go, he knew the rest of the way and I was no longer holding him back. I am glad I got this done, but it was a far cry from running sub-7 on hillier terrain for 16 miles just one week ago.
Sunday: 10
Burlingame with Matthew and Brady. Ninigret, Kimball (or "Kimbell" as the DOT spells it on the Route 1 SB sign!), and campground trails. Dry trail run at 25 degrees. Brady would rocket ahead on the twisty Kimball single-track trails, sometimes even sliding on tight turns, and it was a blast to watch him go. Easy pace. Felt better than yesterday.
Coming home from dropping Matthew off at the train station Sunday afternoon, I started to have a runny nose and knew I was coming down with something. Well, I think that explains the weird body aches and twinges yesterday. Probably just the cold.
Weekly mileage: 57
Weekly synopsis: Not a good week, as I was supposed to finish closer to 70 than 60. My zero on Wednesday really was the deciding factor there. Hopefully whatever sickness I'm coming down with will be short lived and I'll be back at it next week.
Weekly highlight: Tough one. Probably the Kingston run with Matthew. Good route overall and new-to-me roads.
Weekly lowlight: Struggling on Saturday's LR and getting sick.
Finally got around to taking out the blowdown on the "rock" on Hansel & Gretel trail on the Pumpkins course. Thanks to mountain biker "Roy" for coming back and stopping and offering to help me with the final parts of the really thick and heavy tree trunk. Felt good to get this done.
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| Tree snapped right off during a windstorm last fall |
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| And of course, of all the directions it could fall, it laid flat right along the trail. I'm all for jumping over downed tree trunks, but with all the branches sticking up on this downed tree, that just wasn't possible. |
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| It took a lot of cuts and moving of sawed limbs, but the rock is back open for business! The red line is the approximate path running up the rock. |
Tuesday: 8
Working in Providence today for several meetings that my boss' boss asked me to come in for. Drove to Cranston Y and ran on the bike path from there. The first couple miles were pretty depressing, as I ran north (close to the Providence line) and there was a lot of litter, industrial smells, and a few smokers. Turned around at the northern terminus and notice a dead fat rodent. What is that thing? OMG, it's a rat!
As I headed south the surroundings got marginally better. RI DOT shows the bike path is 19 miles long and ends in Coventry. I'm thinking the bike path just has to get better and better as you head away from the city. Maybe a point-to-point run at some time? Obviously it would have to start in Cranston. BTW, thank you so much to my grandparents for moving from Cranston to Charlestown in the '50s. The Walkers lived in northern RI from arrival from Scotland in 1690 until then, and in my biased opinion, the southern coastal towns are just so much nicer.
Wednesday: 0
Unplanned zero. Just a crazy, busy work day.
Thursday: 11
AM: 8 miles with Brady. Periods of light rain kept everyone else away. Muddy in spots, but mostly fine on the gravel trails.
PM: 3 miles solo at Canonchet. Why bother? Well, because I had about a 45-minute window on my way heading up to a corporate event in Warwick, so I might as well put it to use. And I'll be in a better mood for it!
 |
| A river runs through it ... This part of the trail was just a tad wet, but surprisingly the way the rocks laid out, I kept mostly dry hopping through here. |
 |
| Of course, only afterwards did I find out a parallel trail (blue trail) had a bridge crossing the river. |
Friday: 10
Kingston with Matthew, after meeting him getting off a southbound Amtrak to come home for the weekend. He planned out the route, and other than a busy section on South Road, it was all good. Ran on some roads for the first time ever (including Hundred Acre Pond area), and was momentarily surprised/confused when I saw a sign announcing our arrival into Exeter (are we off track?) but it was just a short jut into the rural town before a return to SK. Felt good on this run.
Saturday: 18
Long run from Mystic Y with Matthew. From the get-go, I really struggled on this one. I had some self-inflicted pains early on (stupidly and awkwardly kicked the hardwood floor last night playing with the dog and trying to flick his toy) that led me to question my ability to finish. After a few miles, I forgot about that pain on the bottom of my foot. Ran the Tarzan Brown course in Groton before crossing back into Stonington on again new-to-me roads. I'm not sure I had even heard of Al Harvey Road, never mind run on it, but it was a bucolic delight along pastures and farms.
Unfortunately, by about ten miles in, the struggle got real and I got a bunch of odd sore leg muscles and twinges that I couldn't blame on last night's shenanigans. What is going on? Matthew rightly grumbled as my pace slowed to 7:50s. I urged him on, but alas he didn't know the way on the hastily created run course. Fortunately, once we got to Cove Road, with about 3 miles to go, he knew the rest of the way and I was no longer holding him back. I am glad I got this done, but it was a far cry from running sub-7 on hillier terrain for 16 miles just one week ago.
Sunday: 10
Burlingame with Matthew and Brady. Ninigret, Kimball (or "Kimbell" as the DOT spells it on the Route 1 SB sign!), and campground trails. Dry trail run at 25 degrees. Brady would rocket ahead on the twisty Kimball single-track trails, sometimes even sliding on tight turns, and it was a blast to watch him go. Easy pace. Felt better than yesterday.
Coming home from dropping Matthew off at the train station Sunday afternoon, I started to have a runny nose and knew I was coming down with something. Well, I think that explains the weird body aches and twinges yesterday. Probably just the cold.
Weekly mileage: 57
Weekly synopsis: Not a good week, as I was supposed to finish closer to 70 than 60. My zero on Wednesday really was the deciding factor there. Hopefully whatever sickness I'm coming down with will be short lived and I'll be back at it next week.
Weekly highlight: Tough one. Probably the Kingston run with Matthew. Good route overall and new-to-me roads.
Weekly lowlight: Struggling on Saturday's LR and getting sick.
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