Three mantras I'm trying to follow in these COVID-19 times:
Week #6 of working from home and social distancing. Why do I bother counting anymore? I'm looking forward to hearing the RI Governor's plans and revised restrictions when current rules expire May 8, but in the meantime my aggressive social distancing continues. For me, that means no seeing anyone outside of my household, not even my Mom.
Monday: 0 run, 1 walk
After running all seven days last week, returned to my ritual of taking Mondays off from running.
After a long day of working through meetings and listening to news of COVID-19 restriction protesters and our national leaders vociferously chastising our governors, I needed a mental health break as I'm breaking my own mantra to stay positive. Walked around the neighborhood post-work with a very happy Brady. Canines are the best. They are always happy to see you, never upset with you, never argue with you, never have a political stance, never have their own personal agenda.
Tuesday: 9
Jamestown south, with Matthew. Early morning run before work meetings. We had to adjust where we ran from, as the state parks are closed due to COVID-19 and we certainly honored the ban on parking at state parks. Parked at East Ferry and ran out to Mackeral Cove and then down to Beavertail and back.
This was my second consecutive road run. I unexpectedly really enjoyed this. Ran fairly hard (for me) at an average 6:46 pace, and felt good on rolling hills terrain. There was almost no one out on the roads, and even when we did run into other walkers and runners out there, unlike on trails, there was plenty of room to go around them and practice safe social distancing. Healthy, safe exercising.
Wednesday: 10
Carolina North with Matthew and Brady. A few cars in the small management area parking lot, but almost no one to be seen on the trails we took. I feel like I'm getting quite comfortable with the fun single-track trails closest to the Pine Hill Road swimming hole, but after that, much of Carolina North is still a mystery to me.
Wish I had brought my camera with me for the river crossing. There was just no staying dry on that one, with rocks under water and dicey log crossings. Brady gave up and just went through the water, which was waist-deep to him. Surprisingly, this was one of those rare terrains where I actually crossed much quicker than Matthew. East of the river crossing is like the Wild West to me. A lot of fun trails, but I can never make heads or tails of this area. After making our way out and back on the pink(?) blazed trail, ran reasonably fast (for me) on the remainder of trails, including the hilly Jerue Jump and fun twisty single-track back to the car. I actually felt like I gained a second wind on the second half of the run and felt oddly strong during the last two miles.
On the drive home, turning onto my street, "Thunderstuck" randomly came on the radio, AND a beautiful coyote walked across the street and lingered in a yard long enough for us to observe him. Great ending to a run!
Thursday: 10
Local roads around the pond, plus fields and coastal trails. With Matthew and Brady. Often I will leave Brady behind on road runs, as selfishly it's a little harder to run with him on the leash, but more importantly, it's better for his paws to run on softer surfaces, especially longer runs. Seeing that we were mixing in fields and trails, and remembering that Jana told me he "cried" the other day when we went on a run without him, I opted to take him along and he seemed pretty happy about that.
Anyway, for some reason, I was feeling really sore and tight from yesterday's Carolina run, so today's run was just OK.
Friday: 9
In our weekly divisional meeting today, our division head advised us to be prepared that when we start to go back to work at our physical bank location, that it will be with facemasks and gloves, which the company will provide. Ugh. Don't get me wrong; I totally get it for first responders and retail workers. But for office workers who can work from home? Why bother? As I'm very comfortable with the remote technology and have a nice multi-monitor setup in my home office, I'm going to try to petition to work from home as much as possible. We'll come back on a staggered basis, and since I'm not client facing or administrative support, hopefully I'll be on one of those very last waves.
Today's run was late afternoon, after final work meeting ended at 5. Parked at Barlow Preserve, and ran the trails there. All two miles of them. It's really a nice 80-acre parcel that got donated to the WLT and will soon be its new headquarters. The trails will need some wearing in, and it's too bad you can't connect them due to the marsh in between.
From Barlow, we ran the short distance on roads to get in to Woody Hill Management Area, and then chose some of the trails less frequented. Never saw a single soul out there (besides Matthew and Brady, of course). Feeling so hungry last two miles; otherwise another great run.
Saturday: 10
Yawgoog trails and roads, with Matthew and Brady. Very warm (64° at finish) and sunny. There was a large group of people and dogs at the start (all friendly), and then we only sporadically encountered a few others for the rest of the run.
Sunday: 17!
Middletown, RI (with a just little in Portsmouth, towards end). Matthew had planned this run out the night before, and I have to admit I was a little apprehensive about running this many miles. This would be my longest run by far in about two months, since February 29.
We weren't sure about the viability of parking in Middletown town beach lots, as state beach lots are now closed for COVID-19, but our own town beach lot is open. Unfortunately, the beach lots were all closed, so we figured we'd park at one of the trail heads for Sakonnet Greenway. No dice there either, after trying several. Fortunately, Matthew remembered that Bob Jackman ran the Greenway trails just yesterday, and looked up where he started from: Newport Vineyards. Sure enough, that parking lot was open, and there was a sign there that subject to social distancing, the trails were open as well! And on to the run ...
6 miles grass trails at Sakonnet, 2.5 miles gravel trails at Sachuest Point, balance roads. Unintentionally exactly half trails, half roads.
Not surprisingly the downhill miles to Sachuest were the fastest. 6:30ish. Roads and trails at Sachuest were pretty flat, with beautiful views along the ocean and at the point. Getting back to Sakonnet was a long but not so steep 200' climb (also part of the Newport Marathon, which I ran with Tommy in 2017). Finally, the miles on the Sakonnet Greenway trails were the slowest, not because of elevation changes, but because several sections were just pure mud!
Weekly miles: 65!
Weekly synopsis: Biggest mileage week for me since December. I wouldn't have gotten this many solo, so I have Matthew to thank for that. I think this was also Brady's biggest mileage week ever, as he ran sixty miles, with ease I might add.
Weekly highlight: Truly a lot of good runs this week, but I'd have to say today's run on Aquidneck Island was my running highlight. Wasn't sure I'd be able to finish 17, and the legs are a tad sore as I write this, but really happy I got it done.
My feel good moment of the week was helping an elderly African-American woman navigate through the electronic self-checkout at Stop & Shop today. From a safe social distance, of course, and with a mask. Nothing remotely compared to what our front line workers are doing everyday, but it did make feel a bit better.
Weekly lowlight: Truly a great week of running. The only lowlight I can think of is the (not unexpected) continued cancellation of race after race. When will we start having at least smaller races? Hopefully we'll get some guidance during May.
- Stay active. Get outside to run or walk everyday. Mix hard efforts with easy fun efforts.
- Stay healthy. Keep 6' apart. Wash hands frequently. Stay in RI. Minimize human contact.
- Stay positive. Post positive comments on runs. Say hello or wave and smile to a neighbor. Reach out to a friend, colleague, or loved one.
Not judging or proselytizing anyone else, but the above are my own goals.
Week #6 of working from home and social distancing. Why do I bother counting anymore? I'm looking forward to hearing the RI Governor's plans and revised restrictions when current rules expire May 8, but in the meantime my aggressive social distancing continues. For me, that means no seeing anyone outside of my household, not even my Mom.
Monday: 0 run, 1 walk
After running all seven days last week, returned to my ritual of taking Mondays off from running.
After a long day of working through meetings and listening to news of COVID-19 restriction protesters and our national leaders vociferously chastising our governors, I needed a mental health break as I'm breaking my own mantra to stay positive. Walked around the neighborhood post-work with a very happy Brady. Canines are the best. They are always happy to see you, never upset with you, never argue with you, never have a political stance, never have their own personal agenda.
Tuesday: 9
Jamestown south, with Matthew. Early morning run before work meetings. We had to adjust where we ran from, as the state parks are closed due to COVID-19 and we certainly honored the ban on parking at state parks. Parked at East Ferry and ran out to Mackeral Cove and then down to Beavertail and back.
This was my second consecutive road run. I unexpectedly really enjoyed this. Ran fairly hard (for me) at an average 6:46 pace, and felt good on rolling hills terrain. There was almost no one out on the roads, and even when we did run into other walkers and runners out there, unlike on trails, there was plenty of room to go around them and practice safe social distancing. Healthy, safe exercising.
Wednesday: 10
Carolina North with Matthew and Brady. A few cars in the small management area parking lot, but almost no one to be seen on the trails we took. I feel like I'm getting quite comfortable with the fun single-track trails closest to the Pine Hill Road swimming hole, but after that, much of Carolina North is still a mystery to me.
Wish I had brought my camera with me for the river crossing. There was just no staying dry on that one, with rocks under water and dicey log crossings. Brady gave up and just went through the water, which was waist-deep to him. Surprisingly, this was one of those rare terrains where I actually crossed much quicker than Matthew. East of the river crossing is like the Wild West to me. A lot of fun trails, but I can never make heads or tails of this area. After making our way out and back on the pink(?) blazed trail, ran reasonably fast (for me) on the remainder of trails, including the hilly Jerue Jump and fun twisty single-track back to the car. I actually felt like I gained a second wind on the second half of the run and felt oddly strong during the last two miles.
On the drive home, turning onto my street, "Thunderstuck" randomly came on the radio, AND a beautiful coyote walked across the street and lingered in a yard long enough for us to observe him. Great ending to a run!
Thursday: 10
Local roads around the pond, plus fields and coastal trails. With Matthew and Brady. Often I will leave Brady behind on road runs, as selfishly it's a little harder to run with him on the leash, but more importantly, it's better for his paws to run on softer surfaces, especially longer runs. Seeing that we were mixing in fields and trails, and remembering that Jana told me he "cried" the other day when we went on a run without him, I opted to take him along and he seemed pretty happy about that.
Anyway, for some reason, I was feeling really sore and tight from yesterday's Carolina run, so today's run was just OK.
Friday: 9
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| Spring is slow in coming. This week at work we were asked to submit a picture on any gardening we've been doing. This was the closest I could come up with. |
Today's run was late afternoon, after final work meeting ended at 5. Parked at Barlow Preserve, and ran the trails there. All two miles of them. It's really a nice 80-acre parcel that got donated to the WLT and will soon be its new headquarters. The trails will need some wearing in, and it's too bad you can't connect them due to the marsh in between.
From Barlow, we ran the short distance on roads to get in to Woody Hill Management Area, and then chose some of the trails less frequented. Never saw a single soul out there (besides Matthew and Brady, of course). Feeling so hungry last two miles; otherwise another great run.
 |
| Now this is funny (well, at least to me). In Spain, there is a strict stay-at-home policy, however, like our own stay-at-home order in RI, there are exemptions. One of them in Spain is you can leave your house to take your pet for a walk. So this man was out taking his pet fish for a walk (in a bowl on the bench to his right), when he ran into the police. I give him an A+ for creativity and bravado, but apparently the police didn't see it that way. Source: https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/24/world/spanish-residents-walking-pets-trnd/index.html |
Saturday: 10
Yawgoog trails and roads, with Matthew and Brady. Very warm (64° at finish) and sunny. There was a large group of people and dogs at the start (all friendly), and then we only sporadically encountered a few others for the rest of the run.
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| Running with Brady at Hidden Lake, while Matthew films with his Go Pro. (This was actually a work assignment. Specifically, the request is for each of us to create and submit a short video, showing and speaking to our goals and work/life balance during COVID-19.) |
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| With my trusty companion at my side, I'm giving my 20-second overview on my Boston training goals replaced with 1) spending more time with my family, and 2) social distancing in great southern RI places like this. (I didn't think I "talk with my hands", but apparently I do?) |
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| Alright, my 20 seconds are up, AND Brady is clearly bored. He's actually yawning here! Time to move on ... |
Middletown, RI (with a just little in Portsmouth, towards end). Matthew had planned this run out the night before, and I have to admit I was a little apprehensive about running this many miles. This would be my longest run by far in about two months, since February 29.
We weren't sure about the viability of parking in Middletown town beach lots, as state beach lots are now closed for COVID-19, but our own town beach lot is open. Unfortunately, the beach lots were all closed, so we figured we'd park at one of the trail heads for Sakonnet Greenway. No dice there either, after trying several. Fortunately, Matthew remembered that Bob Jackman ran the Greenway trails just yesterday, and looked up where he started from: Newport Vineyards. Sure enough, that parking lot was open, and there was a sign there that subject to social distancing, the trails were open as well! And on to the run ...
6 miles grass trails at Sakonnet, 2.5 miles gravel trails at Sachuest Point, balance roads. Unintentionally exactly half trails, half roads.
Not surprisingly the downhill miles to Sachuest were the fastest. 6:30ish. Roads and trails at Sachuest were pretty flat, with beautiful views along the ocean and at the point. Getting back to Sakonnet was a long but not so steep 200' climb (also part of the Newport Marathon, which I ran with Tommy in 2017). Finally, the miles on the Sakonnet Greenway trails were the slowest, not because of elevation changes, but because several sections were just pure mud!
 |
| Went to my favorite coffeehouse on Aquidneck Island, only to learn they are closed during COVID-19 restrictions. Got iced coffees and stuffed croissants at Dunkin', then home to hose the mud off the shoes! |
Weekly miles: 65!
Weekly synopsis: Biggest mileage week for me since December. I wouldn't have gotten this many solo, so I have Matthew to thank for that. I think this was also Brady's biggest mileage week ever, as he ran sixty miles, with ease I might add.
Weekly highlight: Truly a lot of good runs this week, but I'd have to say today's run on Aquidneck Island was my running highlight. Wasn't sure I'd be able to finish 17, and the legs are a tad sore as I write this, but really happy I got it done.
My feel good moment of the week was helping an elderly African-American woman navigate through the electronic self-checkout at Stop & Shop today. From a safe social distance, of course, and with a mask. Nothing remotely compared to what our front line workers are doing everyday, but it did make feel a bit better.
Weekly lowlight: Truly a great week of running. The only lowlight I can think of is the (not unexpected) continued cancellation of race after race. When will we start having at least smaller races? Hopefully we'll get some guidance during May.
