Monday: 0
Planned day off.
Tuesday: 10
'Round the pond solo run. Gusts up to 25mph, and wind oddly out of the east. Took note of this and planned my route to come back on Atlantic Ave (along the ocean) with the wind. Ran 6:30s fairly effortlessly on the way back, thanks to that tailwind.
Wednesday: 8
Morning run from South Woody Hill, with Matthew and Brady. All trails, with only one other human/canine pair sighting. Otherwise deserted. Unintentionally slow pace.
Thursday: 4
Afternoon post-work run with Brady. A mix of roads and trails. Slow and weak.
Friday: 8
Morning run at Grills Hopkinton and Westerly with Matthew and Brady. The whole time out there we only saw one group of people, with their dog. The first two miles I felt tight and out of breath. After a brief stop, it got much better.
Saturday: 12
Nehantic Trail point-to-point. Drove out of RI for the first time since the pandemic forced restrictions two months ago. Dropped one car at the northern terminus at Hopeville Pond State Park in Griswold. Point-to-point runs require a little bit extra time and logistics planning, but you can cover more area and are a lot of fun.
Started from the southern terminus, which is at the northern end of Green Falls Pond. The only problem with this is that it's a good 2-3 drive on dirt roads. The roads are in good shape, but it's a long way in and slow at about 20mph max.
The first 1/4 mile or so was uphill and fairly technical. However, the entire rest of the trail was not technical at all. The Nehantic Trail is one of the CT Blue Blazed trails. Two problems with markings I found were 1) there were long stretches with no confidence blazings, and 2) the Pachaug Trail, which intersected several times, was also marked in blue blazes!
The temp was 64° with near 100% humidity. Soaked pretty quickly. Fortunately I planned ahead with bringing both a short-sleeve tech shirt and a lightweight singlet. Guess which one I wore?
For the first six miles, we didn't see a single human or canine! Even at that, in the course of a half-mile near Mt Misery, we saw two people, one dog, and then again, never saw a soul for the final five miles. No social distancing issues today!
We paused a couple of times at intersections and also on the one section of road (with no blazes at all!), but managed to stay on the trail except on a dirt road section about 8 miles in, when we missed a left hand turn. Afterwards, back home, Matthew found the approximate area where missed the left turn, but in looking through others' past Strava runs, including Muddy Puddin', it seems others missed the turn as well.
Sunday: 8
Ninigret Park re-opened yesterday! The adjacent federal wildlife preserve never closed, but unfortunately, unlike the section across Route 1 adjacent to Burlingame, this federal section doesn't allow dogs or "jogging".
Mix of grass fields and asphalt. Very easy high 7s pace felt good. Post-run treat was a visit to The Bakery, also a recent reopening after being shuttered due to COVID-19. Blueberry scone warmed up, with an iced coffee. Good stuff!
Weekly mileage: 51
Weekly synopsis: Hit my mileage target. Good week overall, with a nice mix of roads, trails, and grass fields.
Weekly highlight: The Nehantic Trail point-to-point run. Sure, we got off course and had to study phone location and maps to get corrected, but that was a minor inconvenience in the scheme of things. To run 12 miles of point-to-point trails, with 11 of them devoid of humans, many in pine-tree forests, and most of it on fun single-track, that's a great day in my book!
Weekly lowlight: Two of my least favorite things in life surfaced this week: humidity and mosquitoes.
Planned day off.
Tuesday: 10
'Round the pond solo run. Gusts up to 25mph, and wind oddly out of the east. Took note of this and planned my route to come back on Atlantic Ave (along the ocean) with the wind. Ran 6:30s fairly effortlessly on the way back, thanks to that tailwind.
Wednesday: 8
Morning run from South Woody Hill, with Matthew and Brady. All trails, with only one other human/canine pair sighting. Otherwise deserted. Unintentionally slow pace.
Thursday: 4
Afternoon post-work run with Brady. A mix of roads and trails. Slow and weak.
Friday: 8
Morning run at Grills Hopkinton and Westerly with Matthew and Brady. The whole time out there we only saw one group of people, with their dog. The first two miles I felt tight and out of breath. After a brief stop, it got much better.
Saturday: 12
Nehantic Trail point-to-point. Drove out of RI for the first time since the pandemic forced restrictions two months ago. Dropped one car at the northern terminus at Hopeville Pond State Park in Griswold. Point-to-point runs require a little bit extra time and logistics planning, but you can cover more area and are a lot of fun.
Started from the southern terminus, which is at the northern end of Green Falls Pond. The only problem with this is that it's a good 2-3 drive on dirt roads. The roads are in good shape, but it's a long way in and slow at about 20mph max.
The first 1/4 mile or so was uphill and fairly technical. However, the entire rest of the trail was not technical at all. The Nehantic Trail is one of the CT Blue Blazed trails. Two problems with markings I found were 1) there were long stretches with no confidence blazings, and 2) the Pachaug Trail, which intersected several times, was also marked in blue blazes!
The temp was 64° with near 100% humidity. Soaked pretty quickly. Fortunately I planned ahead with bringing both a short-sleeve tech shirt and a lightweight singlet. Guess which one I wore?
 |
| Stopped at rivers and streams to let Brady cool off and get a drink |
For the first six miles, we didn't see a single human or canine! Even at that, in the course of a half-mile near Mt Misery, we saw two people, one dog, and then again, never saw a soul for the final five miles. No social distancing issues today!
 |
| Much of the trail looked like this: Single-track, pine-needle surface on trail, through pine forests. --- This is definitely one of my favorite trail terrains. |
We paused a couple of times at intersections and also on the one section of road (with no blazes at all!), but managed to stay on the trail except on a dirt road section about 8 miles in, when we missed a left hand turn. Afterwards, back home, Matthew found the approximate area where missed the left turn, but in looking through others' past Strava runs, including Muddy Puddin', it seems others missed the turn as well.
 |
| From the Mt Misery overlook. |
Sunday: 8
Ninigret Park re-opened yesterday! The adjacent federal wildlife preserve never closed, but unfortunately, unlike the section across Route 1 adjacent to Burlingame, this federal section doesn't allow dogs or "jogging".
Mix of grass fields and asphalt. Very easy high 7s pace felt good. Post-run treat was a visit to The Bakery, also a recent reopening after being shuttered due to COVID-19. Blueberry scone warmed up, with an iced coffee. Good stuff!
Weekly mileage: 51
Weekly synopsis: Hit my mileage target. Good week overall, with a nice mix of roads, trails, and grass fields.
Weekly highlight: The Nehantic Trail point-to-point run. Sure, we got off course and had to study phone location and maps to get corrected, but that was a minor inconvenience in the scheme of things. To run 12 miles of point-to-point trails, with 11 of them devoid of humans, many in pine-tree forests, and most of it on fun single-track, that's a great day in my book!
Weekly lowlight: Two of my least favorite things in life surfaced this week: humidity and mosquitoes.
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