Weekly Log 22-Jun to 28-Jun-2020: Deerflies & Fun Runs

Monday:  0
Regular day off.

Tuesday:  6
Humid morning run in Burlingame Campground with Brady.  Really strange to go through the campground in late June and see it empty.  It did look like park rangers were getting it ready to reopen.

Wednesday:  10
Back to Burlingame, this time with Brady AND Matthew.  Warm and very humid.  CCW run of Vin Gormley Trail, swapping out campground road portion with the Burlingame Trail / NST.  Realizing streams are starting to dry up, especially as we haven't had rain in weeks now, I filled my CamelBak halfway and gave water to Brady twice en route.

Pesky deerflies chased and annoyed us several miles in.  Exiting onto Buckeye Brook Road for the short asphalt section, there must have been 20 of them swarming behind Matthew's head.  Unfortunately, the sun was NOT out so they continued to follow us, but oddly dissipated another mile or so into the woods.  More active near wet areas?

Finished up with a nice swim in Watchaug Pond (since dogs not allowed on beach, we swam at boat launch).

Post-run reward:  Dave's Coffee
DFK count:  8

Thursday:  6
Slept in, and missed my morning pre-work window.  Paid the price by running in the 80° midday heat, with a limited 1-hour window between meetings to get it done.  Solo local roads at about 7:30 pace.  Slathered with SPF30 sunscreen.

Post-run reward:  None.  I didn't deserve any with my laziness.

Return of the Fun Runs?  Not looking like this, but hopefully some variant.

Held a special WTAC board meeting to discuss the fate of the remaining five summer fun runs, starting July 8.  We had already cancelled the first five summer fun run weeks, as RI remains in Phase II with a maximum crowd gathering of 15.  But with that gathering limit set to expire and give way to 250, plus a number of local fun runs now resuming (Kelley's Pace Saturday runs, Groton Fun Runs approved by town to start next week), it was time to discuss again.  After protracted discussions on precautions we can take, new USATF COVID guidance, and RI state rules, we voted unanimously to proceed, with many restrictions, including unfortunately cancelling the kids' runs.  All this is subject to RI being in Phase III by July 8 and obtaining USATF sanctions and insurance, but it is good to see some running coming back.

Friday:  11
Morning low-tide beach run with Matthew and Brady.  This would mean 10+ miles with no water for Brady.  I wish he could talk and tell me if that's a problem or not, but I surmised correctly that he would be keeping himself cool by frequently jumping into the cold ocean water.  He seemed fine and very active the whole way.

I had him off-leash except a small section of town beach where tractors were raking the beach.  I was impressed that even when we encountered other dogs off-leash, I just told him sternly to stay with me and he ran right next to me, even when other dogs ran up to him.  That hasn't always been the case, so I'm encouraged by his obedience.  Dogs are allowed 24/7 on Westerly beaches in the off-season, but between Memorial Day and Labor Day it makes sense that their beach time is limited to 6pm to 8am.  We didn't quite make it off the beach by 8am, but no one voiced an objection and we were gone before beaches opened for the day.

Complete pea soup fog at start, but burning off at end.  Brady and I went in for a quick swim in the ocean at finish at Weekapaug Breachway.

Post-run rewards:  Iced coffee and breakfast sandwiches at the Weekapaug Innlet

Saturday:  8
Newest WTAC member Nick posted a Arcadia 10K challenge on Strava last week.  A few indicated that they would try it out.  Today I figured I would give it a go.

Arrived at Browning Mill Pond parking lot about 7:30 with my furry running partner, Brady.  Not many cars were there.  Fortunately, both of us got our daily constitutionals out of the way pre-run.  TMI?  Nick had posted very detailed course instructions, which I reviewed one final time and then took a screen-shot for needed reference:

Started on the dirt road, with a conservative estimate of where 200' beyond the fields was.  Took off fairly hard uphill on the dirt road.  As I approached each trail intersection (of which there were many), I tried to check my phone ahead of the next intersection so I would be prepared and not have to stop.

Without these blow-by-blow directions, I would not have been able to follow.  For example, regarding the 1.78 miles left turn over small wood planks, I only saw it because I knew it was coming up and had my eyes peeled for it.  This was my first time on "95 Trail" and it was a lot of fun.  Twisty and with some rocks, but not super technical like the boulder garden on NST in this area.

I did fine until just after the hard right onto NST.  At the next fork, I took a left like I thought I was supposed to and was looking for yellow blazes.  There was none, so I doubled back.  It turns out I was supposed to take a left at the second fork, and there the yellow blazes were quite clear.  Oh well, lost just a little time there, plus two stream crossings for Brady to get a drink.  I thought about just leaving Brady to get a drink and then he can easily catch up to me, but that isn't fair and he seems to choose his loyalty to me over his desire to quench his thirst, so I stopped completely both times and encouraged him to quaff.

Up until now, there had only been just a few sporadic deerflies that I killed, but turning onto white trail 4 1/2 miles in, they were just relentless.  I wore a hat to cut down on head bites, but my shoulders and arms were exposed and those bastards took advantage of that.  I was hot and sweaty by now, tired on the hill climb, and just swatting literally left and right.  As much as I love single-track, I couldn't wait to get back onto the dirt road, with hopefully sun to send them scrambling.

Downhill on the dirt road to the finish, and the deerflies were really finally gone now!  I wasn't sprinting here, but I was pushing the pace.  Took the final single-track to the left, and finished in the far end of the field.

Not the cleanest looking brook ever, but I joined Brady by wading into
the Roaring Brook (which was not roaring today!).

I was pretty tired, but went for a very slow 1.5 mile cooldown around Browning Mill Pond.  We startled an old woman on a narrow bridge, and she screamed and gave me dirty looks.  Yet she was in the middle of a very narrow bridge and didn't move at all.  So I said, "Excuse us, we're coming through.  Sorry for startling you.".  I wasn't really sorry, and wanted to ask what her problem was, but I took the high road and tried unsuccessfully to diffuse the situation.  She gave me another dirty look, said nothing, and rolled her eyes.  She was wearing a mask and I wasn't; was that her problem?  Or that I was sweaty and had taken my shirt off?  Who knows?  I ran past her, and then called Brady to come, who also clearly wanted nothing to do with her.

Very disappointed later to find that I didn't get on the overall segment, and I couldn't figure out why.

So what's the difference between our two runs, and the overall segment which
Nick set based on this run?  Besides very minor GPS differences, the fact that I started
earlier (which shouldn't matter, as the overall segment should be a subset of my run today),
and the bottom (or southernmost) portion of my route has a bit extra due to my wrong turn
(which also shouldn't matter as I doubled back), these two routes look the same to me.

Continuing my sleuthing, thanks to Nick's creating five composite "sub-segments" encompassing the whole route, I looked at those.  It turns out I got on Sectors #2 through #5, but not on #1.  So let's take a look at #1 in the same light:

OK, so clearly here is a difference.  My guess is that Nick and I actually ran the exact
same trails here, and he also made that same sharp left onto Tefft Hill Road as part of his
directions, but his GPS route is showing he crossed Tefft Hill Road and ran parallel to it.
----
Based on that, while it's still too bad I didn't get on the overall segment, I'm
feeling better that I followed the route correctly.

Post-run rewards:  Iced coffee and an egg and cheese on asiago bagel at Higher Grounds in Richmond.  I shared my bagel sandwich with Brady for being a good sport putting up with my shenanigans.
DFK count:  A staggering 31!  25 on the 10K challenge, and 6 on the cool-down.

Sunday:  8
Slow and easy run from Haley Farm State Park, with Matthew and Brady.  He had just run 20 hard and hilly miles yesterday, and my 10K hard effort yesterday didn't compare, but fortunately he was looking to take it easy as well.

Matthew pointed out early that the number of people who came out on trails during the early days of the pandemic has subsided substantially.  Even on the main trails at Haley, there were very few people to be found.  Easy but different loop through Bluff Point State Park and back.

Slipped on wet rocks and went down fairly hard into rocks and mud.
I'm used to it.  Stung for a bit, and then I got up and kept going.

Post-run rewards:  iced latte and breakfast sandwiches at Mystic Market.
DFK count:  ZERO today!

Weekly mileage:  49

Weekly synopsis:  Now that I've joined the swelling ranks of paid Strava subscribers, I am gradually started to take advantage of some of the features.  I keyed in a weekly goal of 50, and while I didn't that number, it's just a target goal, and close enough.

Weekly highlight:  Beach run.  It could have been the Arcadia run, but the deerflies were just too nasty. 

Weekly lowlight:  Nasty deerflies.

Weekly Log 15-Jun to 22-Jun-2020: Summer Solstice

Monday:  0
Planned day off.

Tuesday:  6
Wahaneeta / Woody Hill AM run with Brady.  I need to get out before work for these runs, or they're not happening during the busy work day.  It's also only going to get warmer and more humid, with summer coming on Saturday, so more impetus for predominantly morning runs for the foreseeable future.

Wednesday:  8
Got up for a planned solo local run.  With Brady following me around and knowing I was going out for a run, I opted to take him and went to trails at Burlingame to run the Rhody 8-mile loop.  Parked at the Kings Factory trailhead, so I'd get the roads out of the way first and finish up on trails.  My feet felt terrible running roads in minimum trail shoes.  Shocker, eh?  Don't know what I was thinking there.

Saw three ladies finishing up swimming (CarolAnn, Lisa, 3rd looked familiar) at the picnic area, and chatted for a moment.  I enjoy open water swimming outdoors better than pool swimming indoors, and the Y is working through their pool opening policies, so I'll opt for outdoors first.

The rest of the run was very quiet.  I saw two hikers and one mountain biker; otherwise, the trail was deserted.  Stopped at each stream to let Brady take a drink, but I also notice streams are starting to dry up.  What do runners do for ensuring their canine running partners have sufficient water in the summer?  This is new territory for me.

Thursday:  8
Got up earlier and got my solo road run in.  'Round the pond in 95% humidity.  Tougher to breathe today.  Mild shin discomfort, especially in the first couple of miles.  Hope it wasn't due to my bonehead move of wearing minimus trail shoes on a route that has a couple of miles of asphalt.  Got it done.  Not pretty.

Friday:  5 run, 2 walk
AM:  Woody Hill with Brady.  Very humid.  Took it slow.  First, second, and third deerfly kills of the year.

You know what this is, right?  Drat.  I've served once before,
several decades ago.  It was a civil case of a pregnant woman in her third trimester
who rented a moped on Block Island, crashed, and lost her baby she was carrying,
and she sued the moped rental company.  Sad situation, but ultimately, the
moped company wasn't liable and probably shouldn't have been on a moped.
The company settled anyway and the case ended.  I remember a lot of wasted time
sitting around in courtrooms, and I certainly don't want to do that with a mask on
in these times.

PM:  Bradford Preserve walk after dinner with Jana and Brady.  Pretty much deserted.  WHS XC course in reverse.  As we were finishing up, a large chocolate lab passed right by Jana and startled her on its way to check out Brady.  It must have been twice Brady's size, but as with all Labrador Retrievers I've ever seen, it was super friendly.  Its owner apologized, but really, it was no issue at all, especially once Jana realized it wasn't really a bear!

Saturday:  8
Barn Island, with Matthew and Brady.  Perhaps one of the last runs of the summer here (although technically not the start of the summer until 4 hours after our run), as the Barn gets overgrown on the seldom used single-track and remains so until the first frost.  95% humidity, hot, sticky, soupy, and buggy, although no deerfly bites today.

In the parking lot, a guy with a feisty dog just smaller than Brady asked if we'd be taking Brady off-leash on the trails.  When I told him yes, but I'd be carrying a leash in case we ran into a bunch of people, he said good and took his dog off-leash.  Am I a bad influence?  The two dogs were really happy to play together, and as Matthew and I started our run, both followed us, even when we took a different trail and the owner was no longer anywhere in sight.  Uh oh.  Should we go back?  We stopped to assess, and the dog came up to me and jumped right up on me!  He was just really playful, but eventually, he turned back to find his owner.

Sunday:  28 ride, 10 run
AM:  Bike with Mike.  Hey, that rhymes!  I'm a poet, and I don't even know it.  Yeah, yeah.  Anyway, after a long absence of getting together with running (and biking) friends, it was good to get out for a ride with Mike.  Misquamicut, Weekapaug, and Quonochontaug, with a coffee stop at Dave's Coffee. Dave's is still only taking order via mobile app, with reduced hours and inside seating.  Who wants a couple of sweaty bikers inside anyway?  Worked out just fine, and good catch-up for sure.  When finishing up the ride, ran (rode?) into Tommy, Shara, and family finishing up a stroller 10K run in Misquamicut, and then very close to home, ran into Jana and Brady out for a run on Shore Road.  Brady didn't even recognize me with the helmet!  When I spoke to him, then he got really excited, although probably wondering I was wearing a weird hat and spandex.  Jana told me later that he cried when Mike and I left!

PM:  Barefoot beach run solo.  It was supposed to be with Mike, but we got our signals crossed and that didn't work out.  That's OK, the summer is young (as in first full day of summer), so plenty of opportunities.  I actually did catch up with Mike and his family down at Seaside towards the end of my run.  Hundreds and hundreds (thousands?) of people on the beach, primarily packed into the state beach.  That's where I ended up going, as I didn't get a town sticker yet, and every other beach was charging $30!!  Per day!  Highway robbery!

Will have to figure out what we can salvage for a summer vacation.  It seems flying is likely a no-go for us this summer.
Driving and camping may be our best and safest bet.  But even there, many campgrounds aren't open yet, won't be opening,
or are opening but restricted to their own state's residences.  Meanwhile, US-Canada border still effectively closed through
at least July 21.

Weekly mileage:  45 run, 28 bike, 2 walk

Weekly synopsis:  Didn't hit my weekly goal of 50, but close enough for government work.  What the heck does that mean?  How many colloquial phrases do I use without knowing their true meanings?  Anyway, I digress.  All in all, a good week.  Trails, beach, and a little bit of road.

Weekly highlight:  Nothing especially stands out.  Had a good time catching up with Mike.  That's probably it.

Weekly lowlight:  Humidity, deerflies, and jury duty.

Weekly Log 8-Jun to 14-Jun-2020: Wachusett

Monday:  0
Usual day off.  Had contemplated cross-training, but it didn't materialize.

Tuesday:  8
Solo road run 'round the pond.  Average 6:40 pace.  Felt really good on this one, and I'm loving my New Balance 890 v7.  Lightweight at just over 7 ounces.  Low humidity.

Post-run annual Westerly Land Trust clearing at their
Quaker property.  Operated above beast until my weak arms got tired, then traded off with another
"young" guy.  Signs at the entrance explained that a Quaker meetinghouse
was originally built here in 1747, and that to this day weekly meetings continue
at their location on Elm Street.
---
An additional piece of historical trivia I learned was that eight of the early
RI governors were Quakers.
---
Glad to see one semblance of normality (weekly WLT coffee and clearing crew)
has returned, albeit without the coffee gathering.

Wednesday:  8
Barn Island with Brady.  Return of the humidity.  I must've gone through about 5 spider webs.  Reminded me of how much Crutch hates them.

Wequetequock Cove, at the end of the run.
What is missing from this pic is that Brady was excited to see
two Golden Retrievers swimming in the cove.
One of them promptly came over to say hello to Brady.  The owner
apologized, but it was all good with me.

Thursday:  5
Road/trail local mix with Brady.  Another humid one.  While I didn't expect to see anyone on the Mastuxet Greenway trails (behind Rotary Park), I was surprised that not a single person was in Champlin Glacier Preserve.  At the onset of the COVID-19 restrictions, and especially the Stay at Home order, this and many other preserves saw so many people.  With the Stay at Home order expired, it seems many of those people also opted to let their trail and outdoor time expire as well.  Their loss; my gain.

Friday:  0 run, 1 walk
Unplanned zero.  Contractors were coming over the house at 7:30, so I opted not to run in the morning.  Fatal flaw, as just a very busy work day prevented me for getting out before I wrapped up my work day just after 6pm.

Got out with Jana and Brady to Avondale after dinner, as I "needed" to get out of the house for some fresh air.

Saturday:  9
Wachusett Mountain, MA.  Matthew was planning an FKT attempt (which was successful), so since he was going by himself and the ride was "only" 1.75 hours, I told him I'd tag along if I didn't cramp his company.  I wasn't thrilled with his idea of warming up on roads, but this was his run after all and I was just there for fun.  After two miles running roads, I was chomping at the bit to hit the trails.  I left Matthew to stretch out, and I ventured ahead as I would be running most of his planned route, except taking a steeper final ascent trail (Harrington) than his route, cutting off 1/2 mile at the turnaround (Balance Rock), and a slightly different diversion at finish.

Early on in the run, with Matthew well ahead

Trail intersections were very well marked.

Yellow "Mid State Trail" marker, and red blaze on the tree
for the Harrington Trail.

Top section of Harrington Trail was fairly
technical.

One of the trickiest sections.
I ran the whole trail, but obviously
quite slowly through here.

At the summit.  Not much for views.

Old Indian Trail descent.  A lot of rock hopping.

4-way trail intersection, but crystal clear markings.

Crossing one of several ski slopes

Sunday: 11
Local roads with Brady, with 2 miles on the beach.  Ran 4.5 miles with the Run While You Can gang.  This was my first time since pre-pandemic that I ran with anyone outside my immediate family.  Felt and seemed normal with a lot of people out walking, biking, and running.  The only time I saw anyone was masks was running past the Cooked Goose where people were being seated outside for breakfast.  Kelley's Pace owner Jeff Anderson was amongst our group of four.  His fun runs just opened yesterday, but CT allows "crowd" sizes up to 25, and he had a small group.  I hope this bodes well for some form of WTAC fun runs, although obviously fun runs as we know them won't be happening this year for us.

The easy 8-ish pace suited me just after running rugged mountain trails just yesterday.  Once we got down to Watch Hill, Brady and I said our good-byes as we ran the beach home.  I wasn't sure if dogs are allowed on the beach up to 8am or 9am, so I was prepared to leave if needed, but once we got on the beach, we saw plenty of dogs, all friendly, and almost all off-leash and playing.  I took Brady off-leash and he immediately ran into the ocean and came back with a ball.  That's when I saw three other dogs looking at him, and I realized it was their ball!  Fortunately I was able to coax Brady into turning over the ball, and off we went, me at a leisurely gait, and Brady sprinting up and down the beach punctuated by frequent jumps into the ocean.  So fun to watch him and his energy!

While running on the beach, one woman pointed at my shirt
and gave me a thumbs-up.  I didn't quite get it, and then she said,
"It's Flag Day.  You wore our flag".  Oh, yeah, right.  I'd like to
say that I planned it that way, but that would not be the case.

Weekly mileage:  43

Weekly synopsis:  All in all, a decent running week.  Only disappointment was two zeros instead of a planned one.

Weekly highlight:  Wachusett Mountain trail run.  Good mix of trails from technical to easily runnable.

Weekly lowlight:  Only that I had two zeroes.

Weekly Log 1-Jun to 7-Jun-2020: A Down Week

Monday:  0
Typical planned Monday off from running.  I need to work in cross-training instead.  Actions speak louder than words.

Tuesday:  0
Unplanned day off.  Very, very busy at work with a computer software implementation project that our division head has made clear to me she wants every effort made to keep to the original (pre-COVID-19) timeline and costs.  That was a tight timeline to begin with and presumed a lot of trips to New Haven (it's for our subsidiary there) for in-person work, but now with everything virtual, it does add some challenges.  WebEx video conferencing is my friend from morning to evening each day.  Fortunately, my proposal to delay other projects and shift staff around got green-lighted, and a recent staff add approval to my team even during COVID-19 makes me cautiously optimistic.

Wednesday:  8
Morning pre-work run from Wahaneeta with Matthew and Brady.  I correctly surmised that we wouldn't see a soul out there (well, except for a really cool frog), so I opted to just leave the leash in the car.  Fortunately, Matthew behaved and stayed with us, even without the leash.

Ran the classic trails at Woody Hill.  It's really nice out there now with a full canopy of leaves.  The price to pay is humidity, ticks, and pending deerflies.

I was invited today to meet with town and Westerly Municipal Land Trust officials for a walk-through at Bradford Preserve of a planned walking path.  I’m glad I went, as I learned the path will be on the perimeter of the field (similar to WHS and Pumpkins courses) and the path will be paved!  Sounds like a Mikey B idea.  It was initially suggested to me that runners could run on the new paved surface.  Um, no, they wear spikes and this is a cross-country (and trail run [Pumpkins]).  Anyhow, it all went well, was very collaborative, and they will plan to minimize places where XC/Pumpkins needs to cross asphalt to likely just one place.

Tonight we had been scheduled to start the 45th annual Tom McCoy summer fun run series,
but obviously COVID-19 had other plans.  Just sad.  We've deferred the start out to July 8.
Not sure if that's more unbridled optimism than realism, but I do want to be the eternal optimist and
not decide in haste, but rather wait until we have the best information available.  We will see.

Thursday:  0 bike, 22 ride
8 miles running in 4 days?  Gulp.  What gives?  Easy to blame work being so busy, but the motivation ebbs and flows and this week I'm feeling a little apathetic with no races on the horizon.

Went out for a bike ride after dinner with Matthew.  Long time since I was last on the bike.  How long?  August 18th!  So that's almost nine months.  A few observations:

• Atlantic Avenue is terrible to ride on!  At least right now, as it's pretty ripped up.  Was riding fearful of crashing, especially when hitting the rough breaks between asphalt road and stripped surfaces.
• My bike has seen better days.  A lot of clanking and not so smooth gear shifts.  I've known this for a while.  Every year I contemplate getting a new bike, but am usually just too cheap.
• A lot of tourists and out-of-state plates in coastal Westerly and Charlestown right now.  Mostly CT and NY plates, but a few MA as well.  I guess it's good to see some semblance of normal?

Speaking of cheap, do you see the symbol in the upper-right?
Yup, with the new Strava model and many previously-free features now
subscription only, I acquiesced and joined the paying ranks.
It's a good product that merits some payment, so I guess my
seven years of penny-pinching to maintain a free Strava account are over.

Friday:  0
Long day at work.  Low motivation.

Great advice!

Saturday:  10
Very humid with Brady at Arcadia, from JB Hudson trailhead and parking area.  At the lot, I was the first car there and shortly thereafter, a kindly older woman pulled in and offered me her bug spray.  After that, we went almost the full 10 miles without seeing a soul on the trails.  Pictorial overview:

Early on, on the Mt Tom Trail

"Water stops" would be frequent on this run;
this one at the hunter check-in station

This section of Mt Tom Trail was a little
slippery due to overnight rain.  Very well marked!

At the southern end of Ben Utter Trail (which we didn't take),
and near our western start of Breakheart Trail

Cool chimney on Shelter Trail

Was very concerned seeing this sign amongst an
overgrown field ...

... but it turned out to be fine.

And after the field end, the trail turned into fun pine-covered
single-track.

With one mile to go (intersection of Shelter Trail and Frosty Hollow Road),
I stopped at this waterhole intending only to give Brady some relief.
But I ended up dunking myself as well, and it felt great!

Sunday:  6
Got up at 7:30 and planned to run local roads, maybe even catching up with the now resumed Sunday Run While You Can gang.  I like to run the first few miles with the group, and then break off and run the beach home.  Check the tide charts and it was high tide, so I would be running all roads, which is still OK if I'm running without Brady.  But ten miles on roads with Brady sounds like a lot.  What to do?  What to do?  Leave him at home?  He knows I'm going out for a run and is clinging close to me.

Decided to go to Burlingame and run from the Kings Factory Road trailhead.  There must have been seven cars parked there.  I debated going elsewhere more sparsely attended, but just parked and went out.  Finally, much lower humidity.  I think Brady recognized and appreciated it, as he had a lot more spunk today with sprints and frolicking in water holes.  Towards the end of our run, we passed a couple of bikers in a technical section of VG trail.  As we were getting into the car at the end of the run, they passed by us and one of them said to me, "That dog has some lungs!".

Weekly mileage:  run 25 miles, bike 23

Weekly synopsis:  Obviously a super low mileage week.  Running 3 out of 7 days is not good.  Not injured, so really no excuse.  Just lacking motivation.  It doesn't help my lack of motivation that due to COVID-19, there are no excuses until who knows when.  I'm OK with one off week, but I "can't" let this happen again next week.

Weekly highlight:  The Arcadia classic trail run on Saturday, even with the humidity.  Plenty of streams to cool off in, and it's a fun area.

Weekly lowlight:  My apathy and lack of motivation.  Snap out of it, man.