Miscellaneous ramblings:
- Channel 10 online news story headline: "Connecticut woman accused of abandoning baby found alive in trash bin". The woman was found alive in the trash bin, or the baby? Pretty awkward use of English, especially for a communications firm.
- Why did Strava turn off Flybys for all athletes? Privacy reasons? I opted back in, but I'm guessing most didn't realize or take the effort to. I enjoy occasionally checking it on casual runs, and definitely so on races.
- I don't usually listen to music later than 1991, as after that, they just stopped making good music, IMHO. So listening to the local classic rock station this morning, it was both weird and so cool to hear the recently released 2020 song, "Shot in the Dark" by AC/DC. Can I still consider this "classic" rock? Yes, as it has the similar sound and vibe from their '80s hits. I remember The Who's Super Bowl halftime show in 2010, and it was noticeable that Roger Daltrey was losing his voice, but Brian Johnson is still rocking the same sound!
- I get that we're not exchanging handshakes during the pandemic, but what's with elbow bumps? They seems so awkward to me, and actually bring you physically closer to the person than fist bumps do.
(Embarrassing sign at the entrance of a local DD)
But what if I'm NOT wearing a costume?
Then how many are allowed in "te" store?
Monday: 4
Columbus Day holiday. Although it's apparently controversial to mention that even as a fact these days. So Happy Indigenous Peoples Day, or whatever you celebrate. Looking to celebrate North American exploration? Maybe it should be Leif Eriksson Day. Aside from his historical atrocities, Columbus never set foot on US soil, and if you're considering North American soil, he was preceded by Leif Eriksson by 500 years!
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| Statue of Leif Eriksson in from of Hallgrímskirkja Church, Reykjavik, a gift from the US to Iceland in 1930. --- (I took this photo about 11pm, while on a run with Matthew in July 2016) |
Oh, yeah, about the run. It was an easy recovery run on a mix of local roads and trails, from the house, on a dreary day.
Tuesday: 10
Went to CCC, only to find it was cancelled. I knew that was a good possibility with the rain, but as the planned activity was to clean up Wahaneeta specifically for the WTAC race this coming Sunday, I didn't want to take the chance. It ended up all working out, as I caught up with a few during the coffee hour and then went for a solo run in the rain.
Today was the 25th anniversary of my father passing away. In my 56+ years, this has to date been the hardest thing in my life. Yes, I was 31 when I lost my Dad, and for years I used to feel jealous of others who had a more normal lifespan with their fathers. My youngest brother was still in high school at the time.
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| Beautiful foliage taken from my father's grave on Sunday, two days ago. My Mom and I agreed it reminded us of how brilliant the foliage was on the day he was buried here. |
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| Annual planting of a mum at my Dad's grave. |
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| My Dad and I at the house I grew up in South Kingstown (I'm 4 months old here) |
Thought of my Dad a lot during the run today. Woody Hill was nearly empty in the heavy rain, but I oddly encountered one person walking while supporting a huge umbrella with one hand and carrying the cell phone he was talking on in the other. I didn't go to my Dad's cemetery today, as it was pretty much pouring and we just went there two days ago, but I did stop at an all but abandoned historical cemetery deep in the woods on my run. I noticed an American flag lying on the ground with a broken staff, and I replanted this at the grave of Ebenezer Rathbun, who lived from 1740 - 1822, served in the Revolutionary War, and had twelve children. Made me feel good that I had done something worthwhile.
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| My Dad and I at the beach. I am age 4. (I know I've put this pic up in the past; probably will again, as it's one of my favorites.) |
Wednesday: 10
Procrastinated throughout the day and ended up running late afternoon since I was leaving the house anyway to meet someone at Junk & Java near downtown. Parked there 1.5 hours before the meeting and ended up running two miles to warm up and cool down, with six hard miles in the middle. A few good hill climbs and descents including Potter Hill. Trying to keep up the Wednesday workouts. Felt good overall.
Thursday: 5 run, 3 walk
AM: Westerly Land Trust CCC special get-together to perform trail maintenance before Sunday's Wahaneeta 5K. Trails are in really good shape. Most of the efforts focused on clearing overhanging briars and clearing the path we use to park cars.
PM: Easy recovery run with Brady at Wahaneeta and Woody Hill. This was a good stress-buster, as mid-morning I heard from the state that they were not going to be able to approve our Rhody permit, so we were either going to have to cancel OR move to another state property and cap at 75. Ugh. It turns out there were multiple state agencies involved, and after a fair amount of back and forth during the afternoon, we got conditional approval for the event, understandably with a cap and additional COVID documentation required.
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| Tried a new trail shoe today. Was looking for a very "grippy" shoe to add to my arsenal. Did some research on best "grippy" trail shoes. Many of the shoes featured on the reviewers' short list were heavy (by my perspective) and expensive, so when I saw this shoe (Merrell MTL Skyfire) on the short list weighing in at 9.0 oz and found a pair on a clearance site for $69, let's go! --- I can't judge these shoes after just one short run. The fit felt tight, they need to be broken in, and I would like to try them on a variety of terrain and weather conditions. I hope they live up to their review comment of "Deep 5mm lugs excel on rocky technical trails and soft, dry mud." |
Friday: 6
Canonchet Preserves with Brady. Fun running through the leaves, but tricky to follow in a few places due to so many leaves down and covering the trail. At one point, I slid on leaves and whacked my head into a tree branch.
Saturday: 8
Li'l Rhody course shakeout, with Brady. As soon as I got on one of the long bog bridges near the covered bridge, my legs slid off the wet, leaf-covered bridge and I went straight into a thick briar patch as my forearm and torso crashed onto the bridge. Ow, that hurt! I lay stunned for a few moments until I got up, and realized I was fine other than some scrapes, bruises, and minor pain. Onward!
Sunday: 9
Wahaneeta Trail 5K, including course setup, race, cool-down, clean-up, etc. Busy, but fun and rewarding morning as both a runner and RD. Separate write-up to follow.
Weekly mileage: 57
Weekly synopsis: Great mileage week, surpassing my somewhat arbitrary goal of 50. I got a road "Workout Wednesday" in for the second consecutive week, and the rest of my runs mostly on trails. I find the trail runs in this fall weather to be just so enjoyable, and the road runs (run?) by comparison to be a chore mentally to get going. I should probably balance more, especially with a road half coming up in three weeks, but if I can get two road runs per week, that's enough for me. Come December with shotgun season, I'll likely hit the roads a little more.
Weekly highlight: The Wahaneeta Trail 5K!
Weekly lowlight: Two pretty good crashes on trail runs, in as many days. It happens.
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