Monday: 4
Normally I take Mondays off from running, but with a snowstorm today, I couldn't resist getting outside to play. Set my work status to "Out Shoveling", which had truth to it, but when finished shoveling, I switched into trail shoes and got Brady to come out with me. Since the roads hadn't been plowed in a few hours, I put on my snowshoes and snowshoed down the middle of our road! Snowshoed around Winnapaug Farm Preserve and Champlin Glacier Preserve before returning home.
 |
| The snow was coming down! |
 |
| Winnapaug Farm Preserve trail to the pond ("middle trail"). Awesome! |
 |
| Back at the ranch, since the snow was heavy and sticky, might as well put together a snowman. |
 |
| I wondered if it was odd for a old man in his mid-50s, with no kids remaining at home, to be building a snowman, until my Mom sent me a picture of the snowman she made at her house! The moral to me is you're never to old to get outside and build a snowman! |
 |
| Someone bit off part of the snowman's "arm" (a stick) and was very happy to lie down in the snow (8" we got!) and chew on it. |
Tuesday: 2 snowshoe, 1 walk
Snowshoe hike at Grills with three other Westerly Land Trust guys. Since CCC was cancelled with the snow and I had already had the time blocked on my work calendar, when I saw the invite go out for snowshoeing, I quickly opted in. We snowshoed for about an hour in the wet snow, and then went out for coffee, scones, and conversation at Fresh Cup Cafe, where they are open for indoor socially distanced seating. The other three guys are all retired; I'm just jealous but also glad I was able to make this work for me. I'm fortunate that my employment is so flexible with hours, especially in the COVID era when the entire company is working from home indefinitely.
 |
| Sloppy, wet conditions on our snowshoe hike today. (I'm farthest back on bridge.) |
 |
| Groundhog Day today. Above caption seems plausible, but let's hope not. |
Wednesday: 4
Late afternoon soft snow "mashed potatoes" run. It didn't start out well when I got my car stuck not once, but twice, on a failed attempt to reach the Fallon Trail trailhead. I got to the start of the dirt DEM road, and while I saw it was unplowed, I also saw that there were vehicle tracks down the road and foolishly thought I could do the same (in hindsight, presumably the vehicle was a truck or at least an AWD, whereas my car is merely FWD).
Got quite a way down the road when my car just came to a stop. Ugh. Was able to rock it back and forth until I got it going in reverse and just backed my way up. Until it stopped again. This time the wheels just spun no matter which direction I tried. I'm a good 100 meters to the paved road, and don't have a snow shovel. Not good. Got out of the car. Hmm. No ice; just snow behind and in front of the wheel. OK, good, kicked it as best I could with my feet. Tried again, but the car still just spun its wheels. Got out again, looked under the car, and then I saw the problem. The problem wasn't with the tires or traction; it was with the clearance. The snow was too deep and that cheap plastic engine splash guard started to pull off with all the heavy snow I was dragging backwards and was stuck. Ripped the rest of it off; put it in the trunk, and this time I was able to back up the rest of the way and onto paved asphalt. Hopefully I can put it back on myself; otherwise it looks like I can buy another one for $18. I lucked out. What a moron. Two things came to mind (besides getting a new brain): 1) bring a snowshovel with me next time, and 2) since so many trailheads are not plowed, the next car needs to be an AWD (which is tough when I marry with my other requirement of manual transmission).
Now in a foul mood, I drove to Wahaneeta, found the same situation (unplowed, but vehicle tracks and ruts), but didn't take the bait this time. I did find somewhere I could park on the deserted road, and went for a short run in Wahaneeta before I ran out of daylight. Good thing; the mashed potatoes run was just long enough to drain the frustration and ugly mood out of me.
Thursday: 5
With the temps below freezing and snow crusty, trail running didn't seem an attractive option for me. Ran roads and even regretted that with snowbank-narrowed shoulders and busy traffic on Shore Road. Ugh, can't win.
Friday: 5
Course marking for our inaugural monthly group run.
 |
| Our intrepid course marking team today at Grills; looking out from Big Hill. |
 |
| Snow is still deep in places! I'll take this over ice any day, though. It was much easier putting the flags into snow than it was into the frozen ground. |
Saturday: 8 (1 warm-up, 5 group run, 2 cool-down)
Inaugural WTAC monthly group run. This is something the club has proposed on and off again for the past several years. It has its challenges with logistics, but this time it was finally a go. The idea is that this will generally be the first Saturday morning of each month, and we will rotate different board members (or WTAC members) choosing and organizing a run of their choice of route and terrain. Paul was up first and chose the Grills Preserve similar to what we did last February. Now that we've had a group run at Grills two Februarys in a row, it seems a pattern is set for the annual February group run?
 |
| Had no idea what to expect with the snow conditions, and was pleasantly surprised that got 15 people (and 2 dogs!) |
Cooled down with a 2-mile snowshoe run with Steve.
Sunday: 11
With another forecasted snowstorm for today, I opted not to drive anywhere and just run from the house instead. Ran with Brady and joined up with the "Run While You Can" private group run for 3 of the miles, and the rest were on our own. Mostly on roads, but two miles on the beach. In Misquamicut as we approached two women walking, one started clapping (she made it clear it was for Brady, not me!) and saying what great shape Brady was in. In the final mile, we encountered two women running, and one called out, "Is that the famous Brady out for a run?!". (Jenn Lutz)
 |
| We got home just before the snow started, and then we got another 5" of heavy snow. My only other activity of the day was shoveling, but I can't wait to get out there tomorrow and hopefully get some fresh tracks! |
 |
| The snowbanks are getting higher! Finished shoveling the driveway before it all froze up. |
 |
| And reconstructed the snowman, of course. He's 6' tall now. |
Weekly mileage: [a paltry] 36 run, 2 snowshoe hike
Weekly synopsis: While I love snow, the heavy deep snow that we got Monday followed by rain just didn't make it conducive to getting a lot of mileage in. Yes, excuses are easy to come by, but that's mine. At this point, I'm less worried about getting my mileage back up than I am in being able to complete the Border Patrol Challenge. This is the first week of the challenge that I haven't gotten any done, and I'll have to weigh getting in a very slow BCP run completed next week, versus missing a second week in a row. I have nine challenges left, but only six weeks now in which to get them done. So at least three weeks of doubles. The ones I have left are either farther way (Burrillville, West Thompson, etc), longer in distance (20 miles, 27 miles), or both, so some planning is in order.
Weekly highlight: Despite the frozen snow conditions, the inaugural group run at Grills Preserve in the snow.
Weekly lowlight: Lowest mileage week YTD.
No comments:
Post a Comment