Busy week onboarding two new employees. A former manager of mine used to refer to new employees as "NUGs" - new useless guys/gals. That is a little harsh, but there is an element of some short term pain in terms of training and getting to know each other, before the long term gain of independent working and contributions.
Following the first busy day of onboarding, Jana and I went to get our COVID booster shot. Way back in April, we spent hours on the computer scouring any site that had appointments available, and ended up in Stop & Shop in East Providence. This time was much easier with plenty of appointments available, and we went to the Westerly Senior Center for a mix-n-match 1/2 dose of Moderna.
Went for a super short run with Brady down to and through the Winnapaug Farm Preserve, where Brady promptly brought home about 20 nymph ticks. Ugh. Took some time thoroughly checking and ridding him of these vile creatures before giving him a good soapy bath. Looks like he won't be coming on the trails with me until we get a freeze, as I don't want him to get Lyme again.
Tuesday: 2 walk, 9 run
AM: Back to Grills for CCC. Cleaned up three blow-downs from last week's storm that we were able to get around for race with some minor detours. Left the huge trunk blocking the racetrack trail. I'm not sure if the WLT 18" chainsaws are big enough to cut that anyway.
PM: Easy solo run at Grills, from Fallon Trail. Annoyed at fresh broken bottles on one of the trails; otherwise an enjoyable fall quiet run. Minor soreness from COVID booster shot, but no other reactions.
Wednesday: 10
10-mile beach run at midday from Weekapaug to Watch Hill and back. Dogs now allowed 24 hours per day on beach (until Memorial Day), so I don't need to plan early morning runs. Sunny and reasonably warm at 48°. A few beachgoers, but not many and those that were there were pretty bundled up as they walked. Had to detour around pond dredging operations at the state beach, as sediment is pumped via a huge pipe and the beach is breached where the sediment flows into the ocean.
Upon return, decided to go for one likely final plunge of the year. It was chilly! Just dove under or else it wouldn't have happened.
Thursday: 20!
Final twenty miler before Philly. I am just not an early morning person anymore, but needed to make it work if I was going to get this in today with work obligations (I should've run this last weekend, but was completely beat after Grills 10-Miler).
Set the alarm for 6am, and woke up to cold and dark. Hit snooze twice more before getting my lazy butt out of bed, getting dressed into the clothes I had already set aside, toasted a bagel, and was off in the dark. Arrived at my pre-established start/finish of Dave's Coffee just as the skies were starting to lighten. With temps right around freezing, I wore a fluorescent light green quarter-zip and thus opted to go sans headlamp, as I only had one dark road crossing before I was on quiet streets of West Beach and it would get progressively lighter (obviously). The dark road crossing was Route 1, but I'm totally comfortable with it at the intersection with West Beach Road, as you can press a button to request a pedestrian crossing.
The first five miles through West, Central, and East Beach were easy at about 7 minute pace, and nearly completely flat. And then the fun began.
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| As you can see, pretty flat for first 5 miles, then pretty hilly for next 15. |
I targeted the next ten mile as a "hard" effort at 6:20 pace. I was disappointed while running that I wasn't able to hit this pace except for two downhill miles, but looking back later at the rolling elevation changes, and looking at GAP (Grade Adjusted Pace) instead, I see conversely that I hit the intended pace for all except two of the ten miles, so I feel a little better with my results, but still not great.
The hills here are more than I'll encounter at Philly, but still at Philly I'll have two 100' climbs (Miles 8 and 10), so I feel this to be good practice or simulation 2.5 weeks out.
As for the last five miles, they were "easy" from a pace standpoint only (7:00/mile), but not from a hill standpoint as it was still rolling hills. Back at Dave's Coffee, treated myself to a large iced latte and an oversized pumpkin chocolate muffin.
Friday: 2
Two? Really? Yep. Sore. Slow 'n easy at Wahaneeta with Brady. When he finished, he said, "That's it?!" Sorry. Next time.
Saturday: 8
Left the house at 26° and it "warmed up" to about freezing for the start of our WTAC group run at 8am from Burlingame picnic area. After a few quick minutes of chatting, Nick and I (and Brady!) split off from the rest of the group. We ran a pretty easy conversational pace and caught up on running, races, and the like. Unlike Thursday at similar temperatures but open roads, I felt quite warm in the woods.
Sunday: 16
Final long run. Not the smartest coming three days on the heels of my final twenty-miler, but as I mentioned before, I take my training plans pretty loosely and adjust/move as needed. This was an easy one from the house in nice sunny weather, starting at freezing and finishing at 45°. Average pace 6:49. Hopefully the freezing temps the past few days are killing off those nasty ticks.
Weekly mileage: 67
Weekly synopsis: A little bit higher mileage than I should be for two weeks out (to Philly), but as I moved my 20-miler from last weekend (because I was beat from Grills), it all evens out. Feeling good, but not great, about my fitness level and marathon readiness.
Weekly highlight: Today's 16-miler. Relaxed, but still ran at 6:49 pace for 16 miles. I hope that bodes well fourteen days from now.
Weekly lowlight: Nothing. A good week!
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