Monday: 6
AM: Westerly, RI. 1 mile. Failed run at Wahaneeta Preserve, as with the snow now melted from my own yard, I had not anticipated that the trails would be snow and ice laden. It was just so slick that it wasn't enjoyable. Brady slid on an iced over bridge, I fell and strained my already hurting shoulder on impact, and then got up and immediately slid awkwardly. Abort; try again later.
PM: Stonington, CT. 5 miles. Temps had warmed up to upper 30s, but it wasn't any more enjoyable at Barn Island, as the trails had wet snow, slush, and mud to contend with and slide through. There were a few very cold puddles to run through, and midway through the run, the rain picked up. Ugh.
Tuesday: 3 walk
AM: Westerly, RI. Another alarm clock fail. To be clear, the clock didn't fail, its owner did. Again. Plan was to run 10 before CCC. Woke up to darkness and pouring rain. Nah. Set the alarm clock 1.5 hours later and went back to sleep. At CCC, today's continuing annual monitoring for land trust accreditation was at Riverwood Preserve. As almost everyone agrees, a great little preserve but with horrible and intimidating access. The trails were absolutely saturated today, and we walked on alternating sections of streams flowing down the trail, wet snow, and ice.
PM: Thought about going out for a trail run when my work meetings finished up after 4pm, but by then had lost motivation especially given soaking wet and flooded trails. Resolved (again) to get up early for a road run before morning meetings. Let's see how this goes.
Wednesday: 15
Noon: Charlestown, RI. 10 miles. Truth be told, I failed yet again to get out for an early morning run. Alarm went off at 6am, I got up, saw the darkness, and went back to bed. I am impressed with those that consistently get up in the dark and go out for a run. I used to do that, as Billy Joel would say, "when I wore a younger man's clothes". But I need to acknowledge those days are gone, and fortunately I have a lot of flexibility in working from home, and yes, my manager and her manager know I often run during the workday, which is fine as long as I get my work done. But I digress ...
After my last meeting of the morning, drove to Dave's Coffee for a planned workout in Quonochontaug. 3 miles easy (7:20s), 4 miles hard (5:57 average pace), 3 miles easy (7:10 average pace). Mostly flat roads and while not racing effort, I was disappointed with how hard those 4 middle miles felt. Until Matthew texted me that my 4-mile time was actually just 3 seconds off my 4 mile PR! Oh. Well, that changes my perspective!
Late afternoon: Charlestown, RI. 5 miles. Easy recovery on Burlingame roads, with Brady. Saw Eric Winn out for a walk with his dog as well.
Thursday: 9
AM: Charlestown, RI. 4 miles. With Brady on campground trails. Trails had some snowpack, but mostly clear.
PM: Westerly, RI. 5 miles. With Dave, Justin, and Kevin pre-WTAC board meeting, from Barlow into Woody Hill. Some muddy spots but not bad overall.
Friday: 11
Narragansett, RI. Finding myself in Narragansett again, I decided to run in a different part of town this time: the southernmost. Parked at Scarborough Beach, and then headed south to Point Judith Lighthouse. This stretch was tough with a wind directly out of the south, but then headed west to Galilee and north into the quiet roads of Great Island, my first time running there. Returned via Galilee Escape Road and finished on the beach. Average pace 6:48. Felt good throughout. This run would not work well in the summer with tourist traffic, but was just fine today on a sunny winter afternoon!
Saturday: 8 run, 2 walk
Charlestown, RI. 8-mile run. Run with Brady on Rhody loop, from Burlingame North parking lot. Trails almost entirely clear of snow now. A few places flooded and a few mudded, but overall not pad.
Westerly, RI. 2-mile Souper Bowl Hike. Finished up the Burlingame run, stopped at Dave's Coffee for a cold brew and scone, and then Jana and I went to the annual Souper Bowl Hike at Wahaneeta Preserve. There must've been 30-40 people on the hike, followed by three homemade soups (butternut squash, chicken chili, vegetarian soup) and three homemade breads (corn, cranberry, zucchini/carrot). All delicious! There was a fire going in the cabin, but it was 55° outside, so we just sat at a picnic table in the sun.
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| Pre-hike outside the Wahaneeta cabin. |
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| Mid-hike, with bulk of hiking group behind me. Not sure what's with the folded hands pose. What a weirdo. |
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| Fortunately, we didn't have any "gazpacho police" show up at the Land Trust soup event today! I try (usually) to leave political remarks off my blog, but this one really takes the cake! |
Sunday: 12
Woke up to light snow falling, but with temps just dropping to the freezing point, the roads were a slushy mess. It was an easy decision for me to abandon (defer?) the planned 20-mile road run, and hit the trails instead. The trails were even better than I envisioned, as by the time I got to Arcadia, there was about 2" of fresh snow (not slush) on the ground.
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| Starting in the JB Hudson trailhead parking lot. Dry, powdery snow. |
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| On the Mt Tom trail. Beautiful! |
Weekly mileage: 61
Weekly synopsis: Not the mileage I was targeting, but not too far off, and the second week in a row heading in the right direction.
Weekly highlight: The snow run at Arcadia on Sunday. Just beautiful in the falling snow.
Weekly lowlight: Issues with my left shoulder stemming from two falls. Felt both times that same horrible feeling when my shoulder dislocated years ago, but then it just snapped back into place. Hopefully just needs time to recoup and recover torn muscle tissue.
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