Monday: 17
Hopkinton, RI. First and likely last time ever getting Juneteenth as a paid holiday. Temperature at home showed 54°, so great running weather for the final day of spring. Planned out a trail loop and parked at Camp Yawgoog parking lot just outside the Bucklin gate.
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| Mountain Laurels still in bloom, on the yellow trail in Yawgoog just north of North Road. |
Two miles of paved roads, before trail tours through Canonchet, Yawgoog, and Green Falls Pond. Stopped at every stream to let Brady get a drink. The plan was to go for a quick dip at Green Falls Pond beach, but the sign clearly said "No pets allowed" and a camp ranger was sitting in his truck parked in front of the beach. No swim today.
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| Love this picture of Brady! (Green Fall River) |
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| King of the Hill! (Freeman Trail, heading east) |
Tuesday: 2 run, 0.5 swim, 2 walk, 11 bike
A smorgasbord of activity today. None impressive, but taken in the aggregate, plus getting my second COVID booster, wiped me out today.
Run: Charlestown, RI. More of a slow jog and recovery from yesterday, just to get the blood flowing. Silly expression, I know, but that's the reinvigoration that it felt like.
Swim: Charlestown, RI. Buoy-to-buoy, and back, in Watchaug Pond. The buoys are definitely moved out further in the water and further south than they were in past years, but a DEM official said they're still 1/4 mile one-way and that seems to roughly check out on GPS. As usual, my weak arms felt pretty sore on my first swim of the year.
Walk: Westerly, RI. Clearing overgrowth at the nascent Cottrell Preserve in advance of opening it to the public and a group hike this weekend.
Bike: Westerly, RI. Short ride out to Watch Hill and back, with Matthew, and a Jonny Eckel encounter at finish. Rode back to our neighborhood with him.
Wednesday: 9
AM: Charlestown, RI. 5 miles. Dash and splash in the rain with Brady. A little rain never hurt anybody. Brady didn't seem to care, so why should I?
PM: Westerly, RI. Fun Run week #4. 4 miles. Took it easy but still ran a 19:39 (6:06 pace).
Thursday: 6 run, 3 kayak
Charlestown, RI. Easy run on grass loops with Brady.
Stonington, CT. Kayak fun. I was in one kayak, Mark & Brady in another, and Matthew on a SUP.
Friday: 5
South Kingstown, RI. Short run with Brady, before getting back just in the nick of time for a work meeting. Won't have that impediment much longer.
Saturday: 20!
Exeter, RI. (plus West Greenwich and Richmond) Original plan was to run the two races I was signed up for at Gunstock Trail Festival: Canicross 5K and Peak-to-Peak Challenge 10K. While I was looking forward to both, when I signed for the races back in April, I had no idea that 1) the temps would be near 80°F at race finish [too warm for Brady, and not what I want to race in either], or 2) Matthew would have to defer due to an injury. Fortunately the hotel was cancellable. The website mentions deferral but the instructions to defer don't work, and at least thus far, I haven't received an e-mail response back.
So I'm three weeks exactly until Laugavegur. A long run with a pack and some hills seems in order. Mapped out a 20-mile trail run at Arcadia Management Area, and downloaded it to my watch. Got a later start (9am) than I would like, but accentuating the positive, it's good to get heat acclimation as well. Not for Laugavegur, but for Blessing and other local races.
Even with "burping" the hydration pack bladder, the ice cubes were bouncing/sloshing, but I quickly forgot about them on the run. The northern part of the Mount Tom Trail was overgrown. It was just grass, nothing that would cut into my legs, but it was thigh high and itchy. I fell in a rock garden on Escoheag Trail - pick up your feet, you lazy oaf! At Stepstone Falls, I took a short break to wade into the river and try to rinse the itchy grass stuff off my legs. It seemed to work. I contemplated jumping off the rope swing, but I was only five miles in on a twenty mile run and didn't want to take the risk of chafing in my pelvic area with wet shorts for fifteen miles.
Ran back down via River Trail to Ben Utter, and saw more than a dozen hikers and a couple trail runners with hydration packs also. Once on Breakheart Trail, I assume I was the first to break trail today, not because I didn't see anyone, but because I was clearing spider webs blocking the trail as I went. I didn't mind the ones with just a thread or two, but I got two whole face wrap-arounds that were just disgusting. A couple miles later, I stopped at a river crossing where I usually let Brady get a drink, and once again went in the water to do my best to clean up the webs off my face, shoulders, neck, arms, and hat. Soaked the hat in the cold river and sauntered on.
As I got closer to the eastern end of Breakheart Trail (near Breakheart Pond), I saw a number of people (hikers and a few mountain bikers) again. One young woman said loudly, "Oh, no, here comes one of those runners". I assumed it was sarcasm, and responded back, "Watch out for those kind", and she said, "Yeah, I'm jealous that you're not even breaking a sweat". All good.
JB Hudson back to 165. Crossing 165 at about Mile 14, I contemplated just returning on the usual Mt Tom Trail and ending this short (instead of the planned Arcadia Trail down to Richmond), but fortunately I stuck with my plan. I was drinking water often now, and it was now warm, but I was still able to continue without any issues. Took Arcadia Road to Summit Road, so I was in the open sun on roads for almost a mile. Fortunately, Summit Road turned from asphalt to dirt. Turned right on Sandy Brook Trail, which unbeknownst to me on my virgin run was to be the worst trail all day as it was rutted with loose rocks. Luckily after 1/4 mile, I turned off that onto Dove Crest Trail, another new to me trail, which was a nice single-track which brought me back to Mt Tom Trail for my final and familiar trail back. I knew I had one climb left and that 160' climb up and then down over wooden water bars was the toughest I ever did on that section!
As I finished and soaked in the cold Wood River, I reflected that I got in some good hills (total elevation about 2,400') and also some more pack and heat acclimation. The pack of 2 liters of icy water at the start was now warm and almost completely drained, and the temp at finish was about 85° .
Sunday: 5 run, 2 kayak
AM: Run with Brady. 3 miles on Burlingame North dirt road loop. Miserable deerfly experience. Finished with 2 miles on mostly dirt roads in "Burlingame South" (Sanctuary Road), before jumping into the pond to cool off and play a little frisbee with Brady.
PM: Kayak with Matthew and Brady. Free kayak rental at Queens River as part of the Seven Rivers Festival. Despite the event being labeled as "pet friendly" on the brochure, when we were checking in, we were told dogs are not allowed as too many scratched up the kayaks. Fortunately, another employee overheard and asked me what kind of dog we have. When I explained a black lab mix, he offered for me to take his "work kayak" which he said he didn't care if got scratched up. I thanked him profusely and assured him Brady wouldn't scratch up the kayak regardless. Dodged a bullet there. What I hadn't expected that the Queens River in this section (Usquepaug) is both wide and very choked with vegetation.
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| I love this pic. He was just calm and checking things out. On a narrow section with less vegetation. |
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| I think he's checking out Matthew ahead of us. |
Weekly mileage: 65 run, 11 ride, 5 walk, 5 kayak, 0.5 swim
Weekly synopsis: A little bit of everything! Well, sort of. Great run mileage, 2 long runs, 2 kayak paddles, a short bike, some walking, and an open water swim. All good in my book!
Weekly highlight: 20-mile hilly and warm trail run at Arcadia. Good training run!
Weekly lowlight: Not racing at Gunstock Trail Festival. If there's a silver lining to this, it's that two days later I received an e-mail indicating that I'm deferred to next year. I guess all's well that ends well!
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