- Paid my final monthly installment on my Ironman, so I'm officially in now. Yes, there really is a installment payment plan as it's pricey. Probably for that reason alone it'll be a one-and-done. What irks me the most is the $72 Active fee on top of that. Now I guess I should actually train?
- Finally resolved my spring marathon conundrum. I like to think that I offset a small portion of my Ironman race fees by taking advantage of an "elite" complimentary entry at Providence Marathon (open has to run sub-2:27 to qualify, but at my advanced age of 58, I only needed to show proof of a sub-3 marathon in the past 24 months). That saved me $132 in race fees, so good deal!
- I had been interested in Shamrock Marathon, but just wasn't ready for it. Then I was interested in a small point-to-point marathon just over the border in Ontario, until I got an e-mail from the government that my passport was immediately cancelled. At first I figured it was one of those spam e-mails, but Googling around before clicking any links verified for me that it was a valid US State Department e-mail. Guess I won't be going anywhere outside of the country until I get a new passport, which is estimated to be 11 weeks away. Plenty of time before my July ultra at least.
- 4 1/2 weeks post-ankle injury, the darn thing is still partially swollen! Certainly the worst ankle injury I have ever had. I'm not complaining too loudly, as it could be much worse, and I can run just fine on roads, both asphalt and smooth dirt roads. I can feel the instability anytime I venture onto any surface that's not completely smooth, so at this point assuming the swelling is gone by Providence (May 7), I'll hope to try trails again after that.
Monday: 6
Westerly, RI. First full day of Daylight Savings Time. DST is the excuse I'm going to use for shamefully sleeping until 9am, and only then, until a wet tongue licked my face and woke me up. Hint: it wasn't Jana. Man am I lazy.
Ran from the house in pretty raw conditions of light rain and strong wind gusts, headwind along the ocean on Atlantic Ave.
Tuesday: 5
Charlestown, RI. CCC cancelled in the rain. Ran roads at Burlingame Campground with Brady. Got out of the car to temps in the high 30s, drizzling, and windy. Took one step out of the car and wanted to just go back in it and leave. To be clear, it wasn't nearly bad as it was earlier in the morning or on other runs I've done. But it was the second straight day of pretty bleak conditions.
Eventually I warmed up and it was fine, but I was never into it and truly what kept me going was seeing how much Brady was enjoying it and how he loved running up to big puddles and then just sprinting through them. Brought a smile and laugh to me. Man's best friend!
Wednesday: 11
Stonington, CT. Third consecutive windy day. Since I had a mid-morning meeting at Kelley's Pace, I planned a stopover in lower Pawcatuck to run. Parked at Pawcatuck River Wildlife Area. It was a little weird that two cars were there parked with their drivers just sitting inside, but I parked and was quickly on my way.
Three mile warm-up and then 2 x 1-mile on Palmer Neck Road. 5:52, 6:05. Yeah, not good. I'll blame it on the strong cross-winds.
Thursday: 3 walk, 6 run
AM: Groton, CT. Thursday WLT hike series, this time at Haley Farm State Park. Went with my Mom and Brady. Eight total (plus Brady). Finally after three straight days the strong winds were gone!
PM: Westerly, RI. Pre-WTAC board meeting run. Four of us. Normally we run trails in Woody Hill, but as my ankle is not ready for that, I stuck to dirt roads and despite encouraging the others to run trails, they stuck with me. Even on the dirt roads, there were a few sections where I was extra cautious. Better safe than sorry.
Friday: 6 walk, 5 run
AM: Tiverton, RI. Site visit for my hiking map freelancing. Walk at Weetamoo Woods & Pardon Gray Preserve. With John Kostrzewa, Providence Journal columnist and author of Walking RI, and his son. While the impetus was to get familiarity with the trail layout and route that John wanted mapped (that's where I come in with a freelance trail map gig), it was truly enjoyable to see not only a part of RI that I am not familiar with, but also a really cool preserve with some neat features:
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| High Rock. Short rock climb to great views. |
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| Raceway at site of former sawmill. Some resemblances to the sawmill ruins at Canonchet. |
PM: West Warwick, RI. Checking out a future mapping assignment on the West Warwick Greenway section of the Washington Secondary Bike Path. Interesting right near the caboose and mill section; otherwise some depressing sections.
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| Nice bridge over the Pawtuxet River. Only issue was the nearby soap factory was a little too pungent for my senses. |
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| And the Pawtuxet River looking from the bridge |
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| Start/finish of my run |
Saturday: 7
East Lyme, CT. O'Niantic 5K. Separate write-up in progress.
Sunday: 8
Exeter, RI. Had planned out an 18-miler in Charlestown. Woke up at 2am with very achy legs, and despite having taken Ibuprofen before bedtime, I just lay awake in bed uncomfortable. Got up and went downstairs to stretch and roll out, which helped a little. When I finally woke up for good, my legs were achy again. No point going for a long run, especially where I had planned some miles to be targeting MP.
Drove to Arcadia Check Station with Brady. Well, I drove, and he laid down. Ran my new "usual" 8-mile loop of about 6.5 miles dirt roads and the balance asphalt. Did just fine except awkwardly going around a downed tree on Blitzkreig Trail (which is actually a dirt road) when my right ankle reminded me it's still pretty unstable. Ugh.
Got home and checked out results of those followers of mine running NYC Half, New Bedford Half, and Shamrock Marathon. Turned out to be a pretty windy day, at least for the latter, so I'm glad that I "dodged a bullet" by not running Shamrock into 19mph headwinds for half the course.
Weekly mileage: 49 run, 9 walk
Weekly synopsis: Not to whine, but just not a good week compared to others recently. They can't all be, right? Low mileage, NO long run, and a poor performance 5K. Not going to dwell on it, but will instead pick it up from there.
Weekly highlight: Nothing running related! I would say the "hike" at Tiverton's Pardon Gray Preserve / Weetamoo Woods. Nice place and one of the few good weather days this past week.
Weekly lowlight: O'Niantic 5K. Next 5K end of April. Moving on ...
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