Running stats:
Miles run: 290.9
Elevation gain: 19,074'
Weekly miles (for weeks ended in month): 34, 64, 76, 73
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| Well, I know it's the start of a new year, but this just looks silly with one column, right? Maybe I should use a rolling 13-month chart instead? |
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| Yes, much better. Takeaway is that my Jan '24 mileage was exactly the same as my Jan '23, which was the highest mileage of last year, before a sharp decline due to a bad ankle sprain. Hopefully a better outcome this year. |
Quick synopsis: I'm really happy with my running this month. I completed half of the Border Patrol Challenge, got in some long runs, got to run with Matthew before he returned to California, and got in some SNOW runs!
Interesting runs:
- Arcadia Snow Run, Exeter, January 8. First snow run of the season! Not much snow, but just enough to make it pretty and fun.
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| Breakheart Trail, Arcadia, January 8 A few inches of wet snow, including on Brady! |
- George Washington, Glocester, January 9. Went with Matthew and Brady to George Washington Management Area to run the 8-mile Walkabout Trail as part of my Border Patrol Challenge. While southern RI had received just 2-3 inches of snow, the northern part of the state received 8-10 inches. Unfortunately, no one has ventured onto the trails and the heavy and wet nearly one foot of snow makes the trail just unrunnable. We decide to bail on the trail at the nearest road crossing and cut the run short, finishing up on the snow covered road.
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| George Washington Mgmt Area. In retrospect, we should have just run the roads here. |
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| There is a lot of snow here. Brady doesn't seem to mind, as he just sits down in it. Quite a change from where he was born (Florida), but he seems to love winter. |
- Breakheart / Shelter / Hudson, Exeter, January 13. After the snow came the rains. Torrential rains. By the time six of us ran this group run, the trails at Arcadia, especially on Breakheart Trail north of the pond, became the most flooded I've ever seen in my life.
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| Seven of us, including Brady. This is actually the middle of the trail! |
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| This is also the middle of Breakheart Trail! Pretty unrecognizable as the last two of us, Matt and Erin, cross the trail. |
- Arcadia Roads, Exeter, January 18. Snow-covered, with just a few icy spots, but both Matthew and I wore traction devices, and it was not issue. Just a very enjoyable run in the snow!
Snow on the ground, and sunny. Felt great.
Brady's stick came along for a few miles as well! - Tippecansett Trail OAB, Exeter, January 24. Fresh snow again! So pretty and enjoyable out there in the woods.
This is the only place that Brady had trouble, both coming
out of this steep ravine, and then on return, going
down into it. - Chariho Hills, Hopkinton, January 27. I had run 20 miles a week ago, most of it with Matthew, but really struggled and that was in flat Charlestown Beach / Matunuck area. So today to run 18 miles solo with over 1,000' of elevation gain, at an average pace of 6:48 - well, I was pretty stoked!
- Arcadia Trail OAB, Exeter, January 29. It had been a couple of years since I've run this trail in its entirety, and I had forgotten how rugged the trail is overall. It was definitely more challenging given all the near-record rainfall recently, with many cold water crossings and very slippery bog bridges. I was also very surprised to see a red squirrel dart across the trail while running. Honestly, I didn't even know they existed in Rhode Island. I was pretty beat after this 14-mile rugged run, but Brady seemed no worse for the wear.
- Woody Hill recovery, Westerly, January 30. So seldom do I run late afternoon. I had planned to run late morning post-CCC, drove to my chosen start point and start to change into running clothes. I can recover from almost any packing omission, but today's omission was running shorts. Yeah, no nudity, please. So late afternoon was my next window. Lately I have seen almost no one on my trail runs, so was surprised to see three solo individuals out there as it was getting dark, including a single woman, which I seldom encounter unless with a dog. The last mile was quite dark, and I tripped and fell on a low stump I didn't see. Fell into soft mud, so no issues.
Primary running surfaces: Trails (184 miles), roads (110)
Primary running locations: Charlestown (82 miles), then Exeter (61), then Westerly (48)
Primary running locations: Charlestown (82 miles), then Exeter (61), then Westerly (48)
Other disciplines:
Walk / hike: 9 miles
Looking ahead to February:
I just have one race on the docket, the hilly King of Pain race on February 11. Not that there are many races in February anyway, but that works well for me to continue with my marathon training and keep up relatively high weekly mileage. I should have a long run almost every weekend, with a few bursts of MP mileage interspersed. I'll also continue making progress on the Border Patrol Challenge, and hopefully complete all 20 routes by winter's end, but that goal is secondary to marathon training.
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Races:
Millenium Mile (Jan 1):
Londonderry, NH
I ran a net time of 5:26.7 (gun 5:28), a full six seconds slower than the previous year. I'm trying to balance that disappointment with the realization that at least I won my age group, as it really wasn't the result I was expecting. As always, the event is always very well run.
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| Finishing up the race in a crowded field. |
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Miscellaneous:
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| My comic of the month. Poor snowman! I just hope I have the opportunity to at least build a snowman this year, as I did not last year and I'm a kid at heart. |
I recently was surprised to read that of runners on Strava, only 21% ran one or more races in 2023. Wouldn't you think it would be more? I personally know runners on Strava that don't race and don't have an interest in racing, but I had thought those were the minority. On the other hand, it doesn't surprise me that only 5% of Strava runners ran a marathon in 2023 and only 2% an ultra.
Source: Outside magazine online article "Runners are Racing More than Ever"
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| View of the insanely flooded Pawcatuck River, while monitoring WLT's Cottrell Preserve on Jan 16 --- January 2024 was the second wettest January on record in RI with 9.33" of precipitation, second only to 1979 (11.66") - Source: abc6.com |
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| Brady turned six years old this month. Time really flies. Here he patiently awaits his "birthday dinner", to which Jana has added some cooked chicken and spinach. (I'm guessing we had chicken and spinach ourselves that night, but I'm too old to really remember.) |
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| Speaking of dinner, Jana and I got in some great dinners ourselves, including this one at Samurai Noodle in Mystic on Jan 28. Japanese cuisine is probably my favorite, followed next maybe by Mexican. |
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Monthly highlight: Snow running in general, as especially inland at Arcadia we received several inches of snow several times during the month. Just enough to be pretty and easy to run in.
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| Tippecansett Trail on Jan 24. Brady and I had the whole place to ourselves, and it was just gorgeous. |
Monthly lowlight: If the weather in the beginning and middle of the month was characterized by light snow showers, by the end of the month, the snow was gone and it was just day after day after day of cloudy and dreary. Actually felt depressing.
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