Monday, December 10, 2018

Weekly Log 3-Dec to 9-Dec-2018: A Low Mileage, but Fun Week

Monday:  0
Planned rest day.

Tuesday:  0 run, 2 walk/weed-whack
Volunteered with the Land Trust, clearing overgrowth at Wahaneeta Preserve.

Wednesday:  6
Adams Farm, Walpole, MA.  Twisty fun at sunrise.

Thursday:  0
Between a number of work issues and a vendor visiting for a couple of days of training, just "couldn't" find the time to get out there.  I use the quotes, as there was nothing from stopping me from getting up at 5am and going running, right?

Friday:  8
'Round the pond challenging run.  Challenging from the slickness of black ice (slid right away), compounded with a chase from the PM.  Unlike the seemingly frequent visits to the likes of Muddy, CG, and Matthew, I am rarely bothered by this fiend and don't typically carry TP.  TMI?

Saturday:  7
An interesting canine run in northern Virginia, and a short crossover into the District of Columbia at Lady Bird Johnson Park on Columbia Island.  I flew down from RI, and Mark and dog (Brady) arrived at about 12:15am by car from Florida en route home to Florida, as I offered to help Mark with driving part of the route.
Sometime during the night, Brady just jumped onto my
hotel bed.  Got to be more comfortable than lying on the floor.

As soon as I got up in the morning for my run, 10-month old Brady came right over to me to see what was going on.  Since he was up and I was going outside anyway (we were staying on the 12th floor of a hotel), I figured I'd take him out for a bathroom break.  Then, as long as we were both outside in the relative cold (27 degrees; that seemed to be cold in VA seeing the way people dressed), I figured I'd see if he wanted to run with me.  The first mile was very spastic, as he'd cut right in front of me, I'd crash into him (or vice versa) on turns, and just couldn't get a rhythm going.  I didn't mind, and it was cool running past Arlington National Cemetery and seeing the rows of bright white graves.
Start of our run.  The wall behind me is the border
of Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA.

Once we got onto a bike path along a highway, Brady seemed to fall in line better.  Not sure if he was just getting to used to what we were doing, or if the straight line of the bike path forced some discipline.  I really wanted to cross into DC proper and run around the National Mall, but unfortunately as soon as I got close to the Memorial Bridge, a loudspeaker on a nearby cop car announced to me that the bridge was closed.  So much for those plans.  He didn't seem too busy inside his heated car having his coffee and doughnut (or at least that's why I imagined he was doing), so I went up to his car and asked if any other safe places to run.  (Cops are about safety, right?)  Anyway, he was really helpful, and suggested the Mount Vernon "Trail", a paved path just around the corner from us, and extending through Lady Bird Johnson Park and a length of about 15 miles.  Wow!  We saw a lot of runners on this path, and remembering the nervousness I often have when I'm running and encounter dogs I don't know (although I never worry about labs), I made sure to not only keep him on the leash the whole time, but also rein in the leash a little tighter when we got close to other runners.  He stayed right next to me, except for a single hard pull on the leash, and then I noticed his distraction:  squirrel!
Along the Potomac; Washingon Monument in background.
Lady Bird Johnson Park,
Washington, DC
(So patient and well behaved)

Sunday:  8
Christmas 10K!  Separate write-up to follow.

Weekly mileage:  28

Weekly synopsis:  Pretty abysmal mileage this week.  I can only chalk up so much of it to busy work week, and the rest to poor planning and invalid assumptions around time available mid-day.  Anyhow, given three consecutive 50-plus weeks immediately prior, I'm not worried about it.  Time to resume the mileage in the upcoming week.

Weekly highlight:  Two highlights really.  My surprise success at Christmas 10K, which I'll report on shortly, and the fun run in Virginia with Brady.

Weekly lowlight:  My poor planning.

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