Miscellaneous Ramblings:
Memorial Day. Planned day off from running, but a busy day outside getting stuff done. Many Memorial Days we spent at a family picnic at my cousin's house in Norwich. Obviously, that did not happen this year with COVID-19, so I simply texted her instead and said I was thinking of her.
I did not forget the true meaning of the holiday. I put up our American flag on the front of the house, and we went up to visit my father's grave and planted a geranium in his remembrance.
Came home, and then planted the garden! I think last year was the only year as an adult on my own that I did not have a garden, as due to a nasty bout of PMR I just didn't have the mobility. I've never had a big impressive vegetable garden like my father did, but just a few things to make it fun. I always have tomatoes, as to me there is just no substitution for fresh tomatoes out of the garden. Besides that, this year, we have cukes, pumpkins, squash, radishes, beets, and trying something new, pole beans. Happy to be back out there in the garden. Brady seemed content to play with a ball and lie in the grass while I worked.
Tuesday: 8
'Round the pond w/Matthew. Ran about 6:50 pace and it felt comfortable. Coolest part of the run was following a fox (literally a 4-legged red fox) running on Shore Road, before it turned off down someone's driveway. Worst part of the run was a PM attack and barely making it to the breachway, only to find the state has removed all the porta-jons due to COVID-19!
Wednesday: 6
With Brady at Burlingame south. Easy recovery pace for me; almost a walk for him. He jumped into some deep mud on the Bog Bridge trail, so we went got back to the Watchaug Pond campground beach, I made sure he got in a good swim with repeated stick chasing.
Thursday: 8
Barn Island. First time here since start of the pandemic. A few people on the double-sections near the marsh, but otherwise not a soul to be seen on the single-track. Some of the lesser-traveled single-track trails starting to get overgrown, as happens every summer.
Friday: 8
Foggy, damp afternoon road run with Matthew on a local loop out there Avondale and Watch Hill.
Saturday: 14
Narragansett Trail, from Green Falls to Lantern Hill, except that there were two sections of road detours. The first (formerly through Groton Sportsmen Club, but no longer allowed by them) we were aware of and the re-route was on quiet roads, save for a very short section on Route 49. The second shows on CT Blue Blaze interactive method as open, but that's not true, and unfortunately it cost us more than a mile on very busy Route 2.
So how about the rest of the run? A lot of fun! And can you believe for a run that long (~11 miles on trails), we never saw another human being! I was a sweaty mess from the get go, in the warm and humid weather, so I was glad I opted for a lightweight singlet and packed a towel and change of shirts. The first mile was quite technical, and actually several miles were techy, with a fair amount of climbs as well.
Sunday: 8
Recovery at Ninigret Park. Being such a nice day, I figured (correctly) there were be quite a few people in the federal wildlife section, which does not allow dogs, so we left Brady behind. He did not seem pleased. Only slightly better to commit one cardinal sin (no running allowed either) instead of two (running and dogs)? As it turns out, there were four other scofflaw runners out there today, all on the Charlietown "Trail". One of them was wearing a mask while running. Whatever works, but that seems awkward.
Legs tight the first couple of miles or so, but even after that I felt like I was dragging a bit from yesterday's 14-mile trail adventure. Fortunately, this was an easy paced run.
Weekly mileage: 53
Weekly synopsis: Another good 50+ mileage week, with a good mix of roads, trails, and a weekend adventure point-to-point trail run.
Weekly highlight: The adventure of the week, Narragansett Trail from Green Falls to Lantern Hill (mostly). I had never been on the section between Wyassup Lake and Route 2. Overall, technical, challenging, and fun!
Weekly lowlight: Just the nasty stuff our country is going through at the present. May better days lie ahead.
- Blessing of the Fleet has now gone virtual. Our RI Governor already announced no festivals all summer this year, so this accompanying race of 3,000 or so runners was doomed. So now the question: should I run the virtual race (anytime from July 25 - August 1) to continue my 17-year streak, or does it not matter? I wish they had lowered the $40 price, but it could be because about 100 runners had already signed up, and besides, it all goes to charity.
- Boston Marathon cancelled for the first time in history. Not a surprise at all, and I had already taken my refund option anyway. Surprised that there is a virtual option. Virtual marathon? No, thanks. I'll keep my eyes open for whether other and smaller marathons may be viable in the fall.
- Phase II of re-opening in RI starts tomorrow, June 1. Hair salons, indoor dining, state beaches, and gyms will all reopen tomorrow, obviously with restrictions. Assuming we don't have a relapse or increase in cases, it's a step in the right direction.
- On the other hand, the rioting across dozens of major US cities happening this weekend is just embarrassing and unacceptable. The right to peacefully assemble is enshrined in our constitution and protesting racial injustices is understandable especially given recent injustices (George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, etc), but how does burning police cars or looting stores help advance the causes? So glad I live in a small town usually free from violence. One of many reasons I would never live in a big city.
Memorial Day. Planned day off from running, but a busy day outside getting stuff done. Many Memorial Days we spent at a family picnic at my cousin's house in Norwich. Obviously, that did not happen this year with COVID-19, so I simply texted her instead and said I was thinking of her.
I did not forget the true meaning of the holiday. I put up our American flag on the front of the house, and we went up to visit my father's grave and planted a geranium in his remembrance.
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| My Dad is listed on the bottom row of engraving, right below my grandmother. (They both died in the same sad year.) I'm glad to see Brady taking an interest, as I explained my father to him while he stoically read the engravings on the gravestone. |
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| Just after we planted the geranium, a group of volunteers came by and was putting out flags on the graves of veterans. Actually, they were putting out flags on the graves of Civil War veterans! How cool is that! But they explained there would be flags leftover and they would then mark other veterans' graves. Since both Dad and Grandpa served in the US Army, they gave me a flag to "plant". |
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| My Mom had been up earlier in the week, and planted a pink geranium on the front side of the grave, where my great-grandparents are listed. In fact, both sets of my great-grandparents on my Dad's side are buried in this cemetery, and I also have two sets of great-great-grandparents that are buried here. |
Came home, and then planted the garden! I think last year was the only year as an adult on my own that I did not have a garden, as due to a nasty bout of PMR I just didn't have the mobility. I've never had a big impressive vegetable garden like my father did, but just a few things to make it fun. I always have tomatoes, as to me there is just no substitution for fresh tomatoes out of the garden. Besides that, this year, we have cukes, pumpkins, squash, radishes, beets, and trying something new, pole beans. Happy to be back out there in the garden. Brady seemed content to play with a ball and lie in the grass while I worked.
Tuesday: 8
'Round the pond w/Matthew. Ran about 6:50 pace and it felt comfortable. Coolest part of the run was following a fox (literally a 4-legged red fox) running on Shore Road, before it turned off down someone's driveway. Worst part of the run was a PM attack and barely making it to the breachway, only to find the state has removed all the porta-jons due to COVID-19!
Wednesday: 6
With Brady at Burlingame south. Easy recovery pace for me; almost a walk for him. He jumped into some deep mud on the Bog Bridge trail, so we went got back to the Watchaug Pond campground beach, I made sure he got in a good swim with repeated stick chasing.
Thursday: 8
Barn Island. First time here since start of the pandemic. A few people on the double-sections near the marsh, but otherwise not a soul to be seen on the single-track. Some of the lesser-traveled single-track trails starting to get overgrown, as happens every summer.
Friday: 8
Foggy, damp afternoon road run with Matthew on a local loop out there Avondale and Watch Hill.
Saturday: 14
Narragansett Trail, from Green Falls to Lantern Hill, except that there were two sections of road detours. The first (formerly through Groton Sportsmen Club, but no longer allowed by them) we were aware of and the re-route was on quiet roads, save for a very short section on Route 49. The second shows on CT Blue Blaze interactive method as open, but that's not true, and unfortunately it cost us more than a mile on very busy Route 2.
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| Terribly blurry pic, but you can get the sense that the trail was technical. (Matthew and Brady rounding the jutting rock ahead, at High Ledges.) |
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| In my only fall of the day, I just slid right off the trail and rolled over into mud. |
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| King of the Mountain |
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| Nice partial views beyond |
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| Unintended psychedelic view of the tree canopy overhead |
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| Wyassup Lake. Brady was quite hot, so I walked with him into the water. |
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| When I felt how warm the water was, I decided to go full in myself and dove underwater, socks, shoes, running clothes and all. I had to zoom in on this pic to see what the red thing in front of Brady was! |
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| Continuing the run, and crossing Route 2, we ran through this overgrown field until ... |
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| ... we came to this. To be fair, it turns out I completely missed an earlier "Trail Closed" sign. --- On the other hand, 2017 was three years ago! So how about an update? |
Sunday: 8
Recovery at Ninigret Park. Being such a nice day, I figured (correctly) there were be quite a few people in the federal wildlife section, which does not allow dogs, so we left Brady behind. He did not seem pleased. Only slightly better to commit one cardinal sin (no running allowed either) instead of two (running and dogs)? As it turns out, there were four other scofflaw runners out there today, all on the Charlietown "Trail". One of them was wearing a mask while running. Whatever works, but that seems awkward.
Legs tight the first couple of miles or so, but even after that I felt like I was dragging a bit from yesterday's 14-mile trail adventure. Fortunately, this was an easy paced run.
Weekly mileage: 53
Weekly synopsis: Another good 50+ mileage week, with a good mix of roads, trails, and a weekend adventure point-to-point trail run.
Weekly highlight: The adventure of the week, Narragansett Trail from Green Falls to Lantern Hill (mostly). I had never been on the section between Wyassup Lake and Route 2. Overall, technical, challenging, and fun!
Weekly lowlight: Just the nasty stuff our country is going through at the present. May better days lie ahead.
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