Monday - Smithfield, RI - 6 miles
Last week of March. This year is flying by at a disturbing rate. I don't anticipate it slowing down either. I've races the next two weekends, followed by my birthday weekend, Amanda's birthday weekend and then TARC. Let the madness continue unfettered!I was really on the fence about today's run. Should I stick to roads to increase my base or head to the woods and enjoy the run? The trails won out and after more internal debate I settled on Wolf Hill. I did my standard run here, hitting the various points of interest along the way - Mercer lookout, quarry and the powerlines. I took some crappy pictures with my iPod that I'd like to share with you.
Remnants of the Mercer Homestead
View from Mercer Lookout - Providence in the distance
Drive on 295 South between exits 7 & 8 and you've probably seen this trail.
The quarry has a firepit in the center and lots of nooks to explore
The view of Smithfield from the quarry top is great!
Tuesday - 0 miles
P90X Legs & Back (60 minutes)I love running in the New Balance MT20s but damn if my ankle isn't sore the next day. I've been doing one weekly run in them of 4-6 miles. I had considered skipping L&B but not seriously - this is a great workout that I mean to do weekly. Ankle felt fine for most of the exercises. I plan on continuing to use the MT20s but perhaps I'll shorten the runs. Or at least stick to less hilly fare.
Wednesday - 0 miles
P90X Core Synergistics (60 minutes)I had trouble sleeping last night and what sleep I did have was punctuated by Big River dreams. At one point I'm running the 1/2 marathon and I'm following orange arrows on the trail. The trail becomes steeper and steeper, with the woods encroaching all around. Then I emerge in the basement of a church. A really tiny church. I try to backtrack but no matter which way I go I keep ending up in this church. Eventually I found my way out and continued the race but I was really upset that I lost probably 20 minutes of time in this forest church. I had other dream adventures in Big River but I don't recall them.
Big River draws nigh and we are all feeling its cosmic pull.
Thursday - Smithfield, RI - 13.7 miles
I was going to do a track workout this morning but my heart wasn't into it. Instead I decided to do a longish run since I had some extra time. I figured that Big River will serve as my speed work for the week. I had scanned google/maps last night for an appropriately sized loop that used new Smithfield roads but our WiFi wasn't working this morning so I couldn't review the route or confirm the distance. I was pretty sure the run would be 10-12 and fairly easy to navigate.Turns out I was mostly right. I parked at Bryant and ran down to Log Road, my new favorite road up here. I took Log Rd to the end and then turned left - there appeared to be country roads that ran somewhat parallel to Log Rd. One of them connected with Burlingame Rd which I could then take back to Bryant. So I basically just bore left anytime the road split, hoping that eventually I'd see Burlingame Rd. My plan worked. These were beautiful country roads and there were large sections of nothing but fields and farms (there was also one massive field/pond surrounded by a huge fence. I think they might be breeding velociraptors in Smithfield.) At about the 10 mile mark, just as I was getting worried about finding my way back, Burlingame Road appeared and my return route was secure. So the run ended up being a bit longer than I anticipated but it was very enjoyable. There will be no tapering before Saturday's epicness - training for TARC is now in full swing!
Friday - Charlestown, RI - 6 miles
Ab Ripper X (15 minutes)20 push-ups x2 / 5 pull-ups x2 / 5 chin-ups x2
My plans of an early afternoon recon run in Big River were thwarted when my FIOS battery back-up crapped out and I had to be home for the FIOS guy between 1 & 5 PM. I ended up just running the nearby roads while I waited for his phone call. I didn't have much pep and had to drag myself out there. The run improved as I went on and I'm glad I got out the door and got it done as FIOS guy didn't show up for several more hours. Chopped some wood and made a big taco dinner with ground turkey which was well received by all. A fine day.
Saturday - West Greenwich, RI - 16.2 miles
Big River 1/2 Marathon. Separate write-up here.Sunday - Charlestown, RI - 4.5 miles
P90X Yoga X (40 minutes)Short shakeout run to combat the soreness from yesterday's Big River adventure. My calf is pretty sore from where a branch whacked me but otherwise I'm not too worse for wear. Then off to Jamestown for an Easter feasting.
Weekly Mileage: 46 miles (New weekly PR!)
Year to Date: 424.8 miles
Big River was the obvious highlight of the week but I'm pretty pleased that I put two 13+ mile runs together within three days. This was my highest mileage week to date and this was also my best month by far - 182 miles (besting October '12's 142.) Hopefully I will keep this momentum going into April!
Ha ha, not sure what your dream means, but maybe you'll find some self discovery out there this weekend.
ReplyDeleteThat quarry is cool, I've been there a couple times to ice climb back when had real winters.
You and Ben Folsom (Gunshow) should exchange numbers, he's up in Smithfield at his parents' often and would probably love to join you for some runs.
Thanks for the pics of Wolf Hill. I have some weird thing for powerlines. Some day I will run there.
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