Friday, April 12, 2013

Weekly Log: 4.8.13 - 4.14.13

Three weeks until the TARC 50k Spring Classic!  Two more weekends!  My basic plan is to get in around 35 miles this week, 30 next week and then a few leading up to the race.  We shall see how everything actually unfolds.

Monday - Smithfield, RI - 7 miles

It was a gorgeous spring morning and with no better plan I jumped onto the trails behind Fidelity.  Them dirt bikers have been busy marking them trails and the singletrack was in great shape.  They even painted more trail dots on the trees.  Well done folks.  I ran some trails I haven't run in awhile and really enjoyed 'em - you could have an epic race out there.  I actually worked up a sweat!  It's been a while.  I think I kept the pace pretty snappy.  Hard to tell in the woods but it felt like a good workout.  Now later in the day, I'm starting to feel some decent DOMS from yesterday's 10k.


Tuesday - 0 miles

P90X Legs & Back (60 minutes)

Wednesday - 0 miles

P90X Shoulders & Arms (60 minutes)
Ab Ripper X (15 minutes)

Two weeks in a row for Shoulders & Arms which is a rarity for me but I thought my legs could use a true rest day after the 10k/Legs & Back combo.  They are very sore (no pain, just plenty of DOMS.)  I upped the dumbell weight for most of the exercises and damn, now it's a workout.  Following up with Ab Ripper afterwards was pretty difficult but I felt great when it was all over.

Thursday - West Greenwich, RI - 8 miles

New hotness.  Let's get 'em dirty.
I got a new pair of trail shoes - Cascadia 7s - and wanted to try 'em out this morning.  With some extra time I decided to head over to Big River and run the trails west of Hopkins Hill Rd.  I took the BR Expressway over past the quarry and attempted to locate the Lookout by backtracking the trails we used during Galoob's Sufferfest a few months back.  The dwarves were busy in the quarry and trucks were heading in and out on that access road.  After taking a few trails that didn't pan out, I finally had some luck and came out at the Lookout.  Last time I was here it was fogged in but much better views this time of the pond below and forest beyond.  I helped myself to a couple candies (thanks MTBers!) and continued to backtrack.

Not far from the Lookout I spied a toy elephant nailed to a tree so I jumped on what I assumed was the Elephant trail.  Twisty turny stuff that eventually deposited me on another trail next to a pond.  Unsure of where I was now, I went in one direction briefly - there was lots of pine devastation and it didn't seem that this trail got much use.  I decided to turn around and after a few minutes I came around a bend and recognized the saw mill scrap piles (I scared a huge turkey that was grazing there and it took off running.)

Having found my bearings, I followed the Saw Mill trail to the New London Turnpike and then took another trail back to the BR Expressway.  I headed back to the car (taking a couple side trails along the way) but I still returned to the parking lot with time to spare so I headed down towards Carr Pond and turned around at the painted rocks.  Cool party spot, bro.  Saw three mountain bikers and a lone hiker as I made my way back up to the lot.


Friday - Smithfield, RI - 8 miles

Ab Ripper X (15 minutes)
20 push-ups x4 / 5 pull-ups x2 / 6 chin-ups x2

I drove up to Bryant, intent on doing some track work, but the girls soccer team was practicing in the middle and based on how they were set up it looked like I'd be dodging soccer balls.  I opted to run my standard loop around Stump Pond as a makeshift tempo run.  After about two miles I tried to maintain a fast pace for the next three miles (6:30 or so.)  I didn't look at my watch and instead tried to just run hard by feel.  On the way back I attempted to snag a trail segment behind Bryant.  I was pretty tired by this point and my heart wasn't into it so I'm not sure if I was successful.  Cooled down afterwards on the Bryant Athletic fields and was happy to see that they've made repairs to the track.  Maybe next week I'll do an actual track workout.

And the rain held off which was nice.

Saturday - Exeter, RI - 12 miles

Long run in Arcadia with Jonny.  It's been a while since I've been ran here and I'm glad Jonny was game for it.  We met at 6 AM at the John B Hudson parking lot (needs work!) and did a clockwise Mt. Tom trail to Breakheart trail loop.  It was opening day for fishing and the Wood River access point was jammed packed with folks in waders and those crazy lure vests.  Jonny and I kept the pace pretty snappy which made the hills on Breakheart more punishing than I had remembered.  Good conversation on a good route.

Sunday - 0 miles

Happy birthday to me!   Another year old and another 5 minutes added to my Boston qualifier time.  No running today but probably some wood choppin' and cake eatin'.

Weekly Mileage: 35 miles

Year to Date: 485.6 miles

1 comment:

  1. Pretty shoes! The Brooks Cascadia (at least my version) are indestructible, so I hope you get a lot of great trail runs in with them.

    Nice job on the strength training this week - I'm hoping to start strength training regularly this summer, it has such a positive impact on my running.

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