Weekly Log: 5.20.13 - 5.26.13

Monday - 9 miles

Ab Ripper X (15 minutes)

Monday Track Time!  Can't say I was looking forward to it (I never am.)  During the drive up my mind is constantly trying to sabotage me by offering other places we could run.  Save the speed work for later in the week - let's just hit the trails.  I ignored these thoughts and made my way to the North Smithfield track.  I settled on doing 800 x8 which I almost immediately regretted but I stuck with it.  I wanted to keep around an 3:00 pace for them - I probably could have gone a bit faster but I wasn't sure if I'd have the gas for all eight.  Track workouts are funny as I'm constantly trying to rationize how many loops I have left or whether I should even continue (part of me was hoping those middle school kids would begin streaming towards the track again, forcing me to end the intervals early.)  The kids never came and I made it through all eight 800s.  I was even able to speed up a bit for the last two.  Like last week I cooled down in my minimal NB 730s. 

Track work: I hate it but I feel great once it's done.

2:55 / 3:02 / 2:57 / 2:57 / 2:55 / 2:58 / 2:53 / 2:54

Tuesday - 0 miles

P90X Chest, Shoulders & Triceps (60 minutes)

Wednesday - 11.3 miles

Ab Ripper X (15 minutes)

Another late dance class for Em so I opted to run after work in Big River.  Tired of the Carr Pond side, I wanted to explore some more on the west side of the area.  The only other time I had been over here was on a big group run led by Galoob a few months back so I was more or less flying blind.  I parked off of Exit 6 and took Burnt Sawmill Road d past the pond and then jumped onto a trail.  I took this for quite some time (passing a couple mountain bikers) until eventually it hit the New London Turnpike.

I stayed on the Turnpike for a bit until I hit the Sawmill trail.  I thought about heading to the Lookout but since I had some time to kill I opted to explore some trails I was unfamiliar with.  I headed north onto Sawmill trail until it hit the dirt road that splits off from the Turnpike.  I followed this until just past Sweet Pond and then jumped onto what I think is the Fisher Cat trail.

I broke out my Banana Honey Rice Ball that I brought and I'm happy to report that it worked great.  It was easy to eat while running (much easier than a granola bar,) it tasted great and its tinfoil wrapper was quickly pocketed after it was done.  I'm pleased and look forward to making more flavors.

The trail kept going and going and after a while I began to wonder when I'd hit a road (either the NL Turnpike or the dirt road I had just been on.)  I still had an hour before I had to be back at the car but the sun had disappeared behind graying skies and I was looking forward to having an idea about where I was.  Eventually I passed a fallen tree and I did a double-take.  I had already passed this tree from the other direction.  Somehow I had looped around and was backtracking.  Great.  I decided to continue in this direction and hoped eventually I would just hit the dirt road again.

I kept running on what I hoped was the same route and now I was starting to get concerned.  It was getting darker and I knew storms were in the area.  Finally a light bulb went off and I decided to make use of the GPS computer on my wrist.  There's an option on the Garmin to retrace your route and once I opened up that screen I saw that I was actually almost back to the dirt road.  This eased my mind and a few minutes later I was heading toward Burnt Sawmill Road.  I took BSR back up to my car and was happy that the rain held off until just after I left the lot.

Good run - a little tense for the second half but I purposefully waited to do this run when I had plenty of time in case something like this happened.  So it all worked out.  Next time I'll make use of my GPS sooner.

Thursday - 7 miles

The first day of my six day mini-vacation!  Not doing anything major but the Wife and I have plenty of home projects to keep up busy.  I snuck out for a mid-afternoon run at the Carter Preserve.  It looks like the land trust folks did some work there recently - new markers on the trees and the trails were clear of debris.  The whole place looked great actually.  Took a digger near the red/yellow trail intersection and jammed my left arm.  Elbow's pretty sore now - hopefully it's nothing. 

Friday - 0 miles

P90X Legs & Back (60 minutes)

Crappy weather today made it an easy decision to do a workout in the basement instead of trying to run.  Tomorrow doesn't look much better.  Think I'll rest the dogs until Sunday.   Good L&B session.  49 pull-ups total.

Saturday - 0 miles

P90X Yoga X (90 minutes)

Sunday  - 14 miles

Long trail run in Bradford with Muddy and Crutch.  I suggested the Grills Preserve having never been there and the fellows were happy to oblige.  We started off in the as-of-yet unopened section of Grills followed by a bit of road before heading into the woods for the rest of the run.  We ran some smooth wide trails followed by a mudtrek through the swamp.  The next section was rocky and a nice change of pace.  Muddy led us up to a forbidden lookout - possibly not open space property but it had a lovely bench and great views.  We crossed the shiny new bridge over the Pawcatuck and took the trails up to the big hill.  I managed to smash my hand against a broken branch and my pinky bled like a son-of-a-bitch.  We stopped at the cars briefly, said adieu to Crutch as Muddy took me on one more loop because I wanted to hit 40 miles for the week.  Grills Preserve is a cool place with a lot of variety and a pretty decent network of trails.  A fun run with plenty of profanity to end the week.

Weekly Mileage: 41.4 miles

Year to Date: 695.6 miles