Weekly Log: 12.23.13 - 12.29.13

Merry friggin' Christmas!  I'll be stuck in the office all week (save Wednesday) but with Amanda and the kids off I should be able to extend some of my weekly morning runs and make my work week less awful.

Monday - Powder Mills Refuge, Smithfield, RI - 7.3 miles

Hadn't run here in a while so I thought I'd check it out now that the snow has melted.  As I'm heading into the woods I noticed that the Audubon society added a new wooden sign - "No Jogging."  What the shit?  No jogging?  How dare they!  Anyway I continued my "hyper brisk walking" and was soon out by the power lines enjoying the day.  The refuge itself is tiny but following the powerlines leads to some sketchier ATV trails which run alongside 295 South.  Ran my usual loop of these trails and then jumped back on powerlines and followed them further south than I usually do - now I'm in Snake Den territory sucka.  Big mud, off-roader tracks and deer remains.  That's how they do it in the Den, dawg.  I turned around at a water obstacle.  As I've written before I enjoy connecting all of my northern running grounds with the powerline road.  One day I'll run this whole damn stretch.  Made my way back to my car, being sure to hurry so no birdwatcher had time to yell at me for jogging on their lame-ass trail network.

Also happy anniversary to my lovely wife Amanda.  SEVEN YEARS!

Tuesday -Smithfield, RI - 3.8 miles

90 push-ups (Standard / Military / Wide Fly)

A short Christmas Eve run in the woods before work.  Nothing to report other than that running in the woods is awesome.

Wednesday - 0 miles

MERRY CHRISTMAS YA FILTHY ANIMALS.

 

Thursday - Charlestown/West Greenwich, RI - 8.7 miles

2.7 miles early with the dog.  The beast was a pain-in-the-ass, in a mood to stop and smell the crap of other dogs.  Lovely snow flurries though.

I headed up to work without a plan in place for the morning's main run.  I had kind of decided on Wolf Hill but my heart wasn't into it.  At the last moment I decided I had time for Big River so I made my way over to the Hopkins Hill parking lot.  Good choice.  I hadn't been here in a while and ran a clockwise loop of Carr Pond.  Heard gunfire occasionally but it seemed to be coming from the west side of BR.  At one point three mountain bikers were ahead of me but a singletrack shortcut put me in front of them.  Suddenly I was being chased and enjoyed turning it on and putting some distance between me and them.

I got back to the parking lot with just under six miles and wanted to tack another another mile so I crossed the road and headed down the BR Expressway.  I was only a couple hundred yards down the trail when I jumped off of one of the ledges and rolled my left foot badly on the landing.  Damnit!  It hurt like hell and I limped back to the car.  It throbbed something fierce on the way up to work.  Now a few hours later and I have to walk gingerly.  Let's hope for a quick recovery.

 

Friday - 0 miles

Ankle's pretty sore but at least I'm walking normally again.  I'll take it day by day and probably stick to roads for the short term.  I need 35 miles to hit 1,800.  It might be in jeopardy.  This weekend should decide things.  We shall see.

Saturday - 0 miles

The ankle's feeling much better and I considered a short run to test it but thought better of it. 

Sunday - Charlestown, RI - 10.8 miles

Took the dog out for an early morning 3.5 miles.  Ankle felt alright on the road.  A couple hours later I ran the local roads for another 7+ miles.  A short trail section confirmed that I should stick to roads for now - I could feel it wanting to roll on the uneven terrain.

Weekly Mileage: 30.6 miles

Year to Date: 1,776.2 miles

Well the rolled ankle issue isn't nearly as bad as it could have been.  Hopefully it'll be ready for the trails of the Old Mountain 5k next weekend.  24 miles to go if I'm to break 1,800.  Pretty tall order with only two days left but we'll see.