Monday - Seekonk, MA - 7.1 miles
Oh my sore calves! 19ish miles on both Friday and Saturday beat 'em up and they're still in rough shape. Beautiful day though and I want to attempt 60 miles for the week so that meant getting out there. Mapped out a six mile loop in Seekonk on country roads. Good run and the calves loosened up as I went. Tacked on a couple side streets to make it 7. Beautiful warm day with a steady breeze throughout.Tuesday - Seekonk, MA - 8.1 miles
43 pull-ups (standard/chin-up/close grip) 6/8/5/6/8/5/5Calves were feeling better today which was something of a surprise. I had planned to venture over to College Hill for more hill work but I didn't have the stomach for city traffic. I did have the stomach for my lunch, gobbling it up at 11:30 in anticipation of a 2 PM run. I decided to just explore more Seekonk Roads. I mapped a loop that took me along the perfectly named Country Road. Turns out it was actually County Road and quite busy - not the idyllic peaceful route I envisioned.
I guess I haven't learned my lesson about eating lunch before I run, even if it's several hours prior. My stomach was churglin' and gurglin' throughout the run and I felt like a big bloated bag of gas. A decent run otherwise and I suppose in retrospect the 7:30 pace is impressive considering my GI issues.
Wednesday - Coventry, RI - 15.5 miles
My plan was to run long after work before picking up Em from dance. I was used to doing these runs in the spring when the daylight is always on the increase. Now it's fall and I knew it'd be dark sooner rather than later. But I really wanted to work in some trails so I devised a route that started near Big River and was about 50% road, 50% trail. I brought my headlamp but wasn't thrilled about the idea of running in the woods at night so the route had plenty of bailout options based on lighting. I parked at the huge Home Deport and after a few minutes of roads I entered Big River. I intended to follow the Half Marathon course to the Hopkins Hill parking lot but I managed to get off track fairly quickly. I found Carr Pond soon enough and then followed the course. There was still plenty of daylight and it increased my resolve to take the New London Turnpike through the west side of Big River.Lots of activity in Big River on this evening. I encountered 2 mountain bikers, 2 dirt bikers, a family of three with a dog (that scared the shit out of me when it bounded out of the bushes) and a bunch of folks partying 'round a fire near the Burnt Sawmill Road entrance. The timing worked out perfectly and it didn't get really dark until I was nearing the end of Burnt Sawmill. The rest of the run was on unfamiliar roads in the dark. I had printed out some google maps and was glad I had 'em. There was a surprising amount of traffic on these Coventry backroads but my strobe light did the trick and warned 'em off. I ran out of steam with a mile to go and sort of slogged my way through the massive parking lot but otherwise a top notch run.
Thursday - 0 miles
210 push-ups (standard/decline/wide) 40/30/40/30/30/40No running today - I had an appointment with a podiatrist (conveniently located right below my office.) Back in July 2013 I had smashed my big toe thanks to dehydrated, sloppy form in Burlingame. It wasn't a major thing and didn't interfere running but ever since that big toe will ache with a dull pain now and again. Never that bad but always resurfacing eventually. So today I went to the foot doc and got some X-rays. Looks like when I jammed that big toe a tiny bit o' bone chipped off and is now lingering next to the joint, causing the occasional discomfort. Not much to be done with it now - hopefully at some point it'll just get absorbed into my body. Science!
Friday - Charlestown/East Providence, RI - 15.7 miles
Dog jog in the early morning. Easy, warm and breezy. 3.7 miles.At lunch, I decided to claim the nearby segment on the flat, fast stretch of Waterfront Drive. It's 1.1 miles long so I meandered around the neighborhood streets for a couple miles and then made my way to the start. I pushed it but the wind was against me and it was hard going. Took it easily and I'm pleased with my 5:38 pace. I wore the more minimal 730s on this run and the bottom of my feet were feeling them - no wonder I've been favoring the 890s lately. 6.7 miles.
Then after work, I went over to the East Bay Bike Path for some easy perfunctory miles. Not much to say other than at about the 1/4 mark there was this crazy cloud of black flies. They were so thick you could see them and suddenly they are all over me. Then a few meters later and I'm through the cloud and there were no more flies. But my arms and shirt were covered. Gross. I had to pass through the bug army again on my way back to the car.
Saturday - 0 miles
Sunday - Richmond, RI - 14.3 miles
Jonny emailed me about an easy run with Galoob in Richmond, checking out some trails in a new open space left by a generous benefactor. The time and distance seemed right on, thought I knew their approximation of an "easy" run would be moderate for me. We stuck mostly to wide dirt road trails with a trip along the singletrack of the Beaver River Preserve as well. There were also about 6.5 road miles, including a bitch of a climb up Old Mountain Road. After 10 miles I was feeling the effort and my right knee began to hurt which was troubling as normally I don't have knee issues. Let's chalk it up to the excess mileage for the week. Fun run with good company to cap this high mileage week, though it was tough by the end.
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