Weekly Log: 5.18.15 - 5.24.15

Monday - East Providence, RI - 7 miles

I decided to park a little further down south from the East Bay bike path and explore some side roads of Riverside, a town within EP.  There was a large tract of forest on the map and I hoped I could find a way in to some tasty trails.  I parked on a busy road and made my way towards the woods, only to be thwarted at every turn.  The land belongs to some kind of oil refinery or something.  They have a private road that leads from the water to their compound.

There appeared no way in so I ventured off and found a little pond with a trail around most of it.  That was nice but I was not satisfied.  I continued on and came upon the fenced off forest again.  Such a waste!  Soon I smelled garbage - ah yes, the dump was on the other side of the road.  There was nothing for me in this blasted town.  Just as I was about to turn around I discovered a side street with a big sand pit.  There were a few short trails in the woods here but it was a pittance.  I made my way back to the car, my legs feeling the effect of 16 miles the day prior.

Tuesday - 0 miles

Tired legs and I went out to lunch with my coworkers so there would be no run today.  Tasty Indian food though.

Wednesday - Charlestown/Providence, RI - 12.5 miles

Amanda asked me to walk the dog in the morning and I did so grudgingly - legs still didn't have much pep and my calves were sore.  But by lunchtime my legs felt better and I set out to see if the Linear Park alongside 195 was now open.  I couldn't tell if it was and continued on and made a big Providence loop, running past Davol Square before going up and down College Hill several times (I grabbed a segment on a tough climb that I happened upon last week.)  Those hills wore me out but this was a satisfying run.

Thursday - East Providence, RI - 5.2 miles

Ab Ripper X (15 minutes)

It has been quite a while since I've done any P90X workouts, including the short but effective Ab Ripper X.  Today I finally put it up on the laptop and went back into the basement to give it a whirl.  It was rough.  I think I got through all the reps of maybe three of the exercises.  A humbling experience but I hope to keep it up and get back into the rhythm of it.

Man, my calves have been sore all week when I wake in the morning.  They improve through the day though.  Today was an easy short trail run.  I went to the Ten Mile Bike Path and stuck to pretty much just trails on either side of the path.  Tired legs and it took me several runs to realize that the rain sound I was hearing in the woods was caterpillar poop.  For the last week the little wormy buggers have been hanging from trees and I've been picking dozens of 'em off me after every run.  Still it's better than the flies that will soon be upon us.

Friday - West Greenwich, RI - 9.2 miles

185 push-ups (standard/wide/decline) 25/30/25/25/30/20/30

I was let out of work early thanks to my boss and the long weekend so I went to Arcadia since I rarely go there.  I planned at the J B Hudson lot and planned a loop up around the Breakheart trail, taking the Shelter trail back to my car.  I had to pick Ezri up from school so time was a bit of an issue.  It seems everytime I'm in Arcardia there's a time crunch.  Luckily I ended up finished with about 15 minutes to spare.  The run started off slow but my legs woke up and I ended up moving well.  These are great trails and I was happy to start off Memorial Day weekend with this run.

Saturday - 0 miles

I was hobbling like an old man today - I think a delayed DOM/overuse result of the Ab Ripper.  Sitting down was fine but standing up was tough.

Sunday - Charlestown, RI - 8.4 miles

I went over to Carter Preserve for a morning run.  I took the power trail right away which provides some really beautiful views.  I kept going along the powerlines past the Preserve boundary until it hits pavement.  Then I checked out some nearby clear cut trails.  They eventually wound me around back towards the pavement and I found an old dirt road, now long overgrown with shrubs and fallen trees.  I kept going and eventually came upon more Preserve signs.  Strange.  The "trail" curved around and eventually came out at the dirt road of the two houses alongside the Preserve parking lot.    That took about 2.5 miles.  Now back at the car I did a standard Carter loop, hitting the powerlines again, the grasslands and the various trails in the woods.  Good run!

Weekly Log: 42.4 miles
Year to Date: 690.1 miles

Good week of running and I was glad to get in a good amount of trail miles!  Ab Ripper did a number of me by Saturday but by Sunday I was feeling much better.  I'll take some time before I can get back to it regularly.