Weekly Log: 7.20.15 - 7.26.15

Monday - Seekonk, MA - 7.1 miles

Janky Knee is acting up since Saturday's Beaver race.  It feels off with weird twinges when I'm just standing around.  Annoying.  It was about 93 degrees today and between that and the Janky Knee I came very close to bailing on the lunch run.  But in the end I got it done.  I did a loop on Seekonk country roads and luckily there was a good amount of shade because the few exposed sections of pavement were miserable.  I brought along my water bottle which was drained by the end.  The occasional breeze and cloud cover helped make the run not that awful though I was ready to be done with a mile to go.  Janky Knee felt fine during the run.  It only feels aggravated when I'm not running.

Tuesday - 0 miles

Ab Ripper X (15 minutes)

Another very hot day and since I wanted to get in a yoga session this week today seemed like the perfect day for it.  There was a lot of stretching which my legs appreciated.  Janky knee was a little less janky today.

Wednesday - Providence, RI - 9.5 miles

250 push-ups (standard/wide) 40/45/40/40/40/45

Still hot out there but a little more forgiving than the last two days.  The Strava Challenge is coming to an end in nine days and my chances are completing it are diminishing with every passing day.  Today I was determined to get in some decent hills some I ventured over to Providence and ran up and down the moderate side of College Hill seven times.  There was a good amount of cloud cover and the grade was moderate so I was able to keep the pace up throughout (though the last climb really wore my legs out).  I ended up with 700 feet of gain which was less than I was going for but I'm pleased that I got over nine miles out of the run.  Janky Knee was absent for the run though on the return trip to the office the back of my knee began to ache, I think from that knee strap thing I was wearing.

Thursday - Exeter/East Providence, RI - 15.8 miles

I knew if I was to have any chance of completing this elevation challenge I'd need better hills.  With my lovely wife taking care of Ezri this morning, it was my chance to run outside of my usual radius around East Providence.  I decided to consult the Strava archives of the Master, since he ran almost 30,000 feet of elevation last month using whatever means he could in southern Rhode Island.  I decided to check out these big climbs he devoured near Cuttyhunk/Fisherville.  It's been awhile since I had run here and there were a huge amount of raspberry bushes in the Cuttyhunk parking lot.  If only I had a bucket! I did a brief section of Cuttyhunk that I was familiar with then took the rocky Stony Lane to Pardon Joslin Rd.  It's a dirt road with two steep climbs, one side unmaintained and unpassable unless you're in a jeep or ATV.

I went back and forth, ascending each hill twice.  I was feeling it on my last climb and had to powerhike part of the rocky side.  Then I ventured into Fisherville Sanctuary as I've never been here before.  Beautiful place with well maintained trails and a perfect little pond in the middle.  I definitely need to come back here again when I'm not killing myself with hills.  After this nice respite, I went and climbed each hill once more before shambling my way back to the car.  Then I realized I had an empty water bottle in the backseat so I filled it up with tasty raspberries.  Total elevation = 1,200 feet.  I've still got a long way to go and a short time to get there but at least I've given myself a chance.

So at lunch I decided to really ramp up the pain train and do a few more miles in the midday sun.  I went to the East Bay bike path and thankfully there was a good amount of cloud cover.  After a mile on the path and went into the neighborhoods above to do...that's right more hill repeats!  Oh the joys of self-imposed lunatic challenges!  These weren't actually too bad but my legs were good and dead so the pace was slow but hey!  Another 400 feet on the day.  So about 16 miles on the day - I think this will end up being my sort of long run for the week.

Friday - Charlestown, RI - 5.4 miles

245 push-ups (standard/wide/decline) 40/45/35/40/50/35

Late in the day I took the dog out for a few miles on the hilly roads above my house.  It was humid and he was looking dog tired after two miles (hyuck, hyuck).  So I cut through the woods and dropped him off at the house and then ventured back for another couple miles.  Only about four miles on these roads but I nabbed another 700 feet of elevation.  Within an hour of this run we were hit with the worst thunderstorm we've had in a while - we even got hail!  I was glad to see that it didn't affect the Blessing of the Fleet race.  There were some dynamite performances this year.  I'm slightly bummed that I decided not to run but there'll be plenty more years to return to it.

Saturday - 0 miles

We had a summer cookout so I was busing setting things up in the morning and entertaining in the afternoon.

Sunday - 0 miles

So after having my share of fun on Saturday, a run today never materialized.  I had wanted to grind out more elevation on those nearby hilly roads but I didn't get it done.  This may have put the Strava challenge out of reach.  Oh well.  That's the way it goes.

Weekly Mileage: 37.9 miles
Year to Date: 1,041.9 miles

Well I grinded out almost 3,700 feet of elevation this week.  Respectable but I chumped it by skipping out on a Sunday run.  That may end up being the deciding factor in my completing this challenge but I'll have no one but myself to blame.