Weekly Log: 7.6.15 - 7.12-15

Monday - North Kingstown, RI - 5.2 miles

185 push-ups (standard/wide) 40/35/40/30/40

Yesterday's long run trashed my calves and my legs didn't have much life this morning.  I got out of the house early so I ran before work.  Decided to hit up Ryan Park because I wanted trails that were easily accessible and not too taxing.  Took it easy and enjoyed the beautiful day in the park.  Legs found a little life by the end.

Tuesday - East Providence, RI - 6.6 miles

Steamy day in the city.  Decided to explore some new streets.  Parked at the East Bay bike path and took it for a mile to nab a Strava hill segment.  After that I just wandered around using a map I printed.  The heat wore me down and I found myself running out of time before I was needed back at the office.  I misjudged the roads and found a pond and golf course blocking a direct route back to the car so I had to book it (as best I could) to make it back in time for a conference call.

Wednesday - 0 miles

250 push-ups (standard/wide/decline) 45/35/25/40/40/25/40

Good yoga session at Providence Power Yoga during lunch.

Thursday - Johnston, RI/Rehoboth, MA - 12.5 miles

Elbow planks 6 x 1 minute

Before work I went over to the Snake Den for some trails and hills.  Also mud.  I don't know if I've ever seen so many water hazards on these trails.  People had done some work on these trails - there's not a clear trail leading down to farmland and another parking lot.  I discovered a patch of raspberries and gobbled some up before moving on.  I grabbed a segment nearby by my real goal was a segment over by the powerlines that Tod Mahony had named in my honor.  But on the way over the Connector Trail, I smashed my big left toe against a rock.  Christ it hurt.  I stopped to inspect it (I always expect my blood to be caked in blood) but it was only a little bruised.  By now the pain had lessened and I was able to keep running.

I made my over to the Seth segment and hit the gas.  There's 135 feet of climbing and plenty of rocks to contend with.  I pushed it as best I could and was running out of stream by the end.  I needed a breather at the top and luckily the view there is pretty spectacular thanks to enterprising folks who cut down a couple trees.  Turns out I grabbed the segment from Mahony by 2 seconds.  After that I took it easy going down the powerline trail before going back up in a display of pure masochism.  Time was against me now so I took roads back to the car.  I had forgotten that this road is all uphill (ha!) but I wanted elevation today and I guess I got it (700 feet total).

With my day's run out of the way I thought about doing yoga at lunch but I was itching for more miles.  So I drove over to Rehoboth and did some repeats on Rocky Hill Road.  I had done much of this road as big loop from the Wheeler School but never had taken it this far.  The hill was steep and no joke!  The road was also narrow and people drove like maniacs on these back roads.  I had to be careful.  I couldn't imagine a cyclist going down this hill - dicey.  Anyway I did three repeats and would've liked a few more but I had to get back to the office.  Glad I know about this place now - a good alternative to College Hill.

Friday -Westerly/Charlestown, RI - 12.6 miles

Mike B organized a swim/run at the Westerly Town Beach in honor of Tommy 5k who's getting hitched today.  I opted out of the swim and showed up late, talking with Crutch and 5k's brother until the crazies finished their mile swim.  A round of mimosas followed after they pulled themselves out of the way and then we did a three mile beach run.  Fun chitchatting with everyone and I hope 5k has a great wedding.

Then I drove home and switching into some road shoes and took the dog out for 2.4 miles.  Very humid and he clearly lost interest after the first mile.  We managed a little over two miles and cut through the woods to take a shortcut back to the house since I had to start working.

Since I was working from home today, the lunch run was different than usual.  I ran down to Charlestown Town Beach which was packed with folks.  Took off my shoes and enjoyed a few minutes in the ocean before heading home.  It was hot but the water did me right and I enjoyed the run back.  Not a shabby way to spend a lunch run and psyched to get two 12+ mile days in a row!

Saturday - Charlestown, RI - 3.4 miles

Took the dog out for a few easy Saturday morning miles.  Humid as usual.  Kept it easy but sneak in a few hills on him.

Sunday - Charlestown, RI - 14 miles

Went over to Burlingame for a morning long run.  Parked on King's Factory and ran Sammy C's around before heading down to North Camp.  Had some groin tightness but otherwise felt okay.  Then I headed to North Burlingame where the hills worked me over.  I followed the N/S Trail to where it hit road and then reversed course.  Now my legs were feeling it and the groin tightness was getting worse.  The rest of the run was a slog, but I still went out of my way to work in some big climbs because I wanted to get a goodly amount of elevation this week.  It worked and I had 1000 feet of climbing for this run.

When I got home I loaded this run into Strava as "the Great Suffering."  It sounded good at the time but after seeing all the awesome performances on Sunday (Jurek's AT record and Adam Wilcox crushing Hard Rock in particular) perhaps I was being a bit dramatic.

Weekly Mileage: 54.3 miles
Year to Date: 963.4 miles

Big week of miles and also 3200 feet of climbing!  I'd say let's keep it going but I suppose I should taper some for the Beaver race next weekend.