Weekly Log: 2.22.16 - 2.28.16

The make-up date for the Belleville Pond 10k is this Saturday.  I'm not any more prepared than I would have been a few weeks ago but no matter I'll run it just the same.  Next week is the Ocean's Run 1/2 Marathon which I signed up for a lifetime ago.  I'm certainly not in any shape for a long road race so I'll probably end up bailing on that one.

Monday - East Providence, RI - 4.1 miles

5:30 of Planks (Elbow - 2:22 / Left straight arm - 1:07 / Right straight arm- 0:48 / Straight arm - 1:10)

I wanted a nice easy four miles to start off the week.  It's another beautiful February day at 50 degrees.  I went over to run the bike path in Riverside but it didn't take long before the ankle made itself known.  By two miles it was aching and the run back I was miserable and dejected.  It hurt considerably afterwards and I had a noticeable limp.  A bummer of a run.

Tuesday - 0 miles

6:03 of Planks (Elbow - 3:07 / Left straight arm - 1:02 / Right straight arm- 0:47 / Straight arm - 1:05)
A new plank PR of 3:07!

Started the day with my best plank yet.  I'm starting to see some progress now that I'm doing them consistently.  I like this workout - it's short and sweet provided I can motivate myself to do it in the morning after my shower.  If I delay it until later it usually doesn't get done.

At lunch time I went to Yoga for the first time in a long time.  Good session.

Wednesday - East Providence, RI - 4.7 miles

5:04 of Planks (Elbow - 2:06 / Left straight arm - 0:53 / Right straight arm- 0:43 / Straight arm - 1:20)

Dropped the car off for an oil change in the morning and ran back to the office.  With a light drizzle my hands were freezing by the end of this 1.5 mile run.  In the afternoon I made a longer route to pick up the car.  It was raining pretty steadily throughout.  I forgot shorts so I had to run in my white track pants which are straight pimpin'.  Sadly I tripped on a broken up sidewalk and went down, ripping up the pants and both of my fleece gloves.  Now soaking wet and filthy, the blood began to run down the pant leg, completing the look.  Between this, hiking and the thorns of the Great Swamp my legs are looking so so pretty.  At least the ankle wasn't that bad.

Thursday - Seekonk, MA - 3 miles

5:28 of Planks (Elbow - 2:22 / Left straight arm - 1:06 / Right straight arm- 0:50 / Straight arm - 1:10)
135 push-ups (standard/military/wide) 30/20/30/20/15/20

Another morning of planking to start the day.  I do like this quick workout.  Tried to do push-ups later in the morning and I was feeling the effects of the planks (I also just haven't done push-ups in a while).  I went for a three mile run at Seekonk Meadows but it was a struggle.  The ankle acted up almost immediately and the whole run was a chore.  Hopefully when I go to the doctor next week I'll find out what the issue is.  I'm afraid the diagnosis might just be an incurable shitty ankle.

Friday - 0 miles

Home with a sick Ezri.

Saturday - Belleville Pond 10k - 7.7 miles

Official time: 46:02.  24th overall.  Report forthcoming.

Thanks to painkillers the race wasn't too bad and I felt alright until the evening when my ankle really began to ache from the usual jankiness as well as rolling it badly during the race.

Sunday - 0 miles

An easy day of organizing the house.  My ankle is sore, as it is my penance for trying to run a race yesterday.

Weekly Mileage: 19.5 miles
Year to Date: 104.5 miles

Weekly Log: 2.15.16 - 2.21.16

This'll be a fun week.  I've only got one day of work ahead of me and Amanda and I are heading up to the White Mountains to do some hiking.  Can't wait!

Monday - Charlestown, RI - 3 miles

2:00 of Planks (Elbow - 1:00 / Left straight arm - 0:30 / Right straight arm - 0:30)

With the day off for President's Day, I took the dog out in the afternoon for some easy miles.  Ankle ached as usual of course but there was a light snow falling which made for a pleasant run.

Tuesday - Seekonk, MA -  6 miles

4:30 of Planks (Elbow - 2:03 / Left straight arm - 1:00 / Right straight arm- 0:40 / Straight arm - 0:45)

The crazy February weather continues with temps in the 50s on a windy, wet day.  My only day of work this so I went over to Seekonk to do a standard six mile country road loop.  A light rain began to fall halfway through which felt great.  The ankle was not a huge issue which helped a lot.  Great run.

Wednesday - 0 miles

Amanda and I headed north for our couple's getaway.  We stayed at the White Mountain Hostel in Conway which turned out to be great.  We had our own room and had a couple nice conversations with other guests.  A lot of YMCA teens and a bunch of older hikers mostly.  We did some shopping in the afternoon and we scored some great deals at the winter clearance at L.L. Bean.  I got a sweet down jacket for $34, Amanda got a couple pairs of hiking boots and we both got some quality wind pants which came in handy for our hikes.

Thursday - White Mountains, NH - 6.2 miles

Amanda and I hiked up Mt. Pierce.  Separate write-up to follow.

I had to make sure we stopped at the New Balance outlet store in North Conway.  The deals there are always worth it - I picked up two pairs of shoes (one road, one trail) for $65!

Friday - White Mountains, NH - 5.4 miles

Amanda and I hiked up South Moat Mountain.  Separate write-up to follow.

Saturday - South Kingstown, RI - 5.7 miles

Back in Rhode Island and my body was feeling the hikes from the last two days.  My ankle was sore and I should have rested it but it was another glorious day and it felt wrong not to get out there.  I hadn't been to the Great Swamp in some time so it seemed like a good choice.  Lots of cars in the parking lot and there were many people out there enjoying the day.  Ankle hurt towards the end which I guess I deserved but I'm glad to be putting up decent mileage this week (I'm including my hiking of course).

Sunday - Charlestown/North Kingstown - 5.1 miles

4:40 of Planks (Standard - 2:07 / Left straight arm - 0:55 / Right straight arm- 0:46 / Straight arm - 0:51)

Another beautiful day and despite ankle soreness I got a few miles of running/walking.  First I took the dog out for two easy miles.  Then we went for a family hike to Rome Point.  Lots of seals out on the rocks and a nice gentleman shared his telescope with us so we could see then up close.

Weekly Mileage: 31.4 miles
Year to Date: 85 miles

A fun week of adventures and I'm definitely counting the hiking/walking to bump me up above 30 miles for the first time this year.  The ankle is still an issue but I'm able to run through the discomfort so I'll take it for now.

Weekly Log: 2.8.15 - 2.14.15

Monday - 0 miles

More snow so I ended up working from home today.  More shoveling and the like but no running.

Tuesday - South Kingstown, RI - 2 miles

With the roads still shitty I was able to work from home again.  Unfortunately that meant missing an appointment I had up in Providence for my ankle.  No way I was driving up there just for that.  At lunch I did however head over to Perryville for a couple miles of snowshoe hiking.  No running per se but it was good to get out there.  We're planning a trip to New Hampshire next week so this is good prep work.

Wednesday - Charlestown, RI - 2.8 miles

Towards the end of the day, I went and did some more snowshoeing at Carter Preserve.  This was a fun loop - the woods were lovely as the sun went down.  Overdressed a bit for this one.

Thursday - Seekonk, MA - 4.1 miles

Went up to work early and went over to Seekonk for a few cold country miles.  Ankle was noticeable throughout but that's normal now.  Only a few patches of ice to watch out for on the roads.  The fast drivers were a greater threat as usual.

Friday - 0 miles

No time to fit in a run today.  Ankle was pretty sore after the last few days of effort so I would have rested it anyway.

Saturday - 0 miles

Frigid temperatures today meant we all just hung out in our wood stove heated basement.  I did four minutes of planks.  Towards the end of the day Ezri and I ventured out into the cold for a short 1/2 mile walk at Browning Woods.

Sunday - 2.8 miles

I took Oliver over to Browning Woods for a good hike in single digits.  I used it to test out my winter hiking gear which worked well.  Were I working a little harder I would have been overdressed.  My winter boots, mittens and jacket all worked well.  Trail was frozen and well packed down so bareboots were fine.  Another four minutes of planks today but I've yet to approach my best elbow plank of 2:44 that I set a couple weeks ago.

Weekly Mileage: 11.9 miles
Year to Date: 53.6 miles

Another week of minimal improvement with the ankle.  I was happy to get out and enjoy the winter trails for a bit more this week as the snowshoeing didn't aggravate my ankle as much.  I'll take it.

Weekly Log: 2.1.16 - 2.7.16

New month - same as the old month?  I hope not as I don't think I can take another 30 days of such stagnation.  We shall see.  The Belleville Pond 10k is this weekend.  I haven't missed it in several years and I'd hate to miss it now - especially with the new racing sign-up's cool standings page.  With Bob Jackman heading south to torture himself on donuts, here's my chance to sneak into the top three in my age group.  I hope to be there, janky ankle and all.

Monday - 0 miles

190 push-ups (standard/military/wide) 30/20/35/30/20/30/25

Ankle was really sore today after yesterday's trail run so I opted to do little and less. I did convince myself to do push-ups towards the end of the day so that's something.  My push-up strength is slowly coming back.

Tuesday - 0 miles

I was going to run at lunch but the ankle ached and I bailed, partially out of concern and partially because I was feeling lazy.  Should've just gone out and ground out a few miles.

Wednesday - Seekonk, MA - 4.5 miles

New Plank PR: 2:44
155 push-ups (standard/diamond/wide) 25/15/30/30/15/40

My plank time is starting to get up there (for me anyway). Not doing anything special other than attempting one long plank per day.  Some days I chump it and I don't bother on Ab Ripper days.  A lot of deep breathing and concentration but I'm intrigued to see how long I can go.

At lunch I ventured to the Caratunk Preserve.  50 degrees and windy but warm enough for shorts and a T.  Beautiful out there even though the ankle hurt mildly for the whole thing.

Thursday - 0 miles

My plank for Lunch Yoga was twarted by work bullshit.  Planned to rest Old Man Jank and not run so there was nothing to do today.

Friday - 0 miles

Ab Ripper X (15 minutes)

Worked from home due to the snow storm so I missed out on Lunch Yoga again but I'm certainly not going to complain about not having to drive up to the city.  The storm put the kibosh on tomorrow's race at Ryan Park - no port-o-johns or places to park.  Bummer.

Saturday - 0 miles

I should've done something active today but once again I was a lump.  It ended up being good that the race was postponed as it gave me more time to get things ready for Ezri's birthday party today.  Seven years old!  Where does it go?

Sunday - Charlestown, RI - 5 miles

Ankle hasn't been aching that much so I didn't really have any excuse.  I went over to the Carter Preserve to try out my microspikes for the first time.  Beautiful day in the 40s and snow was mushy and plopping off the trees.  They work well but in the rotting snow they picked up a lot of snow clumps.  Even with only an inch or two of snow it was tough going, in part because of my fading fitness.  I took a couple snow plops off the head which took me unaware.  One of them really smarted.  Ankle wasn't too bad on this run.  Hopefully a positive sign.

Weekly Mileage; 9.5 miles
Year to Date: 41.7 miles