Grills Preserve 10k and 10 Mile Trail Race

Grills Preserve Trail Video and Chitchat

I'm running Bubba's Backyard Ultra this weekend.  I feel pretty good about it though there are some question marks about my left foot due to some nagging aches.  Looking forward to this race no matter what happens but hopefully I can make it to nightfall and then some.  Here's a video I shot in Grills Preserve in Westerly, RI where I chitchat some about the race.

Weekly Log: 12.8.14 - 12.14.14

Monday - Westerly, RI - 11.4 miles

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

The office was closed due to much of the staff returning from Miami the day before.  With the day off, I had originally envisioned a long Arcadia run but the morning began to get away from me and I had shopping scheduled in Westerly for the afternoon.  I had considered Woody Hill but I opted for the Grills Preserve which I'm more familiar with.  Good thing too, as my entire run was accompanied by the sound of gunfire coming from Woody Hill.

It was a little chilly but I warmed up quickly.  I followed the trails along the perimeter of Westerly Grills, before crossing the magical silvery bridge and taking on the technical trail.  I was around five miles at this point and the ol' janky knee was beginning to ache as usual but I bore on and it never got worse.  The miles ticked away and I was pleased to get over ten.  It was nice to finally be out in the woods and get in a decent trail run.  Felt good!

Tuesday - 0 miles

Fuck this knee.  After yesterday's Grills adventure I can barely walk down the stairs today.  You'd think I just ran a 50k.

Wednesday - East Providence, RI - 5 miles

Gah, I've got some kind of painful twinge at the base of my neck.  I don't think it's from the push-ups as I had some DOMS yesterday but otherwise felt fine.  Hopefully it'll disappear in a day.  Tomorrow I have an appointment with the sports medicine doc in the office below mine.  Knee is still sore from Grills but I figure I should give it some work today so that it's easy to identify the sore spots tomorrow.  I felt alright during the run - the run itself was unremarkable but the Ten Mile River was impressively high thanks to the recent rains.  I can only imagine was a disaster this area was during the March 2010 floods.

Thursday - 0 miles

Neck still hurts.  Went to the doc who said that according to my X-rays my janky knee looks great.  He thought it's probably just a minor thing brought on by overuse.  He recommended keeping the mileage low and very gradually raising based on how the knee's feeling.  I almost wish he had found something definitive on the X-ray as "staying the course" hasn't done me much good so far.  Guess I'll just keep the mileage very low for a while and see if that helps.

Friday - 0 miles

No running today and now I can't even do upper body stuff because my goddamn neck still hurts.

Saturday - 0 miles

I hate bailing on a group run so close to my house but I'm going to rest my knee considerable for awhile.  On the plus side I did make another 2.5 gallon batch of 15 Minute Pale Ale this morning.  I got the entire prep/brew/clean-up process down to 90 minutes which is not too shabby!  At night I was sitting on the couch and I stretched my other leg too far - my calf seizes up something terrible.  I haven't had one that bad in a while and it took a while before it loosened up.

Sunday - 0 miles

Now not only does my right knee ache but my left calf is extremely sore from last night's seizing.  Had quite a limp first thing in the morning.  It improved over the course of the day but it was still tender to the touch by the evening.  I took Oliver over to Carter Preserve for a dog walk - he's such a spazz when we walk in the woods.  He nearly strangles himself on the leash he's so excited.  It works much better when we run but there would be no running today.

Oliver is either yawning, barking or choking.  Take your pick.

Weekly Mileage: 16.4 miles
Year to Date: 1,683.6 miles

This week started off with a great run and went to shit from there.  Looks like I'm going to have to dial back the running even further in the hopes of besting this janky knee.  I still hope to run the Old Mountain 5k next weekend though I'm not in racing shape.

Weekly Log: 8.11.14 - 8.17.14

Running is back in session!  I need to start to put together an actual training plan (or at least my ramshackle version of one) because Bimbler's Bluff 50k is only 10 weeks away.  It will be here before you know it.

Monday - Ryan Park, North Kingstown, RI - 7.2 miles

290 push-ups (standard/decline/Pike's Press/wide) 40/40/20/40/40/40/20/50

Ezri was home with Amanda so I was able to get out of the house early and hit up one of my former haunts, Ryan Park.  Nice to be able to run before it got too hot and the trails were a welcome change from the roads of East Providence.

Tuesday - 0 miles

20 pull-ups w/ assists (standard/chin-up/close grip/wide) 4/6, 4/6, 3/5, 2/5, 3/5, 3/5, 1/4

Decided to take a break from the running in order to ease back into everything.  I only want to run 30+ miles this week.  Instead I went back to PPP for another lunch yoga session.  Lots of lunges and warrior poses - good stuff.

Wednesday - Carter Preserve, Charlestown, RI - 5 miles

Ab Ripper X (15 minutes)

Man, I took one week off from Ab Ripper and it kicked my ass today.  Wasn't even able to finish the mason twists to end the workout.  That almost never happens.

The weather is crappy all day and I was regretting my choice to take yesterday off.  Today would have been much better.  But I had some time before work and luckily a break in the weather allowed me to run over at Carter Preserve.  Saw a really cool little box turtle with an orange shell.  The thing was only the size of my fist.  I took the new trail over to the grassland loop and made my way back to my car via the red trail.  The rain started with about 10 minutes left but it was more refreshing than anything.

Damn rain ruined our plans to go the Washington County Fair in the afternoon.  My doughboy will have to wait until the weekend.

Thursday - East Providence, RI - 7.1 miles

Beautiful day out there.  Decided today was a good day to get over to the East Bay bike path and get a decent workout in.  Not too hot and some decent cloud cover throughout the run.  First 1.5 miles were easy and then I picked up the pace as I went.  I stopped at the halfway both in Riverside to stretch my calves (is that cheating?)  After the short rest, I was able to churn out two 6:09 miles but it was an effort.  Pleased with this run but now my left calf is very tight.  To the foam roller!

Friday - Caratunk Preserve, Seekonk, MA - 5 miles

P90X Chest & Back (50 minutes)

Five miles in Caratunk.  A couple groups leading packs of children around the initial grassland sections.  Stay out of my way, urchins!  Actually the kids were really enjoying the place.  Once I got in the woods I left the crowds behind and as I progressed farther it was clear that few people ventured east of the powerlines.  The trail was tough to make out at spots but I did see a deer and five turkeys.  I hit pretty much all the trails on this short, easy run.

Plenty of wide grass trails for the kiddos near the parking lot of Caratunk

Saturday - Hopkinton/Westerly, RI - 17 miles

Met up with Muddy on the Hopkinton side of Grills Preserve for an early AM long run.  We ran the trails on both sides of the river and the pace and conversation were both agreeable.  I had mentioned wanting to fit in a visit to Woody Hill so from there we ran about two miles of roads to get to the additional trails.  We were over an hour and twenty minutes into the run now and I was beginning to feel it.  I knew I'd be fine for a while but I thought the return trip might get ugly.

I was right.  The trails of Woody Hills began to wear at my reserves.  I started to drift farther and farther behind Muddy and became a listener more than an active participant in our conversation.  We did a loop (I need to spend more time in this place, it was only my second visit) and then returned to civilization via the same dirt road. The pavement should have provided some relief but it did not - my legs were toast.  I was completely exhausted and needed several rest breaks before I could complete the three mile journey back to our cars.  It was a pitiful slog and gave Muddy the opportunity to check off another HRG road while I shuffled on ahead.  It's been a while since I ran this far (on trails especially) and I paid for it in the end.

Sunday  - 0 miles

Hamstrings are oh so tight today.

Weekly Mileage: 41.4 miles

Year to Date: 1,209.5 miles

So I was aiming for low 30s but the long run pushed it over 40.  I suppose the suffering was good prep for Bimbler's.  Right?