Weekly Log: 2.11.19 - 2.17.19

Monday - 0 miles

Tuesday - Charlestown, RI - 6.7 miles - 650' elevation

Working from home with a snow storm coming and I went to run over at Carter Preserve for lunch.  Great time to run just as the snow was starting to fall.  Beautiful day out there!  Glad I did it early in the storm as everything turned to slush by the end of the day.

Wednesday - 0 miles

Slush fest out there.  No thanks.

Thursday - West Greenwich, RI - 9 miles - 1200' elevation

An early start to the day led me to Arcadia before work.   The remaining snow froze up again and was a crunchy delight.  Perfect for running.  A solid mix of hills and a satisfying run to start the day.

Friday - Providence, RI - 6 miles - 650' elevation

Aimless wandering over College Hill.  Happy to just get out there and slog out some easy miles.

Saturday - Charlestown, RI - 6 miles - 1000' elevation

Heading up to New Hampshire with Ezri for the long weekend but wanted to get some trail miles in before we left.  Didn't quite get in the long run I was hoping for as time was an issue but an hour in the woods is still good.  Or so I thought.  Went over the the DuVal trails.  Rolled my bad ankle halfway through and it hurt like a bastard.  I even had the brace on but I guess it wasn't tight enough.

Then I'm at the bottom of a hill and up top a big dog starts barking/growling at me.  No collar or anything.  It takes a few steps towards me but then holds its ground and I'm able to walk away.  By the time I crest the next hill I can see its owner attempting to calm it down.  This pissed me off as I was doing an out and back and knew I'd have to encounter it again.  Sure enough I round a corner and it charges at me.  It stops a few feet away.  I'm yelling at it, waiver a stick - the old man is slowly sauntering up behind seemingly unconcerned in the least.  I really let this old bastard have it - told him he was irresponsible, didn't know who was out here, couldn't control the animal without a collar even if he wanted to, yadda yadda.  He just muttered "sorry, she's kind of crazy."  GRRRR.

Sunday - New Hampshire - 3 miles - 600' 'elevation

Ezri and I started to hike up Mt Waumbek but she just wasn't into it.  No motivation whatsoever and there was no point in making her trudge onward.  Instead we went back to the car and opted to hike around the lake at the Highland Center.  This was more her speed on this trip.  Too bad as it was a gorgeous day.

Weekly Mileage: 30 miles / 4150' elevation

Year to Date: 167 miles / 29,500' elevation

Weekly Log: 1.28.19 - 2.11.19

I didn't update my blog for the past two weeks so I'll include them both here.  I was resting much of the week of Jan 28th with an ankle strain but I did manage to get in a few runs over that weekend.

Saturday - South Kingstown, RI - 4 miles - 200' elevation

A few easy miles on the bike path to test out the ankle.  Was still sore but running seemed alright.  Couldn't resist a bit of trail climbing that led up to an unfamiliar neighborhood.  Good to be back out.

Sunday - North Stonington, CT - 5.8 miles - 2000' elevation

With the ankle feeling better, I strapped on my ankle brace and did some Sunday morning repeats at Lantern Hill.  A good way to finish up an otherwise quiet week.

Weekly Mileage: 9.8 miles / 2275' elevation

January Totals: 93 miles / 17,800' elevation

Year to Date: 103 miles / 20,000' elevation

Monday - Pawtucket, RI - 6 miles / 100' elevation

Warm one out there.  I ran on the 10 Mile River Bike Path in shorts and a T-shirt.  This is February?  Decided to make a loop incorporating some sidewalks through a portion of Seekonk.  Feet a little sore by the end but the ankle wasn't an issue.

Tuesday - Providence, RI - 4 miles / 1000' elevation

Back over to Neutaconacut Hill on the west side of the city for more hill repeats.  Another warm one.  Mixed in most of the trails in this park among the various hill repeats.  Pretty tired by the end but happy to get 1000 feet of climbing.

Wednesday - Seekonk, MA - 5 miles / 300' elevation

Easy trail miles in the Seekonk Meadows.  Didn't consider how this warm weather would affect the trails - they were very muddy in places.  Still, a good run that served as a stressbuster for the struggles at work.

Thursday - 0 miles

P90X3 The Challenge - been a while since I did this pull-up/push-up routine.  Humbling.

Friday - Providence, RI - 8 miles / 900' elevation

I wanted to get in some decent mileage today but also some hills.  So the nearby city roads of College Hill was the default choice.  I felt pretty good right away on this run and sort of meandered up and down the various roads around Brown.  A satisfying run.

Saturday - 0 miles

Sunday - North Stonington, CT - 11 miles / 2800' elevation

What a shock - back at Lantern Hill again.  Still enjoying my Sundays here and did a little more exploring of the local trails among the hill repeats.  Continued on the Narragansett trail for a while but after it passes the dump the trail becomes difficult to follow due to rerouting.  I went as far as I could until I came upon a cow farm and couldn't find any more blazes.  Then back to Lantern Hill for a few more repeats.  Finished with over 5k elevation for the week which I'm happy about.

Weekly Mileage:  34 miles / 5200' elevation

Year to Date: 137 miles / 25,300' elevation

Weekly Log: 1.21.19 - 1.27.19

Monday - 0 miles

Still down in Nashville but decided to give my legs a day off.  A few straight days of pavement was wearing the soles of my feet out (need some new road shoes) and I figured I'd get in a decent run tomorrow.

Tuesday - Nashville, NT - 9 miles - 1550' elevation

Got out of the house just after sunrise in brisk mid 20s weather.  I mapped out a run through the local neighborhoods to bring me to a big hill which I went up and down and up and down.  It did the trick and I received a goodly amount of elevation for my efforts.  Great views at the top.  Then off to Waffle House for breakfast before we packed up and eventually made our way back to Rhode Island.

Wednesday - Seekonk, MA - 4 miles - 300' elevation

No snow in Charlestown but there was some crunchy snow/ice near work so I did some easy trail miles on the trails near the Wheeler School in Seekonk.  At first I was regretting not bringing some traction but after a few minutes I found my snow legs.

Thursday - 0 miles

Pouring rain and very windy.  No thanks.

Friday - 0 miles

I was down in Virginia for work.  In a shameful act, I decided to spend the early morning lounging in my comfy bed rather than exploring local walking paths.  I regret this.

Saturday - Wakefield, RI - 6 miles - 700' elevation

After dropping Ez off at drama class, I went to Old Mountain field for some easy miles.  A few of the less used trails were difficult to follow (a little bushwhacking involved) which left me with some good briar scratches.  A bunch of repeats up to the rocky outcroppings resulted in some good elevation gain.  With just a few minutes left in the run I managed to roll my left ankle very badly.  I knew right away it was much worse than other recent ankle incidents and I hobbled back to the car.  Gah.

Sunday - 0 miles

Ankle is swollen and it really hurts.  Looks like I'll be taking it easy for a little while.

Weekly Mileage: 19 miles / 2600' elevation

Year to Date: 93 miles / 17,800' elevation

Weekly Log: 1.14.19 - 1.20.19

Monday - 0 miles

Tuesday - Providence, RI - 3.2 miles - 1000' elevation

Neutaconkanut Hill is now officially my favorite go-to spot to get elevation at work.  It's a drive to get to at lunch so it cuts down on my actual running time but unlike Jenckes Road climb over on College Hill, this is actually trails.  I did about 40 minutes and the climbs are steep enough that it's more hiking than running.  Lots of taco places I mean to try on the way back too.

Wednesday - Charlestown, RI -  5 miles - 540' elevation

Working form home as we're getting an energy audit done to see how energy efficient we are (not bad - just need some new insulation on one side of the attic).  At lunch I went over to Burlingame and did a loop on Schoolhouse and Sammy C's.  A dull lower leg ache began to make itself known halfway through.  It was uncomfortable enough for me to take a few walking breaks.  I think this is where my stress fracture was a few years back so I'm hoping this is just some weird phantom ghost pain I've heard of.

Thursday - 0 miles

P90X3 Eccentric Upper (30 minutes)

Afraid of this new pain, I opted not run today.  But I got in another Eccentric Upper session.  Two weeks in a row!

Friday - 0 miles

Heading to Nashville today with my family to spend time with my brother's family.  Could have run in the morning but I chumped out, partially out of lingering concern about my ankle but mostly because I'm just lazy.

Saturday - Nashville, TN - 5.4 miles - 600' elevation

My brother Jesse lives in the suburbs maybe 15 minutes from Nashville in a neighborhood with some steep climbs up dead end streets.  My kind of place!  It was downpouring much of the morning but there was a brief window when I ducked out into just cloudy weather.  I did a short run in the morning to get the lay of the land and gobble up a few of this short steep climbs.  Started to drizzle by the end but I beat the next downpour.  Leg seemed fine so whatever that pain was seemed to be a temporary thing.

Sunday - Nashville, TN - 11 miles - 1500' elevation

A light coating of snow and some downright chilly temps came through in the night (low 20s!)  Jesse took me over to Percy Warner Park which has lots of hills and a wide connection of trails, both pavement and otherwise.  We stuck to the pavement since the trails were a mucky mess from yesterday's rain.  Roads were icy in spots but just snow covered or bare in others.  Jesse runs the Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey Marathon here every year in November on these roads which ends up being about 4k or so elevation over the course of it.  Makes for some loooong uphill climbs - definitely different from doing steep hill repeats on trails.  A good workout in a beautiful snowy landscape.  Pretty funny that I still haven't seen snow at home but I found it down here in Music City.

Weekly Mileage: 24 miles / 3700' elevation

Year to Date: 74 miles / 15100' elevation