Weekly Log: 6.24.13 - 6.30.13

Last week before vacation!  By Sunday we'll be in the White Mountains.  Can't wait!

Monday - Ryan Park, North Kingstown, RI - 7.1 miles

Ab Ripper X (15 minutes)

It was hot and humid when I parked at Ryan Park this morning and I thought it would be refreshing to run without a shirt.  BIG MISTAKE.  It is now officially deer fly season and the bastards began attacking me in force before I was even halfway down the rail bed.  Their numbers are legion and I hate them so.  They seemed to ease off as I neared the root run but they didn't completely disappear.  I threw in a couple of miles on the neighborhood roads just to gain a respite from the little fucks.  They weren't as noticeable on the west side of the park away from the wetlands but make no mistake: the deer flies are here.

Tuesday - 0 miles

P90X Chest, Shoulders & Triceps (60 minutes)

I was very pleased to make it all the way through this workout with minimal right elbow discomfort.  It began to feel pretty tight by the halfway mark but there was never any pain so I consider that a victory.  It's been a month since I did this one and my numbers were a bit lower but that's to be expected with my lack of strength training lately.

Wednesday - 0 miles

P90X Yoga X (60 minutes)

Great Yoga session this morning.  With the heat wave, our basement is sitting at 75 degrees which is probably 10 degrees warmer than most of my previous Yoga workouts.  As a result I felt a lot looser and more flexible. 

 

Thursday - North Kingstown, RI - 7 miles

Ab Ripper X (15 minutes)

I wanted to do a short run in my vibrams and then change into my minimus shoes.  I was going to do it all at Rome Point but the traffic was backing up so I decided to run the vibrams at the west side of Ryan Park.  In addition to breaking in the vibrams, I also wanted to test out the waist pack I bought before I bring it to New Hampshire next week.  At first it was jostling around some but after cinching the belt tighter it wasn't bad.

After 3 miles at Ryan park, I drove to Rome Point for another 4 miles.  I wore the MT20s on this run but I still kept the waist pack on.  By the end I was starting to feel the weight of the pack (I had loaded it up prior to the runs) and my pace began to drop.  All in all it was a successful test of the pack - I think it will work well in New Hampshire.

Afterwards I headed to band practice where we figured out the setlist for a gig we're excited about - opening for Badfish at the Ocean Mist on August 2nd.  Plan to come on out!

Friday - Watch Hill & Misquamicut, Westerly, RI - 14.3 miles

First day of vacation and I wanted to get a long run in.  Despite living one town over I rarely run in Westerly so I wanted to do a loop that encompassed a great deal of the area.  I parked at the Stop 'n Shop across from the airport and took the main roads over to Watch Hill.  I ran a loop in Watch Hill then took the long Ocean View Highway over to Misquamicut.  It was humid and sticky and there wasn't much of an ocean breeze to cool me off but I was feeling good and kept the pace under 8 minutes.

After looping through Misquamicut, I went down Route 1A.  I meant to pass by the golf course and then loop back onto the airport industrial road but I passed signs for the Glacier Park and knew I had to check it out.  I ran a bunch of the trails in this little reserve - fun, hilly singletrack.  I jumped back on the road and found my way through the development to Tom Harvey Rd and headed back to the car.  I was a sweaty mess by the time this run was over but it was enjoyable.

Saturday - 0 miles

No time to run today - we've much packing to do.  I needed a rest day anyway.  Calves are feeling pretty sore and this next week's gonna test 'em.

Sunday - Echo Lake / Bartlett Hills, NH - 8.4 miles

Made it to New Hampshire very early Sunday morning!  After watching the girls do awesome at their dance recital we finished packing the car and got out of dodge around 8:30 PM.  We ended up arriving at the cabin at 1:30 AM.  Pretty late but we had a cool specimen waiting to greet us.

Big Ass Moth

While the thread of nasty weather looms over the whole week, it turned out to be a nice day.  We spent a few hours at Echo Lake, enjoying the water.  Amanda swam the lake in her wetsuit and I spent some time exploring the trails around the lake.  I attempted to explore the trail leading up to the White Horse Ledge but the blue blazes seemed to stop after awhile.  I attempted to trounce around and pick 'em up but the going was steep and I decided to leave it to the mountain climbers.  Finished circling the lake and then jumped back in the water.


Back at the cabin, I ran a few miles on the local roads.  You know when all the roads have the word "ledge" in their name they are going to be hilly.  I avoided going all the way to the bottom of the neighborhood so the elevation wasn't as bad as it could have been but I'll have to be ready for steeper climbs on future runs.

Beer
Tuckerman Pale Ale x2
Tuckerman Headwall Alt x1

 

Weekly Mileage: 36.8 miles

Year to Date: 887.2 miles

June comes to an end but I start July in New Hampshire with my girls so I'm a happy man.  This ended up being my 2nd highest mileage month at 167.8 miles.  Looking forward to the week ahead.

J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge

The J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge is a 3.5 mile road race that's held throughout the world to promote charity, camraderie and fitness in the workplace.  By the time I learned of last year's Boston race it had sold out...despite having 12,000 participants.  I knew that Jeff had run it in years past and I roped him into running it again with me.  I was optimistic that I could run under 21:30 and finish among the top 200 runners.

The race took place at the unusual time of 7:15 PM on a Thursday.  I took the T into the city and met up Jeff at his office.  After admiring the view from his desk (a great look at the waterfront) we changed up and made our way to Boston Commons.  We got there pretty early so we hung out in the shade for a while, chatting up upcoming races.  We did two miles of the course as a warm up and I got a jist for the layout.  There are several sharp turns at the beginning and end but the rest is just two long straightaways.

Ready to race in honor of the mother company

After the warm up we headed up to the Fidelity tent for a massive group photo with 300+ Fidelity runners and then we went down to the starting area.  With 12,000 runners, you need to tow the line if you have any intention of running a fast time.  Once they closed the road, the fast folks raced up to the starting line where there was one poor old bastard tasked with stopping the mob.  They threw up some fences to keep us in place and we spent the next 15 minutes fidgeting our way through some goofy aerobic demonstration, touching Boston Marathon tributes and the usual pomp and circumstance.  Finally the fences were removed and it was go time.

At the gun, madness.  Someone pushed me from behind which actually helped propel me forward and get me moving faster.  I heard a cluster of bodies collapse behind me but I didn't dare look.  50 yards after the start was a sharp left turn - it was pretty tight and I heard more people take a tumble off to the side.  The field began to spread out a bit and the next two corners weren't as hairy.

With the initial turns out of the way I glanced at my watch and saw I was running at a 5:30 pace.  Okay, that's probably a little fast but I didn't feel like I was out of control so I decided to keep at it.  If I blew up later so be it.  There were lots of excited kids handing out water at the 1st mile - I had no need so I veered away from them but some jerkface made a hard cut in front of me and I almost plowed into him.

I continue to work hard into the second mile.  I had been able to keep Jeff in my sights but now lost him as more people passed me.  It wasn't due to me slowing down, they were just making up time.  Two Fidelity women went by and I thought about try to keep pace but they were moving too fast - keep it up ladies!  Finally I reached the turnaround at Kenmore Square and began the return trip.  I could see the runners still heading out on the other side of the street - so many people!  Just a sea of runners. 

I checked my watch - mile two came in at 5:52.  I was very pleased that I hadn't dropped to over six for the second mile (I think a first for me) but doubted that I'd be able to keep the pace up for much longer.  It felt really challenging now.  I grabbed a water at the last water stop as my throat was very dry now.  It helped give me a bit of focus and I latched onto a guy in a red shirt and tried to stay with him.  I forgot to look at my watch for mile three but I would have been happy to have known that it was 6:03.  Not as much of a drop off as I would have thought.  The second long straightaway was mentally draining as it just goes and goes.  Even though I recognized buildings from the warm up I still wasn't sure how much longer it was.  Finally I saw the street lights indicating that the corners were approaching and I tried to keep the pace up.

I passed a few more runners on these turns and emerged onto the last straightaway which is probably just under a 1/4 mile long.  I could see Jeff and the timing clock up ahead and the usual finish line adrenaline kicked in and helped me finish strong.  Met up with Jeff and we made our way down the finish line corridor, pocketing granola bars and enjoying yogurt popsicles.  I also grabbed a promotional cowbell which I'm sure will come in handy.

So this performance exceeded my expectations and pleased me in every way.  In the back of my mind I thought a sub 21 minute race was possible but I never thought I'd run that far under.  While unofficial, Strava now lists my 5k PR as 18:09 which is pretty great.  The two days of rest and a totally flat course were no doubt factors but I'm just glad everything came together for this one. 

After the race Jeff & I chatted with a couple other Fidelity runners, watched throngs of runners finish for a few minutes and then made our way to a greasy spoon for beer and a top notch turkey burger (Jeff's opinion might differ on that one.)  We went our separate ways at South Station and I witnessed human awfulness on the T ride back to Quincy.  Thanks for the laughs, crazy lady!  Even thought it was 10 PM, Route 93 was still a goddamn mess with construction.  What a terrible stretch of road.  But even my misadventures in escaping the city couldn't keep me down.  I was in great spirits after this one.  Big thanks to Jeff for joining me in this race - made it a lot more enjoyable.

Official time: 20:35.  87th out of 12k or so (but who's counting?)  11th among Fidelity men.  Results here.

Weekly Log: 6.17.13 - 6.23.13

Should be a fun week with a rare Thursday race up in Beantown - the J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge.  I'll be running along with 12,000 other folks representing their companies.  It's a long way to go for a 3.5 mile race but it's a big chaotic event that should be a lot of fun.  I even talked Gazelle into running so at least I'll know one person there.  The week ends with my wife's first triathlon at Goddard Park.  She's done a lot of training over the past six months so we're looking forward to seeing her in action.

Monday - Mowry Preserve, Smithfield, RI - 5 miles

Ab Ripper X (15 minutes)

Woke up, cranked out Ab Ripper and then had some eggs 'n toast.  Soon after I began to get stomach pains.  More GI trouble?  I was going to abort my morning run as I didn't feel up for it but the pain abated and I decided to go forward afterall.  As I'm making one last cup of joe for the road and I realized that my half 'n half had turned.  Was this the cause of my stomach trouble for the last two days?  One hopes so.

I parked at Bryant and ran the roads behind the school down to the Mowry Conservation area.  Not much in the way of trails here but there are some cool rock formations and the river that passes through was roaring.  I explored some other trails nearby before returning to Bryant via the old cross country course.  Pushed it on what I thought was a Strava segment (but I think I took the wrong trail) and stomped through the mud and water so as not to slow down.  I probably didn't capture any segment but it was good to push the pace a bit even if it did mean soaking my shoes.

Tuesday - 0 miles

I started doing Chest & Back but my elbow started to feel janky again during the first round of decline push-ups so I just bailed rather than aggravate it further.  Meh.  I even bought some push-up stands but they're the swivel kind and seemed like they're more trouble than they're worth.  I'll probably hold off on doing push-ups for a while and hopefully my elbow will right itself with time.

Wednesday - 0 miles

P90X Yoga X (60 mintes)

My legs felt tired over the last few runs so I figure a few days off before the race will pep 'em up.  I did the Yoga for the first time in quite a while and wasn't as rusty as I feared.

Thursday - J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge, Boston, MA - 5.5 miles

Ab Ripper X (15 minutes)

Official time: 20:35.  87th overall.  Race report here.

 

Friday - Fidelity Trails, Smithfield, RI - 7.1 miles

I hit the various trails and footpaths of Fidelity this morning, still feeling great about last night's performance.  I was moving at a good pace and ran a bunch of my favorite trails - I took one digger but was no worse for wear.  Saw a lot of deer out there.  I wasn't sure if I'd have time to run seven but a couple road sections allowed me to pick up the pace.  Fun run that covered a lot of ground on the work campus.  I was a dirty sweaty mess afterwards and the cold shower in the locker room was excellent.

Saturday -Black Farm, Hopkinton, RI - 4 miles

This morning went to hell early when I learned that deer had eaten my sunflowers in the night.  All my work for nothing!  They've never done this in years past.  I suspect it was adolescent stoner deer with a case of the munchies.  Bastards!  The next time I see a deer on the trails, I'm gonna chase that hooved devil down aboriginal style and kick its ass!

This will not stand.

After letting my anger run its course, I took Ezri to dance class.  I had an hour to kill so I ran the trails at nearby Black Farm.  I figured this was a good chance to break out my Vibrams since it would be a short run and the trails are covered in soft pine needles.  This was my first run in 'em since last August's toe incident and I took it pretty easy.  Still a lot of trees down here from the storms this past winter.  The trails further in are in pretty rough shape and it's clear they don't get much use or maintenance.  Feet felt good in the Vibrams - we'll see how my calves/ankles are feeling in the morning.

Sunday - Charlestown, RI - 14.4 miles

It was an early start to the day as we went to Goddard Park to cheer on Amanda as she took on her first triathlon - Oh My Goddard!  She did great!  She finished in 1:31:29 and came in 112th out of 232.  I'm very proud of her - she's trained hard over the past six months and it showed.  Her transitions were excellent.  Can't wait to see her in action again at Crabman.

Wrapping up the bike segment

Finishing strong

Sporting her finisher's medal

We followed up her success with a dip in my mom's pool and a greasy lunch at Newport Creamery.  After some much needed weed whacking, I decided to burn off the fish 'n chips and ice cream with a long run over to Matunuck and back.  It was hot and I kept the pace easy.  I took Gravelly Hill Rd over to 1A and then crossed Route 1 and fought the exiting beach traffic on Matunuck Beach Rd.  The wind on the beach was refreshing but not too overpowering.  I had planned to take the beach all the way back to Charlestown Beach but it looked like they had closed it off past Carpenters so I ended jumping onto Matunuck Schoolhouse Rd and taking that back towards home.

Weekly Mileage: 36.3 miles

Year to Date: 850.4 miles

Mochiko Krispies

Time to try another recipe from Feed Zone Portables!  However this was not my finest creation.  I had high hopes for this recipe but things did not go as planned.  In the interest of science I will still present my attempt - next time will be better.

The mochiko krispies are energy bars made with rice krispies, chocolate chips, almond milk and a special asian rice flour known as mochiko.  The recipe specifically says not to substitute regular flour for the mochiko as it is the "magic ingredient."  However instead of finding an asian grocery store that sells this magic flour, I opted to use Red Hill white rice flour.  Oh and there's also sugar and butter in these things.



Everything but the rice krispies gets dumped into a bowl and nuked on high for one minute.



Yum, chocolate mush.  Now the recipe said to mix it up and microwave for another 1.5-2 minutes.  I did a minute and a half.



Hmmm.  It came out of the microwave looking pretty cakey.  I think I might have over cooked it.



Now the rice krispies are dumped in and everything is mixed together.



Finally the mixture is spread into a pan and allowed to cool. 



It was supposed to harden into a portable bar but that didn't happen.  It's very crumbly.  I ended up (at my wife's brilliant suggestion) using plastic wrap to roll one serving into a ball and then I put it into the freezer to harden for a bit.

Not long after I took it out and gobbled it up before a trail run.  I felt pretty awful once the run began (quite nauseous) and immediately blamed this bar...er, ball.  However after getting stomach pains again this morning I think I may have found the true culprit - bad half 'n half!  Forgive me mochiko bar, you may have been vindicated.

Taste wise, the bar is pretty good (it should be with all that chocolate.)  After a couple days in the fridge they seem stable enough to wrap individually in tinfoil.  For my next batch, I definitely won't nuke the mixture as much which should hopefully make them more sturdy.  I suppose it's possible that my rice flour substitution is the culprit since I didn't use the official mochiko rice flour as commanded but I still think my ingredients will suffice on the next batch.

Calories - 227 / Carbs - 35 / Fat - 9 / Protein - 2 / Sugar - 15