Weekly Log: 8.26.13 - 9.1.13

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

Started off the week with an easy run at Ryan Park. Wore the super minimal MT00s as I'm considering them for a 5k up at Bryant in a few weeks.  The race is on mostly grass and I think these'll work well. Pretty standard Ryan Park run. Ran the trails/paths on the west side and then ran the stuff on the east side. Really tried to push the pace on the Root Run segment on Strava. I could feel my ankles wanting to roll on a couple of the roots in the MT00s - careful buddy. Managed to tie Jonny for 2nd on this dicey segment.  No bugs today and coolish. Fall is on its way.

Tuesday - 0 miles

P90X Legs & Back (60 minutes)

Wednesday - 0 miles

P90X2 Yoga X2 (65 minutes)

Thursday - North Smithfield track - 8.7 miles

Time to get back on the track! Upper legs are soooore from Legs & Back. Take a few weeks off from that one and you feel it. Nevertheless, I wanted to get some speedwork in today. Weather was ideal - overcast and just barely spitting. North Smithfield high track was deserted and my leg soreness faded after a few warm-up laps. I decided to try a ladder workout - 2 x200 / 2 x400 / 2 x600 / 2 x800 / 2 x600 / 2 x400 / 2 x200 with half the distance jog in between each (ex. 200m after the 400s, 300m after the 600s.)  Good workout, pretty brutal by the end. The second set of 600s was probably my least favorite. I probably should've worked out exactly what times I was going for instead of just working hard but I felt spent by the end so mission accomplished.

Splits:
200s - 39 / 39
400s - 1:21 / 1:23
600s - 2:03 / 2:05
800s - 2:48 / 2:50
600s - 2:05 / 2:08
400s - 1:22 / 1:23
200s - 39 / 37

Friday - DuVal Trail, South Kingstown, RI - 6.3 miles

Ab Ripper X (15 minutes)

Off from work for the day and in the afternoon I got over to Perryville to put in some easy trail miles.  Not much to report - took a couple diggers and scratched up my knee pretty good.   Met a lone kid who was mountain biking out there.  The bike seemed huge for him.

Saturday - Grills Preserve, Westerly, RI - 12.3 miles

Wasn't sure where to run today but then Grills popped into my head and I thought, "yeah, that'll do."  Had a brief encounter with Muddy as I drove down towards the parking lot.  The only other time I was here was a few months back when he and Crutch gave me a tour of these various land trusts.  I repeated most of what we ran that day except I did it in reverse.

First I did trails south of the Pawcatuck.  Ran up the big hill and admired the lookout.  Crazy to think how close to the water and town I was but all I could see is trees.  I ran into a family with a big unleashed dog who ran straight at me while its owner assured me that "he's very friendly" and immediately thought of Jonny.  Stopped at that beautiful new bridge to eat my last RLRC and then took the very hillish trails up to a scenic vista.

Then it was time to take the white diamond trail into the nether reaches of Grills.  The sign at the beginning of the trail tells users that the Tommawhatsit bridge isn't finished yet and clearly that dissuades most people because this trail has seen very little traffic.  It's rooty, steep and I really enjoyed it.  But I knew that soon I'd reach the end of the trail.  Two options: Head back or try to bushwack through the marsh to the where the trails continued.

Muddy would be proud.  I made it across with only a few scratches and muddy shoes (though I did lose my right shoe in the last jump - had to pry it out of the muck.)   Then I ran the trails north of the Pawcatuck, passing a family of hikers several times as I went back and forth.  When I got to the lot I ran the roads back around to my car but decided to hop back on the trails for a couple more miles before wrapping up.  So my "long run" for the week was only 12 miles but it felt like a lot of work with the hills and the swamp traverse.

Sunday - 0 miles 

 

Weekly Mileage: 34.4 miles

Year to Date: 1,229.3 miles

202 miles for the month!  Happy to hit 200 for the first time but looking forward to getting back into racing over the next few weeks.

The Beer Machine: Chinook IPA

A few weels ago I went over to my buddy Jay's house and he showed me the ropes as we went through the process of brewing a couple beers. Fat with knowledge, I wanted to see if I could replicate the process at home using some hops that Jay had given me. Since he gave me Chinook hops, I found an IPA recipe that used only that strain. I stopped at my new LHBS CraftBrew and picked up some grains and malt extract and when the opportunity presented itself, I went to work.

I wanted to make this batch as cheaply as possible so I used what I already had around the house. I used my canning pot as my brewpot since my online research indicated that many people go this route. The Beer Machine would once again serve as my fermenter since it already proved itself with its initial batch.  This means I'm not making a full 5 gallon batch. Rather it'll be 2.5 gallons. I like this because it's cheaper to only buy one jar of the liquid malt extract and the boiling/cooling times are much faster. Sorry for the crappy pictures - took 'em with my iPod.

Trusty brewpot

Muslin bag full o' grains

Warming up the malt syrup

Steeping them grains

Hop additions lined up and ready to roll

Boil achieved

Canning funnel made the transfer to Beer Machine much easier. Thermapen is great for digital temp readings.

Now cool that wort

Wort cooled - Beer Machine sanitized

Yeast!  Added the whole thing instead of half.  Whoops!

Once the yeast was dumped in, it went down into the beer cellar where the temperature holds at 70-71 degrees. Fermenation had begun by the evening and now the several days later it would seem that fermentation is wrapping up. After two weeks I plan on dry hopping directly in the Beer Machine. I've put the bottling attachment on the spigot which was missing from my last batch. When it comes time I can either bottle directly from the machine or rack to a bottling bucket.

24 hours later later and fermentation is in full effect!

Weekly Log: 8.19.13 - 8.25.13

Monday - Great Swamp, South Kingstown, RI - 7 miles

Ab Ripper X (15 minutes)

I had the day off and was planning on running at Rome Point in the morning. I brought Ezri to the Kingston bike path for a bit and it occurred to me that this would be the perfect opportunity to visit the Great Swamp as I had never been. After dropping her at daycare, I came back and took Liberty Rd down to the train tracks where it became a dirt road. I wasn't exactly sure where to go but I stopped at the DEM main office and a nice gentleman provided me with maps and local intel.

I kept following the dirt road until it ended at a big parking lot. The initial trails are actually dirt roads in various conditions. The power lines that cut through made for a good reference point. I took the trail that follows the main body of water (is it considered a pond?) I soon regretted taking neither sunglasses or sunscreen as the sun was blasting as I followed the edge of the water. Passed a bird watcher, complete with massive camera and spiffy hat. Despite the oppressive heat it was absolutely gorgeous out there and the water had plenty of plant and animal life to enjoy.

At the southern edge of the pond, I could see where the powerlines continued into my neck of the woods. If only I could reach these trails from Biscuit City road! (Several years ago I had tried. I followed the powerlines until it hit marsh. There, ramshackle wooden planks suggested that such a path once existed. However those planks were sparse and rotted and I had to retreat, cut from many briars and quite wet.)

I followed the trail into the appreciated shade and attempted to find my way down to Wordens Pond. However the trail was overgrown and soon became muddy and difficult to follow. I backtracked to more well travelled paths and spent the rest of the run retracing my steps and following the powerlines. Definitely an awesome place to run and I'll have to make a return visit (after the bugs are gone. The deer flies may be in retreat but they're still thriving here!)

Tuesday - 0 miles

Woke up feeling pretty meh so no workout for me today.

Wednesday - 0 miles

P90X Chest, Shoulders & Triceps (55 minutes)

Hard to believe it's been two months since I've done this workout. Time is a river that moves faster and faster. But I digress. Numbers weren't as high as the last time I attempted CS&T but I was feeling it pretty early into the video and I had noodle arms by the end. Mission accomplished I guess.

Thursday - Carter Preserve, Charlestown, RI - 7.5 miles

Good lord, extreme upper body soreness from yesterday's workout. I was home with a sick kid but I was able to get out for a run in the woods at the Carter Preserve. It had rained an hour beforehand and was super humid. Luckily no bugs whatsoever. Legs felt tired despite two days off so I just took it easy out there.

Friday - Smithfield, RI - 8.2 miles

Ab Ripper X (15 minutes)

I was going to do a track workout this morning but I wasn't in a good headspace and ended up just driving up to work on autopilot. Arrived in the parking lot and sort of decided to run the trails behind the office by default. No pop in my legs. After a couple miles on the usual trails, I came upon a new clearing - the trees in the area had been leveled. Found the trail through the debris and continued on but soon came upon huge construction road. I was bummed that some of my favorite trails were being completely destroyed so that some asshole could throw up some new houses. Discouraged, I took the quickest route out of the woods and hit the roads instead.

Thought my legs might wake up on the roads but they still felt dead. Took the Rocky Hill Road which is wide, peaceful and free of traffic. I passed the entrance where the culprits are ransacking the woods. Bastards. I took Rocky Hill most of the way and then jumped back in the woods in order to return to Fidelity. My left leg got jammed on a downhill tract and I smashed my big toe again - the one I bashed in my minimal shoes a few weeks ago. Sweet merciful crap it hurt. I was wearing my road staples, the NB 890 v2s but they did not offer much protection. The toe throbbed for a few minutes but the pain quickly faded once I started up again. Hopefully it's not a lasting problem. A gang of deerflies harassed me over the last two miles to put an exclamation mark on a lackluster run.

Saturday - Charlestown, RI - 5.4 miles

After two days of running with tired legs I wasn't sure if a short run today would even be worth it.  As soon as I started down the driveway though I felt great.   Ran down Old Coach to just past the newly finished Rathskeller (looks like their almost ready to open.)  Kept the pace snappy the whole way through and was very pleased with how I felt.  No issue with yesterday's smashed toe either.

Besides the run it was a good day all around:

Get ready for some habanero hot sauce!

A new batch of IPA is bubblin' away in the Beer Machine

 Oh and we got a dog.

His name's Oliver and he seems decent enough.  I'm not a dog guy and it took a lot for me to authorize this decision.  There will definitely be changes to all of our routines in order to accommodate this guy's needs but I'm hopeful that this addition will be good for our family.   Running with a dog?  The mind shudders.

Sunday - Burlingame, Charlestown, RI - 14 miles

I parked at King's Factory road in the morning and ran the full length of Sammy C's before heading into North Burlingame.  Haven't been here in a while and I enjoyed the wide rocky dirt roads.  I opted to take the North/South trail up to where it hit Burdickville Rd (hadn't travelled this section before.)  Then I turned around and headed down to the Pawcatuck River but there were campers at several of the sites so I kept going.  I continued along the trail with the white blazes but it became increasingly difficult to follow.  Clearly not used much and luckily it was very dry - I can imagine it being dreadful in rainy season.  At one point I had to stop and scout for the white blazes.  I found it but ran through a shitload of prickers and got a whole bunch of war wounds before escaping this section.

I headed south down to the Vin Gormley trail and decided to go down to North camp to add a few more miles.  More people bathing in the water at Watchaug so once again I kept moving.  The deer flies season is apparently not over yet because they harrassed me something awful for most of the rest of the run.  Took Schoolhouse trail back over to King's Factory and then followed the road back to the car.

Weekly Mileage: 42.1 miles

Year to Date: 1,194.9 miles

4 straight weeks of 40+ miles.  16 straight weeks of 30+ miles.  I need 32 miles over the next six days to hit 200 for the month for the first time.  Let's finish August strong.

Challenge from the Past

My first foray into running took place from 1991-1996 when I ran cross country and track for middle and high school in North Kingstown.  I had some natural talent but I never had the fire that a champion requires.  By my senior year I was consistently 3rd on our varsity CC team.  Looking back, I now realize that I could have achieved so much more had I worked harder.  No doubt this is something many of us reflect on - the squandered gifts of our youth.  Oh to return to those days and make good on our talents!  Sadly it is not to be.  Seth 1.0 is no more.

I am now Seth 2.0 - older, wiser (I s'pose) and with a luxurious beard that 1.0 could only dream of.  In almost every aspect of my running I have bested my younger doppleganger.  Seth 1.0 never ran more than 12 miles.  He competed only in the 5k distance (save one attempt at the Newport 10k in which he blew up.  He knew nothing of pacing for a race twice as long.)  And Seth 1.0 ran only what was required of him by his training and his coach.  There was little joy in his running.

Now I run because I love it. Because it makes me feel alive and lets me journey into the natural world and explore. And in doing so I've run farther than Seth 1.0 would ever have considered. 12 miles? Barely a long run for me now. 10k? I've run marathons and beyond.

Yet there is one record which Seth 1.0 still holds.  One feat bestowed by the gifts of youth which I have yet to match.  A 5k PR of 17:20.  In his penultimate high school race - he peaked.  During the State Meet at Bryant University he placed 17th overall and finished 1st for N.K.

Once I thought that this PR of my youth would never fall.  I was running 21 minute 5ks - I could not compete with 1.0 at such a short fast race.  The 5k was the realm of the young and virile.  Now I know that is not the case.  As I approach an 18 minute 5k, I see that this record too can fall.  It will take much hard work - harder than my younger self cared to work - but I believe I can snatch this last feather from the cap of Seth 1.0.   We shall see.