Weekly log 11/5 to 11/11

\Monday, 11/5 - 0 - Loaded and unloaded kitchen cabinets from a box truck today, that was enough of a workout...

Tuesday, 11/6 - 0 - Went with Jeff and Muddy to clear part of the Lil Rhody course.  Lots of downed trees across the trails, but with a chainsaw, three bow saws and a set of heavy duty pruning shears, we were able to clear a sizeable chunk of the course.  Probably one more trip out there should do the trick, but hey!  It's a trail run.  There's obstacles out there.  We'll go over, under, or around anything we can't clear, right?

Wednesday, 11/7 - 0 - Suck it, winter storm Athena!!!  Went to karate class this morning and kicked ass, and confirmed in my mind that I'll test for 2nd degree in June.  Should be an awesome complement to some more PR's, for sure.  Sore from yesterday's productive trail maintenance on the Lil Rhody course - great time, though, especially talking about food with Jeff and Muddy when we're all starving.  Woke up today feeling decrepit and aged...but nothing a few beers at the end of the day won't cure.

After karate, went out in search of a generator, as we're not going through that again...found my dreamboat of a power source at Ace Hardware in Westerly, and now in the process of doing the proper hookup to the breaker box, etc...Will be back at it tomorrow for some more roads?  Trails?  Hmmm...

Thursday, 11/8 - 0 - Got the generator properly wired to the breaker box, including an outdoor power inlet hardwired to the transfer box...bring it, Mother Nature!  Ready this time :), and got voted in as Secretary of the WTAC tonight!  Very cool.

Friday, 11/9 - 5-ish? (Trail/Road) - Did the first section of the Lil Rhody course with Jeff and Muddy this afternoon, from the parking lot out to almost Klondike Road, and back to the lot.  Was going to continue with them all the way around, but was pressed for time as we got a bit of a late start.  Glad to get some recon of the stretch from the campground to Klondike, as we're going out again tomorrow to do some course maintenance.  Still plenty to do, for sure...

I also sent an e-mail to the CT Forest and Park Association, as I've wanted to get involved with maintaining some of the Blue Blazed trails in my neighborhood that I run...hope to hear back from them!

Saturday, 11/10 - 0 - My lack of miles this week has been supplemented by a new hobby:  playing in the woods with a chainsaw!  Met Jeff, Mike B. and a mountain bike dude named Lennon, and we finished our maintenance of the L'il Rhody course, in advance of next week's race.  I got to play with my new chainsaw, a fantastic Ryobi with an 18" bar, which performed flawlessly.  Here's a couple of shots from the trail:

Had to clear a 30 foot stretch here...

So a little elbow grease this morning, and the trails are passable, and in much better shape than they were a week ago.  There's even a surprise for Muddy out there!

Westerly Land Trust 5K tomorrow, and hopefully a new PR?  Could be!

Also still trying to come up with a new name for the blog...probably asking for trouble, but any suggestions?

Sunday, 11/11 - 6 (Road) - Setting the Pace for Conservation 5K: 22:40, 7:18 pace, 19th overall.  New PR!  I ran this in 26:08 last year, huge improvement...great day for a race, too.  Low 60's, nice brisk breeze blowing, and a pretty good turnout for a low-profile road race.  Nice flat course.  Showed up a bit early and did a quick warmup run with Jeff, Jonny and Mike.  Finally lined up correctly at the start!  Was off the line at a good pace, and was able to increase my pace slightly every mile - At the short side street out/back, I got to see Tom, Jonny, Jeff, Mike, Kelsey and more of the WTAC crew blazing up the street, cool thing is last year they'd already have been long gone...and while I didn't hit my goal today, I did get a PR and I'll take it.  Quick 2-ish mile cooldown run with Jeff, Jonny, Mike after the race.  Tom and Kelsey got his-and-hers plaques, and lots of WTAC award winners.  Great prizes, by the way.  Great event.  This was a weird week for me with low miles logged despite lots of time in the woods, but a lot of good things accomplished for the local running community.  Looking forward to the L'il Rhody race next week!  And some trail time in the next few days...