No Scheduled Races, and School Vacation Week!

The kids are off this week for Spring vacation - we're going to take my daughter and nephew to NYC to the museums and shopping, and I'll have them the other days, which means either super early runs, or late afternoon/early evenings.  I anticipate a lower-than-average week for mileage, but I'm hoping for a big finish on the weekend, hopefully with a nice, long trail run...

Monday, 4-14 - 0 Miles - Full work day, and straight to pick up the child after that...

Tuesday, 4-15 - 0 Miles - Torrential rain and very windy + child at home = no run today.  Got some stretching and light weight training in, and look what arrived in the mail, can't wait to get them good and dirty on some trails this week:

NB Minimus Zero V2 Trail...check out the lugs on these...

Wednesday, 4-16 - Run #1 - Run to top of Fowler with the dog.  He's making improvements daily about staying by my side during our runs, just off the pavement, and has no problem adjusting his pace to stay with me.  So far he's good for about 2.5 miles at a 9:30 pace :)

                                Run #2 - 5.5 Miles (Trails) - Grills muddy splat-fest solo...I wanted to break in my new awesome trail shoes, which are more like a hybrid trail shoe/soccer cleat.  Sweet!  Grippy and quite comfortable.  I went to the Grills Preserve, on the Ashaway side, and ran to the Bradford side, looped around and back.  Totally convinced that 10-15 miles in the preserve is possible, without doubling up on trails...good info.  I even tried to "Gazelle" a couple downhills in his honor, although I'm not the guy to do that :)

Tomaquag...Gazelle would go!

Mud and trails = awesome

Thursday, 4-17 - Run #1 - 2.2 Miles (Road) - Dog Jog, to the top of Fowler.  The dog is loving these runs, and passes out immediately after...nap city :)

                           Run #2 - 2.7 Miles (Trails) - GoPro video testing at Green Falls.  Had to wade through thigh-deep swollen creek (river?) water twice, but what a short, fun trip around Green Falls Pond!  Chilly, and I got soaked and filthy :)

Friday, 4-18 - 4 Miles (Road) - Mystic segment hunting.  There were three segments that I wanted to try my hand at.  The first, the Clift Street run from the river to Allyn Street, straight uphill all the way.  Strava gave me the CR for the segment, although when I looked at it, I matched the record to the second with the dude who had it.  The second segment started on Ashby street (or so I thought) and continued to the top of the hill, but I started it totally wrong and didn't get it.  The third, a flat, 7/10 mile loop around Cottrell and Main streets I'd need to run a mid 6 average for, and I got it...sweet!  Segment links below:

http://www.strava.com/activities/131615321/segments/2977117656

http://www.strava.com/segments/5141861?filter=overall

Overall, I was really happy with this run.  I gave the hilly section a good effort, this being the same hill John Kelley (Boston Marathon winner, Olympic Marathoner, Mount Washington RR winner, etc...) used to run, as confirmed by a homeowner at the top who I stopped to chat with.  He used to see John a lot on that street years ago, and is even a contributor to the Kelley statue fund (as is the WTAC!).  The flat loop?  I started steady and slowly increased my pace, and ran it smartly.  Success...and I'll head back soon to try the one I screwed up!

Saturday, 4-19 - 7.5 Miles (Trail) - Narragansett Trail, Lantern Hill to Cossaduck Hill out and back.  Bright, sunny day, and lots of people out enjoying Lantern Hill.  Great workout, hill city and technical as heck...unfortunately, I dropped my favorite hat at the turnaround, so I have to go back up there later and grab it...

          (Later that afternoon...) - .8 Miles (Trail) - Cossaduck Hill hat retrieval.  Had to be done...grabbed another 150+ feet of elevation gain, and some kind soul had hung my hat on a tree, right where I dropped it.  Success!  And an awesome day.

Sunday, 4-20 - 2.6 Miles (Road/Trail) - Easter dog jog up the street.  We got to the top of the street, where the road dead-ends and Pachaug State Forest begins, and I see the trail I'd been told about by a neighbor.  Unmarked, runnable, somewhat technical, and very worthy of exploration.  Henry and I went in to check it out, but as we were pressed for time, didn't get too far.  I believe this might be the trail to take across to Wyassup Lake road, which means that from my house, I only have to be on roads for about a mile before I'm on trails for as far as I want to go.  Awesome...

Overall, a great week.  After a double-zero start, I was able to rack up 2500+ feet of elevation gain in 27 miles of running, get some good runs in with the dog, mess around with the GoPro camera, and score a couple of segments.  This coming week looks good weather-wise, so I'm optimistic I'll get some good running in before next weekend's race...