Weekly Log 9-1 to 9-7: Damn, it's hot out!

Going to have to up my mileage this week, in spite of the heat and humidity...

Monday, 9-1 (Labor Day) - 4.4 Miles (Trail) - Arcadia loop near Beach Pond, Exeter, RI.  Hot and humid, and downright tropical, in my opinion...Tons of people enjoying the warm waters of the lake, but I wilted like a french fry under a heat lamp.  Even the spiders took a day off though, which I did appreciate.  I felt soggy and heavy from the get-go, and my plans for a longer loop contracted down to the trails I did, which were a good mix of hilly, technical single-track and coarse rocky service roads.  I'm looking forward to Fall, and some cooler running weather...

This way! --->

Tuesday, 9-2 - 3 Miles (Trail) - Lower Lantern Hill Trails.  Holy crap it was hot out today.  I ran a slew of errands today, and only wore a shirt when I had to go into a store.  I think this also might be the first time I ever went to Lantern and didn't go to the top.  Pretty sure the heat index was near or above 100 degrees, but I was able to grind out a few pretty good uphill/downhill efforts on the lower section, sweat my ass off, and call it quits at 3 miles.  Arrived home to find these waiting for me!

NB Fresh Foam 980 Trail

Looking forward to getting some dirt on these, and taking a break from minimal, zero drop shoes for a bit.  Can't wait to see how these feel...Much less pronounced lugs than the Zero V2's I've been wearing, but definitely more cushion and protection.  With the Fall race schedule I'm attempting (see column on right!), I'm gonna need it...

And after collecting the kids off the bus for a cooldown in my S-I-L's pool, time for one of these:

LT IPA in a frosty RI Triple Crown pint glass?  On a hot day?  Sold!!!

Wednesday, 9-3 - 6.5 Miles (Trail) - Grills Preserve w/Gazelle.  Started on the Bradford side, and made our way to the "also cool, but not as well marked" Ashaway side.  Oddly, there are a number of clearly defined trails there that are unmarked, and/or abruptly end.  Added some distance and had fun, and the "Bridge to Bridge" section is definitely my favorite part of Grills.  Warm today, but not nearly as humid as yesterday...

Fresh Foam 980 Trail review:  Okay, so here goes.  I'm an 8.5 shoe, but in NB running shoes I'm a 9.  These, I might be a 9.5?  So a bit snug?  I liked the extra cushioning, I have to admit.  I've done zero-drop, minimal cushion shoes for two years, so this was like a vacation for my feet.  They also felt more stable and secure on my feet than the Zero V2 Trail.  I put 400 miles on those and they were grippy as Hell (never slipped once).  These shoes are comfortable, yet not quite grabbing the trail like my previous pair, so I could definitely feel the difference between the two.  I'm impressed, yet felt like a trail runner in road shoes.  Mesh the FF 980 with the Zero V2, and we're in business!  I'll be alternating from here out with my trail shoes depending on terrain...

Thursday, 9-4 - 5.3 Miles (Road) - Mystic segment hunting in the heat. - So this guy named Dirk has taken a couple of my course records, so I decided to hit up Mystic and return the favor.  I was also going for another segment (Island View), but apparently I turned around 50 yards too soon and wouldn't have gotten it anyway.  Hot and hilly, and while I didn't score the uphill segments, I did take both downhills...and by a fair amount :)

Friday, 9-5 - 9.2 Miles (Trail) - Arcadia Management Area, Exeter, RI with Gazelle.  So Jeff has a bit of extra time on his hands at the moment, and is at 60+ miles for the week???  Holy crap.  I'd suggested an Arcadia trail run and we made the 20 minute drive from my place.  Did the Frosty Hollow, Breakheart Pond, Penny Hill loop, and it warmed up rather quickly and got uncomfortably humid.  Summer is NOT over.  At mile 8-ish, we crossed over Breakheart Brook, and noticed a swimming hole on one side of the bridge.  Jumped right in.  Crystal clear and cool, and made the home stretch much easier.  Ice cold Powerade and water at the truck?  Awesome...

Breakheart Trail

No Floo Powder, no trip to Diagon Alley!

Silence of the Lambs?

Accidental picture, but looks like the Blair Witch Project to me...

New late run cool off spot in Arcadia!

Saturday, 9-6 - 3 Miles (Trail) - Dump Run, aka Lantern Hill.  It's HOT and MUGGY today, and I knew I wanted to throw down some miles this weekend.  Looks like Sunday is the day for that, as the weather today was oppressive.  I figured to hit Lantern after a dump run (transfer station), and take a stab at my TTB segment.  Looped the lower trail, and slogged to the top, soaked and feeling the heavy air.  I let my HR settle down and then bombed the downhill, startling several hikers and not sure if I beat it...but I did (at 3:43), and got it by 13 seconds...pretty stoked about it too!  

I also created a new segment for the first part of the 'Gansett trail, 70' at 12% in 1/10 mile, Jonny and Muddy have the CR (probably on a training run) but I'm 10 seconds behind.  Called it quits today at 3 miles, and could not stop sweating for like 20 minutes...crazy humid...hopefully the front comes through tonight and cools things off...

Sunday, 9-7 - 6 Miles (Road) - Local loop from the house.  Started to cool down, so I hit the road to close out the week.  Nice day!  Much less humid than yesterday.  Although I'd attended a birthday brunch for my nephew and gorged myself on Belgian waffles, scrambled eggs, bacon, etc., I decided to take a stab at a segment, which backfired when I hit the pause button on my watch instead of the lap button.  I realized my mistake at the top of the hill, of course...but overall, a good steady run, on the easy side but consistent.  Cooler weather ahead, can't wait...

Good mileage week for me, and a 9th straight day of running.  This, oddly, is also my highest mileage week since the week of the RI 6 Hour Ultra last November???  Good numbers and I felt really good this week in spite of the warm weather...going into next weekend's Surftown HM, that's pretty cool!