New Year, New Goals! 1/1 to 1/14

Finally!  Happy New Year and I can't wait to set some new, attainable but ambitious goals for the next 12 months.  Running-wise?  More miles.  Lots more.  Better training for races.  Some tough goal races that are realistic.  More running with friends!  Not letting my work schedule interfere with what I'm trying to accomplish, on any level.  On that note, here are a few goals for the coming year:

Mileage:  2,000+ - way above any other year.

Vertical Gain:  200,000+ - again, a goal.

Races:  100k race, 24hr, 100m race...signed up for all three, and spaced out evenly for optimal success.

Places:  New races in new places...so far, World's End is #1.

Speed:  sub-6 mile?  Fastest 5k?  We'll see!

Endurance:  Going long.

So some attainable goals for the coming months, but all within reach.  I'd also like to start taking some day trips to the more mountainous areas in New England, as mountain runs kick ass and I really enjoy them!

1/1 - 5.5.  Treadmill run, just to get something on the board for the New Year.  Put on a playlist of Billy Yang videos and zoned out for an hour.

1/2 - 0.  Worked until dark, figured it would be a perfect day for a zero.

1/3 - 4 Miles.  Crisp and cool Copp Preserve trails.

1/4 - 0.  Shoveled heavy snow for 1.5 - 2 hours.

1/5 - 6.3.  Absolutely frigid 5.6 snow-covered roads in Groton w/Faith, and a deep snow snowshoe slog in Mystic on the way home, about .7 miles before I threw in the towel.  COLD.

1/6 - 0.

1/7 - 0.

1/8 - 5.2.  Pachaug SF trails and roads w/Carly.  Great time slogging through some deep snow on the trails before we bailed onto the forest roads, which had had enough activity to pack them down a bit.  Probably could have used Yaks, maybe might have helped?  Warmer temps felt great.

1/9 - 3.  Mystic trails before dark.  Started out in snowshoes and quickly had a front binding come loose.  After fidgeting with it for a bit, I decided to just get a few miles in as the Sun was quickly setting and I didn't want to throw away a 40-degree day because of a minor issue.  Spooked tons of deer, and cruised along at a pretty good clip given the conditions.  Got home and fixed the binding!

1/10 - 5.  Arcadia Snowshoe Run w/Carly.  A nice warmup, sunny skies and not a breath of wind, and a snow-killing rain on its way for the weekend?  Carly hit me up for a snowshoe run, and I quickly agreed!  We started at the main lot and made our way out to Breakheart Pond, navigating some packed down trails, as well as some untouched singletrack that was just perfect.  Slow, but perfection.  We made our way around the pond, and encountered a lone fatbike rider who, it later turned out, was Beth's "Imaginary Husband" Dave.  He exists!!!  Ha!  I even verified it on the Strava Flyby, so it's official.  After the pond loop I wanted to show Carly my favorite trail out there, an unmarked singletrack trail that rolls along the stream below the pond.  It had seen no traffic since the storm, and was simply incredible.  5 miles in snowshoes is quite the workout!!!  I have to say that a cruisy 5-mile trail run never felt so tough, I compare it to a normal long run as far as effort level, and I've never had to take short walk breaks as much as I did.  Holy crap.  And I loved every minute of it!  Oh, and the Dion snowshoes I have worked flawlessly.  Not one issue.

1/11 - 0.

1/12 - 0.

1/13 - 3.7.  Green Falls waterfall recon.  After a freak warm spell, rain and rapid melt of all the snow, I figured Green Falls would be pretty spectacular.  What I didn't expect was how much water was moving through there.  I've never been turned back at minor stream crossings there before, and it was pretty incredible to see normally dry creek beds turned into raging rapids.  I had a great time splashing down trails-turned-rivers, and bushwhacking through the woods around impassable areas.  Ran into James E. as I was headed down there, and he said he'd never seen the water that high, and I'd have to agree!

1/14 - 3+.  Resolution Beach and Trail race.  The first race in the South County 4th Season trail series, put on by Mike Galoob and his crew at Off Rhode Racing.  Traditionally this has been a 5k, and I found out last minute that the course had been changed to include more trail and less beach, and eliminated the short road section.  Sweet!  I arrived early, grabbed my bib and chatted with friends, and after getting my gear on, ran a short warmup on the beach with Rachel, both of us grumbling a bit about the cold but it wasn't that bad.  The runners lined up facing the old stone ruins, and I was relieved to see we wouldn't be doing the out/back on the beach first, although I couldn't remember there being a lot of trails in the wooded area to make up 3.1 miles...I went out at the gun steady, and kept a good pace, although without any speedwork I was definitely feeling the effort.  At the end of mile 2 I was already at the ruins, and knew for sure that the course was either going to be way short, or we'd be finishing with the aforementioned out/back on the beach.  I was relieved to see that we'd be coming in short.  I splashed through what was probably some raw sewage runoff, ran up the beach and hauled my carcass across the finish line at 2.6 miles in 20:32.  I looked at my previous times, and it's about average for the course/terrain, so my speed (if we're calling it that!) is about the same.

Afterwards, a bunch of us met at the Mews Tavern for lunch, and I had a great time chatting with everyone on my end of the table, thinking we'll have to switch seats next time so I can get caught up with everyone else!