Light rain, breezy. Ran a route mostly on quiet Maine country roads, before the last mile on busy Route 1 ahead of a day of some outlet shopping and seafood dining.
Tuesday: 8
Woke up in coastal Maine, actually disappointed I wouldn't be running in the storm as it already passed. Wanted to get going early to get back to Westerly, besides, today was my day of "outlet shopping" at one of my favorite stores: NH State Liquor store.
Back in Westerly, I ran Shore Road out to Weekapaug, where I hit a roadblock in the form of a National Guard Humvee blocking the Weekapaug Bridge, supported by two RI State Police cruisers (how many officials does it take to screw in a light bulb?). Talked to the Guardsman for a while to try to persuade me to pass; he said I had to stay off the roads, so when I asked how about if I cross the bridge and then run on the beach he said, "If I'm looking at the ocean, and I don't see you run by me, then I'm none the wiser." YES! Unfortunately, just got past him when the state trooper yelled for me to come over and have a talk. He explained the road was under 6 feet of sand and even the beach was unpassable. I tried to tell him it was much longer if I took the roads back home, and he said he sees me running everywhere and had every confidence I'd make it. Darned!
Wednesday: 12
Early morning run out to Avondale, Watch Hill, Misquamicut, and home. Surveyed the damage from Hurricane Sandy; see photo essay here:
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| Hope no one got caught inside this, or at least none of my WTAC team mates! |
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| This guy wasn't letting me through to Napatree |
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| This used to be the path from Watch Hill to East Beach - now littered with snowfence and lifeguard chair strewn by Sandy |
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| All that's left of snowfence is the posts |
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| Hundreds of moon jellies washed up |
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| Never seen an underground sprinkler system on the beach; must be one of those new-fangled kinds |
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| The beach is now separated by a river! What to do here? |
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| Even a gazelle can't jump the river - it's wading time. Boy, is that water cold. |
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| Looking down the middle of Atlantic Ave, Misquamicut. How many feet of rocks and sand bury the asphalt road? |
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| Corner of Maplewood and Atlantic |
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| Looking down Maplewood; Mile 3 of the Fun Run course looks a little wet today |
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| More debris on Atlantic Ave |
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| This guy's windows and shingles are blown away and concrete steps destroyed. |
There's clearly nobody supposed to be here, and I don't need to be arrested, so I go back on the beach, re-ford the rivers, and run far enough up to Watch Hill where I can exit to a road. Ran back Ocean View Highway and hit another National Guard block at Shore Road. The National Guard asked me how I got here and chewed me out for running without ID, but eventually let me pass on Shore Road through the next checkpoint. Wierd running down closed Shore Road where the only vehicles are National Grid and Humvees.
Thursday: 0
Rest day.
Friday: 11
Tom and I pushed back our usual 4:45AM start on account of relaxed work days and desire to run trails in the light. Ran through Woody Hill Management and new Wahaneeta Preserve trails. Had a really good run, but was dismayed by the sheer amount of damage and trees fallen on the trails. Especially bad on the double-track sections more wide open; better on the single-track and around the marsh.
Intermittent pace crossing the trees. Usual Gazellousquet rapid pace on last mile on road at a 6:08 pace.
Saturday: 8
Ran Li'l Rhody course with Mike B, Matthew and his friend Jonny Eckel. Got pretty scratched up running through briars, around trees, falling (of course!), etc. Trees down in multiple spots that will need clearing, especially between campground and Buckeye Brook Road, and again near Kings Factory. Picked up and moved many small branches, but will need equipment for larger stuff. Contacted RI NEMBA (mountain biking group), they informed that NBX has crew working Sunday morning, working with them to see best approach for further clean-up.
Mike showed as the latest of our WTAC runners shod in new trail shoes! He also showed up in some cool Nike thermal gloves, which I saw at the Nike outlet in Maine for $20+ but was too cheap to buy, yet I had no problem dropping $61 for a bottle of scotch - is there something wrong with my priorities?
Played football with my boys in the afternoon, before setting up my annual bonfire on the front lawn to greet trick-or-treaters for one of my favorite holidays, Halloween, which was rescheduled to Saturday in Westerly due to Sandy.
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| Rescheduled Halloween: annual night of fires, freaks, and frights |
Sunday: 9
Tarzan Brown race. See separate write-up.
Weekly run mileage: 54
Weekly round-up:
Wierd week with the Maine trip, storm, loss of power, re-routed roads, Halloween postponement, etc. Still managed to get in a lot of miles, and all quality miles. Running the trails Fri and Sat with friends, and then Tarzan Brown Sun was all a cool way to end the week.
Next week's running priorities for me will be ensuring the Li'l Rhody course is passable, final race and 2013 WTAC event planning, and looking to hammer it in Avondale.
The Running Outlaw of Westerly, bane of military everywhere! I think it's hilarious that the state trooper knew of your running prowess.
ReplyDeleteGreat photo essay. Looks like Westerly really got beat up.
Wow! I'm feeling sad for all of south county. Those pictures are shocking. I'm trying to picture what you were thinking as you were running. Damn.
ReplyDeleteGreg, when I was running through Avondale and Watch Hill, I felt like I was out exploring. By the time I got to Misquamicut and saw the utter devastation, I felt I was in the middle of people's personal tragedies (shattered decks, windows, sinks and washing machines broken in street) and felt I should leave (which I did).
DeleteI was also wondering if people whose houses jut so far out and suffered so much damage should consider not rebuilding, but I don't know if I could get in that mindset if I were the property owner. Tough times for Westerly and coastal RI.