Weekly Log 9-Jun to 15-Jun-2014

Signed up for Hartford as my fall marathon!  Seeded entry.  October sounds far away, but it's only 18 weeks, which means it's time already to ramp up training mode.  Although I'm not off to a great start this week, I do expect most weeks going forward to run over 50 miles and ramp up from there.  Now how do I fit in marathon training plus tri training plus 3x/weekly fun runs plus family and a job and life in general?  When you guys figure that out, please do let me know.

One activity that will be trailing off (pun intended) will be trail runs.  With the bugs imminent and most of my races for at least the next four months on roads, it's the logical choice for me.  I did finish out my fun job of mapping Woody Hill trails and the WLT said they want to put my new Woody Hill  map on some of their nearby kiosks.  Wish I could turn my job search and labor of love into getting a paying job mapping trails, or clearing trails, or anything running or fitness related.

Monday:  0
Rest day.

Tuesday:  6
600 yards.  Short window of time between the Y opening and catching the train out of Westerly.
6 miles.  Stonington Fun Runs.  Happy to be back at these fun events.  Ran mostly as a pack with Jeff V, Mike B, youngsters Matthew and Jonny E, and Brandi.  Although not much of a beer drinker, I did enjoy a Sam's Summer dockside while catching up with many of the WTAC CT-based contingent.

Wednesday:
3 miles.  Had been itching all day to get out for a run, but the annual 1st day of Westerly Fun Runs is a nervous and busy day for me getting all the forms in order, final contacts, loading/checking/fixing course markers, etc.  Everything went quite smoothly and for the first night we had a very good showing of 35 in the children's run and 93 in the 1 mile/5K runs.

My surprise was my own finish in the Fun Runs with a course PR for me!  We switched to the "new" 5K course in 2011, so I figured I've probably run this course about 30 times.  It's not a fast course as it has so many turns.  My fastest time was 18:10 in 2012, so to finish today in 17:57 was a special treat.  Results posting to web are a work in progress.  Greg would be proud of me - I didn't check my watch once, but rather just ran hard.  Splits:  5:27 / 5:48 / 5:41.

Thursday:
9 miles.  Running at 4:30am on days I need to go into Boston usually means I have time for 5 miles at most.  A quick Amtrak check showing my train running 30 minutes late gave me time to run around the pond plus run 3+ miles on the beach.  Great start to the day!

Friday:
1,100 yards.  500 warm-up, plus a mix of kicking and pull laps.
10 miles.  Niantic Bay 10K.  Bummed a ride from Mike B out to Niantic.  We were worried about the heavy rains earlier in the afternoon, but we actually had worse weather:  extreme humidity and no breeze at all on the course.  From the moment the two of us went out for a warm-up, you knew it was going to be one of those sweat-fests.

1st half:  Lined up just behind front row of fast looking runners.  Followed a pack of six much younger runners until the pack disintegrated about 1.5 miles in.  Mile 1 was my fastest at 5:47, followed by 5:57 for Mile 2.  After that I slowed way down as I knew there was no chance of a PR, the humidity was tough, and no one was around me.  Mile 3 6:14.  At Mile 3.5 the course reverses back onto itself for the stretch home, and it was here I saw a limping Mike B walking the course.  Ran over to him, but he told me to just go, and to chase the two kids you could see a ways in the distance.

2nd half:  Mile 4 another slow mile at 6:10.  I gauge the nearer of the two kids (aged 14!) at three telephone poles ahead of me.  I can gauge I'm closing in at him as I check the phone pole distances a few times and see it keep shrinking (does anyone else do this?).  Finally on an uphill at mile 4.5, I pass him, and finish the mile in 6:06.  Impressed that he shouted out "Good job" to me.  OK, a mile to go.  The next kid (aged 26 actually) is two pole lengths ahead of me, but catching up to him is harder and requires more work.  Mile 6 is a more respectable 6 flat.  Pass the kid on a downhill stretch with a 1/4 mile to go, but as the course flattens, I hear his footsteps behind me again!!  Ugh.  Pick it up to a near sprint (if you can believe GPS, a 5:01 pace) and held the kid off.

17:34, average 6-flat pace.  5th overall, 1st in age group.  Full results here.

Saturday:
32 miles.  2:15 bike ride w/Chris and Steve from Perryville up through Charlestown and Richmond.  Pace was quite peppy at times, as Steve was setting a good pace, and Chris is so fast on uphills.  Shannock Hill was a steep climb.  Welcome stop at the end at The Village Bakery on Charlestown Beach Road for an iced coffee before finishing up.  Notably absent were FiveK and MikeB, temporarily sidelined on the disabled list.

Sunday:
21 miles.  LSD run.  Originally intended to run only 15, but had a Forrest Gump "I just felt like running" kind of morning.  Highlights:

• Saw Elise twice running through Misquamicut.  Looks like she's upping her training.
• Passed a woman on Wicklow, who immediately said "That's it; I've had it".  Surprising reaction.  I looked back and recognized her as Mary Griffin, and then she recognized me and said "Oh, it's you.  I guess it's OK that you passed me as you're such a good runner."  Nice comment.
• In Watch Hill, ran into WTAC Sunday regular group runners Josh, Kate, Clem, and Buddy.  Ran the last five miles back with Josh.  Saw the 1841 whaling ship (last remaining one in the world) sailing off Misquamicut.

0.5 mile open water swim with Matthew.  1st of the season for me.  Real confidence boost.
3 mile barefoot beach run with Matthew.  Brought me to 24 miles on the day.

Week tally:
52 miles
32 miles
1.5 miles

Really good training week.  Back over 50 miles running, including a long run.  Got in 3 swims, including my first open water swim.  Only deficit was just one ride instead of a planned two, but overall, a great week,