Busy week of events coming up. Battle of Stonington 5K on Tuesday, the all-new Stonington XC Fun Run on Wednesday, and the Schonning 5K on Friday, which I will miss for the first time years as will be away on college visits with Matthew.
Monday: 5
Enjoyed a sleep-in until 6:30am, so lunchtime was my time to run. Not very smart, as it was 85 degrees, so it became an easy choice to head for the woods and out of the sun. Ran Woody North and came across new MTB trails made by NEMBA. I wasn't overly enamored with some earlier new RINEMBA trails I was on as they were short with too many intersections, but today ran on a gem with a wooden sign naming the trail "Pour Judgment". Naturally the hills are small here (this is RI after all, not the NH or AK mountains I ran this summer), but still had some short fun rollercoaster twisty trail over rock outcropping.
Tuesday: 8
Battle of Stonington 5K. Got there in plenty of time to change from work clothes into running clothes, register, and take a leisurely solo 2+ mile warm-up. The temperature was not bad and had cooled off from the 80s mid-day to a pleasant 73 degrees; it was the humidity that was awful.
Some years this race had deep competition; looking around the front line, I saw only Sam Alexander, Nick Migani, and Matthew Ridley as top competitors (who would all be out ahead of me), and frenemy Stan Mickus as my competitor to do battle with.
The gun went off, and Alexander and Migani went out ahead, along with a kid, and a guy wearing unusually large headphones. I figured the kid and Headphones Boy would drop right away. 1/4 mile in, the kid had dropped, Headphones Boy was still with the leaders, Ridley passed me, and Mickus was right up beside me. Had targeted Mile 1 at 5:35, but unfortunately went through in 5:48. Race over. Depressing, and the rest of the race went downhill from there.
Early in Mile 2, I passed Headphones Boy, but otherwise would hold my position for the rest of the race. My Mile 2 split was 6:05, and Mile 3 mildly better at 6:03. If there was a silver lining, it was that I was being chased by rival Stan which kept me from giving up in the humidity, as I really wanted to beat Stan.
Final results: 18:13, 5:52 pace. 4th out of 215. 1st in age group. Full results here.
Wednesday: 5
1st annual Stonington Cross Country Fun Run. Will endeavor to write a short report separately.
Thursday: 5
Dual purpose run through Stonington trails: 1) sweep course after last night runs and pick up the few remaining signs and flags, and 2) scout out possible alternatives to the section of trail that doubles back on itself for 2-way running and congestion.
Friday: 3
Groin pain set in during a long day visiting Boston for campus tours. Easy evening run with Matthew looping through Champlin.
Saturday: 14!
Two plus hours on feet. First time that's happened in quite a while. My longest run since running trails in Texas in early May. Still having this bizarre dull pain in my groin area, and that hampered me for the first mile or so until I forgot about it. Ran entirely on trails in Burlingame with a circuitous CCW loop including Burlingame Trail, NST, VG, North Camp, and Sammy C's. By the time got to Sammy C's in the 11th mile, I was really feeling tired. Slow and easy throughout. Finally, the bugs are gone, and at least for today, the head and humidity dissipated as well.
Sunday: 9
Morning almost-bug free run in Great Swamp with Chris. The run went by so quick with conversation that as we ran back into the parking lot, Chris asked if that was enough running for me. Looked at my watch for the first time, and was surprised that we had already run 7.5 miles. Tacked on a bit more to make 9 even. Good run.
Weekly Mileage: 50
Weekly Synopsis: It's interesting that a 50-mile week is my lowest mileage week in two months! The "low mileage" week is due to back-to-back racing and just being tired and sore. I'm confident I'll ramp back up to the 60 area in the coming weeks.
Weekly Highlights: 1) Seeing the Stonington XC Fun Run come to fruition. 2) Finally get in a longer trail run (14 miles).
Monday: 5
Enjoyed a sleep-in until 6:30am, so lunchtime was my time to run. Not very smart, as it was 85 degrees, so it became an easy choice to head for the woods and out of the sun. Ran Woody North and came across new MTB trails made by NEMBA. I wasn't overly enamored with some earlier new RINEMBA trails I was on as they were short with too many intersections, but today ran on a gem with a wooden sign naming the trail "Pour Judgment". Naturally the hills are small here (this is RI after all, not the NH or AK mountains I ran this summer), but still had some short fun rollercoaster twisty trail over rock outcropping.
Tuesday: 8
Battle of Stonington 5K. Got there in plenty of time to change from work clothes into running clothes, register, and take a leisurely solo 2+ mile warm-up. The temperature was not bad and had cooled off from the 80s mid-day to a pleasant 73 degrees; it was the humidity that was awful.
Some years this race had deep competition; looking around the front line, I saw only Sam Alexander, Nick Migani, and Matthew Ridley as top competitors (who would all be out ahead of me), and frenemy Stan Mickus as my competitor to do battle with.
 |
| With Paul Gray before race start. Looks like Brandy facing us. All shots from New London Day video |
 |
| And we're off. Stan Mickus on my left, race winner Migani on my right. |
The gun went off, and Alexander and Migani went out ahead, along with a kid, and a guy wearing unusually large headphones. I figured the kid and Headphones Boy would drop right away. 1/4 mile in, the kid had dropped, Headphones Boy was still with the leaders, Ridley passed me, and Mickus was right up beside me. Had targeted Mile 1 at 5:35, but unfortunately went through in 5:48. Race over. Depressing, and the rest of the race went downhill from there.
 |
| About 1/2 mile into race. Mat Ridley (#428) on my right would place 3rd, Headphones Boy just ahead of me would place 74th. |
 |
| This youngster chased me for a while (about a mile in), but eventually dropped back. |
Early in Mile 2, I passed Headphones Boy, but otherwise would hold my position for the rest of the race. My Mile 2 split was 6:05, and Mile 3 mildly better at 6:03. If there was a silver lining, it was that I was being chased by rival Stan which kept me from giving up in the humidity, as I really wanted to beat Stan.
Final results: 18:13, 5:52 pace. 4th out of 215. 1st in age group. Full results here.
Wednesday: 5
1st annual Stonington Cross Country Fun Run. Will endeavor to write a short report separately.
Thursday: 5
Dual purpose run through Stonington trails: 1) sweep course after last night runs and pick up the few remaining signs and flags, and 2) scout out possible alternatives to the section of trail that doubles back on itself for 2-way running and congestion.
Friday: 3
Groin pain set in during a long day visiting Boston for campus tours. Easy evening run with Matthew looping through Champlin.
Saturday: 14!
Two plus hours on feet. First time that's happened in quite a while. My longest run since running trails in Texas in early May. Still having this bizarre dull pain in my groin area, and that hampered me for the first mile or so until I forgot about it. Ran entirely on trails in Burlingame with a circuitous CCW loop including Burlingame Trail, NST, VG, North Camp, and Sammy C's. By the time got to Sammy C's in the 11th mile, I was really feeling tired. Slow and easy throughout. Finally, the bugs are gone, and at least for today, the head and humidity dissipated as well.
Sunday: 9
Morning almost-bug free run in Great Swamp with Chris. The run went by so quick with conversation that as we ran back into the parking lot, Chris asked if that was enough running for me. Looked at my watch for the first time, and was surprised that we had already run 7.5 miles. Tacked on a bit more to make 9 even. Good run.
Weekly Mileage: 50
Weekly Synopsis: It's interesting that a 50-mile week is my lowest mileage week in two months! The "low mileage" week is due to back-to-back racing and just being tired and sore. I'm confident I'll ramp back up to the 60 area in the coming weeks.
Weekly Highlights: 1) Seeing the Stonington XC Fun Run come to fruition. 2) Finally get in a longer trail run (14 miles).
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