Avondale Farm Preserve 5K

... a/k/a Westerly Land Trust 5K
... a/k/a Setting the Pace for Conservation 5K (the real name of the race)

Avondale, RI
Sunday, November 11, 2018

With the demise of the Charlestown Police 5K a few years back, this is now quite possibly the flattest 5K race in the state of RI.  There is a mighty 10' climb  in the second mile, and that is it.  Period.  I've run this race a number of years, and as an avid supporter of the Westerly Land Trust, wish more people would show it love, but I get it that not everyone wants to run a 5K road race, and even for those that do run road 5Ks, they are a dime a dozen these days.

After an abysmal 5K late August of 19:56 coming off an injury, followed by 18:43 at Strides 5K in October, I set a goal for myself of 18:30, with the fear that I would embarrass myself at the race.  It was at this race that I earned my 5K PR of 17:32 just three years ago, when Tommy helped pull me along and I trailed him by just nine seconds.

Start of the race:
Aaron leads, followed by Tommy, me, and Mike (from Durham, NH)

Mid-packers bundled up.
To each his own, but it really wasn't that cold.

After a short warm-up with Shara and Tommy, I toed the line next to Tommy and Aaron Tallardy.  After the 1K loop around the farm field, Tommy was pretty much out of sight and Aaron just ahead of me.    There really isn't too much to write about beyond that, as the three of us never changed positions, and the 4th guy was quite a ways behind me (although I'm happy for the 4th guy, from Durham, NH, that he realized his goal of first-time ever breaking 20 minutes).  At parts during the race, Aaron would increase his gap on me, but in the last half-mile I was able to pull closer.  It was neat to have Matthew (home for long Veterans' Day weekend) pass me a few times on his bike and give encouragement.

Aaron is 2nd at 1K.  I'm at about 9 o'clock in this pic.
Look at the guy in red jacket right next to Aaron - awkwardly on the course.
Reminds me of a certain WHS parent that would frequently and annoyingly
stand in the course when runners were coming.

Coming through 1K after Aaron.  Red Jacket Guy got right in my way
as I was running the tangent, and as spectators yelled, he narrowly got off the course.
(Matthew in blue behind me, about to follow on bike)

Aaron was always in my sight, but I could never quite getting close enough, and finished a mere six seconds behind him.

Harried, and poor body form, but finished, and realized my goal!

Final results:  18:13, 5:52 pace.  3rd overall.  1st in age group.  Full results here.

Tommy won the race in 16:55 and took home a nice spread.  I got a nice small holly tree for winning my age group, but what I was happiest about was:

• I handily beat my own goal of 18:30.
• Every single split was sub-six minutes!  (5:52, 5:56, 5:48)

With my holly tree award.
Fun day out there, and a confidence builder for me.

Weekly Log 19-Nov to 25-Nov-2018

Monday:  0 run, 650 yards swim
Knee is super stiff one day after Rhody and with two falls.  Felt good in the pool.

Sweet loaner A5 that I had today, while our car was in for service.
Brand new loaded car with many features I don't have.

Sirius XM has a separate station for Tom Petty?!  Very cool.
I'd be too cheap to get SiriusXM on my own,
but listening to it on someone else's dime was fun.

This was just weird.
When I opened the driver's door,
the Audi logo was projected onto the surface below.

Tuesday:  6
Narragansett.  After my annual physical, drove a short distance to Narragansett Pier and ran a beach / road / trail loop.  Raw and 39 degrees.

Crooked Brook trail.  Flooded.
Tried to jump on to rocks and log you can see on
left side of the trail, but slid right off into the drink!

Canonchet Farm Trail.
Just a tad muddy.

Wednesday:  9
Blustery in the Bluff.  Run with Matthew.  Very exposed and windy in a number of areas.  Mostly single-track in Bluff State Park, with a small loop into Haley Farm State Park.  I like the trails in Haley, but that "Amtrak sprint" section along the tracks to get there and back is just awful.  In addition to all those small awkward rocks used along the tracks, today it was just totally exposed to the cold wind.  Fortunately, the train track section is really short, and overall I really enjoyed the trails and run.  In fact, I felt really good in the last mile and actually picked up the pace for some reason.

Thursday:  7
Thanksgiving Day.  Waited a little late, as unfortunately my morning holiday "fun" was replacing a dripping garbage disposal, then cleaning up the mold from who knows how long it had been dripping under the counter, and then apply a layer of Killz to the boards.

Because of that unplanned diversion,  didn't start my run (with Matthew) until 11:30am and that narrowed our choices to fit in before heading to Narragansett for turkey dinner at my brother Kurt's.  Anyhow, parked at the Burlingame North parking lot, and ran Lenny Lane, the North Camp trails down to the beach, Vin Gormley out to Cool Springs Road, and then Sammy C's back.  21 degrees and windy at times.

Friday:  10
Barn Island Black Friday group run with Muddy, Tommy 5K, and Matthew.  14 degrees!  I really feared I would just freeze out there, so besides tights and a quarter-zip over a long-sleeve tech shirt, I wore my thickest running socks, thickest hat, and warm gloves that aren't even running gloves.  I overdressed.  Was mildly cold (can you use "mild" and "cold" together?) for the first mile only, and then sweated most of the run.  Despite only warming up to 16 degrees, it is amazing how warm you can feel when it's sunny and pretty much no wind.

Frigid leaving the house for Barn Island.

Mostly a single-track run today, which is my bread and butter.  Unfortunately, a number of the Barn trails, especially some of the more obscure and less traveled twisty trails I took today, are very narrow to the point of being overgrown.  I wish the State of CT (owner of Barn Island Management Area) would get in there with weed-whackers at the end of each summer growth period, like the Westerly Land Trust does, but it isn't to be.  Good run regardless.

Post-run latte at Junk & Java hit the spot.
Unfortunately, Mikey B couldn't join us.

Saturday:  8
Grills Preserve.  Ran from Hopkinton side, looped around in Westerly including my favorite trail, the yellow trail along the Pawcatuck, the former XC course, and back over the Polly Coon into Hopkinton.  Back in Hopkinton, took the yellow trail that goes right along the river, and at one point, had to break through shallow ice to keep going, as there was no way around it.  Soaked the shoes, socks, and feet, but it was near the end and in mid-40s anyway.  Matthew took off the last half-mile, and I was already completing fading and had nothing to give.

Sunday:  11
Road run.  Loop from Arcadia Y, Richmond.  Up Blitzkrieg Trail (dirt road) into Exeter, back on Skunk Hill Road (almost a good portion dirt road).  For road runs, this is really one of my favorite courses.  Went a full nine miles without seeing a car!  Thus we ran in the middle of the road most of the way.  Felt really good; last four miles were in the 6:30 - 6:40 range.

Weekly mileage:  52

Weekly synopsis:  Second week in a row with mileage north of 50, and second week in a row of solid runs where I felt good.  No complaints!

Weekly highlight:  While I really enjoyed the camaraderie of the Black Friday group run, I actually most enjoyed today's run (super quiet and rural roads in Richmond and Exeter).  Super happy with a solid 11 miles at sub-7 pace, and having enough in the tank to finish strong.

Weekly lowlight:  I have to think hard to even think of a lowlight, but it is the way I was fading and bonking at Grills on Saturday.  If that's the worst, I'll take it!

Loco Half 2018

Newmarket, NH
Sunday, October 28, 2018

As I write this now almost four weeks in arrears, I am reminded of the benefits of a more timely race post.  Chief amongst them is the memory retention of finer race details.  Here is my recollection:

Having not realized my goal of a fall marathon due to working my way back from an injury, I at least wanted to work in a half.  I picked the Loco Half as it was billed as relatively flat, fit my schedule, and was in the next town over from where Matthew goes to school at UNH.

We drove up the afternoon before, in torrential rains and winds so strong that it knocked power out at our hotel for several hours.  While the rain had largely stopped by race start the next morning, it was still only 39 degrees and drizzly.  Pretty raw.  The course was a one-loop half marathon, with 10 miles on road, and 3 on dirt railway path, with the full marathon being two loops of the same.  I lined up in about the second row, and ran a few strides to both keep warm and get the legs ready.  I was wearing short shorts and a singlet, which was fine, but in retrospect, should have at least added gloves.

Self-explanatory course map

Cool bib!

Left in the dark, and then you park about
a mile away in an industrial park, for the short
school bus shuttle to registration / start.

Chilly, just before the start.
As usual, I'm dressed much lighter than most runners. 
My only regret was not wearing gloves.

Hemmed in a little bit at the start on a narrow street.
(You can see me under the first "T" in start, green WTAC singlet, bib #888)

The start with a RI connection:  Despite over 600 runners toeing the line (250+ in full, balance in half), the mass starting crowd thinned out fairly quickly on very rural roads.  About 1/2 mile in, I came up on a guy wearing a blue Block Island Sports Shop singlet.  It was early enough in the race that I felt comfortable talking, so I asked him if he was from Block Island.  No, but he knew the owners well.  He seemed surprised that I knew Jim and Marion Ortel as well (maybe I should have worn the blue BISS singlet that Jim kindly gave me?) and he asked me if I knew another RI guy by the name of Steve Brightman?  Yeah, I might've heard of the dude.  Turns out that's his uncle.  He asked me what pace I was looking to run, and I think I said something like between 6:10 and 6:30 (my only goal to myself was sub-1:25), and he said he'd try to stay with me then.

With my new BISS friend,
with a crowd behind us.
About Mile 1.
(PS - I love those race that give you free pics with no watermarks,
just their logos)

Close-up at about the same place.

I welcomed the company, but unfortunately he only stayed with me for about 1 1/2 miles.  For a race billed as perfectly flat, it wasn't quite that.  A few rolling hills in the first few miles.  Nothing big at 40 - 50' climbs, but not quite flat. 

The middle miles:  After 5 miles, the course takes a very sharp left turn onto a slightly busier state highway.  Cones demarcated the runners' lane on the far left.  There was just enough room to pass runners, which was good because over the next mile, I passed three runners.  I first passed "Blue Singlet", a really fit looking young runner, and then two other non-descript runners.  The non-descripts gave no answer at all to me passing them, but Blue Singlet immediately jumped on my tail where he would be for the next eight miles.

About Mile 6.
Blue Singlet right on my tail, followed by a random guy
we both just passed.

Looks like I'm clenching my fists here.
Poor form, right?

Somewhere in this section, it started to rain again.  Not a pouring rain, but given the temps in upper 30s, puddles on roads, and raw conditions, the ensuing light but steady rain soaking me did NOT feel good.  My hands just never warmed up the entire race.

The slippery rail trail and finish:  Just before the ten mile mark, we made the final sharp left turn on to the Rail Trail, where we would be for the remainder of the race.  This trail is a mix of gravel and dirt.  It looked it was actually "plowed" for the race, as you could see a litter of leaves piled to both sides.  So you could see the surface where you were going, but that didn't necessarily make it easier.  Just a 1/4 onto the rail trail, and I just slid in mud.  I thought I was going down, but I recovered, and the next mile plus was just a very careful choosing of terrain, staying out of the deeper puddles where possible, and choosing the few sections of gravel or grass as they were more stable.  I figured my 1:25 was out the window and my pace did get progressively slower (my Mile 12 was my slowest at 6:35).  After that, I either got better at choosing my foot plants or just got lucky with terrain, or maybe simply knowing the end was near, I was able to pick it up.

Blue Singlet came right up next to me a few times in the final mile, and since he had comfortably trailed just behind me for eight miles, I knew he was just biding his time to pass me.  Sure enough, with about 1/4 mile to go, despite me picking it up for my fastest mile at 6:07, he went past me with laying down the hammer.  I went right after him, but was not able to catch him.  I stayed fairly close, finishing the race a mere six seconds behind him.  For reference, both the next guy ahead of as well as behind us were a full two minutes ahead and behind, respectively.

Just before the finish line. A bit muddy and wet.

This is right at the finish.
Blue Singlet in lower right, and me trailing him by 20 meters at most
(my head obscured by the gloves of guy in red jacket clapping).

Final steps before finish.

And that's a wrap.
1:23:57 on clock is my gun time, 1:23:55 chip time.

Final results:  1:23:55, 4th overall of 350+, 1st in age group.  Full results here.

What I did not know was that I had finished fourth overall!  That, plus beating my goal by more than a minute, made me pretty happy!  Waited for awards (fortunately you just had to wait for results, and not an awards ceremony), and then took the short bus ride back to the parking area.  Blue Singlet sat in the seat behind me, and tapped me on the shoulder and offered me some of his 3rd place prize winnings saying I had done the work by pulling him along, but I declined and said thanks, but he earned it.  Cold, cold, rainy day, but overall this wasn't just another race for me, this was a confidence builder after an abysmal summer for running for me.

My loot for winning my age group:
a nice cinch sac, arm warmers,
a koozie, and a pair of "Darn Tough" socks.

Mud-splatter legs:  a sign of a good trail race.  But, this was a road race, right?

Weekly Log 12-Nov to 18-Nov-2017

Monday:  12
Took advantage of having the holiday off (Veterans' Day) to get in a good Monday run.  Met up with Muddy Puddin' at Canonchet North for a trail run on Table Top Trail to Narragansett Trail to a loop around Yawgoog Pond. Not a single soul seen the whole time.  Good conversation made the whole run go by quickly.

Closed out the holiday weekend with a visit with Mom.  Sad to see she has some type of shoulder injury, but otherwise in good spirits.

Tuesday:  6
Hospital loop in a steady, drenching rain at 7am, but warm in the mid-50s.  Yesterday we started our run at 24 degrees.  Go figure.

Wednesday:  11
AM:  6 miles.  Noanet Woodlands, Dover, MA.  Crisp, fall morning at 32 degrees.  Many trails really wet from all the rain recently.  Nice sunrise at Noanet Peak.

The banks of the Charles River are overflowing the walking trail I take to
the lunch cafeteria
at the office park where I work occasionally in Wellesley, MA

PM:  5 miles.  West Thompson Lake, Thompson, CT.  3pm run on way home from working in Wellesley, MA.  Cold and raw.  29 degrees with wind whipping off the lake.  Some of the trails I took were nice, but my feet got wet right away from soaked trails, and between that, the wind, and the diminishing sunlight (I didn't bring headlamp, but wouldn't feel comfortable in the dark anyway as my first time here), decided to cut out the planned 8-mile lake circumnavigation and just went for some shorter trail loops.  Went for one 0.8 mile CR - success!

The shores of West Thompson Lake,
at the start of my run

Message received

Some trails were well marked; others I struggled a bit to follow

Thursday:  9
Noon:  4 mile surveillance run on Rhody short course.  Will still need some work before race day, including a chainsaw and water re-route.
Evening:  5 in the snow!  Champlin Glacier Preserve with headlight, before the snow turns to rain.

Took advantage of the November snowfall and
got out on the trails after dinner.
My Gore-Tex waterproof trail shoes came in handy.

Friday:  0

Saturday:  6
Rhody 4-mile course marking, plus trail surveillance on traditional 8-mile course in a few places.  Wet!

Sunday:  11
Li'l Rhody Runaround 8-mile race, plus marking/warm-up.  Write-up to follow.

Weekly mileage:  55!

A few rare perch atop the leader board.

Weekly synopsis:  Highest mileage week since December of last year.  Felt really good out there every day of the week that I ran.  Great week!

Weekly highlight:  Had to be the Rhody race.  Wet, slippery, falling, and fun in spite of all that.

Weekly lowlight:  None.  Seriously.

Weekly Log 5-Nov to 11-Nov-2018

Monday:  0 run, 1/4 swim
Second Monday of pool swimming at lunch.  On the plus side, I actually brought my watch this time.  On the minus, I calibrated pool length incorrectly at 25 meters instead of yards.  We'll get there ...

Tuesday:  6 run, 2 hike
AM:  2 miles cutting new trails with Westerly Land Trust at Barlow Preserve.  Right now, you can only get there from covering a good 1/2 mile on busy Route 91, but hopefully over time trails can be tied closer to the Barlow Preserve main entrance, and make easy connections to Bradford Preserve and Woody trails from there without too much asphalt.
PM:  6 mile run with Paul in Quonochontaug.  Fortunately, I brought my headlamp.

Wednesday:  10
AM:  5 miles local roads, with 2 miles at 5:43 and 5:57, 1/4 mile recovery.  On the surface and in retrospect, I guess that's not too bad.  But at the time, I remember my goals of two miles at 5:35 each, and was pretty disappointed with myself.
PM:  5 miles in Grills Westerly.  Once I got into the preserve and trails, I was fine, but even then, the whole time I was wrongly worried about the group of derelicts in the Grills parking lot on Bowling Lane up to no good and that they might do something to my car.  It seemed odd that so many came there just to hang out in the parking lot and smoke or toke, but otherwise no issue that I'm aware of.

Thursday:  6
Midday run Ninigret.  Beautiful warm, sunny, 54 degree day.  Mixed it up with roads in Arnolda, and grass and dirt trails in Ninigret.

Friday:  8
Early morning run from home around the pond.  Around the Pond loop at about 7-flat pace.  Felt great! 31 degrees; need to start getting out the winter running gear.

Saturday:  7
Solo run from Canonchet Brook Preserve, Hopkinton.  I was driving on North Road intending to park and run from dirt road section on trails around Yawgoog Pond, but as I passed the somewhat new parking lot for Canonchet Brook Preserve - North Road trailhead, I thought hmm.  Actually, I thought, this could make for an interesting run.  I had been on some, but not all of these trails, on a group run a year ago, and I remember us getting off trail a few times.  Against that backdrop, I was pleasantly surprised with how well blazed the trails were, and with a map at pretty much every intersection!

Fun stream crossings!

This was the trail after the heaving rains Friday night!
No pussy-footing around this one.

Light rain on and off for my run.  Rivers very swollen in there today.  Some fun deep stream crossings!

Sunday:  10
AM:  Avondale 5K.  Write-up to follow.
PM:  5 miles at Ninigret w/Matthew.  Started off a little sore from the morning's race, but despite progressively picking up the race from a 7:20 to a 6:30, felt fine.  Unfortunately, the wildlife refuge trails were temporarily closed, so ran Arnolda loop to get the miles in.

Weekly mileage:  47

Weekly synopsis:  Another solid week of running.  Very really happy to be getting in the mileage and feeling good.

Weekly highlight:  Avondale 5K.  I had a good race, exceeded my expectations, caught up with running friends and Land Trust friends, and helped to support one of my favorite causes, the Westerly Land Trust.

Weekly lowlight:  Running from Grills Westerly.  While my concerns on the smoking crowd damaging my car or cause trouble turned out to be unfounded, it was just an uncomfortable feeling the whole time I was there.

Weekly Log 29-Oct to 4-Nov-2018

Monday:  0 run, 500 yard swim
Easy and comfortable pool swim at lunch at Westerly Y.  It's a little boring, like I find running in ovals, but it's good cross-training.  Inadvertently left my Garmin watch at home, so I didn't bother with a manual post to Strava.

Tuesday:  8
Ran Li'l Rhody route in the dark, or at least the first half of the run was in the dark.  After a series of days last week with missed running, I was proud of myself for getting out there for a morning run, but one morning does not a pattern make.

Wednesday:  7
Halloween mid-day run at the Barn.  Mostly single-track on a beautiful, warm, sunny day.  Saw three separate hunters with guns; make sure to wear your bright orange!

Tried carving something different for this year's jack-o-lantern.
I'm a kid at heart, and love Halloween

Thursday:  0
Fail.

Friday:  5
Pumpkins course in drizzly rain.  Very warm 62 degrees.  This is November, right?

Saturday:  8
Slept in, got a text from Tommy asking if I wanted to run within the hour.  I always appreciate these, even if can't end up making them, as the prospect of getting out to run with someone else is easier and more likely than if I go solo.

Tommy suggested me a choice (again, I appreciate these) of Champlin, Burlingame, or Woody.  Having run in all three, and having a preponderance for variety, I opted for Burlingame if we could weave in something different than what I had run recently.  Tommy was all in.  We ran the main 3.5 mile double-track loop in Bgame North, followed by North Camp trails, and finishing up with the white trail north of Buckeye Brook Road leading up to Stillwater Road and a little bit of VG.  2nd consecutive day of running in warm rain.  Good stuff.

Sunday:  12!
Group trail run of 5 guys at Tillinghast and Wickaboxet.  First time running with Jonny Hammett in more months than I can remember, and with Seth in over a year.  Chris Garvin and Jonathan Short rounded out the merry group. 

Weekly mileage:  40 run, 1/4 swim

Weekly synopsis:  A lot of good runs, all on the trails this week.  I would like to mix in at least one day of roads to balance it all out.  I also resumed swimming indoors, and it wasn't actually as bad as I feared. 

Weekly highlight:  The Sunday group run to be sure.  Great trails, great conversation, and catch up with a few runners I hadn't seen in a while.  I'm racing the next two Sundays, but otherwise, hope this will be a pattern on many weekends.

Weekly lowlight:  If I absolutely had to pick something, I guess my laziness on Thursday for not doing anything.  But really, it was a good week!