Blessing of the Fleet 2021

Narragansett, RI

Friday, July 23, 2021

Background:  For a long time, it looked like this race wouldn't happen in person due to COVID and would only be a virtual race, again.  Last year, during the heart of the pandemic, almost no races were happening from mid-March until August, and even then, few and far between.  So last year, I ran the Blessing (on the Blessing course) as one of only two virtual races all year, and hopefully in my lifetime.

I checked the Blessing website frequently in the spring, which simply stated to the effect of "We have decided the 2021 Blessing of the Fleet will be virtual only ....  if we are able to hold it in person, we will do so."  Clearly they are able to hold it in person per RI law and lifted restrictions, but will they?  Finally, on May 22, I got a text from my Narragansett resident brother Kurt that they were opening for in-person.  YES!!!!  Signed up right away.

Besides me, an additional 1,610 signed up for the in-person 10-mile run, and 88 signed up for the virtual 10-mile run.  Why anyone would signup for a virtual event when there is an in-person version as well is completely beyond me.  (Not being judgmental, but I just can't relate.)  In the 10-mile walk category, 363 and 66 signed up for the in-person and virtual, respectively.

This would be my 19th consecutive Blessing (virtual in 2020), with mixed results in recent years (see chart at end of post) with some injuries/medical issues.  The irony is this year is my most serious medical condition ever, with long term wound healing issues after two surgeries on my head to remove malignant skin cancer, yet it has very little impact to my running.  I set a goal of sub-65, which I've only achieved in one of the past three years, but I'm feeling good.  

Race day:  As has the been ritual most of the years I've run Blessing, I had picked up my bib and shirt the previous weekend and Jana would drop me off at the school about 40 minutes pre-race and continue on to find parking near the race finish.  As I got of the car wearing my favorite color (blue) singlet and AC/DC blasting from a neighbor's lawn, I was feeling good and perhaps a bit lucky.

Singlet faux pas:  Jana had put out a WTAC singlet on the bed for me to wear, but I figured so few WTAC runners will be running tonight that I wore a blue singlet that I love instead.  I wear a WTAC singlet every week at the Fun Runs and many local races, so something different for today.  That was a mistake on my part.  No sooner had I gotten out the car that I saw a WTAC singlet and by the time I warmed up and got to the start line, I saw at least 8 WTAC singlets, and I suspect there were more.  One WTAC singlet wearer asked me, "Aren't you the president of this club?".  Ouch.  It turned out there were 25 runners from WTAC in tonight's race.   OK, lesson learned.

Miles 1 & 2:  No corral start this year for some reason, so it's every man for himself.  I lined up about 8 rows back at the starting line.  Just after the gun, a guy cut right in front of me, forcing me to alter my stride lest I likely trip and fall over him.  Another runner yelled at him, "Dude, you just cut completely cut this guy off!".  Apparently the perpetrator hadn't even realized it and turned around and said "Sorry" to me.  No biggie; it happens in crowded starts.

In past years, a bib number of 100 or under gained
you entrance to the front corral, so I was happy to get this.
But it turned out for naught, as there was no lead corral
this year.

I tried not to get sucked in to the typically fast first mile, but was only partially successful.  About 1/2 mile in, the crowded field started to spread a little and I saw Chris (he was wearing his WTAC singlet) move ahead.  Mile 1 split 5:51.  Faster than I was looking for, but it is slightly downhill as well.

Mile 2 was pretty uneventful.  A few younger guys passed me during this mile.  Focused on running my own race, but I may have subconsciously over-adjusted for my fast Mile 1 by running a 6:12 split for Mile 2.

Miles 3 & 4:  In Mile 3, I was passed by many runners, most together in groups.  Fortunately I noted that every single one of them was well under age 25.  Good for them.  Run your own race.  Slight downhill mile.  Mile 3 split 6:02.

Mile 4 goes by Scarborough Beach.  This should help the mile go by quickly while stealing glances of the ocean, but I forgot how long it is after Scarborough Beach before you make the right-hand turn off of Ocean Road.  It's the next turn, right?  No.  On Knowlesway, there is a slight uphill before finishing the mile.  6:19.  I'm now thinking my Miles 5 and 6 will be 6:30ish.

Miles 5 & 6:  Onto my least favorite and typically slowest section of the race:  the dreaded Route 108.  This is a four-lane highway usually baking in the sun and heat, and where until recent years you were confined to the breakdown lane, making matters worse as you start to come up on back-of-the-walkers here (the walking field starts one hour earlier).

Fortunately in recent years runners (and walkers) now have the breakdown lane PLUS one full lane of northbound traffic coned off for their use.  This helps greatly and pretty much eliminates having to weave around walkers, with the possible exception of coming into water stops.

This year there is no heat, no sun, and little humidity at 68%.  In fact, there are occasional rain sprinkles during the race.  What a difference!  In my 19 Blessings to date, this year was my 2nd fastest Route 108 run, second only to my PR (60:52) in 2015.  Mile 5 split 6:06, Mile 6 - 6:16.

Mile 7 & 8:  I'm happy to turn off Route 108 and run the shaded Kinney Ave.  Mile 7 split 6:06.  In Mile 8, I can feel my form is breaking down and try to keep it going strong.  The intersection of Gibson and South Pier Road is the place where the most spectators are congregated.  This is a double-edge sword as the crowd excitement does help keep me motivated, but yet they keep edging further into the street making for a tight turn.  Mile 8 split 6:16.

Mile 9 & 10:  I can smell the finish now.  OK, not really, but I can feel it in my grasp.  Passing back through the start line, I am looking forward to the adjacent usual party house with music and especially getting sprayed with a hose for those that want it.  Oh no, no hose this year.  I see two boys with super soakers, so I get their attention and point to my chest.  Yes, they both nailed it, or nailed my chest rather.  Oh, that felt so good and made me feel good too!  Downhill and then uphill to Avice.  

Avice Street is the Land of the Freaks to me.  A spectator from a house party runs across the street right in front of me, and then turns around and starts to run back.  He is going to be smack dab in my path, but fortunately other spectators yelled at him and he looked up, saw me, yelled "Sh!#" and got out of my way.  Dude, there is a race going on here; pay attention.  Then a young kid asked me if I would play on his huge inflatable slide; I told him maybe after I finish.  Finally, there is a table with cups of liquid for runners, labeled "Not Water".  Not sure if shots or beer.  I'm no prude, but seriously, what runners are taking this during a race?  Not that are taking their time seriously, I would venture.  Mile 9 is done.  6:18.

Final mile.  Let's kick it in.  Having the finish line so close now keeps me going, but I am surprised to find out later that my final mile is a 5:49!  Does that suggest that I left too much out on the course and could've gone even faster?

Moving so fast that I'm just a blur as I approach the finish.
(It couldn't just be that the photo itself is blurry, right?
Don't burst my bubble.)

Done.

Final results:  1:01:42, average 6:07 pace.  84th overall of 1,453 finishers, 2nd in age group (of 137).   Full results here.

Post-finish:
(l-r:  My brother Kurt, 11-year-old niece Lucy,
and some old half-naked guy)

Crossed the finish line and caught up with so many runners, many of whom I hadn't seen since pre-pandemic.  Went to get oranges and grapes, but alas, fresh cut fruit this year was replaced by dry packaged goods.  I get it.  I'm just thrilled that the in-person race actually happened.

Post-race observations:

• First and foremost, just psyched that the Blessing in-person returned this year!
• I figured I had a pretty good shot at breaking my somewhat soft goal of sub-65, but was honestly surprised (and thrilled!) that I ran sub-62.  Was this just a freak perfect storm with the favorable weather, or if I actually trained for this race, would I have a chance at my advanced age of going sub-60, or at least taking 50+  seconds off and going sub-60:52 (my PR)?
• Great to see so many runners that I know, and so many of them running quite well!
• Looking forward to running Blessing #20 next July!

3rd fastest in 19 starts

Weekly Log 19-Jul to 25-Jul-2021: Blessing Prep and Medical Delays

Monday:  0

Took the day off from work.  Went to one of my favorite places that I go often when I complete another trip around the sun:  Beavertail State Park.  Followed that up with an ice cream sundae from Brickley's in Narragansett.  An unnecessary, but sinfully delicious treat.

Probably our nicest state park in Rhode Island
(Pics by Jana, as usual)

Tuesday:  5

First, the weekly hospital wound care update.  It's been one week since the advanced cellular tissue product has been applied.  I'm trying not to set myself up for disappointment, as I'm looking forward to this day and the results.  They're mixed:  the wound is responding and shrinking again, however, the bandaging had dried out, was stuck to my head, and skin needed to be removed.  Very painful and a bit of regression.

A second application of the tissue product was applied today, and a rough estimate given of another four weeks to fully heal.  Unfortunately, that puts Block Island Triathlon (Aug 7) in jeopardy for me, and also means we can't plan for a full week (or more) family vacation this summer, as I need to return to the hospital for treatment and assessment every Tuesday.  I'm trying hard to keep the faith, recognize the progress, remember that the cancer is gone, others have it worse, etc., but it is really very frustrating.

---

As for the run, I was already in a bad mood (and in pain) after my hospital treatment, and the run had its own issues.  Went for five miles at Grills, with Brady, from Hopkinton side.  I knew (or thought I knew) where the overgrown sections would be and tried to avoid them.  It turns out there a number of overgrown sections I hadn't anticipated, including the Tomaquag Trail section in Hopkinton to "Cole's Climb" and then again on the Westerly side between Polly Coon Bridge and blue trail.  The other issue (and I was forewarned) was copious amounts of deerflies.

---

I remember when I started running 18 years ago and read somewhere that running is simplistic because all you need is a pair of running shoes and out you go.  What a fallacy!  I feel like I need a checklist to remember everything for a run lately:

• Dog (well, obviously not required, but it's good exercise for him and good mental health for me)
• Dog leash (see above)
• Dog collapsible bowl (see above)
• BodyGlide - certainly don't want to chafe
• Hydration pack (depending upon distance and availability of water on route)
• Deerfly patches - if running trails this time of year
• Towel(s) - even with my swimming prohibition, I'm still pretty drenched just from many summer runs
• Water bottle (or preferably two), and it would help if I filled with ice and water
• Hats - obviously tied to my current wound care - one to wear during run, which is disgusting when finished, and then one dry clean one in case I stop anywhere on drive home
• Shirt - I'm certainly not getting into the car post-run wearing the drenched and smelly singlet I wore on run, so I pack a dry clean shirt as well
• Running watch
• Phone - pretty standard to bring wherever I go anyway, but you don't expect me to wait until I get home to post and update Strava, right?

So a dozen or so items to pack or consider packing, besides the running clothes and shoes I've already put on for the run itself.  So while I'm sure I've made my checklist above a little more complex than need be, I also reiterate that running is not nearly as simple as just putting on a pair of running shoes.

Wednesday:  11

AM:  Eight humid miles with Matthew and Brady at DuVal.  Drenched as usual with the latest spate of humidity.  Brady was panting pretty hard, so we returned to the car halfway through to get him water.  On the bright spot, the place was almost deerfly free.  The one deerfly I caught I sadistically punished by ripping its wings off of its body.  Don't call PETA on me; I have no mercy on these nasty creatures.

PM:  Easy 5K at week #8 of the Fun Runs.  Had a good run and conversation with Jeff Anderson, owner of Kelley's Pace in Mystic.  He's running his first Blessing on Friday.

Thursday:  6

Six easy at Burlingame.  Matthew was going through a full tri simulation in advance of a tri he is doing this coming weekend.  Brady and I joined him for his cool-down, which was mostly a mix of paved campground roads and dirt roads.

Friday:  11

Blessing of the Fleet - #19 for me.  See separate write-up shortly.

Saturday:  6

Pushed my long run out to Sunday on account of racing hard the night before, so I contemplated a ride with the guys Saturday morning instead.  6:30am came and went; not happening.

After a nice sleep in, went to Ninigret Park in Charlestown for a recovery run with Matthew and Brady.  Fortunately, the pace was kept pretty easy, especially as Matthew has a triathlon tomorrow.  Post-run indulging at The Bakery, which I'm probably frequenting a bit too much, but I just love their scones and iced lattes!

Sunday:  16

Had planned out a route the night before incorporating several miles of the RWYC loop, but again I slept in longer than planned.  Ended up getting to the RWYC Avondale start (ran from the house) 10 minutes late, caught many of the runners along the way and had quick conversations with most, and then made up the rest of the run from there.  Average pace in low 7s and felt pretty good.  Until I got home.  And walked down stairs.  Ouch.  Time for some Vitamin I.  OK, either completely off tomorrow, or very light, or bike.  

Weekly mileage:  55

Weekly synopsis:  Ran fabulous at the Blessing, had a good time, caught up with many runners I hadn't seen in a long time, and still managed to hit my weekly mileage goal.  No speed work of any kind (unless you consider a 10-mile race speed work), but even my marathon training plan does call for a cycle of recovery weeks every 4th week, so I'm good.  Next week I'll bump up the mileage and intensity a bit.  Or that's the plan, at least.  Check back in next week.

Weekly highlight:  My 19th consecutive Blessing of the Fleet.  Hands down.

Weekly lowlight:  My continued slow progress on wound healing, albeit combined with my limited patience.  After the surgeon performed the 2nd surgery way back in April, he estimated three months to heal (July 21).  The head nurse prognosticated July 4 based upon progress seen in June.  Obviously both those dates have come and gone, and as a result sometimes my frustration gets the best of me.  End of rant.

I'm now resolved to just accepting and dealing with however long the delayed healing will last (since there's no other choice!), but it took me a while to get there.  If I can't swim by BI Tri, which is now the most likely scenario, I'll go for a tri in September instead.  I've added two sprint tris as placeholders to try to placate me and have something to look forward to.  As far as a summer family vacation, well it will have to be constrained to six days maximum as I can't skip my weekly treatments at the hospital.  It looks like a west coast or Europe trip will have to wait, but we'll plan something fun in the meantime.   Life goes on.

Weekly Log 12-Jul to 18-Jul-2021: Porcine

Monday:  0

Needed a day off after a Saturday workout and Sunday bike and run.

Tuesday:  10

AM:  Got up early to go on a pre-hospital visit run, but bagged it in the rain.  Week #13 of hospital debridement treatments.  When my wound healing stalled two weeks ago, the wound care doctor made two changes to my treatments:  1) changed to a different collagen dressing to promote wound healing, and 2) filed a request with insurance to approve use of an advanced cellular tissue membrane.  The membrane chosen has had a clinical study of 307 applications to large, difficult to heal wounds, and shows an 86% improvement when the membrane is used.  Let's hope.

Today the approval came in, and the membrane was applied to my head wound.  It is porcine derived, meaning from pigs.  My son Mark said that's gross, and that he now considers me to be part human, part pig.  So I have always been part German, part Scottish, and part English.  But the part pig is new to me.  I do hope that the side effects are that I'm even more inclined to play in the mud going forward, and not that I randomly start oinking during business meetings.  That wouldn't be good.  Or if I start growing a curly pink tail.  Also not good.

PM:  Burlingame sweaty mixer with Matthew and Brady.  Not a soul out there.  Well, except for a bunch of deerflies.  Hate those things.

Wednesday:  8

AM:  5 miles at Ninigret.  Very humid at 95%.  Just felt slow and heavy.

PM:  3 miles.  Fun Run.  Often humidity is at its highest in the morning and dissipates during the day.  Not today.  Humidity still over 90% in the evening.  Just felt horrible on the run, and decided from the get go to reel it in a bit.  19:38.

It's so good to have the namesake of our runs,
Tommy McCoy, to come out to many of the Fun Runs this year.
He has slowed down a bit, for sure, but he is age 86 after all.

Finishing up the Fun Run.

So glad to see our wagon getting use,
to carry the clock, signs, and other gear to 
setup the Fun Runs.
We got this wagon about 20 years ago
to pull Mark and Matthew around.
Time flies.

Thursday:  10

Low tide barefoot beach run with Matthew and Brady.  Very thick fog.  Not quite as thick as at the summit of Mt Washington during that road race, but pretty thick for around here.  I guess my feet aren't calloused enough yet this year, as the bottom of my toes are a little sore post-run.

Friday:  6

Slept in.  Ran the Groton Fun Run for the first time in a long time.  Ran with Josh Harwell for a while and caught up.  Yet another hot and humid day.  No whining.

Saturday:  18

Drove to and parked at Narragansett Middle School, as I'd be there to pick up my Blessing of the Fleet bib and shirt post-run.  This was a planned two loop run, so that I could get cold water at the car mid-run:

Loop 1:  First eight miles of the Blessing course.  Warmed up for two miles, then pushed the next six moderately hard (splits varying 6:24 - 6:41).  Quite a few cyclists, walkers, and runners out on the course.  As usual, I disliked the Route 108 busy, open sun, and hot section, and really like the Windermere Road shaded section.  Finished up and got some cold water and dumped my drenched singlet back at the car.  I was tempted just to call it a day.  I tried, but it was hot, over 80° and that was my justification.  Fortunately, bib pick-up wouldn't be open for another hour, so back out there you go, boy.

Loop 2:  Ten mile loop into SK, about 3 miles on shaded bike path and the rest on roads.  I am feeling really dehydrated for most of this run, but I keep moving along at low to mid 7s.  I am tempted to soak in the few streams that I pass over, but they appear overgrown and not clean flowing streams.  Keep moving.  When I finally get back to the car, I'm a disgusting hot sweaty mess.  Before going in to get my bib and shirt, I must've spent ten minutes in the shade repeatedly alternating downing cold water and toweling sweat off my body.  Happy I didn't bail halfway through.

Saturday dinner:  With the preface that I know
not everyone likes sushi (although that's a shame),
this rainbow roll as an appetizer was just awesome.

And the grilled eel for dinner was fabulous.

Sunday:  8

Went with Brady to Yawgoog for what I intended to be an easy recovery run.  Didn't exactly turn out that way.  Deerflies were just atrocious.  FIFTY deerfly kills!  Those things are so nasty and gross.  I never saw anyone on the trails; maybe because of the deerflies?  Killed 22 of them with my bare hands and the rest with deerfly patch:

Leaving Hidden Lake shores, I slipped on wet rocks and wet down hard on my knee.  It hurt and kept bleeding for most of the day.  I imagine it will be fine for Blessing five days out, though.

Weekly mileage:  61

Weekly synopsis:  Back-to-back 60+ miles weeks.  I'll take it!  Fall marathon season is a long ways off, so I won't get cocky, but I'm feeling really good with my running at the moment.

Weekly highlight:  Despite the heat and humidity, I was happy with the 18-miler and getting a long run completed as planned.  For an even more specific moment, when I stopped shirtless along the bike path 13 miles into my run to retie my shoes, an older woman looked at me and said, "You look really fit!".  Hopefully I didn't mishear and she really said, "You look really fat", but otherwise it made my day.

Weekly lowlight:  Heat, humidity, and deerflies.

Weekly Log 5-Jul to 11-Jul-2021: Training Start Week

Monday:  8

Independence Day holiday (observed), as the 4th fell on a Sunday.  Brady and I went to Wahaneeta, and ran trails in Woody Hill, making up the run as we went.  Given the holiday I expected to run into a lot of MTB riders and others, but never saw a soul out there.

Later in the day, I learned that former WLT's President Sheila was out for a run in Woody Hill just last week with her dogs as she frequently does and two of them were mauled by pit bulls and required surgery.  Just horrible.

Tuesday:  8

Carter Preserve with Matthew and Brady.  The cooler temps from the weekend are gone and replaced with 80° weather, sunny, and humidity.  I just dragged out there.  After five miles, we went back to the car with Brady to get him water, which he drank, but then just lied down in the dirt.  Not good.  Matthew had the great idea of bringing him over to the nearby Pawcatuck River, and that did the trick as he jumped in and put his head under to cool off.

Saw this guy just before the start of our run.

Wednesday:  9

AM:  5.5 miles at Burlingame with Brady, in less than ideal conditions.  100% humidity, spider web wraps, and incessant deerflies dampened my enjoyment.

PM:  Fun Run #6.  Humidity had lessened (somewhat) but temps were in the uncomfortable lower 80s.  Which makes it more surprising to me that I ran quite well.  Started in the 1st wave and within first 1/4 mile, on Maplewood, Nick, Brandy, and Jonny E all ran past me.   First mile was 5:40.  At the start of the second mile, Jonny came back to me, same as last week.  Shortly thereafter, on Bayberry Road, I was wondering why Nick ran onto someone's private property, until I saw a girl was operating a hose and nozzle as she was walking towards runners.  Nick ran through the water spray to cool down.  Ah, got it, good idea!  I ran towards her but in front of a cyclist who verbally expressed his displeasure with me.  Unfortunately, I couldn't get close enough to get soaked and the girl's garden hose was already fully extended.  Oh well, the best of intentions.

Continuing on the run through the hills, I watched Nick and Brandy ahead of me, until Nick came back to me early in Mile 3.  (Mile 2 was a 6-flat.)  Nick gave some encouragement as I past.  On Atlantic Ave, Brandy came back to me and she said something to the effect that she was waiting for me to catch her.  I don't know about all out, but I ran pretty hard for sure and still surprised to see the clock in the "18:xx" as I rounded the corner.  Finished in 18:48, with final mile my fastest in 5:42.  Pretty happy with both stats, and encourages me to try for faster next time.

In orange Rhody cap, about to start.

Thursday:  8

Arcadia Management Area.  Roads, not trails, today.  This was Matthew's choice due to ongoing ankle stability issues, but was actually just fine with me.  Oddly, I feel I know the trails (at least some of them) at Arcadia much better than the roads, and had to double-check a few times while navigating the roads.  Pretty neat that my new watch has maps where you can check where you are real-time on maps, showing both roads and trails.  (Many of you probably already have this feature, but it's new to me.)

Friday:   8

Vin Gormley Trail with Matthew and Brady.  Light rain throughout run.  This was after heavy storm Elsa overnight and this morning.  It was good to streams raging again, even if only for today.

Saturday:  16

3 solo at start, 11 with Matthew, final 2 solo.  Road long run / workout.  Two blocks of 3 miles each in middle of run.  My goal was to run 6:30 (or faster), which I managed for 5 out of 6, but the last mile just held on to finish in 6:40 instead of 6:30, so I guess not too far off?

Super humid out there today.  As soon as I finished the second block of 3-miles, that was right in Misquamicut State Beach parking lot, so we went up to the pavilion to get water.  The water fountain is shut off due to COVID.  Ugh.  Went to the concession stand.  They can't give out cups due to COVID.  Oh, come on now.  We couldn't buy bottled water because we didn't have any money on us.  A huge thank you to Dawn, who despite the concession stand not being open yet, and despite us not having any money, gave us each a bottle of cold water.  Tasted heavenly.  I went back a couple of hours later to offer to pay, which she turned down, so I left a generous tip in the jar.  There are some good people out there.

Sunday:  23 ride, 11 run

Ride with Mike on coastal Westerly roads, and a coffee stop at end at Junk & Java.  Nice catch-up.  Bike making clanking sounds, but it will have to do for the rest of this summer.

Post-ride, headed over to run Groton Cross Town Trail, with a few miles added on in Bluff Point State Park.  Matthew and I parking cars at both ends allowed us to run P2P.

Weekly Mileage:  69 run, 23 bike

Weekly Synopsis:  I got into Vermont City Marathon ("VCM")!  I've been wanting to run this for a while, and this will complete a marathon in each of the six New England states for me.  It's typically run on Memorial Day weekend, which I'd prefer to avoid as it can be quite hot that late in the spring, especially in way inland Burlington.  So this is the perfect year, as it's in October due to COVID race delay from the spring, and that's not likely to ever happen again.

Biggest running mileage week since December, so pretty happy with that.  Got in my first long run, which was a mixed blessing as I struggled and ultimately failed to run sub 6:30 for 2 x 3 mile blocks, as I just fell apart the final mile.  I'm loosely (ok, very loosely) following the last 14 weeks of an 18-week 70-mile max training plan by Pete Pfitzinger (top American in Olympic marathon in '84 and '88, PR of 2:11) from his book "Advanced Marathoning".

Weekly highlight:  Although I was suffering a bit at the time, pretty happy with getting a 16-mile training run in.  The trick will be to keep the training going.  I'm not even going to try to follow the plan to a tee, lest I fail miserably and become miserable in the process for missing fun stuff like Fun Runs and beach race.  Having said that, I'll plan to switch up the training days and still hit most of the training.  Writing honestly here in the blog will hopefully also keep me focused.

Weekly lowlight:  Spider web wraps around the face.  Those things are just the worse.  Yes, even worse than deerfly bites.

Catamount 25K

Stowe, VT

Saturday, June 26, 2021

First of all, it was a relief to get back to Vermont.  Last year during COVID, Vermont had one of the strictest out-of-state travel bans in the entire country.  Prior to today, my previous run (and visit) in Vermont was Sleepy Hollow in April, 2019.

We arrived in Stowe on Friday night and opted for the early packet pickup that night, to make things more streamlined Saturday morning.  We were staying at the Innsbruck Inn, which got mixed reviews, but we all thought it was just fine.  Due to COVID, the breakfast buffet would be closed, but instead of using that as an excuse (as the Covered Bridge Inn in Jackson did last weekend), I give the management a lot of credit for instituting a process of guests ordering their breakfast particulars the night before and having them ready for you at the time you pre-selected.  Set the alarm for 6:45am, put on my race gear which I laid out the night before, and made our way downstairs for the earliest breakfast time, 7am.  After a breakfast of oatmeal, 1/2 bagel, 1/2 apple, yogurt, and OJ, took Brady out for his daily constitutional, and drove the short 10-minute trip to the famous Trapp Family Lodge (as in the von Trapp family from Austria, known for The Sound of Music).  This would be the race venue.  So why didn't we just stay there?  The price of about $400/night was more than I was comfortable dropping money on.

Checking out the course start at packet pick-up the night before.

The famous Trapp Family Lodge

The not famous, but very functional,
Innsbruck Inn

Rooms were clean, with plenty of room

Lots of flowers, and the pool was nice

Downstairs where breakfast served.
Dated?  Yes.  But with charm.

After a mile and a half warm-up, Matthew and I made our way to the start line and area corralled off for Wave 1 runners.  Other than a runner in a full Wonder Woman getup, including tutu, cape, and fake metal headband, everyone seemed dressed in normal running garb.  We were in the very small minority not running with either a hydration pack or hand-held bottle.  One guy was actually carrying a hand-held Poland Spring plastic water bottle that you would buy.  Whatever works.  Yes, this would be another cup-less race, but the neat collapsible plastic water bottles that we got for Mt Wash seemed to work fine there and we took this same approach.  My water bottle and a single packet of GU were secured in a zippered pocket on my race shorts, and I was ready.

Like Mt Wash, the bibs were rank ordered by time but yet there was no forced start order.  Unlike Mt Wash, no one seemed to want to get near the start line and be first.  I certainly didn't!  With 30 seconds to go and a nudging from the RD (or announcer?), a few people got in the first row finally, and I jumped in (well, not literally) behind them.

Starting line.  You can kind of see me in middle in
blue singlet and blue hat, and Matthew in first row,
leftmost, in black

We took off across a mowed grass field and up a short hill.  About 1/10 mile (?) in, when I could still see everyone, I counted myself at 9th place.  I'll do that sometimes and then increment as I get passed (or decrement if I pass someone), but today that approach turned out to be meaningless, because with two waves behind me, I couldn't possibly know where I stood overall at any given time in the race, or even at the finish.  I was disappointed that there was one guy pretty clearly in my age group ("Old") that was ahead of me already, but my the end of the first mile, I passed the old guy and fortunately never saw him again.

With the exception of a very short section of single-track, almost the entirety of the course was on a mix of double-track grass trails and dirt roads.  This would be similar to Pinelands 25K, except that both the grass and dirt road sections were significantly rougher and more uneven than Pinelands.  In Mile 2, I found myself in a pack of four:  the two top women, a kid, and me.  The two young women were chatting away easily while I was already panting.  The kid had a bandaged up shoulder, while of course, under my hat, I had a bandaged up head.  (My head bandages had loosened up, and Jana used surgical tape to affix them to my scalp in hopes of them making it through the race before needing changing again, and then fastened my hat pretty tight in order to keep everything "locked down".)

About Mile 3, the two women split up and both took off ahead of the kid and I.  The #1 woman was quickly gone and ended up third across the line (although 4th when figuring the second wave?), while I could see the #2 woman on and off for the next mile or two.  About this time, a guy came up behind us, was talking easily as he passed the kid and me, and then went ahead to pass the 2nd woman as well before going out of my sight.

From about Miles 3 to 7, the kid and I took turns passing me each other.  There is a 700' climb starting about Mile 3, so you figure I'd be toast compared to a much younger guy.  But the funny thing is I would pass him on the uphills (I didn't think there was anyone slower than me on uphills) and then he would pass me on downhills (I consider that to be one of my strengths).  My first moron move was at the aid station about 5 miles in.  As I crested a hill and came in view of the aid station, one of the volunteers was shouting "Good job, Chris!  Way to go, Chris!".  I was debating telling him my name wasn't Chris, until I approached him and he said to me, "Good job, Man.".  I'm a little bit slow to catch on sometimes, but I finally got it:  My name is "Man", and Chris is the name of the kid.

My second moron move was coming in to the aid station itself, and when asked what I wanted, and I said water, to which the guy asked what I thought was "tap or regular water".  I paused and I'm sure I looked confused, so he repeated it again.  What the heck is the difference between tap water and regular water?  I said "regular water, please". I got out my collapsible cup, knowing this was a cupless race, and was really confused when the guy handed me a plastic cup full of water.  As I ran past the aid station gulping my "regular water", I saw and finally figured out that what he really asked me was, "Untapped or regular water"?  "Untapped" is a maple flavored athletic drink.

Over the next three miles or so, we dropped 1,000 feet.  Chris passed me this time for good, although I still saw for the next mile or two.  I'm guessing he is a local guy, as I heard his name called out by volunteers again.  I should be bombing down these sections, but I'm still having some residual calf and hamstring soreness from running up (and down) Mt Washington.  (Don't you hate it when people make excuses for their races?)

About Mile 9, the descent bottoms out and we cross a road.  Here a blue guy in a ponytail passes me.  I'm starting to tire here, so I try some mental exercises to get my mind off the moment.  At 9 miles, I'm now 3/5 (60%) done, at 10 I'll be 2/3 (67%), at 11 will be 3/4 (75%), etc.  I think it helps, as the scenery changes and I'm now at Mile 11, out of the woods and running a large loop on grass in a big field adjacent to Trapp lodging clusters.  A guy runs past me with ease.  Where did he come from?  I can only fathom he started in the wave behind me (later sleuthing proves this correct).

In Mile 12, we go back into the woods, and have a 200' drop.  The legs normally love this, but not so today.  At the start of Mile 13, the descent again bottoms out, and we now face a 300' climb back to the start.  Ugh.  I round a corner and see the blue-clad ponytail guy again!  I didn't expect to see anyone except more people passing me, so this lifts my spirits as I focus on him and the distance between us.  Sure enough, the distance is shrinking!  I'm excited.  With about a mile to go, I catch and re-pass him.  I don't want to lose the lead this time, and it gives me something to focus on.  Once the course flattens out and is on a dirt road for the final 1/2 mile, I pick it up into the high 6s to finish strong.  I hold him off.  (Good thing, as it turns out he is also in the 50s age group!)

Picking it up into the finish, as I certainly
don't want to get passed and lose my age group
right at the end.
Trapp Family Lodge in background.

Final results:  2:01:42, 11th out of 253.  1st in age group.   Full results here.

I love the race giveaway shirt:
dark blue color and simple design

The hat materials (giveaway at
finish) don't do much for me,
but again, you don't go to a race for its
giveaways

In hindsight, I erred in not giving enough recovery time after Mount Washington (just six days) before running this race.  I enjoyed the race overall and especially the getaway weekend in Vermont.  Had a burrito at finish and finally enjoyed several cupfuls of Untapped Maple.

Weekly Log 28-Jun to 4-Jul-2021

Monday:  0 run, 16 bike!

First time on a bike since early August last year.  (PMR kept my riding to an absolute minimum last summer, but I digress.)  Solo ride along the beach roads.  A lot of people out, but not terribly crazy tourist season yet.

Tuesday:  4 run

Short run cut ever shorter by nasty deerflies, worst bout this year to date.  Wahaneeta with Brady.  They were just swarming and buzzing around my head, and I couldn't swat them into my head and kill them like I've done so often, as I have to be careful with my head wound.  They were laughing at me.  Ugh.  Still managed to kill 17 of those bastards (mid-air jabs, smacking them into my arms, etc.), but it wasn't fun.

Speaking of not fun, I got a reality check an hour post-run at my weekly debridement treatment session at the hospital.  The doctor sat me down and explained that my wound healing had stalled, and the previous estimate (by another wound care staff member) for being fully healed on July 4th was just not going to happen.  He used statistical trends showing the reduction of my wound's measurements over time to show me, and then I got it.  So then, if not July 4th, then when?  He was hesitant to give me any date at all, as he explained the healing is often not a linear progression path, but he said based on observations he has seen in other patients, it could be up to an additional 4-8 weeks.  4-8 weeks?!  In addition to the 10 weeks already?  I just about lost it, and I'm just sick and tired of all of it:

• I'm sick of having a scalpel scraping my scalp every Tuesday and the ensuing pain
• I'm sick of bleeding from the top of my head
• I'm sick of wearing a hat everywhere I go
• I'm sick of wearing a shower cap
• I'm sick of not being able to swim (or go in the water, on boats, etc)
• I'm sick of not breaking 60 minutes at Blessing (oh, wait a minute, that's not related, is it?)

I was pretty depressed for a few hours.  The doctor apologized many times, but I don't direct it at him.  In fact, he is trying and spends a lot of time with me.  He changed to a different collagen dressing that is supposed to stimulate building new tissue in acute wounds.   He is also looking into placental membranes and seeing if my insurance will pay for that.  

It's just depressing as I had thought I was done, and now I need to keep going to the hospital every Tuesday and also push off any family vacation.  I need to stay focused on positivity and have patience.  I'm alive, I'm cancer-free, and a lot of people are far worse off than me.

The one bright spot in my day:  business meeting / job interview
on the oceanside patio at the Coast Guard House, Narragansett.
HR approved my location choice, and I was able to expense the
meal and valet parking.  Oh yeah, and the important part: 
we have a great candidate that hopefully will come aboard.

Wednesday:  11

AM:  8 miles on Vin Gormley trail.  Hot and sweaty mess in the heat.  I wore a hydration pack filled with ice and cold water, as the streams are drying up and otherwise there would be long sections of trail with no water for Brady.  He just took a few sips of the now warm water each time we stopped, but when we finished and I filled his collapsible bowl with cold water from the car, he drank four bowls full of water!  Hmm.  A couple of people told me I shouldn't give dogs cold water, but when I searched on the 'net, that's not exactly what I found.  There were studies done that showed dogs, like many people, prefer cold water to drink.  Even with ice cubes, it was only recommended to avoid for those dogs that are either very small or are suffering from heat stroke.  OK, good to know.  Feel free to let me know if you have a different experience; I'm still learning.

PM:  3 miles at Fun Run 5K.  Actually tried hard to run fast, but 19:09 was all I could muster.  Sebastian led it out fast, followed by Dave Goodrich, then Jonny Eckel who passed me early on, and me.  I never saw Sebastian after the first turn (he finished in 16:2x), but I could see Dave the whole way and Jonny was just a few strides ahead of me before I passed him in the 2nd mile.  I anticipated him retaking me at any point, but it just never happened.  Another good Fun Run, albeit on a very hot day.

Thursday:  5

Slow and easy in the midday heat from Kettle Pond Visitor Center.  Mostly ran the Kimball Trails so that I could keep bringing Brady back to Watchaug Pond.  I stood on the shoreline jealous while he ran into the pond and put his head under the water at least 15 times to cool off.  He just stood in the pond looking at me on the shoreline and seemed to have no interest to come out of the pond.  I don't blame him!

Friday:  12

I took the day off to make a 4-day holiday weekend, and had grandiose visions of getting a lot of yard work done.  Rainy most of the day, so that didn't happen.  Mid morning decided to go to Arcadia with Brady and run the "classic loop" (from JB Hudson trailhead CW to Mount Tom Trail, Escoheag Trail, Breakheart, etc).  Not a soul out there!  Nice.  It was light rain and I was quickly drenched from that and the humidity, but very comfortable.

We stopped at every stream and river and Brady would go in.  About 4 miles in my shoes and socks were soaked, mostly from running through puddles and knee-high grass in "The Gulley" (northern section of Mt Tom Trail), so after that I just joined Brady in wading into every subsequent river stop, with my shoes and socks on.  Helped both to wash off some of the muck as well as cool me down.  Our final river stop of the day was one of my favorite water holes (intersection of River Trail and Shelter), and I just waded all the way up to my stomach.  It probably wasn't the brightest move, as I slipped at one point and feared going underwater and compromising my head wound healing, but it sure felt refreshing!

One of the highlights was having my new watch!  Did a fair amount of research on which multi-sport watch to buy, and in the end stayed in the Fenix family.  Didn't want to drop $700 on the latest version (Fenix 6), so bought the previous version (Fenix 5 Plus) at half-price on Amazon for $350.

One of the lowlights was that DEM is making Breakheart Trail so manicured with the addition of stone dust.  Disappointing.  It's a single-track trail in the woods.

Saturday:  15!

Took advantage of really good running weather, with temps at 8am at just 60° and mist the entire time.  Needed to drop my car off for inspection anyway, but as that's only two miles from home, I crafted a longer route through Avondale, Watch Hill, and Misquamicut.  I felt badly for the tourists who spent a lot of money renting a house for the 4th of July weekend and ending up with a lot of rainy weather, but that's the chance you take obviously.

Came home, lied down on the couch, and crashed into a hard sleep.  I guess I needed it!

Sunday:  0 run, 23 ride

2nd ride of the season, and first group ride with friends in a year.  Met up with Tommy and Mike at Westerly Yacht Club and we rode through town and out to Boombridge (my first time crossing the new bridge), North Stonington, Ashaway, and back through Charlestown with a stop at Dave's Coffee.   Good time catching up.  Although I see each of them at Fun Runs every Wednesdays, I'm typically too busy with RD duties and don't get much time to talk.

I had wanted to get in a run today, but the day just got away from me.  That's OK.  I'll swap out my typical Monday off tomorrow and run.

Happiness is a new toy.  After 19 years,
my previous trimmer completely died and can't
be repaired any more.  This one has a 4-year
warranty.

Also came with a swappable steel blade.
Cool!  I immediately went to "help" out my
neighbor, the state cop, by trimming through
a lot of the thick entangled weeds and woody
brush right near his vinyl fence.  How sharp
are these blades?  Sliced right through his
fence.  Oops.

This little guy was scared, so I didn't hold him for long
before releasing him back to our lawn.  Pretty cool, eh?

Weekly mileage:  47 run, 39 ride

Weekly synopsis:  A good running and biking week overall.  Would've hit my weekly running goal, if I ran instead of biked Sunday, but it's all good and happy to spend some time with old friends.

Weekly highlight:  Oddly, the 15-mile road run.  Kind of enjoyed it, but don't tell anyone, as I shouldn't be enjoying road runs.

Weekly lowlight:   Medical setback with my head wound.

Mount Washington Road Race

Green's Grant, NH

Sunday, June 20, 2021

First, what the heck is "Green's Grant"?!  Well, I'm glad you asked.  A "grant" in New Hampshire is an unincorporated portion of a county and is not part of any town.  Specific to Green's Grant, which currently has a population of one, this was made by the then British-colonial governor of New Hampshire to Lt Francis Green, for his service as a soldier of the French and Indian Wars.

I had earned a guaranteed entry to the 2020 Mt Washington race as an award for running 6 out of the 8 2019 USATF-NE Mountain Series races.  Not surprisingly, the 2020 edition of this race was cancelled along with many others due to COVID.  Race day 2021 would feature separate starts on separate days for men and women.  We had arrived the night before and stayed in the Covered Bridge Riverview Lodge in nearby Jackson.  I can't recommend this establishment at all.  Really rundown, screen door broken, placed smelled, pool disgusting looking, and both pool and breakfast cancelled ostensibly due to COVID, but at this point in the retreating pandemic I just find this to be an easy excuse.  Since there was no breakfast, Matthew and I went to a local Dunkin' two hours before race time.

Just before the start.  Ran in road flats.
(Pic by Jana)

Check in tent

Thought about buying one of these bumper stickers,
and I think they're a good retort to the more
popular "This car drove up Mt. Washington",
but am I really going to put this bumper sticker
on my car, or in a drawer.

Pretty cool bib!

Line up:  Now on to the race.  Went for a 2-mile warm-up on dirt roads and easy trails at the base.  Had plenty of time to line up, or so I thought.  The elites were starting at 8:30 sharp, and then there would be a pause before the "regular" runners started, two at a time, every ten seconds.  There was confusion on how long the pause would be, as well as how we would line up.  I assumed that like Millenium Running NH events, we would have cones or physical spots for us to line up on according to our seeded bib numbers (mine was 1096, or 96th seed of just over 400 men running today; women had run yesterday).  But you know what happens when you assume!  Despite everyone having a seeded bib, anyone could start in whatever position they wanted, so I found that a little chaotic.  I tried to get further up in the corralled queue, but if you tried to go around to get near the start, a volunteer was constantly telling people to go to the back of the line, or at least the back of the corral.  It was kind of funny when just a minute or two before race start, Joe Gray (US mountain running champ from Colorado, and eventual winner) also tried to go around the corral and was also rebuffed.  A discussion ensued, and once the volunteer [presumably] realized who he was, Joe (but only Joe) was allowed to bypass the corral and get up to the front.

Start:  I watched the elites (including Matthew) lead the race out, and the pause was ever so brief (one minute at most) before the rest of the runners started two at a time staggered starts.  Since I started at 8:40am (10 minutes after start) and given two runners every 10 seconds, I estimate I started in about 140th place.  There was no problem with bunching as everyone was well spaced out and you had plenty of width to navigate the road the entire race.  When you got up to the start, you waited until your bib was scanned and name/city/state displayed overhead, and then you could go.

Starting line

Starting my race

After running a very short distance on a dirt road, you turned onto the paved auto road itself and started the uphill climb.  A 4,600' climb over 7.5 miles awaited, with an average incline of 12%.  The elevation gain per mile was pretty consistent, with the second half being just slightly steeper.  The first mile had the least elevation gain, at 500', and the rest of the miles ranged from 600' to 700' gain.  I was frankly shocked to see people walking already on the very first hill, as in just 1/4 mile in.  Again, there was plenty of room to go around them, but I was just afraid of the mental effect of seeing others around me walking and thus wanting to walk myself.  I wasn't sure if there so many people around me walking because 1) I started so far back so there were much slower runners ahead of me, or 2) that there were a number of skilled runners successfully employing a walk/run strategy [conserve on walking sections, have more energy on running].  Anyway, I have little confidence in a walk/run strategy for myself, and wanted to run as long as possible.  I told myself I would run at least to the end of Mile 1 before considering walking.

First half:  I finished Mile 1 in 9:53, which would be my only sub-10 mile on the day.  But I felt fine, and I recalled a former boss of mine at Fidelity and his smoking cessation struggle and I set a new goal of finishing Mile 2 before considering any walking.  Let me explain.  Gene (one of my many managers during my Fidelity tenure) had been a longtime chain smoker that reportedly tried numerous times to quit "cold turkey", all unsuccessful.  He said it felt too stressful to try to quit forever, so in the meantime, he would try to quit just for one day.  Success!  So he tried a second day.  Success again!  So he only quits for one day at a time, and at least when he recounted his story to me, he said that was 15 years ago now.  The analogy worked for me.  I got through Mile 2 but this was tough both physically and mentally (wouldn't you be more comfortable walking with the people around you?), so I set my goal on the next mile.  Somewhere in the third mile, I looked ahead and counted the people I could see ahead of me before the next road turn.  I counted 18 people, and 14 of them were walking!  Ugh; this was mentally challenging.  Let me just get through the next mile.  At the halfway mark, this was the only time I stopped, and only for a brief moment to fill and drink from my cup, not once, but twice.

This was another cupless race.
Used this collapsible cup, which
Matthew found on Amazon, at this
race.  Folded up nicely into shorts pocket
and forgot it was there.

Second half:  I felt happy that I had run the entire first half, but continued my Gene approach of just running for one more mile at a time, before I walked.  The most memorable moment next was two Asian women walking up the road, one of each edge, talking to each other in their own language and cheering on runners.  I got close enough to one to recognize the language:  Mandarin.  When one said "Good job" as I ran by, I said thank you in Mandarin back to her.  The other woman said back to me, “jiāyóu” (加油) , and I had to think for a moment.  Literally "add gas" (as in fill up your car's gas tank)?  Oh yes, I think that can also mean encouragement at an event like a road race.  I turned slightly and waved with a thumbs up.  Small moment, but it encouraged me and kept me going, especially as there were pretty much zero spectators cheering you on.

Sometime just after Mile 5, I caught up to and ran past WTAC teammate Eric Ciocca from western MA.  To be clear, it was easy to run past him, as he was walking.  We chatted for just a moment, as we both observed that someone had written a large "J-E-F-F" in chalk on the road.  Obviously it was meant for me, as no one else is named Jeff.  A short time later he "blasted" past me (probably a 10 minute pace, as I was running 12:xx!) running.  Not sure if it was not sustainable or part of a walk/run strategy he was employing, but I saw him stop running and start walking again a little ways ahead of me.  I caught up to him shortly and passed him again, this time for good, as he urged me to keep it going and some other encouragement.  

Somewhere about Mile 5

Just after passing Eric, the road turned from asphalt to dirt.  I remember Matthew mentioning this, and I mistakenly assumed (here I go with those assumptions again) it would be dirt for the remainder of the distance, especially as we're above treeline in an alpine zone now.  It turns out the dirt section was very short and a rare relatively flat respite before climbing resumed.  There were some spectacular views here, but they were short-lived as not long after the 6-mile marker, we were in the clouds and the visibility was really diminished.  I remember a sharp left 90° turn and the pitch got significantly steeper, certainly above 15%.  I seriously figured my running was just about done, but pushed ahead.  There were much fewer runners around me, and the visibility was getting sharply reduced.  Soon I could barely see 10 feet ahead of me, and when I did come up on runners, it was just at the last second.  I remember all of a sudden seeing a car and it freaked me out until I realized it was a support vehicle parked in a pullout area just off the road.  

Starting to get foggy.  And steeper!

Running in near zero visibility now, all of a sudden a large "MILE 7" sign jumped out on my left.  Awesome!  I was convinced for the first time I would run the entire course, and push up the final 22% "wall" at the end no matter what.  I was absolutely disoriented now as to what direction the summit was in and could see nothing but the road under my feet.  It was music to my ear to hear cowbells, as clearly I was getting close to the finish, but how far and in what direction I had no idea.  I'd run past the cowbells and then hear more cowbells and shouting.  This was encouraging.  The terrain got steeper, but not overwhelming.  Was this the start of the "wall"?  I couldn't see ahead of me whether the steepness continued or not.  Before I knew it, I was at the finish line and crossed it as I heard my name called, and people gave me a blanket.  Supposedly it was 42° here, with a wind chill factor of 32°.  Matthew quickly found me.  I was COLD!  Besides the temperature, I was soaking wet from being in the clouds/fog.  

Just three seconds before I cross the finish line,
you can barely see my silhouette at all
(enshrouded in fog at 3 o'clock)
[These pics snapped from finish line video on YouTube, with
caption "Due to overcast and windy conditions
at the summit the video is often of poor quality."]

Two seconds to finish ...

One second to finish, coming into view

Finally, at the finish line itself you can see me,
but just silhouettes of spectators lining the road behind me.
And note the spectators are in winter jackets, hoods, gloves, etc.

Final result:  1:28:10, 62nd of 434 overall, 5th of 53 in age group.  Full results here.

Blanket with logo provided at finish line

After getting a drink of water (from my collapsible cup), we both went inside the summit building to warm up a bit, but we didn't stay long and I didn't sit down as I was afraid I'd stiffen up.  (Having weighed several options to get back down the mountain, including 1) have Jana drive up, but we would have to wait quite a while until all the runners are at the top before driving down, 2) run down 3-4 miles of trails to the Cog Railway, but Jana would have to drive there to meet us, and 3) just run the 7.5 miles back down the Auto Road, we chose #3.)  Back outside, we went down stairs around the finish line and back onto the road again.  We had to be careful as with very limited visibility, we need to make sure we didn't impede runners making their way up.  A few times, we stepped off the road completely.  We had our blankets wrapped around us to keep warm, until a mile at most when it cleared up completely.  It looked like the summit would soon be clear, but certainly not while we were up there.  Once the clouds broke, it was easy to avoid the runners coming up.   Certainly now I could understand why they wouldn't let cars descend at this time.

Despite a much slower and chaotic first mile downhill of 8:05, we ended up running an average 6:26 pace even with two stops, and one mile split at 5:49, and three others at 6-flat.  I wonder what we could have run if we actually tried, as opposed to just letting gravity do most of the work.  We arrived back at the base parking lot to see Jana and Brady about 11:20am and now very hungry, got our tickets off our bib to redeem our included turkey dinner to go from a local turkey farm.  I was really annoyed to learn that they wouldn't be serving them until 12:30pm, over an hour later.  When I explained that we would be long gone by then, the guy started to get a little testy with me and said this was all explained in the e-mail notifications.  OK, maybe it was and I missed it, but that wasn't really my point and my disappointment wasn't directed specifically at him, so I took the high road and said thanks and left.  It seems the organizers could have arranged better to have at least some of the meals ready for those of us (and there were quite a few) who had run down and were looking to get some food.  Anyway, you don't go to a race for the food, just like you don't go a race for the awards or the t-shirt (which I'll probably never wear as it's pink and I don't care for the design), so I had a great experience overall and want to focus on that.  We weren't going to sit and wait over an hour for the food, so we started our trek back to RI and had a nice lunch outdoors in North Conway on the way back.

Post-race thoughts:

• I wouldn't say this was a high bucket-list race for me, but I had certainly thought about running this for some years.
• I originally figured this would be a one-and-done race that I would hate, but it didn't turn out that way.  I would definitely run this again.
• I overestimated the difficulty of the race and left something out on the course.  I'm thrilled that I ran the entire way, but do feel I could I run it faster.
• The run down was fun and felt easy for the first few miles, but with two miles left to go, I was ready to be done.
• I underestimated the recovery effort and time needed, as it took a full five days.  I'm sure running down the mountain exacerbated the recovery period.  But it was fun!