2021 in Review; 2022 Goals

2021:  It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.  Yes, I overuse this Charles Dickens quote, but it sure seems to sum up the dichotomy of my year in running versus my year in health:

2021 goals assessment:  (Verbatim restatement of the past year's goals [in black], and responses in red.)

• Mileage:  2,800.  That's an average of 55 miles per week, conservatively allowing for two down weeks.  Fail.  2,524.  Not even close.
• New England:  It's been a couple of years, and in 2020 I had to take a COVID pass on running in Vermont (I ran in the other five states), but in 2021 it's time once again to run in all six states.  While travel restrictions will remain in place in early 2021, I have faith they'll either go away completely or be sharply diminished as the year progresses.  Success!*  Actually raced in 5 out of 6 states, and the asterisk is for Massachusetts.  In recent past years, I ran often in Massachusetts, as I worked there at least once per month, but in 2021, I ran but 0.5 miles in the Bay State, as part of a Border Patrol Challenge run that went barely over the state line on the Midstate Trail.
• Trails:  Run at least one new trail race.  Success!  Not one, but four:  Ledyard Mini Loop, Pineland Farms, Catamount, and the inaugural Grills Trail Race.
• 50K:  Time to step up the distance!  I find the longer races in some ways easier and more enjoyable than oxygen-debt, panting 5K road races.  Fail.  We'll reboot this one back onto the 2022 goals list.
• Triathlon:  Rejoin the sport of triathlon after a 2-year 3-year hiatus.  Fail.  For medical reasons.  We'll reboot this one into 2022 as well.

Not what I was looking for in terms of mileage,
but not terrible either.

Breakdown of where I ran the miles, or at least the top ten municipalities:

Very similar to 2020 listing.
Voluntown dropped off and was replaced with Jamestown.

Pictorial highlights of 2021:

January:  snowy run at Misquamicut with Brady

February:  my first ever snowshoe race!  (I'm in yellow WTAC hat).
Delta Dental snowshoe series at Concord, NH

March:  Grills hike,
at Big Hill

April:  WTAC group run at Barn Island.
New for 2021, we now have a monthly club group run,
open to all runners and paces.

May:  Soapstone Mountain 24K
Trail Race
---
I didn't run well at this race, but it was good
to be back racing at all.

June:  After being canceled last year due to COVID,
my earned entry from 2019 USATF-NE Mountain Series
was deferred to this year.  Not a fast finish,
but was thrilled that I was able to run the full 7.5 mile course,
with 4,600' gain without any walking.

July:  Beavertail State Park, Jamestown, RI
One of my favorite places in all of RI;
I try to visit at least annually

August:  Bottone Mile
Fastest mile race for me since 2013!  5:22

September:  Serious and focused at
Jamestown Half Marathon.  1:23:43
Pretty happy with this result, especially given
the rolling hills that did me in on a training run
on same course.

October:  Vermont City Half Marathon
1:20:01!  1st in age group, 2nd master, and a PR!
Psyched with this one.

November:  Philadelphia Marathon!
This was my crowning achievement of the year.
2:50:16, a PR by more than a minute and a half!
1st in age group.

December:   Niantic Jingle Bell 5K.
The race achievements kept coming.  2nd overall, and I tied
my PR of 17:32!

Health scare and setback:

I was diagnosed in April with malignant melanoma, the most aggressive form on skin cancer and the one that took marathoner John Kelley's life.  I was immediately scheduled for surgery to excise the cancer from a difficult body area:  the top of the my head.  The cancer area was much larger than the small mole on the top of my head (think "tip of the iceberg").  The cancer remained after the surgery, and I needed to go in for a second surgery on a now much enlarged area, and this left with me with a 20 square centimeter open wound that could not be closed.

After the surgeries, I was left with a massive
bandage on my head.  The bandages would get progressively
smaller, but my head would be bandaged and need to be kept
dry and immaculately clean for five months!

23 weekly visits to the hospital ensued,
where over the course of five months my wound care seemed
to take two steps forward, one step back.
It was a scary ride, but not as scary as the surgery itself.
The wound care doctor tried many different therapies,
where medical grade honey seemed to make the
greatest inroads.

I'm fully healed now!  It doesn't mean I can't get melanoma in another place on my body, but this melanoma is gone and I'll be seeing a dermatologist for a full body check every six months.  This certainly gives me a renewed perspective on life and the importance of living life to its fullest.

2021 stats:

• Races run:  21 (2020: 16, 2019: 24, 2018: 25, 2017: 22, 2016: 29, 2015:  36)
• Race breakdown by terrain:  Road - 10, Trail - 9, Beach - 1, Tri - 0, Indoor Track - 0, Snowshoe - 1
• Age group wins:  17
• Overall wins:  4 (smaller races for sure, but you race who shows up, and happy to win any races at age 57!) 
• Miles run:  2,524
• Elevation run:  178,212'
• Most elevation gain in a single run:  4,646' (Mount Washington Road Race)
• Hours run:  357 (2020: 383, 2019:  281, 2018:  246, 2017:  360)
• Days run:  302 (2020:  310, 2019:  276, 2018: 240, 2017:  315)  
• Coldest run:  11°F, Barn Island, CT, January
• Number of deerfly kills:  203 (Jun 18 - Sep 8)
• Most deerfly kills in a single run:  50
• Number of deerflies eaten:  only 1
• Number of horsefly kills:  2
• Lowest mileage week:  0 (April, post surgeries)
• Highest mileage week:  71 (October, while training for Philadelphia Marathon)
• Highest mileage day:  28 (Philadelphia Marathon in November, including warm-up)
• Highest mileage run:  27 (Pachaug-Nehantic trail loop, Border Patrol Challenge)
• Longest running streak:  13 days (three different occasions)
• Longest non-running streak: 9 days (mandatory rest post-cancer surgeries)
• Number of states run in:  7:  RI, CT, MA, NH, ME, VT, PA
• Number of countries run in:  2:  obviously USA, plus Canada
• Run furthest from home:  Bar Harbor, ME

2022 goals:

• Major races:  Complete two marathons and an ultramarathon.  2022 running for me will revolve around three core races:  a spring marathon, a summer ultramarathon, and a fall marathon.  Any other 2022 races or series (like the Border Patrol Challenge) that I run will be subservient to training for and running these three races.
• Mileage:  2,800.  I didn't come close in 2021, but it's a new year!

• New England:  Run in all six states.  Again.
• Trails:  Run at least one new trail race.  
• 50K:  Rebooted from failed 2021 goal.
• Triathlon:  Rebooted from failed 2021 goal.
• Set new PRs:  PR in the marathon, half-marathon, and at least one other distance.  What?  You know you're pushing 60, right?  I'm basing this on my unexpected successes in 2021 with a new PR in the marathon and half, and tying my PR in the 5K.

Saw this on the wall of a restaurant
(Samurai Grill, Mystic, CT) towards the end
of this year, and while I know not what 2022 will bring,
I love these four mantras and hope they will have meaning
for me in 2022.  
---
Life is short; live it to the fullest!

And that's a wrap for 2021.  If I had to sum up 2021 in a single
sentence, a tough and scary five months medically,
followed by an awesome fall season of running
with unexpected PRs in the half and full.
---
Happy New Year, friends!
Looking forward to new adventures in the new year!

Weekly Log 20-Dec to 26-Dec-2021: Christmas Week

Monday:  5

11th annual Christmas Light Run.  Pretty sure this was the first edition from T5K's house and running the Weekapaug area.  Group of nine is about the largest we have had.  Good conversations, good Christmas lights, and a nice catch-up afterwards over beverages and snacks.

Group of nine.  Chilly waiting around for run start,
but warmed up once we got going.

Thanks Tommy for hosting and keeping the tradition going!

Tuesday:  8 run, 2 walk

Workout.  Thinking it was my only window of the day, I went to CCC an hour early to run from Barlow Preserve.  First half on roads, second half on trails in Woody Preserve.  After a mile warm-up, ran a 2-mile block (6:10, 6:06), one mile easy, and then a hard mile on dirt roads in 6:21, before a 3-mile cooldown on trails, mostly single-track.

After a grueling CCC session cleaning up a really neat stone wall, we had a small holiday gathering and lunch with CCC colleagues.  Very enjoyable and appreciated.  Spent the afternoon finishing up year-end work tasks, before signing off until January 3.  Looking forward to twelve consecutive days off!

Wednesday:  12

First full day of winter.  With the 2nd annual Border Patrol Challenge ("BPC") running from Winter Solstice to Spring Equinox, I went with Brady to Arcadia to run two of the 19 challenges:  Escoheag Trail OAB and Ben Utter OAB.  

Parked at Midway and went for a three-mile warmup.  Temps 39° and cloudy at start, but along the warm-up, it started to rain lightly.  Hmm.  Will I be able to get both attempts in, or should I bail on one of them?  What a defeatist attitude!  

Escoheag Trail was a new addition this year, and I was only familiar with the eastern section of the trail, connecting Mt Tom Trail to Breakheart Trail.  The western section was not as well established and I really had to pay attention to white blazes at trail intersections.  I followed the trail properly, and then when the trail exited onto a dirt road and parking lot where a truck was parked, I saw the double-blaze trail end sign, and turned around.  Only problem is while that still seems like the end of the Escoheag Trail, the course on the BPC website indicates that it ends further down the gravel road.  A little confusing to me, but that's fine; I'll be back.  When I do return, I think I'll park at that far end I'm not familiar with so I don't screw it up again!

After finishing the Escoheag Trail, I paused to catch my breath and let Brady get a drink from the river at base of Ben Utter Trail, but didn't dally long as I started to get cold.  As with Escoheag Trail, Brady would alternate running ahead of me, then slowing down to let me catch up and pass him.  I pushed reasonably hard, but there were sections of bridges and rocks that I took a little more cautiously as they were slippery.  I was thus pleasantly surprised to see that my time this year was 20 seconds faster than last year.  The 2.5 mile cooldown was very unpleasant:  cold and steady rain now.  I was drenched, but only brought one towel, so I used it to dry Brady off and then just turned up the heat and heated seats and bought a hot coffee on the ride home.  One Border Patrol Challenge down ... eighteen to go!

Thursday:  6

Ran at Goddard State Park, Warwick, with Matthew.  Had just under an hour's window on our way to pick up Mark from his flight in from Florida for Christmas.  Chilly with a brisk wind off the water, but warmed up on some of the interior trails.

Once at the airport, waited an hour and a half for Mark's COVID test.  Long, long line given the Omicron surge and health care staff shortages, but it was the right thing to do given so much COVID around and him flying in from a state that doesn't exactly promote COVID precautions.  (Test was negative.)

Friday:  7

Christmas Eve.  Bradford Preserve and Woody Hill snow run with Mike B (and Brady!).  It was actually his idea to run trails!  Hit some of the highlights, including his requests:  the stone fort, Woody Hill Marsh, and Hansel & Gretel.  On the way back, we ran into Jeff Huckle, and caught up very briefly.  Hadn't seen him in years.

Falling snow!  Fun!

Saturday:  6

Christmas Day.  31° and freezing rain when I started.  Was surprised to actually see a couple out in this weather, and as they came closer in the Winnapaug Farm Preserve, I recognized them from CCC.  Didn't stop long as I would get cold and Brady would get bored.  Felt a little warmer when we got into the woods at Champlin.  Pretty miserable weather overall, but made the best of it.

Some of my new loot:
a replacement pair of trail shoes (I got over 400 miles
on my last pair of NB Summit Unknown),
two historical books from Nathaniel Philbrick.
Not pictured are new running gloves and hat.

Sunday:  8

Boxing Day.  Newport Cliff Walk run with Matthew.  Have done this a few years now (3 out of the past 4 Boxing Days, to be specific.)  Rocks were wet, but not slippery.  People were out, but not crowded.  Felt cold at start as we were directly into a headwind, but actually were a little protected once on the Cliff Walk.  Felt good on run.

At First Beach (Easton's Beach) -
this is really cool!

Weekly mileage:  51 run, 2 walk

Weekly synopsis:  Still not the mileage I was looking for, but at least trending in the right direction.  Next week target is 60+, with one long run (which is subjective, but to me, 16+).

Weekly highlight:  Christmas Eve snow run at Bradford Preserve and Woody Hill.  Just love snow runs!

Weekly lowlight:  Another week not hitting my mileage targets.

Weekly Log 13-Dec to 19-Dec-2021: Eggnog Mile

Monday:  2 walk

Post-run walk with Brady at Champlin.  Although winter solstice is still a week away, the sunsets are already starting to get later.

Tuesday:  5

Eggnog Mile in Newport.  What a fun event!

Despite the rise in popularity of events like Beer Mile, Chocolate Milk Mile, and even Ice Cream Mile, this was my first foray.  When I saw this event posted, I reached out to Adrian to confirm if it were public or just for the Newport club.  Good news, it's open to the public!  Great, sounded like something festive for the holiday season, and it would also give me the opportunity to catch up with Adrian in person and pick his brain on an ultramarathon I'm running next summer, which he has done in the past.

Reached out to a few local runners, and Nick and Dave, seemingly always up for a run, took the bait.  Carpooled over with Dave, and Nick would get there separately, as he was meeting up with the fam.  Got there 1/2 hour early, and the Newport crew, including Run Newport running store staff, were very welcoming.  Once Nick arrived, Adrian gave us a tour of the course:  starting in an outdoor mall walkway, and then one city block for a 1/4 mile.

Very festive setup

Lots of eggnog to be consumed!

Lap 1:  You start with your drink in hand.  Countdown backward from 5, and then you walk forward while chugging your eggnog.  You cannot leave the transition zone until you finish the drink and chuck the cup in one of four cardboard boxes.  I was behind from the get-go, and after two short turns, on the next straight-away would be the last time I see Dave and Adrian, way ahead of me.  Guys, wait up!  It all goes by fast, and you're back at the transition zone ...  1:29

Lap 2:  This was my poorest consumption.  Eggnog drooling down the sides of my mouth, and I'm certain I'm about to throw up, but somehow I pull it together.  I can see Nick ahead of me on the long straightaway.  Speedster Brian Doyle blows by me.  1:41

Lap 3:  As I pass someone on this lap, they ask me, "Are you regretting this yet?"  On the long straightaway, I have to run on the sidewalk this time as a bus is next to me, and then, worse, stops to pick up a passenger who crosses in front of me.  Yikes.  Manage not to crash into the bus passenger, and sprint into the final transition.  1:40

Lap 4:  Final chug!  Sprint as best as I can, but cannot catch Nick.  1:38

Adrian and Dave chugging and fighting for first
at one of the transitions.  Gross, but fun!

Post-race pose.  Team WTAC representation tonight.

Finished up the evening with Dave for food and drink at Brick Alley Pub, before driving home.  A fun evening, all in all.

Wednesday:  6

Burlingame Campground trails with Brady, late afternoon after work.  Turned completely dark during the run.  I just naturally slow down, even with a headlamp, and it still amazes me how Brady just flies along on the trail, even when he is in totally dark sections.

Thursday:  10

Burlingame campground again, but this time roads.  Went there straight after a Westerly Land Trust meeting adjourned, and even at 10am it was a ridiculously warm 55°.  Fortunately besides my usual December running garb of long sleeve, quarter zip, and gloves in my bag, I had also stashed a singlet to change into.  Even with that, I sweat a lot in this weather I'm now unaccustomed to.

Ran two 5-mile perimeter road loops.  Pushed the last mile in 6:18, for an overall average of 6:38/mile.

Friday:  6

3rd day in a row at Burlingame campground.  Matthew is back from for the Christmas holidays, so the three of us (including Brady) went for a run.  Matthew was planning a road workout, and as I had just ran roads yesterday, and reasonably hard at that, opted to warm up on the roads with him, and then Brady and I went and ran trails.  

Even more ridiculously warm at 60°.  Yes, I'm probably in the minority of RI runners not appreciating this warm weather.

Saturday:  10

Mid-day run from Haley Farm State Park, Groton.  42° and steady light rain, but somehow more comfortable than the past two warm days.

Sunday:  8

Run to/from The Bakery, Charlestown, on their last regular day open until spring.  :(   Run with Matthew and Tommy.  It was a chilly rain in the upper 30s on the drive over, some mixed precip when we got out of the car, but all precipitation stopped early on the run, and I certainly got very warm quick.  The conversation was fluid, and it seemed like the fun was over in no time.

Had a chocolate raspberry scone and latte post-run, and snagged a pumpkin spice muffin for tomorrow.

Weekly mileage:  45

Weekly synopsis:  While still a little on the low side, at least it was a little rebound from the previous three weeks post-marathon (21, 36, 36).  While I have yet to make a decision on a specific spring marathon, the good news is that assuming a May 1 date, the 18-week training starts tomorrow (Monday).  Why is that good news?  It will force me to get out there, even when the motivation is lacking.

Post-script:  After writing above paragraph, I was reviewing the training plan I loosely employed for my last marathon (Philadelphia), and I noticed for the first time ever that it also includes a 5-week recovery plan.  Reviewing it for the first time, I see the targeted mileage for the first three weeks post-marathon should actually have been 15, 24, and 31 respectively!  So I appreciate that perspective.

Weekly highlight:  The Eggnog Mile in Newport.  Something fun and different!

Weekly lowlight:  Only feeling that I am not running enough.

Niantic Jingle Bell 5K

Niantic (Old Lyme), CT

Saturday, December 11, 2021

This was the first of twelve events in our WTAC Clamshell series for 2022, as the "Clamshell year" runs from December to November in order to tabulate results and get a prize in time for our annual holiday party in December.  I had never run this race before, and it weren't for it being featured as a WTAC Clamshell event, I probably would not have signed up.

My "B" goal here today was to go sub-18:13, which is the fastest 5K road race I have run in the past five years.  However, with a relatively flat course and my recent road race successes, I was thinking a sub-18 might even be possible as an "A" goal.  The wild card was the weather, as impending rain and heavy winds were forecast.

I was truly astounded to see 800+ registrants for a local 5K race, so I made sure 1) to take advantage of the packet pickup the day before, and 2) to arrive extra early to park almost adjacent to the race start/finish, instead of being relegated to one of the overflow parking lots 7/10 mile away.  Not that either of these measures were compulsory, but they certainly reduced my stress level on race morning.

Warm-up:  I ran most of the race course as a warm-up with fellow teammates Dave and Nick.  We got back with about ten minutes to spare, and made sure to get out near the starting line.  While this race utilized chip timing at the start line, I sure wouldn't want to get stuck in the crowd and held back from a fast start.  Lining up near the start, two kids were in front of me.  One of the race organizers came to the starting line, and said something to the effect, "If you're standing on the starting line, you'll be one of the first coming back in, right?".  I was hoping this would persuade the kids to drop back, but they responded with an enthusiastic "Yes".  Let's hope their actual pace matches their level of enthusiasm.

View of the starting line from about six rows back
(from Paul Gray's Strava post)

Looking back at the rest of the field,
runners as far back as the eyes can see lined up
going back to the left
(Ibid.)

Mile 1:  The two young kids went out ahead of me, and somewhat predictably faded just 1/10 mile in as I made my way around and past them.  About the same time, 4 kids (late teens?) went past me, and teammates Nick and Dave were pretty much alongside me.  Up a very small hill (there were no hills bigger than 20' on this course) 1/4 mile in, I turned left onto the next street, edging just ahead of Dave and Nick.  1/2 mile in, with another 90° turn, this time slightly uphill, they both went back ahead of me.  Both of them go out very hard in races relative to me, and in this race, this was a help to me, as I then forced myself to speed up and catch back up to them.  We catch flack for having too many turns in the Bottone road mile (we have reduced from 8 turns in the Fun Run 1 Mile down to 5 and most recently down to 4), but Mile 1 of this race unfortunately features six 90° turns.  Despite this, I ran a fast mile of 5:32.

Lined up and ready to go
Wet roads, but very little wind, and only a mist
(Note the toll-style scanners on scaffolding above us)
---
Pics by Jana, unless otherwise noted

The two kids leading it out.
You can see me in blue cap and WTAC singlet,
and Nick just behind me, with Dave to his left.
---
At three o'clock in pic,
juxtaposed against the shed background,
the tall guy in blue singlet (eventual race winner) and
two runners to his right in light green singlets were legit;
the two kids out front were not.

I'm feeling a little bit boxed in for the first 1/10 mile.

Mile 2:  In this mile, the footsteps become more faint and we start to get more separation.  While there are no longer any sharp turns (except a cone turnaround near end of mile), I'm also no longer getting the advantage of being pushed, and Mile 2 is almost always my slowest mile in a 5K.  I end up passing two of the kids before the turnaround, make a wide turn and get back at it, heading back into the mass of runners.  I see Nick out of the corner of my eye, but then focus on the road ahead of me.  Mile 2 split 5:45.

Mile 3:  At the start of this final mile, 7/8 of the mile is taken up by the horde of runners coming towards me, but I still have enough room comfortably on the far right side.  I catch and pass one more kid here, leaving only one ahead of me.  I hear my name occasionally, as well as comments like "you're just 100 yards behind him."  I appreciate both, and normally I would give these people a thumbs-up, but I'm super focused on my race and I just look straight ahead with no response.  I occasionally see the kid ahead of me, and while I feel like the separation is not increasing over me, it's also not shrinking.  The last half mile goes by quickly, I push as I hard as I can, but do not catch the kid.  Mile 3 split 5:49.

Finishing strides

Finish line!
From race video.

Final result:  17:32!!  2nd overall of 697 finishers, 1st in age group.  Full results here.

Crushed my goals.  I hadn't done the math on my splits, and was shocked (pleasantly!) to see the clock ticking "17:2x" as I approached it.  After catching my breath and catching up with others, I checked the real-time results, saw my time as 17:32, and immediately looked up what my 5K PR was for confirmation.  Tied my PR!  Wow.  I had last run this time in November 2014 at the Avondale "Setting the Pace for Conservation" 5K.

Team WTAC at finish

After the team pic at McCook Beach, I regrouped with Dave and Nick for a cool-down, and Brady came along as well!  Our first stop was the friendly neighborhood house on the course with canopies setup, Christmas music playing, and they were giving out three different shots:  Sambuca, Bailey's, and Jameson!  Taking Dave's lead with Sambuca, I had the Bailey's, and we were on our way.  Made a nice loop on the course, staying out of runners' way, and got our usual comments of "Are you guys out for your 3rd time?" (yes, pretty much!).  As we made our way back to the finish area, we noticed the wind was just now starting to pick up.  We really lucked out in that regard, as I had envisioned forecasted strong gusts slowing me down on the course, and it didn't materialize in time.

Brady got to come for the cool-down, at least.

What went well:

• Bib pick-up the night before.  One of the most efficient I've ever seen.  Drive up, give your name, proceed ahead to a turn-around, pull back up on the right, and they hand your bib and jingle bells.
• Parking race morning was also very efficient, with many marshals on hand to direct you.
• Very well organized race.  Race off went promptly at 10am, and awards promptly at 11am, just as announced. 
• Having my teammates push hard helped push me faster than I would have left to my own devices, at least for the first mile and a half or so.
• WTAC cleaning up at awards!  (See below)
• Crowd support.  For a local 5K run mostly in neighborhoods, there were surprisingly quite a few cheering spectators.
• Festive holiday atmosphere.  From Christmas music to jingle bells handed out to festively attired runners and walkers, this was fun.
• My shoes!  This was my second race in my NB Fuel Cell Rebel 2, and they're comfortable, springy, and lightweight (7.2 oz).  I think this will be my go-to race shoe for a while.  Translation:  until NB discontinues.  (No, I don't say that about every shoe I try.  While my previous NB Fuel Cell shoe, the Speedrift, got me through very successful races at Vermont City Half and Philadelphia, I don't like them and find them to be stiff, unresponsive, and a little bit bulky at 9.2 oz.).

Interesting costumes on this guy and the one in front of him!

And our own grinch,
Way Hedding!

What could have gone better:

• $35 pre-reg is a little steep for a 5K.  Yes, the proceeds go to a good cause (in this case, suicide awareness and prevention, and grief counseling), but at least two WTAC runners said they wouldn't run it specifically because of the price.
• Following above, you didn't get much in return for the entry fee.  No shirt (not that I need another shirt) and pretty limited food selection for a $35 5K.
• Confusion over team entries.  To me, featuring team entries implied there were would be team awards for fastest teams.  There wasn't, and instead it seemed to refer to recognizing those teams that made the most donations.
• Awards ceremony announcing.  It was so weird during awards ceremony that instead of calling out finishing times (e.g., In 1st place in the age 40s age group is Joe Schmo in a time of xx:xx) the announcer called out the bib numbers of everyone receiving awards.  Huh?  Not very helpful or informative.  Yes, that one is a gnat, but could have been better, that's all.
• Cone turnaround.  With the caveat that this is a compact neighborhood with probably not a lot of choices to get in a 5K course without multiple loops, I don't like cone turnarounds (yes, I know we have one in Clamdigger 5K and even one in Philadelphia and other marathons) and I'm not very good at them.  I ended up running very wide and onto the adjacent lawn just to avoid slowing down too much.  Probably cost me a couple seconds and prevented notching an outright PR.

WTAC Age Group Winners!
(from left:  Dave [20s], Kevin [60s], Jeff [50s], Nick [40s])

Top:  age group award
Bottom:  finisher medal

Weekly Log 6-Dec to 12-Dec-2021: Christmas Party & Tree

Monday:  1 walk

Post-work walk at Hopkinton Grills with Jana and Brady.  Finished up in the dark.  No one else out there, except for the hundreds of winter moths in our headlamps.

Tuesday:  5

Actual 80th anniversary date of Pearl Harbor.  While I have been to Hawaii once, I didn't get to see much as it was a short and jetlagged layover on a return flight from Japan.  On my bucket list to visit before I die (as opposed to places I'll travel to after I die?) is the USS Arizona memorial.  "December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy ..." - I have watched the video and heard the powerful words of President FDR so many times the words are permanently etched in my brain.

Late afternoon run with Brady at Yawgoog.  Brought our lights, which were needed as dusk faded to dark, but unfortunately Brady's lights didn't make it back.  Must have fallen off him at some point, mostly likely when he was behind me.  Will try to go back in the morning to find them.

Otherwise, a fun run through the woods.  Felt like I was flying, and then I see my pace was 9:25!  With about a mile to go, we stopped dead in our tracks as we heard the blood-curdling howls of multiple coyotes.  Yikes!  Had momentary thoughts of being attacked on our return in the pitch dark, but never saw any of them and don't think they would provoke a 75 pound dog like Brady.

Wednesday:  5

Same run as yesterday, except this time during morning daylight, in a failed attempt to locate Brady's flashing lights.

Thursday:  8

WTAC Jingle Bell Run, including setup and breakdown.  Biggest turnout yet for the run, which had over 20 revelers with lights and jingle bells out on the trails.  Followed this up with indoor festivities at the annual WTAC holiday party, which was well attended and more than enough food and drink.

We had snow on the ground for the Jingle Bell Run!
Not much, but it was a nice touch.

Friday:  6 run, 1 walk

AM:  2 mile shakeout with Brady at Woody Hill

Noon:  Annual procuring of the Christmas tree.  Hartikka Farms, Voluntown.

This year's tree.
Brady approves

As far back as I can remember into my youth,
part of the allure of getting a Christmas tree has been
traipsing through farms, selecting, and hand cutting the tree.

A friend of mind (who puts up a plastic tree each year)
recently texted the name of a local
store that had pre-cut trees for a good price.
I thanked him for thinking of me, and no disrespect,
but I want the full natural outdoors in the woods experience,
plus a fresh-cut tree.

Evening:  Picked up tomorrow's bib in Niantic, then met Dave for a 4-mile run through Niantic streets, including part of tomorrow's course.

Saturday:  7

Niantic Jingle Bell 5K.  Separate write-up to follow.

Sunday:  6

First time running with Tommy 5K since ... so long that I can't remember when.  We met up at Ninigret Park playground, and together with Brady and Riley ran a field loop, an Arnolda road loop, and a shortened field loop to get six in.  Fun catch up!

Set up the tree.  In my humble opinion, it came out pretty well.
First time ever with the tree in the living room.

My favorite ornament will probably always
be this simple plastic blue ornament.  Why?
Because it's one of the few things I have from
my Dad, and it was his ornament from when
he was a kid in the '30s and '40s.

Weekly mileage:  36

Weekly synopsis:  Mileage wise, pretty pathetic.  Race wise, pretty awesome.  I'm three weeks post-Philly now.  Post-marathon weeks #1 and #2 saw 21 and 36 miles run, respectively, which I think is fine, but there is no need to have only run 36 miles in fully recovered post-marathon week #3.  Until I figure out my spring racing schedule, including a marathon and build-up to it, I should be running a minimum of 50 miles per week to keep the base.  In this week alone, I can already see my motivation waning and three pounds packed back on.

Weekly highlight:  A fun week, if not very active.  With the holiday party and WTAC Jingle Bell run a second, my highlight has to be my truly unexpected fast result at the Niantic Jingle Bell 5K.

Weekly lowlight:  Low mileage and low motivation.  I have finished out my racing for the year, and it's time to put together a new racing and training plan and stick to it.

Pearl Harbor 2021

Waterford, CT

Sunday, December 5, 2021

This was the 40th running of the Pearl Harbor Memorial Race, and my second.  Unfortunately, I cannot find my debut results, as Active cruelly wiped out the massive Cool Running archive of thousands of races.  My debut Pearl Harbor race was more than ten years ago now and I really didn't remember a lot about the race, except that it featured quite a spread afterwards.

I didn't have this race on my radar at all, until I received an e-mail from the venerable Way Hedding asking if the club could promote the race.  Since I was feeling fully recovered from the Philadelphia Marathon (two weeks past), and had nothing on the weekend calendar, it sounded like a fun thing to do.

The race registration was really old school:  paper mail-in registrations (remember those?) or paper day of registrations only.  No website or course map, but since SNERRO was timing it as one of their few remaining races in their portfolio, this gave me confidence it would be well run.  In lieu of a course map, I studied recent years' results on SNERRO's website, and found and studied an online version of the course map with elevation:  a past race recorded on Strava.  I arrived about 10am, one hour before race start. 

Check-in was smooth inside the Waterford Veterans of Foreign Wars Post.  Paul Gray stopped me and asked me my age.  Knowing what he was getting at, and that there would be 5-year age groups today, I lied and told him "54" (his age group).  Besides the expletive that followed from him, you should've seen the look on his face!  Before moving on, I corrected the situation by telling him I'm 57 and he was all of a sudden smiling again.

Quickly got my bib, and in old-school fashion, got a cotton long sleeve shirt.  I actually liked this, as so many races give out long sleeved tech shirts that I have so many now, but not many long sleeve cotton shirts for everyday wear.  (Since I work at home everyday now, I just wear shorts or jeans and a running shirt everyday to "work").

Warm up:  Pinned on my bib, and went for an easy warm up run on the first mile (which coincidentally is also last mile) of the course.  This is on busy Route 1, with no coned off lane, so I'm just glad I will likely be somewhere towards the front of the pack and no issue to run on the shoulder.  There was a lot of chatter about the "big hill" and running down it and back up put me at ease that at least in my mind, the hype was a little overblown.  

Doffed my long sleeve tech shirt and headed to the start line in my singlet.  An older gentleman veteran sang the Star Spangled Banner and we then assembled on the side of Route 1 ready to start.  What ensued was the the first of only gaffes that I observed during the race, with both occurring right away.  Cars were whizzing by both directions on Route 1 while both SNERRO officials and the Race Director tried to figure out how to get the road cleared and traffic stopped.  A fire truck with flashing lights showed up and I thought this would be the solution until he turned around and went ahead to block the course at the next intersection.  After a while, they got traffic stopped, asked us runners to come onto the road and makeshift start line, but then cars starting coming towards and were blocking the way forward.  Eventually they got that cleared as well, as they asked each car driver individually to pull into an adjacent parking lot and we were ready to go.

And we're finally off, about 7 minutes late,
but that's fine.  You can see the wisp of smoke from
the starting gun on right shoulder of road.
(Pics by Jana unless otherwise noted)

Race start:  I sized up my competition on the starting line and figured today's race was between Steve de Castro (2:58 at Boston this fall), unknown but fit looking blue guy, and me.  Steve said he would vow to stick with me today, except that he had said the same thing at Pachaug Half last fall, and it didn't end up that way.  Tom Olendorf said he was going to go past me at the start (go for it!) and then stay ahead for 15'!  Paul also talked some smack.

Today's race would be a CCW lollipop.

First mile downhill, small hill in Mile 2,
uphill finish

I'm on far left in blue cap
with frenemy Steve deCastro (blue singlet) to my left,
and Eric Reubelt (3rd overall) in foreground in yellow shirt

Kerfuffle:  At least as I recall it, I immediately made my way to the start and heard a lot of feet immediately behind me.  Until just 1/10 mile in and I started to panic.  Not because of the other runners, but because of what was (or rather wasn't) unfolding right in front of me.  The fire truck with lights flashing that was blocking the road at a busy 4-way intersection was still blocking the road, and was sideways across both oncoming lanes, which were filled with stopped cars.  With no course markers or marshals and no runners ahead of me, and the pace car now also stuck behind this mess, I momentarily wondered if I was supposed to turn left away from the commotion, but no, having studied the course I was sure this was the way to go, so I awkwardly ran around the fire truck, weaved through the two lanes of oncoming cars and eventually the road or at least the shoulder was clear.  Whew!

Now I saw the pace car frantically catch up to me and pass me.  This was a town-marked SUV with flashing lights.  Good, I'm on the right course.  We were on our descent of the mighty 90' hill now.  I heard footsteps behind me still, but not as many as before.  After a half mile, the course leveled out.  I reminded myself the easy work (downhill) was now behind me and I need to push ahead lest I be caught.  My strategy is to get some separation early.  Mile 1 split 5:31.

Mile 2:  Over the next 1/2 mile, we had a gradual climb up a 60' hill.  While the shoulder was sufficiently wide for even someone of my girth, there was occasional sand and loose stone in the shoulder, so I found myself running in the road until the next car came along.  At the top of the hill, I checked my watch and my pace showed 6:14.  That's not going to cut it.  Oh, yeah, right, I just climbed a hill.  Push on, but it's OK.  Just before two miles, I was very happy to turn left off Route 1 onto quiet streets.  A first responder stopped traffic to let the pace car cross, and pointed me down the next street.  I was tempted to ask him how far back the next runner was, but he was clearly focused on handling traffic (as he should be).  Mile 2 split 6:04.

Mile 3:  Mostly flat mile on a quiet residential street, Oswegatchie Road.  No idea how to pronounce that one; heard a couple variations.  There is no fan support on this race, but you wouldn't really expect it for a small race of 90 runners either.  At one point on the narrow road, the pace car held up to let an oncoming car pass first, and I went ahead of the pace car for a very short time.  Otherwise, nothing remarkable in this mile.  Mile split 5:47 - pretty happy to see that!

Mile 4:  Very flat mile.  At the end of this road, you can either turn left or right.  I remembered vaguely that at this mileage, this should be a left turn, and fortunately I also had the lead pace car to follow, but there were no course markers here or elsewhere, so if I didn't have either the lead pace car (or other runners) visibly ahead of me, this could've been confusing.  Slowed slightly in this mile for a 5:59 average pace.

Mile 5:  At the start of the final mile, I encountered a man out walking his dog.  He was quite animated, and told me "Don't slow down!".  He proceeded to tell me my next competitor was a ways back, but he was in sight.  Thank you for that!  That was exactly what I needed to hear, as it would be so easy to zone out and become complacent in this final mile, complete with a 100' climb.

Pushed the hill very hard.  This was the final mile, and I really wanted the win!  I noticed ahead of me there was a girl running the sidewalk adjacent to the road pretty fast.  Was she off course?  No, not sure why she was running so fast, and it was weird that she periodically turned her head back and glanced where I was, but she was likely not in the race at all.  I passed her just before cresting the hill.  Mile split 6:01, much faster than I anticipated!

Finish:  Short and fast push past the VFW and a very slight decline as I sprinted past Jana and on to the finish line and the timing mats.

Heading towards the finish.

Finishing strides.

Final result:  29:57!  1st place overall out of 90 runners.  Full results here.

Super happy with the result!  Especially later when Nick Bottone reached out to me, and said no one ever as old as me had won the race!  I searched all of SNERRO's results on this race, which albeit only go back to 2013, and this was the first race in that time frame that was won in sub-30.  Had this been a 5-miler, this would have been a PR for me given same pace.

The awards ceremony took a while due to so many awards, but it was all good.  The Race Director and pace car driver apologized for the botched start, and said that a Waterford Police officer with cruiser was supposed to be at the start to stop and direct traffic, but got send off on a police call just before the start.  OK, things happen and good that he apologized and would work on it for next year.

In line with Jana for post-race spread!
(Pic from Chris Colangelo's Strava post)

It turns out Steve finished a minute behind me,
but I wasn't taking any chances with the Win,
and raced like he was on my heels.

For a race with 90 runners,
seems a little much to have 5-year age groups AND 3-deep;
that's quite generous.

That trophy is huge!  As Way is handing me the huge trophy
(what am I going to do with that?!) for overall winner,
the RD / Waterford town official behind me (with mic) is explaining
that "Jeff is so fast that he passed my pace vehicle"!  
Technically true and funny.

Team WTAC cleaned up with a lot of hardware today!