Weekly Log 21-Mar to 27-Mar-2022: Spring has Sprung

Miscellaneous Rambling:

• Was seriously considering the Newport 10-Miler for this June.  Until I saw just too many Strava posts and blog posts with mileage of 9.90 or even 9.85 and the words "short course".  I contacted the race organizers with my concerns and asked if the course was certified (it's not).  They got back to me quickly to their credit, but the response was "This course has never been certified however it is measured to 10 miles.".  But they didn't say how it was measured.  Map My Run?  Car?  Um, yeah, crossing that one off.  It's too bad; the course looks great, but I know myself and just personally I'd be ticked if I ran a PR and it wasn't legit.
• Staying on the Newport spring race topic, I have decided I will run in the Newport Half next month.  The course is the first half of the full marathon, which Tommy and I ran five years ago, and it's the flatter and better half in my opinion.

Monday:  2

Hopkinton, RI.  Perimeter loop of Grills Wildlife Sanctuary late afternoon with Brady.  No injuries.  No fail.  Just intentionally conservative and preventative.  Legs surprisingly sore and tight after the weekend, which consisted of a 14-miler, a 10-miler, and a 4-mile hike.  So a busy weekend, but nothing strenuous.

First full day of spring.

Tuesday:  7 run, 4 walk

AM:  Westerly, RI.  3 mile walk.  CCC weekly volunteering.  3rd consecutive week leading a group at Riverwood Preserve to paint blazes.  This should do it for this year at Riverwood.

Noon:  Charlestown, RI.  7 mile run.  Sunny and reasonably warm, but very blustery with a 15mph wind out of the west.  I had thought of running the middle 3-4 miles hard, but I gave up that notion with the wind.  In fact, I almost gave up on the run completely as I started out running west.

Start/finish of today's run, at West Beach.  Beautiful location,
right?  Made me disgusted to see nip bottles and bottle caps
here as I finished up.  At first, I got in my car as I stewed over the
careless humans.  Then I realized the least I can do is go back and
pick up and dispose of the mess, which made me a feel a little better.

 
PM:  Westerly, RI.  1-mile post-work walk at Avondale Preserve with Jana and Brady.

Wednesday:  7

Charlestown, RI.  Post-work run with Brady at Burlingame.  First time running Sammy C's trail in a long time.  I've missed you, Sammy!  Fun techy run, including Lenny Lane, and down to the beach at North Camp, back on Vin Gormley.

Thursday:  10

Stonington, CT.  Planned out a 10-mile road loop in Mystic, which I barely had time to execute between a work meeting ending at 2:30pm and an appointment at 4:30pm.  2:30pm came and went, and the meeting continued.  Ugh.  What about my run?  My boss was in the meeting, as were a few executives, so I stayed on until the conclusion.  At 2:43pm!  Fortunately I was already in running clothes (a benefit of working remotely) and out the door in no time.  Parked at the Mystic Y, and noted to myself that there could be no lollygagging on this run.

Ran the mile west to the Groton line (the drawbridge), and then ran the majority of the Mystic 10K route, the entirety of which I'll run in May with my Land Trust friends.  Even with dreary weather, the views did not disappoint along the west side of the river looking into Stonington and the ships at Mystic Seaport.  It is a pretty area.  I was surprised to encounter another runner and two walkers on River Road in the drizzle.  Other than the first two miles and a mile with a hill climb (Jerry Brown), my pace was pretty consistently in the 6:30s.  Back at the Y, after quickly changing out of my wet clothes, I wasted no time in departing and arrived at my appointment at 4:32pm, just two minutes late.  Well played.

Friday:  5

Westerly, RI.  Very warm 56° when I went for a late afternoon run with Brady.  Intentionally slow pace on [mostly] easy trails at Grills, given I have a 20-mile race in a day and a half.

Saturday:  7

Charlestown, RI.  Re-do of Wednesday's run, and with Brady again, except this time also inviting WLT's intern Marc, a hiker, runner, and all around good guy.  I was happy to introduce him to single-track at Burlingame and we caught up at Dave's Coffee afterwards for great conversation and reflection.  Good time, before heading north.

Sunday:  21

Kittery, ME.  Eastern States 20 Mile race.  Write-up to follow.

Weekly mileage:  60 run, 3 walk

Weekly synopsis:  A really good running week!  60 miles on the week, with a good mix of roads and trails, and variety in venues.  Ran in five of the six New England states this week to boot!

Weekly highlight:  From an accomplishment standpoint, the Eastern States 20-Mile Race.  From a fun standpoint, introducing a friend to techy trails at Burlingame.

Weekly lowlight:  Truly none this week.  Life is good.

Weekly Log 14-Mar to 20-Mar-2022: Farewell Winter

Monday:  7

Charlestown, RI.  Temp almost 50° when we started late afternoon at Ninigret Park under sunny skies, so I opted for just a short-sleeve shirt.  Well, and shorts, socks, and shoes of course.  There was a breeze but still felt warm.  With Matthew and Brady, the latter of whom was dragging a bit on the second half and likely explainable to the relative warmth, as he downed a full bowl of water when we got back to the car.

Tuesday:  8 run, 4 walk

AM:  Westerly, RI.  Weekly CCC volunteering.  Walked 4 miles at Riverwood Preserve while finishing up our annual refreshing of faded paint blazes.  As I've mentioned many times, the interior trails there are really pretty neat between rock faces, steep ascents/descents, and tight trails through mountain laurel; it's just the sketchy access that detracts.

PM:  Charlestown, RI.  Solo 8-mile Quonnie run squeezed in at lunchtime.  Parked at state launch area at end of West Beach Road, and ran a CCW loop as I usually do.  Added on the dirt portion of East Beach Road down to the state beach to make eight.  Temp was about 50°, but with full sun and high noon, it felt much warmer than that.  Pushed the final mile at 5:39 pace; quicker than normal road run for me with an average pace of 6:20.

Wednesday:  11

Richmond, RI.  Classic run from Meadowbrook Pond, CCW loop with roads out to Carter Preserve to 112, Pine Hill Road to NST through Carolina South and back.  With Matthew and Brady.

Thursday:  8

Learned I was selected to lead our banking operations unit in Copenhagen.  The previous manager left, and until a permanent replacement was identified, this gives me an opportunity for a pretty neat ex-pat assignment.  Then the phone rang, I woke up confused, and remembered that we don't have any positions outside of southern New England.  Darn.  I guess it's good to dream?  Both literally and figuratively in this case.

Narragansett, RI.  8 miles.  Light rain, road loop from Black Point with Matthew for 5 miles.  Followed up with 3 miles solo on Black Point trails and Scarborough Beach.  By the stone house remains, I suddenly found myself stopped with both legs in two feet of seaweed and slop.  Did the best thing I could think of then and after extricating myself, ran into the ocean shoes on to clean it off.  It was raining anyway and I had a towel in my car.

Saw this guy just before the start of our run.
Unfortunately he didn't join the run.

Friday:  7

AM:  Westerly, RI.  2.5 miles.  Quick run with Brady at Wahaneeta, before heading to Stratford, CT with Jana to pick up her new car:  2019 Jetta SE, loaded and pretty sweet, warrantied until mid-2026.  Her 16 year old Audi A4 had served us well, but ran into engine issues and barely made it for a final trip to Cranston for sale to Car Max at a favorable price.  We had to pull over to the side a few times during the trip to Cranston, the engine was making a lot of noise, and the engine temp was in the red zone when we finally pulled in.  We were afraid they wouldn't take the car at all, and were pleasantly surprised with the offer.  I don't think the car would have made it back home.

Out with the old ...

In with the new.

PM:  Stonington, CT.  4.5 miles.  Another trail run with Brady, this time at Barn while simultaneously trying to plan out a family hike for Sunday.  Really glad we went, as the hike just won't be feasible there due to major reconstruction of trails in progress, rendering much of the area off-limits.

Saturday:  14

Waterford, CT.  Late morning ran a loop to/from Harkness Memorial State Park, utilizing a loop that Matthew had planned out on Strava.  I really didn't know the roads at all, but downloading the route to my watch, and using Garmin navigation feature on my Fenix 5S, it was an easy task to follow the route as I always knew how far to the next turn and even if I didn't pay attention to the watch, the watch would beep as we approached each turn.  The only tough part actually was navigating to the start point itself within the park, and after that it was a piece of cake.

I felt good for the first ten miles or so and the miles just ticked away as Matthew and I talked.  Then I started feeling weak.  I think I didn't fuel properly, so I'll have to do a better job before the race I have one week from today starting at 11am.  It's an odd time to race, so I'm thinking a late big breakfast next time, two hours prior to race start.

Sunday:  10 run, 4 hike

AM:  Charlestown, RI.  10-mile Burlingame run with Matthew and Brady, before the former headed back to UNH at the end of spring break.  Classic Rhody loop, with an up and back to the tower and a short campground road loop added in to make ten.  Post-run scone and latte at The Bakery on their opening weekend!

PM:  Westerly, RI.  4-mile hike with family at Grills Preserve, on a warm afternoon.  Finished up the hike with cookies Jana had baked, and the off to Downtown Creamery for ice cream!

Everyone was interested to check out
the sluiceway.  Even Brady.

My nieces kept Brady entertained 
(and I think vice-versa!)

Helping my 6-year old niece to
satisfy her insistence to climb Big Rock

Success!

Weekly mileage:  65 run, 7 hike

Weekly synopsis:  Pretty good mileage week for not having a specific plan!

Weekly highlight:  For runs, the Burlingame 10-miler.  Overall, the family hike and connecting with my sister-in-law, her father, and my nieces, as we all try to navigate this strange new world after our family tragedy.

Weekly lowlight:  Nothing!  A good week.

Weekly Log 7-Mar to 13-Mar-2022: Mixed Bag

Monday:  1 walk

Westerly, RI.  Easy walk with Brady at Wahaneeta, after a busy afternoon of work meetings.  Fairly sloppy and muddy trails.

This branch had to be three times his size, but he
wasn't giving up, and his perseverance paid off as he
hauled this out of the woods.
---
But no, sorry, Brady, we cannot bring your catch home
in the car.  It doesn't even fit.

Tuesday:  7 run, 3 walk

Westerly, RI.  Fit in seven miles (barely) before the start of my Tuesday morning voluntary CCC commitment.  I told myself there would a double later that day.  There wasn't.  This underscores the need for me to get out early when feasible.  Which I did today!  

Ran from Grassland Way, Avondale Farm Preserve, on a shortened version of RWYC, in a reverse (CW) loop.  Ran moderately hard, as despite a 15mph wind, averaged 6:29 pace.

One woman out walking shouted enthusiastically, "You're fast; you're really fast!".  Made me smile.  The woman next to her just said, "Jesus".  I suppose that's a compliment also?

Wednesday:  12 run, 2 walk

Westerly, RI.  Solo run from home.  Forecast was for snow throughout the day, so I waited until the snow started.  Unfortunately, with the temps above freezing, the roads were very wet, and the snow was pretty wet and cold as well.  Warmed up after two miles or so, but really I was soaked to the skin by the time I got home.

Hopkinton, RI.  Late afternoon hike with Brady in Hopkinton's Grills Wildlife Sanctuary.  It wasn't all that pleasant in the now snow/sleet mix, but still good to get outside.

Thursday:  9 run, 4 hike

AM:  Westerly, RI.  Short 4-mile run with Brady on crunchy snow at Wahaneeta.  Just ran out of time.  Got to get out earlier.

Noon:  Westerly, RI.  4-mile hike at Grills Preserve with Mom, Jana, and about 20 others.  Warm weather:  sunny and 50°.

PM:  Westerly, RI.  5-mile run with Justin from Barlow Preserve, into Woody Hill, around the Woody Hill Marsh, and back through Wahaneeta.  Easy conversational pace.

Friday:  0

Busy long day away from home, as we were searching for a replacement car for Jana.  I didn't expect to be gone all day, thus an unplanned zero.  It happens.

Saturday:  7

Stonington, CT.  WTAC monthly group run.  Kevin hosted this even though he was injured, and he always prepares so well for these.  The course from his home into and through Barn Island was flagged, and upon return he had a Knead doughnut for everyone and fresh brewed coffee waiting inside his garage.  How can you beat that?

Pre-run, from Kevin's house

Sunday:  15

Jamestown, RI.  First run with Matthew in a couple of months.  He had mapped out a CCW 14-mile loop from "Downtown" Jamestown up to the north end of the island, and back.  It seemed easy enough to remember to me, because not only did it use a minimum of roads but also because it duplicated much of the Jamestown Half course which I ran last fall.

Weekly mileage:  50 run, 10 walk

Weekly synopsis:  Just an alright week.  Missed two days of running this week, and no focused efforts like a workout.  As I mentioned last week, need to get my spring running scheduled figured out.  I'm close.  Marathon looking less likely now.

Weekly highlight:  Jamestown 15-miler on Sunday.

Weekly lowlight:  Procrastination and lack of planning.

Hare Hop 5K

Stonington, CT

Saturday, March 5, 2022

This was my third time running this event, the first being my first official running race ever back in 2003 at the tail end of my 30s, and the second being two years as the last run for many months just as the COVID pandemic was hitting the area.

I don't love the course, as it's an OAB with a 75' hill in the middle, but I do like to support local races.  That especially applies to the races that are well run, as is this one.  This is a long time run hosted by Kelley's Pace, it's USATF certified, and it's one of the few remaining races timed by SNERRO, who now chip times exclusively.

Starting from your left, starts winds CCW around Olde Mistick Village,
then out on Coogan Blvd for Mile 1, under Route 95, and up
a quiet neighborhood hill for a cone turnaround at Mile 1.55,
then turn around and run back to the start.

Two years ago, I ran a disappointing 19:09.  Fresh off my recent successes in the past four months, but absent any 5K-specific training, I still prognosticated a much faster 5K.  In December, I tied my 17:32 PR at the Niantic Jingle Bell 5K, but that was flat and this isn't, so I set a goal for myself of sub-18.

Pre-race:  As I had picked up my bib the night before, and had it affixed to my singlet race morning, getting ready for race start was much easier.  It wasn't a large race at 153 finishers, but just one less thing to worry about.  Arrived at 8:15 (45 minutes in advance of race start) and after hitting the head, ran a 2.4 mile warm-up, which was basically the entire course with the exception of the 75' hill in the middle.  Had plenty of time when I got back, which was good because I had to go the bathroom 100 times.  OK, four times, but what's up with that?  In these short races, I get really nervous at the start, because there just isn't much room for error.  If you mess up in just one mile, you're done, whereas in a half or full marathon, there is at least the possibility of adjusting and recovering.

Race time:  Lined up near the start, with two minutes to go.  Eventual ladies' winner Linda Spooner came over to congratulate me on my time at Colchester Half.  After a countdown by race official Way, the gun literally went off and we were on our way under the inflatable arch and onto the course. 

Waiting for race to start.  Talking to women's winner (in pink),
I'm to her left (in yellow hat), and Dave is to my left.
(Photos by Jana unless otherwise noted.)

Mile 1:  Apparently I had inadvertently boxed someone in behind me and they were having none of that, as something slammed hard down on my right arm, and before I could react, a runner in pigtails squeezed past me.   Dave had already bolted ahead of me, and like I had just mentioned there isn't much room for error in a 5K race, I felt an inauspicious start as I joined the chase of runners passing in front of me and tried to stay in the race.

Heading out of the parking lot,
I (yellow hat) immediately fall to the back of the pack.

At 1/2 mile, the police stop traffic for runners as you leave the village and cross over onto the wide 4-lane Coogan Boulevard.  At this point, on a very slight 25' downhill, I looked ahead at the straight line of runners and counted that I was in 9th place.  Just before the end of the mile, and end of Coogan Boulevard, I pass ahead of two runners, including the pig-tailed runner.  I felt like I was pushing hard, but just could not stay up with Dave and others.  Mile 1 split 5:46.  Ugh.  That is not going to put me where I want to be.

Mile 2:  Passed one runner just before turning right into the neighborhood on Deer Ridge Road.  As we started the 75' hill climb, I caught up to and went past teammate Dave, who cheered me on.  The hill was shorter than I remembered it, so that's a good thing.  I saw the top two runners coming at me before I saw the cone turnaround, so I knew the turnaround was close.  At the turnaround, I saw I was now in 5th with the next two runners not that far ahead of me.  Midpoint time:  9:20.

We had a good 1/3 mile downhill now, and as we finished up the descent and the mile, I came up behind the 4th place runner, a young kid about 14.  Mile 2 split 5:54.

Mile 3:  As I came up behind the kid, I noticed him looking at his watch frequently, as in every 10-15 seconds.  Seriously.  What is going on that is changing that frequently to be meaningful?  I'm assuming he was looking at the typical data points of pace, distance, and/or elapsed time.  As we came to the end of the neighborhood road (Deer Ridge Road), there were three large cones designating where to cross the next road (Jerry Browne Road).  I noticed it odd that I while I hugged the cones to run the best tangent I could, the kid went a good 10' wide of the cones.  Why?  Oh, he's looking at his watch again and not at the road or the cones.  Ugh.

As we turned back onto Coogan Boulevard, I caught up right next to the kid.  He surged off ahead.  OK, I'm running my own race and he's obviously not in my age group.  Except that he came back to me shortly thereafter.  Same thing; I caught up next to him, and he surged ahead.  I've seen this before, and similarly this time, it didn't end well, as he kept using energy he didn't have to make those surges and eventually I went past him for good.

Side-by-side with the youngster
(Photo courtesy of Paul Gray)

Finally pulling ahead.
(Photo by Paul)

As we turned back into Olde Mistick Village, with about 1/4 mile left to go, I focused my attention on the next runner ahead of me, a 20-year old guy.  I certainly narrowed the gap, but did not have enough runway, and finished nine seconds behind him.  Mile 3 split was the most respectable at 5:30.

Back in the parking lot for final strides
just before finish line.

Finished!

Final results:  18:00.  3rd overall of 153, 1st in age group.  Full results here.

All young people around me!  Fighting to stay relevant
in the race, amongst youth.

Went for a cool-down with Dave, before coming back to Kelley's Pace for awards.  Unfortunately, unlike two years ago where we had the awards ceremony indoors at Mangos Pizza while they served fresh pizza complimentary to runners, this year was a grab-n-go bag with two bars, a plastic bottle of water, and a pencil.  Can't win them all.

Representing WTAC today included (l-r):
Eric C, me, Dave

Overall, even though this was my fastest Hare Hop, I would say that I had a decent race, but not a great one.  Similarly, the fun level was OK, but not nearly as high as Colchester Half the weekend prior.

Thoughts going through my head post-race:  I didn't break my albeit arbitrary goal of sub-18, but I came close.  Should I try to find a flat and fast 5K in the spring (like Clamdigger), or just move on and focus on bigger (i.e., longer) races?  Why was only my 3rd mile respectable?  Was I just getting warmed up?  I did run 2.5 miles as a warm-up.  Am I just not a good 5K runner?  Or if I want better results, should I be putting in 5K specific training?  That may be it.  All food for thought as I ponder my spring races.

Weekly Log 28-Feb to 6-Mar-2022: Technology Fail & Lethargy

My phones always have a short life span,
as I'm really hard on them.
A drop onto a parking lot
this week spelled the death knoll for this current one.
---
I was frequently in trouble at Fidelity
for ruining so many of the expensive
global Blackberrys they issued me.
Was it my fault that they didn't fare well
with sweat from running or taking a dip
in the ocean?

It was not a good week for technology for me.
The screen is delaminating, wires are exposed,
and tiny parts are literally falling out each day.

I've always like the Microsoft Surface series,
I'm pretty used to them as they have been the work-issued
laptop at my past two employers,
and they seem a lot more structurally sound
than the flimsy Lenovo Thinkpad laptop I have,
so I picked one up today before the Lenovo melts
down completely.

Monday:  1 walk

Just wasn't up for a run today.  Should you push yourself just to get miles?  Or it's OK to just sometimes take the day off for no reason?

Westerly, RI.  Post-work walk with Jana and Brady at Avondale.  Temperature about 27°, but somehow felt much colder.  Gloved hands were cold throughout the walk.  Old age cometh.

Tuesday:  1 walk, 12 run

Westerly, RI.  Walk - CCC monitoring at Winnapaug Farm.  Lead a team of four monitoring the borders of this property.  Map based app showing borders worked well; app to report encroachments did not.  This property is very clean, with minor exceptions of borders on Shore Road and Winnapaug Road, where some drivers think the Land Trust properties are their personal dumping grounds for trash they don't want.

Charlestown, RI.  Run - Two CCW loops of Quonochontaug.  I'm not really a multi-lap kind of runner, but I do really like these quiet roads, especially in the off-season.  Despite being 38°, felt cold much of the time with a 13mph and increasing wind off the ocean and totally cloudy.  Started off very slowly (7:40 pace), and then despite not pushing it, ran an average 6:49 pace.  Loved the run.  Hated the shoes I wore (NB Speedrift), but even though I got a great deal on them, I'm too cheap just to throw them out due to their being very uncomfortable.  Isn't that just plain silly?

Wednesday:  13

AM:  Westerly, RI - 10 miles.  'Round the pond, punctuated with 2 on, 2 off telephone pole pick-ups in Miles 3, 5, and 7.  It was another breezy day out there today, but bright sunshine made all the difference and it was much more comfortable.

PM:  Westerly, RI - 3 miles.  Was intending a longer recovery late afternoon with Brady, and with the warm weather (mid 40s), I figured it was time for me to try the trails again.  Bad move.  Went to Grills, and while there were some bare spots, there was also a lot of mud, slush, and crusty snow.  Back to the roads, for now at least.

Thursday:  5

Charlestown, RI.  With a stiff wind again, and the snow now melted from my yard, I gave the trails another try.  With Brady late afternoon, ran the old Brrr-lingame course.  Remember that gem of a race?  I imagine it's pretty rare that anyone runs the course anymore, and given the fact that the trails inside the campground had virgin snow, that sort of confirms it.  About 70% of the course was clear today, and the remaining 30% was crusty snow.

Friday:  6

Charlestown, RI.  Busy morning with non-work meetings (Land Trust board, etc).  Finished up just before Noon, so went for a run.  Of course.  Was looking for something easy, flat, and soft surface, with a 5K race tomorrow morning.  Ninigret!  Easy grass loops, plus a few 100 meter strides at the end.

Saturday:  7

Stonington, CT.  Hare Hop 5K, plus warm-up and cool-down.  Write-up to follow.

Sunday:  11

Hopkinton, RI.  Dirt road run with Nick and Brady.  First time running with Nick this year, as he's recovering from an injury and I was avoiding people for a while after my brother's death.  Really good to catch up with him.  He's intentionally staying off trails and on dirt roads while he heals.  This was even more fun than I thought.  Nobody was out there, except for farmers at the very end of Gallup Road in Voluntown, which by the way was my first time ever running on that road.  I could really feel the 200' rather steep climb up from Green Falls trailhead parking.  Whew.  Need more hills.  They make you stronger.

There were some pretty dicey sections where the road was covered in snow and ice, so I wore trail shoes with decent grip, but overall not an issue.  Never looked at my watch once.  Well, except to tack on a little extra at finish to make it to my arbitrary 55mpw goal.

Post-run went to Higher Grounds Community Coffeeshop, reopened under new owners.  The latte and egg and cheese sandwich on a bagel did not disappoint; it's nice to have freshly cooked to order product instead of the those fast food places with pre-fab egg and cheese shapes.  Unfortunately, Fatty was a bit gluttonous when he saw the decadent donuts as well; that seems to be the new craze in doughnuts where they're more like a very rich mini-cake than a donut.  That one is still sitting like a lead sinker in my stomach a few hours later.  I hope I remember this incident next time I'm staring down a decadent donut.

Weekly mileage:  55 run, 2 walk

Weekly synopsis:  Overall, pretty disappointing actually.  Did I have any good runs?  Yes, three actually:  12-miler at Quonnie, 10-mile telephone pickups in Misquamicut, and 11-mile dirt road run at Yawgoo/Green Falls.  So what's the problem?  Well, just didn't feel very motivated, and other than Saturday's race and Sunday's run with Nick, they were all spur of the moment and almost didn't happen.

I bailed on the Border Patrol Challenge just after I started it, as I didn't want to see people at that time right after the family tragedy.  And now without a marathon plan, I'm languishing a bit and just need to get a major race back on the schedule.  Some runners just seem to naturally have the motivation to keep getting out there, which I admire, but I do seem to need a bit more discipline these days.  Onward.

Weekly highlight:  Hilly dirt road run on Sunday.

Weekly lowlight:  Lethargy.

Colchester Half Marathon

 

Colchester, CT

Saturday, February 26, 2022

I believe this is a long-standing race, but was my first edition.  I really only went because 1) it was the WTAC Clamshell race of the month (I can't remember who suggested it), and 2) there just isn't much out there in terms of "local" races for February.  (I put "local" in quotation marks, as I'm not sure a race an hour's drive away is really local.  I suppose that's subjective.)  Looking back now, this race held a lot of surprises for me, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and am glad I went!

I arrived an hour early, went into the auditorium of Bacon Academy to pick up my bib, went for a solo 2+ mile run, came back to use the bathroom, and was just about ready to go as I noted the time as 9:51 (nine minutes to race start).  Heard my name called, and saw it was Crutch, who I hadn't seen in quite a while, but I quickly apologized to him as I waved but peeled away saying that I need to get "dressed" (more like undressed) and of course he completely understood.

Went back to the car to shed layers, and stripped down to short shorts and a WTAC singlet, lightweight hat, and lightweight gloves.  According to my Strava post, it was 22°F at start, with a 6mph wind out of the NNW, for a windchill factor of 14°.  I definitely got some remarks on my attire as I made my way through the unexpectedly large crowd of runners heading towards the start line.  As far I saw, there were only three of us crazies wearing both shorts and singlets:  Dave, Paul, and me.

Start - Mile 3:   Just before race start, the police very temporarily shut down the main road (Norwich Road) and let us use the full width of the road, which the timing company quickly covered with chip timing mats.  Doing my best to assess the competition around me, I quickly moved to the very front, as did Dave.  I never want to start in front of faster runners, but fortunately my assessment was accurate this time around.  The proverbial gun went off (really it was just verbal commands) and we were on our way.  One guy quickly took the lead, and then behind him it was our group of three:  my WTAC teammate Dave, a guy in orange tights also named David, and me.  (I'll refer to them accordingly as Dave and David here.)  Out of the three of us, David is the only one who had run this before, so when he asked me what I was shooting for, I explained I had run Vermont City Half last fall in 1:20, and as he had run this previously, I asked what he thought I should add as a buffer for the hills.  He suggested 3 minutes, so 1:23 was my target.

Do I actually have my back to the RD while he's talking?
(WTAC singlet to far right).  Pay attention, man.
---
(Photos are official race photos provided free,
unless otherwise noted.

Ready to start (again, far right).  Eventual winner to my
right (wearing face mask).  Note not many fools out there today
even wearing shorts, never mind singlets.

I mentioned that the lead guy looked legit, which David confirmed, but said there would likely be others coming up on us as well.  After a half-mile, I felt comfortable pulling ahead, and we split apart.  Just before one mile, we turned directly into the wind, and I was seriously questioning the wisdom of my chosen running attire, as I was COLD.  My arms were freezing and my fingers were getting that painful cold sensation.  Well, saunter on, as I'm most certainly not going back now.  

Behind David in his orange tights, immediately after start.

Very early on in race;
between David and Dave
---
Photo by Bob Kerwin

At the next major intersection another half-mile later, we turned slightly out of the wind and had to work harder now as we started the first of four climbs greater than 100' on the course.  Just at the start of this climb, I heard someone come right up behind me.  As we continued our climb over the next mile, my body gradually warmed up, and by two miles in, I was now warm and would remain so for the rest of the race.  At about this time, my suitor passed me and I saw it was David.  We would trade places periodically for the next four miles, which really meant I would catch him on the downhills, and he would catch me on the uphills.

Mile splits:  6:03, 6:25, 6:28.

Miles 4 - 6:  The next three miles had their own flavor, as they were downhill, on less trafficked roads, and had long stretches of snow and ice.  I alternated following David, running next to him, and running just slightly ahead of him.  It wasn't always possible to run the tangents here, unless you wanted to risk running on long icy sections at times.  As it was, there were times where running over ice and snow was unavoidable.  I saw David slip once, and I know I needed to press on, but just hoped I didn't fall.  The pace was fast downhill, and I could feel it.

Mile splits:  6:04, 5:48, 5:45

Mile 7:  This mile deserves its own paragraph.  The 200+' decline over the last three miles ended abruptly, as did the pavement.  We took a hard left, and as I heard my name called, a peripheral glance told me it was Sam Alexander cheering me on.  For the next 3/4 mile, we went uphill on completely snow covered dirt roads, for about 100' climb.  At the start of the climb, I was just steps behind David, but this would be the last time as he pulled ahead considerably here and was clearly a superior hill climber.  The coolest part of this mile was the very enthusiastic RD had driven out here, walked down part of the snow-covered slope, and gave me a high-five, saying something like "Let's Go, Westerly!", and confirming that I was in 3rd place. 

The hill and the snow ended, the police stopped traffic as I crossed a major road, and I started a slight downhill on pavement.

Mile split:  6:42 (slowest mile of my race)

Miles 8 - 10:   Mile 8 was the steepest uphill climb (is "uphill" and "climb" redundant?  incline sounds better, doesn't it?).  Mile 9 was a flat plateau, and Mile 10 was the steepest decline.  At this point, David in the orange tights was out of sight, but what did keep me going was seeing the injured, but recovering, Bob Kerwin in the middle of the hill giving me encouragement.  I never thought of walking (as apparently many of my successors did), but it was nonetheless very challenging. 150' climb in 0.2 miles.

Climbing Mile 8 hill
(Photo by Bob Kerwin)

 

Mile 8 hill

A look down the hill, as I'm coming up.
It was steeper than appears here.  Honest!
(from Bob Kerwin's video)

After a mile to catch my breath, it was time now for a 250' drop.  I could occasionally see David now on the steep straight drop, but he was actually quite a ways ahead by this point.

Mile splits:  6:36, 6:17, 5:41 (fastest mile of my race)

Miles 11 - finish:  Mile 11 was another snow covered dirt road, but at least this one was relatively flat.  No vehicles were travelling on this very rural wooded road.  There were a few spots where dirt shone through and I could pick that for better traction, but mostly it was running on packed down snow.

Snow-covered road in Mile 11
(Pic taken by me post-race)

The dirt road ended at a large farm, where a few spectators gathered.  Turning off the dirt road, we had two miles uphill on a paved main road.  I could see David in orange on long straightaways, but he was really quite a way ahead of me.  The 200' climb was nearly continuous, but spread out over two miles fairly evenly.  At long last, I see the sign for Bacon Academy, turn in the driveway, and I'm done.  The announcer calls my name and hometown, and points out that the first three runners represented all the southern New England states.

Final turn before finish.
Broken down form is reflecting how I
feel after hill climb and 13 hilly miles.
But I did hold off the competitors behind me!

Mile splits:  6:03, 6:28, 6:39

Final results:  1:22:30.  6:18 average pace.  3rd overall of 442.  1st in age group.  Full results here.

So I hit my contemporaneously decided target of 1:23!  I went to my car to get pants and a quarter-zip, and after putting those on, Dave Goodrich (15th overall) came up to me and said the announcer at finish line was looking for me.  I wondered what was wrong, and Dave explained it's all set and he vouched for me, as the announcer was wondering if my age was listed wrong and if the 3rd place finisher was really a 57-year old!  All around me finishing were 20 and 30-something runners, so I'll take that to my credit!

Went for a mile cooldown with Dave, and then inside to hit the food spread.  And what a spread it was!  I had vegetarian lasagna (there was a meat version also), mac and cheese, ziti, green beans, corn bread, and iced tea.  I didn't even have room to touch the two different kinds of soups, pizza, quiche, coffee, etc.

Pass.  I had green beans and orange wedges.

Not that I really had any room leftover, but I just couldn't 
pass up brownies a la mode.  (The brown containers are big containers of
vanilla ice cream.)  Fantastic!

Overall, this race is a lot of fun, well organized, and did I mention it has an amazing spread?  A half-marathon like this could easily charge $50 and still be worthwhile, but the actual price is an absolute steal at $14!  In hindsight, I regret that I didn't contribute an additional donation when registering. 

There was a volunteer marshal at every turn and you couldn't get lost.  Major intersections had police as well.  My own race went well and I'm glad I kept pushing myself, as I finished just 18 seconds ahead of 4th place.

Didn't end up getting a WTAC photo, but there were at least five of us there, maybe more.

I was secretly hoping that they would have awards for 1st / 2nd / 3rd, but it turns out they didn't have awards at all.  No problem at all, and I don't need more "stuff" anyway.  On my way out, I did make it a point to personally thank the RD for the great job.  You could tell he really poured his heart and soul into it.  He asked where I was from, and then said he's run our WTAC Clamdigger event and met his wife in Misquamicut.  Small world.  Great race.