Weekly Log 16-May to 22-May-2022: Hill Climbing

Monday:  6

Groton, CT.  Eschewed my normal "Monday off" and ran short and easy with Matthew and Brady at Haley Farm State Park, before work meetings commenced for the day.  Need to get more early morning runs in, especially as the temperature is trending much warmer of late.

Tuesday:  2 walk, 6 run

Westerly, RI.  Two mile walk at Cottrell Preserve while cutting the final section of trail.  Started blazing the trail (red) but ran out of time.

Charlestown, RI.  Late afternoon run with Brady on Sammy C's.  Really tired.  Ran down to North Camp so Brady could get a water break, as it was about 70°.  Brady just laid down in Watchaug Pond, and put his head under the water.  A couple of mountain bikers and hikers out there, but quiet overall.

Wednesday:  12

Charlestown, RI.  Burlingame with Brady.  Went reasonably early (8am) before it got warm.  Ran VG loop, plus North Camp, Burlingame Trail, and a little bit of Kimball.  Good run!

Thursday:  10

Exeter, RI.  5 miles on roads from Yawgoo Valley Ski Area.  2-mile warmup in the rain with Matthew, and 5 x Yawgoo Valley Road hill (150' elevation on 0.3 miles).  When we started the first one, I was questioning how I could finish five, but obviously I got through it, albeit each one slower than the previous.  Truly.

Charlestown, RI.  5 miles.  The plan after the road hill workout was to run the trails at the ski area, but a female employee came outside and quickly put the kibosh on that idea.  Probably something to do with trespassing and liability.  Oh well.  So what's Plan B?  How about a cooldown at Ninigret?  Changed into trail shoes, and violated more rules by running the Ninigret Wildlife Refuge trails.

Friday:  13

AM:  Exeter, RI.  5 miles.  After dropping Matthew off early (6am) at Wickford train station (he needed to go back to UNH early for graduation related activities), it was a straight shot west on Route 102 to Arcadia.  Parked at JB Hudson and ran a lollipop CCW around Breakheart Pond and back.  Didn't see a soul out there until we passed an older gentleman starting his hike just as we were finishing up.  A little earlier than I would like, but it was nice to get out there and get it done.

PM:  Madbury, NH.  8 miles.  Drove up to NH in the afternoon, sans Brady this time.  We got a neighbor to watch him as it would have been cruel for him to stay in the car for several hours in the heat during graduation exercises.  Anyway, met up with Matthew, who gave me a tour of one of his local college running haunts, Kingman Farm.  Quite a mix of trails.  My favorites were the single-track trails in dense pine forests.

Saturday:  8

York, ME.  Mount Agamenticus.  Another 5am wake-up, but this would be the only window for me to run before going to Matthew's graduation at UNH, so well worth it.  This was some really good hill training.  Normally I love running on long flat rock surfaces, but today it was wet with 100% humidity and that just made the rock surfaces slippery.  So I avoided the wet rocks where possible, and where not possible, slowed down.  I need to get in more hill training.

Side note:  Although Matthew knew most of the route, it was a nice saving feature to rely on the navigation feature on my Fenix 5S.

Sunday:  10

Westerly, RI.  Back home.  The temps were in the low 60s, but I felt hot with the direct sun.  In retrospect, I should not have brought Brady on this [mostly] road run, as he was quickly lagging.  Ran with the lead RWYC group for a bit, but Brady just slowing down, so we dropped back and took a break in the shade before continuing on.  Once we got to the ocean at East Beach, he jumped right in and then was back to himself, sprinting through the water.  I felt badly when he saw a woman throw a tennis ball to her black lab puppy and Brady outsprinted the pup and took his ball into the ocean with him.  I apologized to the woman, called Brady out of the ocean, and told him to drop the ball.  Fortunately, she didn't seem to mind, and we then continued on.

Weekly mileage:  65 run, 2 walk

Weekly synopsis:  This was a great running week!  Seven days of running, 5,700' elevation gain, 65 miles, four states, hills, flats, roads, trails, and beach.  Highest elevation gain in running since last June (Mount Washington Road Race).

Weekly highlight:  Running at Mount Agamenticus in southern Maine.  Would have been better if the surface had been dry and if any visibility instead of the socked in fog, but it was still a really good run.

Weekly lowlight:  Return of heat and humidity, with plenty more of that to come.

Weekly Log 9-May to 15-May-2022: Double 10K Week

Monday:  0

Planned day off.

Tuesday:  2 walk, 10 run

AM:  Westerly, RI.  CCC.  Led a crew cutting the recently flagged southern trail of the new WLT Cottrell Preserve.  All trails are now cut, except for one in the middle that we don't yet have consensus on.

PM:  Hopkinton, RI.  Technical trail run with Brady.  Roughly planned this out in my head (the route description below only makes sense or interest if you know these trails):

• Parked at Canonchet parking lot on North Road.  Ran white to Canonchet Trail (yellow?) to Stubtown Road, left on Stubtown (turns from dirt road to paved) coming out to North Road just where the pavement ends, right on North Road (dirt road) for a mile to the Long Pond/Ell Pond trailhead, then south on Narragansett Trail (including new section south of Stubtown Road) to Lawton Foster Road North, right on that road until it turns to dirt, then left on Canonchet blue trail almost to Route 3, but turning on the last white connector and then north again on Canonchet Trail.

This was a tough route with over 1,000 feet of vertical and lots of very technical and steep single-track, oddly enough interspersed with easy and flat dirt road connectors.  We saw a man and his dog in the very first mile, and then no one at all for the next nine miles!  I had no idea of mileage and as I came up to the car my watched showed 9.89 miles.  Well, I have to finish this one, as I made little circles in the little parking lot while Brady looked me at likely wondering what was wrong with me.

I'm pretty sure in the past that Brady just jumped over
this small chasm between the rocks, but today he just
stopped dead and looked at me.  So I went back carried him
across on the rocks above him.

Wednesday:  11

AM:  Westerly, RI.  Five mile loop, with Brady, of trails from Wahaneeta into Woody Hill and back.  Didn't see a soul out there!

PM:  Charlestown, RI.  Six miles solo on roads, from Charlestown's East Beach.  Felt a little tight, but decent.  Yet another windy day.  Average 6:40 pace did NOT feel difficult.

Thursday:  10

Westerly, RI.  Joined the Mohegan Striders' 50th anniversary for the month of May:  Brazen Hen weekly fun run.  Every month during 2022 the Striders are featuring one or more free events to encourage their members (and apparently neighboring clubs) to attend.  Ran five miles solo pre-event, and then five miles with Jeff Anderson as we had a good conversation on races, how shoes are radically changing, and other topics.

Pre-run group photo.

Mingling post-run at the Brazen Hen.
This one was called the "Two Presidents" shot!
(center of photo with Mohegan Striders President Al)

Friday:  11

AM:  Westerly, RI.  5 mile solo road run from Avondale.  Kept reminding myself to slow down in advance of a double race weekend.

PM:  Westerly, RI.  6 mile easy trail run and project reconnaissance run at Grills with WLT employee Marc, and Brady.  Spent the most time trying to figure out where and how best to install "water bars" to reduce erosion on the steep downhill trail on the south side of Big Hill.  Trail should have never been built that way, but it's probably decades old, so let's fix what we can.

Saturday:  10

New Shoreham, RI.  Shad Bloom 10K Trail Race.  Write-up to follow.

Sunday:  8

Stonington, CT.  Mystic 10K.  Write-up to follow.

Weekly mileage:  60

Weekly synopsis:  Happy with this week's results.  My races weren't especially fast, but I got 60 miles in and a good mix of runs, pretty evenly divided between roads and trails, so that's all good.  I also got in one trail run with good hill ascents and descents, and need to get in more of those, especially with Laugavegur Ultramarathon coming up in July with a 500 meter elevation gain in first 10K, followed by a 1,000 meter drop over the rest of the course.

Weekly highlight:  The 10-mile technical trail loop in Hopkinton.  My race performances were decent but not great.

Weekly lowlight:  Sudden return of warm and humid weather.

Weekly Log 2-May to 8-May-2022: Goof Rings and a Bear

Miscellaneous ramblings:

• New red trail at Stonington!  I was asked by town rec officials to meet up and walk the trail recently and consider incorporating into our now annual Stonington XC run that we co-host.  Trail is looking good and should serve well to eliminate 2-way traffic.
• Speaking of new red trails, I just happened to come upon the brand new flagged and rough cut trail in Ninigret.  It is about 1.2 miles and does reduce blacktop.  Like I said, it's pretty rough right now, but all trails start out that way.
• I noticed painted arrows on the Ninigret bike path and field, suggesting a race course.  Sure enough, when I finished up my run I saw a yard-sale type sign promoting the Deerfoot 5K.  The previous weekend.  I try to support local races where possible, but had no idea of this one.  Searched results and found they had 31 finishers.  Total conjecture on my part, but I imagine the low numbers to be influenced by less than optimal marketing and the return to ubiquity of 5K road races.
• Next up in obscure local races is Charlestown Land Trust's "Try It, You'll Love it" 10K trail race on June 4.  I'm trying to limit my races and save time for actual training, but who knows, I may finally run this race.  There's pizza at the end!
• Vermont's rest areas are very clean and convenient.  Relative to Vermont's, Massachusetts' are pretty disgusting.

Monday:  0

Intentional rest day.

Tuesday:  3 walk

Westerly, RI.  I led a crew of three to more remote parts of Grills Preserve.  We removed copious beer cans, bottles, and nips from the cliffs of Big Hill.  We then proceeded to liberate the racetrack from a myriad of oil cans, a frying pan, exhaust manifold, tire, and even an ice skate!

Lugging that crap out of there was heavy, and I was pretty tired when we were done.

Wednesday:  12

AM:  Charlestown, RI.  6-mile run with Brady at Ninigret Park.  Unusual to run at Ninigret Park without encountering any humans, but that was the case today.  Highlight was finding and running the new red trail.  Exciting!

PM:  Westerly, RI.  6 miles at Woody Hill with Brady.  Easy run on the "classic" trails.

Thursday:  9

Westerly, RI.  Group of four.  From Barlow.  Ran 2 miles solo on Barlow trails, then group run into Woody.  Quite a few mountain bikers out there.  Nothing against them, and they were all friendly, but I prefer to avoid Woody evenings and weekends in order to have a bigger chance of fewer humans.

Friday:  11

West Greenwich, RI.  Logged into work computer, and seeing my only scheduled meeting of the morning got moved to Monday, it's time to hit the trails!  Took Brady up to Wickaboxet for the first visit in quite a while.  We ran for nine miles before encountering another human!

A woman leader of the small hiking group coming towards us suddenly yelled out "Jogger!" to the rest of the group behind her.  That was odd, as I looked around and didn't see any joggers at all.  As Brady passed her, she said "Cute puppy!  What a good girl!".  That was odd, as I looked around, and didn't see any female puppies at all.  The hike leader seemed nice enough, but maybe off her rocker?

Only one other human encounter after that:  a woman hiker also with a black lab.  Had a great run out there, and love how much of the Wickaboxet and Tillinghast trails have a soft of pine needles.  Stopped at several streams, where Brady promptly laid down in them and put his head under the water to cool off.

Saturday:  10

Charlestown, RI.  Had planned out a long run of 18 miles, but awoke to rain, wind, and temps in the upper 40s and I just wasn't into it.  The long run was going to be the first 10 or so solo, and then lead the WTAC Group Run of the month from The Bakery in Charlestown.  Instead, pressed snooze again, and got going with just enough for a 2-mile warmup before leading the group.  Apparently the rain had turned off others as well, as it was just Matt S and Dave G that showed up.  It all turned out fine, we had some good conversation, and finished up scones, coffee, and conversation.

Sunday:  7

Stowe, VT.  Cady Hill Forest, part of the Stowe Land Trust.  Really fun trail run literally right out the back door of the hotel we were spending the night in.  Slept fitfully and awoke about 6:50am to someone licking my face telling me to get up.  No, it wasn't Jana.  

Temps were in the upper 30s at start, so I wore a pair of thin gloves and felt fine.

Fun dirt rails through pine forests

Map kiosks at key intersections

I like snakes.  This way sounds good.
It turns out the "Snake" trail was a long and twisty
trail snaking its way up a hill.

One of two "green chair" vantage points

I'm normally leery of continuing past
"Private Property" signs, but this one
was clearly welcoming

Bear!  (9 o'clock)
Terrible photo, as it's about 8x zoom and
running away by the time I get my phone ready.
Was really interesting, intense actually,
watching the initial stare-down between
Brady and the bear.  I told Brady firmly "Stay!"
and he did, but as he raised his hackles and tail high,
telling the bear Brady was on high alert,
the bear reacted and first high-tailed it up the nearest tree,
but then scampered down and sprinted away.

Lookout point #2 (presumably at Stowe ski area)

One of the final trails we took, called "Bridgey".
The meaning of the trail name became clear as
we came across these long wavy bridge sections.
---
[Look closely]  Only problem for Brady was that
the slat openings were too wide for his feet.  I felt
bad and scared when one of his legs dropped between
two slats while he was running on the wooden bridge.  Good way
to break a leg.  From then on, we ran outside of the bridge,
and we were all down with "Bridgey".

Weekly mileage:  50 run, 3 walk

Weekly synopsis:  Didn't hit my mileage goal this week, but not too far off.  Otherwise, the runs I went on were pretty fun.  Nice variety of runs.

Weekly highlight:  Running related, Cady Hill Forest trail run in Stowe Land Trust.  Seeing the bear was a bonus (well, once I realized it would end well).  Always fun to run new trails.

From a personal satisfaction standpoint, completing the project to replace our 24-year old bathroom exhaust fans.  The project scope grew as I had to add electrical junction boxes in the attic, replace wiring and ducts, and resolve that the new fans left a gap in the ceiling, but all worthwhile in the end.  The old fans were rusty and noisy and did a mediocre job.  The new fans are so quiet, bright, and efficient.

The gap is small, but visible and annoying.  How am I going
to fix that?

It turns out this is a somewhat common issue,
as fans and other devices are getting smaller over the years,
leaving a ceiling gap when replacing their older counterparts.
---
A company in NY has a solution:  you provide inside and outside
diameters online, and four days later your custom-cut pliable "goof ring"
appears in the mail.

Voila!  The goof ring looks like it's part of the device now,
and there's no gap.
To think I was going to try to plaster patch
the ceiling or put caulk into the gap.

Looks great, works great.  
Bright LED light replaces light bulbs as well.

Weekly lowlight:  Not getting a long run in.

Clamdigger 2022

Sunday, April 24, 2022

Westerly, RI

The 41st edition of the Clamdigger races.  The Sun sports editor had previous counseled me not to call it "annual" any longer, as that implies it was held every year since inception, and we did not host in 2020 due to no gatherings allowed at all then at beginning of COVID-19 pandemic.

Last year's (2021) Clamdigger was a mixed success.   It was a financial success as we were "the only game in town", as most organizations simply canceled instead of meeting the difficult COVID requirements.  We put together COVID state and town plans, bought and utilized non-contact forehead thermometers, set up staggered start waves of USATF maximums of ten runners per wave, and required masks at check-in.  We sold out the state maximum of 125 participants in days, and when we got permission to increase to 175, we sold out those additional fifty in days.  That's the success part; the downside besides all the mandated COVID requirements was that it was pouring rain and windy.  I couldn't run myself as I was just a few days out from my cancer excision surgery, and man did I get cold standing around for hours.

2021 Clamdigger:  pouring rain, staggered starts

Fast forward to 2022.  While we hoped that those new participants would be "sticky" and return this year, we were happy that some did, but realized that many would not, especially those traveling quite a distance.  It also didn't help that we were running our event on the exact same date as the RI State Police 5K in Narragansett, but we didn't have a choice given Easter the week before and conflicts on other dates.  We still got 140 registrants in the 5K and 5Mile races this year, and another 10 in the kids' beach race.

Race day:  As Race Director, I was the first to arrive (8:30am) and the last to leave (1:30pm).  Somewhere in between all the setup and coordinating, I also ran the 5K event myself.   Before I get into that, I want to give a huge shoutout to all the volunteers, town rec department, sponsors, and the Westerly Police Department for making this all possible.  And of course the runners!  The WPD was over the top this year in terms of their support and safety, sending additional cruisers and officers, blocking the finish entrance to keep cars away from runners, and setting up portable digital signs advising cars to slow down for the race in progress.  Just fantastic.

My race:  As to my own race, Keith had kindly offered to pace me at an attempt to break my 5K record (17:32).  While I feel I'm not quite in the same shape I was last fall and still about 3 pounds heavier, it seemed plausible.  Just the day before the race, Keith suggested 5:37 target splits, and I checked the forecasted wind to find only 6mph.  Looking good!

After setting up, going through RD duties, and getting in a short warm-up (1.2 miles) myself, it was go time.  Only the wind wasn't 6mph.  Not even close.  My Strava showed 12mph and others showed as much as 19mph.  The wind was in an uncommon direction out of the east, meaning we would be in a headwind going out; tailwind on the return.

2022 Clamdigger:  windy, but not rain,
and back to the normal road start using the certified courses

Mile 1:  Nick Bottone started the race with a gun and I tucked in behind Keith.  We quickly took the lead, and I tried to maximize the energy savings in drafting.  But I found myself shifting slightly left or right of Keith, as the wind still managed to get around him.  Maybe I needed a much fatter Keith to hide behind?  Oh, but then he probably wouldn't be running sub-6, would he?  I actually felt decent out there in the first mile and I was happy to stay just behind Keith.  I didn't look at my watch at all until I heard it beep.  5:51.  What?  Maybe I should've checked my watch?  Keith mentioned something about making up the time on the return.  14 seconds off, with a tailwind coming up.  Sounds plausible at least.

Early in first mile (in blue cap, behind Keith, 
just ahead of Tommy 5K.  Dave and Nick on my left were in
5M race, as was Tommy [1st OA])

Mile 2:  It's getting tougher for me to stay with Keith, but I push and do it.  In my typical fashion, the cone turnaround has a negative impact on me, and looking back at Strava my instantaneous pace right at the turnaround moment is the slowest of my race at 6:14.  I wonder how many seconds it actually adds?  At any rate, I'm oblivious (fortunately!) to that stat during the race, and I saunter on.  I see but don't recognize the 2nd 5K runner coming at me (a 56-year old from Providence that will run just over 19), and then turning off Breach Drive for the straight shot back on Atlantic Avenue, I see Jonny Eckel and remark to myself that he looks "winded".  Bad pun (he's still running into the wind).  Keith has picked up the pace, but aided by a tailwind, I'm able to keep up.  Mile 2 split 5:37.  Exactly our (my) target pace.   

Mile 3:  With Mile 1 having been 14 seconds slower than target, and Mile 2 dead on, it's easy to calculate that Mile 3 should 14 seconds faster than target to keep me on track.  But that's 5:23.  Is that possible?  I have pulled up alongside Keith (there's no longer a headwind to contend with) and in fact up until Mile 2.4 we are running low 5:20s.  But alas, it's not sustainable.  For me.  I'm in oxygen debt and despite trying hard to keep the pace, I slow to 5:50s, where I will remain for the rest of the race.  Mile 3 split 5:47.  Even the final .1 mile I can only manage a 5:40, and that's with a tailwind.  I'm just spent.

Finishing up.  Keith is out for a jog,
while I'm in a sprint!

Keith continues on down the road,
as he has many more miles to put in,
while I turn into the parking lot and head for the finish line.

Final result:  18:00.  1st overall, but that wasn't the goal.  Full results here.

I see the clock ticking 17:5x as I approach the finish.  I thought I got in at 17:59, but SNERRO results will later show 18:00.  Sometimes those artificial cutoffs at flat minutes will bother me, but not today.  It's just not what I was looking for.  I'm disappointed.  I don't want to be too hard on myself, as clearly the wind had some impact, and I'm running faster than I was five years ago when getting under 18:10 was a struggle.  For a geezer pushing sixty, I should be happy with that.  But the competitive nature in me will keep pushing me to do better and run faster.   Onwards ...

Setting up for awards.
Chilly on the pavilion.

Chowder and baguettes were awesome,
especially on a cool, brisk day.

So glad to see the return of the kids' run.
(No awards ceremony, chowder, or
kids' run since 2019 due to COVID.)

Weekly Log 25-Apr to 1-May-2022: A Healthy Break from Racing

Monday:  5

Charlestown, RI.  Post-work run with Brady from Burlingame Campground.  Felt quite tight after yesterday's race, albeit only a 5K.

Tuesday:  2 walk

Westerly, RI.  My only window for running today would have been 6am, and that's just not happening.  Worked on clearing foundation walls at Larkin Farm at Grills.  Honestly, as these were so overgrown, I had no idea this structure even existed.

Part of the overall Larkin Farm, dating from 1665.

Wednesday:  7

Stonington, CT.  Late afternoon run in Mystic, using most of the Mystic 10K course, although in reverse so that I wouldn't have headwinds along the river in Groton.  I put on my race flats for a planned descending ladders workout, but even two miles in I felt tight and a tad sore, so decided this is probably not the best idea and bagged it.  On the contrary, I ran intentionally slow.

Thursday:  5

Westerly, RI.  Woody Hill mid-morning with Brady, between work meetings.  Easy run.  Just ran out of time.

Friday:  11

Exeter, RI.  Finally, no work meetings all morning.  Signed on, got a few things done, and then headed to Arcadia with Brady to run my "classic loop" (from JB Hudson trailhead, cross 165, Mount Tom Trail -> Escoheag -> Breakheart -> JB Hudson).  Fell hard in Mile 9 on Breakheart Trail and scraped up my lower leg, knee, and thigh with hitting a rock, the ground, and a wooden water bar (I learned that term from Bob Segal just this week).

First bloody fall of the year.

Saturday:  16

Charlestown, RI.  Finally got in a long run.  First time in three weeks.  Pushed the middle five miles, ranging from 5:59 - 6:24 (uphill), and felt very winded from it.  Happy to get it in, but I'm not sure if my body was, as I was dehydrated for hours and had very concentrated urine (probably TMI).

One positive side-effect of longer, harder runs is that I actually
crave healthy food.  For my post-run lunch, I made tuna fish with tomatoes
and pickles on toasted whole grain bread with seeds, and a large navel orange.

Sunday:  12

Nice ML trail run with Brady at Burlingame.  The usual VG loop, plus North Camp and Burlingame trail tacked on.  Temp was 55° at start; I was very comfortable in short sleeves.  Brady must've felt warm though, as he laid down in the streams and in the pond he laid down and put his head completely under the water to cool off.  I thought most dogs don't like to put their head under water?

Weekly mileage:  55 run, 2 walk

Weekly synopsis:  Back to more respectable mileage this week, although certainly back-loaded.  Look to have move 55+ mileage weeks for the foreseeable future now.

Weekly highlight:  Today's Burlingame run.  Very few people despite the great weather, and a very enjoyable and comfortable run.

Weekly lowlight:  Pretty minor, but low mileage start to the week and lingering soreness from races.  I'm so glad I didn't race this weekend as I needed the break.