Weekly Log 12-Sep to 18-Sep-2022: Stavros Beach Run

Monday:  10 run, 2 walk

Westerly, RI.

AM:  With two others, plus Brady, walked and planned out a potential connector trail through Town Forest property linking Whitely Preserve to the nascent Cottrell Preserve.

Hundreds (thousands?) of aphids on a branch.  Weird.

AM:  3 mile run.  After leaving Cottrell Preserve, Brady and I went to Wahaneeta for a pre-race recon and to give me an idea of what work is needed in advance of Saturday.

PM:  7 mile run.  Together with Justin P, setup, watch, and break down the course for the first WHS XC meet of the season.

Tuesday:  10

Charlestown, RI.  Ran in an absolute downpour.  Parked at East Beach, Charlestown, which was a challenge just to get there.  The roads were flooded in multiple places.  Route 1 Charlestown southbound lanes were closed completely.  I would later learn that Charlestown received 3.1" of rain in just one hour!  This was the highest rainfall in the state today.  I was the only car in the East Beach parking lot, and I had to drive through a pretty flooded section to get there.

The run was an absolute blast!  By the time I had run the couple of miles to Route 1, there were now several RI DOT trucks in the closed southbound lanes, and I ran past two workers who were up to their waists in water working on the flood issue.  Unreal.  About Mile 5 the skies started to lighten up, and much to my dismay, the rain almost stopped.  Then it got dark again, the thunder rumbled, and the skies opened.  At West Beach boat launch, a fisherman dressed in outdoor gear was working on getting his boat out of the water.  He looked at me as he laughed and said, "You must really love running!".  Yes, I do!

The last couple of miles the rain came down so hard that it was difficult to see clearly.  But it was so much fun!  At the state beach at East Beach, I take off my shoes, socks, and singlet, and ran back barefoot along the beach.  The surf was pounding.  Put my soaked stripped clothes up high and dove into the ocean.  Didn't stay along as the surf was rough.  Had to wait for a strong incoming wave to swim my way back to shore.

Wednesday:  8

AM:  Charlestown, RI.  Shake-out with Brady from Kettle Pond.  End of run jump into Watchaug Pond.

PM:  Westerly, RI.  Charlie Stavros Memorial On the Beach Run

One of my favorite races.  So simplistic and easy to host with an unmarked course OAB along the beach, yet unique amongst races.  I am not aware of a single other race in the area that is completely on the beach.  The closest I can think of is the 4-mile run portion of the Block Island Tri, but as the name portends, it's not entirely a running race.

Just before race start.
The "50" is designating the 50th anniversary of the Mohegan Striders.

And we're off.
We'll be chasing the high school runner at left for over a mile.

The group making its way towards Weekapaug

Shortly after the gun, there was a group of about five of us, with the WHS runner at the front.  After a very fast first mile of 5:43, there were three of us:  the WHS runner, Nick, and me.  The pace continued at sub-5:50 to the turn around cone at Weekapaug Breachway, at which point it was down to Nick and me.

After rounding the cone, the pace slowed slightly.  Looking back now at Strava, it was so pronounced and continued for the rest of the run that I'd now attribute it to the 9mph wind out of west.  In other words, we had a slight tailwind down and were running into a slight headwind on return.  My mile 2 split was 5:54, which was a blend of 1/2 mile with the wind and 1/2 against.

About this point, Nick started to pull away and put some distance on me.  I tried several times to surge ahead and close the gap, but the only success I had was not dropping further behind.  I was in a near sprint with the finish line in sight and stayed at the harder-packed sand at the water's edge as long as possible until finally heading up through the softer sand to the finishing chute.

Trying (unsuccessfully) to chase down Nick

Final strides

Pic from Jim Hirst

Final results:  17:43, average 5:53 pace, 2nd out of 54.  Four seconds behind Nick.  Full results here.

After finishing my 20th consecutive Stavros Beach Run, I continued my tradition of immediately jumping into the ocean.  The water is still quite warm this time of year, but it still felt refreshing.

Beach Race finishing chute

All WTAC equipment.  We time many of our own events now
and I'm proud of all the WTAC volunteers that make this happen.

Some of the Team WTAC runners at the Beach Run

Fun post-race socializing with pizza and snacks.

Thursday:  16 run, 2 walk

Westerly, RI

AM:  Wahaneeta CCC clean-up before Saturday's race.  Deferred from Tuesday due to thunderstorms, was happy to see ten people show up.  Made for quick work snipping overhanging briars on trails, mowing the parking area and cabin area, and cleaning debris off the start/finish field.

AM:  Post-CCC, parked at Westerly Town Beach and made up the route as I went along.  Humidity 50%!  How refreshing!  Felt good, but took it easy with trail race double-header weekend coming up.  Ended the run on the beach and jumped in the ocean.  

Friday:  9

Charlestown, RI.  Reverse Rhody with Brady, and a jump off the docks into Watchaug Pond.  The water level is deeper due to recent rains.  Went into up to about my shoulders, so that's great.

Saturday:  6

Westerly, RI.  Wahaneeta Trail Race.  Separate race report to follow.

Sunday:  10

Chester, CT.  Trails to a Cure.  Separate race report to follow.

Weekly mileage:  70 run, 4 walk

Weekly synopsis:  Great week, despite racing a bit too much.  It's funny that 70 miles is kind of a down mileage week for me, given last week's 90 and average past 4 weeks of 75.  With marathon day just four weeks from today, it's time to reduce the races for a while.  Between now and marathon day, I'll only be running one race, Run for the Pumpkins, and that's 15 days out before the marathon.

Weekly highlight:  Trails to a Cure race!  More to follow.

Weekly lowlight:  Nothing really.  Just a great week with a lot of fun activities.