Groton, CT. Haley Farm and Bluff Point State Parks in the rain. After not having seen any decent amount of rain in well over a month, it was a nice welcome to have a steady heavy rain today. The rain was especially heavy as I started my run with Matthew and Brady, and abated late in the run. One of the things I don't like about these two parks is how popular they are, so today was a great day to go!
We saw one older gentlemen out on a mountain bike in a downpour. He smiled and said he was surprised to see anyone else out here. The second one was a woman walking in the rain in a rain jacket and hood. I especially liked the parts where it was a downpour, as there were literally streams flowing on top of the trails, and plenty of puddles. Fun!
Tuesday: 1 hike, 8 run, 0.5 swim
AM: Westerly, RI. Clean-up work for WLT at Avondale Preserve. Hot with mosquitos while working to expose a stone wall.
AM: Charlestown, RI. Went from Avondale to Burlingame Picnic Area. Very slow shake-out (8:30 pace) on mostly dirt roads with once connecting trail. Battle of Stonington this evening.
AM: Charlestown, RI. Immediately followed up my run with a 1/2 mile swim. Of the three morning activities, this was my favorite. I took it intentionally slow (I'm always slow, but I mean slow for me), got into a rhythm, and just really enjoyed myself out in the water.
PM: Stonington, CT. Battle of Stonington 5K. Separate write-up to follow.
Wednesday: 11
Charlestown, RI. Burlingame's Vin Gormley loop with Brady, with a couple of tack-ons: Added on Burlingame Trail/Wildlife Loop instead of going through campground, and went down to North Camp on dirt road and back on parallel single-track. Swims at North Camp and at finish at boat ramp. Dripping humidity.
Thursday: 10
Charlestown, RI. Dragged my feet getting out of bed and after a meeting with ham radio team on planning for Grills Trail Race, didn't start my run until 11am. By then, the temp was in the low 80s, with direct sunlight and no breeze. I wore a hat, as I do almost every run (unless dark or very overcast) since my cancer surgeries on my head, but it still wasn't very smart running in the mid-day heat. I was hot and felt some mild heat exhaustion later in the afternoon.
Friday: 5
Westerly, RI. Easy run with Brady scouting out condition of Wahaneeta Preserve, especially after the pond-dredging work is now done. There is some restorative work and minor trail maintenance that will need to be done before race date on September 14, but it's all very manageable. Got back home and drove up to Maine for a weekend trip.
Saturday: 12
Bar Harbor, ME. Matthew had planned out a 16-mile mountain run, which certainly sounded good, but unfortunately my body just wasn't up to it. We had camped in Camden the night before, and drove the 1.5 hours to Acadia National Park. We set out from Eagle Lake Bridge with hydration packs properly loaded and in great temps (62°) albeit very high humidity (93%).
Flat and easy along dirt carriage roads for the better part of three miles. Had to keep Brady on a leash due to the number of walkers and bike riders on the carriage road. Had to hold him back as he wanted to run ahead with Matthew and not be slowed down by me. We turned off the carriage roads and onto singlet track about 2.75 miles in, and from there the work began in earnest, with a 900' climb up to the summit of Pemetic Mountain (1,274'). I ran much of the ascent, but there were parts that were too steep for me. There was also one steep part up a rock slab that I needed to physically lift and hoist Brady over. Nice views and open above treeline running at the summit, and then what goes up must came down, with an equivalent 900' descent.
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| Technical climb up Pemetic Mountain. |
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| Section where I needed to pick up Brady and put him on this ledge. Oof. (He weighs 72 pounds, more than half my weight.) |
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| At the summit. |
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| Running above treeline was a blast! |
We stopped at Jordan Pond House to refill packs and continued on. The plan was to summit Penobscot Mountain next, but early on running/hiking the Ridge Trail it became apparent that this was just way too technical for Brady to ascend, and it made the choice easy for me to part ways and backtrack as I was physically tired and having doubts on my own limits for today. Brady and I ran carriage roads for a while and should've continued, but I saw a shorter route, not realizing how technical the next three miles would be. I had plenty of water, and also gave Brady plenty, but I bonked nonetheless.
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| One of the most technical sections, between Jordan Pond and Eagle Lake. Slow going through the boulder fields. |
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| Edge of Eagle Lake |
Sunday: 12
Camden, ME. Fun fact: this was our 3rd consecutive August staying in Camden Hills State Park and also running up Mount Battie from the backside. Ran the usual route of Route 1 downhill into Camden, technical climb up the backside of Mount Battie, up to Ocean Lookout, and Mount Megunticook. From there, though, we ventured into new territory with trekking over to Cameron Mountain. The early miles were the hardest, and the last few miles were mostly on dirt roads.
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| Technical climb up Mt Battie |
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| Nice views at Ocean Lookout |
Weekly mileage: 68 run, 1 walk, 0.5 swim
Weekly synopsis: Another good running week!
Weekly highlight: Camden Hills run. By rights, it should've been the Acadia National Park run, but I was just gassed and a little lost on my return.
Weekly lowlight: Not getting in a long run.
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