Weekly Log 23-Jan to 30-Jan-2023: Detroit Marathon Plaque

I was surprised and thrilled to get this age group award in the
mail this week.  It's been three months since the Detroit Marathon,
but this was worth the wait!  This might be the only award I've
ever won that is embossed with my name.

Monday:  16

Plainfield, CT.  Quinebaug Trail OAB.  9th (of 19) Border Patrol Challenges completed now.  Started near, but not at, the recommended spot of the trail's northern terminus.  The terminus is on busy Route 14A, and there is no parking lot, just room for a car or two to pull off the road.  There is a public parking lot at a trailhead just half a mile away, so I opted for that, as it was very quiet and also made me much more comfortable getting Brady in and out of the car and not being near fast moving cars.

The weather was in the mid-30s with off-and-on rain and windy.  This trail is in rough condition to begin with (think rutted and washed out jeep roads ripped up further by motorcycles), but it was even worse today as so much of it was just flooded.  Don't I like running through puddles?  Depending upon the conditions, yes, but it was 35° out today and that water was cold.  It wasn't just one or two puddles, but rather dozens and dozens of long flooded section of trail that were impassable except to go straight through the cold flooded sections.  It got old quickly.

If it weren't for the Border Patrol Challenge, I would never run this trail again.  Even with BPC, if this trail remains in the line-up and if I run BPC again, I'll have to think hard about whether I want to run this trail or not.  It just plain is not enjoyable.  

Just so that I'm not giving a overly harsh assessment of the trail, I googled reviews on Quinebaug Trail.  Here are excerpts of the first review that I found, and I totally agree with both comments:

• "... located in Pachaug State Forest and disappointing in almost every way. The nearby Pachaug, Narragansett and Nehantic should always be a preference to this one."
• "It may sound harsh but this trail has almost no redeeming features. The northern 3 miles struggles along a rocky wide path with very little to see and past a heavily flooded pond area. The southern section is better and has woodland areas but still no real highlights or features and the whole trail has significant damage from logging activity and ATV vehicles. The only reason you might come here is to avoid seeing anyone else."

Ran the Quinebaug Trail OAB in 2:17, one minute faster than two years ago.  I was surprised by that given the trails being so soaked and also that I had to stop three times on today's run (once to re-tie and tighten shoe laces, twice to pee).

Trying to give balanced feedback, here are the three positive aspects of today's run:

1. Seeing a coyote on the trail in front of us and watching the action unfold, as Brady burst out ahead of me and chased the coyote until he ran off the trail.  Good boy, Brady!
2. I was so happy to get back to the car, blast the heat, change into a full set of dry clothes, and mentally cross this route off.  Satisfaction.
3. Less than a five minute drive from the trailhead was Baker's Dozen, a really nice coffee shop and bakery that Matthew had found and we visited for the first time just a week ago on return from running Midstate Trail.  A large hot coffee, egg and cheese on an asiago bagel, and a donut hit the spot!

Tuesday:  2 walk, 4 run

AM:  Westerly, RI.  My CCC assignment today was to monitor the western boundary of Champlin Glacier Preserve, as part of the required annual monitoring for accreditation.  It's funny how this is the closest property to me, as in less than one mile, borders my neighborhood, yet I had never visited or walked this boundary before.  It's not remarkable in any way yet it was interesting to visit.

PM:  Westerly, RI.  Late afternoon easy run at Grills Preserve with Brady.  As expected, my legs were pretty tired after two back-to-back 16-milers, and especially yesterday's being on the Quinebaug Trail.  Having said that, they felt tired but not trashed, so I'm encouraged there but for once did the sensible thing and took it short and easy.

Wednesday:  10

Charlestown, RI.  Pretty pathetic interval workout attempt on campground roads.  10 x (1:00 on, 1:00 off), with on paces generally hovering just below or above 6-flat, but in the middle had a 6:45 and a 7:00 pace interval.  I guess I just got complacent there.  Ran with Brady for the entirety, and with Matthew for warm-up and cool-down.

Thursday:  10

Charlestown, RI.  Easy trail day, with Matthew and Brady, on Vin Gormley Trail at Burlingame, plus tacking on Burlingame Trail to make an even 10 miles.  After a lot of heavy rain lately, it was not surprising to see raging rivers overflowing their banks and flooded sections of trail.

Friday:  0

Unintended zero, but in retrospect not a bad idea to take a day off.  Land Trust meeting went on much longer than I anticipated and by then I was too hungry and weak to go for a run.  Blah, blah, blah.

Took advantage of a sunny day to at least spend some time outdoors.
Was taking down Christmas lights when Brady surprised me with a
football he had fished out of the garage and insisted I throw it to him.
Kicked it and threw a few passes which he caught, but I was a little 
hesitant as I was afraid it could hurt his teeth or jaws.

Saturday:  12

Exeter, RI.  Breakheart Trail OAB.  10 Border Patrol Challenges completed, 9 to go.  Nice to be more than halfway done.  Justin started ahead of us and we would see him out on the trail.  My only previous attempt on this trail OAB was two years ago when I ran it in 1:18, and that would be my benchmark for today.

After a mile warm-up, Nick and I (and Brady!) started off together.  Nick was staying right with me, which was good and helped me to push pace.  I didn't know if he would go ahead of me, and if so, I told myself to push to stay close instead of just dropping back.  He stayed right with me for over three miles, through streams (one of which I stumbled in and almost fell!), climbs, and descents.    There are two long climbs going out (and since you have to come back, four total), both of about 200' up on single-track.  We had just finished the second climb and it was the downhill towards the turn-around where I started to get some separation.

34 minutes out, 37 minutes back.  How much of the three minutes extra on return were due to me running solo now, and how much due to me just getting tired?  I felt like I was running just as hard on the return, but I also was clearly making mistakes in footing as I tired.  On the way out, I saw Justin alone on his way back, but on the return I saw maybe eight mountain bikers and three hikers.

I never looked at my watch during the run but once I finished I saw 1:11.  A full seven minutes taken off my time from two years ago!  Nick came in just three minutes after me, and then we cooled down back to the cars.  The three of us were pretty tired, and only Brady was looking like he wanted to keep running.  Had a nice stop at a coffee shop in Richmond (Higher Grounds) to refuel.  Until next time.

The Breakheart run temporarily put me on top of the BPC 
leaderboard, so I figured I'd take and post a snapshot of this
before I get overtaken again.

Sunday:  18

Westerly, RI.  Often I overthink and over-plan my runs, but today I just made it up as I went along and that was kind of nice.  Since I got out the door just before 8am, I made it a point to catch up with the Run While You Can crew for part of my run as the time goes by quicker when you're with others and conversing.  The easy pace also worked well for me after yesterday's hard effort.  After saying good-bye to the RWYC folks, I ended up running "around the pond" and through a few neighborhoods on the way back to get to 18.

Weekly mileage:  71

Weekly synopsis:  Third consecutive week of mileage right around 70 (69, 70, 71).  Pretty happy with that.  Got in a workout, two hard BPC efforts, and a long run as well.  I would call that a great running week!

Weekly highlight:  Satisfaction-wise, getting the Detroit Marathon age-group winner plaque.  Running-wise, the Breakheart Trail BPC run.

Weekly lowlight:  The Quinebaug Trail.  I think it should be renamed the Misery Trail, except that we already have a Mt Misery nearby.

Weekly Log 16-Jan to 22-Jan-2023: Big Week

Miscellaneous ramblings:

• I decided upon and signed up for two out of three of my big race goals this year, 50K and full Ironman:  race schedule.
• Same as last spring, I'm struggling with a marathon choice.  Shamrock, with a reasonable cost and possibly free transportation but coming up fast in mid-March?  Or Providence, possibly able to snag a free "elite" entry, but it's hilly, I've already run it twice before and I'm not real excited about it?  Or maybe skip it and wait until the fall?  Decisions, decisions ...
• I think I'm one of the few runners in the Border Patrol Challenge that often starts OAB routes in the middle as opposed to one of the terminus points.  I'm just not a fan of OABs, and somehow starting in the middle reduces some of the boredom factor for me as opposed to a straight out and back.
• I just read in the paper that Burlington, Vermont is the US city with the biggest rise in winter temperatures since 1970, specifically 7.1°F.  I had to re-read that one and double check with a Google search, as that is both scary and really disappointing.  
• My VJ shoes are now working out just fine.  I don't think they'll ever be the most comfortable shoe in my rotation, but the initial blister on my first run was just that and did not recur.  And man are they grippy!  I'm kicking myself for not snagging a pair of the lighter weight VJ Sparks when they were on sale for 20% during the holidays; other than adding that, I think I'm set on shoes for a while.

Monday:  12

Burrillville, RI.  MLK Day.  With Matthew.  Drove to Douglas, MA, at the terminus of today's run, and then took an Uber to the start of the run, Buck Hill Road in Burrillville.  As expected, our Uber driver (Anh) saw my car on the side of the road and asked if something was wrong with my car!  Fortunately it turns out Anh was a cross-country runner back in college so maybe he understood us going for a trail run, and not the usual Uber driver reaction of picking up a couple of weirdos who want to get dropped off at a trailhead in the woods.

Anyway, ran three miles on a very overgrown North-South Trail to the RI/MA border, before picking up the Midstate Trail.  The first mile and a half of Midstate Trail is terrible:  flooded, muddy, washed out.  But the rest of the run was pretty good, in fact the snow-covered parts were great.

Midstate Trail a few miles north of the RI/MA border:
Fun to run on snow covered trails.
This winter has been really lame so far.

Tuesday:  2 walk, 10 run

AM:  Westerly, RI.  CCC.  Continued our annual monitoring required for Land Trust accreditation.  Walked, recorded, and picked up trash at Wildwood and Flora Whitely Preserves.  I never cease to be amazed (and disgusted) by how much trash is thrown out on the sides of the road on our properties.

PM:  South Kingstown, RI.  Solo workout.  Parked at Green Hill Park in South Kingstown, changed into running clothes, and made up the route as I went along.  3 mile warm-up, 5 at MP, 2 cool-down.  I was shooting for 6:20ish on the MP miles, and I hit them, but was working and breathing pretty hard.  What gives?

Wednesday:  9

Hopkinton, RI.  7th (of 19) Border Patrol Challenge route.  Probably not the smartest move to run a Border Patrol Challenge route the day after a workout, but it fit well for my schedule so I went out for the most technical route there is:  Narragansett Trail (from RI/CT border to Stubtown Road, OAB).  

This is a challenge for Brady as well, as there a number of places where I personally have to use my hands to get up and over boulders, and yes, I do mean boulders.  I knew from the start that there was a high likelihood of me falling when running this route hard, both from my past experience coupled with just how technical it is.

And fall I did.  Similar to last week, my new VJ shoes
held well on rocks dry and wet, but did nothing on 
wet old wooden boardwalks.  I fell and then slid for a ways
in a technical section of trail.  Ouch.  This hurt more than it
probably looks, and I was down for a few seconds before trying to
shake it off and move on.

Thursday:  6 run, 2 walk

Westerly, RI.  Very slow and easy run with Brady at Wahaneeta / Woody Hill.  Legs are really feeling it after hard workouts the past two days.  Likely another easy day tomorrow.

Westerly, RI.  2 mile hike led by WLT's Marc, through Flora Whitely Preserve, a newly cut connecting trail through the Town Forest, and Cottrell Preserve.  Today's group was very varied in pace, but fortunately the distance was so short it didn't matter that much.  At the end of the hike, a woman came up to Brady and me and said, "It's so nice to have such a well-behaved dog on our hike!".  Made my day; hopefully Brady's as well.

Friday:  8

Westerly, RI.  Legs still feeling it two post workouts.  Pretty raw day with temps in mid 30s and off-and-on rain.  Decided to just run easy from the house.  Virgin run in NB 1080v11.  No issues.

Saturday:  9

Exeter, RI.  8th (of 19) Border Patrol Challenge:  Mount Tom Trail OAB.  The legs were not at 100%, but with two consecutive days of easy efforts, I was fine.  My time (1:12:03) was pretty bad, as it was more than four minutes slower than when I did this just two years ago.  It's easy to find excuses, with the biggest one being the "gutter" (section north of Route 165 just near the northern terminus of trail) portion being flooded, covered in wet leaves, and slick mud.  As usual, Brady had to wait up for me repeatedly, with perhaps the one exception being when three large sheepdogs were in his way (literally) and he held back not sure what to do.  (They were friendly and there was no issue.)

Sunday:  16

Hopkinton, RI.  Solo run on mostly very quiet roads.  Parked at Black Farm State Management Area.  I had never been there before and would like to visit the trails at some point.  But not today.  Ran a loop that included some pretty decent hills. including a 300' climb on Canonchet Road.  Took it easy and felt fine throughout.

Weekly mileage:  70 run, 4 walk

Weekly synopsis:  Another great week!  Biggest run week in over two months.  70 miles of running, including a workout, a long run, a Midstate Trail sampler, and two BPC challenges.  How could I call it anything but?

Weekly highlight:  Running in the snow on parts of the Midstate Trail.

Weekly lowlight:  Being dumb by running two back-to-back hard workouts and paying the price of trashed legs and soreness for two days.  It turned out to be minor, and it's one thing if there two key races back-to-back that I felt really strongly about, but there was just no need for this.  Smarten up!

Weekly Log 9-Jan to 15-Jan-2023: New Shoes!

Monday:  6

Stonington, CT.  After finishing up some business at Kelley's Pace, went for a road loop run from the Mystic Y.  Temp was in low 40s and felt quite comfortable, especially with the sun out and almost no wind.

This was my first time running in my New Balance RC Elite shoes since the Detroit Marathon.  That's only because I finally blew out my third pair of NB Rebel 2s last week and now I have no non-carbon fiber road shoes at all.  (Soon to be fixed with a pair of NB Rebel 3 due in Wednesday.)  The shoes felt great while running and actually feel horrible in the short distance I walked.  Not horrible as in painful, but squishy and wobbly.

Tuesday:  2 walk, 10 run

AM:  CCC.  Westerly, RI.  My contributions were pretty low this 2-hour session, as I went for the first time ever with the building crew for the sole purpose of showing them the next potential site at Grills Preserve for them to build a bog bridge.  This is an area on the white trail adjacent to a swamp, and that is wet for much for the year.  I did take out a blowdown blocking the road while I was there, so a little redemption.

PM:  Hopkinton, RI.  2nd successful resumption of weekly workouts.  I had originally thought these would be Workout Wednesdays, but for the moment anyway they seem to fit better on Tuesdays, after CCC when I'm already out there and when the temp is a bit warmer.  Way back in 2022, work would get in the way of this kind of thinking, but not any more!

Today's workout was 3 "easy" (3-mile climb on Canonchet Road, actually, but easy pace), followed by 5 hard (paces all over the place from 5:39 to 6:35), and a 2-mile cooldown.  The loop I chose comes to almost exactly 10 miles (9.8), so this works well for my artificial run mileage targets as well.

Wednesday:  8

Hopkinton, RI.  Ran my 4th (of 19) Border Patrol Challenges:  Canonchet Trail.  Ran with Brady (he led most of the way).  Parked on Stubtown Road and ran in on the Table Rock Trail.  I can't recall if this part is owned by Hopkinton Land Trust or The Nature Conservancy, but whichever group it is, their trail maintenance in this area is slim to none.  Plenty of blowdowns, some of which have been there for over a year, and a lot of brush growing into the path of the trail scraping up my legs.  It's really too bad, because this is a great trail.

At any rate, I thought I was running pretty fast on the Canonchet Trail, but my time of 46:15 was not impressive by any means.  Avoided Table Rock Trail on return and instead came back via Stubtown Road.

The best part of today is that it was Happy New Shoes Day!
VJ is a trail shoe company from Finland.  I had never heard of
them prior to a few years ago, but they were at the Whiteface
Mountain Race offering free demos, so I demo'd a couple pairs.
They have the reputation of being the grippiest shoe, with
plenty of reviews to back that up.
---
VJ Ultra - $170 - on sale for $100

Absolutely LOVED the lightweight Rebel 2, and went through three pairs of them.
The first pair I barely got 200 miles before a common defect of the
uppers tearing from the midsole, but the final pair I got a whopping
433 miles out of.
---
NB Rebel 3 - $130 - on sale for $69

NB 1080 v11 - trainer to fit into the road shoe rotation.
$150 - on sale for $99

Thursday:  5 hike, 10 run

AM:  Charlestown, RI.  Led today's Thursday WLT hike.  Originally had about 17 signed up, but as the weather forecast worsened and called from rain, I started getting a number of texts, e-mails, and calls asking if the hike was still on.  Since it wasn't pouring, my answer was an unequivocal "YES" but I secretly wondered whether anyone would show up at all.  To my surprise, nine came ready to hike, and when I gave the option of cutting down the 5-mile route due to the weather, no one took that option.  Great!  In fact, it was just scattered passing showers and most of the time it didn't rain at all.  Great group and it was nice on a somewhat raw today to have a group that kept up just fine with almost no waiting at all.  That is certainly not always the case.

PM:  Charlestown, RI.  Road run from Ninigret Park.  The rain stopped for a while, but it was breezy and the roads were wet.  Felt cold getting out of the car but was fine on the run.  Well, fine from a body temperature factor, but several miles in I could feel I was running out of energy.  Convinced myself to trek on and finish the run, despite feeling a little lightheaded.  (My own fault, as it was 2pm now and I had only a granola bar since breakfast about 8am.)  This was my debut run in the Rebel 3s, and I love the feel and light weight (7.4 oz).  Unlike many of the shoes I've run, these don't require any break-in period either.  They feel awesome right out of the box!

Friday:  7

Hopkinton, RI.  Perhaps the first time ever running three times in Hopkinton in one week.  More importantly, used the very wet conditions (heavy rains overnight into the morning) to test out my new VJ Ultra shoes and chose a technical Border Patrol Challenge course:  Green Falls, as it would have lots of slippery rocks.

Pros:

• They live up to their reputation of being VERY grippy!  Uphill on rocks, downhill on rocks, jumping onto rocks, all no problem for these shoes!  This is a huge advantage!

Cons:

• These shoes will need a break-in period, unlike some of the newer, softer road shoes I've worn.
• Blister on left toe.  (Not sure if related to above bullet and will go away, or related to absolutely drenched and flooded trail conditions I ran in.)
• The shoes didn't seem to drain as well as others I've run.  (They did ultimately drain, but sloshed for a while before that.)
• The grip does not hold on wet boardwalks at all.  So I guess no shoe does?

Saturday:  16

Westerly, RI.  Arrived at Misquamicut State Beach 1 hour 15 minutes before scheduled January WTAC group run and ran 10 miles of my own.  Pretty raw with temps in low 30s, wind, and mist, but I warmed up after a mile or two.  Got back and caught up with 9 others before going out on a run of the Clamdigger course.  Great group to catch up and had a good time subsequently at a coffee stop at Junk & Java, where 8 of us got together.

Sunday:  11

Exeter, RI.  6th (of 19) Border Patrol Challenge:  Shelter Trail OAB.  Parked at Frosty Hollow Pond.  Fun to run this with a few others.  Warmed up with Nick, Matt, Justin, and of course Brady, before hitting the actual course.  I remembered that last time I ran this two years ago, it was awful to end the course racing uphill on the section east of Frosty Hollow, so this time we got this done first.  

Finished the warm-up, and Matt and Justin ended up running separately from us, so it was Nick and I (with Brady leading just about all of the way).  We stayed together for a couple of miles, and I glanced back when we got to Plain Road and he was just behind me in the open field.  Just after the turn-around at Breakheart Trail, I encountered Nick again, and he shouted for me to keep pushing, which was helpful as it's so easy just to get complacent and slow down.  Finished in 50:18, which I didn't realize until later was three minutes faster than my last run on this course two years ago!

Weekly mileage:  69 run, 7 walk

Weekly synopsis:  This was a good week with almost 70 miles and some hard work.  In retrospect, though, I do think I overdid it with one road workout and three hard Border Patrol efforts.

Weekly highlight:  Shelter Trail run with the guys.

Weekly lowlight:  Running on very overgrown Table Rock Trail.  Just a shame that these trails aren't maintained.

2022 in Review, 2023 Goals

2022 was certainly a good year to me overall.  With last year's saga of melanoma excision surgeries and a lengthy 5-month recovery with weekly hospital visits behind me, I was able to return to full activities, including swimming and triathlons.  After working full time for nearly 40 years, including in seven different countries, I decided to leave the proverbial rat race and retired on July 1.  Life is short; live life to the fullest.

Company retirement party at the Andrea:
Hearing some nice words from the head of our division,
as I apparently rudely cross my arms

Even my son Mark (forefront) made it to my retirement event,
as well as my Mom, Jana, and Matthew,
and about a dozen of my colleagues.
The event was just the way I asked for:  low-key, informal, small group,
at a restaurant along the ocean.

Unfortunately, into each life some rain must fall, and tragedy struck hard early in the year for my family and me.  Losing my youngest brother to suicide was a total shock to me and something I will never fully understand.  I'm not going to dwell on it here and I obviously can't bring him back, but I also can't gloss over it or pretend it didn't happen.  I spent the better part of the next two months withdrawing from people, events, and work while going through employer-sponsored and encouraged mental health counseling.  Ultimately, life goes on.  It has to.

Happier days:  my brother Kurt (to my left) smiling,
while talking to my two sons at my Mom's house on
Christmas Day twenty years ago
---
RIP, Kurt (1978 - 2022)

In that spirit of both life going on and living life to the fullest, after retiring, Jana, Matthew, and I took an amazing trip to remote Iceland, where I ran my longest race ever (55K) and then I got to cross one item off the bucket list by spending a week in the land of my Walker ancestors, Scotland.  (Archibald Walker was my 6th-great-grandfather and he emigrated from Scotland to the Colony of Rhode Island in 1690.)

Ah, Scotland!  Specifically the Isle of Skye here.
Thanks to Jana for this suggested destination.  Amazing trip!

2022 Goals Assessment:  (Verbatim restatement of the past year's goals [in black], and responses in red.)

• 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.  Fail.  2 out of 3 ain't bad?  Completed summer ultramarathon plus fall marathon.  Dilly-dallied too long on committing to a spring marathon.
• Mileage:  2,800.  I didn't come close in 2021, but it's a new year!  Success!  Highest mileage ever at 3,095!
• New England:  Run in all six states.  Again.  Success.
• Trails:  Run at least one new trail race.  Success.  Trust Me, You'll Love it (10K) and Laugavegur Ultramarathon (55K).
• 50K:  Rebooted from failed 2021 goal.  Success.  Laugavegur Ultramarathon.  I can use that to satisfy two goals, right?
• Triathlon:  Rebooted from failed 2021 goal.  Success.  Completed two sprint triathlons this summer.
• 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.  Success!  PR in the marathon (2:47:57), half-marathon (1:19:46), 5-Mile (29:18), and 1-Mile Road (5:12).  Technically also a PR in the 20K and 20-Mile, as it was my first time racing those distances.

  

  First time ever eclipsing 3K miles!

  
  
  
  

  

  Very similar to 2021.  South Kingstown and Jamestown dropped out of the top 10,
  replaced with Narragansett and Newport.
  
  

  
  

Pictorial highlights of 2022:

January:  Hangover Classic on New Year's Day:
Starting the new year on a high note with a 5M PR (29:12)

February:  skiing with my two nieces and sister-in-law
at Yawgoo Valley Ski Area in Exeter

March:  a chilly day at Hare Hop 5K (18:00),
but of course that never stops me from wearing a singlet 
and short shorts.

April:  PR and first ever sub-1:20!   Newport Half (1:19:46)

May:  Shad Bloom 10K on Block Island

June:  picturesque sunrise run at Tampa Bay 

July:  amazing experience at my longest race ever,
Laugavegur 55K Ultramarathon in remote Iceland (5:31:49)

August:  Returning to triathlons
(Niantic Bay) with my friend Tommy 5K

September:  Drenched, dying,
and apparently making weird faces at my
20K debut in New Haven Road Race (1:17:46)

October:  Super psyched with this one!
Detroit Marathon - first ever sub-2:50 and 
a big PR!
(Picture is on the waterfront in
Windsor, Ontario, Canada)

November:  My 20th straight Li'l Rhody Runaround
(50:20)

December:  Just enough snow to make it pretty.
One of the many trail runs this year with my 4-legged trail
companion, Brady.

2022 stats:

• Races run:  30 (2021:  21, 2020: 16, 2019: 24, 2018: 25, 2017: 22, 2016: 29, 2015:  36)
• Race breakdown by terrain:  Road - 17, Trail - 10, Beach - 1, Tri - 2
• Age group wins:  17
• Overall wins:  3 
• Miles run:  3,095
• Elevation run:  199,170'
• Most elevation gain in a single run:  6,837' (Laugavegur 55K)
• Hours run:  428 (2021:  357, 2020: 383, 2019:  281, 2018:  246, 2017:  360)
• Days run:  352 (2021: 302, 2020:  310, 2019:  276, 2018: 240, 2017:  315)  
• Lowest mileage week:  26 (April)
• Highest mileage week:  90 (September, while training for Detroit Marathon)
• Highest mileage day:  34 (Laugavegur Ultra Marathon, including warm-up)
• Longest running streak:  154 days (May 24 - October 24, longest streak ever)
• Longest non-running streak: 2 days (May)
• Number of states run in:  13:  RI, CT, MA, NH, ME, VT, NY, PA, OH, MI, NC, GA, FL
• Number of countries run in:  4:  USA, Canada, Iceland, UK
• Run furthest from home:  Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

2023 goals:

• Road marathon:  Complete in sub-2:50
• 50K:  complete a 50K trail race.
• Ironman!  It's time.  I'm retired, have the time to train, and I'm not getting any younger.
• USATF-CT:  Trying something different this year.  Cross into our border state and run at least 4 races in the Road Grand Prix.
• Border Patrol Challenge:  Complete all 19 courses.  I did this two years ago, and it's a good way to keep fit and have a goal during the winter months.
• Mileage:  3,000

• New England:  Run in all six states.  Again.
• Trails:  Run at least one new trail race.  
• Set new PR:  Set at least one new PR.  Last year I already took the half and full marathon PRs lower than I thought possible for me, but my 4M, 5M, and 10K road PRs all have potential to be broken.

That's a wrap!  Happy New Year, running friends.  May our paths cross in 2023.

Weekly Log 2-Jan to 8-Jan-2023: Weekly Training Resumed

Monday:  17

AM:  Exeter, RI.  8.5 mile recovery run at Arcadia with Brady and Matthew.  Lung burn and cough from yesterday's 1-mile race was now gone, but still kept it easy on a mix of dirt roads and single-track.

PM:  Stonington, CT.  5 miles with a headlamp at dusk.  Ran the Kelley's Pace Frostbite 5-Mile course to get familiar with it as new RD.  I'm fine with running these roads during the day, but several do not have any painted shoulders and made me a bit nervous in the dark.  

PM:  Stonington, CT.  3.5 mile run at the Kelley's Pace weekly run, every Monday at 6pm.  Ran mostly with Bob Gralton, and we talked about respective upcoming big races, with his being the Pineland Farms either 50K or 50M course.  I believe completing the run gets you a free beer (or wine?), but being tired plus not much of a beer drinker, I headed home for dinner instead.

Tuesday:  1 walk, 10 run

AM:  Westerly, RI.  Start of the new year at Westerly Land Trust means the start of annual property monitoring.  Being an accredited land trust requires us, among other things, to monitor the borders of each of our 32 properties and report any issues (dumping, encroachment, work needed, etc).  We still had the old paper forms and binders but they were just for backup and reviewing previous years' notes, as we're almost completely digital now in our reporting using phone apps.  

Garbage:  Today I was part of the team monitoring Barlow-1 (eastern half of the 80-acre Barlow Preserve), but it took us a while as there was a lot of trash too pick up, especially on the border of public roads and the border of one neighbor.  Some people are just gross.  It's unbelievable how many people just toss their stuff out of car windows, with the most prevalent garbage being cigarette butts and drink containers (nips, beverage plastic cups, etc).  Someone also took the time to discard and neatly place six tires on land trust property instead of paying the fee at the nearby transfer station.  Ugh.

PM:  Charlestown, RI.  It's a new year, and time to get serious about running and training again.  It was raining quite steadily by now and I was making excuses in my mind to cut the run short, eliminate the workout part, etc.  Fortunately, I prevailed in fighting the demons in my head and sticking with the plan:

- 2 miles warmup (closed campground asphalt roads)

- 10 x (1-minute "ON", 1-minute "OFF").  This was getting pretty tough for me in last few iterations, but so glad I stuck with it.

- Cool-down to finish 10 miles

Not surprisingly, I never saw another soul out there.  Surprisingly, despite applying BodyGlide early in the morning, I chafed something terrible in my inner thighs post-run and for the rest of the day.  Either I didn't apply it liberally enough and/or too many hours had passed between application (8am) and run (12 Noon).

Wednesday:  11

Exeter, RI.

Back to Arcadia to knock off two more Border Patrol Challenges:

- Escoheag OAB (~3 miles)

- Ben Utter OAB (~2.7 miles)

I completely forgot how twists and turns are on the northern section of the Escoheag Trail and how you really have to pay attention to the white blazes as there a number of intersecting trails where you could easily go off course if simply followed the trail straight in front of you.  The trail was set and slippery in places, and sure enough on a downhill wet section I slid and went down.  Slid into a rock, but nothing terrible, and got up and going again.

When we (Brady and I) stopped between the two courses, I noticed I was bleeding from my knee and almost talked myself out of running the Ben Utter course.  Fortunately, Brady was whining and trying to tell me to get going, so I pointed the way, told him to go and then he led me the rest of the way out and back.

Thursday:  0

Friday:  8

Hopkinton, RI.  Rainy and drab.  Two miles on somewhat busy Route 3, and then quite roads.  Quite hilly.

Saturday:  0

Just a busy day between race directing at Frostbite 5-Miler, and then taking down the Christmas tree and decorations.  I know, easy to make excuses, but just ran out of time.

Love this pic and FB post from Kelley's Pace owner Jeff A:
"Jeff, Jeff, and Jeff are ready for the race!  Are you?"

Sunday:  11

Charlestown, RI.  Slept in, and then headed to Burlingame with Brady for a run on the trails.  Was surprised to see quite a few people out hiking on the trails.  Temps in the low 30s, but with the sun and lack of wind, it felt quite warm.

Weekly mileage:  58 run, 1 walk

Weekly synopsis:  Not much mileage.  Some good runs overall, unfortunately sprinkled with two days off and no long runs.

Weekly highlight:  

• Running-wise:  First running workout in too long to remember, likely prior to Detroit Marathon last October.
• Race-director wise:  Helping Kelley's Pace move to our first all-digital registration check-in, hopefully a harbinger of good things to come for WTAC in 2023 as well.

Weekly lowlight:  Missing two days of running.  Need to plan better, and then execute.

Millenium Mile

 

Londonderry, NH

Sunday, January 1, 2023

Wasn't originally in my plans, but having no plans on New Year's Day, and with Matthew already signed up, and the price only $20, I registered up two days before.  

We arrived 1 1/2 hours early, and after checking in, I saw Dave Dunham and went up to talk to him.  While I don't have anywhere near his running pedigree, we finish reasonably close in many races these days and are both the same age.  We chatted before the race and he gave me a quick rundown as he has run this before.  (The first 2/3 mile are mostly downhill, followed by a slight uphill and then a slight downhill to the finish.)  He ran this last year in 5:01 and given the net downhill indicated one might expect to take 10-15 seconds off a flat race.  OK, so maybe I could get about 5 flat?

Warm-up:  After a warm-up preview of the course with Matthew and Brady, I shed my outer layer, ran a few strides, and lined up in the 4th row of the race.  Given that I would eventually finish 53rd, this self-seeding seemed appropriate to me.  But ...

Race start:  Many runners blasted out ahead of me, only to slow down.  I felt I got out of the starting "gate" pretty quick, but I guess not fast enough, as I soon got boxed in.  For almost a quarter mile, I didn't consistently run a straight line as I now had to dodge those that had surged out but subsequently slowed.  Somewhere around the 1/4 mile mark (every 1/4 mile was marked with a big sign), I switched to running in the left shoulder to try to easily go past runners I was catching, and that seemed to help.  Food for thought for next time in a mile race?

Start of the 2023 race

Very crowded for me (light blue singlet and cap) early on

I felt like I never got into a good rhythm.  The "hill" at about 3/4 mile in was only about a 20' elevation gain, but according to my Strava data, I slowed to about a 5:45 pace here.  Picked it up at the crest and "kicked" it in (I don't really have a kick) down the slight hill to the finish, but people were passing me here and I could see the time on the big clock was already "5:0x" and ticking.  

Looking at the spacing in this photo between Dave Dunham (forefront in black)
and me (blue singlet quite a ways behind him), I found it hard to believe I
 finished less than a second behind him
---
We caught up post-race, and will likely compete
against each other next at Super Sunday 5K
in Cambridge next month

Spaced out much more now, but still
plenty of runners around me at finish

Final results:  Net time 5:20.3 (gun 5:22), 54th of 1,095 overall, 3rd of 33 in age group.  Full results here.

Pretty disappointed with this result.  How did I run 5:12 on a flat measured course with four turns (Bottone Mile) just five months ago, but could only muster a 5:20 on a net downhill course with zero turns today?  It's totally on me, but I do believe there were at least three factors at play here:

• Headwind of up to 15mph (course ran in a NNW direction, wind was out of the WNW).
• Boxed in at start / never got my rhythm.
• Haven't trained or done any workouts in the past few months.

Post-run it took me a while to even jog, as my lungs burned and I kept coughing.  Attempted a cool-down on the Derry Rail Trail, but those conditions made it tough for me and I kept it short.  While I certainly wasn't happy with my result, I wasn't upset either as I hadn't trained for the race, didn't have any expectations, and noticed in Strava comments and results that others' results also fell short.

Weekly Log 26-Dec-2022 to 1-Jan-2023: Fast Away the Old Year Passes

Monday:  0

Long day in the car leaving Westerly at 5:30am and arriving Charlotte 10:30pm.  Made it to the New Jersey state line in two hours flat, and figured to be in Charlotte early evening, but I made the mistake of counting my chickens before they hatched.  A string of accidents between Washington and Richmond made for some horrendously backed up miles of stop-and-go traffic on I-95.  Not exactly my top choice of how to spend Boxing Day, but I guess I'll always be a Dad wanting to help out, it was good to have Mark home for Christmas, and now his car is up-to-date with repairs and RI inspections for three years (two years standard, plus an out-of-state extension through DMV).

Tuesday:  6

Charlotte, NC.  Got Mark this far on his journey back to his apartment in Atlanta, and now it was time for me to head home via planes, trains, and automobiles.  Shuttle to CLT (Charlotte airport), flight to EWR (Newark), train to Westerly, and then Matthew picking me up there.

I made sure to get up and out of the hotel early enough to give enough time for a run, shower, and breakfast, even though it meant the first couple of miles would be in the dark.  (Knowing this ahead of time, I packed my headlamp.)  I had mapped out a 6-mile route including trails in the nearby Renaissance Park, and while I can usually follow navigation on my watch with no problem, I'm glad I brought my phone as well, as I must have missed a turn somewhere and was suddenly out of the park near an apartment complex.  It was an urban park with so-so trails, but for being in a city, I was really happy to have this option!

Dirt was red clay soil
that I've seen in Texas and other
areas of the south

There's a similar tepee in Whitaker Woods trail
system in North Conway, NH

Wednesday:  9

Westerly, RI.  Slow run with Brady.  In fact, I think he was getting annoyed with how slow I ran, and certainly on how long I stopped.  Nice run overall in Woody Hill and a good catch-up with Kevin Adams out riding the trails.

Thursday:  15 run, 5 walk

AM:  Hopkinton, RI.  10-mile run with Brady and Matthew, incorporating all three local Grills Preserves.  First mile in the dark with headlamps.  Ground frozen with temp about 28°F.  Never saw another soul out there on the trails.

AM:  South Kingstown, RI.  5 miles on WLT hike at Great Swamp.  Good group today; all kept moving at a decent pace.  Brady did not seem happy with the walking pace.

PM:  Westerly, RI.  5-mile Brazen Hen run with Bob Burdick and Justin Pearce.  Haven't run one of these in months.  Seemed like a fun time afterwards, as a number of runners and walkers stayed to have dinner and play trivia, but I guess I'm not one for the evening group runs generally.

Friday:  11

Newport, RI.  Warm two [different] loop run from First Beach (Easton's Beach), Newport.  Temp was about 50°F.  I had not anticipated that, and did not dress properly.  Very warm in a long sleeve shirt.  First loop was out on the Cliff Walk (minus the portion that is closed after partial collapse in March 2022) and then back on Newport city streets.  Second loop was into Middletown for part of the Pie Run course, with a run on St George School XC trails that I had never been on.  Scenic and hilly!

Saturday:  8

Charlestown, RI.  Final run of the year in warm and drizzly conditions at Ninigret Park.

Sunday:  8

Londonderry, NH.  Millenium Mile.  Warm-up and race.  Separate post to follow.

Derry, NH.  3 mile cool-down on Derry Rail Trail.  Matthew went for 7, but I didn't have it in me, so just took Brady for three.

Weekly mileage:  57

Weekly synopsis:  Quite the mixed week, with runs in NC, RI, and NH.  Decent mileage week.  Finalizing key races and goals for the new year.

Weekly highlight:  Newport run.  Despite being warmer than desired, it's always fun to run in Newport County.

Weekly lowlight:  Cool-down on Derry Rail Trail.  Should've been fun, but I just struggled and kept hacking.