Miscellaneous rambling:
- Received a nice reply from Hartford Marathon Foundation regarding my constructive criticism on the Middletown 10K USATF-CT championships running into the back of large groups of walkers and subsequently being unable to run tangents. The response was that they heard similar criticism from other runners and will indeed be addressing this in next year's race.
- Received my passport in the mail this week. So it turns out I could've run the marathon in Ontario after all (it's on the 30th). Oh well; at least we're all set for Quebec Mega Trail 50K.
- I have to give a lot of credit to the US Department of State on their process improvements. Remember the days of going to CVS or a professional photographer to pay for passport photos, then filling out paper passport application forms, then waiting in line at the Post Office for them to process and mail it in? This time I downloaded a free passport photo app, Jana took the pic, I logged on to the State Department's website to renew my passport online, uploaded the photo, gave my credit card info, hit submit, and voila! I received e-mail updates on changes of status. I'm not one to take a lot of online surveys, but when I got an e-mail requesting feedback via a federal survey, I made sure to complete that one, as I never want to go back to inefficient paper processing again.
Monday: 6
Exeter, RI. Easy 4.5 mile run with Brady at Arcadia. Mostly flat and easy but a little nervous on the short tech sections of JB Hudson Trail.
West Greenwich, RI. Checked out Pine Top Ski Area remains. This was part of my mapping assignment, and I had enough info to complete the map, but I thought it interesting to check out the ski area. There was no one there, and it was fun to explore. Pine Top opened in the mid-1960s and closed in the early 1980s.
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| I've been through this area several times on the North-South Trail, but never had any idea that this was the ski area parking lot! |
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| Brady standing on cement blocks, which anchored the top of the T-bar lift at the ski area summit |
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| Remains of a ski shack |
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| Looking up two ski slopes, the "Pine Topper" ski trail to the right. |
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| Looking down a former ski slope and vista beyond |
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| $3.50 weekday tickets! |
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| On the walk back, I decided to be kind to Mother Nature and pick up my fellow humans' refuse and recycle them. BTW, who the heck drinks Grand Marnier out of a nip bottle?! |
Tuesday: 10
East Lyme, CT. Was asked to run the upcoming Rocky Neck relays as part of the Mohegan Striders masters men team. The format is a 3-person team that alternates between a 5K road course and a 5K trail course. My only concern is that the trail portion was billed on the race site as "technical trails" and my ankle isn't ready for that, so I figured I'd go check it out myself. Ran the road course twice and the trail course once. It really isn't technical to me, save for two very short rocky sections. Signed up.
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| Treated myself afterwards to a lox bagel and iced latte at Cafe Sol, Niantic. Good stuff! |
Wednesday: 5 run, 1 walk
AM: Westerly, RI. Clamdigger course. Warm in the mid-60s, with warmer weather to come.
PM: Westerly, RI. Avondale walk with Brady and Jana.
Thursday: 14 run, 2 walk
AM: Hopkinton, RI. 8-mile dirt road loop at Arcadia, with Brady. Start of a 2-day mini heat wave. Mid-60s to start, mid-70s to finish.
PM: Westerly, RI. Walked part of the Grills Trails that some were proposing as new additions, in order to map them for discussion. As part of walking the flagged routes, I was startled by this rattling sound. Looked over and saw what I believe to be a 5' black rat snake. (It was later suggested to me that it might have been a black racer instead, but searching online for the difference between the two, I'm standing my ground based on the thickness of the snake and also the rapid rattling of the tail similar to rattlesnakes.) Continued on a ways and then once again I heard the rattling sound. This time I knew what it was right away and wasn't as startled. I saw a slightly smaller black snake slither away.
Evening: Westerly, RI. 6-mile run with Justin and Matt pre-Clamdigger planning meeting. Easy dirt roads in Woody Hill.
Friday: 6
Charlestown, RI. Brutal 78°F. Unreal for late April in coastal Rhode Island. I had meetings in the morning, and didn't get started until high Noon. I had planned a 10-miler, and cut that back to a 6-miler and reduced the pace, but in retrospect, I should've just bailed as I went home and had what I'd describe as heat sickness.
Highlight of this run was the beautiful ocean view on Surfside Ave. Lowlight (besides the heat that I'm not ready for) was sucking in the fumes from some old fogey's stogie (remember that catchy TV ad from the '70s?) on West Beach Road.
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| Found it! And there he is! That's the old fogey with his stogie. Turns out the ad was from 1979 and was for Airwick Carpet Fresh deodorizer. That old fogey has got to be dead by now, right, if not by smoking then by old age. |
Saturday: 8
Charlestown, RI. Easy run with Matthew and Brady at Ninigret. Temps had dropped into the high 50s, but with humidity over 90% it was pretty uncomfortable. Took it easy, especially with the Clamdigger 5-Miler on tap for tomorrow.
Sunday: 6
Clamdigger! Separate write-up to follow.
Weekly mileage: 55 run, 3 walk
Weekly synopsis: Not an impressive week, but not bad either. My mileage and training has not been anywhere near the quantity pre-Detroit Marathon, so my expectations are not high for Providence in three weeks. I did get in three 20-milers at least, so I don't think it will be terrible.
Weekly highlight: Clamdigger 5-Miler!
Weekly lowlight: Running in near 80° weather on Friday. In April. Ugh.
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