Miscellaneous rambling:
- I finally got my entry link into XTERRA World Trail Championships (Sugarloaf, Maine in October), from qualifying at Pineland Farms 25K this spring, but I was told/mistakenly believed that the entry was free. It's not; it's $100 plus Active fee, so less compelling to me. We'll see ...
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| Pretty meager harvest, but nice to have blueberries off my race award from winning last September's Trails to a Cure (a blueberry bush that I planted in our yard) |
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| At Stop & Shop. I'm just disgusted by this "nips" problem and our state legislature kicking the can down the road on any type of legislative solution |
- Amidst my complaining of the heat and humidity, one thing I do really like about the summer here in RI is the swimming. We have the ocean, rivers, streams, ponds, etc, with numerous free choices to cool off in the water. I plan many of my runs to end at a swimming hole.
Monday: 3
Charlestown, RI. Run with Matthew, mostly on dirt roads. Nice dunk in Watchaug Pond post-run, although the water temperature is already warmer than I prefer.
Tuesday: 2 walk, 10 run
AM: Westerly, RI. WLT summer mowing team, working today at Winnipaug Farm Preserve. Pulled one tick off of me.
AM: Westerly, RI. 7-mile run from Weekapaug Breachway. I was doubtful that I would be able to get a free spot at 11am in July on a hot summer day, but lo and behold, there were a few spots left. As I backed in, I recognized the person getting out of the car next to me: Rose Buckingham. She came over to give me a hug, and I warned I was pretty gross and covered in grass and weeds. Good to catch up with her. Out and back on the beach. A little too crowded at Misquamicut State Beach as I had to dodge beachgoers, but it was just a small section near the pavilion as most don't venture far from there. Refreshing dip in the ocean at finish.
PM: Charlestown, RI. 3-mile run with Brady. Loop from Kettle Pond Visitor Center, and a dip in Watchaug Pond with 1/2 mile to finish.
Wednesday: 10
AM: Charlestown, RI. Hottest run yet this year at 82°F. Easy on roads from Burlingame Picnic Area. Uncomfortably hot. Sapped my energy and I bailed on plans for a swim as I just soaked in the pond.
PM: Westerly, RI. Fun Run week #7. Hot. 1 mile warm-up solo, then ran and chatted with Chris for the Fun Run itself. Average 6:18 pace. That's about as fast as I can run and still carry a conversation.
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| Near end of first mile, with Chris (Photo courtesy Robin Kerwin) |
Thursday:
AM: Exeter, RI. Parked and ran from/to Arcadia Check Station. Figured running the roads would eliminate the deerflies and ticks. I was wrong, or at least on the first account. 16 DFKs. Ugh. Very humid and hot run with Brady. Stopped at three rivers along the way, and then a long soak and short swim in the Wood River back at the check station.
PM: Marlborough, CT. Lake Terramuggus Tri. This was part of a series of tris that they run every two weeks here. This was #3 of 4 and the only one I'd be able to make based on scheduling. The tris are no-frills (no food, no shirts, no bibs) but are amazing well run, professionally timed, and cost just $45 for the sprint tri ($35 for the shorter super-sprint tri).
I arrived at 5:30pm for a 6:15 start. Another 15 minutes would have been good, but it was fine as there were no lines for check-in, bathroom facilities, etc. Three very quick stations for check-in: 1) give your name and get your bib number (but no bib), 2) body-marking - just give your bib number, 3) pick up chip.
I quickly setup my bike and transition space (no assigned rack spaces; first-come, first-served), only to realize that I didn't bring a towel and I didn't bring a wetsuit. I'm such a scatter brain. Both were in my car, so I used that as an opportunity for a short warm-up. Plenty of time for a final bathroom stop (real bathroom facilities!), listen to pre-race instructions, get my wetsuit on, and get into the water and catch up with Bob Kerwin.
Swim: Just a 600 yard swim. Water was very warm, with a lot of weeds until water got deeper. What should have been clean 90-degree turns didn't end up that way. It was only the final leg back that I just get kept drifting off course. You can see it in my Strava post below.
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| At 4 o'clock or so, you can see how I really kept drifting off course on final return. I sight about every five strokes, and had to correct often. |
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| View of the swim finish |
Bike: Course was shortened to about 8 miles this evening, due to road construction work. No complaints from me! I gradually passed rider after rider, except for the one that blew by me. Was he lapping me on second loop, or an even slower swimmer than me that was just catching up?
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| It was nice to see all ages out there, including some very young triathletes |
Run: Finally in my element. The only activity that I'm decently good at. Passed runner after runner. With less than 1/2 mile to go, I passed two runners, one who I recognized as being in my age group (John Minhervino). The other runner was much younger, but yelled out to me, "Strong finishing pace!". As I made the final turn off the road and headed downhill into the park, I heard someone coming close to me. I figured it was one of the two I just passed, and was determined not to let them re-pass me. Picked it up and kicked it in as fast I could, just staying seconds ahead of my suitor. Only after crossing the finish line did I look back, and saw it wasn't either of the two that I passed but rather a 15-year old who had the fastest run of the day. He congratulated me on my kick. It's certainly not often that I hear that!
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| I am finished! All tri photos courtesy of Lake Terramuggus FB page. |
Struggled getting started with 1st mile run split of 7:05, picked it up to 6:12 and 5:49 for Miles 2 and 3, respectively.
Final stats: Full results here
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| So how did I do? Awful in T1, not surprisingly pretty poor in both the swim (even for me) and T2, decent on the bike, and really good on the run. |
Friday: 9
AM: Charlestown, RI. Recovery run, with off-and-on light rain. With Brady. Mix of campground roads and trails. Jump off the dock at the boat launch into Watchaug Pond.
PM: Portsmouth, RI. Possibly my first ever time running in this municipality. This was entirely in support of my niece Lucy's Portsmouth Family Fun Run that she put on. Much of it was modeled after our Westerly Fun Runs, but she also added her own twists, including a raffle and handwritten signs. My assignments were to augment the spray-paint markings on the grass (the course was entirely on grass fields at Lucy's school) and then a course marshal. Since my course marshal assignment was about 2 miles into the 2-loop course (2 different loops), I ran the 1-mile loop with Brady, and then we went to our assignment.
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| Start of the kids' 1/3 mile race. (You can see the WTAC green flag at 3 o'clock) |
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| The 1M / 5K run. I ran 1M with Brady, before peeling off to our assigned course marshal station. Brady is just ahead of Adam (owner of Run Newport store) pushing a double stroller. |
So many young kids asked if they could pet Brady, and of course he was just fine with all the doting.
Saturday: 16
Westerly, RI. Only a very short section in Westerly, before continuing onto a loop that would traverse parts of Hopkinton, Richmond, and Charlestown. I really picked a bad morning for this weather-wise as it was about 75°F and 92% humidity. Five decent but manageable hills (100' to 150') along the way.
I planned water stops at Miles 6 and 12 (where the rivers where) and drank from the rivers using my Salomon XA filter and flask. I pushed every 4th mile, which helped to nicely break up the solo run into quarters and make it more manageable for me. I saw John Ward on Woodville Road coming towards me on a bike, but otherwise just a few other bikers and one runner, none of whom I knew.
At Mile 6, I slid and went down hard on the road. Who falls on the road?! It was on a patch of slick mud that I didn't see, and it must have washed onto the road during last night's storm. Ugh. Turned out to be great timing with my river stop as I washed the road debris and blood out of my new leg cuts.
Started and finished at the kayak launch and fishing area on the Pawcatuck River in Bradford. I can't remember ever swimming there before, but it sure was refreshing post-run today! Repeatedly dove under the water and swam upstream against the current and floated downstream.
Glad I got this done, but the cost was that the rest of the day I just felt weak from heat sickness.
Sunday: 9
Charlestown, RI. Recovery run with Brady on yet another soupy day. 76°F and 93% humidity. Ugh. Ran VG Trail CCW and added on down to North Camp Beach, as I wanted Brady to get a good cooling off halfway through. 17 DFKs for a season-to-date 114.
About the only good thing on this run is that with two miles to go, it started to rain steadily. That not only felt good, but also when we got back to the boat launch area where we parked, both that area and the adjoining beach area were now completely empty in the rain! Enjoyed swimming and frolicking in the pond in the rain and brought one of Brady's tennis balls for him to swim after. Was engrossed in the water when I didn't even hear a MTB rider come up to the dock and ask how the water was. He was watching Brady jump off the dock and swim, and said he had previously had Labrador Retrievers and missed having a swimming dog.
Weekly mileage: 69 run, 8 ride, 2 walk, 0.4 swim
Weekly synopsis: For such lousy hot and humid weather, really a good running week. 8 out of 11 runs ended with a dunk in the nearby water! Getting in a tri for practice was good as well, although I'm a long way from the distances I need for the Ironman. Enjoying having some temporary downtime from running races, especially in this heat. Not having races undoubtedly helped me get my highest mileage run week since early June, when I coincidentally also did not have a race.
One more weekend free from running races, and then I jump into the trifecta of hot summer races: Blessing, Kerri, Doyle.
Weekly highlight: Getting in a good 16-mile hilly training run in this soup.
Weekly lowlight: Deerflies. Just hate them. So many bites and make me itch. New patches should arrive early next week. Hoping these work.
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