Millenium Mile 2024

 

Londonderry, NH

Sunday, January 1, 2024

My 2nd straight Millennium Mile.  It wasn't really in my sights, and I certainly hadn't trained for a mile race, but Matthew was running the race, and the entry fee was a pretty cheap $20 and featured a giveaway of a nice winter hat.  So why not?

The race is at 2pm, which seems kind of weird for a race, but it does make the drive up to southern NH pretty easy.  Got there with about 90 minutes to spare, picked up my bib, and ran the course as a warm-up with Brady.  

Last year I ran 5:20 on this course, was disappointed in my time, and blamed it on a headwind of 15mph and that I had lined up too far back in the starting pack.  So this year would be different, at least in my mind.  The wind was only 5mph and really not even noticeable.  I would get to the starting line much earlier this time and line up closer to the starting line.  Ran a few strides and then lined up in the 2nd row, further up than I belong, but at least I won't get boxed in this time.

Race start:  I saw Matthew for only a few seconds, and just like last year, many sprinted past me early on.  I really don't know how to pace for this thing, and just go out as fast I can and try to hold on.  Unlike a 5K or longer, I'm not looking at my watch.  Every 1/4 mile is marked; maybe something we should do at Bottone Mile?  For the 1/4 mile, I am getting passed by some many runners, and after the 1/4 mile mark, it evens out a bit as I'm starting to catch those who sprinted out too fast and fewer runners are passing me.

This is a packed and very tight start!

I'm in second row
(follow the red arrow down from the "R" in "START" banner)

I am quickly getting passed and subsumed by the crowd
(blue singlet and hat on yellow guy's right shoulder)

The whole race is really a blur and goes by so quickly.  The first 1/4 mile is pretty flat, the next two quarters are downhill, and the final quarter is the only one that is slightly net uphill.  I sprint as fast as I can in the final 1/4.  Many are passing me here now as I don't really have a kick, and I'm very disheartened to see the finish line clock in the 5:20s.

In blue singlet, on far right.

Pretty crowded field, even towards
the end of race.

Final result:  Net time 5:26.7 (gun 5:28), 71st of 1,334 overall, 1st of 31 in age group.  Full results here

Synopsis:  It's clearly not the result I was looking for.  I'm stymied as to why I ran six seconds slower than last year, so I peel back the onion and look a little deeper into Strava race results:

 

Well, that's interesting.  Two quick observations:

1. It seems like most of my decline this year is in the 1st quarter mile, and that's despite lining up further ahead to avoid being boxed in.  I guess I really still took off much faster off the line a year ago.
2. My final 1/4 mile should really be my fastest, shouldn't it?  Or is it because it's the only 1/4 mile that is net uphill?  Or because I'm just dead at that point?

I don't want to over analyze this.  I still won my age group, and obviously that's a factor of who shows up on any given day, but still a good relative check for my age.  Easy cool down, part with Matthew and Andrew and all with Brady, collected my age group award, and began the trip back to RI.

This year's age group award.
Not bad.

December 2023: Low Mileage to close out the Year

Running stats:

Miles run:  179

Elevation gain:  9,803

Weekly miles (for weeks ended in month):  33, 56, 13, 51, 51

December was my lowest elevation of the year, and second lowest mileage.  The mileage is low due to time off from running after Honolulu Marathon.

Primary running surfaces:  Road (112 miles), trails (59 miles)
Primary running locations:  Charlestown (50 miles), then Westerly (37) and Honolulu (33)

Other disciplines:
Walk / hike:  34 miles

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Races:

Honolulu Marathon (Dec 9):

My 25th marathon.  Way too warm and humid for me so decided just to run it easy and "enjoy" it as best I could.  Full race report here.

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Miscellaneous:

My Scottish blood balked at paying
$25 per wreath at Home Depot,
only to see those wreaths quickly
turn brown.  Having the time and incentive
as an old retired guy with no income,
I picked my own supplies and gave it a try.

This won't win me any awards,
but I made five of them and they
actually came out better than I
expected!  Between this and garland
for our lamppost, saved about $150.

Dec 7:  WTAC Holiday Party
Fun run through the woods with LED
lit signs.  About a dozen on the run, and
about 30 at the party afterwards.

Not the clearest pic!  
(l-r:  Nick, me, Justin, Matt)

Fun to catch up with other WTAC folks
at the party itself
(l-r:  Bob S, Paul J, Schane, Bob K, Jeff V)

December comic that I most related to:
Unfortunately the truth, at least
for me.  Probably TMI, but since
I turned 50, it's very rare for me
to sleep through the night.

Dec 20:  a downsized and kind of last minute
Christmas light run, due to us getting back late
in the month from Hawaii and T5K heading out
shortly thereafter for his family getaway

Christmas Eve appetizers:  specialty cheeses from The Cheese Corner,
and assorted smoked fish from McQuade's.  Great stuff!

Christmas morning:  opening stockings.
Yes, Brady has his own stocking as well!

We were lucky to get a tree this year,
as most Christmas tree farms were
sold out or closed for the season by the
time we got back from Hawaii

I got some great history books for Christmas.  I'm a slow
reader, so these will last me a while.

One of several Xmas gifts.
We don't spoil him at all!

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Monthly highlight:  The Hawaii family trip in general.  Hiking the tallest peak, Mauna Kea, and seeing snow, for a specific highlight.

Monthly lowlight:  End of the holidays and end of having the family together for now.  With our two sons spread around the country, it gets harder and harder to get the four of us together.  In 2023, it didn't happen until Thanksgiving.

Dec 30:  Mark in apparent conversation with the late Colonel Sanders,
while awaiting his KFC food on Airport Road in Warwick,
before we dropped him off around the corner at TF Green Airport
for his flight back to Georgia

Year in Review: 2023

2023 was my first full year in retirement.  My pre-retirement fears (of not having enough to keep my busy) turned out to be either unwarranted or mitigated, as I found plenty of activities to keep me busy:

Westerly Land Trust:  
I've been volunteering with the CCC ("Coffee & Clearing Club") on Tuesday mornings for years now, but since my retirement, it's morphed from monthly to weekly.  This is a fun group of almost exclusively retirees who maintain the trails, build bridges (literally and figuratively), mow grasslands, and take on a number of activities.  I also serve on several committees, and in 2024 will chair the Stewardship Committee.

Finishing up an erosion control "water bar" on Big Hill,
with fellow CCC'er Bob Segal to my left 

2023 was my second year leading Thursday hikes, with the target audience being "agile seniors".  I typically lead once per month, picking a route somewhere in Washington County anywhere from 3 - 5 miles.

Leading a hike at Yawgoog, November

Westerly Track & Athletic Club:

2023 was my 4th year serving as President.  This still remains a labor of love, and Jana helps greatly with many duties.  

Starting the race at Li'l Rhody, November
(since I couldn't race due to a broken rib)

Kelley's Pace:

Becoming Race Director for KP was a new venture for me in 2023.  These are local and fun races, including Frostbite 5M, Hare Hop 5K, Sailfest 5K, and Battle of Stonington 5K.  Hare Hop was my first ever race 21 years ago, and Battle of Stonington is one of my favorites.  Directing a race requires quite a bit of work behind the scenes, and while it should be much easier and familiar in 2024, that also gives me some latitude to improve in areas where I made mistakes.  (Note:  One of my biggest mistakes was completely forgetting to order porta-potties for Battle of Stonington, but fortunately it turned into a non-issue as I got lucky and got this corrected on race day.)

3 Jeffs!  Frostbite, January
KP Owner Jeff, RWYC Jeff, RD Jeff

Groton City Brew Run:  This one is more loosely connected to KP than the four above, and the one race where I work directly for the Mystic Chamber of Commerce.  It's a great group of folks, and kept me busy as I planned out a new waterfront course in 2023 and transitioned to a new registration platform.

At awards ceremony, with Mystic Chamber
President Bruce Flax, September

Walking RI:  I enjoyed John K's weekly newspaper articles on "Walking Rhode Island", and had met him at a presentation he did in Cranston the previous year.  Similar to previous books written by his late Providence Journal colleague, Ken Weber, he had embarked on a writing an updated book "Walking Rhode Island:  40 Hikes for Nature and History Lovers with Pictures, GPS Coordinates, and Trail Maps".

He ended up not being able to make his deadlines, in large part due to the person working on his trail maps not coming through, and the next person wanting "an arm and a leg".  He reached out and asked me if I knew anyone that would be interested and could do the work, suggesting maybe even a retiree.  Bingo!  I showed him some maps I had created for race course maps, listened to some specifics he was looking for, and put together two samples for him to look at with no obligation:

I put together a project plan that worked for his new timeline, and we went to work.  Each week, for eight weeks, I would read through five of his selected articles, create five maps based upon his route described, and then send to him and meet at a coffee shop or his house to review and update the maps over coffee.  Some of the properties I either did not know at all and/or there was not enough Strava "heat" activity for me to trace a route, and for those, I visited and either walked or ran the route, some solo and some with John.

With John K and his book,
after his presentation at WLT Barlow
September

Mohegan Striders:  Many of us belong to multiple running clubs, and after being humbled by being asked by three different running clubs to run races for them, I opted to run four USATF-CT road races and three USATF-CT MUT (trail) races for the nearby Mohegan Striders.

New Haven 20K Road Race,
September

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2023 Goals Assessment:  (Last year's goals in black; assessment against those goals in red.)

• Road marathon:  Complete in sub-2:50  FAIL.  Fastest marathon was Providence in the 70° heat in early May in 2:59:16.
• 50K:  complete a 50K trail race.  PASS.  Québec Mega Trail 52K in July.
• Ironman!  It's time.  I'm retired, have the time to train, and I'm not getting any younger.  PASS.  Finally!  Ironman Maryland in September.  I had this goal as early as 2015, and great to cross this one off the bucket list.
• USATF-CT:  Trying something different this year.  Cross into our border state and run at least 4 races in the Road Grand Prix.  PASS.  PLR 5K, Middletown 10K, Spring Street Mile, New Haven 20K.
• 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.  FAIL.  Had probably the worst ankle roll of my life in February, and it took a long time to recover from resulting high ankle sprain.
• Mileage:  3,000  FAIL.  2,736.  I'll chalk this up to two impactful injuries in 2023:  ankle roll/sprain in the spring and broken rib in the fall.

• New England:  Run in all six states.  Again.  PASS.
• Trails:  Run at least one new trail race.  PASS.  Black Fly in My Eye, Québec Mega Trail, Norfolk Land Trust Half Marathon.
• 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.  PASS.  4M:  Run 4 Kerri (23:26)

  

  New PR:  Run 4 Kerri with the Bousquets,
  where I notched a 4M PR!  (23:26)
  
  

Passed 6 out of 9 goals.

Very similar to 2022.  Newport dropped out, and replaced by SK.
Charlestown and Westerly changed positions, but still very similar mileage.
Exeter moved way up, which probably means I ran in Arcadia more this past year.

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Pictorial Highlights of 2023:

January:  Millenium Mile, Londonderry, NH, 5:20

February:  We had measurable snow on only one day all winter:
February 28

March:  WTAC group run at Barn Island

April:  Tying my 5M PR at Clamdigger (29:18)
(And since the previous 5M PR course, Hangover Classic, 
was not certified and this is, I'm claiming this as a PR)

May:  Finishing up my 3rd consecutive
Pineland Farms 25K, New Gloucester, ME

June:  Gunstock Trail Fest, with Brady,
as we approached the finish line (and won!)
our first ever canicross race!
1st place out of 72

July:  Struggled, but finished.
Quebec Mega Trail 52K

August:  Trail run in Red Rock Canyon, Nevada

September:  Completed an Ironman triathlon!
It wasn't pretty as it took me over 13 hours to finish,
but at 10:30pm in the dark, Jana and Brady were waiting
for me to finish.

October:  3rd annual Grills Trail Race,
this year for the first time with a pizza truck!

November:  no races for me in November, due to
broken rib.  This is along Yawgoog Pond, as I'm giving
remarks to the group of Thursday hikers that I'm leading
around the pond

December:  just finished Honolulu Marathon (my 25th
marathon) moments earlier; quickly took off my socks
and shoes and enjoyed the cold water outdoor
showers

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2023 Stats:

• Races run:  29 (2022: 30, 2021:  21)
• Race breakdown by terrain:  Road - 15, Trail - 10, Beach - 1, Tri - 2, Swim - 1
• Age group wins:  13
• Overall wins:  1
• Miles run:  2,736
• Elevation run:  177,772'
• Most elevation gain in a single run:  6,791' (Quebec Mega Trail 52K)
• Hottest run:  84°F (Blessing of the Fleet, July 28)
• Coldest run:  -2°F (BPC Tri-town group run, February 4)
• Hours run:  387 (2022:  428, 2021:  357)
• Days run:  325 (2022: 352, 2021: 302)  
• Lowest mileage week:  13 (December, post-Honolulu Marathon)
• Highest mileage week:  75 (September, while training for Honolulu Marathon)
• Highest mileage day:  32 (Quebec Mega Trail, including warm-up)
• Longest running streak:  38 days (March - April)
• Longest non-running streak: 4 days (February, after a bad ankle sprain)
• Number of states run in:  14:  RI, CT, MA, NH, ME, VT, DE, MD, MN, NE, CO, NV, CA, HI
• Number of countries run in:  2:  USA, Canada
• Run furthest from home:  Honolulu, Hawaii

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2024 Goals:

• Road marathon:  Complete in sub-2:55
• Mileage:  3,000 (should be attainable if I stay injury-free this year)
• Trails:  Run at least one new trail race.  
• Set a new age-group course record:  As I turn 60 this year, I have my eye on breaking at least one of the following 60+ men's course records at 2024 RI summer races:  Blessing of the Fleet (1:01:55, 1993), Run 4 Kerri 4M (23:57, 2023), Bobby Doyle 5M (29:56, 2022)

On to 2024 running!