Running stats:
Miles run: 312.1
Elevation gain: 20,303'
Weekly miles (for weeks ended in month): 48, 83, 58, 80, 58
 |
| High mileage and high elevation gain this past month |
Primary running surfaces: Trails (182 miles), roads (138)
Primary running locations: Westerly (66 miles), then Charlestown (49), then Exeter (48)
Primary running locations: Westerly (66 miles), then Charlestown (49), then Exeter (48)
Other disciplines:
Walk / hike: 6 miles
Alpine skiing: 38 miles
Quick synopsis:
- Great mileage month! Highest in over a year.
- Marathon training is going well. Four 80+ mileage weeks so far this year, ten 16+ mile long runs, with four of those 20+. Not sure what pace I'll end up running of course, but endurance should not be an issue.
- Despite always being a secondary goal, I did end up completing all twenty Border Patrol Challenge routes!
- I had two races; one went well, the other could have gone better.
- I got some snowshoeing and alpine skiing in, and in pretty great conditions! Unfortunately I didn't get any nordic skiing in this year, but you can't do it all.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Interesting runs:
- Hopkinton Hills, Hopkinton, March 5. Nice hilly 15 mile run.
- Long run, South Kingstown, March 10. 21 miler, with 2 * 5M @ MP. Actually couldn't hit the intended splits, but I'm blaming that on yet another very windy day.
- West Thompson Dam Run & Swim, Thompson, CT, March 13. Absolutely one of my craziest runs ever, as I was getting close to finishing up the Border Patrol Challenge and wanted to get this done. Partially flooded sections of trail, but the craziest part was with one mile to go on an 8-mile loop, just before sunset, the trail ahead of us (Brady and me) was flooded so deep it was over my head. Only options were to either go for it and swim it, or backtrack in the dark with no headlamp. Wouldn't recommend this to others, but we went for it and got it done. We were never in danger, but it got complicated with pine branches we ran into while swimming, and that just prolonged our time in the water, which was frigid!
Just crazy flooding. Brady is
actually swimming in the middle
of the trail!
Swampy mess. Yes, this is the
trail. Kind of waded through this
section of waist-deep quagmire. - Pachaug - Nehantic, Exeter (plus Voluntown and small sections of Sterling and Plainfield), March 19. Final Border Patrol Challenge run just a few hours before the Spring Equinox deadline. 27 miles of trails, including some that were pretty technical, with over 2,400' of elevation gain. This was my only solo BPC; all others were with Brady and a few with other human BPC runners. I took my time and stopped every 5 miles for energy and water, and to text Jana the mile marker.
Not only was this 27 miles, but it wasn't always
the easiest terrain! - Snowshoe run, Carrabassett Valley, ME, March 26. So happy to get this one in! On the spur of the moment, with a major snowstorm (23" of new snow) arriving, my cousin Dave and I made a last minute decision to get away to Sugarloaf for a couple of days of skiing. I got up early each day to run, and on this day went for a short (4 mile) but tough and hilly snowshoe run.
So much snow! 
Tough going, but fun!
-------------------------------------------------------------
Races:
PLR ShamRock & Roll 5K (Mar 3):
New Haven, CT
USATF-CT 5K Championship. 17:45, 3rd in 55-59 age group. While I'm pretty sure 5K is not my optimal distance, I do enjoy this race and its post-race party (and ice cream!). So well organized in every facet. Last year I ran six seconds faster and took first, but I'm still happy with this one, and actually ran more even split this year (5:38, 5:44, 5:43).
New Bedford Half Marathon (Mar 17):
New Bedford, MA
USATF-NE Half Championship. 1:23:35, 10th in 55-59 age group. Between how much I struggled in the wind and hills (and yes, relative to others, so not just the wind itself), and how poorly I placed in my age group, just not happy with this one. Yes, I made some tactical errors of my own, including starting too far up in the pack (usually I do the opposite) and running out too fast, but that doesn't explain why I faded so much in the back half (again, relative to others).
I don't want to sound like sour grapes, but unrelated to my performance, I'm not sure if the race was over-hyped to me and I had really high expectations for an amazing race course/organization/food itself, but I didn't love it. Some things well organized, but others not so much (details in race report). Not as well run as PLR ShamRock & Roll, both with a field size of over 1,000 runners. Not saying I won't be back, but I'll just say it's not a priority.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Miscellaneous:
- We had a very wet March to end out one of the wettest winters on record in RI.
- My March Thursday hike that I had planned for Burlingame North was cancelled due to rain (see above). I'll run in any kind of weather (blizzard, hurricane, whatever), but it's different when I'm leading others.
- As I mentioned above, I completed 20 out of 20 routes in this year's Border Patrol Challenge! This was my 4th consecutive year running in it (although only 2nd time completing all routes), so I make take a break from it next year. Factors include 1) it's good to vary it up and do something different, 2) it's hard to train AND run BPC, and 3) some routes I enjoy, and others are just a chore that I'd never personally choose (e.g., Quinebaug, all OAB routes).
Quick shout-out to running vendors I had a great experience with:
Darn Tough. Sock manufacturer in Vermont, with an unconditional lifetime guarantee. I am by no means a nationalist, and I appreciate a free market global economy getting consumers the best price and selection. Against that background, it is nice to see that this company makes all its socks not only in the USA, but right here in New England. As to the guarantee, I put that to the test in March, as I went to put on my only pair of Darn Tough socks for a long run, and found a hole in one of the toes. The last time I wore them was at the grueling and hot Honolulu Marathon and that might have done them in. Went online, filled out their form, got a return code and shipping label, and sent them off. About two weeks later, a brand new pair came in the mail! Success! I've since bought one more pair based on this positive experience.
Nathan Sports. I really like my Nathan hydration pack. That is, until the mouthpiece sprung a leak early on in my 27-mile trail run on Pachaug - Nehantic. It was 32°F at the start, and besides losing precious water, it was spraying cold water into my gloves and shirt. Did my best to rig a tourniquet to get through the run, not sure if this would spell the end of the pack. To my surprise, not only was Nathan able to get me the exact replacement part, but they got it to me for free and in one day! (Also kudos to Kelley's Pace to facilitating this.)
 |
| Mouthpiece on left had a pin-sized hole that was enough to wreak havoc on my run |
And one vendor I'll have to wait until next year to assess: Kahtoola. My existing traction devices are pretty worn and beat up, with a few microspikes missing, so I took advantage of a winter-end closeout to buy a brand new pair of Kahtoola Exospikes for $27 instead of the regular price of $65.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Looking ahead to April:
Three races on the docket:
- Middletown 10K, Middletown, CT, April 7. USATF-CT championship race. Second time running this. Last year came in 2nd in AG by 18 seconds, in 37:09 (5:59 pace). HMF said they would solve the issue with 10K'ers running into back-of-the-pack 5K walkers. Fingers crossed.
- Rocky Neck Trail 5K, East Lyme, CT, April 21. USATF-CT championship race. Not a goal race for me, and will need to remind myself to run easy.
- St Lawrence Marathon, Cornwall, ON, April 27.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Monthly highlight:
Most fun: snowshoe run!
Most satisfying: completing the 27-mile Pachaug Forest run.
Monthly lowlight:
Ticks! Specifically, I pulled one tick off me after a trail run on the penultimate day of March. Vile, disgusting creatures. Guess it's that time of year again.
No comments:
Post a Comment