October 2024: Ocean Road & Block Island Half

Running stats:

Miles run:  307.3

Elevation gain:  16,344'

Weekly miles (for weeks ended in month):  71, 56, 80, 49

Slightly above average distance.  Average elevation.
Tapering down to fall marathon in early November.

Primary running surfaces:  Roads (156), trails (108 miles)  More roads for final month of marathon training.  I suspect this will change for November and December.

Primary running locations:  Westerly (73miles), Charlestown (63)

Other disciplines:

• Walk / hike:  19 miles

Quick synopsis:

• One long run.
• Three races.  (Four technically, if you include Run for the Pumpkins, but I intentionally ran the shorter 5K version and ran it easy as racing Ocean Road 10K the next day.)

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Interesting runs:

• Workout Wednesday, Westerly, October 2.  13 miles, with 7 of them at MP, or even slightly faster at 6:1x.  Coastal run including Avondale and Weekapaug, and ocean dip at town beach.
• Retirement Bliss, Hopkinton, October 3.  11 miles with Brady.  Easy trail miles on a really fun trail loop.  Yawgoog / Green Falls / Nehantic.
• Tour de Newport, Newport, October 20.  22 miles, with 12 at MP.  Final 20+ miler before Indianapolis Marathon.  Fun coastal tour of Newport and Middletown on mostly quiet roads.

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Races:

Ocean Road 10K (October 6):

Narragansett, RI

Fourth and final race of the inaugural RI Grand Prix.  My first time running this race.  The race is point-to-point and very flat, mostly along Ocean Road, from Point Judith Lighthouse to Narragansett Town Beach.  After a warm-up with teammates Nick and Meriden and then a bit with teammate Josh Ambeau, I stripped down to race gear, with my outer gear being tossed on a stone wall at finish for donation (I knew this ahead of time and planned accordingly).

Start of 2024 Ocean Road 10K,
with Point Judith Lighthouse in background
(You can see me in front row in green singlet and orange shoes)

I continually slowed and didn't really get the race I wanted, with a finish of 38:28.  There was a 10mph headwind, which could be partly to blame, but doesn't fully explain why I ran more than a minute slower than my Ottawa 10K earlier this year (37:11) and Middletown 10K also this year (36:45).

Finishing up

Still easily clinched my age group, with 2nd place in my age group finishing 6 1/2 minutes behind me.  20th overall out of 1,098.

A small, but effective, Team WTAC today

Full results here

Block Island Half (October 13):

New Shoreham, RI

As with Ocean Road 10K, this was my first time running this race.  Small, low-key race on a beautiful island in the off-season.  This worked well as a tune-up for my fall marathon, and I came in 3rd overall.

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(From Block Island Times)

Race report here

Grills Trail Race (October 26):

Westerly, RI

Our 4th annual Grills Trail Race saw almost 100 finishers.  My own performance in the 10-mile event was just OK at 1:13:45, as I've run it faster twice.  But the overall event was a lot of fun, and this year we heard many positive compliments especially on all the food we provided!

Finishing line setup.  Purchasing a digital clock
proved a great asset to WTAC.

Finishing the 2024 edition

Subs!

And wood-fired pizza!

Race report here

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Miscellaneous:

Oct 5:  Brady at Black Point, Narragansett, 
during a family walk

Oct 9:  Creative tacos at New London Food Stroll
with Jana

Oct 15:  Red-tailed hawk,
seen during a trail run at Grills.
Was amazed how close I was able
to get to it

Oct 19:  Fall foliage 
(North Camp Beach, Burlingame)

Oct 20:  Fantastic recovery food and drink,
post 22-mile workout,
at Provencal Bakery and Cafe, Middletown, RI

Oct 21:  Salamander!

Halloween 2024:
I miss the years when we got over 100 trick-o-treaters
(we had 8 this year)

Still fun to carve a jack-o'-lantern

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Looking ahead to November:

Three goal races on the docket:

• Indianapolis Marathon, Indianapolis, IN, November 9.  Goal race that I signed up for back on New Year's Day.
• Li'l Rhody Runaround 8-Mile Trail Race, Charlestown, RI, November 17.  33rd annual.  Final WTAC race of the year.
• Pie Run 5-Mile Race, Middletown, RI, November 28.  Run Thanksgiving morning race.

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Monthly highlight: 

Grills Trail Race.  Highlight is from a fun standpoint.

Monthly lowlight: 

Slow time at Ocean Road 10K, almost two minutes slower than Middletown 10K and more than a minutes slower than Ottawa 10K, both earlier this year.