Weekly (Plus a Couple of Days) Log: 11-Jul to 19-Jul-2016 – ICELAND!!

Where do I even begin with this one?  How can I put together a cohesive and organized post without drooling and rambling on and without over-using superlatives?  I’m not sure that I can, but given that I’m neither writing a professional paper nor seeking any literary accolades, that’s the chance that I’m willing to take.

As children, we learn the meaning of the US flag design.
How about the meaning of the colors of the Iceland flag?
Blue of the surrounding ocean, against a white cross representing snow and ice,
with the red of Iceland's fiery volcanos.

Reader caution:  This weekly-ish blog post will be longer than others, and will not be entirely about running (my blog; my rules).  However, it will also contain many more photos than usual, so you can always just look at the pictures.  This will also give you an American runner and tourist’s insight into what I perceived as simply an amazing and beautiful country.  (See – I’m out of control on the superlatives already.)

A quick trip back to the 80s ...

1980s Regret.  As with the movie “Back to the Future”, to start this story, you’ve got to set the DeLorean back to the mid-1980s, as that's when I added Iceland to my bucket list.  I can’t remember the exact year (due to old age and confusion), but I was ~ 20 years old.  The short version of the circumstances is that my family was going back for a somewhat regular pilgrimage to my mother’s native country of Germany, and as they were flying Icelandair, it included a stopover in Iceland.  I declined!  WHAT AN IDIOT!  I shortsightedly thought it would be more cool with my parents out of the house to invite a bunch of my high school friends over for a night of partying.  More cool than going to ICELAND?!  What was I thinking?  Why didn’t someone smash a metal frying pan over my head and knock some sense into me?  Anyway, this is one of my big regrets that I carried with me for over three decades, until …

2016 Family Vacation Vote.  Yes, we really do have a family vote, replete with the Official Walker Rules which point-weight your first and second choices to lessen the chance of a draw.  This year Iceland won out over Bermuda by a solitary point, which in turn was only a single point ahead of our 49^th state.  On with the show …

Monday 11 July:  5

Last full day in the US of A.  Chased by a turkey deep in Woody Hill. 

Tuesday:  7

Avondale 6 x 1K workout, before 1/2 day of work and up to Logan for a direct flight to Iceland.  5 hours!  Quicker than getting to the west coast. 

Wednesday:  12

AM:  After a 6am arrival and hotel check-in, 7 miles with Matthew around where we were staying in Keflavik.  Unlike two years ago in Europe where Matthew declined most runs, I think he came with me on every single run this time.  Good bonding and someone to share the sights with.

1st Iceland run, in pastoral fields in Keflavik

Bridge Between Two Continents:
Iceland is one of a few, if not the only, country in the world lying both in North America
and Europe.  The tectonic plate gap lies in the chasm you see beneath the bridge,
with Mark in North America and Europe on the left side

Outer-worldly rock formations in southwest Iceland

Geysir with sulfur-streaked soil.  Pungent sulfur smell as well.
Reminded me a little of formations at Yellowstone National Park.

Hafnabjarg Sea Cliffs.  One of many where pictures don't do this justice.

Mark, on top of cliff in picture immediately before this.

PM:  5 miles with Jana and Matthew, while awaiting for our appointed time to enter the Blue Lagoon, a famous geo-thermal hot spa.

Jana and Matthew running
near Blue Lagoon.

Lava field from an eruption in 1226 AD.

Cool gravel running path
with seldom seen trees.

Post run, Matthew soaking in just a very
small part of the Blue Lagoon.

Thursday:  5

Snæfellsnes Peninsula.  Explored the Vatnshellir lava caves, 35 meters under the ground, and 200 meters long.  The temperature at the bottom was 2C (36F)!  Our tour guide, Gunnar, upon encountering another tour group coming the other way, joked that this was the only traffic jam we would see in Iceland.  He was right!  Even in the capital city at rush hour (which was the only place we even saw traffic lights), there was virtually no delay.

Personally not into one of the Icelandic national dishes of lamb ...

... but their bakeries certainly sated
my sweet tooth.

Descending into the cave.

Deep inside the cave:
(l-r):  Mark, Matthew, Jeff

After the cave tour, we checked into the house we had rented at Arnastapi.  Jana, Matthew, and I went out for a run.  One of the reasons I chose this locale was it was consistently listed as having the best hiking trail in all of Iceland.  Amazing technical trail of lava rocks against sheer cliffs dropping straight into the ocean.

Bárður the troll lives in this area, and 

protects it from evil.

Running the technical trail from Arnastapi to Hellnar.
Just gorgeous.

Matthew running single-track
through the highlands.

These Arctic terns are nasty.  They hover,
and then dive-bomb you.

This is the bungalow we rented and stayed in while on the
Snæfellsnes  peninsula.  Right on the water and trails.

Friday:  9

Long, long drive into the Westfjords of northern Iceland.  If only I could ever cash in on the phrase of "as the crow flies", I would likely have saved 75% of the time driving today.  Long drives down one side of a fjord and then back up the other, combined with white-knuckled climbs across mountain passes.  Normally, I'm fine with heights, but these were hairpin turns on gravel roads on the edges of mountains with never a guardrail.  One mistake or look away briefly and you're all done.



Just a portion of our trip (in blue):
Up one side of a fjord, down the other side

Twisty gravel road mountain-pass rises and switch-backs.

Dynjandi Falls.  The short 1.5 mile hike was well worth
the sights and experience, as well as giving me a needed break
 from driving.  The four of us in lower right.

Sheep outnumber people in Iceland by
almost 3:1.


We were signed up for a 10K that evening, but time was running too tight.  A subsequent snafu with a mountain tunnel entrance being closed, and then having our hotel reservations explicably canceled by Orbitz and a wait to get replacement rooms at a nearby guesthouse caused us to be unable to get to the 10K bus departure point on time.  A race that we had excitingly signed up for and was taking place in Iceland we wouldn't actually be able to make.  I didn't know if Matthew would ever talk to me again, but after initial disappointment, he seemed more accepting of this than me.  While I couldn't have anticipated either the tunnel or hotel issue, I hadn't given any allowance for contingencies.  Poor planning.



Start of Friday night's northern Iceland run.  Along a fjord,
with snow-capped mountains in the background.

After settled into our new guesthouse, and beating myself up "If only I had done x or y", Matthew somehow accepted my company for a longish run on gravel roads, and single-track through grass up into the highlands and past beaucoup de sheep.  10pm and bright sunshine!  In fact, sunset wouldn't be until close to 1am, followed less than two hours later by sunrise!

Saturday:  6

Late sleep-in and lazy day.  Dead tired and I've been staying up uncharacteristically late, as with near 24 hours of daylight, my sleep pattern is affected.  Noontime 54 degree run!  Easy pace with sights of snow-capped mountains and endless fjords.  Matthew and I stopped on a deserted beach and sat on the rocks soaking in the beautiful and desolate scenery.  I remember remarking that I would be happy to stay in Iceland for a month-long vacation.

The Súðavík Arctic Fox Center seemed a little overrated,
but you have to admit this fox cub is cute.  Mark tried to pet it,
and it thought Mark's fingers looked tasty.  This is the only
land mammal native to Iceland.

The views just don't quit in the Westfjords.
(Jana took this from the grounds of the Arctic Fox Center).

Post-afternoon trip we went for a short swim in the outdoor heated (it would be too cold otherwise) public pool in the village, but unfortunately we were pushing up against closing time of 7pm.  Next the family went for dinner.  Mine was plokkfiskur, the ubiquitous, inexpensive, and delicious Icelandic fish stew.

Sunday:  16
Runner's Festival 2016 - Vesturgatan 24K Wilderness Trail Race.  Simply awesome and very unique experience.  Race write-up to follow. 

After a long-ride (again, up one side of a fjord, then back down-to-another), punctuated by a late night delicious dinner of "Salt Fish" along the way, we reached Reykjavik at Midnight.  We had rented a 3-bedroom apartment downtown and I repeatedly apologized to the landlord waiting for us at Midnight, but he just brushed it off and gave me a nice tour of his small, but very functional apartment.

Monday 18 July (I warned you this is an extended version):  5

Skogafoss Falls. (I'm in blue jacket and
white hat)
We were able to hike to the top of the falls
as well, but the views were best from
right here.

Sólheimajökull Glacier Hike.
Simply amazing to be hiking on top of a glacier.

The boys having fun with their ice picks.

Gulfoss Falls.  Rated among the top ten in the world.

From this vantage view looking down on the falls,
you can see a hint of a rainbow.

After a long and tiring day of hiking, I was long ready for bed at 10pm.  Matthew would hear nothing of it, and wanted to go for a run in the city, and had made the effort to research a few spots of interest.  When would I have the chance to run in Reykjavik again, let alone a near-sunset run along the water?  Thank you, Matthew!  My legs were not thrilled, but my heart and spirit were soon lifted.  Not the wonderful natural sights of the past few days in the Westfjords, but certainly unique and interesting.

Fresh Arctic Char:
just another healthy and delicious local meal.

I thought Mark was going to try the smoked puffin, but he
had the whale steak instead.



Reykjavik night run:
Hallgrímskirkja Church
(Statue in front was a gift from
the US to Iceland in 1930;
it's of Leif Eriksson, believed to
reach America 500 years before
Columbus.)



Sculpture of a Viking ship "Solfarid - The Sun Voyager"
along the Reykjavik waterfront,
just before sunset at 11pm.

Right in Reykjavik.
But, yeah, we didn't quite make it there.

Tuesday:  6
Happy Birthday to me.  For my 50th birthday, I ran 50 K with friends.  For my 51st, I ran 51K, mostly solo in the heat, but Matthew "carried" me for the finishing miles on the beach in the dark.  For my 52nd, a birthday adventure run I don't know how I will ever best:

Mount Esja!  2,600+ vertical climb, average 19% grade.  It was about a 40K drive outside of Reykjavik to the base of Mount Esja, towering over the water at sea level.  It was about 12C (in the low 50s) to start, but cooler at the mountain-top.  There were only three hikers ahead of Matthew and me as we started our trek upward, but numerous hikers we encountered on our way down.  The trail started out on gravel but the higher we got the more it became rock-strewn and technical.  With a number of breaks, we were able to run the entire course, save the last 100 meters, which I'll show you why in just a moment.

Alpine flowers and start of our run.

Getting steeper.  Reykjavik in far distance across water.

Barely runnable now.

Final 100m, no longer runnable,
as I am pulling myself up
metal chains over rocks.

Top of Mt Esja!

Esja - success!

The descent.  Yikes!

Tuesday capped out 60 miles of running in Iceland in 7 days.  Hit most of the activities we set out to do, but due to time and other constraints, had to skip sea-kayaking and Latrabjarg (puffin bird cliffs).

These are the major areas we visited in Iceland on our 2016 trip.
2600 km of driving, but still left quite a bit untouched.
(If it's not obvious, the white areas are glaciers.)

Iceland trip pros:

• Stunning beauty.  This was my 17th country that I've visited, and by far, the most beautiful.  Simply amazing natural scenery that wouldn't quit, especially in the drop-dead gorgeous Westfjords region of northern Iceland.
• Extremely clean country.  Almost no litter to be seen.  I might give Singapore the nod here as the cleanest country I've ever been to, but it would be close. 
• Technology:  Ahead of the US in many areas, from chip-and-pin credit cards, to a virtual cashless society (although I did like their coins with fish and sea creatures on them instead of presidents!), to self-scanning baggage machines, FREE unlimited wifi nearly everywhere even in our rental car, etc.
• Safety.  The third lowest violent crime country in the entire world!  Ordinary policemen don't even carry guns, and we were told most people in Iceland don't even lock their doors!  Not to knock our own country, but we're not even in the same ballpark.
• English fluency.  Icelanders learn English as a second language, and Danish as a third.
• Proximity.  Would it surprise you to know that we took a 5-hour direct flight from Boston?    (Flight price was only $378 round-trip, but being on an Icelandic budget airline "WOW Air", you get nothing, and baggage charges and seat choices rack up quickly.  Pack snacks ahead.)
• Weather.  This could be a con for many, but personally I don't enjoy the heat.  Highs most days in the upper 50s, a few days reaching the upper 60s meant I was very comfortable.  Perfect running weather!
• Metric system.  Can we please, please get rid of the silly antiquated English-inherited system that England and her other former colonies have long abandoned, and join the modern world?  Everything makes so much sense in the base-10 system, and you don't need to know that there are 5,280 feet to the mile or 128 ounces to the gallon or how many square feet to an acre?
• Food.  Again, this could be a con for many, but the Icelandic palate agreed with me quite well.  I could finally easily achieve one of my goals:  becoming a pescatarian (eating no animals at all except seafood).  If you need to wake up to your American breakfast of fried eggs and bacon, you could probably find that in cosmopolitan Reykjavik, but that wasn't the norm at hotels / guesthouses.  The European breakfast I was used to (cheeses, meats, rolls, jams, muesli, yogurt, OJ, coffee) met with my high approval.
• No mosquitos.  Iceland is one of the very few places on earth where there are absolutely zero mosquitos!
• Friendly people.  While they wouldn't typically show it with emotion (i.e., not a lot of smiling), I had great conversations with a number of Icelanders.  1) Asking for directions in Ísafjörður, it appeared odd to me that the man I asked started to walk away until I realized he was going to his car to get his personal map, mark it up with the street blocks I need to walk, and then give it to me to keep.  2) At the overbooked hotel where our reservations were cancelled, the manager apologized profusely (it wasn't his fault; it was Orbitz's), personally arranged other accommodations for us and insisted the four of us sit down and have anything we want to eat and drink in his coffeehouse "on the house" before leaving.  3) In Reykjavik, an elderly man living in the adjacent apartment and one of the few non-English speakers I met nonetheless insisted I follow him into the basement (OK, is this getting weird?) where he showed me where he kept his bicycle and offered us to use it anytime.

Iceland trip cons (no I didn't run out of pros!):

• Expensive.  With nearly everything imported (exceptions of seafood and lamb), it's common to pay the equivalent of US$20 for a salad, or nearly $7 for a gallon of gas.
• Driving.  Long rides up and down fjords were anything but "the shortest distance between two points ...", and the gravel mountain pass climbs without guardrails were white-knuckle experiences for me.

Epilogue:
Shortly after arriving in Boston on the return flight, waiting in a long line to clear US customs, and then packed in like sardines on the Silver Line bus to South Station, Jana (from busy, hot, and traffic-prone Taiwan) made the comment that there are "too many people here, too many cars, and it's too hot".  I agree on all sentiments!  Before I die, I would like to come back for an extended and less rushed vacation to Iceland.  If for some reason that is not fulfilled, our 2016 Iceland family vacation has already left an indelible lifelong impact upon me as a most remarkable and beautiful part of the world.

Sailfest 5K 2016

New London, CT

Sunday, July 10, 2016

Even writing this just nine days in arrears, many a detail have I already forgotten.  How Chris Garvin is able to write race reports with clarity and insight three years after the actual race is beyond me.

We’ve had bigger club representation at Sailfest in past years, but for today, WTAC runners would be Matthew, Jeff V, and me.  I really only had two goals coming in to this race:  A Goal – sub 18, B Goal – new 2016 PR (18:46PR to date).  None of the above two seemed particularly aggressive, but given I was still on my cocktail of drugs fighting nasty tick-borne illnesses, had taken nearly two weeks off from running, and that I haven’t had a single PR all year, they both seemed quite challenging in their own right.  If there was a silver lining, it was that this year was not direct sunlight and not the usual temps in the 80s; it was “only” in the mid-70s.



Mile 1:  I always get great amusement in races like this where at the starting gun, someone takes off like a rocket.  I’m not talking about someone like Jonny Hammett, a seasoned runner who has this as part of his intentional strategy, but rather someone who has just no clue about pacing and may actually think his rocket pace leading the rest of the pack is actually sustainable.  Such was the case today.  A teenager in a cotton shirt (that’s usually a give-away, unless of course it’s Tommy FiveK in a cotton shirt and basketball shorts) rocketed out, arms and legs flailing fast, and he’s in first place.  Yeah, that lasted about ¼ mile, until even I passed him as he sounded gassed already.  Thanks for the entertainment!  Am I sadistic?



Start of 2016 race.  I'm behind the Williams guy checking his watch (overall winner).
Rocket Boy is on far left about to propel himself in front of pack.

At any rate, about this point in the race I figure I’m in about 15^th place.  I can see Matthew far ahead in a pack of three leading out the race.   For the rest of the first mile, I am steadily but surely picking out and passing my next competitor.  It is a good feeling, but I am also fully cognizant that mile 1 is the only mile without hills.  End of mile 1:  I have advanced to 9^th place.  Split: 5:49.

Mile 2:  Immediately on the left is my second favorite part of the race:  someone with a hose and spray nozzle.  It’s slightly out of the way of the direct and shortest path and thus I know it will cost me a few seconds, but worth it in my opinion.  Ah, relief!  I thank the gentlemen, start my hill ascent, and actually pass another competitor on the hill.  (The hill isn’t long or steep, but I like to whine.)  After a right turn at the top of the hill, the course flattens out for a while, and then it’s downhill back to Bank Street.  On the descent, I am rapidly gaining on two much younger competitors.  I pass the first one with ease, and then at the bottom of the hill, I pass the second.  Or at least I thought I did.  I stand corrected; the teen decides to come with me.  OK, just run my race.  At least he’s running next to me and not “sitting on me”.  He stays with me on the flat Bank Street section to finish out Mile 2.  Split:  6:04.

I hope I was feeling better than I looked.
(All pics by Jana, unless otherwise noted.)

Mile 3 and Finish:  We turn left off Bank Street to start the final uphill, and the teen is matching me stride for stride.  He is with me for the first few uphill blocks, and then a funny thing happens:  he is gone.  He drops far enough back where I can’t hear his breathing or footsteps anymore.  I hold on for two more uphill blocks, and now my favorite part of the race:  downhill to the finish!  It’s never steep, but a fun downhill nonetheless.  You make a final left turn and then between two columns of vendor stalls set up for the festival.  I’ve run this race pretty much based on feel, and am not even sure if I broke 19.  Final mile split: 6:06.

Ah, refreshing.  Look forward to this every time.
Even Matthew is smiling.

Jeff V captured this shot.  Note the irony of the
street name.

WTAC contingent.

Final time:  18:28!  6^th overall of 221.  1^st in age group.  I broke my B Goal after all.  Full results.

 

 

Weekly Log 4-Jul to 10-Jul

Monday: 
 0.5 miles.  4th of July swim with Mike, Tom, and Matthew, followed by breakfast at Sunnyside in Dunn's Corners.


Tuesday:  
11 miles.
Morning:  6 miles.  River Road in Groton.
Evening:  5 miles.  Stonington Fun Run.
19 miles.  To/from Stonington Fun Runs with Mikey.

Wednesday:
8 miles.
Morning:  5 miles.  Noanet Woodlands run with humidity and deer flies.
Evening:  3 miles.  Westerly Fun Runs.  Super hot; took it easy.  19:39.

 Thursday:  
6 miles.  Ninigret workout of 4 x 1K.  Progressively slower as I just wilted in the heat.

Friday:  
13 miles.  Longest run in two months.  Both sides of the river in Mystic.  Last few miles I was just coasting in on fumes.

Saturday:  
25 mile group ride with Mikey and Tommy.  My favorite kind:  easy conversational pace with a social coffee stop at Dave's.

Sunday:
5 miles.  Sailfest 5K.  Brief write-up to follow.



Weekly Totals:
0.5 miles.   
44 miles.
44 miles. 

Weekly Synopsis:
With my cocktail of drugs, I continue to feel better and have more energy.  Five more days of the horrid drugs and I'm done!
Fun mix of activities this week.  Love the summer; dislike the heat and humidity.

Loon Mountain Race!

Sunday, July 3, 2016

Wow!  What an adventure!  Matthew signed the two of us up for this race about a month ago, and I really didn't know what I was getting myself in for, as I have never run a mountain race before.  What I was doing in the race named "Most Competitive Hillclimb" by Runners World?  We went up the day before, giving us time to unwind, check in early to pick up bibs, get dinner, catch up with race veteran Steve Brightman, and relax in the hotel and pool before bed.

After a quick breakfast of oatmeal and accoutrements, we were off for the short drive to Loon.  Got there about an hour early for the men's start at 8am (women's at 9), but the looong line for the head took up most of that hour.  Sunny skies and 57 degrees!  After a very short warm-up before the start, we were nearly ready to go.  These were some fit looking runners!  After all, this was the USATF Mountain Running National Championships (the top 6 will move on to World Championships in Bulgaria).  Reminded myself to observe my only goal:  keep it fun, no expectations on time.  Didn't know where to line up; we ended up about 8 rows back in a field of about 400.

Pre-race jitters and last minute strategy discussions.
(Pic by Jana)

Mile 1 - The Scramble:  At the start of the race, there was a short run across a grass field before starting the ascent up a gravel road.  Almost immediately, there was a guy bent over tying his shoes and as I didn't see him until the last moment in a crowded field, I saw no choice but put a hand on this back to avoid crashing into him and in the process pushed him forward.  Oops.  In the first half-mile we go up 200' before it levels off.  This already feels hard, and just in case I forgot how much is left ahead, there is a sign "6 miles to go!".  No idea how to pace here, but I think I should save something.

Start of the Men's Race

Mile 2:  Single-track!  Just past the mile mark, the course makes a 90-degree hard left and turns off the main gravel road onto single-track or the closest thing to single-track we will see all day:  almost double-track width, but in the woods with a single lane of worn trail.  This will go on for almost 2 miles, and will end up being my favorite terrain all day.   I am passing more runners here than are passing me.

Mile 3:  Mud!  At first I pussy-footed around the first few mud puddles, but why? When the course turned from flat to uphill, the muddy sections became larger and took up more of the trail.  Saw runners going around the edges and even some starting to hike, but just went through the middle of the mud, stepping on an occasional rock or log to get better footing.  Yes, sometimes that meant sinking the shoe into mud, but got into a good rhythm and passed a few runners.  The single-track took another another 90-degree turn and that ended most of the mud.  We had a long downhill on single-track and I was in my element gazelling past several runners here.  This mile was actually net downhill by one foot!

Mile 4:  Crossing Ski Slopes.  I loved the shade from the canopy of trees over the last almost two miles, but the rest of the run now would be open and exposed to the sun.  This mile was still very runnable, as the ascent grade was easy and even rolling as we were basically traversing across ski slopes (as opposed to going up them) during this mile.  I could sense myself tiring though no matter the terrain underneath, as when on loose gravel, I was starting to slip a little more, and on grass the uneven and banked surface cutting across ski slopes was giving me a minor challenge to my balance.

Mile 5:  Power Hike.  Just before the end of the 4th mile, we were deposited onto the base of a steep looking ski slope.  Looking up, I saw only one out of about 20 runners actually running, so I deferred to the judgment of others, and started a power hike.  This was the only time during the race that I conversed with other competitors.  One guy I just passed running uphill complimented me on my hill running (really?) and it turned out he was also from RI (Woonsocket) and another guy was from Portsmouth, NH and we talked about the Smuttynose Marathon.  At the top of this slope, there was a professional looking photographer yelling "This is a NO WALKING ZONE!".  I complied, but oh so hard to get the tired legs running:

Top of a ski slope 5 miles in:
tough to get the legs to turnover
(Photo courtesy of Andrew Drummond)

Mile 6 and Finish:  Survival:  First section of this mile was about a 400' ascent to the top of the gondola.  Was proud that I ran this almost entirely.  When I slipped on loose gravel going around a corner, I walked just a few feet and then resumed running.  You go through a fairly large crowd of spectators here, as they took the gondola up and hung out at this peak.  Looked around for Jana, but didn't see her.

Second section:  Insanely steep 1/2 mile downhill dropping 400'.  Even for the gazelle, this one was tough.  I would be moving along at a good clip and then every so often would come across this slight uphill berm crossing the ski slope (for erosion control?) where I had to be really careful not to trip and fall.

Start of the downhill insanity.  No, the trail doesn't level off here; where you
see the spectators congregated near bottom center of picture, the course
turns sharp left (right from this vantage point) and continues a steep
downhill.
(Pic by Jana)

Final section:  Description from race website:  "The reputation as one of the region’s toughest races is due in large part to the kilometer ascent of North Peak via the black diamond trail known as Upper Walking Boss. 'The Boss', as it’s affectionately known, is roughly a kilometer of grassy slope with angles that exceed a dizzying 40% grade!"

At last, here we were at the base of the The Boss.  Looked up the steep uphill and of all the racers I could see ahead (50 or so?), I could spot only one running, and he was getting passed by people hiking, so what's the point?  Kept running the short distance to the timing mats at base of hill, and then settled into a hike.  Make no mistake about it, there was no power hike here, just a survival hike.  No energy to talk to anyone, just focusing on keeping the legs turning over to get up the mountain.  At 40% incline, it was tough to hike straight up.  Looked for other's footsteps to follow in to get a better footing.  Wanted to just stop so badly as my legs were tired and back starting to hurt from the odd angle, but instead looked at other runners turned hikers to try some of their techniques.  Pressing my hand on my thigh to help push each stroke forward seemed to help for a while.  Finally the sign "500 meters to go" came into view, and after passing that, "250 meters to go", but the hike continued.  Just before the sign "100 meters to go" I heard someone call out my name and tell me to resume running.  It was Scott Mason lying on the slope snapping pics.  I complied, but it wasn't easy.  Now the North Peak was in sight, and I saw Jana near the finish, as she had hiked up from the gondola on the lower peak to get here.  What a great supporter!

Running the last 100 meters. Final uphill grass ascent against a background
of drop-dead gorgeous scenery.
(Photo purchased from Scott Mason)

Yeah, it's ugly here.  I'm really missing running long
straight away roads at this point.
(Pic by Jana)

Trying to keep the old and tired legs moving.  Summit is in sight now!
(Pic by Jana)

Final results:  Crossed the line 1:11:12, good for 147th out of 547.  Matthew had crossed 8+ minutes earlier in 67th place.

FINISHED!  I did it!
(Pic by Jana)

Starting to thinking about how I could have run faster in the first few miles, but then abandoned those thoughts as I reminded myself my only goal was to have fun.  Did I meet my goal?  Definitely!

I don't look very steady on my feet immediately post-race!
(Pic by Jana)

This elevation snapshot from Strava puts
it in perspective!

WTAC representatives checking out where they just ascended from, and the
USA National Championship validation.  What an absolutely awesome experience!!

Weekly Log 27-Jun to 3-Jul-2016: Triple Whammy

Saturday of this week I got a call from the doctor that the results from my blood work are in, and he wants to go over them with me:
1)  Lyme disease:  CONFIRMED.  OK, no surprise there.
2)  Anaplasmosis:  CONFIRMED.  Anna who?  Supposedly somewhat rare, another tick-borne disease.  Do I have a rash?  Yes, just in past week, why?  Sometimes that occurs when you have both of the above simultaneously. Wonderful.
3)  Babesiosis:  CONFIRMED.  Parasitic infection of red blood cells.  Good stuff.

Apparently, because of this "triple whammy", the RI Department of Health has taken an interest in me and is requiring the doc to submit write-ups on me.  Not the kind of attention I was looking for; can't we just talk about my race times and running plans?  I am told I will be on quite the cocktail of drugs, and the duration will be longer than initially intimated.  Great, for a guy that doesn't like taking any pills, plus a vile yellow liquid I have to take that has the consistency of mustard.  Oh, and absolutely no alcohol, and no Ibuprofen, Tylenol, or aspirin.  Yeah, can't imagine I will want any pain-relievers after Loon Mountain Race. 

I told the doctor he's a killjoy.  Anything else?  Yes, my liver enzymes are quite elevated and this may or may not be related to above issues, but I'll need to come back for a couple more series of blood work to set baselines.  Great, for a guy who's afraid of needles of any kind.

Monday:  0
Regular rest day.

Tuesday:  
13 miles.
Morning:  8 miles.  Best I've felt in 14 days; the drugs are working.  "Fun" hill workout with Matthew on Buckeye Brook Road, Charlestown.  1 x mile uphill, 2 x 1/2 mile uphill, 1 x mile uphill.
Evening:  5 miles.  Stonington Fun Run with Mikey, Tom, and Shara.

Wednesday:
9 miles.
Morning:  6 miles.  Blue Heron trail.  Nearly all single-track today.
Evening:  3 miles.  Westerly Fun Runs.  Very disappointed with a 19:39, but it's a minute faster than last week, and Chris and Tom reminded me to calibrate expectations in light of recent illness.
 Thursday:  
8 miles.  Chase Hill Road moderate 4 x 1/2 mile hill repeats with Matthew.

Friday:  
0.6 mile Burlingame swim with Tom, Matthew, and Mikey.  Fun to swim there.  Arms tired from my lack of any upper body strength.
10 miles.  5 miles on neat Poquonnock River Boardwalk and scary Groton neighborhoods near Fitch.  Followed by 5 miles at Groton Fun Run.

Saturday:  
33 mile group ride with Mikey, Tommy, Schon, and Duda.  Fun ride out to Boombridge, Clarks Falls, Ashaway, Bradford, and Quonnie.  Mike and I stopped at Dave's Coffee and also talked to WTAC sponsor Dave. 

Sunday:
7 miles.  Loon Mountain Race!  Write-up forthcoming shortly.

Weekly Totals:
0.6 miles.   
33 miles.
47 miles. 

Weekly Synopsis:
Plus:  Feeling MUCH better than last week.
Plus:  Got in 47 miles of running, plus a ride and swim!
Plus:  Loon Mountain Race was a blast!
Plus:  Topped the WTAC Strava leaderboard for elevation gain this week.  That never happens.
Plus:  First half of 2016 mileage came in at 1,151; almost dead-on for my 2016 goal of 2,315 miles.
Minus:  My illness diagnosis has expanded greatly and will require more research and blood work.  I'm a little scared about that.