Weekly Log 18-Apr to 24-Apr-2016: State Police 5K

Monday:  5
Run on Burlingame trails with Back Road Ramble YMCA Race Director, prepping for this June 12 race.

Tuesday:  18
Challenging early morning run with Tom.  Ran 5 miles solo from West Beach, Charlestown to Burlingame Campground.  Flat, easy 7:15 pace; only challenge was seeing the bumps in the gravel road at start in the dark at 5:20am.

Hitched up with Tom for a 13-mile hilly ride.  Multiple hills in inland Charlestown for 1,000+ feet of elevation gain.  By the time we hit the last major hill climb on Buckeye Brook Road, I was really fatiguing.  Tom on the other hand still had another gear to go, as he picked it up strong for the last mile plus.

Wednesday:  7
Recovery on the Blue Heron Trail.

Thursday:  0
Rest day.

Friday:  16
AM:  5 miles on fun trails in Goddard Park.
PM:  11 very fast miles in Mystic with Matthew.  Started and ended at Mystic Y, and ran many roads I had never been on before. That includes Cove Road, Latimore Point, and the road to Enders Island.  Average 6:36 pace.


Saturday:  5


Started off the day with an Earth Day clean-up at
Grills Preserve, with a number of WTAC participants.  This is just a
small sample of the junk of the junk we pulled out:  tires,
mattresses, TV stands, bedsheets, and unfortunately,
absolute raw garbage that some residents just tossed onto Land Trust property.

Long abandoned rail tracks
at Grills!

Shimmied up the tree, careful of the broken, rotting boards,
to retrieve a hose and junk up a tree.



Former rail bridge crossing
over a river.  The wooden trestles fallen
and rotting; only the rails remain.

 Afternoon 5-mile run in Woody Hill.

Sunday:  7
RI State Police "Foot Pursuit" 5K.  A nice early spring local 5K that draws over 700 participants. Unfortunately it was one of my slowest road 5Ks in recent years, and I'm not entirely sure why.  When Matthew told me just after finishing that my time was in the 18:30s (there was no clock visible at finish), I didn't believe him, but then I found it was 18:41!  To add insult to injury, the initial times were off for everyone and I was initially listed at 19:17.

I felt like I was running fast throughout the race, and continued to pass people the entire race, as I started in about 15th place and worked my way up to 4th.  So what went wrong?  Some plausible reasons:

• I missed my first mile split and just assumed I was running in the 5:30s.  Not even close - 5:55.  I'm not one to stare at my watch, but maybe I need that occasional pace feedback to adjust as needed?
• It was my first road 5K of the year.
• I haven't been focusing on short distances, and will need to return to speedwork before the summer.
• I'm just getting old and slow.  Chatted with Dave Schaad for a while pre-race and he told me since age 50 he has been losing about 20 seconds per year.  Yikes!  Is this where I am at?

  

  Start of the 2016 race
  (Pics by Jana) 

  
  

  

  Passing just before the finish to take 4th overall

  
  

  

  With WTAC winners Aaron and Crutch

On the plus side, the WTAC men's team won.  Not sure what we'll do with our joint $500 Cardi's gift certificate.  Some suggested starting and furnishing a team clubhouse.  Got an additional $100 individual Cardi's gift certificate for my age group win.  Not to sound ungrateful, but I think that will buy a pillow.  A good day and a good race.  Now  I just need to figure out how to get back to faster races.  Next 5K on the schedule is NSEF on Memorial Day weekend.  Anything but flat!


Weekly mileage:
Run:  57

Weekly synopsis:  High mileage week.  Highlights were 1) 18-mile hilly run with Tom, and 2) fast Mystic 11-miler with Matthew.

Clamdigger 2016

Westerly, RI
April 17, 2016

After a one-week delay due to a previously unknown conflict with a biking race in Misquamicut, we were ready to host the 35th annual Clamdigger races.  Unfortunately, we lost a few members and participants with the date change combined with the fact we were now into school vacation week, but we salvaged it as best we could.

It was a beautiful spring day with temps in the 60s and very light winds.  We've had so many races with strong ocean winds and a flooded Atlantic Ave, so this was a nice respite.  A total of 205 runners toed the line of our now certified courses, the highest number in 15 years.  I kept my race remarks short to echo requests of the Westerly Police, and off we went.  I quickly settled in behind Tommy, and while his lead only increased, I never changed positions.  1.5 miles in, the 5K runners split left onto Breach Drive and the rest of us soldiered on down to the breachway and the beautiful ocean views that awaited us beyond.  First two miles:  5:59, 6:03.

Start of 2016 Clamdigger
(The Westerly Sun)

The third mile was the slowest, mostly due to fatigue onset middle of the race, plus going uphill into the wind on Noyes Neck Road.  6:18 split.

Mile 2 in Weekapaug
(Pic by Mike B)

The last two miles I was able to pick it up back on Atlantic Avenue and now passing some of the 5K'ers.  Passed young Ezri just before the finish, as she was having a most impressive major PR out there.  Miles 4 and 5 were 6:04 and 5:54.

Overall:  30:20.  4th place, 1st in age group.

Putting on the free kids' run on the beach

Beautiful post-race party at the beautiful new
Westerly Town Beach pavilion

Fairly happy with my run, especially early in the season.  More happy with how well the race went, and how the WTAC team came together, as well as the town in general, as we were able to use the beautiful new town pavilion, had fantastic support from the police and from the local ham radio team, as well as chowder served by the WHS culinary class.

Nice video of the top 5-milers at 2 miles in

 

Weekly Log 11-Apr to 17-Apr-2016

Monday:  0
Rest day.

Tuesday:  7
Fun run in Woody Hill in the pouring rain.

Wednesday:  7
 Needham street run.

Thursday:  6
First run in Vazee Pace.  After five versions of 890 shoes, New Balance has dropped them.  Their replacement is noted as Vazee Pace, but it seems a very different shoe to me.  No nobs on the bottom of shoe, closer to a racing flat.  Lightweight at 7.5 ounces, I'll have to figure out soon whether they will work me for me in the marathon distance or not, as I'm getting some helpful, but quite varied feedback.

Friday:  8
Richmond and Hopkinton rolling hills on super quiet country roads.  Started and ended at Arcadia Y as I had a Back Road Ramble committee meeting there in the morning, so I figured I'd get there an hour early, run different roads, shower, and be ready for the meeting.  It turned out I really liked this run!  It was challenging but idyllic.

Running past the dam at Wyoming Pond was just a bonus!


Saturday:  7
 Breezy local run from my house with Tommy.

Sunday:  5
 Clamdigger 5-Mile race.  Write-up to follow.

Weekly mileage:
Run:  40

Weekly synopsis:  Not a very good running week.  Mileage was lower than intended, with no long runs due to racing.  Highlight was the country roads run in Richmond and Hopkinton.

Weekly Log 4-Apr to 10-Apr-2016: Wild Weather Week

Monday:  5
Snow flurries on local road run.  Snow flurries in April?

Tuesday:  6
Windy, fastish road run at 6:49 pace.

Wednesday:  5
Trail run in about 6 inches of snow in April!!  Slow going, but so much fun.  Why couldn't I have had this back in winter?

Not only was it snowy,
but uncharacteristically cold
for April

People had even cross-
country skied the trails!
April, eh?

Just beautiful out in the woods

Thursday:  0
The day got away from me.

Friday:  5
Downpour.  Let's head for the trails!  Lunch run in the soaked, muddy, trails of Woody Hill, including the swollen banks of the Woody Hill Pond that made the trail calf-deep in places.  Fun!


Saturday:  19
Coastal long run with Tommy.  Really glad he invited me on this run.  It was just the confidence builder I needed, as we ran the first 14 miles sub-7 pace winding down to 6:11 pace before a short water break in Weekapaug that he had set up.  Super happy with this.

Sunday:  11
First time ever running in Carolina "North".  Matthew and I had only planned to run about 8, but we got a little lost and figured out after a while that the road we had exited onto was not Pine Hill Road as intended, but Switch Road.  It's all good.  Fun run; legs still sore from yesterday.

Weekly mileage:
Run:  51

Weekly synopsis:
The mileage this week is much closer to my expectations.  The snow and rain funs were fun.  Saturday's long run with Tommy was a needed confidence booster.

Weekly Log 28-Mar to 3-Apr-2016: Deficient

Not a good week at all.  Avoided writing this at all, but let's realize it for what it is, and move on:

Monday:  0
My normal rest day.

Tuesday:  7
First ever New Haven run.  In New Haven for the day only on business, I was treated to a run at lunchtime.  I figured this would be flat city running, which it was for a few blocks, but then it became a hilly (300' climb) winding road up to a park.  Pushed the pace pretty good with ~7:15 uphill and ~6:30 down.

Wednesday:  9
On business in Wellesley, MA, as I am most Wednesdays.  Blue Heron Trail loop.  One of my favorites, except the busy road section just over the Boston city line.  Fortunately that portion is short and most of this run is single-track through the woods and marshes.

Thursday:  0
Why zero on a Thursday?  Uncharacteristically very bad day at work.  I was Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.  Angry, upset, came home, and sulked.  This too shall pass.

Friday:  7
Very foggy April Fool's trail run at Bradford Preserve.


Saturday:  7
Had intended 14-16, overslept, got out there on roads in Misquamicut to Avondale in yet another foggy, rainy day, and just lost interest.  Not good.

Sunday:  0
Another "had intended", but this was one had a legitimate excuse.  The ground is snow-covered, and the bizarre April snow is coming down at a good clip.  Matthew and I are dressed to run and just about ready to drive for a trail run in Carolina north, when the phone rings ...

It's the phone call that every parent dreads:  "Dad, I've been in an accident.  Can you come?"  Mark was fine physically, but shaken up a bit mentally.  He can't tell either 911 or me where he physically is, and even with 911 tracking GPS off his cell phone, the car is so far down an embankment (off Route 95 in Exeter) that it takes the State Police a number of passes and half an hour before they find him.  The car had spun out of control in the snow covered highway and left the roadway.  Scary!  Between then and the next day when we see him again, the tow-truck driver/ auto shop owner will have towed vehicles from an additional ELEVEN snow-related accidents!  The car is totaled (it doesn't take much for an 11-year old car valued at about $2,500), I've missed another day of running, but Mark is fine and that puts it all in perspective about what really matters.  Hopefully I'll remember that the next time I'm whining about whatever insignificant temporary inconvenience du jour that I'm going through next.

Weekly mileage:
Run:  31

Weekly synopsis:
Yes, pretty pathetic mileage during marathon training.  The best laid plans of mice and men.  Life goes on.  Life is short.  Move forward.

Weekly Log 21-Mar to 27-Mar-2016: Return to High Mileage

I read an online article this week about the nine things that tick off runners the most.  The two below, while not serious enough to boil my blood (like drivers texting or on phones, and not paying attention to runners, or unleashed dogs barking at me), were ones I could well relate to:

Not that I'm on the track often, but I find more often than not, when I go to the track at Needham,
there are people walking in Lane 1, sometimes two abreast talking.  Can't they use any of the other SEVEN lanes?
I certainly do when recovering, warming up, or cooling down.

I like this differentiation.
Yeah, why is it that I feel offended when someone calls me the dreaded J-Word?   When a colleague recently and
innocuously said she saw me out jogging, another colleague stepped in and said, "Jeff doesn't jog;
he runs" before I could get my feathers all ruffled up.

Monday:  0

Tuesday:  6
Went to Barn Island for my lunch break.  I can think of worse things to do.  So neat that it's even possible to get away for a trail run at lunch, shower, and come back to work.  Certainly was not possible while working in downtown Boston.

Wednesday:  10
AM:  5 miles easy around Winnapaug pre-work.
Noon:  5 miles.  Continuing my lunchtime trail theme, went over to Burlingame Campground to help me decide whether or not to run Brrr-lingame race this coming Saturday.  Had so much fun running the single-track that I'm in!  Not for a race so much as to make it part of a needed long run. 

While likely no edition of this race will ever be as exciting as the 2013 Snowy Sufferfest version, I do enjoy getting out there for the trail race every year.

Thursday:  10
AM:  5 miles, pushing the local hills in No Bottom Pond and Chin Hill neighborhoods.
PM:  5 miles in Bradford Preserve and Woody Hill, inspecting the soon to be cleared WHS XC course.

Friday:  8
Mystic run in the rain with Matthew.  Ran a counter-clockwise loop on both Stonington and Groton sides of the river, then some segment hunting on hills that Matthew found. (He took the CRs, but I placed decently.)


Saturday:  22!
Started out with a solo run on Li'l Rhody course.  Finished that run and picked up my Brrr-lingame race bib just in time to go out for a warm-up on the trails with Jonny, Muddy, and Jackman.  Their warm-up was intentionally short and I continued on to get 11 miles just before the start of the race.

75 runners toed the line for the start; 50 in the 10-miler and 25 in the 5-miler.  Lined up about 3 rows back and after the run across the field, found myself in about 20th position.  After 1/2 mile or so, it was just Leslie O'Dell, a NH runner I had just sort of met on the warm-up, and me.  Went past Colburn on the ridge, who said the lead pack was just ahead, but I never anyone ahead of me or behind (except Leslie right behind me).  I felt good on the first loop, but was really getting winded on the 2nd loop.  The only silver lining is that crossing the start/finish line to start the 2nd loop, I didn't have the usual mental block of having to start another loop, like I do when I am racing it.  The hills, ridges, and bogbridges just wore me out by the time we re-entered the campground, as I was on Mile 19.  Leslie came up to take the lead and I welcomed her on, saying how strong she looked.  The race ended, I somehow came in 11th and won my age group, but I had another 1+ mile to get to my long run goal of 22 miles.  Oh, that was tough, even at a snail's crawl.  So happy to finish.  Caught up fellow WTAC'ers post run, including Elise with a grapefruit-size swollen ankle, Crutch, Paul, Denise, CarolAnn, and Beth.

Sunday:  8
Easter Sunday.  Matthew wanted to run Great Swamp, so off we went to Kingston.  Fortunately, this was primarily dirt roads because that was enough for my warn out legs to endure.  Had never been down to the hangar on the shores of Worden's Pond, so that was interesting.

Weekly mileage:
Run:  65

Weekly synopsis:
 After two consecutive weeks of less than desired mileage, was really happy with this high-mileage week.  I am cognizant that "high-mileage" is quite subjective (Muddy would probably be disappointed), but this was a very good week for me.  I think running 65 miles on roads would be mentally tough for me, but breaking it up with different terrains and different locales kept it interesting.

Weekly Log 14-Mar to 20-Mar-2016: Farewell to the Winter that Wasn't

Winter 2015/16 has come to an end.  Unfortunately, this one was personally disappointing as it was characterized by well above average temperatures and save for a single week, almost no snow.

• Trail races in snow:  0
• Snow-shoeing:  0
• Cross-country skiing:  0
• Snowy sufferfests:  1 romp in Woody Hill in foot-deep snow

Monday:  0

Tuesday:  5
Damp late afternoon run through Weekapaug.

Wednesday:  3
Plotting course for Wahaneeta Trail 5K.  Came out to 2.9 miles on GPS.  Assuming approval on April 1, I'll revisit with a measuring wheel and then tweak as needed.


Not depicted well here, but there will be a few hills to keep it interesting.
Nothing major, max ascent about 40' and descent about 70'.

 

Thursday:  5
700' of elevation gain in Bartlett, NH, including 375' on a steep hill in the first mile.  Huffin' and puffin'.

The run was followed up by 15.2 miles of downhill skiing,
under beautiful sunny skies.
Mt. Washington is the snow-covered peak in center.

Friday:  6
Bartlett, NH.  A bit of everything from snow and ice-covered trails to asphalt to dirt roads to mud.  All on rubbery legs.

14.9 miles of skiing today.
End of the ski season brought great bargains in not only lift ticket
prices, but also scored a 2-bedroom ski-in/ski-out condo pretty cheap.
(Mark in black in front of the condo unit we stayed.)

Saturday:  7
Back home.  Ran in Woody Hill.  Legs still trashed.  No long run this weekend.

Sunday:  9
Matthew picked the trails:  technical trails Long / Ell / Ashville Pond and back, and then up to and around Hidden Lake.   Crossing the dirt road before Hidden Lake, a guy went by on an ATV, and Matthew remarked that he looked like he just murdered someone.  He did look pretty scary and unfriendly indeed.  Hope he didn't think he same of us.

Matthew scrambling up the toughest ascent of the day.
I remember running here with Crutch and Beth a couple years back.

 

Weekly mileage:
Run:  35

Weekly synopsis:
Mileage fell apart here.  What should have been a mileage week well into the high 50s didn't come close.  Not sure if there's any complementary cross-training value from downhill skiing, but that was the price of skiing two full days that I'm willing to accept.  No excuses next week!