August 2024: Elevation! And Ireland!

Running stats:

Miles run:  281.2

Elevation gain:  24,423'

Weekly miles (for weeks ended in month):  62, 47, 58, 56

Consistent mileage, but a really big increase in elevation.
Probably one of my biggest elevation months.
Mostly attributed to two mountain runs in Ireland and one in NH.

Primary running surfaces:  Roads (122), trails (122 miles)  Not a typo!  Evenly split.

Primary running locations:  Charlestown (76 miles), then Exeter (37) 

Other disciplines:

• Walk / hike:  25 miles

Quick synopsis:

• Only one long run.
• But three mountain runs.
• And ran in six different states and also Ireland for the first time.
• Three races:  mixed bag.

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Interesting runs:

• Soft Surface Recovery, Exeter, August 5.  6 miles.  Actually, it wasn't the run that was especially interesting, but rather the fine specimen we saw on our post-run swim:

  

  Beautiful 5-foot long Northern Watersnake sunning itself
  as we swam in the Wood River next to it.

  
  
• Hickory Knob State Park, McCormick County, South Carolina, August 9.  6 miles.  Hot as hell 92°F run, but it was mostly shaded and definitely an interesting run on the Lakeside Trail.  Went slow and easy and "rewarded" myself with a shake and ice cream at the local ice cream store!

  

  View along my run.  I definitely don't see this kind of 
  view back home.

  
  
• So Glad to be Back in the North!, Hagerstown, Maryland, August 12.  11 miles.  After very hot runs in South Carolina and Georgia, it was so refreshing to go for a 58°F run.  Also exceeded my expectations with a lot of greenery, including paths through city parks.
  
  
  
• Carrauntoohil, County Kerry, Ireland, August 15.  10 miles, 3,500' elevation gain.  High point of Republic of Ireland.  I could easily list every run I took on this Ireland vacation, but I've already written a detailed blog post on the Ireland trip, so I'll just hit the top three memorable/interesting to me.

  

  Again, there are many more pics on my Ireland trip blog,
  but this view from the top was pretty cool!

  
  
• Slieve Donard, County Down, Northern Ireland, UK, August 19.  6 miles, 2,746' elevation gain.  High point of Northern Ireland.  Really dismal weather.

At the summit.  Rain and gale force winds.  When not behind
the Mourne Wall, it was very difficult for me to stand up straight.

• Mount Monadnock, Dublin, New Hampshire, August 22.  10 miles, 2,575' elevation gain.  Day trip with a touch technical climb.  With Matthew before he returned to the left coast.

  

  Cool pic running through the rocks and mist approaching the summit

  
  

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Races:

Run 4 Kerri 4M (August 4):

South Kingstown, RI

Got really weak and dizzy on this one, but I succeeded in taking down the 21-year-old M60 Course Record!

Besides taking down the AG CR, after I recuperated,
the highlight was the return of the fire hose shower!

Race report here

Bottone Mile (August 7):

Charlestown, RI

Fun event at our all new venue at Ninigret Park!  Everything went really well, including the post-race barbeque.  So nice to have a traffic-free course with zero 90° turns.  As far as my own race, not the best but about what I expected.  Disappointing to see so many kick past me at the finish.  Final result 5:23.

Full results here

Run the Ridge 10K (August 17):

County Wicklow, Ireland

Fun destination race.  Very club oriented in Ireland.  I was off to a slow start up to the ridge, but caught many on the downhill return.  1st overall in M60+.  (Actually 1st M50+ also)

Race report here

(then scroll down to "Saturday August 17" or search for "Run the Ridge")

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Miscellaneous:

August 17:  Seeing AC/DC live in concert in Dublin!
Simply amazing.

August 18:  Giant's Causeway, Northern Ireland, UK.
Like nothing I've ever seen before.  Doesn't even look natural.
But it is!

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Looking ahead to September:

Four races on the docket:

• New Haven 20K Road Race, New Haven, CT, September 2.  Third year in a row.
• Stavros Memorial 3M Beach Run, Westerly, RI, September 7.  22nd year in a row!  And one of my favorites!
• IGT Downtown 5K, Providence, RI, September 16.  My debut appearance.  Not a huge ran of road 5Ks, but looking forward to this as part of the RI Grand Prix.
• Three Sisters Skyline Half Marathon, Sisters, OR, September 21.  Another destination race!

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Monthly highlight: 

Traveling to, running, vacationing, and seeing AC/DC in Ireland!

Monthly lowlight: 

Perhaps seeing so many kick past me at the end of the Bottone Mile.  But I don't want to mar the great experience and event overall.