Weekly Log 5-Aug to 11-Aug-2019: Canada!

Miscellaneous rambling:

• What is the only town that is in every state in New England?
• What the heck is "poutine"?
• Easy questions, right?  To be answered and elaborated upon within this write-up of our vacation to Canada.
• Brady is now a very well traveled dog.  From Key West to northern Nova Scotia and every single state and province in between, he's covered pretty much the entire Atlantic seaboard.  And that's before his upcoming trek to Texas.

From USA's Ocean State to ...

... Canada's Ocean Playground

I've always wanted to visit Cape Breton Highlands, and this be the year.  In truth, I wanted to combine it with national parks in Newfoundland, especially the famed and amazing looking Gros Morne, but the logistics made it too difficult for a one week trip, as Westerly to Cape Breton is already 14 hours, and Newfoundland a number of hours north of that by ferry.

Very nice rest area on the border between New Brunswick and
Nova Scotia

Monday:  2 hike
Arrived Cape Breton Highlands in the afternoon.  After checking in to our AirBNB rental (entire house with a swimming pool!), and having dinner, we went to the national park visitor center to get brochures and plan out tomorrow's run and hike.  Hiked "Le Buttereau" trail after dinner.

Really cool to have "our own" pool
as part of the rental.  We would be in the cold but refreshing pool
several times each day.

Le Buttereau trail hike

With dramatic cliffs and the famed Cabot Trail in the background

Finished up right at sunset

Tuesday:  5 run, 6 hike
Run:  Skyline Trail, Cape Breton Highlands NP, NS (5 miles, 620')
This is the only trail in the park that does NOT allow dogs and also the most popular, so Matthew and I got up early and covered this before the "crowds" arrived.  Crowds in quotations, as it's all relative, but there aren't really crowds anywhere way up here on Cape Breton Island.

Stunning views along the trail ...

Moose "Exclosure".  Interesting.
There was a science experiment going on inside to study growth rate of
seedlings, and the government didn't want moose to interfere.

Hike:  Acadian Trail (6 miles, 1,273')
Didn't have the same views as the Skyline Trail and unfortunately didn't have a true summit, but did have some nice lookouts.

Breaking for lunch.

Views along the hike.

Wednesday:  2 hike
Hike:  MacIntosh Brook Hike, Cape Breton Highlands NP, NS  (2 miles, 132')
More of a nice walk in the woods than a hike.  This was our final morning on Cape Breton Island before heading south back into New Brunswick.  I could definitely have stayed another day or two here.

Small, but nice falls

Is that a dog or a goat?
Surprised how Brady climbed rocks with ease.

Took off my shoes and socks to walk in the water.  Frigid!

The gang is all here.

Thursday:  6 run, 6 hike
Run:  White Rock Recreational Area, Hillsborough, NB (6 miles, 627')
Although we got ourselves twisted and headed in the wrong direction once, the trails were well marked, had occasional on-trail maps with "You are here" markers, and generally easy to follow.  There was quite a mix of terrain and trail styles.

Wide dirt "roads" with a lot of gypsum (the white mineral you see here)

... plus plenty of single-track with fun bumps,
twists, and occasionally humorous signs.

Post run:  Really cool cafe in Hillsborough, NB

Delicious breakfast, with fresh fruit and great coffee
As you can see, pet-friendly
(In fact, the waitress said she also had a dog named Brady)

Hike:  Hopewell Rocks (2 miles, 279')

Pretty cool view showing the Hopewell Rocks at low tide
(The downside, as you can also see, is way too many people)

Hike: Dickson Falls (1 mile, 203')
The first of three short hikes in Fundy National Park, NB.

I can't believe Mark successfully crossed the river on this log.
Brady looked at him and then just waded across.

... and this be "poutine".  I had some great meals in Canada,
including a lot of  local seafood.
Between hikes today, we had a late lunch just outside of Fundy NP.  My lunch
was crab cakes, a blueberry poppyseed salad, and seafood chowder, while Mark's was or included poutine.
As far as I can tell, it's french fries smothered with gravy.  Whatever
works, I guess.  Variety is the spice of life.

Hike:  Caribou Plains Trail (2 miles, 237')

Cool boardwalks and bogs

Brady found a stick of his liking ...

... and he was not letting go!

Hike:  Herring Cove Beach Trail (1 mile, 211')

Herring Cove Beach
I loved it here!  Practically deserted.

Beautiful area.  Frigid water, although Brady didn't seem to mind.

Three boys frolicking on rocks.  Note one of the three is wearing socks and shoes ...

but the tide came in quick, and now Mark is stuck on way back,
as the rocks he walked on are now underwater, he's wearing a shirt, shoes, and socks,
and those are sheer rock cliffs
on his left.  Yes, he ended up in the drink.  I guess that's one way to
learn about tides!

I think Brady could've stayed in the water all day.

Back at the cottage we rented, at the end of a long day.

Friday:  5 hike

We crossed back into the US today, which also meant as we crossed the border we regained service and the texts and voice mails for the week came in.  One voicemail of particular interest:  I FINALLY got an appointment with a rheumatologist, for late September.  One month to secure an appointment, and then 1.5 months for the first available slot.  A broken health care system.

(Place where we ate lunch in Bar Harbor)
I had to look this word up (meaning: to throw someone out a window!)
I wonder if it's from the German "fenster"
It apparently isn't spelled exactly correctly ...

... but looks nearly perfect as compared to this gem in
Pawcatuck, CT.  "Scorlership"?  "Detils"?  "Manger"?

Hike:  Thunder Hole, Acadia National Park, ME (1 mile)
More of a walk hopping on the rocks with the four boys (Mark, Matthew, Brady, me).  Fun time of course, as who doesn't like to jump on rocks?!

Hike:  Gorham Mountain (2 miles, 692')
Awesome ocean views on this hike, near the Precipice Trail.

Took a more technical trail down on return.

Yep, the trail goes right through there!

Hike:  Acadia Mountain  (1.5 miles, 608')
Short but fairly steep hike, in the heat.  82 degrees.  Followed this one up with a swim at Echo Lake.

Saturday:  5 run, 0.1 swim

Final day of vacation.  😢 Not that I have to go back to work for another two days, but I have certainly enjoyed my coastal vacation in Atlantic Canada and Maine.

Run:  Beech Hill Preserve, Rockport, ME (5 miles, 817')
Matthew picked our run venue today.  Just a 9-mile drive from where we were staying in Warren (which is, by the way, the only town that is in every state in New England).  The alarm went off at 7am (I've really morphed away from the early morning person I used to be) and the three of us (including the black dog) were off.  I really hadn't researched this like Matthew had, so I was surprised by the continued climb.  Covering the full set of trails was just about 3 miles, at which point Matthew dropped off with some discomfort, and Brady and I went back out to make five.

Beautiful views from the summit

Brady took a well-deserved rest

Post-run, back at the farm house we rented,
it included a private swimming/canoe/picnic area, and
we availed ourselves of it.  Brady, the black lab, was
immediately in the water, and even swam with Matthew and
I out to the raft (10 o'clock in photo above) and back.

Sunday:  5 run, 2 walk
AM:  Stonington XC course preview, with Brady.  Not terrible, but not great either.  We are still 1.5 weeks out, but the course will need some weed-whacking plus chainsaws in two places.  Hopefully the Town of Stonington can get out there with DPW personnel and get this taken care of.

PM:  Walk with Brady at Ninigret, while Matthew ran.  Walked the first mile or so, but after that was just getting eaten alive by mosquitoes, so it was time to pick it up to a jog for the finish.

Sunset at Ninigret

Weekly mileage:  21 run, 23 hike/walk


Weekly synopsis:  All is good!  Any week that you're on vacation has to be good.  And it was!  In addition, this is the highest mileage running week (don't laugh; I know 21 is on its own embarrassing) that I've had since late May, and first week where I've done exercise all seven days also since late May.

Weekly highlight:  Crossing Cape Breton Highlands National Park off my bucket list and visiting a beautiful spot at the same time.

Weekly lowlight:  Just the end of vacation.

Canada / Maine trip reflections:

Pros:

• Visited a new area (always a plus for me), and a scenic one at that:  Cape Breton Island and Cape Breton Highlands National Park
• Lack of traffic:  In NB and NS, the highways are just clear sailing, whereas heading north, the traffic was backed up on I-95 all the way into southern ME.
• Gastronomy:  great local seafood in both provinces.  The seafood chowders were especially good everywhere we went.
• More advanced and secure credit card charging:  I don’t know if it’s Canadian privacy law or just custom, but never did I once physically turn over my credit card.  Even at outdoor restaurants, the staff brings over a portable payment device which they hand to you and you process it yourself.
• Acadia National Park variety.  Acadia has the most diverse hikes and scenic views of any of the three national parks we visited.

Cons:

• The amount of driving.  It's basically a 14-hour drive from Westerly to Cape Breton Highlands National Park.  It wasn't so much the driving itself that was tedious, as we broke it up (and thank you to Matthew for spelling me on sections in Canada), but rather the huge opportunity costs of not being able to spend more time in local spots.  I definitely would have enjoyed an additional day in Cape Breton Highlands, as there were sections of the park we didn't see.
• Acadia popularity.  The cost of the beauty and attraction of Acadia is that so many people visit the park, and the roads and limited parking spots just get totally jammed.

Weekly Log 29-Jul to 4-Aug-2019: A Step in the Right Direction?

Monday:  0 run, 1 walk
Much better than yesterday.  Night and day getting out of bed.  Shoulders in pain all day, and limped most of the day, but I was up and moving.  The glass is half full.  No running, but Brady took Jana and I out for an evening neighborhood walk.  Yay!

Back in Black:
black dog in a black car

What's wrong with this mirror?  (Other than it's no longer attached to a car)
I was initially ticked with Mark when he came home late one night last week with the Volvo mirror busted
in above pic, with glass gone and components behind the mirror broken and gone.
Apparently he didn't even know it and it got hit while he was parked.
I was quoted $500 to professionally replace it.
---------
Since I no longer run, I find other senses of accomplishment.  In this case
I bought a used mirror for $130 off eBay, and installed it tonight.  Despite having to take
the door apart to make the electrical connections, it worked!

Tuesday:  0 run, 1 walk

AM:  7th doctor visit on my current health ailment.  My medication runs out next week, and since I'm no closer to getting a rheumatologist appointment and my PCP previously indicated he wouldn't renew the prescription, I was ready for a fight.  Luckily, there wasn't any and this time my PCP was very agreeable.  Fortunately I was not having a good morning physically as I came in limping and unable to move my right arm as well.  Why fortunately?  Because he can see how I really am suffering.  The doc said I'm not looking very stable (uh, yeah, that's what I've been telling you for two months now).

He now agrees with my orthopedic doc that Polymyalgia Rheumatica ("PMR") is the most likely diagnosis, and was shocked that I still haven't been able to get the rheumatology appointment despite repeated calls.  He had his office manager call, and when she got the same results as me (none), he was clearly upset with the broken process.  Good!  He issued two more referrals, one in Newport, and one in Pawtucket, and I'll go to whichever comes up first.  Meanwhile, he gave me a steroid injection (the kind legal in running, not anabolic steroids) to fight the inflammation quickly, and not only gave me another prescription of Prednisone, but based on some of my morning setbacks, doubled my dosage from 5mg to 10mg each morning.  Based on what I have read on PMR case studies and reputable medical websites, all of those steps sound correct.  Yay!

Doubling my daily drug dosage quickly turned out to be a godsend.

Nighttime neighborhood walk redux with Brady and Jana.  No limping tonight!!

Wednesday:  3
Fun Run week #9.  Last Fun Run of the year for me.  I ran the first mile with Chris, who humored me by a pedestrian pace for him of 6:15, while I gasped and wheezed.  He picked it up after Mile 1, and I slowed it down to a more manageable pace of high 6s for the next two miles.

Thursday:  0 run, 1 walk

Day 3 on the double drug dosage:  It's a miracle!  I can get out of bed without any issue,
and I can walk without any limping!
(No, I can't quite walk on water yet, but based on my progress,
I'm pretty sure that's next.)

Friday:  2
Evening run with Brady at Wahaneeta.  The Wahaneeta 5K is coming up in two weeks now, and as I'll be away all next week, went here for an assessment on what's needed.  Fortunately, the trails are really in good shape and could pass without any maintenance, but I'll probably try to do some minor trimming on the perimeter trail pre-race.

Saturday:  0
Long drive from Westerly to St John, New Brunswick, arriving in the evening.

Sunday:  4 run, 1 walk
AM:  Rockwood Park, St. John, NB.
Trail run with Matthew and Brady.  That's right - a MORNING run!  Hallelujah!!  Haven't been able to walk right in the mornings in a while, never mind run.  Very clean park with manicured trails around lakes and through the woods.

Post-run, back at the hotel, Matthew and I played on the waterslide before breakfast.
I thought it would be kind of a lame "kiddy slide", but it was actually pretty neat
and you got going reasonably fast in the spiral loops (there was one spiral above this that
you can't see in pic due to ceiling in the way) before being jettisoned into the pool.

PM:  Halifax, NS

York Redoubt National Historic Site
Not as impressive as it looks here

The color of the water doesn't look like Nova Scotia, right?

If I had half of his energy and speed ...

Crystal Crescent Beach Provincial Park:
Now this place was both scenic and fun!  If you're ever in the Halifax
area, I highly recommend.

Weekly mileage:  10 run, 4 walk

Weekly synopsis:  Despite the paltry numbers above, this was a great week for me!  While my previous Prednisone dosage was giving me some relief in the afternoon and evening, it clearly wasn't enough as my mornings were downright miserable to the point that I couldn't physically exercise at all and some mornings had physical issues getting out of bed.  With the new dosage, this is a game changer with just some minor morning shoulder pain and otherwise all is good.  Optimism!

Weekly highlight:  In any normal healthy week, it would clearly be the fun romping on Crystal Crescent Beach (full disclosure:  I wimped out and didn't swim in the frigid water like Matthew and Brady did).  However, the highlight for me was the immediate game-changer in my mobility and pain levels that the double drug dosage is providing me, especially just at the start of our family vacation.

Weekly lowlight:  Hmm.  It really was a good week.  I would say the two mornings of the week before the new dosage kicked in, but I really want to focus on the positive, of which there is much.

Blessing of the Fleet XVII

Narragansett, RI
Friday, July 26, 2019

Was originally going to meld this into my weekly log, as I knew it would be a slow race for me and this has certainly been a down summer for me for sure.  However, I'm trying to keep the glass half full and there were enough interesting facets of my race to merit its own post.

I signed up for this race with about as much enthusiasm as bantered about by some of my WTAC peers in group e-mails:

• “being a fat pig, I am not running”
• “I might even do something stupid like run it”
• “If this elderly broken down guy can finish it...”
• “It will be an ugly, shambling effort”
• “I will hate myself for doing it on Rte 108.  Death march to the finish.  Disappointing finishing time.”

Race day morning, friend Mike B and past Blessing runner reached out to me to offer good luck and some advice to take it easy and just have fun.  I was limping and having some trouble with stairs as he reached out to me, but was optimistic the daily low dose of Prednisone would kick in and limber me up for the afternoon and early evening as it has.

Indeed, by the time we left about 4:45pm (race start 6pm), the body was feeling looser.  Still, with my setbacks and inconsistencies running recently, when Jana asked in what time did I think I would cross the line, I said if I'm doing really really well out there, maybe 1:10, but otherwise more likely between 1:10 and 1:30.  (For reference, my median time over the past 5 years was 1:02:33.)

Race start:  After last year's slow time due to nerve injury, this was the first year in many that I was not awarded one of the coveted low-number two-digit bibs that allows you to enter the fast runner starting corral up front.  Accordingly, it took me twelve minutes after race start to get to the starting line.

The moron:  While it is true that I didn't cross the start line until 12 minutes after race start, and it's also true that I lost my low-number bib, that doesn't really explain why it took me a full 12 minutes (11:40 to be exact) to reach the start.  In fact, based on the chart below, there is a reasonable assumption that the starting line queue dissipated within the first three minutes:

Given my somewhat scientific assumption that the queue fully dissipated within three minutes
after the starting gun, it appears that I was in good company of a total
of 24 morons that arrived late to the race.
Not that I should take solace in that.

So what happened?  Well, the moron got all the way to SK (25 minutes from home, 5 minutes more to drive to race start) before realizing that his bib was still at home.  Six days earlier, I had put it on top of my bureau so I would remember to bring it.  Yeah, that worked out well.  Fortunately, Jana (my driver on the day and fervent supporter) took it all in good stride to turn around and drive back to Westerly, and then back again.  So Jana got as close as she could to the starting line, and when she got stuck in traffic at 6:10pm, I got out and ran to the start.  So much for a warm-up.  I got to the starting line, and the starting mats were already picked up as the road was now open to traffic.  However, the mats were on the side of the road and a timing official told me to make sure to run over the last mat and that would pick up my time.  Done!  He yelled me to confirm he got my start time.

The chase:  So for the next 1.5 miles I ran in the breakdown lane alongside backed up traffic spewing emissions.  A fair penalty.  I even waved to Jana as I re-passed her sitting in traffic.  Each time I came up on and passed another runner, I was thinking this person is the back of the pack.  Nope; just another late starting moron like me.

Easier running:  Finally, 1.5 miles in, on Ocean Road, I caught the trailing police cruiser, with his lights flashing.  THIS was finally the back of the pack, and once I passed the cruiser, it was a lot easier sailing, as ahead of him the road was closed and I was no longer punished for my stupidity by having to run in the breakdown lane while sucking down exhaust.

Unique experience:  Once I was past the cruiser, the running became fun again.  I was passing people left and right and I saw a few people that I knew running and made it a point to wave and say hi to them.  It's not like it really mattered what my finishing time would be, but rather only that I finished.  A few asked, "What are you doing way back here?", as did a state cop directing traffic at the intersection turning onto Route 108.

Proud uncle:  At about Mile 5, I spied my brother Kurt and his 9-year old daughter Lucy running.  (There was one other 9-year old running in the race, no 10-year olds.)  I asked Lucy to conserve her energy and not to talk to me while I talked to Kurt for a while.  Lucy was looking good, and after a 1/4 mile or so, I continued on and stopped bugging them.  Since my pace was about 7:30 or so, even in my lack of running and diseased condition, this still felt relatively easy for me and kind of "fun" instead of the usual hating running on Route 108.

Finishing:  The next few miles were really a blur.  Occasionally I would hear my name, but never really could tell who it was that was calling.  At about Mile 8, on South Pier Road, I heard some very motivating music from one of the runners I was passing, but I couldn't tell which one, so I just yelled out, "Keep the AC/DC coming!".  The retort back to me was, "You want some Dirty Deeds?!".  Oh, yeah!  I had fun along the way pointing at young children with super-soaker squirt guns and hoses and asking them to douse me.  They seemed to enjoy that as well.  As I turned the corner onto Kingstown Road at the Mile 9 marker, I picked it up and finished the final mile in sub-7.

Finishing up.

Final results:  1:14:32 (chip time), 1:26:12 (gun time), pace 7:27.  Full results here.

Apres-race:  I passed literally more than thousand runners (since I started behind the back-of-the-packers, and finished 251st out of 2,148.  That was fun and motivating.  Only one person passed me the whole time; a 20-something that all of a sudden sprinted at the end.  I felt really good!  Until I stopped.  And then everything stiffened up quickly.  We waited (not long) for Kurt and Lucy to finish, and then went to Lucy's grandparents (Kurt's in-laws) for an ice-cream celebration.  Leaving their house, I tried not to make a scene, as today was about Lucy, not me, but unfortunately, I was hobbling in pain.

I'm not sure what's with the goofy face,
but I'm happy I'm done

And here's my hero:  my 9-year old niece Lucy,
having finished 10 miles

Celebrating Lucy's victory
(I'm behind my Mom and between Lucy's parents)

Unfortunately, I did not catch up with any of my WTAC brethren, as they were all home, showered, had dinner, and were in bed fast asleep by the time I crossed the finish line.  Oh well.  This was my longest run since mid-May, before my PMR symptoms started.  How much was due to the PMR and how due to lack of running and training?  I guess I'll never know.  But the glass is half-full, and I'm proud to have finished my 17th consecutive Blessing of the Fleet 10-Mile Road Race.  My Mom and her friend Bob were at the finish line, and Bob asked me if I would try to keep running the race to make it 20 years in a row.  In fact, I hope to go for as long as I can, but given my current unknown recovery and treatment, yes, I'll say 20 years is a good goal for now.