Weekly Log 11-Jul to 17-Jul-2022: Iceland!

Monday:  6

Westerly, RI.  Finalized 2022 Pumpkins long course with Matt and Nick.  This was a good collaborative effort.  In recognition that the old 8K course can not be run anytime in foreseeable future, if at all, we sought a replacement course.  This incorporates two twisty MTB trails, which some runners will like and some will hate.  10K distance.  1 DFK.

Tuesday:  7

Exeter, RI.  Had originally planned an early run and swim with T5K, but I needed my "beauty sleep" and slept in until 7:30 instead.  Ran late afternoon with Matthew and Brady at Arcadia.  Even though we ran roads (dirt roads), the deerflies were after us from the get-go.  Such annoying creatures.  We stopped at Mile 3 and Mile 6 to let Brady drink from rivers, and he soaked himself for a while.  I think the heat (upper 70s) was a little much for him, so while Matthew continued on for 9 miles, I took Brady straight back to finish the run and both of us soaked in the Breakheart Brook.  5 DFKs.

Wednesday:  7

AM:  Charlestown, RI.  3-mile abbreviated Dash & Splash with Brady.  Mostly dirt roads at Burlingame with a short swim and soak post-run at Watchaug Pond.  Felt great.

PM:  Westerly, RI.  Fun Run week #7, including 1 mile warm-up.  I have a bad reputation of saying I will run "easy" but then doing the opposite.  Made sure to start in about the 3rd row and not follow anyone out, as I have an ultramarathon in just three days.  For once, I succeeded.  21:13

Thursday:  3

Westerly, RI.  Pre-flight short and easy run from the house with Brady at the ungodly hour of 4:30am, as this would be my only window for running today.  He must've have been wondering what the heck was going on and had I lost my marbles.  I would've let him sleep, but he got up right away when my alarm went off and followed me.  It was dark but the moon was out, so I could see reasonably even with the headlamp switched off (except for on the trails at Champlin).  Mid-run at Winnapaug Farm Preserve, he bolted to chase something across the fields.  I could see the silhouette of something about his size sprinting away from him, but I couldn't tell in the distance if it was a deer or coyote.

Our train to Boston ended up being about two hours late!
Fortunately, we had plenty of buffer, and headed to The Bakery for a pleasant breakfast
and coffee to kill time.

Our Icelandair flight from Boston to Keflavik suffered a similar fate to our Amtrak train and was also late, probably about an hour.  After a 45-minute bus ride from Keflavik Airport to Reykjavik (where we're staying), it was after Midnight when we arrived, just as the sun was setting!

Friday:  5

Reykjavik, Iceland.  Got up about 8am and went out for an easy solo run.  I had downloaded one of the suggested routes on Strava, but then when I got out there, I found it would be crossing a lot of roads whereas I could see paved walking/biking paths right near our hotel that went through parks and athletics fields and botanical gardens down towards the water, so I abandoned my route and just made it up as I went along.  I occasionally stopped and checked Google Maps so I wouldn't get lost or be out there too long, and it all worked fine.

Paths inside the botanical gardens.
Iceland is one of the cleanest countries in the world.

I love well marked signs like this.

Great views along the path!

Reminds me that tomorrow we head to the mountains!

Saturday:  34

Laugavegur 55K Ultra Marathon!  Write-up coming soon.

Sunday:  3 hike, 5 run

Þórsmörk, Iceland.  We stayed at the very remote Volcano Huts at the race finish and terminus of the Laugavegur Trail.  The bus back to Reykjavik wasn't until 4pm, so at first we all wondered what we would do all day, especially as we had to check out by 10am.  But it all worked out well, as we had a nice buffet breakfast, and Matthew went off for a longer run while Jana and I went for a hike, and there was a designated place in a separate "hut" where we could drop off our luggage.  

Just like at home, it was required to take off all shoes
before entering the hut.  Makes sense to me, and keeps
the place cleaner.

Hike:  My legs were feeling up to it, so we went for a 3-mile, 1.5 hour hike.  There were some decent climbs, but only about 800' total elevation gain, so manageable for me.

Today we would be following the blue trail.

To Langidalur Hut, before returning to Husadalur.

Photos don't do this landscape justice.  Just beautiful.

Run:  I was looking to run slow and flat, and everything came together.  While there were mountains all around me, there was one and only one road around, the dirt road and in and out of here.  Only specialty highlands buses and super jeeps could operate on the road due to the swift and rocky river crossings, so there was virtually zero traffic.  Perfect.  I ran an average 8:40 pace, and while the legs are certainly sore, it felt surprisingly decent overall for a recovery run one day post-ultra.

Weekly mileage:  68 run, 6 hike/walk

Weekly synopsis:  Highest mileage week in quite a while, obviously with the largest chunk coming from Laugavegur Ultra Marathon.  The other days featured low and easy mileage, which obviously was for the ultra itself.  

Weekly highlight:  Laugavegur Ultra Marathon!

Weekly lowlight:  Perhaps the 4:30am run at home.  More power to those really early morning runners.  Clearly I am not one of them, as I like my sleep.

Weekly Log 4-Jul to 10-Jul-2022: Retirement!

First week of retirement!  It's what we all look forward to, that culmination of working year after year for most of our adult lives.  I liked many aspects of my job and had a lot of flexibility, but it was always a means to an end for me.  Life is short and I want to maximize it by spending less time at the office and more time in the great outdoors.

After working full time for the better part of four decades, I retired on July 1.  I had long envisioned retiring around age 60, but then last year when I was going through five months of cancer excision wound treatments, and recalling my own Dad dying from cancer (albeit a very different cancer) at age 58, I decided to hasten my retirement and plan it in earnest.

A quick look back.  Although I aspire to spend less time on the computer, the reality is I will probably always be a statistics geek.  Accordingly, here are a few stats as I look back on my career:

• Number of jobs held (excluding part-time, temporary, etc):  7
• Longest tenure:  13 years at Fidelity Investments
• Shortest tenure:  1 year (company in Norwich, CT went Chapter 7, i.e., bankruptcy and closing)
• Number of states worked in:  14
• Number of countries worked in:  7
• Favorite country I worked in:  UK
• Least favorite country I worked in:  India
• Number of continents worked in:  4

Best office view:
from my office at Fidelity Investments,
looking out at the Boston Harbor

My favorite office:
working from home for the past two years, I upgraded our
wi-fi system and worked outdoors whenever the 
weather allowed

Monday:  6 run, 0.5 swim

4th of July group run at Burlingame, with a lollipop from the picnic area.  Four of us.  Easy pace.

Followed this up with a "group" swim.  Buoy to buoy and back.  When I got out to the buoy 1/4 mile away, I looked up to see Tom and Paul well on their way back.  Hope I didn't inconvenience them with my slow as usual performance, but they didn't seem to care.

Tuesday:  1 walk, 7 run

AM:  Westerly, RI.  Helped clear the Rathbun Cemetery, a historical cemetery on the orange trail at Wahaneeta Preserve.  In places the overgrowth was chest high, and this was a moment of satisfaction for sure.

PM:  Groton, CT.  Midday run with Matthew at Haley/Bluff.  Almost 80°, but got it done.

Wednesday:  9

AM:  Charlestown, RI.  5 miles.  Easy run on Burlingame Trail loop with Brady in the heat (upper 70s), and had a nice soak and swim in the pond post-run.

PM:  Westerly, RI.  4 miles.  Westerly Fun Run #6.  18:36.  T5K asked me how I was planning to run today, and given the 82° start, I told him maybe 6:30 pace in the heat.  Five runners went out fast ahead of our trio (Tommy, Nick, me) and that might have pulled us along.  When we saw the Mile 1 clock at sub-6 (5:50 pace on Strava), I said, "Well, I guess 6:30s are out the window!".  I actually felt pretty good, and continued on at similar pacing for the rest of the run.  Not all out, but certainly not slacking either.  Eventually two of the five fast starters (Tyler, Paul D) came back to us while the other three in the lead (Sebastian, Jake, Randi) sauntered on and all went sub-18.

Coming through Mile 1 split with T5K and Nick
Faster than planned!

Thursday:  8

Westerly, RI.  Road / beach combo from Weekapaug Breachway.  3 on local Weekapaug Roads with shoes, before 5 barefoot.  Plan was 10 miles on the beach, but between low tide not until 8:40am, dogs having to be off the beach by 8am per Westerly Town Ordinance, and my feet not being acclimated to the beach yet, this worked out just fine.  Brady and I finished up with a nice refreshing dip in the ocean, while Matthew soldiered on for two more miles on the road.

Friday:  12

Charlestown, RI.  CCW 10-mile road loop around Watchaug Pond with Matthew.  Since I was coming from a meeting (didn't I retire?), Matthew and I drove separately and used the gap time to run a 2-mile road warm-up first.  It was neither super hot (73°F) nor super humid (66%), but yet I felt hot and especially dehydrated throughout.  Lesson learned that during the summer stashing water or Gatorade/Powerade might not be a bad idea.  The post-run dip in Watchaug Pond was near heavenly.  Water temperature not as cold as the ocean yesterday, but still quite refreshing.  Ponds, lakes, rivers, and oceans in New England are just great in the summer.  Definitely underrated.

Saturday:  7 run, 1 kayak

AM:  Fun WTAC group run at Arcadia on Richmond "95" trails.  Biggest group in a while at 11 runners.  Fell once and bashed my knee bloody, as I tripped over one rock and landed with my knee on another.  What a clod.  At least it didn't hurt or cause any significant injury.  Ran mostly with Nick, but then caught up with others over iced coffee at Alaina's post-run.

PM:  My niece's birthday party was on a pond in SK.  Took out a kayak and gave short rides to my young niece and nephew and Brady, then a solo jaunt around the pond.  I would have gone longer, and only went for 17 minutes, but felt I was already probably being anti-social.  Swam a little bit as well, and then just felt wiped out from my outdoor day of activities.

Sunday:  13

Solo roads run.  6:55 average pace felt very comfortable.  Temps in the mid 60s.  Last MLR before Laugavegur.

Weekly mileage:  62 run, 2 walk, 0.5 swim

Weekly highlight:  Beach run and ocean dip.  Have to do more of these.

Weekly lowlight:  None.  Great running week.

Weekly Log 27-Jun to 3-Jul-2022: From Georgia to New York

Monday:  5 run, 1 walk

AM:  Hapeville, Georgia.  After a very late arrival in Georgia the night before and not getting to our final hotel until 3:30am, I slept in and then needed a de-stressing run.  I won't write a long rant about the unpleasant and unacceptable experience (I already did so in a complaint to Hilton), but I will share a very short and funny quip:

Upon being picked up from our booked and prepaid hotel (but unable to check in) at 2:08am by our Uber driver, Kenneth, and upon him seeing that our destination at this crazy hour was yet another hotel in the city, Kenneth asked us:  "Did you all just get kicked out of that hotel?"  Fair question, actually!  But no.

Anyway, I can't remember why exactly, but Matthew and I went out for separate runs.  I did my best to preselect and load a route to my watch, and it turned out not a bad one for such a busy area right at the Atlanta airport.  The first half-mile was rough on the cement sidewalks (ugh) on a very busy road, but after that I turned onto an airport perimeter road with very light traffic, and then neighborhood roads so quiet I could just run down the middle of the road.  Was it a scenic run?  No, except for seeing a 747 on the side of the road (nostalgia about flying on those in the 2nd floor to Asia back in the 90s) and watching planes take off and land.  But it wasn't bad, either.

PM:  Atlanta, Georgia.  1 mile walking with Mark and Matthew at Centennial Olympic Park (site of the 1996 Summer Olympics), after visiting the Georgia Aquarium.  The aquarium was very nice, albeit just a tad on the crowded side today.  For lunch at the Aquarium, I had my first and last Beyond Meat burger.  Not only did it taste terrible, but these things are much worse for you than a traditional veggie burger like a black bean patty.

Cool fish at the Georgia Aquarium

Centennial Olympic Park

Topped out the day with dinner with my brother Scott and his family near Augusta before renting a moving truck and packing back up Mark's possessions which we had dropped off 2 1/2 weeks prior.

My younger brother Scott, me, and my two sons,
with Scott's son Ward hiding behind Mark

Tuesday:   7

Columbia County, Georgia.  Got an early start (6:30am) with Matthew, before a busy day of driving and moving to get Mark situated in his new apartment in Atlanta.  Having run here just a few weeks before, this time I was very familiar with the parking, trails, and navigation.  Ran 3.5 miles out on the Augusta Canal Path and then turned around.  

Just before my turn-around, I noticed a fast looking kid running towards me.  After my turn-around, I noticed the same kid stopped and re-tying his shoes, so I just went past him.  Shortly thereafter, Matthew was running towards me on his way out, presumably to also turn around shortly.  Soon, I could "feel" someone coming up behind me.  I figured it was the kid and he would go past me.  No, he just hung right behind me.  Progressively picked up the pace the last three miles from 7:05 to 6:23, but whoever it was, they had just latched on to me.  Maybe it's Matthew?  No, he would have said something and would have come up next to me, I'm pretty sure.  This is weird.  Just before finishing, I came to a full stop and took a short break at the Savannah River Rapids.  Turned around and sure enough it was the kid.  I figured he would come up to say hi to me and talk, which I would have welcomed, but no.  He turned around and walked a short distance away, and then a took break himself.  

Maybe it was my smell?  Whatever.  There were plenty of other runners and walkers on the past that said hi or "Good morning" to me.  Other than a great cooked-to-order breakfast at the Hilton Garden Inn, the rest of the day was unremarkable.  Was glad to unload the truck and return it, and despite plans to hike at Stone Mountain, unfortunately that didn't materialize due to timing and planning issues.  Another time.  Something to return for.

Wednesday:  4

Westerly, RI.  Another reasonably fast fun run in 18:29.

Thursday:  8

AM:  Westerly, RI.  2 miles with Brady from Wahaneeta.  Deerflies were so horrendous that I just threw in the towel.  13 DFKs in 2 miles is just ridiculous.

PM:  Westerly, RI.  6 miles from Bradford Preserve with Nick and Matt.  I came prepared for the deerflies with a deerfly patch on my hat, which of course meant there were no deerflies at all this time.  Go figure.  We stopped and plotted out a course for Pumpkins (we have to replace the 8K course due to wetlands issues preventing us from racing there).  This new course came pretty close to 10K, but we had to stop, adjust, figure out where we were and wanted to go, so we'll add a little more and then come back real soon to map it all out start to finish.

Friday:  6

Charlestown, RI.  Ninigret with Matthew and Brady.  I just had nothing today.  Felt weak and lethargic.  I was certainly holding back Matthew.  I'd blame it on the 90% humidity, but I know it was just me not having a good day.  They can't all be.

Drove up to Wilmington, NY in the afternoon.

Stayed in a cabin the first night,
tent the second,
just based on what was available.

Saturday:  8 run, 6 hike

AM:  Wilmington, NY.  Earliest run likely all year for me, with a 5:39am start.  I mapped out a 9-mile route and got up and going with Brady.  I needed to be back for a planned 7:25am departure to bring Matthew to the start of his Whiteface Mountain Race.  I figured that was plenty of time, but I was wrong.  While part of it was due to me missing a turn that added 0.4 miles, most of it was I underestimated the amount of time it would take me for the initial climb.  We started out with a 3-mile continuous climb.  The elevation gain over those three miles was only 1,700', but 800' of that came in the last 1/2 mile of the climb.  I ran it, but needed a few quick breaks and I was very slow on that part.  I realized about 6 miles in that I wasn't going to make it back in time, and that's certainly not fair to Matthew.  So I deviated course to head to the road and run the last 1.75 miles on road straight back instead of the planned trail.  Tough on the roads with trail shoes, but overall still a good run.

PM:  Adirondack Park (near the village of Lake Placid), NY.  Family hike of Cascade and Porter Mountains, with Jana, Matthew, and Brady.  Total elevation gain of about 2,300'.  Quite a few people out hiking today.  Best views were from Cascade Mountain, which had a big open summit.

Summit of Cascade Mountain

Sunday:  10

Adirondack Park (near Saranac Lake), NY.  Three miles roads, two miles rolling trail, 1.2 mile reasonably steep climb with 1,200' gain up to Haystack Mountain, two miles of fun downhill trail (6:09 fastest split for me), and then a couple of miles easy and flat trail.  So where did I fall and bash my knee bloody?  On the flat part of course, and right in front of a hiking group coming towards me.  Geez.  Almost the entire trail was runnable, save for a few very steep short sections towards the top of Haystack Mountain.

Summit of Haystack Mountain

About 4 miles into the run I notice my groin area is soaking wet.  Did I pee myself?  No, the water is just running out of hydration pack bladder.  The valve at the end of the drinking tube is missing.  I "tied the tubes" to stem the flow, but fortunately Matthew found the valve in leaves on the side of the trail.  Great save!

Before leaving, we went for an awesome swim in the Ausable Chasm River.  Deep pools and small falls made it fun.  Very refreshing.

Weekly mileage total:  49 run, 1 walk, 6 hike

Weekly synopsis:  Quite the varied run week with runs in Rhode Island, Georgia, and New York.  Didn't hit my weekly mileage goal for the first time in a while, but that's OK.  Fun and busy week.

Weekly highlight:  Cascade Mountain hike.

Weekly lowlight:  Only that I didn't get more miles in.

Weekly Log 20-Jun to 26-Jun-2022: A Little Bit of Everything

Monday:  17

Hopkinton, RI.  First and likely last time ever getting Juneteenth as a paid holiday.  Temperature at home showed 54°, so great running weather for the final day of spring.  Planned out a trail loop and parked at Camp Yawgoog parking lot just outside the Bucklin gate.

Mountain Laurels still in bloom,
on the yellow trail in Yawgoog just north of North Road.

Two miles of paved roads, before trail tours through Canonchet, Yawgoog, and Green Falls Pond.  Stopped at every stream to let Brady get a drink.  The plan was to go for a quick dip at Green Falls Pond beach, but the sign clearly said "No pets allowed" and a camp ranger was sitting in his truck parked in front of the beach.  No swim today.

Love this picture of Brady!
(Green Fall River)

King of the Hill!
(Freeman Trail, heading east)

Tuesday:  2 run, 0.5 swim, 2 walk, 11 bike

A smorgasbord of activity today.  None impressive, but taken in the aggregate, plus getting my second COVID booster, wiped me out today.

Run:  Charlestown, RI.  More of a slow jog and recovery from yesterday, just to get the blood flowing.  Silly expression, I know, but that's the reinvigoration that it felt like.

Swim:  Charlestown, RI.  Buoy-to-buoy, and back, in Watchaug Pond.  The buoys are definitely moved out further in the water and further south than they were in past years, but a DEM official said they're still 1/4 mile one-way and that seems to roughly check out on GPS.  As usual, my weak arms felt pretty sore on my first swim of the year.

Walk:  Westerly, RI.  Clearing overgrowth at the nascent Cottrell Preserve in advance of opening it to the public and a group hike this weekend.

Bike:  Westerly, RI.  Short ride out to Watch Hill and back, with Matthew, and a Jonny Eckel encounter at finish.  Rode back to our neighborhood with him.

Wednesday:  9

AM:  Charlestown, RI.  5 miles.  Dash and splash in the rain with Brady.  A little rain never hurt anybody.  Brady didn't seem to care, so why should I?  

PM:  Westerly, RI.  Fun Run week #4.  4 miles.  Took it easy but still ran a 19:39 (6:06 pace).

Thursday:  6 run, 3 kayak

Charlestown, RI.  Easy run on grass loops with Brady.

Stonington, CT.  Kayak fun.  I was in one kayak, Mark & Brady in another, and Matthew on a SUP.

Friday:  5

South Kingstown, RI.  Short run with Brady, before getting back just in the nick of time for a work meeting.  Won't have that impediment much longer.

Saturday:  20!

Exeter, RI.  (plus West Greenwich and Richmond)  Original plan was to run the two races I was signed up for at Gunstock Trail Festival:  Canicross 5K and Peak-to-Peak Challenge 10K.  While I was looking forward to both, when I signed for the races back in April, I had no idea that 1) the temps would be near 80°F at race finish [too warm for Brady, and not what I want to race in either], or 2) Matthew would have to defer due to an injury.  Fortunately the hotel was cancellable.  The website mentions deferral but the instructions to defer don't work, and at least thus far, I haven't received an e-mail response back.

So I'm three weeks exactly until Laugavegur.  A long run with a pack and some hills seems in order.  Mapped out a 20-mile trail run at Arcadia Management Area, and downloaded it to my watch.  Got a later start (9am) than I would like, but accentuating the positive, it's good to get heat acclimation as well.  Not for Laugavegur, but for Blessing and other local races.

Even with "burping" the hydration pack bladder, the ice cubes were bouncing/sloshing, but I quickly forgot about them on the run.  The northern part of the Mount Tom Trail was overgrown.  It was just grass, nothing that would cut into my legs, but it was thigh high and itchy.  I fell in a rock garden on Escoheag Trail - pick up your feet, you lazy oaf!  At Stepstone Falls, I took a short break to wade into the river and try to rinse the itchy grass stuff off my legs.  It seemed to work.  I contemplated jumping off the rope swing, but I was only five miles in on a twenty mile run and didn't want to take the risk of chafing in my pelvic area with wet shorts for fifteen miles.

Ran back down via River Trail to Ben Utter, and saw more than a dozen hikers and a couple trail runners with hydration packs also.  Once on Breakheart Trail, I assume I was the first to break trail today, not because I didn't see anyone, but because I was clearing spider webs blocking the trail as I went.  I didn't mind the ones with just a thread or two, but I got two whole face wrap-arounds that were just disgusting.  A couple miles later, I stopped at a river crossing where I usually let Brady get a drink, and once again went in the water to do my best to clean up the webs off my face, shoulders, neck, arms, and hat.  Soaked the hat in the cold river and sauntered on.

As I got closer to the eastern end of Breakheart Trail (near Breakheart Pond), I saw a number of people (hikers and a few mountain bikers) again.  One young woman said loudly, "Oh, no, here comes one of those runners".  I assumed it was sarcasm, and responded back, "Watch out for those kind", and she said, "Yeah, I'm jealous that you're not even breaking a sweat".  All good.

JB Hudson back to 165.  Crossing 165 at about Mile 14, I contemplated just returning on the usual Mt Tom Trail and ending this short (instead of the planned Arcadia Trail down to Richmond), but fortunately I stuck with my plan.  I was drinking water often now, and it was now warm, but I was still able to continue without any issues.  Took Arcadia Road to Summit Road, so I was in the open sun on roads for almost a mile.  Fortunately, Summit Road turned from asphalt to dirt.  Turned right on Sandy Brook Trail, which unbeknownst to me on my virgin run was to be the worst trail all day as it was rutted with loose rocks.  Luckily after 1/4 mile, I turned off that onto Dove Crest Trail, another new to me trail, which was a nice single-track which brought me back to Mt Tom Trail for my final and familiar trail back.  I knew I had one climb left and that 160' climb up and then down over wooden water bars was the toughest I ever did on that section!

As I finished and soaked in the cold Wood River, I reflected that I got in some good hills (total elevation about 2,400') and also some more pack and heat acclimation.  The pack of 2 liters of icy water at the start was now warm and almost completely drained, and the temp at finish was about 85° .

Sunday:  5 run, 2 kayak

AM:  Run with Brady.  3 miles on Burlingame North dirt road loop.  Miserable deerfly experience.  Finished with 2 miles on mostly dirt roads in "Burlingame South" (Sanctuary Road), before jumping into the pond to cool off and play a little frisbee with Brady.

PM:  Kayak with Matthew and Brady.  Free kayak rental at Queens River as part of the Seven Rivers Festival.  Despite the event being labeled as "pet friendly" on the brochure, when we were checking in, we were told dogs are not allowed as too many scratched up the kayaks.  Fortunately, another employee overheard and asked me what kind of dog we have.  When I explained a black lab mix, he offered for me to take his "work kayak" which he said he didn't care if got scratched up.  I thanked him profusely and assured him Brady wouldn't scratch up the kayak regardless.  Dodged a bullet there.  What I hadn't expected that the Queens River in this section (Usquepaug) is both wide and very choked with vegetation.

I love this pic.  He was just calm and checking things out.
On a narrow section with less vegetation.

I think he's checking out Matthew ahead of us.

Weekly mileage:  65 run, 11 ride, 5 walk, 5 kayak, 0.5 swim

Weekly synopsis:  A little bit of everything!  Well, sort of.  Great run mileage, 2 long runs, 2 kayak paddles, a short bike, some walking, and an open water swim.  All good in my book!

Weekly highlight:  20-mile hilly and warm trail run at Arcadia.  Good training run!

Weekly lowlight:  Not racing at Gunstock Trail Festival.  If there's a silver lining to this, it's that two days later I received an e-mail indicating that I'm deferred to next year.  I guess all's well that ends well!

Niantic Bay 10K 2022

East Lyme, CT

Friday, June 10, 2022

This would be my fourth iteration of running this race.  It's a fun Friday evening event.  OABs are not my favorite format, but technically this is a lollipop course, as at least there is no cone turnaround, and there is a 3/4 mile road loop at the turnaround point on the southern end of the Black Point peninsula.

Pre-race with teammates Dave and Matt
(and Brady and Mango;
apparently there is something interesting
to our left)

After a short warm-up (1 mile), I headed to the start line and ran a few strides.  Most runners were lined up, and all of a sudden a loose dog bolted onto the course.  Uh oh, that dog is Brady!  To add to my embarrassment, Pete announces over the loud speaker, "Jeff, you have one minute to get the course clear before the race start".  Another runner came out to help me corral Brady, but we don't really need to "catch" him, as the only reason he is on the course is he broke free from Jana and from his collar and just wants to run with me.  He comes right to me so I just bring him back to Jana, as we affix his collar and try this again.

It's only seconds really and I'm on the line (again) with plenty of time.  I'm just fearful that he will break free again and run onto the course during the race, which would mean my race is done, but I don't want him to obstruct other runners.  The gun goes off, and other than a lot of whining from Brady wanting to run the race, my fears are unfounded.  Whew.

After the dust settles (I think I overuse that term; there was no dust), I'm in about 10th place.  That quickly changes as we go up the smallest of hills (20 feet?) about 1/10 of a mile in and I repass runners.  I really don't understand this blasting out of the gate thing only to slow down, unless it's novice runners not knowing how to pace.  

The 19-year old leader blasts out ahead of everyone
and stays there

Trailing a large group of runners at start.

By the time we make a hard right turn 3/4 mile in, I am in 4th place and can see the next runner just ahead of me.  I easily catch and go by the 3rd place runner.  Mile 1 split 5:59.

Seeing teammate Dave ahead of me helps spur me on.  Mile 2 split 5:57.

In Mile 3, I catch and pass Dave, but certainly don't rule him out.  I'm in 2nd place now, and the top runner is no where in sight.  Mile 3 split 6:04.

In Mile 4, we complete the pop portion of the lollipop (hope that makes sense), and resume the stick portion to head back home.  Many runners coming towards me now.  I hear my name multiple times and try to give a thumbs up when possible.  Mile 4 split 6:06.

In Mile 5, there are still runners coming towards me but many are walkers now.  I avoided every water stop as they are handing out water bottles and that's just too inefficient for me, so I saunter on.  At one water stop, a young Asian woman asks me, "How many miles per hour are you running?".  Miles per hour?!  Clearly not a runner and I'm thinking I have no idea and don't want to compute it, but then a light bulb goes on (that doesn't happen very often) and I realize it's easy - a pace of about 6:00/mile is clearly 10mph, so I yell back "10 miles per hour".  Hope she's happy.  Mile 5 split 6:04.

Mile 6.  A very slight uphill of about 40' gain, and then I'm able to pick it up on a slight downhill to the finish.  Mile 6 split is my fastest at 5:53.

Final results:  37:31, 2nd overall out of 109.  1st in age group.  My fastest of four Niantic Bay 10Ks (4 seconds faster than 8 years ago in 2014).   Full results here.

As I cross the finish line, Way on the loudspeaker announces me and my WTAC role and then adds, "... and that's his wife Jana struggling to control their dog.".  Brady is just excited and trying to pull her to come see me.  There is no else around, so no issue at all this time as Jana lets go of the leash and he runs up to me.  Dave finishes just 35 seconds after me, so I'm glad I pushed to the finish.

Some of the team WTAC runners out there tonight

Fun race as always, and nice that this year wave starts were gone, and the awards ceremony and food returned.

Age group awards!

Post-race, great dinner outside at a local Niantic restaurant.
Sushi does not work for everyone, but to me awesome food that
I feel I "earned".

Trust Me, You'll Love It 10K

Charlestown, RI
Saturday, June 4, 2022

Race background:  This was at least the 4th incarnation of the “Trust Me, You’ll Love It” 10K trail race.  The race is hosted by the Charlestown Land Trust and directed by John Varadian.  John is a long time runner and ultra-runner, and I met him a few years ago when he kindly reached out and offered to help with course marking at our club’s annual Li’l Rhody trail race.

While I try to support local races, especially the few trail races we have in the area, every year that this race has transpired I have had some sort of conflict.  (I sort of did this year as well, as I had a flight out of Green at 1pm, but with the flyer promoting “runners start promptly at 10am”, I figured if I left immediately at the finish and showered at my Mom’s house nearby to the race instead of home, I could make it.)  The price of $35 for a lowkey 10K trail race is on the high side, but I also figured it was for a great cause of land conservation, one of my advocations.

Pre-race:  Having never been to the Amos Greene Farm, a Charlestown Land Trust conserved property with the original structures from the 1700s, I was glad the long dirt driveway off Route 112 was clearly marked with flags and “Parking” signs.  The property is privately owned and operated as a working farm, but with a conservation easement.  

After checking in and going on a short warm-up led by Jonny Hammett, we were ready to start the race, or so I thought.  John had a song he wanted us to sing along with as he played his guitar.  I don't remember the name of the song, but to me it was something like the familiar "There was an old lady who swallowed a fly.  I don't know why she swallowed the fly; I guess she'll die..." in that each verse kept building upon what we already had.  I was fine with the first verse, even the second, but after that not being inclined to sing I was losing interest.  Also I was on a tight timeframe to race, leave, shower, and get to the airport.

Race - 1st half:  Finally we were off.  We did not start promptly at 10am, but rather 10:14am.  OK, this is going to be even tighter now to get to the airport.  After a mowed grass 1/3 mile loop that brought us back past the start, Nick was in the lead.  We ran down a different dirt road, which was only 1/4 mile long and brought out us to Route 112, where two volunteers with flags ensured a safe crossing for us before entering Carter Preserve.  Nick's pace was a little spicy for me, but I tried to stay just behind him.  Enough distance that I had good vision of upcoming roots and rocks, but not so far behind that I would get dropped and be on my own.  That worked well for about two miles, until he was starting to get just out of sight.  In my mind, I was already accepting a 2nd place finish.  I need to build more confidence in situations like this.  

Race - 2nd half:  At almost exactly three miles, I popped out of the woods and onto the "Grassland Mile", an open grass field with a double-track flat manicured one mile perimeter.  In this race, we would run about 3/4 of that mile perimeter around the grass field.  Given the open field, I could now see Nick not too far ahead of me.  That gave me incentive to pick up the chase.  This was by far my fastest section of the race, as I was running close to six-flat pace.  Gradually I closed the gap Nick had on me until 1/2 mile into the grassland section, I caught up to him.  I went past him before we went back into the woods, but I knew I needed to keep pushing as this was a 75' uphill section now and that is not my forte.  Went past a water station, but I cannot waste any seconds and kept going.  I could hear Nick's footsteps for a while, and then quiet.  A good sign, but no resting here.  Pushed the remaining two miles as hard as I could, sometimes slowed by blowdowns that I needed to jump over, but reminding myself that those would slow Nick as well.

As I came back out onto Route 112, the two volunteer course marshals were not in position and themselves had to run to get where they needed to be.  I couldn't wait for them so I looked out for traffic myself on Route 112, and saw where I could easily cross before the next car so I did.  I asked one of the volunteers how far back the next runner was, but when I didn't get or didn't hear an answer, I just pushed it hard down the short dirt road to the finish.

Final results:  1st place (out of about 40-ish), 41:24.  (I could not find any online results.)

Courtesy of RD

While I wish there was just a little more online info (web page, course map, results, etc.), this was a fun local old-school trail race which was very well marked and on a great course.  

It looked like there was pizza and other food coming, but I grabbed my prize and headed out, as I was now running a little behind schedule.  No time for talking to Mom, quickly showered, changed, and high-tailed it to the airport for my flight to Florida.  I made it.  Would I run this race again?  Absolutely!  Just maybe not again if I were flying out within a few hours of the race.

My prize:  a fresh blueberry peach pie!
This had to wait until my return several days later,
but Mom kept it in her refrigerator for me,
and all was good.

Pineland Farms 2022

New Gloucester, Maine

Saturday, May 28, 2022

This was my second running of the Pineland Farms 25K race.  Being very far behind in race write-ups, this will be abbreviated.  You'll find a more detailed write-up and pictures from last year's race here.

Whereas last year we stayed a hotel in the Lewiston area, at this year's price of $300+/night, we opted for camping instead.  After dinner at one of the very few restaurants around for miles, we got to Bradbury Mountain State Park at dusk and quickly setup the tent.

Our campsite.  I'm glad I went back to a full size
wagon, as between folding down the rear seats and
the cargo box up top, I have plenty of room for
carrying supplies.

Our accommodations.  Very functional
and inexpensive.

Got up reasonably early, cooked oatmeal and toasted a bagel for breakfast.  Packed up, broke camp, and headed to the race.  Unfortunately, unlike last year's 43° start, this year the temp was 66° and rising, with 90% humidity to boot.  Went for a 1.5 mile warmup at a slow 8 minute pace.  Was feeling it already, especially as we're not yet acclimated to warmer weather.

Race start:  Lined up in the second row at the start and took it out relatively easy, trying to conserve.  At about two miles in, I hear "Hi Jeff".  Did I hear that right?  Nobody knows me here.  And then the lead woman, Brigid, goes by me, and I remember her pushing me last year and we had caught up afterwards.  She stayed ahead of me for a mile or so before I went back ahead of her on a downhill.  Soon afterwards, another guy comes right up on me.  I opened a little gap on him on the downhill, but on the next climb, he came right back up to me and went past handily.  I looked at him as he went by to gauge his age and then uttered that since he wasn't in my age group, he could go past me.  He chuckled and said he had started slowly and didn't think I had anything to worry about in my age group as no one else near me.  He was soon gone and I was running as an island.

Coming up on a water stop at Mile 6, I took my first of two GUs.  Oddly the trail did not go past the water stop and I would have had to have gone considerably out of my way (25 meters?) to get to it.  There was a volunteer there standing on the side of the trail - is she holding cups of water?  No!  I asked her if there was any garbage container here, and she said I can just give it to her.  So I got rid of my empty GU packet at least.  

Onwards.  Sans water.  The temps were in the 70s by now.  I was starting to pass runners from the other races that started earlier (50K and 50M), but no one was passing me.  Finally at Mile 9 I get to another water station and this one is right on the course, so I stop there for a moment.  I got three cups of water, and took a 3 Musketeers mini bar, but it was all melted and I couldn't get it out of the wrapper as it stuck to it.  Onwards.  

As I left the water station on a 2-way traffic section in an open field, Matthew came the other way towards me.  I was trying to gauge where he was position-wise, but really had no idea as I didn't see anyone near him.  My remaining five miles were about the slowest of my entire race, as I was slowing and wanted it to be done.  Finally I was relieved to hear the announcer's voice which told me I was getting close.  Very happy to see that finishing line. 

Final results:  1:53:10, 5th out of 121.  1st in age group.  Slower than last year by 2 1/2 minutes, at least partially attributable to the heat and humidity.  Full results here.

Besides Brigit, the next person was seven minutes behind me.  And the next runner in the 50s age group was 27 minutes behind me!

Caught up with Matthew post-race and got water.  The Mexican food truck had yet to even arrive, the hamburg/hot dog grill had zero non-red-meat options, and the awards ceremony was at least an hour away.  Neither of us had any desire to hang around, so we promptly left and got a "real lunch" at a restaurant on the way home.

This race is nice, but after two consecutive years, I'm ready to move on and try something different.