Triathlon Season 2022

 

East Lyme, CT

Sunday, August 14, 2022

For years, I had participated in triathlons annually, sometimes 4-5 per year.  Mostly sprints, but up to Half Ironman distance.  But that was a few years ago.  In fact, it had been just over five years since my last triathlon, the Block Island Tri back in early August 2017.

To me triathlons, as with pure running races, are more fun when you know other people in the race.  And while we had had as many as ten WTAC participants in the Block Island Tri in past years, by 2017, I was the sole WTAC'er there.  So when Tommy expressed interest in the Niantic Bay Tri this year, I was all in!  It was time.  It was past time.  In 2020, tris in southern New England were cancelled due to the COVID thing.  In 2021, I couldn't participate for health reasons as I couldn't get my open head wounds from the cancer surgeries wet.  I was overdue, and I registered.

Met up with Tommy upon arrival

Swim (1/2 mile):  17:00, 172nd out of 304

I was in the fifth and final wave, based on my age and gender (males age 55 and over).  That was just fine with me.  As a back-of-the-pack swimmer, I sure don't want to be in the first wave.  Each wave was three minutes apart.  As I made my way to the beach, another random triathlete saw me struggling to zip up my wetsuit and came over to help.  That was really nice.  Wished good luck to the others I knew (Tommy 5K, Bob Kerwin, Carol Ann, and Lisa) and watched their waves take off.

The water was pretty smooth but it was weird swimming through eel grass until we got into deeper waters.  I got into my rhythm and after going past two buoys, I noticed I was actually passing a few swimmers from earlier waves, as each wave has different colored swim caps.   I had no issues with sighting and felt good with my swim, slow as it is.

T1:  2:17, 99th out of 304

For the first time ever, I went sockless into my bike shoes (T1) and then again into my running shoes (T2).  No issues at all.

My transition spot.  You don't
exactly get much space.

Bike (11.4 miles):  36:11, 47th out of 304

Average 19.0 mph, which I was really happy with especially considering the undulating hills.  The first half was reasonably flat, and then there were a lot of hills.  Nothing terrible, but just a lot of ups and downs that made it hard to get into any constant rhythm.  I was passing many cyclists, but then went back and forth with one that similar to my running, passed me on uphills and I'd pass him on the downhills.  He wanted to talk to me during the race, and was asking me how many tris I had done, and was explaining it was his first one.  That might explain his choice of attire, as he was wearing long pants in 70°F weather.

Midway through the bike course, it was scary to see emergency vehicles in the road, a bike lying in the road, and a cyclist lying down with first aid responders over him.  But I heard someone say something to the effect that at least he's OK.  Carry on!

T2:  1:34, 228th out of 304

This was a rare time that I thought a transition went well, but stats don't lie.  Clean change into my running shoes, refitted with lock laces.  No idea what went wrong.

Run:  19:01, 9th out of 304

Splits 6:25, 6:13, 5:53.  Good.  Not great.

Picture of finish line early in the morning.
This is going to be fun!

Approaching the finish.
Photo courtesy of Tommy 5K

Overall:  1:16:03, 38th out of 304, 2nd in age group  Full results here

With Bob Kerwin at finish

And with Tom.  What a beautiful
and fun day out there!

-------------------------------------------------------------

Middletown, RI

Sunday, September 11, 2022

This race is held entirely within the town of Middletown.  Not an inch of it goes into Newport.  So why is it called the Newport Tri?  Unless it's referring to the county of Newport?  Or does Newport just have a better cachet than Middletown?  At any rate ...

This race had three divisions:  Sprint (146 participants), Olympic (99 participants), Aquabike (7 participants)

Sprint is what Tommy and I participated in.  

Arrived about an hour early.  Tom must have just gotten there before me, as he texted me that start was delayed from 7am to 7:30am.  Got my stuff and got in line for packet pickup.  Loooong line.  While waiting in line, on the loud speaker they explained the delay was due to so many athletes picking up their packet on race morning.  Well, I didn't really want to drive two hours round-trip the day before to pick up earlier.  When I got to the front, it seemed they were quite short on volunteers, as it was just a woman and perhaps her young children helping her.  And then there was no one passing out shirts; you just went to a messy pile of shirts and helped yourself.  I get that sometimes it's hard to get volunteers, but let's call it what it is.

 

Lined up outside of transition, just before sunrise.
Note the lights on the rim of one bicycle

I asked where body marking was, and was told there would be no body marking.  That's too bad, as I like to check out the age / age group of fellow athletes that I am passing or getting passed by on the bike and run.  I wonder if that was scrapped due to volunteer issues as well?

After setting up transition, I went to use the bathrooms at the beach pavilions.  They're locked!  What?  Waited in line for a porta-jon, and when I opened the door and looked inside, I promptly walked right back out and waited for the next one.  I'm no prude with porta-jons but this was absolutely disgusting.

Swim (1/2 mile):  21:09, 103rd out of 146

The swim start was reminiscent of the race starts of the few races that actually happened at the height of the pandemic:  two athletes at a time, spaced by 5-10 seconds.  The sprint triathletes would start first, and then I believe Olympic and finally aquabike.  Totally fine with that, but since everyone was issued the same color swim cap, I couldn't tell anyone apart.

The swim was an OAB.  I don't care for that format, as more than once on the way back I noticed I was drifting towards the oncoming (outbound) swimmers.  I think I lost some time correcting course.  And once I saw one triathlete was actually on our incoming side of the buoys and a lifeguard was trying to get his/her attention.

T1:  2:02, 31st out of 146

I thought my T1 was absolutely horrible, so I'm shocked to be in first quartile.  I had so much trouble getting my wetsuit off, especially as it was bunched up around my left ankle caught on the timing device.  I tried to just tug it off, but the device dug into my ankle and left red marks on it.

Bike (10.6 miles):  32:22, 19.6 mph, 13th out of 146

I got on the bike, went to turn on my bike computer, and noticed right away that IT'S GONE!  What?!  The bike and bike computer are new.  I'm frustrated and angry, and somehow convince myself to let it go, focus on the tri, and come back to it later.

In that spirit:  I liked this course!  Gradual incline on the way up to the half-way mark, then downhill back to transition!  Felt very smooth.

T2:  1:28, 100th out of 146

I know I lost time because this time I didn't use lock laces, but didn't want to go through the effort to re-lace my shoes the night before, and then again after the tri.

Run (5K):  18:25, 5:56 pace, 3rd out of 146

Third behind Tommy (2nd overall) and overall winner.  Splits 6:37, 6:18, 5:34.  I saw a few older looking guys in the 3rd mile an didn't want to leave anything to change, so I hammered that final mile.

Very close to the finish, in
chase mode.
Photo courtesy of Robin Kerwin

Overall:  1:15:28, 19th out of 146, 2nd in age group  Full results here

OK, now back to the missing bike computer.  I showed Tom, and he suggested I notify a race official.  I did that, told the official it was stolen from transition, and the official asked if it simply fell off.  It's actually a fair question, except that it was on my bike this morning, it doesn't fall off even on jarring bumps as you have to twist it off and on, and I had retraced my steps from the car to the transition area.  He took down my bib number, so I figured either he or the RD would reach out to me post-race, even if just to say sorry that it happened but they hadn't turned up anything.  No communication.

Tom and I did notice there were a lot of bikes in transition that had bike computer mounts, but no bike computers.  Hoping that someone didn't steal that many bike computers, I asked around on best practices, including at the bike shop where I eventually ordered and paid for a replacement.  It may be obvious, but I learned that a number of others regularly remove their bike computers if their bike will be out of their sight.  Lesson learned.  Frustrating.  More than being out the money and hassle to replace the computer, I felt violated and that my blind trust in fellow triathletes has been broken.  I guess every group has their bad apples.  Moving on ...

Post-race, I asked an official when awards would be, and he explained sprint awards ceremony would be first and probably a half hour away (about 9:15).  OK, time for a good cool-down, and if I missed the ceremony, people will still likely be around for me to collect my award.  Went for a long cool-down (6 miles) post-run, as this was my peak marathon mileage week and that's more important.  Ran with Tommy for the first 1.5 miles as I was happy to show him part of the Sachuest Wildlife Refuge.

On my way back, saw Bob Kerwin out on his second run lap (Olympic distance) so ran with him for a little bit, and then Mel asked me to help pace her to get her closer to a competitor, so I happily did that as well.  When I finally got back to transition, I learned the awards ceremony would be combined and not until 11:00am!  Not sure if I got bad information earlier, or if plans changed.  Decided to stick around and watch others come in and wait for the awards.  Took my time and had a sandwich from the help-yourself arrangement of Subway sandwiches.

And thus endeth my short tri season of 2022.  I had considered finding a third tri in Massachusetts in late September, but I really have too many races on my calendar already.  Will hang up the wetsuit until 2023, and while I still may get out for a casual bike or two, my bike season is basically over for the year as well.  I need to keep my eye on the prize (Detroit Marathon) and I find it hard to train for so many different things with the demands of marathon training.

Having run two triathlons this year, both for the first time, I find the urge to make some notes with my own subjective comparisons:

• Swim course:  far preferred the L-shape course of Niantic over Newport
• Bike course:  Newport over Niantic; smoother and more gradual inclines, less intersections
• Run course:  Newport over Niantic; both had cone-turnarounds which isn't great, but Newport had less turns and amazing ocean scenery
• Communication:  Niantic over Newport.  Far better website, and more frequent e-mail communications, including a follow-up e-mail with a thank you and links to results and photos.
• Organization:  Niantic over Newport.  Lots of volunteers, clear signage, body marking, many food selections, just professionally done.

Both fun events.  But now time to refocus on running.  Return to triathlon next year.

Weekly Log 12-Sep to 18-Sep-2022: Stavros Beach Run

Monday:  10 run, 2 walk

Westerly, RI.

AM:  With two others, plus Brady, walked and planned out a potential connector trail through Town Forest property linking Whitely Preserve to the nascent Cottrell Preserve.

Hundreds (thousands?) of aphids on a branch.  Weird.

AM:  3 mile run.  After leaving Cottrell Preserve, Brady and I went to Wahaneeta for a pre-race recon and to give me an idea of what work is needed in advance of Saturday.

PM:  7 mile run.  Together with Justin P, setup, watch, and break down the course for the first WHS XC meet of the season.

Tuesday:  10

Charlestown, RI.  Ran in an absolute downpour.  Parked at East Beach, Charlestown, which was a challenge just to get there.  The roads were flooded in multiple places.  Route 1 Charlestown southbound lanes were closed completely.  I would later learn that Charlestown received 3.1" of rain in just one hour!  This was the highest rainfall in the state today.  I was the only car in the East Beach parking lot, and I had to drive through a pretty flooded section to get there.

The run was an absolute blast!  By the time I had run the couple of miles to Route 1, there were now several RI DOT trucks in the closed southbound lanes, and I ran past two workers who were up to their waists in water working on the flood issue.  Unreal.  About Mile 5 the skies started to lighten up, and much to my dismay, the rain almost stopped.  Then it got dark again, the thunder rumbled, and the skies opened.  At West Beach boat launch, a fisherman dressed in outdoor gear was working on getting his boat out of the water.  He looked at me as he laughed and said, "You must really love running!".  Yes, I do!

The last couple of miles the rain came down so hard that it was difficult to see clearly.  But it was so much fun!  At the state beach at East Beach, I take off my shoes, socks, and singlet, and ran back barefoot along the beach.  The surf was pounding.  Put my soaked stripped clothes up high and dove into the ocean.  Didn't stay along as the surf was rough.  Had to wait for a strong incoming wave to swim my way back to shore.

Wednesday:  8

AM:  Charlestown, RI.  Shake-out with Brady from Kettle Pond.  End of run jump into Watchaug Pond.

PM:  Westerly, RI.  Charlie Stavros Memorial On the Beach Run

One of my favorite races.  So simplistic and easy to host with an unmarked course OAB along the beach, yet unique amongst races.  I am not aware of a single other race in the area that is completely on the beach.  The closest I can think of is the 4-mile run portion of the Block Island Tri, but as the name portends, it's not entirely a running race.

Just before race start.
The "50" is designating the 50th anniversary of the Mohegan Striders.

And we're off.
We'll be chasing the high school runner at left for over a mile.

The group making its way towards Weekapaug

Shortly after the gun, there was a group of about five of us, with the WHS runner at the front.  After a very fast first mile of 5:43, there were three of us:  the WHS runner, Nick, and me.  The pace continued at sub-5:50 to the turn around cone at Weekapaug Breachway, at which point it was down to Nick and me.

After rounding the cone, the pace slowed slightly.  Looking back now at Strava, it was so pronounced and continued for the rest of the run that I'd now attribute it to the 9mph wind out of west.  In other words, we had a slight tailwind down and were running into a slight headwind on return.  My mile 2 split was 5:54, which was a blend of 1/2 mile with the wind and 1/2 against.

About this point, Nick started to pull away and put some distance on me.  I tried several times to surge ahead and close the gap, but the only success I had was not dropping further behind.  I was in a near sprint with the finish line in sight and stayed at the harder-packed sand at the water's edge as long as possible until finally heading up through the softer sand to the finishing chute.

Trying (unsuccessfully) to chase down Nick

Final strides

Pic from Jim Hirst

Final results:  17:43, average 5:53 pace, 2nd out of 54.  Four seconds behind Nick.  Full results here.

After finishing my 20th consecutive Stavros Beach Run, I continued my tradition of immediately jumping into the ocean.  The water is still quite warm this time of year, but it still felt refreshing.

Beach Race finishing chute

All WTAC equipment.  We time many of our own events now
and I'm proud of all the WTAC volunteers that make this happen.

Some of the Team WTAC runners at the Beach Run

Fun post-race socializing with pizza and snacks.

Thursday:  16 run, 2 walk

Westerly, RI

AM:  Wahaneeta CCC clean-up before Saturday's race.  Deferred from Tuesday due to thunderstorms, was happy to see ten people show up.  Made for quick work snipping overhanging briars on trails, mowing the parking area and cabin area, and cleaning debris off the start/finish field.

AM:  Post-CCC, parked at Westerly Town Beach and made up the route as I went along.  Humidity 50%!  How refreshing!  Felt good, but took it easy with trail race double-header weekend coming up.  Ended the run on the beach and jumped in the ocean.  

Friday:  9

Charlestown, RI.  Reverse Rhody with Brady, and a jump off the docks into Watchaug Pond.  The water level is deeper due to recent rains.  Went into up to about my shoulders, so that's great.

Saturday:  6

Westerly, RI.  Wahaneeta Trail Race.  Separate race report to follow.

Sunday:  10

Chester, CT.  Trails to a Cure.  Separate race report to follow.

Weekly mileage:  70 run, 4 walk

Weekly synopsis:  Great week, despite racing a bit too much.  It's funny that 70 miles is kind of a down mileage week for me, given last week's 90 and average past 4 weeks of 75.  With marathon day just four weeks from today, it's time to reduce the races for a while.  Between now and marathon day, I'll only be running one race, Run for the Pumpkins, and that's 15 days out before the marathon.

Weekly highlight:  Trails to a Cure race!  More to follow.

Weekly lowlight:  Nothing really.  Just a great week with a lot of fun activities.

Weekly Log 5-Sep to 11-Sep-2022: Big Mileage Week

Monday:  15

New Haven, CT.  New Haven Road Race 20K.  Separate write-up to follow.

Tuesday:  8

Groton, CT.  After a meeting in Groton, Bluff Point seemed a good place to go, especially as the crowds would be really light there in the steady rain.  Parked at Poquonnock River Walkway, and other than the wooden walkway and paved bike path back from Haley, ran almost all single-track trail.  Saw but one other "crazy" out in the rain:  A guy on his bike who laughed as he saw me out in the rain as well.  The rain actually felt really good!

Wednesday:  22!

Newport, RI.  Longest run before Detroit Marathon in less than six weeks.  From Easton's Beach, out to Sachuest and back, and then CCW around lower Newport, including Fort Adams and Brenton Point.  Six easy, 10 at MP (target 6:20), and final six easy was the plan.  My miles splits during the MP block were all over the place, from 6:01 to 6:40.  At first, I was pretty disappointed by this inconsistency, but I chalked it up to the wind and the hills.  I remember running slightly downhill at Fort Adams down to the water, and ironically, that was my slowest mile of the block, BUT there was a strong headwind I was running into.  When I take the average of my ten MP block splits, it comes to exactly 6:20!  Well, OK then, pretty good after all.  Coffee stop afterwards at Custom House in Middletown.

Thursday:  12

AM:  Charlestown, RI.  Run with Brady on Sammy C's, Lenny Lane, and Vin Gormley.  Was concerned Sammy's would be overgrown, but I happened to run into Rhody Seth as he was finishing up his trail run and he said it wasn't.  He was right!  Post-run jump off the docks into the pond.

PM:  Westerly, RI.  After a summer hiatus from WTAC board meetings, they resumed tonight at Barlow Preserve, and with them the optional pre-meeting group run.  With several folks being away, it ended up being just Justin P and me running.  This was fine, and he asked to tour the new Pumpkins 10K course, or at least the new sections of the course, and we did.

Friday:  12 run, 1 walk, 2 hike

AM:  Westerly, RI.  With Brady.  2.4 miles.  Run and flag this evening's WLT Full Moon Fitness Hike "long course" at Riverwood Preserve.

PM:  Westerly, RI.  1 mile walk with town officials reviewing impending excavation project at Bradford Preserve for the paved ADA-compliant path.  Particularly focused on impact to WHS XC meets and Run for the Pumpkins.

PM:  Charlestown, RI.  10-mile solo CCW loop around the pond using the VG Trail, plus Wildlife Loop/Burlingame Trail.  Dunk in Watchaug Pond post-run.

PM:  Westerly, RI.  Back at Riverwood for the hike itself, with Jana.  I was asked to lead the "long course" group of 18, with the overall organizer sweeping.  The group's pace was quicker than I expected, especially the first ten or so.  Some said the label of "Fitness" in the event helped in that regard.  Great food and drink spread at the end!

Saturday:  10 run, 1 walk

AM:  Groton, CT.  Run from Eastern Point Beach Park to Bluff Point State Park.  Mostly an OAB, with differing short loops at beginning and end only.  Glad I got out there before temps went up into the 80s.  Jump in the water afterwards, followed by using outdoor showers before getting ready for the race.

Start and finish of today's run

AM:  Groton, CT.  Assisted Jeff A in race directing the Groton City Brew Run.

Start of the 2nd annual Groton City Brew Run.  11am.
It was hot and sunny.  I was happy to be on the sidelines for
this one.

Sunday:  10 run, 11 bike, 0.5 swim

Middletown, RI.  Newport Tri.  Separate write-up to follow.

Weekly mileage:  90 run, 11 bike, 4 walk/hike, 0.5 swim

Weekly synopsis:  Great week, with a lot of big accomplishments.  Biggest mileage week in eight years.  (I ran a 102.7 mile week back in September 2014).  22-miler mid-week with successfully hitting target PR.  And a tri just for fun.  Now time to dial it back.  Detroit five weeks from today.

Weekly highlight:  22-mile mid-week run in Newport and Middletown.  I hit the pace I wanted, the scenery was beautiful, and unlike at New Haven Road Race on Monday, I felt good while running it.

Weekly lowlight:  Awful humidity at New Haven Road Race.

Weekly Log 29-Aug to 4-Sep-2022: Consistency

I have pretty much locked down my fall race schedule, at least as far as mid-November.  I'll certainly consider a Thanksgiving run as well as something around Christmas.  There are so many fall races I would like to run, but it's tough to run those AND a fall marathon and most of my dates are full now:  2022 Remaining Races .  Next year I need to do a better job of planning well in advance.  Maybe that should be a goal of mine?

Monday:  9 run, 2 walk

Westerly, RI.  Tired and slept in a bit after a couple of vigorous mountain runs in Maine the previous two days.  Ran the typical 'Round the Pond run with a bit of added mileage.  Started off in the mid-7s for pace, but the last few miles I felt pretty good and subconsciously picked it up into the mid-6s.

Sense of accomplishment:  while I was disappointed to have our
short Maine camping trip end so early and to put away the camping
equipment likely for the year, I took the long overdue task of organizing our
camping equipment in the cellar.  I should have taken a before picture
as well, but it was a jumbled mess of stuff piled on top of each
other on the basement floor in no particular order.  Went to Home Depot
and bought shelving, cleared and swept the "camping equipment area"
of the basement, set up the shelving and only saved the camping stuff
we've actually used in the past few years.  So easy to do, but it's much easier
to just be a status quo packrat.  Now that I'm retired, if I spend even 
a couple of hours per week on tackling other unkempt areas, I'll 
make some real progress!

The two miles was walking a neighbor's dog (with Brady), as they were away.

Tuesday:  8

Groton, CT.  Run from Eastern Point Beach with Jeff Anderson.  My first time ever here.  Run included the course of the upcoming Groton City Brew Run (I'm not running it, but helping Jeff A) and some other scenic local roads.  Finished up the run with a dip at the beach.  Refreshing, but unfortunately a lot of eel grass similar to Niantic Bay.

Wednesday:  6

South Kingstown, RI.  A very humid run at DuVal with Brady.  Thought I was running decently, until I saw my pace post-run was 10:14.  Yes, I know it's hilly, but that is unusually slow.  Chalk it up to the humidity?  Went for a post-run dip at Watchaug Pond with Brady.

Thursday:  12

West Greenwich, RI.  A mix of trails, dirt roads, and asphalt roads.  Mid-day with Matthew.  Humidity was low at 49%, but being sunny and close to 80°, I just felt weak and dehydrated.  The route was fine except for a long washed out double-track section labeled on maps as "Plain Road", but that moniker seems overused in multiple locations.

Friday:  16

Westerly, RI.  Typical coastal route from the house, including Weekapaug, Misquamicut, and Watch Hill.  Ran first five with Matthew, then solo as he continued into a workout.  Had to remind myself to back off the pace a few times, as I have New Haven 20K in three days.  Had a few sub-7 miles, and averaged 7:06.  Still faster than I was looking to go.

Saturday:  10

Westerly, RI.  Start of Labor Day weekend.  Still a few weeks left of summer officially, before the Fall Equinox on September 22.  With summer waning, I will not miss the tourists, the deer flies, the heat, or the humidity.  What I will miss is open water swims and dunks in local waters and wearing singlets on all my runs.

Today's WTAC group run was six (seven, including Brady), and we ran the beach at low tide from Weekapaug Breachway.  Nick, Matthew, Brady, and I split off early and ran the ten together.  Nick set a fast pace and pushed the last mile hard; otherwise it was a good conversational run.  Obligatory post-run dip in the ocean followed by a nice get-together at the Innlet, where we ran into the Bousquet family.

Group selfies is not a skill I possess.  Fortunately,
Heather stepped in with my own phone and made it look easy.

Post-run, I noticed I had a new blister on my left foot.  I ran ten miles barefoot just two weeks prior and had no issues, so I'm not sure what exactly was the irritant this time, but nonetheless I did have a blister.  And a painful one.  Right on the ball of my left foot.  Hurt every time I walked on it or put any kind of pressure.  Read several different recommendations on the web, almost all of them advising to leave the blister alone to heal.  But it hurts!  And my race is less than 48 hours away.  Just before bed, I read an article on the respected WedMD site that advised if any pain, you can "drain" the blister.  I followed these instructions and instantly felt relief.  Which beyond the physical relief also gave me mental relief.

Sunday:  5

Charlestown, RI.  Easy run with Brady on Burlingame North loop, and then down to North Camp Beach, where we played in the water for a bit.  Since I had one of Brady's balls in the car, upon finishing I took him to the nearby boat launch to play some more.  I tired out from throwing the ball before he tired from retrieving it.  

Weekly mileage:  66 run, 2 walk

Weekly synopsis:  A good week overall, as it checks all the boxes:  mileage ✅, long run ✅.  Even got in a group run and a number of post-run swims (dunks really).  I have a lot of races upcoming, but primary focus needs to be on the marathon that's six weeks away.  Accordingly, both next week and two weeks thereafter I'll have 20+ runs, each with a MP block.

Weekly highlight:  Saturday beach group run, despite the resulting blister.

Weekly lowlight:  I'm sure I could find something, but nothing substantive.

Weekly Log 22-Aug to 28-Aug-2022: Maine

Monday:  8

Groton, CT.  Haley Farm and Bluff Point State Parks in the rain.  After not having seen any decent amount of rain in well over a month, it was a nice welcome to have a steady heavy rain today.  The rain was especially heavy as I started my run with Matthew and Brady, and abated late in the run.  One of the things I don't like about these two parks is how popular they are, so today was a great day to go!

We saw one older gentlemen out on a mountain bike in a downpour.  He smiled and said he was surprised to see anyone else out here.  The second one was a woman walking in the rain in a rain jacket and hood.  I especially liked the parts where it was a downpour, as there were literally streams flowing on top of the trails, and plenty of puddles.  Fun!

Tuesday:  1 hike, 8 run, 0.5 swim

AM:  Westerly, RI.  Clean-up work for WLT at Avondale Preserve.   Hot with mosquitos while working to expose a stone wall.

AM:  Charlestown, RI.  Went from Avondale to Burlingame Picnic Area.  Very slow shake-out (8:30 pace) on mostly dirt roads with once connecting trail.  Battle of Stonington this evening.

AM:  Charlestown, RI.  Immediately followed up my run with a 1/2 mile swim.  Of the three morning activities, this was my favorite.  I took it intentionally slow (I'm always slow, but I mean slow for me), got into a rhythm, and just really enjoyed myself out in the water.

PM:  Stonington, CT.  Battle of Stonington 5K.  Separate write-up to follow.

Wednesday:  11

Charlestown, RI.  Burlingame's Vin Gormley loop with Brady, with a couple of tack-ons:  Added on Burlingame Trail/Wildlife Loop instead of going through campground, and went down to North Camp on dirt road and back on parallel single-track.  Swims at North Camp and at finish at boat ramp.  Dripping humidity.

Thursday:  10

Charlestown, RI.  Dragged my feet getting out of bed and after a meeting with ham radio team on planning for Grills Trail Race, didn't start my run until 11am.  By then, the temp was in the low 80s, with direct sunlight and no breeze.  I wore a hat, as I do almost every run (unless dark or very overcast) since my cancer surgeries on my head, but it still wasn't very smart running in the mid-day heat.  I was hot and felt some mild heat exhaustion later in the afternoon.

Friday:  5

Westerly, RI.  Easy run with Brady scouting out condition of Wahaneeta Preserve, especially after the pond-dredging work is now done.  There is some restorative work and minor trail maintenance that will need to be done before race date on September 14, but it's all very manageable.  Got back home and drove up to Maine for a weekend trip.

Saturday:  12

Bar Harbor, ME.  Matthew had planned out a 16-mile mountain run, which certainly sounded good, but unfortunately my body just wasn't up to it.  We had camped in Camden the night before, and drove the 1.5 hours to Acadia National Park.  We set out from Eagle Lake Bridge with hydration packs properly loaded and in great temps (62°) albeit very high humidity (93%).

Flat and easy along dirt carriage roads for the better part of three miles.  Had to keep Brady on a leash due to the number of walkers and bike riders on the carriage road.  Had to hold him back as he wanted to run ahead with Matthew and not be slowed down by me.  We turned off the carriage roads and onto singlet track about 2.75 miles in, and from there the work began in earnest, with a 900' climb up to the summit of Pemetic Mountain (1,274').  I ran much of the ascent, but there were parts that were too steep for me.  There was also one steep part up a rock slab that I needed to physically lift and hoist Brady over.  Nice views and open above treeline running at the summit, and then what goes up must came down, with an equivalent 900' descent.  

Technical climb up Pemetic Mountain.

Section where I needed to pick up
Brady and put him on this ledge.  Oof.
(He weighs 72 pounds, more than half my weight.) 

 

At the summit.

Running above treeline was a blast!

We stopped at Jordan Pond House to refill packs and continued on.  The plan was to summit Penobscot Mountain next, but early on running/hiking the Ridge Trail it became apparent that this was just way too technical for Brady to ascend, and it made the choice easy for me to part ways and backtrack as I was physically tired and having doubts on my own limits for today.   Brady and I ran carriage roads for a while and should've continued, but I saw a shorter route, not realizing how technical the next three miles would be.  I had plenty of water, and also gave Brady plenty, but I bonked nonetheless.

One of the most technical sections, between Jordan Pond
and Eagle Lake.  Slow going through the boulder fields.

Edge of Eagle Lake

Sunday:  12

Camden, ME.  Fun fact:  this was our 3rd consecutive August staying in Camden Hills State Park and also running up Mount Battie from the backside.  Ran the usual route of Route 1 downhill into Camden, technical climb up the backside of Mount Battie, up to Ocean Lookout, and Mount Megunticook.  From there, though, we ventured into new territory with trekking over to Cameron Mountain.  The early miles were the hardest, and the last few miles were mostly on dirt roads.

Technical climb up Mt Battie

Nice views at Ocean Lookout

Weekly mileage:  68 run, 1 walk, 0.5 swim

Weekly synopsis:  Another good running week!

Weekly highlight:  Camden Hills run.  By rights, it should've been the Acadia National Park run, but I was just gassed and a little lost on my return.

Weekly lowlight:  Not getting in a long run.

Weekly Log 15-Aug to 21-Aug-2022: Stonington XC

Monday:  10

AM:  Stonington, CT.  1.5 miles with Brady at SHS, checking out the previously overgrown section of the course where we're hosting a run this Wednesday.  Looks good!  2 DFKs.

AM:  Exeter, RI.  We met Matthew at Midway parking lot on Route 165 for another 8-miles.  Mix of trails and dirt roads inside Arcadia.  I know the trails better, and Matthew knows the roads better, so between the two of us we got it done.  

Tuesday:  12

Charlestown, RI.  My turn to plan out the run.  I was looking for a 12-13 road run today, and I really like running the Quonnie roads, so we went to West Beach lot (free) and started from there, running my regular Quonnie route of about 7 miles, plus added a section north of Route 1 by running Klondike up and 216 back.  

This was my first run on my 3rd (and probably final) pair of NB Rebel 2.  As I mentioned before, I just love these shoes.  Comfortable right out of the box, lightweight, and springy.  Unfortunately, they have a major flaw in the upper material prematurely separating from the midsole.  This is a known issue that NB is looking to fix in the Rebel 3, which is due out any day.  In the meantime, I bought my last two Rebel 2 pairs for $62 per pair ($130 retail) and the last pair made it to 290 miles before end of life, so not terrible.

Despite temps being in upper 70s during our run, I felt great.  To be fair, the humidity was only about 65% so the weather was much better than of late.  With two miles to go, Matthew said if I wanted to run faster I should go for it, and I was feeling good so I picked it up to close in 6:15 and 5:42.

Wednesday:  8

AM:  Westerly, RI.  3 miles at Bradford Preserve, with Brady, mapping out requested course options for Westerly Middle School XC home meets, while no longer utilizing the portion of trail under the current wetlands violations restrictions.

PM:  Stonington, CT.  Stonington XC Fun Run, including course marking, warm-up, and running the race itself.  Brief recap of my own race:

Mile 1:  The first 500 meters is on the track.  Went through the start/finish (400m) in 75 seconds, which is an unsustainable pace for me at about 5-flat, but I stuck it out with the pack.  There are a few grass sections during the rest of the first mile to slow down the pace a bit, but the first mile also has the most road sections, and here the lead pack continued at a very fast pace for me, and I got passed here by a guy in a Bridgewater State singlet, and the five now ahead of me only increased their gap on me.  Mile split 5:51.

Just 100 meters into the race,
as Matthew leads from the start
(Pics by Jana)

2nd lap around the track:
I'm struggling to stay relevant here,
as I'm in 5th place
and I will soon be passed by the guy in the 
red Bridgewater singlet

Mile 2:  This mile is almost entirely trail.  The course has more trail this year and less field, due to incorporating the brand new red trail at the request of Stonington Rec.  This was the right move, as it eliminated both a run around a soccer field always in use as well as more importantly removing the only 2-way traffic section.  The cost to pay is that the new trail (and by extension the new course) is slower as there is additional trail and that trail being newly cut is rougher, as well as has a few mildly technical sections.  I would say that it's slower for everyone, which is true, but apparently favored me, as on the trails I went from 6th position to 2nd.  Early on in the trails Nick sensed me coming up on him (probably by the loud breathing) and graciously moved to the side and pointed for me to go by.  One down.  Immediately ahead of Nick was the red singlet Bridgewater guy.  He didn't seem like he'd be letting me pass of his own volition, and this was pretty tight single-track, but I soon saw an opportunity and took it:  just ahead there were two decent size rocks on the right hand side of the trail.  Correctly deducing that he would take the flat surface to the left of the rocks, I sped up, jumped onto the rocks and quickly vaulted off the rocks back onto the trail in front of him.  It worked!  Two down.  Ran as an island until towards the end of the red trail, when I came up on Dave and just said, "On your left!" and went by.  I almost fell as I went by!  Dave is just such a nice guy that he apologized, but the truth is it was all on me rounding a corner poorly.  Three down.  Red trail ended, and we re-enter the trail with the short but steep hill with a caution sign.  From here on out, the course would remain the same as last year.  Accordingly, we were soon on much wider trail.  I could see Jonny E in near distance, and gradually caught up to him before passing him at the end of the trail.  Mile split 7:16.

Mile 3:  The final mile is back to being fast.  There is a very short section of road, a short section of trail, and the rest is grass and track.  As I start to approach the section going around the pond, I see Matthew at the opposite end of the pond.  He is solidly ahead of me, but I'm just surprised to see him at all.  I remind myself that I passed the four guys during the trail section, and any one of them or all could re-pass me now.  That kept me pushing hard, as I feared someone coming up on me, but wasn't going to waste any valuable time looking back.  The mile was a hard effort for me but I managed to fend off my competitors, as I finished 15 seconds ahead of Jonny.  (I was over a minute behind Matthew who won in 18:27.

400 meters to go.  Pushing hard to stay ahead of Jonny.

Final result:  19:31, 2nd of 46 finishers.  Results here.

Thursday:  10

Westerly, RI.  Low tide beach run with Brady.  This was actually my first time running barefoot the full 10-mile stretch (Weekapaug Breachway to East Beach, Watch Hill, OAB).  And it's mid-August now.  Finished with an obligatory swim in the ocean.  Very refreshing.

Friday:  9

Charlestown, RI.  Rhody reverse loop with Brady, plus tacked on North Camp with a swim in the middle.  So surprised to see so much traffic on the local Charlestown roads on a Friday morning.  Some of it looked like it was for Camp Watchaug.  Glad we got that road mile out of the way first!  Additional swim at boat ramp when we finished.  Unfortunately, there were two young girls that seemed very afraid of Brady.  I get that some people don't like dogs and/or have had bad experiences, so I kept him on a leash until we got to the dock, but I wasn't about to put him on a leash in the water jumping off the dock and swimming!  Sorry, girls.  Their Mom seemed totally fine with Brady and did her best to tell the girls that Brady was fine.

Saturday:  20

Charlestown, RI.  Parked at The Bakery, and mapped out kind of a double-lollipop:  head west with a small loop in Arnolda/Ninigret (8 miles round-trip) and then head east with a small loop in Matunuck Beach section of SK (some of same roads on Run 4 Kerri, but skipping neighborhood).

The run went surprisingly well, especially given humidity north of 90%.  I wore one of the lightest singlets I own, but still very early could feel the dampness and about four miles in I my singlet was just soaked.  Fortunately, the course gave me an opportunity to return to the car 8 miles in and by then I was feeling dehydrated, so a good time to stop, lose the singlet, and get a gel and water.

I saw a few people in Ninigret Park, was surprised on way out to Matunuck to see so many walkers, runners, and riders on Matunuck Schoolhouse Road.  All the walkers and runners said hello, and in keeping true with Mikey B's biker theory, less than half the riders waved or nodded.  I want to be fair in that the ones that did wave and/or nod were exemplary, as one even deliberately rode into traffic in front of a car just to make sure that I had plenty of unobstructed room to run.

I feared getting tired and having issues on the way back in the humidity.  As I reached Mile 15, by now my shorts and even my socks were drenched.  But I trucked on and at a sub-6:45 pace at that.  When I finished up 20 at The Bakery, I was conscious that I was a disgusting sweaty mess in line at The Bakery.  The owner said it must have been a tough run out there, and as a former WTAC runner himself, I doubt he minded my condition.

I was quite dehydrated by now.  Quickly downed an iced latte, a cranberry juice, a scone, and most of the water I had with me before the short drive to Watchaug Pond to jump in and soak.  Not my kind of weather, but I got it done!  6:42 average pace for 20 miles.

Sunday:  7

West Greenwich, RI.  One mile dirt road, six miles trails.  Slept in and drove to Stepstone Falls, as I thought that would be a good place to take a dip at the end of the run and maybe even try the rope swing.  I just feared there would be too many people on a lazy summer Sunday morning.  Wrong on all accounts.  The good news is that very few people were there, but the bad news outweighed the good, as the falls were completely dried up.  There was a pool of water where the rope swing was, but it was about a foot deep at most.  Yeah, this isn't going to work.

Ran down the Ben Utter Trail, and at the base of the trail, there were at least a few pockets of moving water deep enough for Brady to lie down in and cool off.  Ran Breakheart -> Shelter -> Plain Road, where we once again to took a short break for Brady to hydrate and cool over in the river.  On Plain Road, I waved to the only biker I saw, who scowled back at me and then looked away.  I have no idea what was up with that.  Went back via the unnamed (?) trail just west of and parallel to Ben Utter Trail.

Deprived of my own dip (and Brady's) at the falls, I stopped at the check station on Route 165 on the way back.  The Wood River there was very low, but fortunately there was a decent length of a 4' deep section, deep enough and long enough for me to dive under and swim some strokes.  Cool and very refreshing!

Weekly mileage:  76!

Weekly synopsis:  Highest mileage week since Christmas 2018, so certainly quite happy with that.  Also happy to get a 20-miler in.  Eight weeks 'til fall marathon.

Weekly highlight:  Completing the 20-mile training run in average 6:42 pace in spite of horrible humidity.

Weekly lowlight:  Not mixing in any biking or swimming, but clearly the fall marathon is my goal, and triathlons are just a fun distraction for me.

Weekly Log 8-Aug to 14-Aug-2022: Bottone Mile

Monday:  0.5 swim, 9 ride, 6 run

Charlestown, RI.  Triathlon simulation at Burlingame Picnic Area.  First time using triathlon mode on my Fenix 5.  Intuitive and easy to review.  Set "Triathlon" mode to start, then just press "lap" to move through swim, T1, ride, T2, and run.  What was far less easy was getting this activity done in yet another hot and humid day.

Tuesday:  9 run, 1 kayak

AM:  Stonington, CT.  Another super-humid (93%) run.  Even at 8am, it was already close to 80°.  So sick of this weather.  This is about the fifth day in a row, and supposedly the last in this heat wave.  It was my first time ever running on Osbrook Point Road (Matthew arranged the route), and it was pretty neat, but I just couldn't enjoy as I was having trouble breathing the thick air.  Next up was Barn Island Management Area, which was so laden with deerflies that I couldn't wait to get back on the roads.  13 DFKs.  Miserable pests.  I know, a lot of whining on today's post, but it just wasn't my day out there.

PM:  Haven't run with Brady in five days, mostly because I don't want to drag him out on runs in this nasty weather.  I sort of made up for it by taking him to a neighbor's pool to swim, and then for a kayak on Watchaug Pond.

I guess he's content!

Wednesday:  5

AM:  Westerly, RI.  Short and easy run with Brady in Woody Hill, from Fallon Trail.  Shake-out run with the deerflies in tow.  5 DFKs.

PM:  Westerly, RI.  Bottone Mile.  This is the one WTAC event each year that I get the most nervous about.  Not about my own racing, but as Race Director.  There are three events that happen in rapid succession:  1) Children's 1/3 Mile Run, 2) 1-Mile race, and 3) summer youth awards ceremony.  The children's race is by far the easiest of the three and seldom presents issues.  As for the 1-mile race, it's tougher to hand time because so many runners are coming in at the same time, but beyond that, it seems every year we have stragglers that show up at the last minute unregistered and every year I have at least one person that wants to argue with me about something, despite it being a free race.  I enjoy the summer youth awards ceremony, but inevitably every year at least one child and/or their parent(s) is disappointed when an award is not received, and while I'm far from perfect, it's almost always the fault of the parent who didn't check their child in, didn't provide their child's time, and didn't check any of the results online each week, despite my requesting them to do so multiple times verbally and in e-mails.

I totally missed introducing Nick Bottone for his customary remarks.  I did not mean to slight him at all, and I did reach out to him the next day to apologize and let him know it was just my forgetfulness with so much going on.  I need to go back to having cheat sheets of what I want to say as RD.

Don't get me wrong; more than 90% of the runners are positive, complimentary, and appreciative, but that's the backdrop of my stress going into the evening.  Now that I got that rant out of the way :) , here is my own brief race report:

Tonight's course

Started in the second row of the first wave (of two).  The first turn (of four - see map above) is the worst, probably because it's the most crowded and also because it's a tight narrow turn onto the busiest road of the course (Atlantic Ave).  Turning again quickly off Atlantic onto Crandall, at 1/4 mile in, I am already in oxygen debt and will be breathing hard and loud for the rest of the race.  I resist any urge to check my watch, which maybe I should have as it looks like my slowest section.  It's flat and fast here, so I can't exactly understand my slowdown.  Maybe it's just subconscious.

  

Start of race.  It looks like I quickly dropped back to about the 
3rd row.

I am in blue cap on far right.

The next and final two turns are easy to negotiate as you can cut as wide an arc as you want.  I catch up to both Nick and Steve deCastro, who urges me on with "let's go, Jeff; only 400 meters left".  I pass Nick and give chase to Steve.  It's good to have that carrot in front of me, as even though I do not catch him, it propels me along quickly.

Sprinting into the finish, I can sense someone
right behind me.  My guess is it is Nick,
but as you can see it is Tom. 
Pushing a double stroller!  Wow.

Final results:  5:12!  Full results here.  My fastest road mile ever!  Three seconds off my track mile.

Thursday:  18 run, 1 walk

AM:  Westerly, RI.  Coastal run.  I struggle in the heat and humidity (mid 70s and 94%).  I had put a $10 bill in my shorts, and I'm glad I did, as I stop for a break in Watch Hill to get an iced coffee and catch my breath.  Not one of my better long runs, but I got it done.

PM:  Westerly, RI.  Easy pre-dinner walk with Brady at Avondale Farm Preserve.

Friday:  11

AM:  Richmond, RI.  6-mile run with Brady at Baker Pines section of Arcadia.  Disappointingly overgrown on several sections of NST.  The only ones we saw out there was John Kostrzewa, who writes a weekly series in the Sunday Providence Journal on trails in Rhode Island.  I had met him before and supplied some info for his Wahaneeta / Woody Hill write-up, so I stopped and talked to him for a few minutes.

PM:  Groton, CT.  5 miles at the Groton Fun Run (Bluff Point State Park), including a cool-down with Dave.  Attendance was pretty light, but I think that was because a number of regulars were up in Vermont this week for the "100 on 100" relay.  In past years I would make a number of these, but this year this might be the only one.

Saturday:  11

Charlestown, RI.  Extended Rhody loop with Brady, including Burlingame Trail, Wildlife Trail, and North Camp.  Swim at North Camp.  Absolutely no one else out there.

Sunday:  7 run, 0.5 swim, 11 ride

East Lyme, CT.  Niantic Bay Triathlon.  Brief separate write-up to follow.

Weekly mileage:  66 run, 1 swim, 20 ride, 1 kayak, 1 walk

Weekly synopsis:  Quite a mix of physical activities for me this week.  And I still managed to get in a long run as well.  Good stuff.

Weekly highlight:  Best accomplishment was notching a new 1-mile road PR.  Most fun event was the Niantic Bay Tri.

Weekly lowlight:  Just the stress at the Bottone Mile.  But it's behind me now.