Weekly Log 10-22 to 10-28

Monday, 10-22 - 0 - Damn you, chafing!!!

Tuesday, 10-23 - 0 - Soreness is almost gone!  Back at it in a day or two.

Wednesday, 10-24 - 0 -Morning karate class, and...that's it.  Too much to do here at the house.  Plans to do a trail run with two of my karate training partners tomorrow...

Thursday, 10-25 - 0 - Plans fell through, just as well though since I have an appraisal on a refi on Friday, house getting power washed today, and a tremendous amount of things to do here...get that done, a short run on Friday and Saturday, FOP 5K on Sunday, still think I'll blow my PR outta the water...

Friday, 10-26 - 3.5 (Road) - Out and back from the house.  Felt good to be able to get a few miles in today - legs felt good, and I was even able to do some pole-to-pole sprints on the second mile.  Going to shoot for the same thing tomorrow.  Gorgeous day, hard to believe there's such a large storm headed this way.  We'll see how the trails look after it passes...

Saturday, 10-27 - 0 - Family day, and decided not to run anyway.  Last minute Stormageddon prep (i.e. stocking up on beer, etc.) and race tomorrow...

Sunday, 10-28 - 6 (Road) - The Charlestown FOP 5K Road Race, or as it's now known, "Halloween Hot Pursuit."  I ran this race two years ago and came in at 25:28, at an 8:12 average.  It's a flat, fast track in the Ninigret State Park, and although the course seems to change year to year, it's the same terrain and a good "PR" race.  Very gusty winds this morning, Hurricane Sandy precursors I guess, and upper 50s.  I wasn't feeling a PR when I got there, so after checking in and running into Jeff (and Jana and Matthew), Mike B., Jonny, Muddy and Seth, I went for a 1-mile warmup, and felt pretty good.  Race starts, and I get to mile one in 7:54.  I opted to run without my GPS today - first time in a while and nice to not be tempted to check my time.  OK, maybe if I pick it up I can still get a PR?

I never saw a second mile marker, but I was slowly picking people off, especially when we hit a headwind because it wasn't bothering me.  I really picked up the pace the last half mile, passing a few more right before the final turn, and then saw Jeff and Mike, who started yelling for me to finish strong.  When I saw the time, I was elated, and officially crossed the line in 22:52, at a 7:22 pace, beating my PR for any 5K ever by over a minute.  Came in 25th!  100% sure that this is a direct result of all the long trail runs I put in...I think I probably could have pushed even harder today too.  Congrats to WTAC'ers Muddy, Jonny, Jeff, Mike, Matthew, and Seth, nearly all of whom hit personal bests today, and took up some real estate in the top 10.  Great job all, and beer money for some!  A great day all around.  Quick 2-ish mile cooldown with the WTAC team, and then on my way to see some football.