Big River Half Marathon Week...

OK, here we go:  the week of the epic Big River Half...this should be interesting.  I'm running almost exclusively on trails right now, and obviously that's going to be a huge help...

Monday, 3-25 - 1.6 Miles (Trail) - Exploratory drive-time check of the Northern Yawgoog scout property. Taking the back roads from my house gets me to this entire network of awesome trails in less than ten minutes!  After karate this morning, and taking care of a bunch of daily stuff, I had just enough time to go scope this spot out.  Bumpy dirt road drive to the RI/CT border (see pictures below, really the border), where the Narragansett Trail crosses into Rhode Island.  Down the road a bit is Hidden Lake, and the Northernmost Camp Yawgoog trails.  With limited time I had to cut the run short to go meet the bus, but I'll be out there tomorrow...

I'm in Rhode Island...

...and Connecticut!

Hidden Lake, the white trail wraps all the way around...

Many, many cool possibilities here...

Tuesday, 3-26 - 7+ Miles (Trail) - Big River recon runs, 4 on the "Triple Pink Dot" trail, and 3 on the Tarbox Pond trails.  This race is going to be crazy, from what I've seen so far...good running weather today, and the Sun even came out for a bit!  Great mellow single-track on the first run, and good, hilly technical trail on the second.  Needless to say, I'm really impressed with Big River, haven't even scratched the surface of the trails there and looking forward to the half this weekend:

Lots of this on Saturday...

Wednesday, 3-27 - 3 Miles (Trail) - Hidden Lake, Yawgoog white and yellow trails.  Awesome, scenic technical trails that wrap around the lakes of Camp Yawgoog.  Degree of difficulty much higher in places than the Strava stats would lead you to believe.  Really cool stuff, and mid-fifties, shorts and t-shirt weather!

Sun!

Wrapping around the ponds

Zero elevation?

Rock face across the pond

OLD log bridge

Great spot.  More exploration to come here, definitely...

Thursday, 3-28 - 0 - If my "Upcoming Races" list looks thin, it's because of a widespread issue with the blogger, where additions can't be saved and an error message pops up.  In my infinite wisdom, I thought deleting the list and starting it over would work, which is why the "Run With the Beavers" race I just signed up for is the only one on the list!  Good times...

Friday, 3-29 - 5 Miles (Trail) - Barn Island trails with Gazelle and FiveK.  Perfect morning, and I think I've officially retired the running tights for the season.  Met up at 8, brilliant sunshine and a light breeze coming across the water.  Barn Island is a great spot, but as it's all unmarked trails, I'd be hopelessly lost without a guide.  This was a perfect distance for the day before Big River:

View from Barn Island trails

FiveK's excited about Big River tomorrow...

Saturday, 3-30 - 12+ Miles (Trails) - Warmup, cooldown, and most of the Big River Trail Half Marathon course.

"Well, sure, he plays well with others, but he's not so good at following directions..."

I arrived an hour early for the race, which I never do, and immediately ran into pretty much everyone I expected to see there.  Got registered, and got my fancy race bib with my name, WTAC logo, and a special "5 race finisher" logo printed on it.  My name on a race bib?  Must have mistaken me for an "elite" runner...

Quick warmup on the opening stretch of trail with Gazelle, FiveK and David S., and then we lined up.  Eric B., Yvonne R., Beth L. and a few other friendly faces said hello, and then we're off.  I felt really good today, and looking at my numbers I'm pretty sure I could have come in sub- 2:00...alas, that was not to be, as we (myself and two other runners) missed a turn around mile 5, then backtracked several times, picking up more  wayward souls along the way...  

I think there were six or seven of us total that meandered along, both off course and on, and finally came across the finish line at exactly 9 miles.  Funny thing?  I was itching to get back out and get some more trail time in...ultimately, My time was 1:37, including a long stop to try to map out where we were, so I'm happy with my results, even if they won't officially be counted.  Did a quick cooldown with a couple of new friends, including one who ran the TARC race last year and gave me a review of the course.  And it was great to get to see everyone.  Mike puts on a great race, there's a great running scene going on in our little corner of the world, and there was even a Muddy Puddin' sighting!

I look at it this way:  If I'm going to get a DQ, I'd rather it be because I was out on the trail, with friends, on the best weather day we've had in at least six months, having a great time and happened to miss a turn, know what I mean?  Great day, great time...looking forward to ramping up the miles for the next couple weeks, the Clamdigger, and enjoying Spring!  Finally!!!

Sunday, 3-31 - 3.5 Miles (Road) - Breezy out-and-back from the house.  Nothing special, first time off trails in a while, though, which was different, and with a short window in between family engagements I was able to get in a few miles and hit my weekly goal of 30+ miles.  Sweet.  Wasn't sore at all from yesterday's romp in the woods, either!  Great way to close out the Big River week.