Weekly Log 8-5 to 8-11

The Kerri race is in the books, and I now have a ton of new short-distance PRs to beat!  The weather this morning is cool and perfect, low 60s and low humidity, and reminds me that I need to seriously start looking at the Fall racing season, and perhaps settle on a long-distance race.  I'm signed up for the Surftown 1/2, but beyond that I don't have a marathon commitment yet.  Still thinking about Nipmuck, think I could smash my time from last year (6:15)...what to do, what to do...I know my training is loads better than it was, but still much to improve on.  Either way, there's still time to decide.  For now?  Miles...trail and road, but more trails if possible!  Oh, and the beach :)

Monday, 8-5 - 0 Miles - 1 hour karate, stretching, and dismantling the heavy cedar playground in the backyard, which was solidly built, to say the least:

Coming down, but had a good run...damn thing is heavy, too!

Going to try to use the wood for something else, and definitely keeping the hardware for other projects.  In its place will be a circular fire pit, with a stone path from the deck.  Details to follow.  In the evening I got out my etched Bimbler's Bluff 50K finisher's pint glass (designed by the fabulous Cathi Bosco!), poured in an ice cold Lagunitas IPA and gave some more thought to the Fall marathon possibilities...

"Implausible is Possible..."

Tuesday, 8-6 - 3.1 Miles (Road) - Dogwatch Fun Run with local friends/runners.  Love the fun and friendly atmosphere at this fun run in Stonington Borough.  Got to the Dogwatch Cafe in plenty of time, and ran into quite a few familiar faces.  Chatted, and skipped the warmup run, as some-body said there wasn't time...went out easy and took it easy, and even with a stitch in my side at mile 2.25? I ended in 23-change...not setting the world on fire, but not slacking either.  

After the run, on my way to change shirts (so as not to offend the straights on the deck), this dude cruises up to me and starts asking me about the Westerly Track Club...I talk to him for a bit, and then he says "Oh, my name's Amby."  Oh, as in Amby Burfoot???  Ummm...my name's Mike. So we walk and talk local running, the club (dammit!  where's my applications!), all kinds of small talk about where we're both from and how we both ended up here.  The winner of the 1968 Boston Marathon and, more recently, Runner's World writer/editor/documentarian is asking me stuff about the local running scene, since he recently moved back here...does it get much cooler than that?  Well, no, no it doesn't, and I was probably jabbering away, per my usual, but he didn't seem to mind.  Next up?  Drinks on the deck, talking races with complete strangers, great time!  Hung out with BLS and her post-weekend cooldown run/decompression; Mike B. who did track work this morning and still ran a 20:02; and local legend Colburn, among others, who might be running the Bobby Doyle race on Sunday with me.  Great night!  And thanks again to Heather and Stephen Bessette, another awesome running Bessette family, for organizing this series.  To have local residents standing on their decks cheering on people at a fun run is something great to see, and much appreciated!!!  Great night.

Wednesday, 8-7 - 7.5 Miles (Road/Beach) - Misquamicut roads to beach, beach to Watch Hill, roads back to Misquamicut loop with Jonny E.  Jonny, one of our local fast kids, asked if I was up for a run this week, so I said sure, why not?  Met down at his neighborhood and made the run down to Misquamicut - it was high tide, but we decided to run the beach 2 miles or so to Watch Hill, then hit roads for the trip back.  Good weather today, although more humid than previous days.  We kept a conversational pace and talked throughout the run, very cool.  You have to appreciate the commitment of a teenager who chooses to train consistently.  Great run!

 

Officially registered for the Bobby Doyle race, 5K option.  Was on the fence about whether to do the 5M or 5K until I talked to Colburn at the fun run, and he said he'd be interested in running it.  Should be a great way to start the day on Sunday, 9 a.m. start!

Thursday, 8-8 - 0 Miles - Weight training and stretching.

Friday, 8-9 - 5 Miles (Trail/Dirt Roads) - Green Falls to Dinosaur Caves to Hidden Lake loop with Jonny E.  Pouring rain, instantly soaked and muddy, good times!  Easily one of my favorite places to run, technical, scenic, and the distance of the loop can be adjusted according to how many miles you're looking for.  Jonny hadn't been out here to run before, it's definitely a different type of trail but I'm pretty sure he liked it:



Saturday, 8-10 - 0 Miles - Beach day, ready for a run, but our wave drought has ended!  Surfed chest high beachbreak closeouts, for about an hour until the wind came onshore.  Drop in, make the turn and get destroyed.  Good stuff.  Lots of paddling against the current, too, just to stay West of the No Surfing zone at Seaside.

Sunday, 8-11 - 4 Miles (Road) - Warmup/Bobby Doyle 5K - See separate write-up!