Elevation: Week of 10-28 to 11-3

I joined an elevation challenge on Strava, so I'm going for hills this week, mostly on trails, I hope!  Monday marks day 3 of the 10 day challenge, and my goal is to get at least 1,000 meters for the week.  Should be able to pull it off,  and still have something in the legs for the Tarzan Brown race next weekend.  My second time running it, and I'm hoping to go sub-40 minutes for the 5.5 mile race.  Elevation also means helping to elevate my friends, and we'll be helping Nicole on Tuesday in her quest for her first marathon finish!

Monday, 10-28 - 2 Miles (Trails) - Lisbon cross country trails before Sophia's game.  The trails they use at their rec. area for XC are outstanding.  Unmarked, but clear, rolling singletrack, and just technical enough to make it interesting.  Good stuff!  Short on time, but worthwhile.

Tuesday, 10-29 - 20+ Miles (Road) - Pacing Nicole http://runningwhilemommy.blogspot.com/ for her last long run before the Philly Marathon.  Met at Nicole's place, along with Stephanie, who ran the first 4+ miles with us.  Rhode Island moment?  Stephanie just moved back to Rhody, and was a Chariho graduate, and went to school with a few of my WTAC brethren!  Small world, small state!  Nicole wanted to keep an 11 minute pace, so we went out a bit faster than that, even sub-10 for a while.  We chatted, hit our first water stop at mile 4 (Thanks Lori!), and met up with Jenn at mile 6-ish. Jenn was going to do 6, but ended up staying with us for the rest of the run.  Very impressive!

We ran all the way to the Point Judith lighthouse, paused for a photo op...

Trying to take a picture with my dumb phone...

...then turned around and headed back, straight into a brisk breeze for the next 7+ miles.  Nicole hung in there, and scored her longest run ever!  We were also able to finish the 20 in under 4 hours, giving Nicole a big confidence boost and a legit shot at finishing Philly in under 5...a good day!!!



Wednesday, 10-30 - 0 Miles - Planned zero after yesterday's 20-miler.  1 hour karate class with some kumite (sparring), self-defense and conditioning.  Good stuff.

Thursday, 10-31 - 3+ Miles (Trail/Road) - Lantern Hill short run.  I'd really like to get that 1K meter badge, and Lantern Hill is my best option for short, steep trail runs.  Bottom to top, it's about 300 feet of rocky, technical vertical gain.  Love it there:

Past the uprights, it's quite a long way down :)

Friday, 11-1 - 0 Miles.

Saturday, 11-2 - 5 Miles (Trail) - High Ledges section of Narragansett Trail with Jim.  Out and back from the Wyassup Lake boat launch, including a second for me run up the High Ledges segment.  Strava gipped me, though, as I was clearly faster on the second run, and had the same pace as the CR holder (Jonny), but 30 seconds slower?  And only 5 seconds faster than my first run?  I know the effort was definitely there, though.  Great scenery out there, just incredible, and some really good climbs/descents...

Wyassup Lake

High Ledges

Jim at High Ledges

Sunday, 11-3 - 7+ Miles (Road) - 38th Annual Tarzan Brown 5.5 Mile Road Race (and warmup/cooldown), Mystic, CT.  One of the bigger, more historic road races in the area...my result last year vs. this year:

2012 - 192nd Place (of 641), 42:32 @ 7:44 pace

2013 - 115th Place (of 715), 39:30 @ 7:10 pace

Couldn't be more happy with the results!  3 full minutes off last year...

Showed up to a chilly race day, and opted for a long sleeve shirt, hat and gloves.  Overdressed by mile 2!  Got to the race registration, and as I had to park 1/2 mile away, used the distance as a good excuse for a warmup.  Ran into a bunch of people before the race - WTAC'ers Paul G., Steve S., Jeff V., Way, BLS and more!  Glad to see Beth there, I knew she had a mental score to settle after last week...

Race starts, after some confusion about where to line up, and we're off!  I get boxed in and run my slowest mile before the crowd starts to thin.  Great support from the spectators at this race - especially the guy with the old-timey car horn at mile 1.5, and the people at mile 2.5 with the beers, who thought I was swooping in for a high five then realized I was trying to swipe a beer!  Laughs all around :)

I knew there'd be a tailwind after the turn, so my goal was to run smartly, negative-split the back end, and try to go sub-40 minutes.  Mission accomplished!  Came across at 39:30, exactly where I'd wanted to.  Getting pretty good at pacing correctly for goal times, and relying less on the running app and more on how I feel.  Cool stuff.  Was chatting with a number of people after the race, and realized Beth was due to cross the line.  Got there just in time, too!  Snagged two shots of Beth, pulling off a 49:52 @ 9:04, and looking strong at the line:

BLS, ya'll!!!

I was feeling blah about going out in chilly, cloudy and windy-ish conditions until I got there.  Had low expectations after a higher than average mileage week, and surpassed my goal!  Have one more little challenge to take care of tomorrow (elevation), and then chill until next weekend's 6 Hour Ultra!