Week of 4-7 to 4-13

Monday, 4-7 - 3.1 Miles (Road) - After karate class, I decided to go down to Misquamicut and run the new, agreed upon Clamdigger 5K course, which is basically an out-and-back, with a short section on a side street.  My run turned into a progression run, and I think I can maintain a zippy pace for the 5 mile race.  If I can come in around 36 minutes, like a 7:10-7:15 pace, I'll be pretty stoked...

Tuesday, 4-8 - 0 Miles.

Wednesday, 4-9 - 3 Miles (Trail/Road) - Rock Spring Preserve, Scotland, CT.  I was on my way to a completely different trail system when I spotted this Nature Conservancy property and decided to check it out instead.  The trail basically winds downhill to the Little River, then it's all uphill to an overlook, with a bunch of side trails.  Great day to be outdoors!

Saw this on my way out :)

Thursday, 4-10 - 1.6 Miles (Surf!) - Surfed shoulder high Conant Avenue at Point Judith, with only a couple other people out.  Warm-ish, windy, and really nice to be in the water...felt loose and comfortable today.

Conant, clear lineup!  Nobody out...

In the evening, I joined some of the WTAC gang for a victory beer tasting/tour at Grey Sail Brewing in Westerly, RI, put together by club member and race director extraordinaire Mike Galoob, in honor of the team winning the Fourth Season trail race series!  Thanks Mike!!!  After the tour, we headed over to a local pizza joint for dinner.  Great time!

Celebrating the trail series win!  Photo by 5k's phone :)

Friday, 4-11 - 3+ Miles (Roads) - "Dog Jog" run plus "Return to Lantern Hill"...First run?  Our dog Henry is finally getting the hang of running alongside me, and not stopping to sniff things every 5 feet.  Went up Fowler Road from the house and back, a bit over a mile, and he did great!

Second run?  I'm back on Lantern Hill, wolf dogs be damned...I was sweating like a bastard up there today, and 2+ miles felt like a 10K.  What the Hell, I loved it anyway :)





Saturday, 4-12 - 1.6 Miles (Trails) - Short Lantern Hill jaunt.  After a whirlwind Spring cleaning session, including a dump run, dropoff at the Jonnycake Center, and relieving the Home Depot of a large portion of their mulch, I was able to fit in a short run.  The weather was picture perfect today, Lori and I even took a short nap in the hammock in the backyard!  It felt so nice out, we decided to have lobster and steamers for dinner.  Lori called in the order and I made for Lantern Hill before the pickup deadline.

When I arrived, a man and his two boys were just coming down.  I got to talking with them, and they offered me a few treasures from the Hill:

Two nice pieces of milky quartz, and a third (back right) I can't identify?

I'm talking to this guy, and he looks up the hill and nods at a guy jogging down the hill with his son and says "Hey, he's going pretty fast, that's not very safe...", to which I replied "Um, I know who that is, he's fine..." and here comes Ben Nephew, total coincidence.  A short NT recon session for Ben, who's doing an out-and-back run on the CT section.  Chatted for a bit, and as I was trying out my nephew's GoPro camera, I realized I must have looked like a total idiot with it on top of my head.  Or maybe it was an improvement from my usual look...?  Either way, here's the descent (and it's my very first video upload, so don't bust my stones), which is also now a segment on Strava...Gazelle it!  Just don't slip, though, it's steeper than it looks!!!!

Clamdigger tomorrow :)

Sunday, 4-13 - 6+ Miles (Road) - Warmup, Cooldown, and the 33rd Annual Clamdigger 5 Mile Road Race.  My result in 2012?  79th place in 42:32 @8:30 pace...

Busy morning setting up, I met up with the WTAC crew just after 9, and we unloaded all the gear and got set up.  All signs pointed to a record turnout, with 139 already pre-registered for the races.  Once everything was set up, I went out for a very short, easy 1 mile warmup, and felt a slight stitch about a half mile in.  Hmmm...we'll see how I feel when the race starts.

We realized before the race started that one of the burners needed to heat the chowder wasn't working, and that runners would be coming in before it was warm enough...something to think about for 5 miles, which I did.

I was chilly before the race started, but opted for shorts and a singlet, and my fleece hat.  Looked around for BLS, who was MIA?  Hmmm...I'll get the lowdown later.  Once the race started, I settled into a low 7 pace, waiting for the stitch to return, but it didn't.  I saw Paul Gray up ahead, and caught up with him.  We stayed together for miles 2 and 3, and I slowly pulled away, in an effort to catch this dude in a grayish shirt who had passed me.  It took until mile 4.5 but I caught him, stayed with him until the last bit of the race and he pulled away again.  Crossed the line officially at 36:39 @7:20 pace, good for 29th place!  Shaved a big chunk of time off, for sure, and was able to PR nicely at this unusual distance...

Great numbers by the WTAC crew, and an awesome turnout of 220 or so runners and some walkers!

For the record, the chowder was awesome...