Post-Ultra reset (and race week again???): Week of 11-10 to 11-16

So I ran 32.4 miles in 5:39 officially on Sunday (or 31.4, if you go with the space watch), and while I was stepping gingerly and walking a bit funny Sunday afternoon/evening, my recovery time for these races has gotten shorter, so I'm confident about the coming week.  Next up?  Our WTAC's own Li'l Rhody Runaround, now in its 23rd year.  As trail races go, there aren't that many out there with as much of a legacy, I'd wager, and it's a good one!  We have some world-class trail runners around these parts, and the battle this year is shaping up to be epic (again, depending on who shows)...word on the street is there may even be a Turtle invasion...shhhh!  Also, in the underground, a certain road running boss has been hitting trails with our local fast dudes...and if he showed up that would shake things up for sure!  OK, there's my TMZ moment, I'll shut up now ;)

So Li'l Rhody: I have a couple of years under my belt at this race: a 1:07 last year, and a 1:12 in 2012.  The last two years, I've worked the pre-reg. table with Jana, the WTAC's photojournalist extraordinaire, and normally I skip the warmup in favor of just winging it.  That said, I'm hoping to go out fast and early this year, and beat the bottleneck that happens at the first section of singletrack...so I'm lining up in front, bitches!!!  Don't trample me!

I'm also going to try to get faster as 2014 closes its doors.  I've said it before, but I really would like to get faster at the short distance races...like sub-20 5k fast, I'd be good with that...

Monday, 11-10 - 0 Miles - DUH!!!  But it was super nice out, and I really wanted to run, but held off.  By the way, I may or may not lose a toenail.  Jury is still out, but it's the middle toe on my left foot, gave me problems Sunday, and is a completely different color from the other piggies...also, it feels like I hit it with a hammer.  Fun!  No idea how it happened.

Tuesday, 11-11 - 5 Miles (Road) - Mystic recovery run?  My legs still felt a bit sore, but I had to go to Mystic, so I figured I'd test the water (and legs).  Success!  I started slow, on flat streets, dipped a toe into the easy hills away from the river, and picked up the pace gradually.  The legs were heavy at first, and got better as the run progressed, and things turned into a progression run of sorts.  I dropped a low 7 in the last mile (fast for me), and felt really good!  Not bad for two days later...shit, if I ever took this all seriously...

Wednesday, 11-12 - 3.3 Miles (Track) - Westerly HS track.  After karate class my friend and classmate Lori R. asked our instructor if he could time her 3-mile run today, the last component in her 3rd degree black belt test.  He had a private lesson scheduled, so of course I volunteered to time and pace her run.  Did a slow warmup lap, then got her into a low-9 minute pace and kept it there the whole time.  27:24 by my watch, with splits of 9:16/9:01/9:07.  Great job, Lor!

Thursday, 11-13 - 6.3 Miles Trail/Road mix) - Mystic run.  The Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center recently acquired a sweet 34-acre piece of property facing the river, the Coogan Farm property, and had mentioned plans in a press release to build connector trails to their existing DPNC property.  This is a historic piece of land which they have big plans for, and I'd encourage anyone who finds themselves down there to check it out!  They're even setting aside a sponsored 2 acres for locals, who can volunteer to help their community by growing food to donate to local food banks!  Check out the plans for the property here:

http://dpnc.org/coogan-farm-maps/

I parked downtown and ran the mile to the new site, where I happened to run into Craig, the guy who works for them and builds the trails.  He seemed pretty excited that I was looking to run the trails, and gave me a brief rundown on the work he'd done so far.  No blazes, but he'd put down branches aside the trails to guide people, ribboned some others, and some of them were just obvious.  I made it over to the connection with the yellow trail, took a quick spin through a couple of the proper trails, and backtracked to the river, finishing down past the Seaport Museum.  Totally opens up more options in Mystic for trail running!  Love it!!!

Friday, 11-14 - 0 Miles.

Saturday, 11-15 - 2 Miles (Trail) - Short Canonchet trail run. - I knew about this Nature Conservancy property, which borders a number of other trails I frequent.  I was looking to cruise a couple miles, and in typical Rhode Island fashion I saw one person the whole time, but it was somebody I knew!  Hillary, a good friend of mine and Muay Thai training partner who was out walking her dog.  Awesome, and after chatting briefly, I was off.  I only did the yellow to blue trail loop, but it was just enough, I think.

Sunday, 11-16 - Li'l Rhody Runaround - 8 Miles (Trail) - Big PR, separate writeup to follow!