I have the State Police 5k Foot Pursuit this Sunday in Narragansett, which is one of my "legacy" races, meaning I've run it every year since I started doing races, and don't ever plan on missing it. It's also a WTAC team race, and we've won it the last few years (no thanks to me, I confess!). Past results below:
2010 - #190 - 26:17 @ 8:28
2011 - #333 - 27:20 @ 8:48
2012 - #226 - 24:30 @ 7:55
2013 - #164 - 23:39 @ 7:37
2014 - #81 - 22:22 @ 7:12
Plenty of room for improvement. More interesting, though, is that this Saturday, the day before the Foot Pursuit race, is the inaugural Chikumbuso 10k in North Stonington. I'm interested in this race because it's right up the street from my house! I can do a warmup to the race, run the race, and do a cooldown run back to the house. Sweet. Going to be a tough race though, it starts/finishes at the top of a hill, so the last mile of the race is a steady uphill climb. Looking forward to it!
Monday, 4-20 - 0 Miles. Work day, and a day to stalk some friends' progress at the Boston Marathon! It was gross out anyway, I don't think I would have gone out anyway...kudos to those who did!
Tuesday, 4-21 to Friday, 4-24 - 0 Miles. What the??? Worked three days in Waterford ripping out an old, 30+ foot front porch and replacing all of it, including the joists. One day in Wallingford helping to install new stone-paneled shower stall, heavy stuff. No motivation at the end of each day to run.
Saturday, 4-25 - 8 Miles. Trail warmup, and First Annual Chikumbuso 10k Challenge. 46:55 @ 7:34 pace. 7th OA, 1st in age group! Results here:
http://www.coolrunning.com/results/15/ct/Apr25_Chikum_set1.shtml
To say that I'm pleased with the results would be an understatement. Colburn called me on Friday, and mentioned that the race would start at the Grange and end at Jonathan Edwards winery, and thus would include two runs up Chester Main Road, once at the start and once at the finish. Crap. I quickly mapped it on Strava, and it looked to be about 700' of elevation gain. This was gonna be a tough race.
I arrived early and ran into some of my WTAC crew, including Denise, Rose, Buddy and Way, who was emceeing as usual. I did a short warmup on the Hewitt Farm trails around the corner and before I knew it, we were lining up to race. The race also included a 1.5 mile fun run, and a 3 person relay, so I figured what the Hell, line up in front. Paul G. taps me on the shoulder and wishes me luck, asks me what my goal was. I really didn't have one, as it's a hilly course that I've run, but not raced.
Way yells "GO!" and we're off. The lead guy takes off like a shot and is quickly way out ahead. I'm in a group of 4-5 runners, and find myself in 2nd place for a bit? Huh? Did I go out too fast or something??? Very odd feeling for me to be in 2nd, if even for a couple of minutes, so when I got passed by a couple of people, I felt a bit more comfortable. Weird.
After the first climb, I felt good, and really enjoyed the descent down Chester Main. The rest of the course was hilly but rolling, not steep, and at the final climb up Chester Main, there were about 5 of us within seconds of each other, but I didn't enough gas in the tank to make a final charge to catch them. Really happy with my results though!!!
Awards presentation
Great awards, too!
WTAC at the Chikumbuso 10k
Swag! Made in Africa! And I got a gift card to the Engine Room for winning my age group, sweet!!!!
Sunday, 4-26 - RISP Foot Pursuit 5k. 1.6 Mile warmup with Jeff, and the race. Results? 44th of 725, 4th AG, 21:08 @ 6:49 pace. Sweet! I took 1:14 off my time from last year's course PR, and Strava had me clocked at my fastest 5k to date! Not bad for the second race of the weekend!!! I had a great time at this race, I always do. It's such a fun atmosphere. It's a big race but not too big, takes place along the ocean, and always has the best cookout and great awards. Kathy Robbins and her team at TriMom Productions does a fantastic job putting on these events!!!
I arrived with Colburn (we carpooled), and we quickly got checked in at the pavilion. I ran a short warmup with Jeff to assess the wind, and it looked like the last mile would be a headwind. Nice. I got prepped, said hello to a bunch of friends and familiar faces (including superstar photographer and friend George Ross), and geared up for the race. Cool weather but I opted for a singlet, LVL Renner beanie and gloves.
I went out steady, and maybe lined up a bit too far back, and maybe some people lined up too far forward? Never learn. I lined up in the front row yesterday and did great, right?
Mile 1 was a 6:53. Mile 2? 6:53 also, pretty damn consistent. Turning onto Ocean Road for the last mile, my legs felt done, and I felt slower, but I was a 6:37, and finished well!
After I crossed the finish line, I changed up and grabbed a burger, chatted a bit and snapped a picture of Colburn crossing the finish line:
Colburn's finish!
Waited for the results and I came in 4th in my age group, one second behind the third dude. WTAC Men won the team event again! For our efforts, we each won a $150 credit for any TriMom events, so free races! Sweet!!!
All in all, a great day and great weekend. I greatly exceeded my expectations for the 10k, and was still able to perform well the next day at the 5k. Depending on my work schedule in the coming week, I'll try to get some technical trail time in as a trainer for 7 Sisters...
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