TARC 50K and Foot Pursuit 5K Week? What the Hell? Dummy?

So here we are at the TARC (Trail Animals Running Club) 50K week...I plan on giving the TARC race everything I have, but I love the Foot Pursuit race and had already signed up for TARC when they posted their date.  Can I do them back-to-back?  Well, shit, I suppose now that I've worked out several issues that came up at my first 50K (poor training, horrible shoe selection, not listening to Gazelle about that anti-chafing stuff), I can at least give myself a fighting chance to not blow up after mile 20...and I'll be on a loop course getting lapped (and most likely heckled to no end) by some of my WTAC crew, so that's cool too.  By the way, is it considered bad form to fill a CamelBak with beer?  Just kidding...

My difficulty walking the day after the Bimbler's race had a lot to do with chafing, not soreness, so I'm hopeful I can complete both.  I can't imagine anything other than showing up for the Foot Pursuit race and giving it a go...of course, all this is pure speculation, and the "crash-and-burn" factor at the TARC is always lurking in my psyche, waiting to pounce...

Monday, 4-22 - 3.5 Miles (Trails) - Beebe Pond Preserve, Noank, CT.  Post-karate class run. Happy Earth Day!!!  Nice, breezy day to check out another set of trails just outside Mystic.  Turns out, there's an adjoining Avalonia property that connects its trails, but I missed the connector.  Lots of unmarked spurs off the main trail, and pretty technical in the spots closest to the pond.  Cool spot!

View from the far side of the pond

Tuesday, 4-23 - 4.5 Miles (Trail/Dirt Road) - Nayantaquit Trail, Nehantic State Forest, Lyme CT.  Nayantaquit's Native American translation is "points of land on tidal stream", just a fun fact I'm throwing out there.  Seriously good climbs here in Eric B. territory - I scoped this trail out a couple of weeks ago, but hadn't had a chance to get over there.  Great elevation for a short distance, and a great workout.  Nice trails too - some good technical stuff, and I think the grade hit 20% at one point.  By my estimation, runs like this are to my benefit going into the TARC race, which on paper looks to be relatively flat?  We'll soon see!



Wednesday, 4-24 - 0 Miles - 1 hour karate, and assorted odds and ends at the casa...

Thursday, 4-25 - 2 hours surfing Conant Avenue.   Once the sun came out and the wind went light northwest, I was in the water.  Waist to chest high, clean and nobody out.  Nobody.  Take a wave, paddle back out to the lineup, and repeat.  Saved my legs today but my arms are jelly from all the paddling :)

Right before it really cleaned up

     PM - WTAC Scholarship application review, Malted Barley...I'll have nightmares about the "rubric" for years, I'm sure...4 hours of reading, grading and judging our applicants' skills, and discussing my impending doom on Saturday...good times!

Friday, 4-26 - 0 Miles - CT Science Center field trip...well 0 miles officially, but that damn place was all stairs!  Three zeros in a row?  Yes.  Method to my madness.  We'll see if it pays off.  Either way, should be cool tomorrow, lots of WTAC presence at this race and the potential for epic conditions...just have to drag my ass outta bed early enough :)

Saturday, 4-27 - 20 Miles (Trail) - TARC Spring Classic 50K.  First official DNF ever, see separate post...

Sunday, 4-28 - 3.1 Miles (Road) - Rhode Island State Police Foot Pursuit 5K - Separate post coming shortly...