Bearathon to Back Road Ramble - Week of 5-27 to 6-2

Monday, 5-27 - 4 Miles (Road) - Warmup and 5th Annual Mystic Bearathon.  21:58, 19th place total.  Stoked about my result here, after nursing a screwed-up lower back last week, and doing 11.5 miles in Grills yesterday with Seth and Muddy...pulled into the lot and ran into Mike B. immediately, got registered and said hello to Way, my karate friend Steve and his girl, and a few other familiar faces.  And who's the other guy in a WTAC singlet?  Turns out it's Roy Moran, who came over and introduced himself.  Got to talk to him for a few, and then did a short warmup with Mike.

The gun goes off and I felt tight, but kept a steady pace.  The course is pancake flat for 90% of the time, and my time at mile one was 7:00 on the nose.  OK, better than I expected.  Saw Mike twice on the out-and-back course, and was able to get a high-five in.  Tried to pick it up on the tail end of the race, and ended up missing my PR by two seconds!  Of course, I forgot to shut Strava off and added some time on there...My previous results at this race were 25:38 last year and 24:48 in 2010, so I shaved about 3 minutes off my best time on the course.  Awesome...and next up, the Back Road Ramble on Sunday!



Tuesday, 5-28 - a.m. Hey, I made the local paper today!  Article about Trails Day weekend, and trail maintenance :), here's a link:

http://www.theday.com/article/20130528/ENT18/305289991/1044

Now, off to chaperone another field trip...Mystic Seaport Museum!

                  p.m. - 2 Miles (Trail) - Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center trails, Mystic.  Mini-window before I had to be back to the house meant a quick exploratory run from the southern end of this Avalonia property.  Narrow, twisty trails but pretty damn cool that it's right across the street from the Aquarium, so easy access...

Ferns!

Wednesday, 5-29 - 0 - Karate class, followed by Invisible Fence installation, kids, stuff...

Thursday, 5-30 - 3 Miles (Trail Hike) Narragansett Trail 5K course - Blazing/Mapping/Clearing for Saturday's race.  Thankfully, Jim was able to lend a hand, so I got much further than I expected.  Trail looks really good, has all fresh blazes and is ready to go!  Hot out, might have to go find a shady place for a run this afternoon...

View from the trail this morning...

p.m. - 3.1 Miles (Beach run) - Reverse Stavros run on Misquamicut Beach, RI.  Shady run be damned!  As soon as I got to the beach today, the temp dropped to 75 degrees, 15 degrees cooler than at the house.  Perfect.  There were waves, but I didn't have a board with me, so why not get a few miles in, right?  Hardly anyone on the beach, that'll change by tomorrow...so off came the shoes for a quick run to town beach and back.  Beach looks great, by the way!  Lots of soft sand slowed me a bit, but that's good training and Hell, I was running on the beach so it could have been 20 minute miles and I wouldn't have cared :)

Friday, 5-31 - 3+ Miles (Trail) - Mapping/Clearing/Blazing on Narragansett Trail.  Hot and sweaty on the trail this morning would be the understatement of the century.  Got eaten alive once I stopped to paint, those North Stonington bugs laugh at the Deep Woods Off! I was using.  I think I nailed it at exactly 5K, though...jogged out with all my gear this morning to finish up blazing the course - hung a big white VW banner across the trail at the turnaround, hopefully it's still up tomorrow morning (might have to run out and check...).  So I have no idea who or how many people are showing up, but I have bibs (thanks Jeff!), registration forms, and will post a list of results on the FB event page for anyone who's interested.  So like an official race, just free...should be warm, but fun!  Technical in spots, 200 feet of elevation gain, two small stream crossings and a couple of minor rock gardens and a couple of muddy spots for fun, and the course is very well marked and pretty much free of obstructions.  Was hot as Hades when I went to pick up the bibs from Jeff, so I swung by Misquamicut Beach, ran into my karate instructor Robert and wound up surfing a quick 30 minute glassy waist-high session at Fenway with him...felt good to be in the water.  We'll see what tomorrow brings!


Saturday, 6-1 - 3+ Miles (Trail) - Narragansett Trail 5K course and Host the Race.  Had to run out and check that the banner I hung up was still there (it was), then hoof it back to the boat launch for registration.  Mark and Shira were already there, along with Jim, and we ended up with a small but competitive group that included Gary Hebert, Bob Buckingham (who it turns out I met and ran with for a bit at the Bimbler's 50K) and his daughter, Carol Ann and her kids, and Jonny and his kids.  12 or 13 total, and for such a hot day I was totally impressed with how everyone did!  Our overall winner?  Shira Fuller!  And the only person to come in sub-30 minutes...Nicely done!  I'll be putting together finisher's awards, to go out soon, so keep an eye out!  Thanks again for coming!!!



Sunday, June 2 - 6 Miles (Mixed Trails/Road for warmup, race, cooldown) - 2nd Annual Back Road Ramble, Charlestown, RI.  24:48, 7th overall.  This is my second year running this race, and it's a pretty cool local race with an odd distance, 3.4-ish miles.  Today I had 3.3?  Last year's result was a 28:07 @ 8:16 pace...Anyway, warm morning for an 11 a.m. start, and as I was running late I didn't much of a warmup in, maybe 1/2 mile or so.  A quick chat about the aerodynamic benefits of my new, streamlined look, and we got started...

The very beginning of the race is a quick and narrow downhill to the parking lot, so I lined up almost at the front, so as not to get caught in the bottleneck.  Smart move, and my fastest mile of the race at 7:07.  Steve Schonning passed me on the long dirt road that makes up the first and last chunk of the course, and while I had him in my sights the entire race, I couldn't quite catch him...Not so smart, though?  Knowing that there's a narrow trail section that does the same thing, and I didn't scoot around the three dudes in front of me.  Got past them at the first clearing, and passed one kid in the second mile, and that's where I stayed, right behind Steve.  Figured I was in 15th or so, so I was stoked when I found out I came in 7th???  Awesome!  FiveK was first, Jeff second, Matthew third (and gaining on him...), and Steve sixth, so a great showing by the crew:

#1, 2, 3, 6, and 7 (Photo: Jana Walker)

I'd also like to mention that Colburn Graves gets the award for hardcore racer in this weekend's heat, having run races on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  I'm duly impressed...Great cookout afterward, and a spectacular job by the YMCA in putting on a well-staffed and very well marked race!!!  I'll be back for another ramble next year...

Two races run this week, one hosted, and a lot of time working/running in the woods...I have nothing scheduled for nearly two weeks, so might be a good time to do some TRI training...

Triathlon Training begins? No. Week of 5-20 to 5-26...

I probably shoulda been training already...the Crabman sprint triathlon is a little over 2 months away, and I've obviously trained for the run...but the bike and swim portions?  Nope.  Not one bit.  So we'll get the bike out this week and give it a go...and then find a place to swim this week and give that an effort...and who knows?  Maybe I'm a cycling prodigy and never knew it...

Monday, 5-20 - 6+ Miles (Road) - Post-karate run from the dojo.  Scored my 2nd best 10K time, including a needed pit stop at Rotary Park!  Thanks Gatorade!  I didn't feel as though I was really pushing the pace, either, in spite of the humidity (although I was totally drenched by the time I finished the run).  Pretty flat course, although there was one hill at the end.  Happy with the results though!



Tuesday, 5-21 - 0 Miles - 1 hour trail maintenance, and tweaked my back sometime in the last day, either picking up my brickhouse of a dog, or some other way...trying very light stretching, a big 'ol Ben Gay patch, and not doing anything else today except chillin'.  Too hot to run anyway!  Can't believe I just said that...

Wednesday, 5-22 - 0 Miles - Pulled lower muscles in my back leaving me sort of sideways...working it out, though, and taking it easy.  I blame the dog...

Thursday, 5-23 - 0 Miles - Zero number three, and to say I'm chomping at the bit to get back on the road. trail, etc. would be an understatement.  Those of you who have been sidelined, and said it was painful to even look at Strava, I totally get what you were talking about!

Friday, 5-24 - 5.5 Miles (Road) - Foggy, rainy Mystic Roads.  First run back since I tweaked my back, and I started out tentatively at first, but gradually got loose and picked up the pace a bit.  Good day for a run around Mystic, and actually saw several other people doing the same...not going to be a stellar week mileage-wise, but I'm thankful it wasn't a more serious injury.  Lift with your legs, not with your back...



Saturday, 5-25 - 0 Miles

Sunday, 5-26 - 11.5 Miles (9 Trail/2.5 Road) - The "Grills Trifecta" run with Rhody Seth and Muddy.  Met at 6:30 and made the short run up the road to the gated and forbidden part of Grills Preserve, but with a scofflaw tresspasser leading the run, I figured a few rules would be broken today.  After ducking under the fence, we were able to explore the first chunk of the preserve, where Muddy did a bit of farming...

Old McMuddy?

...then made another short jog up the road to hit the Ashaway side of things.  Nice and flat there, but still lots of downed trees.  I knew there'd be a stream crossing that involved a log coming up...

I'm almost across the log and said something about "If Mike B. were here he'd already be in the water," and Karma reached up and bit me right in the ass.  Slipped and splat, I planted and submerged both feet right in the muck...but hey, it took the pressure off of trying not to get my feet wet too soon, and from there I just went straight through everything.  The "new" section of Grills is more technical and hilly than the other parts, and I'm glad it was in the middle of the run.  I started losing steam around mile 8, and after hitting big hill and stopping to sample Seth's homemade honey rice ball concoctions (which were delicious and portable for long runs, very cool), we swung by the cars to grab drinks (mile 11.5-ish).  The guys went back out for another couple miles, and I called it a day.  Back is still a bit tweaked, but getting there...tentative plans to do the Bearathon in Mystic tomorrow...

Week of No Scheduled Races? Week of 5-13 to 5-19

Well..I have nothing scheduled for the coming weekend race-wise...hmmmm, that could mean a long run, shorter dailies in the a.m., or even an impromptu race somewhere, as there are about 15 races in RI/CT this weekend.  Soapstone would be on the upper end of my thinking, a short 5K on the lower end.  (Taps fingers on table, gazes blankly into the distance...)

Monday, 5-13 - 4.5 Miles (Trail) - Hewitt Farm Trails, North Stonington Village.  Awesome gem tucked away between the NoSto fairgrounds, Ryder Road and Route 2...100+ acres of rolling farmlands, forest and wetlands, streams and a dam, and good singletrack trail criss-crossing the property.  One good hill, but pretty mellow overall.  This will be the warm-up area for the NSEF race on the 25th.  Perfect day for it, nice and cool!  Good start to the week :), and just passed the 500 mile mark for the year!  Awesome!!!



Tuesday, 5-14 - 2.5 Miles (Trail) - Cossaduck Hill to the beaver dam out/back.  Small window of opportunity before I went to Town Hall to support FireFly Farms, and I needed to scope out my maintenance plan for next week.  Turns out there's a bit of blazing needed, and one really big tree down across the trail, but other than that, not much in the way of obstructions...



Wednesday, 5-15 - 4.5 Miles (Trail) - Tillinghast Pond, West Greenwich, RI.  This is a Nature Conservancy property, and consists of three main loops:  the Pond loop, Coney Brook loop, and the Flintlock loop.  I was able to complete the first two, then ran out of time.  Awesome trails, narrow and smooth single-track through pine forest, and across some fields.  Great views around the lake, but I really liked the Coney Brook loop and its rolling, twisty trail.  Jonny pointed out that this property backs up to other protected areas, which adds to the potential for a long run scenario.  There's 7 miles of trails available here, though, and it's not super technical stuff but the trails are clear and the views are outstanding.

Gobble gobble...

Start of the white trail. I seriously would never run 

on roads ever if I had this available to me every day...

Orange trail, very cool place with the "Coney Cascade" as a closer...

Thursday, 5-16 - a.m. 4 Miles (Trail) - Pachaug/Tippecansett border hop, CT/RI.  Some Arcadia/Pachaug forest property, smooth trails around the lake and then the real meat-and-potatoes part begins.  Very steep, narrow trails, cliffs, caves and other assorted LOTR-type terrain...loved it.  Jim's last workout before his BoldRDash race on Saturday, and fortunately the spill he took and the dive into the stream he did were on the back end of the run :)

No thanks!  This was at the trail intersection.  (Remember Fishbone?  Fun band.)

Narrow and rocky, love it...

          p.m. - 3 Miles (Trail) - Hoffman Evergreen Preserve, North Stonington, CT.  Short run in this Avalonia property, which is very nice but has a sketchy trail on the back end that needs serious work.  Otherwise, plenty of shade on what turned out to be a fantastic day.  And now, we mow...

Hoffman Evergreen Preserve, nice and shady...

Friday, 5-17 - 3 Miles (Hike) - Trail Maintenance, Narragansett Trail at Lantern Hill.  2 1/2 hours of updating old blazes and painting new ones, and some light brush clearing.  Great day for it, although I can't say it's easy schlepping a bucket full of paint, brushes and assorted gear up there.  However, that section of trail is 100% blazed and clear!  I was also pleasantly surprised when I got back to my truck to see about a dozen cars in the lot at the trailhead...

Saturday, 5-18 - 11 Miles (Trails) - Cockaponsett State Forest, Haddam, CT.  I purposely waited until I was able to run this with Eric and Yvonne, as it's 16,000 acres, has a network of trails that criss-cross the main blue blazed trail, and they run it all the time.  Local knowledge, yo!  Met up a little after 9 and made the short drive to a spot Eric described as a warmup...and after a lovely downhill jog, our first climb kicked in.

With segments known as "Orange Crush" and "Billy Goat", I figured there'd be some hills, and YES!  There were hills aplenty.  We had over 900 feet of elevation gain in the time we were on the trails today, and navigated some pretty technical stretches as well.  Great conversation, great run in the second largest state forest in CT, and plenty of room for more exploration there.  Eric is an excellent tour guide - I'd have been totally lost in there, or would have kept strictly to the blue-blazed trail and missed some really cool sights.  I read up on this place:  the Cockaponsett Trail was a Civilian Conservation Corps project started in 1933-34, as part of FDR's "New Deal" initiative.  It provided unskilled manual labor jobs (almost 300,000 at its peak) to young, unemployed men to assist their families during the Great Depression, and help develop conservation programs across the country.  The stone steps pictured below were constructed in the 30's, are found in many places on the trail, and still as sturdy as they were 80+ years ago:

That's skill...

Eric and I (Eric reeeeaallly wants a WTAC singlet, Jeff!)

Yvonne and the sweatiest dude in Connecticut, May 18th...good times :)

Totally great time out there, and I found out that they run hills so much there, they seek out flatter places to run, and were surprised that I've been doing the opposite...fun to share different views of our sport, and what a really nice run!!!  Epic day...

Sunday, 5-19 - 0 - Needed zero day after yesterday's gallop in the woods :)

Shad Bloom Trail Race - Week of 5/6 to 5/12

So this will be a new one...taking the ferry from Point Judith out to Block Island, getting a 10K trail race in the books, and hustling back to the ferry in time to make it home...busy week with school activities, but with Jeff W. as inspiration (who fits in a half-marathon distance run during a layover in a foreign country?  Jeff, that's who!  And with photos to prove it!), I'll get my miles in to prep, and maybe some trail maintenance as well...

Monday, 5-6 - 4.5 Miles (Trail) - Lantern Hill Double-up.  Ouch.  Warmup on the Woods Trail down below, then ascended to the top of Lantern Hill, down the backside to the transfer station and back to the car...then took the more direct route straight up to the top and back down a different way.  So many ways to dissect that hill...



Tuesday, 5-7 - 3+ Miles (Trail) - Devil's Hopyard State Park, East Haddam, CT.  Trail recon here, their trails are not super well-marked, but this is day two of very hilly, technical, keep-you-honest trail work.  I have to say, the trail leading up to and down from the "Devil's Oven" (see below) was as sketchy as it gets.  Got lost a few times, but with lots of unmarked connector trails, was able to get back on track.  Beautiful views, trails along 8 Mile River, and an awesome waterfall make this a damn cool place to play.  Photos below:

The "Devil's Oven"...no way I'm going in there...

8 Mile River

Nice falls - trail went up and around the other side

So a good, hilly start to the week, and with only one hill of consequence that I've heard of at Shad Bloom this weekend, maybe I can set a 10K trail benchmark for myself...

Wednesday, 5-8 - 4 Miles (Trails) - Slippery Mount Misery in the rain, Pachaug State Forest.  Probably could have picked a smarter place to go for a run...but saw something I didn't expect:  a hiker with a remote-controlled Monster Truck, driving it up to the top.  Weird, but it was working!



Thursday, 5-9 - 3.5 Miles (Trails/Dirt Road) - Green Falls and Dinosaur Caves loop with Tia and Jim.  Absolutely pouring when we set out, but why not?  It was warm enough, got muddy and soaked, and we had a great time making the short, technical trek along the stream leading up to the dam at Green Falls, skirting the lake and then heading over to the "Dinosaur Caves," huge rock formations that are climbed up, over and around.  Once we got to the RI/CT border, we turned onto Green Falls Road and completed the loop.  3.5 miles as a loop, that could definitely be incorporated into a longer run:

Foggy action shots

Jim and Tia, ready for their Bold-R-Dash race next week!

Friday, 5-10 - 0 Miles - Planned zero, yardwork and family time...

Saturday, 5-11 - 7 Miles (Trail/Dirt Road) - Shad Bloom 10K Trail Race, Block Island, RI (and short warmup).  Picked up Jeff, who was just coming off a hellatious 30 hour travel time trip back from India (you Animal!!!), and we made it to Point Judith for the ferry.  The 11:00 ferry was filled with runners, which was really cool, and we chatted with several people and potentially picked up a new WTAC member, Colleen S.  After we arrived, Jeff and I skipped the windy walk to the school.  It was a bit chilly and already threatening rain...met up with Eric B. and Yvonne R., Carol Ann, Paul and Liz G., Way, and David S.  Great WTAC representation today!  I counted 10 total?

So after a quick warmup, the race starts and I settle into a good rhythm, and with 200-ish runners in attendance, I lined up pretty well.  Was only passed a couple of times, and passed more than that.  The initial couple of miles were into the wind, or it was coming in sideways, 25 knots or so and gusty, but the rain held off until about mile three, and then the sky opened up, torrentially.  I ran with David S. until mile 4 when he pulled away from me, but was running with Eric for a bit as well.  Great crowd, trail crowds are so laid back.  Rolling dirt roads on the course and mostly grassy trails, but there were some wooded twisty muddy trails mixed in.  At the end of mile 4 there was a hill the locals called "The Wall," which was very steep and worked out to a 15-20% grade, pretty short but enough for most everyone to slow down and walk for a minute.  I was able to pass several people in mile 5 and 6, and Jeff had finished the race and gone back to get some action shots on the trail, so thanks Jeff!  Jeff finished 5th, by the way, which is spectacular considering his whirlwind tour of the "other side of the pond..."

I came across the finish line officially at 51:41, good enough for 38th place?  Pretty stoked.  I had nothing to compare this to other than the Belleville Trail 10K, which I did in 54:45 - not quite the same course, but I think they even out on paper, so I'll call this a PR!  Next!



Really nice to relax with a beer on the ride back to the mainland, and talk shop with Jeff, Eric and Yvonne, thanks guys!  I was finally able to get dry socks at 5:30...

Sunday, 5-12 - Mother's Day!  Planned and expected zero, and lots of family time today!