No Scheduled Races! Week of 11-25 to 12-1

A quick tally reveals that I'm currently sitting at 29 races for the year...and not to be OCD or anything, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to jump into the Christmas 10K in Newport for a couple of reasons:  first, it's a team event, so it's going to be a lot of fun; second, it's in Newport which is a really cool place to run; and third, it'll round me out at a nice, tidy 30 races...

My mileage has been way down the last couple weeks since the Ultra, and I'm cool with that.  Kristina F. shared a link to an article about runners who get burnt out, and I don't wanna be that guy, so if I turn my focus to home projects and take a couple zeroes here and there, so be it.  I love running and am looking forward to some group runs soon!

Monday, 11-25 - 0 Miles - 1 hour karate class.

Tuesday, 11-26 - 5.5 Miles (Roads) - Local Loop from the casa.  I had a delivery scheduled, so the goal was to set out from the house, and watch the clock and log as many miles as I could before the delivery window started.  I've also been stalking a segment up the street from me that I created some time ago, and was scooped up by Mr. Puddin' during what was probably an easy shakeout run.  Interesting to note my progression on this 1/2 mile hill segment since I created it:

1Michael CrutchleyNov 26, 2013 7:50/mi---3:47
2Michael CrutchleySep 28, 2013 8:04/mi---3:54
3Michael CrutchleyJan 15, 2013 8:25/mi---4:04
4Michael CrutchleyDec 23, 2012 9:13/mi---4:27
5Michael CrutchleyDec 24, 2012 9:19/mi---4:30
6Michael CrutchleyDec 29, 2012 10:02/mi---4:51

That's progress.  I averaged a 7:45 pace, and pulled down some virtual bling, and felt good in the process.  Think I could go a bit harder on this loop, and get it under 40 minutes as well...

Wednesday, 11-27 - 0 Miles - Absolutely disgusting, wind-driven rain (and my birthday), so no go...

Thursday, 11-28 - 10+ Miles (Roads) - Local roads from the house.  Anticipating an afternoon/evening of excessive eating/drinking at my brother-in-law's house, I set out in the chilly, breezy air for a few miles.  I'd also heard about a new Avalonia Preserve about 4 miles from my house that sounded very interesting, so I headed that way.  Never saw any signs for it, so maybe it's that new.  It's called Babcock Ridge, and where it's supposed to be, there's a really rocky, steep hillside, so I'll keep looking.  Meantime, I was able to crank out just over 10 miles before it was time to go!  Happy Thanksgiving!!!


Friday, 11-29 - 0 Miles.

Saturday, 11-30 - 12+ Miles - Group trail run in Yawgoog and Green Falls, finished on roads.  Met the crew at 6:45 (Me?  Really??? Shocking...), Sun not yet up, and a chilly 15 degrees.  Men in Tights.  Galoob was the group leader for this run, which started south of the Yawgoog Scout Camp property.  Made the run up to Hidden Lake, looped the lake and then hit the Dinosaur Caves portion of the trail.  Mike pointed out an unmarked trail that branched off the main section near Burnt Swamp, and we decided to give it a go.  Cool thing is, somebody had marked the trail with seashells and white beach stones, so between those and some serious bushwacking, we were able to make it around the pond/swamp with minor navigational issues.

Back on the main trail, we headed to and through the Green Falls camping area, losing Muddy in the process, rounded the lake, and dropped down below the dam and through the gorge to the road.  I think the highlight of the run for me was watching everyone cross the stream, which was up due to the recent rains we had...

Once we hit the dirt roads, we ran through the Scout Camp again, and finished with a few miles on the roads around the "Seven Sisters," the seven ponds that make up the Yawgoog property.  Legs dead at this point.  Great morning, and I was back at the house by 9:30!



Side note:  I was asked by Bob Jackman to write a review of the Mews Tavern Race, which can be found on his blog, "The Sweaty Beer Tent", good stuff!  Link here:

http://sweatybeertent.blogspot.com/

Gear and Beer! Week of 11-18 to 11-24

The Mews Tavern "Gear and Beer 5K":

I did this race in 2010, when I was still a newbie runner.  I had to look up my stats to see how I did, and I came in #639 - 26:46 @ 9:08 pace.  Assuming I can come in at least 5 minutes faster this time, maybe more?  I remember there being a hill right at the beginning of the race, and one at the end, but otherwise it was pretty flat?  It's also supposed to be a bit chilly (read: effin' cold and a wind chill) Sunday, even at the race start of High Noon.  Looks like I'm carpooling with FiveK and Woolley, and we'll be meeting up with Galoob at the race.  I took the liberty of inviting anyone from the WTAC to jump in, as this was a last minute decision for me and the other guys, and either way I think we'll have a respectable showing on Sunday.  Then, I SWEAR I'm not doing another race until the Christmas 10K in Newport, promise!!!

Monday, 11-18 - 0

Tuesday, 11-19 - 0

Wednesday, 11-20 - 4 Miles (Trail) - Green Falls run.  I decided to go all out for the "Road to the Dam" segment, and of course had a Space Watch fail.  I don't think I beat Muddy's CR, but I know it was a personal best for me on this sketchy, technical section, and I was sucking wind when I got to the top.  Moving on, I rounded the pond and thought I heard a couple of distant gunshots in the direction I was headed (hunting season sucks!), but I was wearing a lot of blaze orange and continued.  Near Dinosaur Caves I heard some voices ahead on the trail, so I cleared my throat loudly to announce my approach.  Turned out to be about 15 hikers, also decked out in blaze orange, who graciously moved to the side of the trail to let me through.  Thanks!  I cruised back on the dirt road to the truck, and pushed the pace for a bit toward the end.  Felt good, but got really cold as soon as I stopped.  Welcome to Winter :)



Thursday, 11-21 - 2.5 Miles (Trail) - Pequot Trail.  I'd wanted to check this section of Blue Blazed trail out for a while, after doing its Rose Hill section a while back.  There are plans underway right now to extend this trail all the way to Lantern Hill, which is where it used to end.  That would make for 30+ miles of continuous trail...however, the section I did today was rather overgrown with briars and not marked very well in places.  Any time on trails is good, though, and I enjoyed getting to check it out!

Friday, 11-22 - 0 Miles

Saturday - 0 Miles

Sunday - Mews Tavern Gear and Beer 5K - 5 Miles (Warmup, Race, "Cooldown") - Official result?  318th of 2000 runners, gun time of 26:00 and a net time of 24:17.  To say that I screwed up royally would be an understatement.  I had a great time, though!  Picked up Woolley and FiveK and we made the drive to Wakefield, found a great parking spot right across from the Mews, and ran a short warmup in the frigid temps.  Seriously, low 20's with single digit wind chills, and that wind was howling...In spite of the coldness, the race drew almost 2,000 runners.

And here's where I screwed up:  I had to use the bathroom at about 10 minutes to start time, and although the line was long, I figured I had enough time.  I was "on deck" when they called two minutes to race start, so I got in, took care of business, and ran up the hill toward the start.  I got to the 32:00 runners sign, and people were already running!  So now I'm shuffling along, literally walked across the start line, and spent the next 3 miles trying to get around people.  Not my best race by a longshot, and if it weren't for the great atmosphere, getting to run with friends, and the free beer afterward, I might have been disappointed?  And it's a fundraiser for Easter Seals, so it's a great cause as well.  And free beer!  Great results by the guys, too!  I think Mike came in 4th, Woolley 5th, FiveK was 8th, Seth 25th?  So a great showing by the WTAC today, spent a bit after the race chatting with Seth and Amanda (nice PR!), and headed out.  Good times...

Li'l Rhody Week! Week of 11-11 to 11-17

Well!  Now that we've gotten the long run out of the way, it's time to focus on some shorter races and trail time, and specifically the 22nd Annual Li'l Rhody Runaround, hosted by the incredibly talented crew of the Westerly Track & Athletic Club...

Monday, 11-11 - 0 Miles.

Tuesday, 11-12 - 0 Miles.

Wednesday, 11-13 - 0 Miles...but I was able to get an hour of karate in, and install under the cabinet lighting in the kitchen, which looks awesome.  I also received an early birthday present from the girls...

Holy crap!!!

...and I'm speechless.  Well, not quite...so this is the newest, baddest-assed Garmin out there, and isn't supposed to even be released for at least another week or more...seriously, my wife said it wasn't due to be here until the second week of December!  So somebody at Amazon jumped the gun and shipped my gear out early, and thanks!!!  It even has Bluetooth, full wi-fi, and a synched heart rate monitor, and all kinds of other shit I'll have to try out.  And it's thin and light, and awesome.  I'm just really thrilled that I won't have that monstrous phone/armband tumor strapped to my arm anymore!!!  I hated that thing so much, you have no idea...get to try the space watch out tomorrow :)

Thursday, 11-14 - 3 Miles (Trail) - Lantern Hill 1st Space Watch run.  I.LOVE.IT.  Picked up a signal in five seconds, didn't drop once, and held its charge and was still almost 100% by the time I was done...oh yes, it's a very good thing to not have to deal with the phone, armband, etc...I was able to enjoy Lantern Hill today, take it fairly easy as it's my first run since the ultra, and get a good technical session in without the need for pushing...good stuff!  Easy data upload, too!  And a bonus, the new shoes I ordered came in this afternoon :)

1010v2 Trail - the fifth set of 1010s I've owned...

Ready to rock on Sunday!

Friday, 11-15 - 3 Miles (Trail) - Green Falls Pond loop.  Small window for a short run, and I wanted to try out the heart monitor for the Garmin.  I've never worn one, never checked to see what my heart rate is when I'm running, so I thought it'd be cool to try it out.  They pair the monitor with the watch at the factory, so I didn't have to do anything more than dampen the contact points and put it on.  Of course I chose a technical trail to try it out on!  It worked flawlessly, and my average heart rate during the run was 176, with a max of 191.  So although I averaged a 12 minute mile, I suppose I was working pretty good?  Great stats, and I love numbers, but I'm going to bank several runs before I really know how hard I'm working.  Like a flat run, flat trail run, hilly run, hilly trail run, etc., and at my max pace.  The monitor also measures cadence, vertical oscillation, and ground contact time?  TMI?  Or, if you love numbers and could review stats all day, total math porn...

Lots of hunters out, by the way...saw cars everywhere and I could hear a couple of them talking at one point near the trail, but never saw them.  Wear a crapload of orange if you're running in CT or RI, people!  Don't get mistaken for a deer...



Saturday, 11-16 - 1.5 Miles (Trail) - Hidden Lake/Yawgoog White Trails.  Scouts everywhere, camping, hiking, and it was great to see.  Unfortunately, it didn't translate to my designs on posting a good run at Hidden Lake.  I was moving along nicely, and got blocked by a small group at one point, and then 25 scouts on a hike shortly thereafter.  By the time the scoutmaster had them move aside to let me through, which was much appreciated, I was screwed for getting some good numbers.  No problem, though, I just wanted to get some trail time in, and I got my fix...

Sunday, 11-17 - 10+ Miles (Trail/Road) - 22nd Annual Li'l Rhody Runaround Trail Race (and Cooldown).  As I'm a part of pulling off a successful race with this, I loaded up the truck with wood and my gear, and headed down to Burlingame for the 22nd installment of this Rhody staple, and the first Triple Crown race in the new series.  Once we were set up, it was a solid stream of entries and we kept up, but just barely!  I already knew this would be the biggest and best Li'l Rhody ever, but damn!  Did we ever exceed our expectations...

I was working pre-registration until 5 minutes to the race, do the quick change, no warmup, and the large coffee I'd been nursing was doing its magic so I had to hit the portable, no matter what.  Jeff runs by and says, "They're not going to start until you're done...", no pressure, right?

I take care of business, and chug up the hill to 400+ runners chomping at the bit to get going.  High five some fast Hammetts, a Galoob, and maybe a Walker and other front line dudes, and I take my place about mid pack?  Talk to Beth and Mrs. "Action" and we're off!

I was chillin' at the beginning of the race, and looking to get a comfortable rhythm going.  I knew there'd be a bottleneck at the first trail, but no problem.  Chatted with John Hammett for a while, good stuff.  I got boxed in quite a bit, but was able to burst past people on wider sections of the trail when it allowed.  I was pretty much just looking to beat my time from last year, and I knew at halfway that I had that locked.  I kept passing people when it was practical, and passed a LOT of people on the hills, which I was pretty stoked about.  I'm lucky that I do hills enough on trails that I can pick up the pace on them, where most people slow down...hills are where it's at, y'all!

When we hit the roads for the final 3/4 mile to the finish, I kicked in what I had left, and had a sub-7 minute kick to the end!  Good enough for 141st of 440 runners at a 1:07, which is 5 minutes off last year's time.  I'll take it!  Decided to go back out and cheer all the runners still coming in and high-five everyone, and find Beth L. to run the last leg of her race with her.  Found her and we ran the final mile-ish to the finish, and had a great time getting there!  And icing on the cake, found out that Nicole finished her first marathon in Philly in 5:23!!!  Awesome!!!

Great day, and a great day for RI trail running and the WTAC!

RI 6 Hour Ultramarathon and Relay

And the results, officially, are in:

http://www.coolrunning.com/results/13/ri/Nov10_RI6Hou_set1.shtml

28th of 93 finishers in the solo ultra!  Not bad!

I arrived with a half hour to spare, and given my Nipmuck weather experience a few weeks ago, I was not at all pleased to see raindrops start hitting my windshield 20 minutes from the Park (thankfully, the rain held off til I was headed home).  Got to the parking lot, where I was able to gear up, and stow my drop bag and cooler next to everyone else's, just past the start/finish.  That's the beauty of a loop course - I had shirt and hat changes ready, gels and sports drink, and at a 2.7 mile loop, didn't have to carry anything more than a small handheld.  Beautiful.  Checked in with Bob Jackman, the race director, and photographer Scott Mason, as well as ultrarunner Kristina Folcik, who was running the relay and offering UltrAspire pack demos.

Race shirt and lucky #13, which I asked for, and Bob delivered!

Lining up at the start

At the start, with solo runners and relay teams mixed in, I opted to hang back and get my pace settled in.  It's so different from a short distance race, because everyone goes out so much slower.  My target was to go out at a 9:30-ish pace, knowing I'd slow down in the latter part of the race.  I realized I was lower than that, but felt pretty comfortable and ended up "banking" extra time for most of the first 20 miles.  I definitely spent more time than I should have at the aid station as each lap ended, but my fatal flaw at long distance races has always been not staying hydrated and fueled well enough, so I wanted to make sure it didn't happen...

And coming through at the end of lap 6, I hear someone yell "Go Crutch!", and there's Beth standing with Kristina cheering me on, awesome!  She even stuck around long enough to snap a picture of me after lap seven and offer some words of encouragement, which was much needed and appreciated.

End of lap 7, photo by BLS!

I was surprised when I didn't hit "The Wall" at mile 20, and was thinking about the fact that I was going to set my road Marathon PR, and it was looking pretty good!  Got it, and shot my wife a quick text that I got it, and that I'd be done soon.  Ten laps equaled 27 miles and scored me a logo'd pint glass!

Post race goodness, I'll take a logo pint glass over a medal any day!

Around mile 28 I was praying for the end, but I wanted to hit 50K, so after lap 11, I headed out to get it.  Ended up averaging a 10:12 pace overall, which was slightly faster than I was expecting, and earned my ultramarathon redemption after blowing up at the TARC 50K this past spring.  Really happy with the results!  Made some new friends in the process, including new ultra runner Leslie D., who I actually was able to see hitting the 50K mark as I was driving out of the park, and yelled congrats to her like a crazy person...

Very well run race by Bob and company, A Better Pace, the Tuesday Night Turtles, and all his volunteers.  Couldn't have gone better, in my opinion!

Post race, I had a 40 minute drive, and getting out of the car is never pretty after these things - in fact, it's quite painful and comical at the same time.  Washed my new pint glass, let it get frosty in the freezer, and enjoyed a delicious Lagunitas IPA...I'll obviously be taking a couple days off from running after this one, and our club will be hosting the 22nd annual Li'l Rhody Runaround trail race next weekend, which will also be the first race in the RI Triple Crown of Trail Racing.  Good stuff!

Ultramarathon Week! Week of 11-4 to 11-10

So it's time to break out the headlamps, hats, gloves and running tights!  It's getting dark at about 4:30 now, but the bright side is that I'm not getting my daughter on the bus in the dark anymore.  Didn't hit the elevation challenge's 1000 meter mark, mostly due to two races that, while I PR'd at both, offered zero elevation combined!  No worries, I had a great last week of running, helped a friend with her marathon training, saw some incredible scenery out on the trails, and ran two very good races.  Not too shabby.

The last day of this week, Sunday, is the RI 6 Hour Ultramarathon.  Put on by Bob Jackman and his crew at A Better Pace http://www.better-pace.com/, this is a closed-loop run in a park in Warwick, RI, and has a very simple concept: run as many miles as you can in 6 hours, and the person with the most miles wins.  My goal is 35 miles.  My game plan?  Go out slightly faster than my average pace target, and finish slightly slower, and hit 35.  There's not even really training for this I can do, although running Nipmuck and pacing Nicole for her 20 miles will have helped.  Normally I wouldn't be too excited about running the same route over and over, but I haven't done a race like this before, so I'm really interested in taking a shot at this!  And I'll be able to set up my own "aid station" of sorts, with some changes of shirts, my own gels, gatorade, hats, etc., in addition to the aid station set up by the crew.  Should be fun!

Monday, 11-4 - 0 Miles.  1 hour karate class.

Tuesday, 11-5 - 0 Miles.

Wednesday, 11-6 - 7 Miles (Trails) - Salmon River and Day Pond trails, Colchester.  I had a botched attempt in the winter at this Blue Blazed trail, and had wanted to get back to it for another go.  I knew that the initial part of the trail was uphill, but what I hadn't realized was that the first 2 1/2 miles were basically uphill...whoa.  Wasn't expecting that!  Great trails, and it's a lollipop-type setup:  2 miles out to the loop, 3 mile loop, and 2 miles back to the Comstock Covered Bridge, which crosses the Salmon River.  The views are spectacular, too, overlooking the river.  I knew there was a Strava segment on this trail, and I totally blew my legitimate shot at taking it by blowing past a sharp turn, and instead going 50 feet further and turning onto an unmarked power line trail.  I went up a few hundred yards and realized my mistake, and it gives me a good reason to head back there, because I'm pretty sure I had the segment locked up.

The event of the day for me?  I got to Day Pond, which looks really nice, and as I approached a small bridge there were two elderly women and an elderly man standing on the bridge looking at the lake.  The man was holding a retractable leash, at the end of which was a smallish dog, some kind of poodle mix?  I was making plenty of noise coming down the hill and I know at least one of the women saw me, but as soon as I hit the bridge, the dog made a beeline for me, jumped up with his front paws and scratched my leg, and tried to bite me.  Thankfully, he missed.  Must be my catlike reflexes...the man's reaction time was, let's say, a bit slow, and he finally retracted the leash, the dog giving me the stink-eye the whole time, little bastard.  They were all apologizing profusely and completely mortified, and I was a bit taken aback as well.  That's a first, and I never expected it to be a leashed dog that took a shot at me.  I'd have been pissed, but the looks on their faces said they were truly embarrased, and the dog was just being protective of its owners.  Do I really look that sketchy???

Anyway, apologies aside, I was good and got back to the woods, where I passed another runner!  A woman who was moving at a pretty good clip, too...exchanged a few words as we passed, and I remembered that the last leg of this was all downhill...awesome!  Can't wait to hit this trail again.  Sans dog encounters, of course.  Total distance, just under 7 miles, and 990 feet of elevation gain.  Good times!

Thursday, 11-7 - 0 Miles.

Friday, 11-8 - 6 Miles (Trails) - Group WTAC run in Wahaneeta/Woody Hill Preserves, Westerly.  Met Gazelle, FiveK, Muddy, Matthew and Jonny E. at the Wahaneeta entrance and got to it.  Easy pace, and I had it on my mind to go easy, with the race Sunday on the horizon.  Starting at 4 meant we were pushing our luck with the light, and thankfully the Gazelle has photographic trail memory and night vision, as I was running blind toward the end...great time out there though, but it'll be some time before I'll venture in there without a guide - great trails, but none of them marked, and criss-crossing everywhere!  The boys were out ahead of me and I almost lost sight of them toward the end, and had visions of taking a wrong turn somewhere and ending up lost in the dark...that would most definitely suck...great group run, though!  Got to talk to the crew for a bit, and shake out the legs before Sunday.  Tomorrow will be a big fat zero...although I am going to pick up my race packet in Warwick to eliminate that race-day micro-stressor, and check out the course, and might do the loop once just for familiarity?

So the week has two quality runs:  Salmon River and Woody Hill.  My bruising from the "dog attack" is almost down, but I took a "day after" picture, and I had a black/purple bruise from where he rammed into my leg that was the size of a tea plate.  No kidding.  Damn dog, and I can't even blame him...




Saturday, 11-9 - 0 Miles.  Planned zero today, but I was able to swing by Warwick City Park to pick up my shirt and bib, chat for a bit, and scope out the course...

Sunday, 11-10 - RI 6 Hour Ultra.  Separate writeup forthcoming...