Week of 6-23 to 6-29

I'd first like to say how proud I am of my WTAC team - from Beth and her team, who did the Mt. Washington Road Race on Saturday (It's only one hill!), to the group who made it to the OMG! Triathlons (Tommy, Jeff, Shara, Matthew, Jonny...), and so many more, I'm sure.  I was even able to sneak out in the early hours Sunday morning and bang out another long trail race along with our newest team members Joe and Faith, and I'm fortunate that I'm in good enough shape right now to be able to do that...

So what's next?  Speedwork?  The Nick Bottone Track Mile (Hosted by the WTAC), which is FREE and taking place this Friday at the Stonington High School track (which is really, really nice...).  This will be a chance for me to go sub-6:00 in a mile.  If I can get out there this week to do some track work, I'll have a pretty good idea of whether this is going to happen or not, but I'll be there either way to give it a shot!  Link to the event below:

http://www.westerlytrackclub.org/bottone_mile.html

I also need to get out to the section of trail I manage...one section in particular gets really overgrown fast, and difficult to navigate if it isn't trimmed back, so there's that as well.  I also have the kids all week, so I'll be conjuring up summer activities for them and working any runs around them.  Should be fun!

Monday, 6-23 - 5 Miles (Road) - Recovery miles with Muddy.  Met up in NoSto with Muddy, who's been running some easier miles amid a nagging achilles...warm day, sunny and a tad humid, but we kept a good conversational pace, and the only fail was an initial botched attempt at a short Yannatos Preserve trail run, which went something like this:  Run through waist-high, tick-infested grass, cross the crooked stone bridge, spider web-web-web-web-web, and NO.  Roads won out today, but a good afternoon run in the country!

Tuesday, 6-24 - 3 Miles (Track) - Track work, Westerly High School.  Two weeks in a row?  Huh?  I'm determined to get faster while still enjoying every run, so in between errands in town, I decided to hit up the track again.  Previously, I've not been able to get past the 200m distance, because I don't know what the Hell I'm doing, and how to dial back my pace slightly to adjust for more distance.  Not on the track, anyway...today, though, I was feeling better about the 400m distance, and I'm starting to figure out how this all works.  Maybe I can conjure the elusive Mr. Galoob out of the ether to direct me on what I'm doing right or wrong...

...so anyway, I did a mix of 400-200-400-200-400-200-100-100, with slow jogs in between.  Squeaked out some decent times for me, at: 87-38-87-37-91-38-12-13, and feel pretty good about my effort in 75-80 degree, breezy weather!  And a bonus?  I was able to score what I consider to be one of the best, and least available, IPA's to hit the beer world in recent memory (In my humble opinion), the Long Trail Limbo IPA:

Well, hello there...

Wednesday, 6-25 - 0 Miles.

Thursday, 6-26 - <1 Mile (Trail) - Impromptu trail jog/hike with the kids.  Driving through Mystic and I see an Avalonia Land Conservancy sign for the White Cedar Swamp, so I pulled over and dragged the kids out onto the trail to check it out.  Looks like it's considered to be the northern terminus of the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center's trail system, and runs out to I-95 along the watershed lake...definitely worth another look when I have more time to play...

Friday, 6-27 - a.m. - 2.2 Miles (Road) - Dog Jog up Fowler Road.  The dog loves the runs, and is totally wiped out by the time we're done.  Fun!
                       p.m. - 2.6 Miles (Trail) - Lantern Hill run.  My goal for this run was to get back one of my segments, which I'm 100% sure I did, but my GPS was dodgy and didn't line things up correctly.  No worries, I put in a good effort, and I'll hit it again soon.
                       p.m. - Bottone Mile, SHS track.  6:13 officially.  I'd hoped to go sub-6, but it didn't happen.  First lap was strong, laps 2 and 3 not so hot, and I finished well on lap 4.  For my third run of the day and first 1-mile time trial since last summer, I felt like I performed well.  Fun event, and I got to see a bunch of friends today, which is always nice since I don't get to the fun runs very often.  Great time!

Getting ready!

The 8-Minute Group, I snuck into the 6-and-7 group...

Fast group...

Cruising around the turn...

So overall, a spectacular day for running:  dog jog, trail run, and an event with friends.  All good!!!

Saturday, 6-28 - 0 Miles.

Sunday, 6-29 - 10 Miles (Trail) - Narragansett Trail run with new WTAC member Joe S.  I met Joe a 7 a.m., with plans to do an out/back run, but I suggested dropping a car near RT. 49, and running back to Lantern Hill, which we agreed on.  It's a great stretch of trail, as anyone who's run it knows, with several really good climbs and descents, and there aren't a whole lot of "easy" parts to it.  I took the lead and "spider duty," and caught some webs to the face.  The deerflies were present, but I'd sprayed myself down and they mostly left me alone...a great trail day (although a bit warm and humid), and a technical, hilly 10 miles in 2:21.  We actually saw hikers and one runner on the trails, too!  A good day, and good way to close out the week.  Never made it to the beach, but soon...

Lantern Hill, the end of the line

Calm day at the beaver dam

Week of 6-16 to 6-22

So the last-minute decision to jump into the mix for Mt. Greylock was a good one - I felt pretty good, and although it was, pound-for-pound and mile-for-mile, the toughest race I've done to date, my recovery time was minimal.  I feel a bit sore but really good today!  Went to karate this morning for a great workout, and the legs were OK.

That said, I don't have any races scheduled until mid-July.  Sooo...I might look for something in the next few weeks.  If not, there's some exploring to be done, fun runs, and some surfing with Sophia if there's waves...

Monday, 6-16 - 0 Miles - 1 Hour karate class.  Legs were sore but solid!

Tuesday, 6-17 - 2.5 Miles (Track) - Impromptu WHS track jog with 200's.  Muggy.  Dropped the cat off at the groomers in Westerly for his annual "Summer cut" and had just enough time to get the legs moving again.  Driving by the high school, I noticed that the track was empty...so I did an easy jog, mixed in with 5 x 200m efforts, and one 100m at the end, which came in at 17s?  I think I could do better with that, though, but the legs felt heavy today (I wonder why???).  Good fun, though!

Wednesday, 6-18 - Hot! Wait, did I say that??? - (0-ish Miles) - 1 hour karate, full uniform and no AC, then light weight training, and I'm still trying to figure out where in Hell my "Driveway" segment begins and ends (curse you, Muddy!)...I'm pretty sure I destroyed it several times over already...love doing sprints in my driveway...no matter, plenty of time to play with that.  Going to try to incorporate some speedwork into training now, I've heard that the Daniels' Running Formula is the shit, so I'll snag a copy of that and try some organized training, in the midst of my disorganized, free-flowing fun runs.  Yin and yang?  Thoughts?  Meantime, I'm tentatively thinking about the Nipmuck South trail race this weekend (http://www.shenipsitstriders.org/nipmucksouth.html), which is the next race in the Grand Tree series.  Less than an hour away, not crazy elevation but a good test, and the weather should be just right by Sunday...family first, though, so it'll be another game day decision!

Thursday, 6-19 - a.m. - 6.5 Miles (Road) - Westerly/Pawcatuck roads.  Dropped the car off for an oil change and ran a big loop in the rain while I waited.  Love running in the rain.  Hammett sighting at the Westerly Y!  So it's the first time I've done a road run in a while, and of course I almost got hit by a car, because looking BOTH WAYS before pulling out from a side street onto a main road is just too much to ask, right?  I'm going back to the woods...

Friday, 6-20 - 0 Miles.  Soph's first day of Summer vacation, so I was a good Dad and took her and a pack of her friends to the beach, then got them lunch, then took them to my sister-in-law's pool, then back to our place so they could chill...did get to watch the HON-ECU World Cup match, really looking forward to this weekend's matches...

Saturday, 6-21 - 5 Miles (Beach) - Summer solstice beach runs with Jim and some of the WTAC crew.  7 am start, and as the WTAC contingent were mostly doing the Oh My Goddard triathlons the following day, they went for a final prep swim before their races, so Jim and I did a 2-miler first.  The 3-miler?  Down to the jetty and back, perfect day and perfect way to kick off summer:

One of the best parts of Summer is walking up this ramp...

WTAC Tri- crew suiting up

Empty Misquamicut Beach!

Sunday, 6-22 - 14 Miles (Trail) - 2nd Annual Nipmuck South Trail Race.  Last minute decision to jump into this race.  Left the house and arrived in plenty of time to get bibbed up and do a short warmup right before the race.  Ran into Michele Hammond and her husband Russell, our newest WTAC'ers Faith Raymond and Joseph Strafach, and Patrick Quinn from the TNT right before the race.  I've done almost all of the blue-blazed trails in eastern CT, but not this section of the Nipmuck, so I was excited to check it out.  I also decided to use my heart rate monitor instead of the timer, just like I did at Greylock, which worked perfectly.  Keep a certain range (174-182) which means I'm working hard but not too hard for a distance race?  It's working for me...

The gun goes off (well, the RD said GO!) and we all take off onto the trail.  The Shenipsit Striders hosted this race, and they'd done a good job of tying blue streamers to trees whenever there weren't blazes.  Only went off trail a few times!  As an out and back race, it was pretty cool to see the lead pack flying toward us, and I was able to high-five Pat before I got to the turnaround.  The weather was great for the race, although it was a bit humid and the Sun made it quite warm toward the end of the race.  Hilly race in parts, especially the "50 foot cliff" hill, which went on forever.  I learned after last week to hike the bigger hills, and I neither passed or was passed on them today, so everyone was on the same page.

My result?  14 hilly miles in 2:32, good for 52nd place.  Results here:

https://register.aratrace.com/results/default.aspx?event=26913&r=8404

Great day, and I unfortunately had to jet, but there was a cookout with burgers, watermelon, etc., and Pat was going to a cool brewpub in Willimantic, but I had to get home.  Great to see everyone, though!  Next up, trying to set a new mile PR at the Bottone mile this week!

2014 Mt. Greylock Half Marathon

Happy Father's Day!  My wife asked me what I wanted for Father's Day, and I said I wanted to go run this race, and that was it.  Green light!  My friend James was fishing for someone to go with, so I gave him a shout and let him know we were going.

We left my house at 6, with a possible 3 hour drive.  Made it there in much less, and it was great (as it always is) to have conversation on the long ride.  Coming around a curve in Adams, Mt. Greylock, the highest point in Massachusetts, is unmistakeable.  We both let out a gasp and the nerves started to kick in.  I never (well, hardly ever) get nervous before a race, but I was looking up at this mountain with apprehension.  I'd been running hills, but nothing like this.  The tower at the top, partially obscured by...clouds...fog...something, was beckoning, and a cool wind was whistling through the Glen, at the lower part of the mountain.  Hmmm...

Met up with Greg H. almost immediately, then WTAC brethren Jonny and John.  Glad to see familiar faces, but I ended up having some great conversations before and during the race with quite a few people - trail runners are quite a friendly crowd.  James and I checked in, got bibbed up, and did a short warmup on the tail end of the course.  Looked very similar to what I'm used to!  Now about that mountain...

Got ready and lined up for the race.  With single-track trail right off the bat, there was a big bottleneck, but nobody seemed like they were in a big hurry.  The slow three mile trudge up the mountain had begun.  My goal was to hit the top in under an hour.  At 2400' of gain in the first three miles, that seemed totally reasonable.  I chatted with a runner named Will, who grew up at the base of the mountain and was running his 16th Mt. Greylock race.  He gave me plenty of good advice, as did others.  Apparently the net downhill back 10 miles were no love-fest - in fact, with recent rain, they'd be steep in places, slippery and muddy...

Got to the top, camera at the ready to snap a quick picture, and...fog!  Clouds!  Could barely see the enormous statue, so James and I continued on.  I was skipping down the first descent at a good clip, it was technical but fun.  there began a series of rises and falls on the backside, on tight trails.  At one intersection, we run into about eight runners.  No streamers in sight, so we take the left.  After a bit, I notice a muddy section with no recent footprints.  Back we go.  I think we added just a few hundred yards each way there.  I did stop to take one picture on the back part:

Breathtaking scenery, one of several waterfalls and stream crossings...

A long, slightly ascending, then descending, service road followed.  Lost James here around mile 9.  When we hit the super muddy downhill singletrack section at mile 11(?), I opened up what I had left in the tank, and passed a number of people, fast and recklessly.  The best part of the race for me.  I finished well!  I was thinking I'd come in just over the 3-hour mark, until the official results got posted:

Just squeaked in under 3 hours with 0:00:06 to spare!

The Sun finally came out!!!  Greylock, looking less formidable than it was for me...

Greg was 3rd and Jonny 6th in a really competitive field, not sure about John but the "official official" results will be posted soon.  Some crazy fast runners there!  After James sat in a nearby stream to cool off, he changed up and we were out rather quickly.  A directional mishap added a bunch of time to our drive though (I'm not blaming anyone...James!!!), so I got us back at 5.  Great day, and one Helluva race put on by the WMAC (no affiliation with the WTAC!).  I got home to receive this handmade painting from my daughter for Father's Day, which capped my day off perfectly:

Love my daughter, she's awesome!

Great day!!!

Decisions, decisions...

I'm thinking about this weekend, and the "Father's Day weekend" opportunities for racing, and there are three races coming up.  First, there's the Niantic Bay 10K on Friday the 13th (yikes!), which I ran last year (and placed 2nd in my age group!).  This is a team event, and I know a few of my WTAC brethren are jumping into this one, so maybe?  It's also my 10K PR.  Second, the Mt. Greylock trail half marathon on Sunday, which Jonny and John (and possibly Greg) H. are running.  Very intriguing race with a Hell of an interesting elevation profile, all uphill for the first three miles, then a net downhill for the last ten.  It's 2 1/2 hours away though, so I'd be gone all day.  Lastly, and this one is starting to really look like a possibility, the Summer Solstice 5.5 mile trail race in Hebron on Sunday.  It's early (7:30 start), finishers get a nifty pint glass (can never have too many of those), and it's held on some pretty good trails.  Gazelle ran this a couple of years ago and had good things to say about it, so...I'm mulling over the options, and should know by Wednesday what I'm doing...

Monday, 6-9 - 0 Miles - 1 hour karate and some light weights/stretching.

Tuesday, 6-10 - 0 Miles - Full day of construction, and a visit with my mother-in-law, who finally got moved into a facility to start physical therapy...

Wednesday, 6-11 - 5.5 Miles (Trail) - Lantern Hill double.  I slipped over to Lantern Hill after karate class and did a "Double Lemon-Squeezer" run to the top and back to the bottom.  Slow and steady up, fast and reckless down the hill...and about 700'+ of elevation gain.  Good hilly trail training run!

It's on:  Mt. Greylock trail race, 1/2 marathon distance...leaving at 6 on Sunday with James I. for the mountain...holy shit...let's do this, I can't wait to crest the mountain and bomb some downhill...

Thursday, 6-12 - 2.2 Miles (Trail) Fowler-Grindstone Preserve across the street.  Short run before the bus got to the house.  Muggy and very rainforest-like today...and spider webs.  Lots of those.

Friday, 6-13 - 0 Miles...

Saturday, 6-14 - 1.5 Miles (Trail) - Dog jog on trails across the street.  The dog is an excellent trail runner, by the way.  Even on a retractable leash, he stays on the trail, reads the turns and jumps every obstacle with ease (except one really big log).  Great dog, love the runs with him!

Sunday, 6-15 - Mt. Greylock trail half marathon... - Separate writeup to follow!

What Now???

I purposely didn't sign up for any races until mid-July, because I figured on giving myself a chance to recover after the Cayuga race.  Since that has passed (and I hear it was brutal), I'm going to run, surf, and thoroughly enjoy the warmer weather, and not be bound to a race schedule for a bit.  I might jump into a race, I might not!  Depends on how I feel on any given day.  My daughter is almost done with school, and wants nothing more than to go surfing with her Dad.  That's me.  Awesome.

Monday, 6-2 - 2.6 Miles (Paddling/Surfing) - Conant Avenue surf session with my nephew on his birthday.  I taught Tristan to surf about 8 years ago, and he's turned into a very good surfer.  Driving out, I realized I was still wearing my glasses and had forgotten to put my contacts in.  This should be interesting...We checked a couple of local spots but the wind direction was indicating Point Judith was the best bet.  The lighthouse is usually bigger, but more crowded and a lot less mellow, so we decided on Conant Ave.  6-8 people in the water, including a few friends, and a really fun session in clean, chest-to-head high waves:

Such a fun break...

Once I got used to everything being blurry, I was fine!

Tuesday, 6-3 - 1.2 Miles (Paddling/Surfing) - Matunuck, RI.  A short window of opportunity on a sunny day, so I drove down to Matunuck to check the surf.  Lo and behold, there were still clean chest-high+ waves coming in.  Suited up and hit the water for a half hour, until the wind picked up.  Very few people out, too!

The MTK...clean, empty waves...

Just registered for the Nipmuck Trail Marathon, again!  Third year in a row, first marathon I ever did, and I love the course.  I highly recommend this race - the price is right, it's a local, established race that draws some great runners, which says a lot about its appeal.  Great race!

Wednesday, 6-4 - 3 Miles (Road/Trail) - Brief trail exploration before the bus arrived.  My daughter was staying after school and taking the later bus home, so I decided to check out some unmarked trails at the top of the Fowler Road, right up the street from me.  It's all Pachaug State Forest from there to Voluntown and beyond.  See attached Enduro Trail map:

http://www.americasstateparks.org/park_maps/pachaugenduro.pdf

Awesome double-track trail, basically old unused forest roads, totally runnable...and I was about a half mile into the woods when my daughter calls to say "Oops, I forgot to call you earlier, I took the early bus instead and we're on our street."  Shit.  Turned around and hoofed it down the trail and down the road back to the house.  She's old enough now that I shouldn't panic, though, cause she sure didn't.  Going to get out there again tomorrow to continue exploring, rain be damned.  Definite potential for some sort of weekend group run from the house, once I get the trails up there wired...

Really runnable

Was heading this direction when I got the call...more uphill!

Thursday, 6-5 - 4 Miles (Road/Trail Mix) - Local roads mixed with short Fowler-Grindstone Preserve and Pachaug Forest trails.  Pouring out!  I was immediately soaked and wore a hat just to keep the rain out of my eyes, but so much fun getting good and muddy on the trails.  Checked out another unmarked trail at the top of Fowler, and I'm starting to piece together where everything leads...

Friday, 6-6 - 5.6 Miles (Trails/Road connector) - Fowler-Grindstone Preserve and MORE Pachaug Forest trails w/Gazelle.  This time I had backup.  Gazelle met me at my place and we set out to explore more of the unmarked trails up the street.  I've been studying maps of Pachaug to decide a course given our time frame, and we went through the preserve across the street first, then made the seemingly endless uphill run into Pachaug, all the way to Wyassup Road, then downhill back toward the road and spied yet another unmarked trail, this one overgrown with ferns, which spit us back out on Fowler Road, and I knew right where we were almost the whole time?  Good time!

Saturday, 6-7 - 5 Miles (Road) - Warmup, cooldown, and the Pawcatuck Lions 5K.  With no races scheduled for June, I'm in a great place - I can run for fun on the weekend, or jump in to any race I choose!  Today's race was local, for a great cause, and is run by local triathlete Melanie D.  A bunch of my WTAC friends were going to be there, and I was able to break away from hosting duties at my daughter's sleepover to make the race.  Got there early and chatted with everyone I knew, got bibbed up and did a solo warmup.  It was already really warm, and although the course is a flat out and back along the Pawcatuck River, there isn't a lot of shade.  Going to be a toasty affair.  I'd only been running trails at an easy pace and hadn't done any speedwork, so I figured I'd go out steady and see how it went.  After the start, I felt OK but not great, and focused on Paul Walker, who was about 100 yards ahead of me.  I spent the first half of the race reeling him in, and finally caught him around the 2 mile mark.  I had a much faster third mile and finished well, in 23rd place of almost 200 total?  No official results yet, but Strava had me at 22:55.  My only 2 previous results were a 24:07 in 2012, and a 27:14 in 2011 - good to see improvement over my previous times, but my lack of speed training won't get me any more PR's until I change my routine...fun race, though, capped off with a group cooldown run through Westerly, and the awards, where I found out that due to Gazelle running his last 5k in the 40-49 division, I was one spot out of placing in our age group.  Turn 50 already, will ya!!!

Sunday, 6-8 - 3 Miles (Beach!) - Barefoot beach run, 1 mile with my daughter, 2 miles solo.  Yeah, she complained...yeah, she had to walk a couple of times...but I was able to get a rare mile run in with my 12 year old girl, and it was her choice and suggestion to come along!  Hot day too!  Love it, the beach was packed, and although it was a high tide slog, I loved every minute of it.  Great beach day with the family, and just missed a run with the crew on the other end of Misquamicut, the riff raff...next week?  (Unless I do something stupid on Father's Day...)