Nipmuck Prep? Week of 9-22 to 9-28

Post-Pisgah:  I'm sore, but not really any worse than any other long run.  Weather permitting, I'll expect to shave another 30+ minutes off my Nipmuck time, which is fast approaching.  I really want to nail down a solid time, so that I have a qualifying time for any of the 2015 races I look at.  I still plan on doing Cayuga, but there are a couple others on the radar now...damn you, Ultrasignup.com!

(As a short aside, my Mother-in-law passed away late Sunday night at Yale New-Haven hospital, after complications from surgery.  Awesome lady, who I was blessed to have known for the last 20+ years and proud to call Mom.  This week, we have family coming in from all over the country and while I won't get to run as much as I'd like, I'm helping coach my daughter's soccer team and that's one heck of a workout each day.  Keeping the kids in school until the funeral on Thursday seemed like the right call - there's not much they can do to help, it's keeping their attention diverted a bit, and they won't have a ton of work to make up.  Miss ya already, Ma!)

Monday, 9-22 - 2+ Miles (Trail) - Sterling XC trails, Sterling CT. - Got to Sterling before the kids' bus, so I did a short trail run while I waited.  The girls tied their "A" game 2-2, and won the "B" game 5-0.  Great start to the season!

Tuesday, 9-23 - 0 Miles - Coached soccer in the afternoon for two hours, including a session after practice officially ended, where I got in goal and defended shots against a few of the kids for 30 minutes straight.  Still got the skills...

Wednesday, 9-24 - 2.4 Miles (Trail) - Short run at Lantern, and late for soccer practice.  Took a shot at two segments before I ran out of time.  The first, a 7+ minute section, the GPS screwed me but I think I was good for the CR.  The second is a short and sweet uphill right at the trailhead, which I had set a 48 second goal on.  Got it in 44...then hauled ass over to the soccer field (where I was received with applause, that was nice!) and ran around some more with the kids.  Game #2 tomorrow.  I'll miss it though, unless it gets rained out...

Thursday, 9-25 - 0 Miles - RIP Vilma Maiorano, you'll really be missed.  Huge turnout, with family and friends flying in from around the country, and driving in from Maine and points beyond.  Tough day but a great celebration of her life.

Friday, 9-26 - 0 Miles.  Lots to do at the house, and afternoon coaching of game #2 at the Wheeler field.  Mixing it up with the kids at practice and during game warmups is making a difference in my overall fitness, and I can feel it.  Good stuff.

Saturday, 9-27 - 0 Miles.  Work day.  That means Sunday, long run day!

Sunday, 9-28 - 10 Miles (Road/Trail intermission) - Mystic River Run. - Hot out.  80+ on 9/28.  I swung by Waterford to stock up on GUs for next weekend's race, and as I was passing Mystic on the highway, a cool breeze hit me and I decided to run there.  It wasn't any cooler.  I opted to start with some small hills in town, then run out to Old Mystic, around the headwaters of the river, and back down River Road, hitting the Peace Sanctuary trails briefly along the way and finishing up with a visit to the new John Kelley statue downtown.  Good, relaxed run, albeit a hot one!

Looking down the river

Looking down from the Peace Sanctuary trails...

Mystic Seaport

Fast Friends!

Kelley's race highlights

WTAC!

Pisgah Mountain 23k Trail Race!

Oops, I did it again...went North and ran another hilly as Hell Half Marathon.  The Pisgah race is right in my WTAC cohorts' backyard, so to speak, and I was looking forward to running in New Hampshire for the first time ever.  Yes, that's right, I've never ever (like, ever) run in New Hampshire, much to the horror of a few folks I mentioned this to (like Jonny, Jeff, and everyone else I talked to)!  But I digress...

Jonny and Jeff met me at my house on Saturday afternoon, and after our first stop at DD, we made the 2+ hour drive to Keene, NH, to the Elm City Brewing Co. (starting things off right!).  We met Greg, Jen and Boj and had an awesome pub dinner, complete with sampler flights of beer and my requisite purchase of a growler, in this case the "Armageddon Black IPA"...look out!

Sippy cups!

Grrrowler of Armageddon...BOOM

After dinner, Jonny, Jeff and I made our way to the Hammett house (during which we completely lost cell service, utterly...Jonny said at one point "Say goodnight to whoever you want now, because over this hill here and you have no service", and he was right!), where we being graciously hosted by Pard and "Mammy Hammy," (Muddy's words, from a thank-you note tacked on the fridge!), and chatted until bedtime.  9:30?  Well, I'm usually up til midnight so ya'll are doing me a favor.  After chatting in the living room for a while, we all said goodnight and I flipped a coin with Jeff for the basement beds.  I won...it turned out to be a cave, black as sackcloth with the lights out, and I slept great...

Early up and at 'em.  I gathered my gear and we headed up to Chesterfield.  It was warmer than originally predicted, about 60 degrees and very sticky out, and as we stopped on the way at a DD for breakfast food and coffees, I was thinking about the humidity.  We arrived at the school and got checked in, Jen working the post-reg table for the slackers (Jeff & Jonny, etc.), while I had a seamless check-in at the pre-reg and was all set.  Ran into friend and TNT'er Pat Q., who rode up solo and was ready to "Unleash Hell" (his words, not mine!).  We parked next to super distance runners Ryan and Kristina (and Jack Puppy!), who were splitting 23k and 50k races, Kristina the shorter of the two.  It was nice to get to talk to her for a few minutes as we all walked over to the start.  She ran a good, relaxed race, and I later saw her for the first 1/4 mile of the race, at which time her pigtails disappeared into the mist.  But I digress...yet again...

At Jonny's prompt, we drove the first and last two miles of the course for recon:

"This is where you run, fools..."

The nerves are on the inside...and hey, I look sort of fit here!  Look at those calf muscles, dammit!

Jonny, trying to stay calm amid the Gazelle's caged fury...

Chesterfield, N.H. Town Hall, next door to the race start...

We ran our respective warmups, where Greg H. saved my ass (literally) and told me about a secret Port-a-Potty, where I took care of my "nerves" and was ready to go.  I did almost a mile, and was already sweaty from the humidity...Talked to Pat and decided to go with the singlet, but tie the long-sleeve tech around my waist as a backup (never needed it!).

After a casual start (trail races! they just yell GO!), we headed out.  I was worried about keeping to my plan of watching my heart monitor, listening to my body, and running as if I weren't racing.  Less than a mile in, I saw Will from the WMAC!  I met him on the Greylock ascent, and ran with him at the Nipmuck South.  We got caught up, and chatted until the big split two miles in (he was the 50k, me the 23k).  He told me he had a 3+ hour drive to get there, and he always tries to run longer than he drives, so it had to be the 50K.  I like that logic.

After that, I was with the same 5 or 6 people for pretty much the rest of the race.  The hills were kicking my ass, and I opted to hike those and bomb down the descents.  I love descents...as in, I get a rush out of flying out of control down technical sections, and hitting the bottom relieved that I didn't trip.  The course was a good mix:  short road run to the trailhead, then single-track and double-track mix with long, relentless climbs and super fun descents, then a short road run to the finish.

The climbs were sapping my will though.  I kept my mind occupied by checking out the scenery, especially the foliage that was already turning near the ponds and streams that are scattered throughout the course.  As I was running with the HRM (heart rate monitor) and not the time/distance, I was working hard, but felt slow!  At 11 miles, my pace was faster, and when we reached the gate (2 miles from the finish), I knew where I was and picked it up big time.  I finished well.  Overall results?  I was a 2:37?  Here's what I saw:

Greg wins!  And WTAC #3 and #7???  Interlopers!!!

...and me :)

The cookout afterward was fantastic.  The volunteers put in a full race day, for which they should be thanked many times over!  I'd just crossed the finish line and changed my shirt, when J+J ran by and yelled "Crutch! Cooldown!" I started to follow, and 1/10 mile later I came to my senses and went for a burger instead.  Was able to chat with a number of runners, volunteers and the RD, who genuinely wanted to know what I thought of the course.  He was pretty proud when I told him that the course was awesome, super well-marked, and that they put on a great event (which they did)!

2 of your top 7, ladies and gents!

After chillin' for a bit, we ventured around the corner to Greg and Jen's place for a short tailgating session, and were able to see the 50K winner, Brian Rusiecki, cruising past on his way to victory and looking speedy.  30+ miles in and cruisin'...

Brian, 1/2 mile from the finish

After a beer and some chatting, we loaded into the car and headed out.  I had a great time at this race, and would totally run it again next year!  Will made a point of saying that I was becoming a regular on the Grand Tree series, and I really like the events they put on, so I'll have to study their schedule.  This is 3 of 4 scheduled GT series events for me...might have to raise that in 2015!  Good race, with great people!!!

Road Trip! Pisgah Prep, Week of 9-15 to 9-21

So with Surftown in the rear-window, I'm looking ahead to Sunday's Pisgah Mountain 23K trail race.  Hey, it's a road trip!  I've never run in New Hampshire before, and I'm stoked to be riding up with Jonny and Gazelle, who's fresh off an outstanding performance at Surftown.  Going to be cool to check out the trails there, and bump up the mileage yet again.  This will be my 6th HM or longer distance race this year (and 4th trail HM), and a good indicator for how I'll do at Nipmuck.  This also means that, for now, it's hills and trails almost exclusively...I say almost because I lost every one of my CR's in Mystic to one Mathew R., so I might make at least one trip over there to try to reclaim a couple...



Monday, 9-15 - 0 Miles - The 16 day run streak gets shut down.  I was slightly sore from Surftown, and left the house for a construction job at 7am, returned home at 5pm with nothing left in the tank.

Tuesday, 9-16 - 3 Miles (Trail) - Lantern Hill fun.  Back on trails, and I gave it a pretty good effort on tired legs...perfect weather for a short run, and good training for the race!

Wednesday, 9-17 - 1.4 Miles (Surf) - Weak-assed "hurricane" swell at Fenway, Weekapaug, RI.  Don't believe the hype...went to karate class, finally nailed Chinto kata without making any mistakes, and drove down to the beach to check the surf.  Clean waist-high lines, so I suited up for a short session, and the wind went onshore the second I hit the water.  Fun time though, and good to get wet on such a nice day.  Probably ran several miles in the afternoon while I helped coach my daughter's middle school soccer team in their first scrimmage, and had a good time getting back into "Coach" mode, even if I'm just assisting on this go-around.  The kids and the parents really appreciate it, and I have so much fun!

Thursday, 9-18 - 0 Miles.  Construction 7-5.

Friday, 9-19 - a.m. - 1.7 Miles (Trail/Road) - Dog jog with Henry.  We added a brief stop so he could swim in the creek down the street...and I only ate one web on this run

                      p.m. - 5.2 Miles (Road) - Segment reclamation project, Mystic.  So "The Kid," otherwise known as Mathew R., has claimed every single CR in Mystic (and there are a LOT).  I jotted down eight times to beat on my hand, and based on my time frame, set out for Mystic.  The weather couldn't have been more perfect, 60 degrees with a nice cool breeze coming in from the North.  I meandered from downtown over to Mistuxet Avenue, and was able to get the fastest time on the uphill segment at 57 seconds, then blew the downhill when I paused to catch my breath for a minute at the top of the hill, and was actually standing in the segment.  Whoops.  Cut into the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center trails for a break from the road, and realized after looking at the map that I haven't run about 2/3 of their trails there.  Made my way back into downtown, and scored the CR on the "Barfing Mystic Pizza" segment at 28 seconds, and that's pretty much as fast as I can go on that stretch (Side note: somebody on that segment's leaderboard flagged the segment as "hazardous", which is total bullshit.  It's on a road, with plenty of room outside the painted lines, and has a sidewalk.  Jonny said it sounded like a case of sour grapes and I'm inclined to agree.  I e-mailed Strava support anyway to find out what the deal is.)...from there, cruised up to Clift Street and ran the steep downhill segment there in 1:05, good for 2nd place and 3 seconds short of the CR.  Ran outta time at that point, and drove home to change up for my daughter's soccer practice.  Summary?  Took a shot at 4 CR's, snagged 2 and came close on a third.  Good day!

Saturday, 9-20 - Traveling to New Hampshire with Gazelle and Jonny.

Sunday, 9-21 - Pisgah Mountain 23K trail race...separate writeup to follow :)

4th Annual Surftown Half Marathon

I was stoked to run this race, as I'd taken a month off from racing and just had fun, mostly on trails, in the company of many, many spiders, and played on numerous hills.  I'd even ventured onto the roads and played segment games, chasing some fast times on local hills.  But now it was race day...hmmm, what to expect?  Picked up my race packet on Saturday afternoon, and had my bag packed and ready to go.

I got up at 5, fumbled for my gear in the dark and trying not to wake my household.  Tripped over everything.  Feeding the cats, dog, fish, walking said dog, showering, getting dressed and all the other damn stuff took way too much time, but I was able to leave on time at 6 for a 7:30 race start.

Getting into Misquamicut, I scrapped my original parking plan and parked at Westerly Town Beach.  Perfect move!  Saw Mike B. coming in, and Jeff and Matthew running by on a warmup.  When a Westerly Town Public Works guy pulled in, I was double-thinking my decision, but it ended up being all good.  Nobody got towed.

Ran a chilly 2-ish mile warmup (temp: 48 breezy degrees) with Jeff, Matthew and Shara, and had a cool time chatting, getting pumped, and taking in everything.  It's really a spectacle there, especially amid the backdrop of the beach, and the Fall Festival rides, midway, and tons of people getting excited for the race.  The start?  A jumble of every runner of every ability, and a total bottleneck across the start line.  They might want to start utilizing corrals next year.  Gun goes off, and after a shuffle, walk, amble, we're running.

I felt good, right off the bat.  I was wearing a long sleeved tech shirt over my singlet, and it felt like the right move.  Saw Jana at the start and gave her a wave.  Saw Steve and FiveK at mile 2/4, they said I looked strong.  I had my handheld filled, and had packed one GU, and the plan was to skip the aid stations from miles 1-6, drain the fluid in the handheld up to there and eat the GU at mile 6 (my truck), then ditch it and rely on aid stations for the remainder.  Worked awesome!  At mile 7, taking pictures and cheering us on, was Beth!  I slowed down, gave her a quick hug and moved along.

So maybe I lost a few seconds high-fiving all the kids with their hands out, but it's fun!  It was great to see so many friends out on the course cheering on the runners, and I loved the enthusiasm of the HMF crew.  Saw John H. and Buddy G. at mile 11, and Buddy yelled something like "Get moving!"

Headed toward the finish line.  Photo by Beth!

I was able to get across the line in 1:46:05, good for 254th place out of 1655 runners.  Not a PR, but at a 16th consecutive day of running, it was still my 3rd best HM, and I felt really comfortable out on the course, very relaxed, and I never struggled.  My splits were really consistent, and I might have been able to push the pace more, but it was a really enjoyable day.  I was able to catch up to fellow WTAC'er Lynne in the last quarter mile and cross the line with her, and just a few seconds behind Don Weller.  Got caught up with the crew, including a lightning fast Gazelle, who came across the line in 1:20 for 3rd overall at the tender young age of 50 (which is really the new 30)!  PR's for Faith, Joe, Matthew, Jeff, and several others.  Did a "cooldown" run back to the truck a mile away, with the intention of changing up and heading back to grab a beer and some chowder, but I was chilled to the bone and the nice warm truck was too much to resist...

WTAC riff-raff - photo by Jana!

Picked up some fresh bling, too!

Surftown finisher medal #4, shiny!

Next stop?  Road trip to the Pisgah Mountain Trail Race this weekend.  Should be awesome!

Surftown 1/2 Marathon Week! Week of 9-8 to 9-14

And so begins a super fun stretch of races for me.  I did one race in July (RWB) and one in August (R4K), purposely skipping some races and while I was running, I wasn't racing.  That ends this week, as I'm continuing my Surftown streak.  My first Half Marathon ever in 2011, and I've run it every year.  Results below:

2011:  2:12 - #586 of 818

2012:  1:56 - #496 of 1261

2013:  1:43 - #193 of 1614

So I have my work cut out for me if I'm going to see some improvement this year.  My basic goal is to shoot for sub-1:40, which means a 7:38 pace or better...I checked my mileage leading up to last year's race and I'm well above where I was.

Monday, 9-8 - 5 Miles (Trail/some Road) - Wheeler XC Trails and neighborhood roads, NoSto.  An hour of karate this morning, and this afternoon?  Soph's first soccer practice of the year!  I know the coaches and most of the kids, so they know that I run the cross country trails during practice.  Pretty cool getting shout outs on a run.  I started on the trails and meandered onto the streets next to the school, and finished up with a solid effort on the "Wheeler XC Straightaway" trail, 2/10 mile in 1:10, and a 200M on the overgrown gravel "track" in 36.  Next stop?  Two segments a bit over a mile from the school...

Tuesday, 9-9 - 3 Miles (Road) - Mystic Roads.  Had some things to do in Mystic, so I decided to do a short run there.  I remember there being a segment called "Barfing Mystic Pizza," which is the best title for a segment I've ever heard of.  If you know of one better, please let me know!!!  On paper it looked like the segment went from just before MP, and ended at High Street.  Did it in 29 seconds, then looped around and did it in 30, or so I thought...no dice.  I was running at a mid-5 pace up the hill, and slowed too soon.  Soooo...I'll have to hit it again!

Wednesday, 9-10 - 5 Miles (Road/Beach) - Misquamicut run to the beach.  Great day.  I was on my way down to Misquamicut to clear the beach gear out of our storage locker, when Jeff texted me about going for a beach run.  Perfect!  Nice day at the beach, breezy and uncrowded, Mike B. would have loved it!

Thursday, 9-11 - 4-ish Miles (Road) - Mystic segment hunt.  Segment Wars!  Game on!  I went to Mystic to take another stab at the "Barfing Mystic Pizza" segment, and a segment entitled "Mystically Painful."  Got them both.  Tied the BMP segment, which gave me the CR (Strava?  Ruling?), and owned the other segment outright.  One of the fast Mystic dudes, Mathew R., went back out and snagged two back from me a few hours later.  Good fun, and I'll see if I can hang with his times (probably not though)!

Friday, 9-12 - 3 Miles (Beach) - Charlie Stavros race, serving as conemaster and split caller-outer with BLS.  Showed up and helped unload some things, and wasn't planning on racing, as I'm running Surftown on Sunday.  Beth came down on her bike, and decided to run with me down to the jetty to drop the turnaround cone.  Squinting into the Sun, it looked like the runners started promptly at 6, and I started my stopwatch.  Just like last year, it was super fun seeing all the runners approach, get to cheer them on and call out their splits.  Great turnout, and Beth took pictures while I timed the race.  After the last runner made the turn, we waited for a few minutes and then ran back to the start.  Great night for a beach run!

Saturday, 9-13 - 2 Miles (Trail/Road) - Dog Jog with Henry.  Love my dog.  He flips out when I say "Dog Jog!" to him.  Cruised out the door with Henry and ran trails across the street, then a bit of road down to the creek so he could swim for a bit.  Got home, dropped off the dog and headed to Westerly for Surftown packet pickup.  Passed Mike B. on the road, and ran into Faith and Joe, who were volunteering at pickup, and Paul, Don and Suzan, Jeff and Matthew, etc. and got to chat about Sunday's race for a bit.  I initially wasn't too keen on the shirt, but it's pretty cool:

Here we go (again)!

I'm going to do the same thing I did last year, to beat the traffic.  Come in the back way through Weekapaug, park at Seaside, and jog the 2 miles to the race start as a warmup.  It totally worked last year.  Mystic segment update:  Mathew R. has reclaimed pretty much every segment in the last couple days.  I'll take some shots at those on Tuesday, as the race is tomorrow, I'm working Monday, and I'll need to chill out a bit before Pisgah next weekend...

Sunday, 9-14 - 16 Miles (Road) - 4th Annual Surftown Half Marathon Warmup, Race and Cooldown. See separate post!

Weekly Log 9-1 to 9-7: Damn, it's hot out!

Going to have to up my mileage this week, in spite of the heat and humidity...

Monday, 9-1 (Labor Day) - 4.4 Miles (Trail) - Arcadia loop near Beach Pond, Exeter, RI.  Hot and humid, and downright tropical, in my opinion...Tons of people enjoying the warm waters of the lake, but I wilted like a french fry under a heat lamp.  Even the spiders took a day off though, which I did appreciate.  I felt soggy and heavy from the get-go, and my plans for a longer loop contracted down to the trails I did, which were a good mix of hilly, technical single-track and coarse rocky service roads.  I'm looking forward to Fall, and some cooler running weather...

This way! --->

Tuesday, 9-2 - 3 Miles (Trail) - Lower Lantern Hill Trails.  Holy crap it was hot out today.  I ran a slew of errands today, and only wore a shirt when I had to go into a store.  I think this also might be the first time I ever went to Lantern and didn't go to the top.  Pretty sure the heat index was near or above 100 degrees, but I was able to grind out a few pretty good uphill/downhill efforts on the lower section, sweat my ass off, and call it quits at 3 miles.  Arrived home to find these waiting for me!

NB Fresh Foam 980 Trail

Looking forward to getting some dirt on these, and taking a break from minimal, zero drop shoes for a bit.  Can't wait to see how these feel...Much less pronounced lugs than the Zero V2's I've been wearing, but definitely more cushion and protection.  With the Fall race schedule I'm attempting (see column on right!), I'm gonna need it...

And after collecting the kids off the bus for a cooldown in my S-I-L's pool, time for one of these:

LT IPA in a frosty RI Triple Crown pint glass?  On a hot day?  Sold!!!

Wednesday, 9-3 - 6.5 Miles (Trail) - Grills Preserve w/Gazelle.  Started on the Bradford side, and made our way to the "also cool, but not as well marked" Ashaway side.  Oddly, there are a number of clearly defined trails there that are unmarked, and/or abruptly end.  Added some distance and had fun, and the "Bridge to Bridge" section is definitely my favorite part of Grills.  Warm today, but not nearly as humid as yesterday...

Fresh Foam 980 Trail review:  Okay, so here goes.  I'm an 8.5 shoe, but in NB running shoes I'm a 9.  These, I might be a 9.5?  So a bit snug?  I liked the extra cushioning, I have to admit.  I've done zero-drop, minimal cushion shoes for two years, so this was like a vacation for my feet.  They also felt more stable and secure on my feet than the Zero V2 Trail.  I put 400 miles on those and they were grippy as Hell (never slipped once).  These shoes are comfortable, yet not quite grabbing the trail like my previous pair, so I could definitely feel the difference between the two.  I'm impressed, yet felt like a trail runner in road shoes.  Mesh the FF 980 with the Zero V2, and we're in business!  I'll be alternating from here out with my trail shoes depending on terrain...

Thursday, 9-4 - 5.3 Miles (Road) - Mystic segment hunting in the heat. - So this guy named Dirk has taken a couple of my course records, so I decided to hit up Mystic and return the favor.  I was also going for another segment (Island View), but apparently I turned around 50 yards too soon and wouldn't have gotten it anyway.  Hot and hilly, and while I didn't score the uphill segments, I did take both downhills...and by a fair amount :)

Friday, 9-5 - 9.2 Miles (Trail) - Arcadia Management Area, Exeter, RI with Gazelle.  So Jeff has a bit of extra time on his hands at the moment, and is at 60+ miles for the week???  Holy crap.  I'd suggested an Arcadia trail run and we made the 20 minute drive from my place.  Did the Frosty Hollow, Breakheart Pond, Penny Hill loop, and it warmed up rather quickly and got uncomfortably humid.  Summer is NOT over.  At mile 8-ish, we crossed over Breakheart Brook, and noticed a swimming hole on one side of the bridge.  Jumped right in.  Crystal clear and cool, and made the home stretch much easier.  Ice cold Powerade and water at the truck?  Awesome...

Breakheart Trail

No Floo Powder, no trip to Diagon Alley!

Silence of the Lambs?

Accidental picture, but looks like the Blair Witch Project to me...

New late run cool off spot in Arcadia!

Saturday, 9-6 - 3 Miles (Trail) - Dump Run, aka Lantern Hill.  It's HOT and MUGGY today, and I knew I wanted to throw down some miles this weekend.  Looks like Sunday is the day for that, as the weather today was oppressive.  I figured to hit Lantern after a dump run (transfer station), and take a stab at my TTB segment.  Looped the lower trail, and slogged to the top, soaked and feeling the heavy air.  I let my HR settle down and then bombed the downhill, startling several hikers and not sure if I beat it...but I did (at 3:43), and got it by 13 seconds...pretty stoked about it too!  

I also created a new segment for the first part of the 'Gansett trail, 70' at 12% in 1/10 mile, Jonny and Muddy have the CR (probably on a training run) but I'm 10 seconds behind.  Called it quits today at 3 miles, and could not stop sweating for like 20 minutes...crazy humid...hopefully the front comes through tonight and cools things off...

Sunday, 9-7 - 6 Miles (Road) - Local loop from the house.  Started to cool down, so I hit the road to close out the week.  Nice day!  Much less humid than yesterday.  Although I'd attended a birthday brunch for my nephew and gorged myself on Belgian waffles, scrambled eggs, bacon, etc., I decided to take a stab at a segment, which backfired when I hit the pause button on my watch instead of the lap button.  I realized my mistake at the top of the hill, of course...but overall, a good steady run, on the easy side but consistent.  Cooler weather ahead, can't wait...

Good mileage week for me, and a 9th straight day of running.  This, oddly, is also my highest mileage week since the week of the RI 6 Hour Ultra last November???  Good numbers and I felt really good this week in spite of the warm weather...going into next weekend's Surftown HM, that's pretty cool!