No run, just surf! 9/9

I set the alarm with the very good intention of getting up, driving to Nipmuck and doing the back half of the race route, but when you're a surfer and it's head-high hurricane surf at your favorite break, ya do what ya gotta do.  Must have caught 50 waves today, and killed it out there...and got to surf with my nephew and his friend Colin, who apparently is a very good runner in his own right.  Great day, great waves, surfed for three hours straight and got an awesome workout.

NK5K 9/8

OK, so I did this race last year and I looked up my time to see what my stats were.  Always trying to better my previous years' results, always trying to improve.  The course is a pretty level loop out from North Kingstown H.S. and into Wickford, over the bridge and back around to the school.  Not sure what the hell was wrong with me last year, I came in 174th place at 28:09 (9:04 avg.).  Too bad I wasn't writing this back then, so I'd know what my problem was...

It was about 80 degrees out and very humid for this race.  I got to the school 20 minutes before showtime and did a 1/2 mile warmup, and ran into Colburn Graves and his son.  Colburn rocks, the guy is 79 years old, running shirtless, and he just did the beach run on Wednesday?  Awesome.  Great to have some representation from this area as well.  By the way, he came in at #447, at a 14-minute pace.  Very cool dude, and awesome runner.  Glad I know him...he inspires me :)

There were 532 runners...Lined up where I thought I should be in the pack and started my GPS when the horn went off...wasted a good minute getting going, and got boxed in a few times in the first mile...second mile felt really good and was the fastest of the three for me at a 7:46 avg.  Good finish.  Came in at 24:40, good for #103 at a 7:57 pace...and 3:29 faster than last year...my fault for not being further forward in the lineup, I suppose! Live and learn, I'm faster than I think I am...Great time, great race, and going to try to make the Nipmuck training sesh in the morning.  Peace out, yo.

F#$@!!! Puppy wins...9/7

Grand designs dashed...long run put on hold...I was able, during my short window of doglessness (I won't crate him for more than a couple of hours, wouldn't be fair), to drive to North Kingstown to pick up my race packet, which consisted of my shirt and bib (NO swag...not even a bag...wtf), and then a detour to Dick's (pressed for time, rather not shop there but whatever) to look for a Camelbak hydration backpack.  The dude in shoes had no idea and pointed me to the fitness section, and the stuff I was looking for was next to the Rollerblades...the price was right, less than Amazon and I already tried it out, works awesome!!!  Doesn't shift around much at all.  Ran home to let the dog out and get squared away...So I race tomorrow, the NK5K, then trails on Sunday...PR would be fabulous, we'll soon see...no pressure, right???

Narragansett Trail at Green Falls, 9/6

Had a small window of opportunity this morning, so a quick drive to the southern end of Green Falls, where the Narragansett Trail crosses the road.  Because we've had so much rain, the initial run along the creek bed and up to the top of the dam was very muddy and quite slippery, but once I was lakeside it wasn't bad at all.  Some tight trails, some technical spots, and great scenery.  Also a couple of flat areas to get some speed in.  Like a rainforest out there, and I'm very lucky that it's only 5 minutes from my house.  Sometimes it pays to live in the sticks!  Here's a couple of pictures:

I went halfway around the lake, almost to the campground and back.  I figure I was going at a 12 minute pace, and I believe between 2.5 and three miles, although I'm not 100% sure because GPS didn't work at all, just the timer (curse you, 3G!!!)...

Charlie Stavros Memorial "On The Beach" Run 9/5

PR???  Not so fast there, buddy...

So it rained all day, torrentially, and I checked and re-checked the radar, hourly updates, etc. and it looked like the weather would clear by race time, 6PM.  Very humid, but a bit cooler and the wind went almost slack as I got to Misquamicut Beach for the race.  50 or so people there for the race (I checked the stats, looks like attendance for the race is at the mercy of Mother Nature), and a 3-mile beach run now in its 25th year, so it's historic by my standards.  And did I mention it's a free race?  Timed by SNERRO to make it official?  Thanks, WTAC (which I just joined)!

Turned out to be a great evening for a race.  I ran the race barefoot, which I always do on the beach.  I got out to a decent start, and had opted to run without my GPS.  I'll connect the dots later.  Straight out and back down the beach at low-ish tide, good waves from Hurricane Leslie to look at (can't wait to surf tomorrow), and I get to see some of my friends coming back at me toward the turn around at the jetty.  I was right behind a 12-year old named Joe for the first 2 miles, then we passed each other 5 or six times and crossed the finish line and high-fived.  Both stoked that we beat our best time!  Or did I...I'm coming up the beach and I see the timer, and realize I'm totally ahead of my PR, and cross the line at 23:25, good for 19th place!  But it's a 3 miler, not a 5K, and .1 miles makes a bit of difference.  So I averaged a 7:48 minute mile, and we'll call this my beach PR...very happy either way, because I had a great time, met some new people and got to talk running for awhile.  And three races in a row in the 7's means I'm definitely faster at shorter race distances.

Great spread by the WTAC, by the way, can't say enough good things about the club.  The event finished off, appropriately, with some great words about the race's namesake, Charlie Stavros, under a fabulous sunset:

Great race.  Count me in next year...

Mt. Misery Trail Run 9/3

So I'm on the Facebook the other night, and notice that a runner named Mike K (yeah, another Mike...) had just moved to our area from Florida and taken over the Groton Ledyard Veterinary Hospital.  He's an ultra runner, is also signed up to do the Nipmuck Marathon, and was looking for people to do some trail runs with.  So we met up at the entrance to Pachaug this morning and did a 6.5 mile run (to his credit, he did 15 yesterday), which took us up and over Mt. Misery, and followed the Nehantic Trail portion for a while.  A good morning weather-wise, no bugs to speak of, and actually saw a couple of people out there hiking?!?  I usually don't see anyone out there...

I felt really good this morning and could have gone much longer, and might have to get a beach run in today...maybe the Stavros out/back before Wednesday's race.

Here's the view from the top of Mt. Misery:

Not bad!  Next time on this trail, I'm shooting for the entire section from the lot, all the way to Hopeville Pond...

6 mile loop, 9/1

Had every intention of doing a long run this morning, but with the chaos of family and the addition of a puppy into the mix, my run got put on hold until the girls decided to go shopping...by the time they left (and I got my act together) it was 84 degrees out, nice blazing sun and a hot breeze...but I got 6 miles in on one of my North Stonington loops that has lots of rolling hills and one big hill at mile 5.  Interesting note:  I have always hated that particular hill, but after the trails the last couple of days, it didn't seem so bad.  Love that.  Might even take a day off tomorrow, we'll see how we're feeling after the blowout 40th birthday party tonight for a friend of ours...

Time to make wings for the party!