Week of 9-19 to 9-25: Kismet Cliff Week!

This should be fun...I'm at 95,000 feet of vertical gain in just over 860 miles for the year, which ain't easy when you live in Southeast CT.  Most of that vert has been done on technical trails, which I just really enjoy, and anything that involves actual hand over hand climbing is icing on the cake. Gonna be over 100k by week's end, which obliterates my previous year's best (77,000 in 2014), with lots of running to go!  That said, I really hope the weather is more conducive to an enjoyable race at Kismet Cliff this year, as last year's race was held in some sketchy conditions, and the gorgeous views were completely obscured by fog and sideways rain.  So far, the forecast looks better for the weekend, but this is New England, sooo...Here's my short recap from last year and my DNF, the day before my bloodwork came back positive for Lyme:

  9/13 - Kismet Cliff "Beast of the East" half marathon.

           So here it is:  I picked the perfect place to stay!  The Colonial Motel in North Conway.  Clean, helpful and friendly, and three minutes from the race start.  Room was super clean, the staff helpful, and I was totally set.

I awoke to fog, 55 degrees, rain, and no sight whatsoever of the mountains I'd be running...

Arrived early to find a hardcore crew already set up.  I grabbed my bib, saw Ryan and chatted with him for a bit, then spent time talking with Kristina, Tony, Lise, and some other awesome runners before the race began.

After the race start and a short run around Echo Lake, we all turn onto the Cathedral Ledge ascent, which is 400'-1500' and a flipping tease.  After that?  A short descent, then the nightmare ascent up North Moat.  It was raining, it was foggy, it was slippery as Hell.  I was alone for a long time (I can deal with being alone, but this wasn't fun!), and also wasn't aware that there are about a thousand false summits going up to the top.  It just kept going up!

I was nearing one of those false summits, questioning my sanity and qualifications for even being there, when I heard a runner behind me, approaching fast.  I shouted "Please tell me I'm not getting lapped!"  He replied "If it helps, I was in second place and took a wrong turn..."

He scampered up the hill and out of sight, and I continued on, alone and in the rain.  I was looking for a bright side at this point.  I was pretty sure I was in last place, pre-hypothermic (it felt like it), and looking at a 4-hour half marathon time.  What the Hell...

When I finally crested the actual summit of North Moat and began the descent, things got even more sketchy!  Ryan had mentioned that that side of Moat never gets Sun, and was always "greasy," in his words, and it had rained all night.  Imagine a slick granite slip n' slide that goes down for two miles, and you get the idea.  I slid on my ass, bushwhacked alongside the trail, and moved as well as I could...until I rounded a curve and saw fast runner dude (Ryan K.) helping a girl down the mountain.  Her name was Amber, and she'd rolled her ankle pretty bad.  I did the right thing and stopped, and helped with getting her down the slippery descent.  I'd thrown my cell phone into my CamelBak as an afterthought, and we pulled up the Race Director's number and called him to explain our situation.  We arranged to have transportation meet us at the Diana's Baths area.

The next couple hours were us getting down to level ground, walking Amber to the bailout near the stream, and getting out. Friends Ryan and Kristina and a couple other runners met us and we hitched rides back to the start/finish, where I DNF'd, but for good reason.  I'll be back next year, this race is badass and had far too few runners for what it was, which was, in the words of runner Tony, who I met at the start, "Everything the White Mountains has to offer in a race."  7 Sisters was a breeze compared to this race.  Yes, I said it.

No soapbox moment here, but hey:  people passed this runner, who was obviously in distress, and she was too polite to stop them during the race.  If you see a runner who's slowed to a crawl, just a quick "How's it going?" may be enough for them to say "Not so hot."  Then you stop and see if maybe they need help.  All I'm saying...

Added bonus this year!  Seth's headed up for the race as well.  Gonna be a good time there, and maybe gonna hit up Moat Brewery for pre-race hydration!  Can't wait...

Monday - 0.

Tuesday - 6-ish miles.  Pequot Woods 3 before work, Lantern Hill 3-ish after work.  My Garmin is acting like a rebellious teenage girl (I know, I have one!).  I'm very sure I'm getting shorted on mileage, which means a much slower pace than I know I'm working at.  Or I'm just getting fat and slow.  Either scenario is possible.  So on top of the mileage fuckery, at Lantern it was recording pace/time, but a zero for distance, and I had to hard reset it and use my goddamn phone.  Glad I got the high-end model!  659' elevation gain.

Wednesday - 0 Miles.  Nothing like a work-induced taper!

Thursday - 4 Miles.  Easy Hewitt Farm trails.

Friday - 0 Miles.

Saturday - 0 Miles.  Spent the morning checking out the NoSto Festival in town, then got on the road to New Hampshire.  4 hour drive.

Sunday - 14-ish miles.  Kismet Cliff.  Report to follow.

It's Gonna Hit the Fan: Upcoming Shit, Predictions, Whatnot...Week of 9-12 to 9-18

So in a little over a week, I'm gonna attempt a "Fall Trifecta," to complement my "Spring Trifecta."  But this series of races comes with a bonus!  The Kismet Cliff race is first.  Beast of the East!  Brutal!  The following week is the Cat's Tail/Nipmuck double marathon, which I'm most apprehensive about.  Sounded like a good idea at the time?  I'm all in for the Cat, but I may withdraw from Nipmuck, as I'm trying to keep the waters smooth on the home front and my body intact for Ghost Train, and maybe open a spot for somebody else.  The GT race will be uncharted territory, and I can't wait to see what unfolds, most likely me.  So here are my predictions:

Kismet Cliff:  I'll have a good race, and finish well, provided I'm still Lyme-free by next week and there are no damsels in distress at the top of the mountain this year! Last year I was over the top of North Moat before my watch died, and I pulled the plug on the race to help another runner.  I did 8 miles in 3:02, in shitty weather and not feeling my best, with 3,700' of elevation gain last year.  I plan to be well ahead of that this year, any sideways rain notwithstanding...

Cat:  I plan to do exactly what I did last year, but I'll have a drop bag at mile 9 with dry clothes, I'll have a better attitude, and some knowledge to turn to.  Last year I was doing well until I hit the mile 9 aid station.  This year I'll be in a better place mentally.  No quit.

Nipmuck:  Jury is still out.  I'll give it a shot if I think it's within the realm of possibility.  I know the course, have done it three times, and it'll be gravy after the Cat.  If I can still walk, and not piss off my family for being a ghost all weekend, then it's a go.  Speaking of ghosts...

Ghost Train: Uncharted Territory.  I have lots of things going in my favor though!  It's an out/back race, which I do well at (I'm usually a solitary person, but I'm a social butterfly around others, much to the amusement of my wife and daughter...).  I can control my clothing/fuel/food options.  I have friends on the course, both running and volunteering, and my buddy John has offered to pace me for the tail end of the race, where I'll likely be bitching about every little thing...sorry in advance, John!

I wonder what the Vegas odds would look like on this....

Monday - 2.5 Miles.  Long Pond beatdown.  Short and sweet and technical, I hit the juicy bits of this trail, and a quicky after work.  700'+ elevation gain.

Tuesday - 3 Miles (Hike/Work).  CT Forest & Parks workparty, to re-route part of the Narragansett Trail.  When part of this trail was suddenly obliterated last Spring, I was really worried.  Fear not, runners (and hikers)!  A new and awesome stretch of trail is on its way, with the blessing of the landowners and assistance of several volunteers.  We were able to clear, in 5 hours, a substantial amount of distance and create a trail from nothing, and the Narragansett is on its way to being made whole again.  I can't wait!  Next workparty in less than two weeks, where we'll finish making the trail and blaze it, and post cool signs about the heirloom pigs and cattle being raised there.

Wednesday - 0.

Thursday - 8 Miles.  Lantern Hill repeats, prep for Kismet Cliff.  Best and closest place to train for a race in the Whites, run to the top, run to the bottom, repeat!  Felt awesome.  1500'+ elevation gain.

Friday - 4 Miles.  Even more Lantern Hill!  1000'+ elevation gain and stopped to help some wayward hikers, more good technical climbing.

Saturday/Sunday - 0.  Gonna be gone the next two weekends, figured it was a good time to wrap up some things at the house.

Still Summer, WTF!?! Week of 9-5 to 9-11

We had a brief glimmer of Fall, and then it went away.  It's warm (hot) again, and forecast to hit 90+ by the end of the week.  That said, I have three (well, four) races looming on the horizon, and my only plan at this point is to follow a structured training plan...um, no.  Use one as a trainer for the next?  Sure.  Just like last time!  A sketchy, technical mountain half marathon to train for a mountain full marathon a week later, with a trail marathon chaser the next day, three weeks before a 100?  Yes, I'm an idiot.  No, I can't help it.  Am I gonna give it a shot?  Yup!  Because if I don't try, I'll never know if I could have pulled it off.  I even started shopping for a tent, for Chrissakes!!!

Monday - 0 Miles.  100 Pushups.  Labor Day and I didn't do a damn thing.

Tuesday - 0 Miles.  100 Pushups.  Shitty weather.  But hey!  My copy of "Nowhere Near First" by Cory Reese came in, and I read half the damn thing in one sitting.  Couldn't put it down, it's so well-written and entertaining!  Great read!

Wednesday - 8 Miles.  3 on Champlin Trails before work, and 5 on Lantern Hill after work.  Two-a-days?  This was fun.  I snuck in a short trail run near our current jobsite, quickly changed and worked until mid-afternoon, then hit up Lantern for a short Fiver with 900' of elevation gain on technical, slippery trails.  Good Kismet Cliff training.  I somehow managed to plow through a college geology field trip from ECSU about four times, with bewildered students trying to move off the trail, and the professor so engrossed in the rock he was holding that he almost clocked me with it (Cool dude, we chatted after his class/my run, me apologizing for interrupting his class, he apologizing for almost smashing my face with a chunk of quartz).  Fun seeing a class full of students learning about the quartz deposits on Lantern, it's an awesome place!  Glad I get to run there :) (100 pushups)

Thursday - 2.5 Miles - Champlin trails before work again.  Another muggy morning, but I got something in before the day warmed up.  Did the reverse route from the previous day, and finished with a shot at a short segment there, got it, and probably won't hold it for very long, given the local population ;) (100 pushups)

Friday - 2 Miles - Champlin trails (again!). - Well, hot damn.  I finally figured out that I could definitely squeeze in a couple miles before work, change, be at the jobsite at a reasonable time and blah, blah, blah...and hey!  80-ish degrees and 1000% humidity, and I was happy to get something in before it hit 90+, which it did.  Nothing like mixing tile mortar and cutting tile in the Sun!

Saturday - 3.4 Miles. - Long run of some sort...or not.  Ultimately, the heat won out and I did another Lantern Hill run.  It was pretty much all I had time for after lunch and a family outing to Whole Foods, which should be called "Wholly Shit, this Food's Expensive!"  But I digress.  Lantern was, again, hot and muggy and I couldn't stop sweating, changed shirts, gave up and ran without, and was generally a disgusting slob shuffling up and down the hills.  Gross.

Sunday - Surftown spectating!  This almost deserves its own writeup, given how much freakin' fun I had!  I've run the Surftown 1/2 Marathon three times, but as I run down there enough, it doesn't make my race calendar.  It's still a great place to run though!  As I had several friends who were running, I decided to head down and cheer them on.  I even got up at 5:30 to get ready, and I don't get up that early for just anyone!  Got all my gear together, and left the house at 6:30 with my bike thrown in the truck, and a pump to inflate the tires.  Saw Jeff V. on the drive down, so I pulled over to fill my tires and say hello.  Wrong pump, shit.  Jeff graciously offered me his only CO2 cartridge, but I didn't want to leave him hanging and declined.  Worst case, I hit Benny's and buy a new pump.  I found a soccer ball pump in my truck and fashioned a MacGyver inflator from a couple pieces, and managed to fill the tires until I could ride the damn thing.  It's a great bike, I just never ride it.

Anyway, I got to the start right before the gun went off.  The wind was whipping straight out of the West, and I could only imagine the Hell the runners were gonna face.  Direct headwind, or oppressive humidity, take your pick.  The runners took off, and after they left I found Tommy, who was running the 5k.  We chatted, and I rode a ways up the course to watch the start.  I also got to see the finish, where he was so far in front of the next runner, they weren't even in sight!  Snapped a couple pics, then watched the Half Marathon leaders come through Misquamicut headed toward Watch Hill.  Nobody looked thrilled.  Saw Mike B., who said the headwind was brutal...

Headed out to Watch Hill!  Got to Ocean House just as Jeff W. crested the hill, suffering but looking strong with two-ish miles to go.  Met up with the WTAC cheering squad, and cheered our people onward and upward.  I even joined a couple of friends (Faith, Antone) for the run up the hill!

I knew at some point I had to ride back to my truck, with my underinflated tires.  Beth bailed me out by offering me the use of her bike pump, and got my tires to where they were supposed to be, from 40 psi to 110 psi.  I'm a dummy, I know this, it's been firmly established already and I'm impervious to the looks!  I never ride the bike!  Gonna have to get it tuned up, it's supposed to have about 24 gears and I have One.  2nd/6th, whatever that is.  12th?  I rode back along the race route in reverse, cheering on the back of the pack runners, who were all smiles and I got several thank yous and thumbs-ups.  Great crowd!  And yes, the bike was riding much better :)

Returned to the beach for a short stop at the afterparty, chatted with Jeff and a few others and hauled ass back to my truck.  The bike was kind of fun!  Not in a "I want to ride it every day" kind of way, just a nice supplement to all the other stuff I get to do.  I was also able to easily access every part of a closed-off set of roads with no problem, which was very cool indeed!  Fun morning!!!

Waves, Runs, and All Sorts of Fun Shit: Week of 8-29 to 9-4

Finally, some decent surf!  Hurricane season kicked in with a vengeance, and just happened to coincide with the start of school (sorry, kids!).  Waves aplenty on the horizon!  I plan on getting in some early sessions before work if at all possible.  Been too long...

Oh, and I'm in for Ghost Train!

Monday - 0.

Tuesday - 1.5 Hours/3+ Miles (Surf) - Hurricane Gaston surf session, K38/39.  Got up early and headed to Matunuck, which was mobbed, apparently, as early as 5:30.  Crazy.  Instead of dealing with that nonsense, I hit one of my other favorite spots and it was firing, but without the crowds.  Great session, got caught up with a few old friends, and was only a little late getting to work...

Wednesday - 0.

Thursday - 1.5 Hours/3.2 Miles (Surf), 4 Miles (Roads) - Matunuck Lunch Break.  As soon as we hit a slow point at the current job site, I was able to take off for a couple hours and hit Matunuck, where I was greeted with light crowds, glassy waist-plus high waves, and at times, pouring rain.  Perfection.  Surfed for an hour and a half, then changed and went back to work.  Now that's a lunch break!  Got home late, and did a 4 mile out/back progression from the house.  Added 100 pushups to kick off the "10,000 Pushup Challenge," which is 100 for 100 days, total of 10,000...only 99 to go!

Friday - 0 Miles.  100 pushups.

Saturday - 5+ Miles.  Course Marking/Sweeping at the inaugural Wahaneeta 5k Trail Race, Westerly.  Running around in the woods with friends, marking a new trail race course for runners, and no pressure to toe the line?  Sounds good!  I stuck to my self-imposed rule of not racing until Kismet, but still get to participate in race day.  Perfect.  Had a blast, and left feeling like I got a good workout anyway!  And got a dog jog in with Henry after!  And 100 pushups :)

Sunday - 10 Miles.  Devil's Hopyard beatdown.  Needed to do either a long road run from the house, or drive to a hilly trail for some vert...and duh, the trail/vert combo won out!  Gorgeous day, and warm!  Some of the trails are technical, some fairly benign, there's people everywhere, and I got to cool off afterward in a fantastic swimming hole at Chapman Falls.  Awesome!  And 100 pushups :)

Getting Caught Up? 8-8 to 8-28

After the Run4Kerri, I really didn't do a whole lot until the last week or so.  Between the heat, family obligations and my work schedule, I really had my motivation sucked out of me for a bit.  I can run in heat or humidity, but the combination of both is really not enjoyable at all.  But I really love to run, and where and when I have been able to, it's been memorable.  The last week has been better, and I feel like the cooler temps are on their way.  I need them to be on their way!

I've vowed to not do any races until the end of September.  Gonna try to keep to that?

I'm up to #1 on the Ghost Train waitlist, so it's probable I'll get in, and it looks like ultra-badass runner and friend John Peabody has offered to pace me somewhere after 30 miles (TARC Rule #14), and before 100 miles...so Holy Shit..

8-8 - 3 Miles.  Lantern Hill run w/Jim.

8-11 - 4 Miles.  High Tide.  I thought I could beat the heat after work and suffer through some high tide sand at Misquamicut, and I did, but it was a rough trade.  The upside was cooling off in the Ocean after the run, very nice...

8-14 - 3.5 Miles.  Heat Index Hill Repeats, Exeter.  What do you do when the heat index is 104 degrees?  Stupidly find a technical trail section or two and bang out hill repeats until you're borderline heat stroke.  I even rolled ice cubes into a Buff to cool my neck, but they melted so fast it made little difference.  HOT.

8-18 - 3 Miles.  Castle Craig up/down.  Just a short, painful climb and descent at Hubbard Park.  Tons of people hunting Pokemon, including two thug kids who almost walked into my truck.  Tense for a second, then comical as they turned and found the creature, danced around for a bit and left.  Zombie apocalypse in Meriden!

8-21 - 12-ish Miles. - Pachaug State Forest.  Back on track, in spite of the heat.  I did a long loop that included Mt. Misery, returned to the truck to change fluid bottles, and did an up/over 2 more times and back to the truck.  Still hot.

8-22 - 3+ Miles.  Rocky Neck run w/Adam B. - One of our old friends Adam has gotten into road running the last few years, and is really interested in trails.  I was on my way home and hit him up for a short run in East Lyme.  Great time there, I even showed him the "Twisty" segment that I'm safeguarding for Chris G. until he gets back from CA (Ha!).  Great trails there!

8-23 - 3 Miles.  Narragansett Trail maintenance.  I really needed to get out to one particular section of the NT, to clear/check the trail for ease of use.  A couple of blowdowns, and some trimming back, now I just need to update some blazes and it's all good!

8-24 - 3.5 Miles.  Bluff Point loop.  I got crap for this (Thanks, Beth!), but I had a small window before I picked up my dog.  I did push the pace a bit, and PR'd the loop in spite of the heat.  I'm done with this fucking heat, by the way.  Not enjoying it at all.

8-26 - 6 Miles.  Newport, RI.  Short vacation with Lori.  I got up early, and ran down Bellevue past the mansions, until I reached the start of the Cliff Walk, which hugs the rocky RI coastline, and consists of dirt path, rocks, and paved footpath.  Great run, although still very humid and warm...

8-27 - 8+ Miles.  Newport, RI and Groton, CT.  Early 5 mile beach/road/cliff walk run in Newport, with a cool NW breeze blowing.  Humid but not terrible!  Tried my hand at two segments: one, a short uphill which I did really well at until my hotel room key flew out of my handheld.  I slowed down to make sure it was ok, finished the segment and then went back to retrieve it; the second, a longer Cliff Walk segment from Narragansett Ave. to the end by the beach, which I started slow and picked up the pace too slow to do really well on.  Next time, but still fun!

  I also had time for a few miles before I picked up our dog from day care, so I hit the trails at the Copp Park, where the dog park is.  Good sweaty 3-mile run.

8-28 - 9+ Miles.  Dog Jog, and sunset loop on local roads.  Wife's birthday meant tailoring my run around the day's events, and I also wanted to wait for the heat to subside.  Ran the dog for a bit, then set out for another 8 miles solo, which included a really nice sunset and quickly darkening roads.  Good cruisy run!

15th Annual Run4Kerri 4 Mile Road Race

My favorite race.  I'm a trail runner whose favorite day of the year is a road race on the first Sunday in August, go figure!  The list is long about why that is:

1. My first race ever (I haven't missed one since!), and possibly the day I really started to enjoy running as more than just part of my overall fitness.  It's so much more than that now...

2. It's put on by a great family, who lost a great kid, but turned a tragedy into a celebration of her life and a way to help others achieve their dreams.  Kerri would be proud!

3. It's local!  30 minutes away, around the corner from one of my favorite surf breaks, and I have lots of friends who run the race!

4. One of the most popular races in Rhode Island, the Run4Kerri draws hundreds of runners, including some world-class elite runners (Hey!  They're just like us!  Just way faster!!!)

5. My rivalry with friend and TNT troublemaker George Ross, who talks as much shit as me and backs it up just a bit better...but more on that later;

6. It's an odd distance.  Not 5k, not 10k, but 4 miles.  And always hot!

7. It's also a good midsummer gauge of my fitness, before the weather starts to turn cooler (I hope!) and the long distance stuff of Fall begins to loom...

8. Probably more, but you get the idea!  It's my favorite race.  They know my name at packet pickup, and I'm still hoping for a bib one year that says "CRUTCH" (Ha!)

But I digress.  Sunday morning I woke up, quietly gathered my things, made coffee, got ready to go, and...couldn't find my wallet.  Shit.  All my prep was shot, and I scrambled around the house looking for it, even waking Lori to see if maybe she hid it as a joke (she didn't).  After 20 minutes of upturning everything, I finally found it under a pillow in the bedroom.  Blaming the cats.

As with every year, I drive to Matunuck and there's a cool, refreshing breeze blowing, and I think "Wow, this is gonna be a great run!  Nice and cool!" (And I'm always wrong.)

In the 45 minutes I had to spare, I managed to say hello to 50+ people, pick up my race bib, and run a warmup with "frenemy" George and a few of his peeps.  Good stuff checking out the back end of the course as the temps suddenly rocketed upwards.  Gonna be another hot one.  There is, I will say, very little shade on the 4-mile course.  It gets hot, and we all suffer together.

It's pretty cool seeing hundreds of runners squeeze into a small country side street for a race like this.  I chatted briefly with a few folks, wished George luck, and we were off!  George went out ahead of me and I fell in about 50 yards behind him.  His pace basically mirrored what I was feeling for effort, and I stayed close but didn't close the gap.  Or couldn't.  We're damn close as far as road pace, and I just couldn't get closer...until the water stop at mile 3, top of the one small hill on the course.  Caught him.  Should have skipped the stop but I was dying at that point.  So was George.  We both stopped to get water, and I remarked "I think you've got me on this one..."

The finish was about what I expected:  slightly slower than my course PR, and I gained on George right to the end, but he had me by three seconds!  Close!  The NET time was 0.08 seconds difference, holy crap!  This was the "race within the race" that we were hoping for, and it didn't disappoint...

Close, but not quite...3 second difference!  Photo by Scott Mason.

So my results were 29:36 for 4 miles, and I was 75th of nearly 400 runners?  WTAC did really well, and Matthew cruised to 8th place overall in a stacked field.  Jeff W. won his age group and Jeff V. came in 2nd.

Spent a bunch of time after the race chatting with friends, frenemies and total strangers, some really fast people and some first-time racers.  I even won an award at the raffle!  Three really nice technical t-shirts.  Oh, and a finishers' medal?  Why not!

Post-race wings!

After the awards, a bunch of us (mostly Turtles, myself, an NRA person or two, and NH 603 runner Leslie) headed over to the Mews Tavern for lunch and beers (they have 69 on tap), and post-race nonsense.  I bought George a beer for his well-earned win.  What a great time!!!  I also finally got to try Tendril IPA from the Proclamation Ale Company out of West Kingston, RI - another great beer being brewed right here in Southern New England!

As always, I can't say enough about the Bessette family and the race they've put together.  It's a great time in a pretty cool little beach town, and draws some great runners from all over.  8 years in a row for me!  I'll call this one my "legacy" race, as it was a given from the first one that I'd never miss it.  Until next year!

On deer flies, humidity, and total lack of a proper schedule: July 25-31 and August 1-7

Couple of good runs, and mostly work, has led to a slow couple of weeks on the running front.  No excuses, no regrets, I dialed it back but I'm getting my workout carrying heavy equipment and jobsite waste during the day.  On the race front, the Run 4 Kerri is on 8-7.  My first race ever in 2009, and 8th in a row this year!  Looking forward to it...

7-26 - 2.5 Miles.  Green Falls run with an old friend.  My friend from college, Mike Duffy, who I haven't seen in 20+ years, calls me to say he's on the East Coast and wants to meet up.  This dude is super fit, and has been traveling the world with Cirque du Soleil as a performer.  We had a great visit, during which he wanted to go for a trail run.  Took him to Green Falls, where it was hot, humid and he got a taste of some New England terrain...I may have sold him on trail running!  Or maybe not, jury is still out...

7-29 - 3 Miles.  Pouring rain, and my boss calls to say he's running late...so I hit up Champlin Preserve for a few muddy miles, changed up and got back to the jobsite.  Nice!

7-30 - 15 Miles.  North/South trail bite with Claire and Ron.  To say it was humid would be an understatement.  I was able to wring the sweat out of my shirt twice, and lost several pounds, and drained my 50+ ounces of Tailwind, along with several other beverages coming and going from the run.  We did a sizeable chunk of the N/S trail, and had a great conversation!  Claire is a machine, too - I was feeling the weather sap my energy by the mile, and she showed no signs of slowing.  Ron was not used to the distance, but was so fit he didn't seem fazed by it.  Deer fly kill count of 25+ on my patch.  You're welcome!

8-6 - 14 Miles.  Groton X-Town trail (+extra mile).  This patchwork of trails is comprised of 6 different nature preserves in the town of Groton, and with only one short road section.  Very cool.  I decided, after 5 days off, that I'd do the full out/back.  The initial couple of miles are not marked at all, and as per my usual, I got turned around in Haley Farm, which is a spiderweb of awesome yet unmarked trails.  Once I realized my mistake, I backtracked and decided to motor on.  Got back on track and made the journey to Beebe Cove in Noank.  Much of the first three and last three miles of the total out/back are very easy and runnable, with the exception being the Merritt Forest and Beebe Cove sections, which are quite technical in places.  Cooler in the shade of the woods, but I still managed to drain 60 oz. of Tailwind in the 14 mile out/back.  I think this trail, were it properly marked from end to end, would make for a great long run trainer, as it has a bit of everything...

8-7 - 15th Annual Run 4 Kerri road race.  29:36, #77 of ??? runners.  My 8th installment of this race, separate writeup to follow.

On a side note, I've moved up to 32nd from 65th on the waitlist for the Ghost Train 100m...so...yikes!