Pachaug 4-Miler 9/21

Going to call this the "Mt. Misery Loves Company" run.  Perfect mid-60s weather, parked at the Pachaug entrance and went straight to the top of Mt. Misery and back, 4 miles to the top and back including the Rhododendron Sanctuary...scared the crap out of some dude who was out walking with headphones on, and happened to be right at the intersection where Nehantic trail crosses the park road when I came blasting out of the woods.  Good times...

Took a picture at the top, the leaves are definitely starting to turn here:

Getting closer to Nipmuck, and as long as I can keep my head straight, I should be good...

10.4 miles on 9/20

So after the Surftown on Sunday, I started to feel kind of off, like I was getting hit with allergies...turned out it was a wicked head cold, which made me feel like I was under water for the next three days.  As such, no running for me on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday...but I was feeling pretty good this morning so I did a "tester" run, which turned into 10.4 miles at faster than my "Blessing" time, including a couple of good hills out my way.  Gorgeous day, and I went up past Jonathan Edwards Winery, where they've been harvesting grapes for the past few days.  Still have the bug netting up over the vines though:

Overall, perfect running day...low 60's, low humidity and a good breeze.  Looking at shorter trail runs tomorrow and Saturday, then Sleeping Giant State Park with Mike K. on Sunday, which looks really interesting...

Surftown Half Marathon, 9/16

This was my first half marathon last year - I ran it in 2:12, at a 10:04 pace, and met my crazy ultramarathon friend Gary along the way, who is the inspiration for this blog...I wasn't nervous at all for this race, as I've been ramping up my miles to prep for the longer races coming up.  My body, on the other hand, doesn't like me very much right now and I slept fitfully all night, up every half hour and finally got up at 5.

Packed my bag, light breakfast and headed out.  Traffic was backed up for over a mile, so I used a bit of local knowledge and got around it :)

Ran into Jeff and Justin as soon as I pulled in.  Went for a quick warmup/pit stop (again, local knowledge) and fueled up.  Brought all my extra gear, and decided to skip all of it in favor of just the GPS.  Did I mention the weather???  Cloudless sky, 50 degrees and a light breeze at race start.  I see Mike B in the crowd, wish him good luck and head to the back with my people.  Here's a shot of the crowd (Note WTAC singlet in the foreground!) at the start:

Last year, this race had 800 or so runners.  This year?  1200+... the race starts, and my goal is to keep the 2:00 pace leader in my sights, and I quickly lose him in the crowd.  At mile 2, I'm checking the surf and the girl running next to me says I should go surf after the race.  I say, "Well, we've got a ways to go," and she says her friend Justin will be done an hour before us, haha.  Hmmm...you mean Justin B?  Small world, eh???  Turns out, Heather is a good friend of Justin's, and after losing her for a while, we meet up again a few miles later and wind up keeping the same pace, pushing and encouraging each other all the way to the finish.  My GPS was calling out our time and pace, and it kept getting faster and faster, and we dropped into the sub-9's per mile average, and passed the 2:00 pace dude, who told me I was gonna crush my time from last year...and the best moment of the race?  Hitting mile 12, with 1 to go, and knowing I was going to be below 2 hours...

So I ended up, unofficially, at 1:56:10, or 16 minutes better than last year.  Wouldn't have done it without Heather, who was super cool and a great runner in her own right, and I felt fantastic today.  If there's a "Cloud 9," I'm on it right now...and I feel a lot better about Nipmuck today because of it.  Awesome day, and this is why I run.  Notable?  My friend Antone, who I take karate with, just ran his first 5K at the CVS, and came in at 24:04, at a 7:45 pace, very cool...

Saw Jeff at the finish, and he PR'd and came in 1st in his age bracket?  Justin killed it and came in 6th???  Mike PR'd and jetted for the Pats game (3rd in his bracket?  What???)  So the WTAC represented  well at the local race, and I'm stoked for the Nipmuck...should be a great test!

Nehantic from Hopeville Pond, 9/14

Nice 4 mile total run on Nehantic Trail, starting from Hopeville Pond.  Started off on an unmarked trail and quickly realized I wasn't in the right place - doubled back, and went up the road a bit to where Nehantic officially begins.  Single track and very webby, but a pretty nice, rolling trail with some technical spots...it's in pine forest though, so lots of nice soft pine beds to run on.  Damn fine day out there.  On the way home, did some recon on 138, 201 and 49 to see where some of the trail crossings are....

Lantern Hill 9/12

I took down yesterday's post, because it had nothing to do with running, and very little to do with surfing.  If you happened to read it, cool...if you missed it, you didn't miss much.  Beautiful day out there!  75 degrees, sunny, light breeze...and 3.2 miles on Lantern Hill today after karate, felt good to get some trail time in, even if it was only a short run.

Great view of the lake at the bottom part of the trails:

Beautiful, crystal clear view of the same lake from the top (It's a long way down!):

Want to get at least one more trail run in, in the 6+ range, before Surftown...

10.4 miles, North Stonington, 9/10

Today was a fantastic day for a run, weather-wise:  lower temps, lower humidity, and a nice cool breeze.  I went to my karate class this morning - great workout there as always.  Got home, had lunch, and about an hour later I geared up and out the door.  I got to try out my Camelbak, although I totally could have gotten away without it.  I spent several minutes at the beginning of the run stopping to adjust it, but eventually got it figured out.  It doesn't move around much once it's cinched nice and tight...however, I don't think I'll use it at Nipmuck or Bimbler's, because you're talking about adding 3-4 extra pounds on courses with almost 10 water drops/aid stations, and it's just too much.  The hip pack will be fine.  On long trail runs, the Camelbak will be a lifesaver, though...

Started out of my driveway and did a different loop:

http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/134786693

I figure I came in at or under my Blessing of the Fleet pace, after subtracting out the time I spent fussing around with the pack, and on a much more hilly course.  Felt really good, and made a point of taking big sips of water at every mile mark.  Want to follow this up with a solid trail run tomorrow, conditions and situations permitting...but overall a great day and good run!

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.