Big Steps 5K- Weekly Log: November 7 to 13

 Final fast 5K attempt of the year and last hard effort before Philly.

Monday: 4 Miles- Westerly, RI

Easy evening shuffle just to shake the legs out. Didn't need a real run but I like about 30 minutes easy over an off day.

Tuesday: 10 Miles

7 Miles in AM- Westerly, RI

5AM headlamp grabbing a handful of new roads around east avenue. I was really dreading this as I haven't done early morning runs in a while but it was fine. Many more of these as I begin in-person work.

3 Miles in PM- Voluntown, CT

Pachaug state forest dirt road loop. Nice loop but my headlamp wasn't good enough so it was kind of sketchy going over lots of rocks that I didn't see.

Wednesday: 10 Miles

7 Miles in AM- Westerly, RI

Same as yesterday but parked in Avondale and out to watch hill. Knee is getting much better on easy runs but a bit achy on this one. Coldest in a while at around 32 degrees.

3 Miles in PM- Voluntown, CT

More trails than yesterday. Went okay as I ordered a new, much better headlamp. 

Thursday: 10 Miles- Stonington, CT

Last real workout of the season. Thought some tempo/HM effort miles would be good. Wanted 3-4 miles tempo. Did this on the lower Pawcatuck loop (river-greenhaven-mary hall) which is a nice loop with some small rollers. Tempo felt comfortable but also hard. I felt pretty controlled until my legs started to lock up around 2.75 and I made the decision to stop at 3 instead of 4. Maybe worth it to push through earlier in the season. Finished up with 4x30s hard/60s rest to get some faster pace in. Knee felt good through the tempo but sore during the harder session. Difficulty: 3/5. Hoping the knee holds up for these last three races.

Started at Barn Island for a nice soft surface warm up and cool down.

Friday: 8 Miles- Westerly, RI

Parked at the top of noyes neck and got some Weekapaug roads I was missing. I wouldn't say running the dark is enjoyable but it's also not as bad I had expected.

Saturday: 6 Miles- Charlestown, RI

Typical pre race ninigret. Felt decent but also a bit heavy/tight.

Sunday: 12 Miles- Needham, MA

Last race, hard effort and run over 10 miles before Philadelphia half. This course seemed pretty fast and I was hoping to get under my Hartford 5K time. This race fit well in the schedule as a final tune up 6 days out and as a good effort to try to run a fast 5K. As the USATF-NE 5K championship, there'd be more than enough competition to pull me along.

My Dad wanted to run a fast 5K too. Got there, had to wait in a frustratingly long bathroom line before a warm up. One of those days where I was visiting the bathroom a lot so I was pretty happy to find a port a potty instead of going back into the school lines. Pre-race went fairly smooth. We previewed the course which has about 80ft of elevation gain/loss and 5 turns. Some of the roads didn't seem like fast for running (quieter neighborhood roads) but ended up being fine. The first two miles were downhill with an uphill finish which could be tough and might be worth going out a little hard. 

It rained during the morning meaning all the roads were wet, but fortunately no rain during the race. I did a handful of strides in the parking lot and felt surprisingly really smooth and ready to go. Just a huge difference between I how felt in NYC. While not a small race at 500 people, it felt a lot easier to navigate after doing so many huge races. 

The start was a mess. Everyone was talking loudly so I couldn't hear any of the pre race instructions. I lined up in about the 3rd row or so which seemed appropriate. For some reason, we started in the high school drop off zone rather than on the street. It was probably the most chaotic start of the year, simply due to how narrow the road was. The start was cross country style, going very aggressively and trying to get past some people into a good position. It was more settled/comfortable once we got onto the main road but I probably went out a bit too hard. The first few turns went by quickly and were a little awkward with the amount of people. It's funny how after doing several races with 5,000- 10,000 people this year this was somehow the most crowded one. I was essentially just pulled along in a big pack. Not much room to move around but didn't really need to. I felt reasonably comfortable and strong through the mile but definitely felt fast. Hit 4:47 for the mile- okay, pretty fast. But someone around me said something about it being downhill. Good point as I hadn't thought about that.

I definitely went out too hard because the race went from feeling controlled/strong to holding on as we made the next turn. The road was really slippery and it was not a good feeling for my shoes to be slipping under my feet. Between that and starting to feel fatigued from that hot pace, a few guys went by me and I lost contact with the pack I was with. I started to get really uncomfortable around the halfway point, worse than I felt at hartford for sure. I was running alone hitting the 2 miles- people just ahead and behind but not matching anyone's pace directly. The two mile split is always the moment of truth- at this point if you're not running well, you probably aren't going to. Mile 2 beeped- 4:56. Wow. I was not expecting that, especially given that I had let up a bit. But given I was thrilled with my Hartford 2 mile split (9:55ish) and went onto to run a good time despite my third mile being my worst mile, it was worth a lot that I went through 2 miles here in about 9:43. 

That 2 mile split was really encouraging and being 12 seconds faster from when I ran 15:36, I felt I had a great race and PR coming for sure. Just get through that last mile and keep the pedal down. The last mile felt kind of long and difficult. I felt really slow but I figured it was just fatigue at that point. No one was passing me either. I was excited going past a guy at 3 miles to prepare to see the finishing time probably in the 15:20s, maybe even under. I passed another guy who outkicked me up the high school driveway. The clock popped into sight- already ticking over 15:30 when I could see it for the first time. What the heck? The clock must be broken! I couldn't even get there before it hit 15:40 and crossed for 15:43, 25th place. Results here.

Well that was disappointing. I was very, very confident that I had a PR, if not a sub-15:30 in the bag after going through 2 miles that fast (only 11 seconds slower than what I ran for a true 2 mile race on the track). But I failed to consider that was I done with downhill aid and the last mile was mostly uphill. This was not a 5K where I had an extra gear to hammer the last mile and running uphill fatigued I ran the last mile in 5:16, which is not great. My best ever mile 1 split, mile 2 split and 2 mile split but it didn't matter as I ran a poor 3 mile split. It was still a good race- well under 16 and 14 seconds faster than last weekend but not a great one. Those first two miles felt like something special but I didn't keep the ball rolling to finish and that was the difference between a PR or not. I think had I known I was running so slow I could have dug deep to break 15:40 but the PR would be unlikely. 

6 mile cool down on the Blue Heron trails. I almost never fall on trails but everything was wet and slippery and I went down hard on a rooty section. Felt terrible early on but fortunately better after a few so I could get through.

In all, it was a good fall 5K season. It would not have been a surprise to run in the 15:50s for all 3 5Ks given the lack of faster training and lack of speed/comfort with 5:00 pace in general. But I went 15:36, 15:57 and 15:43. Had I run those in order from slow to fast I would have thrilled with each race. Hartford went really well and set a high standard. I didn't run bad in the following two races, just not quite as good. I do think much of the time differences were from the courses and overall the efforts were fairly similar. 

Anyway, Hartford was definitely the best paced race of the three. One thing I did well in all three 5Ks was running a strong 2nd mile. It's easy to get out and easy to close if you lagged in the middle. What's hard is staying strong mile 2 when the fatigue is setting in and you still have a ways to go. What I did not do well in all three races was not having much of a finish. Last 1K is really important to hammer and get that time down and was probably the slowest 1K for each. Zero kick in the last 200m of any of these races either. Once I get down a good close in addition to the good first two miles I've been running then I can run really well. Something to work on for 2023. Kind of tough to wait for the next opportunity to PR when I was in shape for this one. But the opportunity will come again.

Here's a comparison of splits for my 5 road sub-16s:

Splits are estimated. Oktoberfest is the most interesting going out roughly 52 seconds slower than Big Steps yet only running 12 seconds slower. 

Weekly Total: 61 Miles

Weekly Highlight: Running a fantastic first 2 miles at Big Steps. Unfortunately the third mile wasn't there but overall still a solid run.

Weekly Lowlight: Just not closing well at Big Steps 5K. I feel like this was a strength for me in the past but has now almost become a weakness. Really need to work on that finish for next year.

Dash to the Finish Line 5K- Weekly Log: October 31 to November 6

5K race through the streets of Manhattan Saturday, one of the most competitive in the country. Trying to manage knee pain through the week. 

Monday: 0 Miles. Day off. First in a while but figured it was the best thing to do given the long run/workout had my knee pretty irritated. Also not a huge need for mileage/hard workouts given only 3 weeks to Philly  and races both weekends prior. Ideally this would be a 70-75 mile week but settled for a little less with the knee issues.

Tuesday: 12 Miles- Coventry, RI

Ran in Parker Woodland, a trail system in Coventry that looked neat and not too far away. Planned 10 miles with a mix of trails and dirt roads. I knew it was a bit hilly and being technical wouldn't be a surprise. Ended up being a very difficult run. Got there and the "no jogging, no dogs" sign was discouraging. Very technical and hilly throughout and all the trails were covered in lots of wet, slippery leaves. It was fun for a bit but just had to keep the stride length so short that my hip flexors got really tight. Then became exhausting slipping and sliding on rocks and leaves. The short stride kept my knee from hurting but it became painful once I got back onto dirt roads which was disappointing. Then back onto the trails. Last 3-4 miles were miserable with a lot of fatigue and making a wrong turn.

Wednesday: 10 Miles- Charlestown, RI

Ninigret run with 5x1 min/1 min and 4x15s to get the legs spinning but no real workout with knee pain the prior day. Knee felt pretty good running easy but not great on the workout part. My legs really bad throughout, the trail run ended up being a big mistake.

Thursday: 10 Miles- Charlestown, RI

Vin gormley run plus burlingame trail. Still pretty tight which was frustrating. Felt okay overall and knee felt okay but not good.

Friday: 7 Miles- New York, NY

Getting over to NYC for packet pickup the day before. There were a few transportation options with amtrak being appealing but the hotels were really expensive in Manhattan and significantly cheaper in nearby White Plains. So ultimately decided to drive to White Plains and take the commuter rail in both days which is actually pretty empty off-peak. Went down and raced with Andrew.

The day 1 trip was significantly more tiring than I anticipated. Drive to white plains station- about 2 hours. Take commuter rail into grand central. An issue with the race was that the bag drop was at the finish, 2.5 miles from grand central where as the start was only 0.5 miles away. Thus it would be really inconvenient to go there and have to arrive very early to take the subway there only to have to run the 2.5 miles back to the start in race gear on busy cement sidewalks. I was originally thinking to go over in race gear and carry paper train tickets while racing in my pocket. But it wasn't very appealing to be taking the train back in a singlet, short shorts and carbon fiber shoes while drenched in sweat for a full hour. Found an intermediate option allowing us to bring other things to NYC by using a third party luggage drop off. It seemed really sketchy as you go to businesses who have partnered with this company rather than a dedicated service with lockers/storage. So first we walked the few blocks to make sure it was legit which it seemed okay. Doing point to point races without bag drop is kind of a mess. Falmouth was okay but unpleasant being in race gear for 1.5 hours before, but since it's a warm race you don't need extra layers. I've also learned that even with the bag drop, it's best to do an early warm-up so you only have to bring your racing shoes. At Beach to Beacon and Ocean Road, I just stashed my race shoes somewhere hoping no one would touch them. I think a better solution is to a do a really early warm up where you're parked and then a brief warmup in race shoes (I did this at my last 5 races and it worked well). 

Anyway, after that we took the subway over to Javits center to pick up our bibs. Cool to explore the NYC marathon expo but it was quite empty outside of race-related booths. Got a nice warm hat for the race which I'd probably take over a shirt as I have so many of those.

Javits center from the outside

Took subway over to columbus circle to walk a few blocks to the NYRR runcenter. Awesome spot- free to use lockers, bathrooms and changing rooms. Difficult to run in big cities especially with this kind of density so to have a free storage option like this is great. Andrew and I ran over to Central Park and did the classic 6 mile loop around the park on the closed roads East and West drive. I always thought this would be really cool to do- Central Park is a huge park for a big city and this is the iconic loop that many races go on and many, many runners do. But it was mostly disappointing- the road was just okay and the park was ridiculously crowded. There's a left lane for running, middle lane for biking and right most lane for horse riding. Constantly weaving in and out of the bike lane to get around other runners/walkers. I'm hoping it's not usually this crowded given it's NYC marathon weekend.

Cool medal display of WMM 2022 medals at the runcenter. I think my favorite is NYC's.

The run itself was not very enjoyable. While not worse than usual, my knee was quite achy and not how I'd want it to feel during the racing. It was a miserably hot day for November with temperatures near 70 degrees, very uncomfortable. But the worst part was feeling very flat. Legs super tight and heavy, probably the worst they've felt before a race this year. I felt a little better on strides and just hoped everything would go better on race day after stretching.

Got back to Grand central, train back to White Plains and drove over to get dinner and to the hotel. I was really tired from the day's travels and not feeling particularly confident with the fatigue and tightness. But tomorrow was another day and I'd have to get ready to go.

Downtown White Plains: not a bad city

Saturday: 12 Miles

White Plains, NY- Woke up at 5AM. Oatmeal breakfast and then half a bagel at DD at 6AM. Drove over to White Plains station where we'd start our warm-up, more convenient to split it up instead of doing a full warmup in race gear and carbon fiber shoes. Thought about going from the hotel but would be easier to warm up and then get on the train. It was quite dark warming up at 6:15AM and the parking lot (for a bike path) was really well lit so we just did a bunch of laps around the lot until we hit 2. 

New York, NY- Took the train over to Grand Central again. I think we arrived around 7:45AM, an hour before race start. I thought I had a great idea to use the bathrooms in grand central instead of waiting in long port a potty lines at the start but many other racers were also at the train station making for some lines as well. 

At 8:10, we went over to the store where we'd store our luggage. Not a problem and went smoothly, but they did take about 10 minutes to attend to us. Fortunately, we weren't running late or anything. Jogged over to the start and threw in a few strides. That's another lesson I've learned with big races- might not be able to do strides on the line so get in some before in case (the three big lessons are: 1) warm up early off site, 2) get there really early and 3) do strides early). The strides were a shock to the system- felt so forced as my legs did not want to move at all. Very tight/flat/heavy. Tried to stretch and move them as much as possible but the legs were not there at all this morning. Wonder if that was a product of the travelling or Parker woodland run. 

The start line was surprisingly easy to navigate as you could just go right up to your corral without weaving through huge crowds. With 25 minutes to go, I had to pee again and there were only 3 port a potties which was super weird given the field size of 10,000+. Wonder if there were more down the road. Anyway this was going to be a stressful line to wait in and possibly miss the race. I jogged down the street a bit to see if there were any protected/darker areas to go. There wasn't, so I ended up going on a ramp to FDR drive. Pretty public, but better than having to go during the race.

Got back to the start easy enough. It was a hot humid day but that isn't a big concern for a 5K (still quite uncomfortable though). What was a concern was that I was not actually in the top corral (AA) but in the second one (A). I just assumed A would be the top corral and I was behind a group of 50 or so including some older women with white hair who clearly did not belong there. As the USATF Road 5K championship, the elite runners had already started so I'd want to be close to the front of this group. I noticed Eric Holt in here which was weird that he wasn't in the elite field (4th at US 1500m championships). Just before the start, they pulled up the tape between the two corrals. I didn't even know if the corrals had separate starts so I didn't want to push up. But I saw some other guys in the corral work their way up to the 3rd row or so and I followed suit- much better than starting 8-10 rows back.

This is an interesting course. Starting next to the United Nations, the course quickly turns onto 42nd avenue going past the Chrysler building and grand central. Then turns right onto 6th avenue (tall buildings!). Last mile rolling hills in Central park to share the same finish line as the NYC marathon. While there are only 5 (?) 90 degree or more turns, less than Hartford the course is bit tougher having 120ft of elevation gain and a 40ft net uphill (so you only get to go 80ft downhill). I thought it could still be pretty fast however and was aiming for sub-15:40 and possibly get under that 15:36 from Hartford.

42nd ave, we'd race up this and under the GCT bridge. (Race photos are expensive unfortunately so I don't have any).

We went off at 8:45 and the start was a bit chaotic with everyone trying to get out hard. I tried to sweep to the outside to get myself clear but the guy ahead of me stuck his arm out so I couldn't pass him. This is really annoying behavior as there is no benefit to him to not let me pass (he could easily slip in behind me and let me do the work) but makes me have to wait until the turn to pass. I did that and found myself in a pack with the top non-elite woman. Hard to gage effort- felt like I was running hard but should I move up more? Stayed here and my watch was completely useless as the skyscrapers threw off the satellite signal. I kept seeing 4:40s throughout the first mile and thought I had a lot of time in the bank. The effort was really high as my legs were indeed absolute junk. By far the worst my legs have felt in a race this year. No being comfortable through halfway, just a grind. Hit the mile in about 5:00 which while a good split was disappointing as I knew I probably didn't have extra gears today. 

The other guys in the pack left us and I ran alone with the top woman down 6th avenue. While it seems cool to race down a closed 6th ave on paper, it was not ideal. Just sewer grates everywhere and the side of the road was completely cement which I despise. Poorer traction and feels less responsive compared to asphalt. This was not particularly enjoyable but it was a slight downhill so I just gritted it out. The next turn was pretty sharp and I got passed by the woman but then immediately repassed her on the downhill. 10:05ish at 2 miles entering central park.

Still a solid race and a shot at sub-15:40 at this point. But fatigue hit really hard on what was by far the toughest mile- rolling hills and windy (as in curves, there was no wind) roads the entire time. Passed those who were dying worse but got passed by other guys who were running strong. The mile was pretty miserable and I felt so slow throughout. I recognized some of it from yesterday and I knew the last bend at columbus circle would mean we were almost done. But that bend seemed to come over and over again and I really had no idea where I was. I was also uncharacteristically distracted. I kept watching the runners on the other side of the fence (another path adjacent to the road) to see if they were elite runners cooling down. I'm normally much better at focusing and trying to close hard but I guess my mind was just taking shortcuts today. Eventually got to the 400m to go mark and tried to pick it up. I kind of shut that down as it felt horrible to pick it up and the finish line wasn't in sight. I managed a tiny kick again the last 100m as I didn't want to get passed but it wasn't much.

The clock at 3 miles showed 25:45 so I thought that meant it was 10 minutes behind and I was 15:45 through 3 miles. The finish clock was messed up too so I didn't know the actual time. Time to check my watch. Had no idea what to expect- knew I didn't crush it but could be anywhere from 15:50-16:30. 15:56. Okay, not great but at least I got under 16 so not a disaster either. Rounded up to 15:57 in the results for 73rd (!) place. Results here. 

Overall an okay race- certainly not great adding 21 seconds to Hartford but it's worth something to get under 16 on a harder course feeling so, so flat. Overall still a decent run just nothing to be too pleased with. I thought this would be an awesome event and course but thought it was just good/solid. It's cool to run down roads in the heart of the city closed when they're usually bustling but some of these are just not ideal for racing with the sewer grates, slick surfaces from pollution and cement. But it was still a fun event and crazy competitive. Probably one I'd pass on for next year but keep in mind for the future. Certainly a cool experience to race on NYC roads. 

The post race food sucked, at they seem to usually do for these huge events. A bagged bar, pretzels, apple and strange tasting alkaline water. Jogged back on busy Manhattan roads with Andrew before getting an always great NYC bagel and getting out of there. 

Greenwich, CT- 4 Miles

Finished the day out with some more miles at Greenwich point park on the water. Really nice spot but super crowded. Knee was achy and I was exhausted. 

Glad to get out of the NYC metro area- the high population density is not for me. I enjoy visiting and seeing the urban environment but can only stand small doses at a time. Even just driving through White Plains and Western CT outside the city is still so busy. This region drives so aggressively too which isn't fun at all either. I'll try to visit or race in NYC a few times a year but not a place I ever want to live near. 

Sunday: 15 Miles- Richmond, RI

Race recovery in the carter-carolina loop I've done many times now. Added some trails in the section north of Pine hill road that I've haven't done in quite a while. It was miserably hot again which just felt horrendous. But my knee felt much better than usual so that was a positive takeaway.

Weekly Total: 67 Miles

Weekly Highlight: Getting to run a competitive race in one of the best cities for road racing in the world. This was one of my 4 NYRR bucket list races- the other three being 5th Ave Mile, NYC Half and Full. 

Weekly Lowlight: Dealing with tight, heavy legs and continued knee pain throughout the week. 

Weekly Log: October 24 to 30

Trying to catch up on the blog quickly!

Last week of the season not racing so wanted to get in a quality training week. Knee had other plans however as the damage had been done and I was just trying to make it through decent training without causing further injury.

Monday: 8 Miles- Charlestown, RI

Easy run at Ninigret, second half with Dad and Brady. My knee felt really bad on this one, just not enjoyable at all. I felt pretty good too but just can't enjoy that when there's a glaring issue with the body. This was definitely a wake up call- thinking it was nothing the prior day but this was a clear sign that I needed to figure it out ASAP. This is one of the huge downsides of the sport of running- feeling great one day and getting in quality work, the next day you're in a ton of pain and unsure if you need to shut things down. It was disappointing because I feel like I'm cautious about doing too hard of workouts and try to roll out and stretch enough to prevent things from getting tight, but sometimes you can just get injured anyway. I think the mistake I made on Saturday was waiting too long to eat after a tough, depleted effort and not rolling out/stretching after. Muscles too tight and body too depleted so it's extra strain on muscles which ended up hurting my knee. 

Fortunately, I had a little bit of experience with this. It's definitely a lot easier to get through injuries when you know what works. I had similar knee pain last November to January that I had to take some time off for. While that wouldn't work this time around, I had some strengthening exercises from last time I could use to try to get things better. It's a really slow process especially with the knee as it's not simply a tight muscle (can't just massage/roll) but does seem to work. It's definitely smart to take some time off to reduce pain but it's a risk as you're not training as hard and it's doesn't always work. A lot of times I feel easy running is better for injuries than time off. It's pretty disappointing to take some time off to help injuries only to come back and be in the same amount of pain. So the plan for this week was to run through the pain/soreness. I needed this to be a quality training week at least volume wise and my half marathon would definitely suffer if I took a few days off. That being said, you can't just ignore pain so workouts would be fit in where I felt comfortable and not straining.

Tuesday: 11 Miles- Charlestown, RI

Burlingame loop, out to Buckeye brook road then back with some roads and overlap. This was not an enjoyable run. I got into a bad habit of starting runs really late as I didn't have in-person work yet and this week and next had some stupidly warm days that made running late absolutely miserable. Close to 70s at the finish. Stopped at the vin gormley bridge and just felt terrible. I normally don't go into the water this late in the year but I was quite overheated. Knee also felt bad enough that it takes all the fun out of running- but very slight improvement each day so proceeding forward.

Wednesday: 12 Miles- Charlestown, RI

Road loop from the campground doing some campground roads, klondike-ross hill loop and then finishing with east-west beach. Another crappy run in the heat and knee discomfort. Also starting to feel flat/heavy from too many easy days.

Thursday: 12 Miles- Westerly, RI

9 Miles at 1PM

Tried a first workout. Wanted to go 8,6,4 minute tempos with half recoveries steady (6:30ish pace) for a good long-ish block. Knee wasn't especially bad on warm up and surprisingly didn't feel worse running hard. But my body felt like crap after too many easy days. 5:30s for maybe 6 minutes or so then just couldn't maintain pace at all fading to the 5:50s. Had to take a full rest too because I just felt exhausted. Wanted to switch it up after to still get some aerobic work in- thought I'd still do the 6 and 4 minutes but targeting 6:00 pace which should be manageable. Tried again- 6:03 pace for 4 minutes feeling horrendous. Just gave up and jogged home on empty. But glad the knee isn't completely awful.

3 miles at 6PM

Double to make up for missed mileage. Did some hard strides which felt weird in the dark and knee did not feel good- faster pace/higher cadence feels worse (more bending of the knee).

Friday: 10 Miles- Richmond, RI

Carolina road/trail loop. Knee discomfort there but not terrible. Decent weather. Such a nice place to run.

Saturday: 10 Miles- Foster, RI

3 miles of walking in morning at Grills trail race. Race seems pretty fun, cool trail community vibe. 

Next leg of NST with Andrew again. Similar to last week 80% roads. This time the trails were pretty lousy- just washed up dirt roads that were tougher with the leaf cover. Finished at Killingly Pond, the only part of the trail in CT. A really nice pond. Went in the water at the end which was quite cold.

Start at Foster Town Hall (not on trail but easy parking on weekend)

Finish at Killingly Pond

Sunday: 16 Miles- Charlestown, RI

Well, time to attempt a solid long run. Starting from Ninigret, went 6 miles out to Charlestown beach. Knee achy and uncomfortable but not painful. Goal was 12-10-8 minute tempos with half rest (similar to last week). Didn't actually split these so I don't know the paces. Maybe 5:30s-5:40s. Felt hard but not terrible. Knee didn't especially bad on the first one. Rest felt fine and then second one was hard starting uphill. Felt a lot flatter. Knee starting to strain a bit and hurt so I decided to stop after the 10 minutes. Second rep felt hard, especially as I put in a gel-water practice towards the end. I took a minute break. I was hoping to get in the third rep after a rest but the knee felt quite irritated just running easy back to the car. I got in a good stretch and it was feeling a lot better, so I finished it out. Felt pretty gassed and my knee did not feel at all, so not sure if it was worth it. It's a fine line between gaining fitness and getting injured so it's hard to know where to stop. I wanted to be done back at the car at 15, but needed 16 to get 80 so I finished it out, uncomfortably. 18 definitely wasn't happening, however. Difficulty: 4/5.

Weekly Mileage: 80 Miles

Weekly Highlight: Getting in 80 miles and a little bit of work despite the knee injury. In this case, something is definitely better than nothing (I was happy with the volume, but not happy with the workouts).

Weekly Lowlight: Irritated knee just making running not enjoyable.

Weekly Log: October 17 to 23

 Recovering from the Detroit Half Marathon and then trying to get a last few weeks of quality training in before racing every weekend in November.

Monday: 5 Miles- Charlestown, RI

PM shuffle in Ninigret, tried to go really easy. Pretty sore but not quite as bad as I was expecting. 

Tuesday: 10 Miles- Charlestown, RI

Burlingame road/trail mix in some of the northern sections.

Wednesday: 12 Miles- Westerly, RI

Ran in all three grills preserve. Decent run, good time on feet. The 91 grills is certainly the least traveled but might actually have the best trails of the three- just smooth non-technical singletrack that is pretty fun to run.

Thursday: 14 Miles- Charlestown, RI

Return to workouts, been going on Wednesdays but gave an extra day for recovery. Longer warm up to get in good mileage on the day starting from Burlingame campground. Did a loop around East/West beach then did my usual campground loop for the workout. 8x2/2 mins. Felt decent on this, certainly working hard but the pace shifts didn't feel too jarring today and went smoothly. About 5:20s for the ons and 6:10s for the offs. This is a good fartlek loop as it's downhill to the water and uphill back with some tight turns here and there- good practice running on effort as the pace definitely varies. Difficulty: 3/5. Cooldown to 14.

Friday: 10 Miles- Richmond, RI

Carter-Carolina loop which is always fun as it's a good mix of a lot of surfaces. Mostly non-technical singletrack with some road connectors but the trails feel quite different each mile. Pine forests in carter turn into more rocky terrain and then some strange stuff with vibrant red bushes. Carolina is mostly non-technical pine singletrack but finishes on that dirt road through the cornfields. 

Saturday: 18 Miles- Westerly, RI

After not feeling strong at all during Detroit, I think one mistake I made was doing 16 mile long runs instead of 18. So with two weeks to get in quality training, I figured I'd try to do a few hard 18 milers. 6 easy warmup from the house into Watch Hill. Then did an 8 mile hard block going 3-2-1 mile tempos with a mile recovery (moderate, shooting for about 6:30 pace). First 3 from Watch hill to newbury going 5:37- 5:33- 5:44 (uphill). Felt harder than expected but the rest felt pretty good. The 2 mile block was tough as it was hilly going around the neighborhood and then I set up a fueling station to practice taking gels while running hard. Got it down but it was difficult so I'm glad I'm practicing now. Hard to have a race like fueling station so I did the best I could leaving a water bottle at the end of my driveway, leaning down to pick it up, then turning around and dropping it at the edge of the house. 5:48-5:36 for those two miles. Last mile tried to run hard but again some tough rollers in there on shore road. 5:24 for the last one. Then 4 miles back home for 18. Overall a quality run- 18 miles at 6:30 pace with the 8 mile hard block. It doesn't sound particularly hard looking at the blocks individually but is a lot of volume put together. The classic workout is 4-3-2-1 but that's a bit much for me now with 13 miles hard and coming off the half. May be a good option for future blocks though. Difficulty: 4/5.

Sunday: 14 Miles- West Greenwich, RI

Getting in the next leg of North-South trail. With Andrew which was a big help as I probably wouldn't have done it solo having to bike back on hilly roads. This section was 85% road with a few trail sections. Mostly a nice route on really quiet backroads with some of them being dirt but disappointing that so much of it is off-trail when trail is in the name. Run was fine and went by quickly. High volume this week going 14-10-18-14. Would have settled for less for this day but hard to find parking so we finished at the Foster town hall 1 mile off the route. My knee was really achy and sore which unfortunately ended up being an issue for the month or so (still a problem as of writing). The two trail sections were pretty nice however, non-technical singletrack through pines.

Weekly Total: 83 Miles

Weekly Highlight: Getting in a very quality week of training- 18 mile long run with 8 hard, fartlek workout and 83 miles on the week.

Weekly Lowlight: Developing a knee issue that has lasted quite a while.

Detroit Half-Marathon- Weekly Log: October 10 to 16

Half-marathon debut this Sunday. Kind of, as I ran Surftown in 2013 and 2014. But considering this to be my true debut as I ran 1:26 then and should of course be able to run much faster now.

Monday: 8 Miles- Charlestown, RI

Burlingame road/trail split. Still a bit sore from the 5K.

Tuesday: 11 Miles- Hopkinton, RI

Picked a new route starting from Yawgoo incorporating a bit of trail but mostly quiet roads. North Road to Dye Hill up Keeny Hill which was really quiet. Some really nice sections although did not like the trail return too much, overgrown and completely missed the trail I was trying to take back due to poor marking. 

Wednesday: 11 Miles- Charlestown, RI

Campground roads 4 Mile tempo. Was not able to hit mid-5:20s pace which was the half marathon goal which was a little disappointing since I was running pretty hard. I don't think these roads are super fast though. 5:32 average pace for the 4 miles. Difficulty: 4/5. 

Thursday: 10 Miles- Stonington, CT

Lower pawcatuck loop doing the usual river-greenhaven + a full OAB on osbrook and then a barn fire road loop. Felt pretty good. 

Friday: 8 Miles- Luzerne County, PA

OAB run on the D&L trail in Eastern PA. Really cool crushed gravel path- just a very smooth and comfortable surface to run on. Great scenery too with a cliff down to the river, some waterfalls and nice flora. Definitely one of the better manicured paths/rail trails I've run on. Did 4x2 min pickups on the way back trying to keep the legs from getting stale doing 3 days easy. They felt just okay, neither strained nor comfortable.

Rail Trail Rankings:

1. Delaware and Raritan Canal Path (NJ)

2. D&L Trail (PA)

3. Airline Trail (CT)

4. Eastern Trail (ME)

5. Augusta Canal Path (GA)

6. Sugar River Rail Trail (NH)

7. Rockingham Rail Trail (NH)

Saturday: 5 Miles- Lakewood, OH

First time running in Ohio. Stopover on the drive to Detroit for the race. Did an OAB just outside Cleveland in their metropark system which was very nice. Although the river was pretty gross and some pollution/trash in the woods. 

Walked to Detroit Marathon expo in the afternoon then had a pasta dinner at the Detroit Mariott where we stayed.

Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center where we stayed

Downtown Detroit: not bad, but nowhere near as nice as some Northeast cities

Sunday: 18 Miles- Detroit, MI

4AM wake-up, slept just okay. Had my oatmeal and part of bagel which took a while to get down. I have trouble eating a lot in the early morning so the early starts aren't my favorite. At 5:45AM, went for a 2 mile warm-up. Was a little worried about the streets being dark but was fine with the street lights and got to preview a bit of the start area.

Back to the hotel for stretch, roll out and bathroom break and final change into race gear. We headed out to the start maybe 40 minutes before and it was a pleasant surprise that there was no line for gear check or bathrooms. Very comfortable pre-race setup, had plenty of time for strides and nothing to stress over. Was a bit cold changing into race gear in 39 degrees and dark but not too bad. 

Bit of a crowd getting to the front but then was able to start pretty much on the front line. Well, until the top woman in the marathon basically shoved me out the way to get in front. They played both Canada and US National anthem and then "Lose Yourself" by Eminem which got me pretty excited to race. A good chunk of the race would be in the dark due the 7AM start and Detroit being further West but still in Eastern timezone. We'd be crossing over into Canada at about 2.5 miles in and the official rules were that you carry a passport throughout the race. With no way to conveniently do in regular race clothing, I opted not to and hoped I didn't get in trouble for it. I figured there was no way guys running under 1:10 were just going to be carrying their passport. Saw one guy just before the start pull out a passport wedged in his armsleeve and give it to a spectator he knew.

Gun went off and the first two miles were pancake flat on one road towards the bridge. Felt pretty comfortable and tried to find the balance of running hard but feeling controlled. Goal was to run in the 1:11-1:12 range to get a feel for the distance and then try to improve upon at that a Philly with more training and true taper. So mid to high 5:20s would do. Out a little quick but feeling strong around 5:20 for the first two miles. I made a few mistakes- probably in 20th at the half mile mark then moved up all the way to 8th or so, passing multiple groups instead of staying with them. We made the turn towards the ambassador bridge and I got passed by a group that I had gone by previously and felt their pace wasn't worth the effort to match. But I knew it was a mistake to pass them earlier.

Starting in the dark. Lead woman (and eventual winner) ahead of me: not only rudely pushed me out of the way so she could start on the front line and also has been caught for doping before. 

The several tight turns and the surface turning to cement had my legs feeling pretty rubbery and flat the next half mile. We then started the 150ft up the bridge. It wasn't steep at all but I just felt really flat and powerless up this. A group of 5-6 guys including the top marathoner went past me here like I was standing still. I tried to tuck in the back and go with them but they had a good effort going and I had zero uphill strength. I was fine letting the other group go but this was the group to be running with as they were doing 5:30s or so. Now a solo effort up the hill. This was a rough patch getting dropped early and struggling up the hill. It was still cement here which wasn't helping. One corner of my bib got detached/torn which is annoying having that flap around. I got distracted by a great view of the Detroit skyline all lit up. 5:41 for this mile which isn't bad but I should have ran it more evenly and just ran with the other group from the start. Uphill for the next third of a mile which I just felt like complete trash on. Shifting to the downhill felt great and it was nice to get back in it. I ran low 5:00s until the end of the bridge and felt like I was gaining on the next group but I started the mile so slow that it was only another 5:42. 

I felt surprisingly great coming off the bridge and with another slight downhill I kept trying to catch up to the pack. 5:21 for Mile 5 feeling really comfortable which was very encouraging. Then the road got flat again on Riverside drive through Windsor and without the help of gravity it suddenly felt a lot harder. Pretty good crowd support from the canadian side. Some guy yelled to me that I could catch the next group which was helpful so I just tried to close on them. But I wasn't really making up any ground and it was seriously concerning how fatigued I felt coming up on the halfway and a lot left to run. Mile 6- 5:30 which was still respectable but going the wrong direction.

Riverside Drive in Canada

While the race had been decent up to this point, it pretty much completely fell apart soon after. I saw a sign for an upcoming water stop so I took out and started to consume my gel. No problem to take it out of my pocket, but I had no practice taking gels running hard assuming it would be fine. Took a quarter of it and got that down. But then I had a good amount in my mouth and could not swallow it with how hard I was breathing. I tried to keep it my mouth and chew it a bit and wait until the waterstop to get it down completely. But then I had a gag reflex and felt like I was about to throw up so I had to get it out to avoid throwing up. Must not have been a good look to spectators to see me spit out a bunch of dark brown stuff. I still gagged a bit after spitting it out but fortunately did not throw up. I slowed down a bit through this but still ran a 5:35 Mile 7 although starting to feel bad.

Slight downhill through the tunnel back to Detroit which I was able to still run a decent pace on. Then changed to a slight uphill and all of sudden I felt terrible. Just struggling. The lead woman and a few other passed me and I knew it was not good racing to just let these people go. I tried to stay with them which lasted about 10 seconds because the effort felt so forced and not sustainable at all. 5:44 for Mile 8- the wheels have officially come off. Back onto the roads of Detroit for the last 5 and basically no hills- maybe I could get it back together. The group who had just passed me was not going that much faster either so I try to get them back. But there was no second wind- I just felt awful and had nothing in the tank. I knew it was ugly as I'd look down at my watch to see 5:50s or over 6. Mile 9 and 10 were not pretty- 6:01 and 5:53. Just trying to die as little as possible to keep the time from being a 1:17-1:18. I knew at this point that I wasn't hitting any goals. It was also a bit dejecting how far behind my watch was. I was just over 56 minutes for 10 miles on my watch- still respectable but hit the official 10 mile mark over 57 minutes- less good. 

The lead woman was way ahead at this point and I was running in no man's land. My legs were super tight by now and just strained all around. Everything felt bad, my achilles was getting sore and tight too. Just trying to gut out these last few miles without dropping back to 6:30s. The road layout was really confusing too and I had no idea where I was at any point. I kept thinking we were coming up on the turn away from the marathon course and back to downtown but it seemed to never come. Just somewhere in an abandoned feeling Detroit, few spectators here. Mile 11 in 5:55, another slow mile. We finally made the turn away from the marathon course and back to the finish. The last 3 miles had been among the most miserable I've run this year, but I knew I was almost done. I felt another runner coming up on me and prepared to get passed easily. But he didn't pass and just sat on me instead which was surprising but it helped a lot to have someone with me as I had basically been running solo the entire race. My watch started showing 5:30s pace which was encouraging. Between the pace pickup and having someone to race, I tried to keep the pedal down and prevent myself from running 5:30s. Mile 12- 5:41. 

1 to go. Kept pressing to try to drop this guy, fully expecting to him blow by me. Confusing finish, just felt like I was coming up on the last few turns as we got back into downtown but it wasn't coming. I surprisingly started to pull away from that guy. Finally made the last few turns and another guy flew past me. Not even close to matching that. I later saw from his strava that he did this as a marathon workout running the last 5K hard so I felt better about it. I tried to check my body to see if there any hard finish left but realized my legs were so strained and had no life to them.  Made the last turn which felt super long both due to the fatigue at that point and because my watch was well past 13.1 miles. Finished in 1:15:10 for 17th. Full results here. 5:37 last mile- at least I picked it up a little.

I felt empty immediately after finishing, both physically and mentally. I was both pretty disappointed with how slow I ran and my body just felt completely cooked. Probably the most fatigued I felt in a race this year aside from Whiteface. Even got asked if I was okay and if I needed medical attention. I tried to look for the guy I raced the last two miles with but realized I had no idea what he looked like since he never passed me. Went back to the hotel to collect myself and do a short cooldown. I nearly abandoned that immediately with how strained my muscles were- it was a force just to jog. I had nerve pain in my quad from how tight everything was and my achilles was sore from racing. I got a good stretch in and everything felt like normal levels of fatigue after that.

Went out and watched Dad crush the full marathon in 2:47! I had mixed feelings on this one- initially very disappointed to run 1:15 thinking I could do 1:12ish. I think my goals were a bit ambitious and 1:13 would have been a respectable day. Certainly not a great performance by any means. But at the end of the day there's a few things to consider- 1) this was my tune-up, not the goal race. Get through 5 more weeks to Philly and see what happens there. Tune-ups are difficult as there's not much of a taper and I'm not in peak shape. 2) This was (Kind of) my half marathon debut. It's hard to have super lofty expectations when you've never done it before. So still a PR and working forward. I feel I made two big mistakes here that are not ones I want to repeat- 1) blowing past a few packs early on and then not having it later to stay with them. These guys ran 1:12 which would have been a good race for me. Need to pace better and try to work with people where I can. 2). The gel issue. Needed to practice this. Not a coincidence that I bonked a mile after the gel mishap and didn't have a second wind. 

A bit of tough pill to swallow, but this was never the focus and got to move on to more important things going forward. As disappointing as any race is, it's a much more helpful mindset to start thinking about how you can run better the next time rather than dwelling on the time/race. A few event notes- dark through about 5 miles or so which I was not a fan of. Definitely a little hard to buckle down and run hard when your visibility is limited. Would prefer an 8am start for that reason. Mostly flat, but still a lot of turns and some really awkward ones going onto and coming off of the bridge and tunnel. Hill up the bridge was a bit challenging. I did not like all the cement from 2-4 miles. The concept of racing in two countries is neat but the course definitely suffers a bit for it. The event was well put on overall but I don't think it's a must do. That being said, I was very happy with how easy the pre-race logistics were and that they had free photos. Many other races that size have stressful pre race issues waiting in line for things and then ask for ridiculous fees for just a few photos. So in summary- awesome job Detroit not making the pre race a hassle but the course/event was nothing special. 

Post-race got some meh mexican food in detroit then went to a cool coffee shop in one of the suburbs. Rest of the day was spent in the Detroit airport for many hours. The airport was probably one of my favorites- not relatively crowded at all but still quite easy to navigate and had lots of restaurants. The flight was one of my least favorites- tiny plane and half the people were obese which of course I got to sit next to one. A short flight but feels long when I have an elbow going into my stomach the entire time. Was sore stepping out of bed in the morning- time to recover and get ready for the November racing block.

Weekly Total: 71 Miles

Weekly Highlight: Getting in some hard running and doing a big race.

Weekly Lowlight: Really struggling in the second half of Detroit.

Hartford 5K- Weekly Log: October 3 to 9

Regular week of training culminating in a fast 5K on Saturday. 

Monday: 11 Miles- Exeter, RI

Arcadia run- good to get back on the singletrack. Mix of singletrack and dirt roads. Did the piece of NST I was missing here on bald hill brook trail. Awful trail- basically a very washed out road with loose rock everywhere. But good to have done up to Tillinghast at that point with no more small sections needed to be done.

Tuesday: 11 Miles- Charlestown, RI

Afternoon Burlingame. Procastinated getting out there. Started with 4.5 on roads then finished the rest on trails with Dad + Brady.

Wednesday: 14 Miles- Westerly, RI

Wanted to get in a quality hard workout- 4x2 Mile on 2 minutes rest shooting for 5:25-5:30 pace around goal HMP. Mapped out a loop in Weekapaug with a small hill and then the middle two going westbound then eastbound on Atlantic Ave. Started on pace feeling challenging but manageable. Then turned into a significant wind (15mph) and hill and pace plummeted. Still an okay rep at 5:34 pace but working way too hard. Took the rest and then Atlantic Ave rep- tailwind and no hill should make it better. Except it felt awful: 5:49 pace for that one feeling like a 10K effort. I was hurting bad by the end and called it there. Did 5x2 Min to get some more volume in but felt awful throughout and could not keep the rests honest. Rough day, finding workouts like these are really tough but just did not have it today. Difficulty: 5/5.

2 Miles in evening from home because I'm going for mileage at this point in the training block and was too exhausted to do the full cooldown.

Thursday: 12 Miles

AM 3- Westerly, RI

Easy shakeout doing Champlin trail loop, roads to/from. Felt pretty tired.

PM 9- Hartford, CT

No race day packet pickup so headed over to Hartford in the evening with Andrew. Hot day, 74 degrees in Hartford at 4PM. Nice to run in the city but still have free parking at Riverfront park. Did some OAB on the river bike paths and a small loop in the city around Colt Park. Not a great run- heat didn't feel great, my legs were pretty tired, and there were swarm of small bugs flying into our faces constantly. Parts of the run were quite nice- sections of the river path and colt park. Cool view of Hartford on the bridge. Other parts were less nice and many places with horrible odors- coughing in some areas. Of course cities are much more polluted than rural/suburban areas but Hartford smells much worse than NYC or Boston. 

2 mile round-trip walk post run to bib pickup. Hartford really is a dump- walked across abandoned parking lots then when we got to downtown the first sidewalk had broken glass across the entire length. Actual bib pickup street was nice though and a pretty cool expo at the XL center.

Friday: 8 Miles- Charlestown, RI

Ninigret pre-race. Felt good.

Saturday: 12 Miles

6 Miles in Hartford, CT- warmup and race.

Woke up 4:45 AM as the drive is a little further than usual (1hr15min to Hartford). Wanted to give extra time for warm-ups and bathroom breaks as well as buffer time to park in case there was any issue with that. Too many races this year just underestimating how long it takes to get certain aspects of the pre-race done with (mainly bathroom stops and changing into/preparing race gear)- Beach to Beacon, New Haven, Ocean Road. Just add a lot of extra time- better to have some downtime waiting around then not have enough time to warm up or use the bathroom. 

After breakfast, met Andrew in Waterford to drive over. I was pretty tired the entire drive over, more so than just the usual early morning sluggishness which was a little concerning. We got there at 6:45AM for 8AM with zero parking problem- parked in a lot maybe 200m meters from the start for $5 (which was not clear at first, later got asked for money from parking attendants who weren't there on arrival). While the race weather was a near perfect 47 degrees, it felt pretty cold getting out of the car. We shuffled over to the bathroom area and my body did not want to move at all. With extra time from no parking issues, we had 10 minutes to hang around the car. Then went for a warm-up of the course- first two miles. 

I felt better quickly after running. The warm up is so essential in getting that sluggishness and feeling of not wanting to race out. Felt good by the end. Ran the first two miles of the course, Park St was quite dumpy with bars over windows and doors as well as a bunch of trash sitting on the street. Got in final strides and bathroom break with about 3 miles total pre-race. Opted not to use the bag drop given how close we were to the start. Probably could have used a few more minutes but overall timed it well, especially with the lack of long bathroom lines. Unable to do strides the last 5 minutes or so as the starting line was locked down like some other races (as in you couldn't go past the timing mat). 

Felt relatively calm and ready to go pre-race, I've only had nerves recently for really big races or ones that end up feeling pretty rushed. This was a mostly fast course but not quite as quick as New Haven which was minimal elevation and only 4 turns. This course had 90 feet of elevation gain- all slight inclines with 9 turns. Technically a point to point (after the 2 mile loop, it goes down to the bushnell park arch to finish) with a 40ft net downhill. Last mile is downhill so emphasis would be on getting through those first two miles well. Was unsure on expectations for this- thought sub-15:50 would be a good goal but would settle for getting back to sub-16. Thought getting out in about 5:00-5:05 would be good. This is a good field size of about 2,000- big enough to draw some good runners but not too much to be a crazy crowded pre race. I felt I should be contending for a top 5-10 spot. I recognized last year's winner (15:28?) who had also won Battle of Stonington this year and I (and my Dad) had run a few miles with him at Groton fun run before. I figured I should keep him in range but didn't want to go out at that pace.

The wheelchairs went off maybe a minute before us and then our race went off. I think we were supposed to go off at 8:01, 1 minute after the half/full (separate start a block over) but ended up going before them. I cruised out with the leaders feeling comfortable and then had to awkwardly make my way around the wheelchairs who were not going fast and taking up much of the street. I thought about surging ahead to keep the pace honest but reminded myself of who I was racing and stayed behind some of the top guys. I also tried not to look at my watch and not stress myself out about pace- just run hard. A lead group of 3 formed including last year's winner and I stayed in the next group. Having that lead group ended up being perfect for me as I'd try to keep them close and stay with any chase group breakaways which just happened to be the exact pace I should run. It was almost like I had my own wavelight pacing to follow- don't go with those top guys but stay in it. Park road was a slight downhill and fairly comfortable- most of the course roads were freshly paved and smooth. I took over chase pack leading duties and remained in 4th through the mile, maybe 40m behind the leaders. My watch beeped for the mile. Time to check it- felt like a 5:00 for me. Mile 1- 4:53. Okay, a little quick. Did not realize the top guys were going so fast. Just keep the pedal on and don't slip up Mile 2.

The next few turns came and went quickly. I held 4th and didn't feel anyone right on me while trying to close the gap on the lead trio. I wasn't actually gaining on them but having something to reach for kept me honest. My hamstrings locked up a bit about halfway through but just kept pushing after those guys and keeping the pedal down. Slight uphill this mile. Made a handful of tight 90 degree turns before hearing my watch beep again. Okay, time to check what that was. I felt like I was hammering but wouldn't have been shocked to see something slower. Mile- 5:01.

Wow. Wasn't expecting such a strong 2nd mile as I don't think I've ever been so fast for a second mile or even through 2 miles (9:54ish). It was encouraging that I was still running pretty fast especially with one to go and a slight downhill to finish. I knew I was in for a pretty good time as long as I kept the pressure on. I felt fast on the next few slight downhills and checked my watch again soon after- 2.8 miles. Almost done, just push past Bushnell and make the final turn into the arch. It felt a little longer than any part of the race had so far which makes sense as the last 1K of a 5K race tends to hurt a lot. I usually shift gears to close really hard here but I didn't really have that today- which didn't matter because I never let the pace actually slow. There was some clueless guy standing in the middle of the road who I brushed past, then made the turn into the arch which was quite awkward as it was well more than 90 degrees. I was then confused after that as there were fences separating the two sides of roads and I wasn't sure which side to be on. This definitely halted my kick a little bit which was somehow slower than any single mile split. I hadn't done any mental calculations of time, just knowing that I was running well and was excited to see the clock just tick over 15:20 as the third place guy finished. Got there myself in 15:36 for 4th place. Results. 

Finish line video- first 5K runner around 1 minute in

A great race for me. Was hoping for 15:49 but was thinking it was a long shot given I was so slow at New Haven and wouldn't be used to the faster pace at all. But the field size was perfect, I felt pretty good and just paced it very well to run much faster than expectations. I probably would have predicted a 15:59 so to crush my road PR of 15:55 was very pleasing. Really the whole hour or two after the race was just "Wow, I just did that.". After so many mediocre summer races, it felt great to be running well. One of the best races of the last few years for me. Especially encouraging given the lack of speed work and being in the middle of 82 mile week. 

Fun post-race, always enjoyable to be done and have the feeling of having run well. Perfect weather. Andrew and I had to hang around a bit for them to get awards ready. Cool post-race stuff with some good food- fresh bread, chowder and a donut (plus some pre-packaged stuff). 

CT State House- cool building

Hartford Skyline from Bushnell Park- one of the few nice areas in the city

We did a 6 mile cooldown at Ferry Park in Rocky Hill. I've seen a lot of CT runners post runs here from strava so it seemed like a nice non-technical cooldown option rather than on busy Hartford sidewalks. Awesome place right on the CT river- very smooth dirt roads through pretty meadows/fields. Felt good for just having raced. 

CT River from Ferry Park

I thought this was a great event. Very well organized but not too many people that it felt crowded or crazy unlike some other races. Still quite competitive in all three races though. Probably the perfect sized race to get quality competition/organization without having a stressful pre-race due to huge crowds/logistical nightmares. Will be back for the half, full or both at some point.

Sunday: 14 Miles- Voluntown, CT

Bigger Pachaug loop with Andrew, mix of trails and dirt roads. Felt pretty fatigued from the race yesterday and this felt long. It was fun to be back on trails though.

Weekly Total: 82 Miles

Weekly Highlight: Hitting a big road 5K PR at Hartford. Nice for a race to come together really for once as that is rare. 

Weekly Lowlight: Not having it on workout day and struggling. That being said, I'd take a great race and bad workout over the other way around any time.

Movies Watched: *Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, *The Nice Guys

*Rewatch

I actually didn't watch any movies after this for the next 6ish weeks so I'll leave that off until I watch more.

Ocean Road 10K- Weekly Log: September 26 to October 2

Ocean Road 10K this weekend starting up the serious portion of my fall racing season (every race up to this point had low expectations).

Monday: 10 Miles- Voluntown, CT

New road loop starting from Green Falls: Sand Hill-Tom Wheeler-Rt 49-Puttker-Dennison Hill. A very nice loop, roads really quiet and mostly empty. Good challenging hills throughout. Foot did not feel great.

Tuesday: 11 Miles- Charlestown, RI

Typical Vin Gormley adding on campground roads and part of Burlingame trail. Ankle held up. I've been doing band work daily for both ankles since the last sprain and it seems to help a lot in both increasing the joint strength and avoiding twists. Also only takes a few minutes. Foot okay on trails but some irritation on the road part.

Wednesday: 12 Miles- Westerly, RI

8x1K at Avondale. Plan was 10x1K on 60s rest trying to hit 5:15 pace (slightly faster than goal 10K). Seemed very doable given I already ran 5:18s for twice the distance last week and all I'd have to do is hold that pace for 1 loop. Ended up being much harder partially due to not feeling as good and partially due to it being a lot windier which you really feel at Avondale. Ended having to gut it out and a bit and cut it down to 8 with 2 minutes after the 5th. Got into a pattern of feeling decent the first half of the loop around 5:00s pace with the wind and then dying and feeling awful finishing up into the wind. Paces weren't glad but still a decent effort. Difficulty: 5/5. Breathing/HR was pretty bad on this one.

Thursday: 11 Miles- Richmond, RI

Making progress towards finishing the NST. Biggest local piece I was missing was from the northern end of Carolina to Arcadia. Dad, Brady and I started at the check station in Carolina and ran NST to Browning Mill pond. This was a pretty bad stretch of the trail. Carolina is quite nice and there is a good trail section after that. But then a really busy road section. Some quiet roads before getting back into trails. The trails south of Arcadia were really bad- loose rocks, overgrown, barely used. Then Arcadia is decent on the Arcadia trail but very technical. Good to have that done with though. 

Friday: 10 Miles- South Kingstown, RI

Great swamp + some SK roads and bike path. Given the race was on Sunday, I thought three days easy was a bit too much so threw in something really light just to keep the legs from getting stale. Inserted 3xhalf mile pickup on half mile recovery continuous at whatever pace felt comfortable (ended up about 5:50s). Felt easy-ish but it certainly should. Last one was a little harder on rocky dirt road back into Great swamp. Last 5 miles easy in Great swamp but I had a massive energy crash around 7-8 and felt absolutely terrible for the rest of the run, stopped multiple times. I guess this hasn't happened in quite a while so not a big deal. 

Saturday: 8 Miles- Narragansett, RI

Two miles walking in the rain during the morning at Pumpkins race. 

Picked up my packet for Ocean Road 10K then met up with Andrew. Ran much of the bobby doyle course plus an add on to make 8 down Foddering farm road which I had never been down before. Legs felt really good, a sign that the pickups worked well rather than taking it easy. Rain throughout and had the annoying issue where my soles slip back and make it very uncomfortable to run. Had a slight sore throat which is always really concerning for further sickness but fortunately it was nothing. Finished with some strides to test out the new carbon fiber shoes (Supercomp Pacer) as I've never had them before.

Sunday: 15 Miles- Narragansett, RI

Woke up just before 5am. While the race is only 30 minutes away, there is a bus shuttle to catch as it's a point to point race. I think my shuttle was 6:45 (?) as I had to take an earlier one since I signed up later. The weather was a serious concern today as the winds were supposed to be 20mph. I wrongly thought that it would be a tailwind meaning we might run really fast but quickly realized on the bus and around the start that it was actually a headwind.

I was pretty cold waiting around at the start due to how windy it was and became less and less excited to race. It just did not seem very enjoyable running into a huge headwind the majority of the time. Tried to get bathroom breaks out of the way early then Andrew and I ducked behind a stone wall to be less exposed. Did a 3 mile warm-up feeling pretty heavy and realizing the wind was quite direct and definitely a headwind (was hoping it might be a side wind). I had a lot of negative thoughts but tried to calm myself going into the race. My original goal was to hold 5:20 pace (about 33:00) and go for the course record of 33:37. I now couldn't decide whether to just go for it in the wind or play it conservative and run with whoever was leading. 

Turns out we should have warmed up earlier because it was rushed after that. Had to go the bathroom again except now the lines were quite long. Then there was no bag drop so I had paid $10 extra to use their locker system which took me longer to put everything into than I expected. By the time I was on the line in race gear, there were only a few minutes to spare and no time for strides which was frustrating (I learned my lesson as this was the last time I'd do this as of writing). 

Some idiot still tying his shoes when the race is about to start.

I wasn't sure what to expect with this one. I had enough training under my belt that this was no longer a low expectations effort. But I also didn't have any race effort that suggested what pace I should be going for. So I had two goals 1) win and 2) break the course record, hopefully comfortably. I thought 5:20s should be doable before I knew about the headwind. The race has about 1,000-2,000 people but is not especially competitive with winning times around 33-35 minutes. Given the course record, I felt confident that I would win this one. And looking around at the starting line- I saw only one other guy in just shorts/singlet that I thought could be competitive. I wrongly assumed this was the race winner from the last few years. This was also my carbon fiber shoe debut. I had been racing in flats up until now but felt I should use that advantage especially as I'd be more fit for this portion of the year.

I hadn't really made my mind on whether I should go for it or hold back but I didn't need to as several guys matched my pace from the gun. I thought about surging ahead to take the lead but the pace was solid. I tucked in behind a guy wearing work gloves and carrying a water bottle who I thought couldn't be serious/fast. The first half mile felt relatively easy and not impacted much by the wind. But it became harder to stay with the top guy as a few big wind gusts hit us from near the water. I didn't feel very confident going through the mile- I had spotted the top guy 10 meters, had someone else sitting on me and felt like pace had already gone out the window. So it was a pleasant surprise to look down at my watch and see a 5:19 opening split. 

Pretty much immediately upon turning back onto Ocean road, the wind was much more direct and it got a lot harder to run that pace. I naturally slowed with the winds but the leader didn't and started to open up quickly. I didn't want to match that pace as it would take substantial effort with a lot of racing to go so I settled for running in second for now with the hope that he had gone out too hard. The second mile was tough with a lot of wind and someone sitting right on my shoulder throughout. I kept the pedal down and kept pushing, but knew I had a lot of time left into the wind. 5:46 second mile.

The wind was absolutely brutal at Scarborough State beach soon after just past the second mile. Felt like running into a wall and just a huge effort. This was the low point of the race for me- the leader had pulled away ahead and it was unlikely that I or anyone else would catch him. I looked at my watch a few times to see a depressing 6:10 pace. And worst yet, I not only hadn't shaken the guy behind me but another guy (the one wearing a singlet/serious looking) came right up on me and went for the pass. I felt really dejected here- I came here to win and that was gone, but now I wouldn't even get top 3? I thought the singlet guy would just pull away quickly but I tucked in behind him and was surprised how much easier it felt with him taking the wind. This gave me a little mental boost as I could at least stay in the battle for second. Having these two guys to work with in this tough stretch helped with not slowing any more and after a minute or so tucking in I moved back up to lead the group. Mile 3- 6:10. 

I felt like we were slowly gaining on the top guy. Just past 5K, singlet guy started to stay something. I figured it would be "We're gaining on that guy, let's go get him." (or at least that's what I was thinking). Instead what came out was "Dude, why the f*ck are you breathing so loud?". This threw me off guard and took me a second to realize he wasn't talking to me but rather the other guy in our group who had been wheezing the entire race. This was distracting and really weird to hear but I kept working at trying to chip away at the gap and with a little more protection from the wind was able to pick it up a bit and unintentionally get some separation. By Mile 4 at windermere, I was clear of the group and had a gap for second. 5:38 Mile 4. 

Mile 5 had similar protection from the wind (not windless, but not terrible like before) and I tried to take advantage of this and continue pressing. There were also some downhills to push down and it was encouraging to see the pace in the 5:20s when I looked at my watch. I realized after a bit that I was probably running even pace with the leader and his gap was way too much for me too win. But I still I had second place to worry about and while I knew I had at least a small gap, those guys could very well come right back on me. This mile was fun and I felt pretty good for being at this point of the race. Ocean road is actually quite nice to race on, just not in these conditions. Mile 5- 5:26.

I felt good and ready to close hard in the final stretch but Mile 6 is right on the water and that tough wind came back. Not as bad as Scarborough but just really couldn't do anything. Slogged through the last bit unable to press further and the last half mile was not fun as we had to stay to the far right in the parking spots instead of running in the road. There was a car in the one of the spots which was awkward to go around. Made the final turn onto Boston Neck Road. It was not enjoyable at all as I wanted to mount up what energy I left for a strong kick but just couldn't do anything at all into the wind. Crossed in 2nd of 1,047 in 35:32. Results here. Mile 6 in 5:45 and final 0.2 in 5:50 pace. I ended up being well clear of 3rd but far from the win.

I was slightly disappointed not to win but later realized the winner is a strong runner. I had heard his name before as he does a lot of the local RI events but it wasn't until later I realized how accomplished he is- 4th at Blessing this year and just ran 2:29 at Philadelphia Marathon. If I had known he was there pre-race I would not have expected to win. It's hard to evaluate this effort as over 5:40 pace is not very impressive- I literally just did a 6 mile tempo block at that pace and 2x4 Miles faster. But the wind had a huge effect- 25mph as I later learned on strava. I think the effort was pretty solid. I went out hard, stayed in it after getting dropped and then hammered the second half to secure second in a better field than this race normally sees. The winner from the last two years got 4th and ran 3 minutes slower than he has in the past. I certainly think the wind was worth at least 2 minutes and I would been happy to be somewhere in the 33s. I think the winner would have crushed the CR in ideal conditions. A good race overall and felt strong which is a good feeling after a lot of mediocre stuff in the summer.

As far the enjoyment of the race- I thought it was just okay. I was happy to do it as it's a unique local event and Ocean Road is pretty nice to race on. But for a race with over 1,000 people, there were a lot of aspects that I thought could be handled better. This is basically a race that caters to the slower runners who want a finisher medal and a neat experience- meaning very limited competition. There's no prize money and not much in the way of awards (I got a insulated cup and a very cheap water bottle for 2nd place). Very expensive for a 10K- paid about $90 which includes the locker rental. I don't know why they couldn't have been an included bag drop with those expenses given all the buses needed to go back to the start anyway. Lastly, it was frustrating that the course wasn't even closed for a race this big as cars drove past us throughout and then having to stay in the parking spots at the end was not ideal at all. If this had been a race of 50-100 people, I'd get it but it's not really acceptable for a bigger race. With those complaints out of the way, it's a pretty cool course that would be quite fast in good conditions. But probably not a race I'd return to unless those issues were addressed. I would neither recommend nor discourage people from doing this race- there are both positives and negatives to be had. Also, the course support was pretty much non-existent. Not that I was expecting a lot, but you'd want some for a 1,000+ person race.

In the end, a solid effort but unfortunately no satisfaction to be had time-wise. But definitely way better effort than Falmouth and B2B which I was only 40s faster on. Probably the worst conditions I've raced in, so unlucky to have these winds on a point to point course as we had to run into it the whole time. 

Waited around for quite a while for the lockers to be ready, then did a 6 mile cooldown trying to get decent mileage with Dad and Brady, Andrew for first mile. Bonked after 4 miles. Nice to get back to racing and start up the fall road racing season. 

Weekly Total: 78 Miles

Weekly Highlight: Getting back into racing with a solid performance after a lackluster, not very fit summer season.

Weekly Lowlight: Absolutely suffering into the wind, not enjoyable at all.

Movies Watched: *Wrath of Man

*Rewatch