Alaska- Weekly Logs: July 3 to 9, 10 to 16

Summer vacation has set in with a few weeks since schools ended. It's come up quick, but already time for our vacation to AK, which includes a stopover/layover (not sure what the exact difference is) in LA. Running should be awesome. A couple days still in the ocean state before heading out very early Wed morning. I decided to write both logs as to have the complete vacation running summary in one post.

Week: July 3 to 9

Monday: 5 Miles
Charlestown, RI
Got hardly any sleep and it was really tiring/hard to get up. I knew it would be much worse to sleep and run alone later so got over there. 5 miles in Burlinggame. Total mix of stuff: dirt road, singletrack, doubletrack, asphalt, campground, grass. Definitely would have preferred all trail as everything else felt terrible on the legs but legs felt really good otherwise. The asphalt especially was awful (road and trail runs don't mix that well). Felt decent until 4 when it turned into a road race and Tom and Dad decided they wanted to do a marathon workout (not really, but they picked it and left me in the dust). Went with them for a while but then got tired/legs died and Mikey B started to reel me in. Swim afterwards was not as fun even though I usually love them. Had the usual goggle problems except it was worse and being my first swim in some time I was really tired.

Plenty of geese in the pond during the swim.

Tuesday: 14 Miles

Exeter, RI

Decided to double to make sure I could meet my goal of mid-50s without having to rely on end of the week mileage when scheduling might be tight due to vacation. Wanted to get in something cool on trails. I was looking at an article that named the best/most popular hike in every state, and wanted to do Ragged Mountain in Berlin, CT. That was much further away, than the RI pick, breakheart pond in Arcadia so we did that instead, courtesy of trail guide, Jonathan Short who is familiar with the area. I was actually excited about this despite not being too fond of my first Arcadia experience. This one did not disappoint: it was enjoyable most of the time. There was lots of fun singletrack, the one dirt road section was extremely brief. Sure to be back, but probably not alone. This run once again had me feeling terrible before but fine during (which actually applied to every single run this week except sunday).

Stonington, CT

Double, another 7 in barn island. Felt pretty good even though it was over 80 degrees and was able to enjoy it. Sucking in hot air towards the end didn't feel too good. Pretty easy feeling for 14 Miles total.

Wednesday: 8 Miles

Boston view from the airport.

Santa Monica, CA

We made the most of our layover in LA by taking Uber to nearby Santa Monica pier. With 3 or 4 hours to kill, it was beach run time. I didn’t love the crowds but the scenery was nice and it was something different. Going out north of the beach towards mountains and then turnaround back to the pier made the first part of the run. The sand was soft and pace slow so it took a couple miles for legs to feel normal. After 5, I continued on the south side alone eager to make 7. I took a cement bike path out and while very hard I got the pace down to 6:30 without feeling any worse. I was having fun and decided to get in the extra mile, before heading back on the beach while dodging tourists.

Thursday: 6 Miles

Anchorage, AK

Absolutely dead and in a horrible mood after a day of travel with little sleep and spending over 10 hours in a plane. Explored nearby Kincaid Park, which had an interesting mix of paved bike paths, compacted dirt mountain bike trails and hilly unmarked sand trails. We made a combination of all three, but staying mostly on the latter two. The main trails were interesting but a little too hard for my liking while the sand trails provided unbelievable views of mountains across the bay but were very overgrown and provided no traction. A nice diversion once again but just okay run.

Friday: 7 Miles

Denali National Park and Preserve, AK

This was closer to a road run than trails but I had a lot of fun with this one. A few paved bike paths, but mostly on manicured hard trails through the forest near the park entrance. Felt pretty good and got in a few climbs as well. Views were once again pretty amazing. Later went on an awesome hike up to Mount Healy overlook, which had some of the best views of mountains I've ever seen. I made this video of the hike.

Our hotel (Lodge?) had easy access to the national park.

Easy manicured "trails" still enjoyable substitute for roads.

Saturday: 8 Miles
Anchorage, AK
We had been eyeing several races, and signed up a few weeks before for a relatively flat road 5-miler called the Alaska Men's Run. With my race schedule already planned out and a race the next day, I just wanted to use this as some kind of comfortable workout and decided to run a steady 6:00 pace the whole time. Was about 8th or so at the half mile mark, and seeing that no one was going out really fast, I secretly wanted to hammer the final miles to try and win it. I underestimated everyone's else pacing and they actually picked it up quite a bit and I stayed in 6th most of the race. I didn't feel great but not super tired either. I was a little heavy however so it wasn't comfortable as I would have liked. My first two miles were about 5:55, right on pace, but I unintentionally dropped a 5:45 and 5:25 trying to reel in some more guys. At that point, I decided to catch whoever I could and hammered the last mile in 5:08. Caught one easily, but came just short on the 3rd and 4th guy. 5th OA in 28:11, which I was pretty satisfied with, even if it was a little fast. Full results here.

Sunday: 9 Miles
Palmer, AK
Pioneer Ridge Vertical Mile

This race was insane...at least for me. For most of the runners (native Alaskan mountain runners), it might have been a walk in the park. Loon got about 3K feet elevation gain spread out over 6.6 miles while this one got 5300 ft gain in just 4.5, meaning it was usually more than 1K feet gain per mile. In case you don't understand that, I ran just under 20 minute pace and walked about half the course (maybe more, not sure). Anyway, it was brutal but fun (at least 3/5 of it) and totally worth it, so it deserves a separate race report. Not sure I did too well, but how does a rhode islander who runs mostly track and XC do well at a race like that? Hopefully I'll have my report out soon.

Weekly Total: 58 Miles (I know it adds up to 57, but strava gave me 58 so I guess small fractions of a mile added up)
YTD Total: 1,170 Miles

Week: July 10 to 16

Monday: 6 Miles

Anchorage, AK

Ran in far north bicentennial park for recovery. Trails were pretty lame- wide, dirt roads with an occasional single-track but overall nothing special. Super easy trails especially when comparing it to others on the trip, but still a slow pace. Went on a short but awesome Bryon Glacier hike later in the day.

Bryon Glacier

Tuesday: 11 Miles

Seward, AK

Lost lake summer trail- a slow gradual but not steep climb up a mountain (not sure about this, but definitely up a big hill at least) that was varied and incredibly scenic. Easily one of the best runs not only on the trip, but of the entire year. Felt pretty good ascending and kept going instead of turning around at 4. Wanted to keep going and come back on the winter trail/reach the view of lost lake, but it was a good mile more and it was getting late. Felt tired on the descent. Went to awesome exit glacier in the evening.

Exit Glacier was not as impressive as Bryon, but the hike there was much better.

Wednesday: 6 Miles

Seward, AK

Another interesting run, Caine's Head trail near resurrection bay. Definitely some cool stuff. Mix of easy-double track, steep single-track, easy single-track through a cool forest and some beach running. The beach was really cool but completely composed of large rocks, so it was near impossible to run on and we turned back quickly, only getting 6 miles which was a little disappointing.

Thursday: 3 Miles

Phoenix, AZ

Definitely depressed to leave Alaska, the worst part of every vacation is leaving. We went to Phoenix on another layover where we were greeted with scorching temps. Wanted to go for whatever I had planned, but apparently we needed to leave soon and only 2 miles in, I was roasting. Finished up at three. Totally unique run- never in the desert by cacti before. Pretty cool even if the climate/weather was brutal.

Friday: 8 Miles

Groton, CT

Slept a ton after getting back and decided to go the fun run. Took it easy as Matt Sweeney, who interestingly enough, also went to Alaska and Iceland in last year or so, ran with us. Overall, pretty enjoyable and felt good.

Saturday: 12 Miles

Chepachet, RI

Run with the Beavers 10 Mile Trail Race. Did pretty well- 4th in 1:05:48. Probably my best race of the summer. Read my full write-up here.

Sunday: 8 Miles

West Greenwich, RI

Love Tillinghast system, but did not realize it was a deerfly haven and pretty much the entire run was just breakfast for them. There were deerflies in every possible direction, and they rarely ever backed off. Not my idea of a group run. Tired the whole time (sleep schedule was off coming back from Alaska and jet lag).

Weekly Total: 54 Miles

YTD Total: 1,224 Miles

I was a little disappointed this week's total, but unexpected lows on Wednesday and Thursday made it impossible to get 60. I did 28 miles in three days, and that wasn't enough. Need to plan it out better next time on vacation. Could have easily doubled Monday or Tuesday and hit my mileage goal while also not overdoing it at the end of the week.

Alaska was an amazing experience. Trails, hikes, races, and scenery were easily among the best in in my life. I already can't wait for the next vacation.

Westerly Fun Run Top Performances

We're a good month into summer by now, and it's been enjoyable to return to the fun runs. So far I've made three- Stonington, Westerly, and Groton and I'd like to go to at least one Chariho before the season runs out. It seems that Westerly is typically by far the fastest- since the 5K started in 2011, we usually have at least 3 runners sub-20, with winning times sometimes under 18 and even under 17. I made a list of top performances on the course, and it turns out there have been 72 performances sub-18 on the course. There have been 9 sub-17 performances. For a free, local fun run, that's pretty impressive.

See the list below (click to enlarge):

I made a second list to take out the duplicates, not allowing more than one performance per runner. In this list, there were 22 runners who had broken 18 and 6 who had broken 6.

My third list breaks down the number of sub-18 performances per year. 2011 and 2012, the first two years, were relatively slow as there were only 10 combined sub-18 performances, but 2013 and 2014 consistently attracted faster runners with a total of 39 sub-18 performances. 2014 was perhaps the highlight year with 4 sub 17 performances (CR was broken 3 times). Since then, we haven't quite hit the highs of '13 and '14, but 2015-2017 holds a combined 22 sub-18 performances and 5 sub-17 performances.

My fourth list breaks down the number of sub-18 performances by runner. I included all runners that had broken 18 on the course more than once, and sorted them by number of sub-18 performances. As you can see, Tom Bousquet is far ahead of the field with 22, accounting for 30% for all sub-18 performances over the 7 years. No one has broke 17 three times at the fun runs.

My final list ranks top fun runners by their number of wins. I included only those who have won more than once. Three have won more than 10 times, yet only 6 have won more than twice.

Who is the king of the Westerly Fun Run? Is it Chris Garvin with the course record or is it Tom Bousquet with the most sub-18 performances and the most wins? I've had a lot of fun at these fun runs and am hoping to see these stats become even more impressive over time.

Loon Mountain Race 2017

Sorry about the lateness of this post, just never really got around to it until now. Last year, we went out and tried this race. It was an awesome race and I decided then that I loved mountain racing and wanted to continue it in the future. It was a no brainer to sign up this year. I faced similar problems to last year, like not knowing what my fitness was on mountains and really just not having much real training down coming in. Whatever the case, I just wanted to improve over last year and hold my own place-wise, which I thought top 10 would be a good goal.

Made the trek up through traffic and rain storms before settling in and getting ready for the race. About a mile warm-up and then pre-race directions. Apparently there were several washouts on the course that would be difficult to run and if we needed, we could take the grass next to it. The start was pretty flooded and in order not to stand in a puddle on the starting line, you had to go to the far right or far left. We took the right, but I was a little concerned because pretty much everyone fast was on the left. I wanted to find a balance between going out hard to get a good spot and not overdoing too early on.

Race

Soon enough we were off. I went out somewhat fast in the first half mile. A lead pack formed, which included Patrick Caron and Brandon Newbould while I was somewhere in an unorganized line of followers. It felt steep in the first mile and after a quarter mile we hit “the washout”. I was way too close to a group of a guys so I didn’t have the time to weigh my options (washout vs grass) and was stuck with the washout. It was bad, tiring and just not enjoyable. It was like an incredibly technical trail as I constantly had to watch my footing and balance. We eventually got past it and CMS mountaineers Matthew Veiga, Todd Callaghan and Tim van Orden went by soon after. My legs felt super heavy and I was definitely concerned this was happening so early on. I was content to let them pass as they had much more experience than me and destroyed me last year. Van Orden and Callaghan took off a little, but Veiga was right there and I stayed right near him. On the uphill (Brookway) I caught up a little more. I made it a goal to stay near Veiga, because I figured if I held on long enough I would have a good race.

Bunching up on the Washout. Hard to see.

We soon made the turn onto the nordic section of the race. This was a 2-Mile long double-track dirt path that was slightly uphill for a while then downhill but not steep at all. Last year it was muddy, but this year much more so. I looked back on the turn and saw Brightman maybe 50 meters back. I definitely wanted to stay ahead of him. I felt good on this section but it was a little sloppy trudging through some mud puddles. Place-wise, Veiga and some other guy opened up a small gap. I felt strong but did not want to make a big move to catch up. There was another switchback and it looked like others were gaining on me. One guy was catching up quick but I kept him at bay with the downhills. Soon we were out and back on the slopes.

Mile 4 is kinda weird. It’s all slight rolling hills or flats but nothing steep. We make our way across the mountain up to our first major climb. I manage to catch back up to Veiga and the other guy. The waterstop is refreshing. We go back and forth and I end up ahead of Veiga but behind the other guy going onto the slopes. Now the real race begins.

The first major climb is about 20% grade and definitely a change. Somehow I’m a little faster than these guys and not only get ahead of both, but start to open a gap. I feel good although the pace is definitely slow. I didn’t give it much thought, but towards the top of this last year I started to walk while this year I ran the whole section (yet still somehow ran slower- see unnamed rd climb (lower speakeasy) in table at bottom of post). Eventually I got beyond that group and on my own, which was surprising. After the grass slope, we had a short break before the next set of climbs. I could see the next guy up ahead and wanted to reel him in, but he had too much ground on me. This section was a service road composed of gravel and other rocks and the traction wasn’t great. I much preferred the grass and wanted nothing more than to finish up. I kept going, without walking. I tried to think about the amount of hills left and I figured I had two more climbs after this (one being UWB). I wasn’t gaining on the next guy but no one was gaining on me either. Suddenly after the service road seemed to go on forever, I saw people and was suddenly at the gondola at Loon Peak. It was encouraging to go through knowing I had one uphill left. Once again took water.

The downhill “Haulback” was not enjoyable. It was so out of control and I knew the worst was yet to come. I probably held back on this section but just felt like I had no control. Made the turn onto Upper Walking Boss. I ran for about 30 seconds, then saw everyone ahead walking and began the walk. It was brutal pretty early on. I felt like I was making hardly any progress. About halfway up the hill, I took a look back and it was clear that many people were gaining on me. It didn’t help that I could see ahead the 300ft of climbing I still had to go. It went by slowly and painfully. By the time I got to Scott Mason, there was an acidotic racing guy right behind me. I was sure he and another were going to pass. Scott yelled at me to beat these guys several times but I really didn’t have anything to give at that point. Once we reached the crest, I was able to run again and opened a gap. Sunset, the final downhill, was pretty out of control as well but I felt like I did much better on this one. When I came near the bottom, I started a final sprint but didn’t realize there was one more short, steep climb to the finish. That killed my spirit, but I managed to run up and finish.

11th OA, 1:05:20 (Full Results)

Overall, I was satisfied. It didn’t feel as great as last year because that was my first time and I somehow did well at it, but I still finished ahead of many much more experienced mountain runners. I was happy with my place, but just slightly disappointed I was so close to that top 10 barrier, but one off. I guess it doesn’t really matter that much. I felt strong (or at least not weak) on every section except Haulback and Upper Walking Boss, which were pretty much my weakness last year. I suppose my one complaint was the times: I didn’t take off a huge amount like expect off last years (maybe 30-60s) and still ran slower on a couple segments.

It was still a lot of fun and I definitely hope to be back next year (and maybe Cranmore too, if it’s in July).

It was interesting to see which portions of the course I crushed, which ones I bombed and how they compared to my 2016 times. To compare, I made the following table below using Strava segments.

Looking at the table, it seems on many I did improve, while a few others I only slightly improved or in a few, fell short of my 2016 time. I would say for sure, the biggest disappointment was Upper Walking Boss. I did terrible on Haulback as well (Once More Into the Brink segment) but still improved over 2016. Upper Walking Boss, on the other hand was my lowlight of 2016 and I managed to do even worse. On the other hand, I really don’t how I could possibly ascend any faster at that grade. I guess I’ll hope for the best next year with no strategy or plan in mind to tackle it.

See you again, Loon Mountain. 2018.

Run with the Beavers 2017

I’ve been very behind on my blog lately as I haven’t really had a proper device to type on during vacation. There’s a plethora of blog posts I need to catch up on, but with this one so fresh in my mind I figured I’d get it out of the way.

Basically the entire pre-race experience was terrible. I guess things are a little different after your first full day back from a vacation that included around 20 hours on various planes. I started considering running the race on Wednesday and despite completely writing it off from last July (I wrote in my blog that I wouldn’t do it for years) I suddenly had the urge to do it, to get in another fun trail race while I can. My only concern was that I wanted to stick to my planned list of races and this may contribute to overracing. However, I had five good reasons to do it, and those outweighed my desire to keep the race count low.

1. Fun trail race
2. Forecast actually not looking hot
3. Needed to get in a couple more miles to keep up with what I needed for the week
4. Redeem myself from last year’s bad race
5. Field was looking stacked

Even if I ran 80%, I could still probably feel fine and beat last year’s time. By Friday I was committed. Friday was a really crappy day. I slept 1 hour in the phoenix airport on thursday,  2 hours on the flight, 2 hours in the car, and then 10 after that at home. About combined 15 hours of sleep to make up for maybe 2 the previous night (very early morning flight). Friday night I couldn’t sleep at all, and got about 4 hours. Waking up Saturday was awful, I ate much later than usual and attempted to get more sleep on the way. I really wasn’t feeling it and at the time I had little interest in still racing.

We got there super late, did a rushed warm-up and headed to the bathroom. I really had to go and made it to the start about 1 minute before the 9:00 AM. Fortunately, we had a couple minutes beyond that but the whole thing was a little nerve-wracking. There was a point where I actually thought I’d miss the race.

I got a chance to scan the field pre-race. Patrick Caron had signed up but was a no show which means one place ahead for me. Ryan Woolley was there, actually representing WTAC again. He’d be far ahead of me. Brightman and Jonny plus a couple CMS guys were there too but I hoped to be ahead of them. One CMS guy I didn’t know was listed first in the rankings so I figured he would beat me too. Bronson Venable was also there as a last minute entry, which was a little surprising. I figured 4th was the best possible finish for me, but possibly a few spots worse. Time-wise I was just hoping to make a significant improvement from my slow 2016 time. I probably wanted to be under 1:10 but wasn’t sure what I was capable of. I wanted to not worry about pace or place but instead just run on feel, whatever effort felt right for the distance and terrain.

The Race

Where am I???

Really sandwiched in there.

Lap 1:

Since I was so rushed with getting to the start, I once again made the mistake of lining up too far back. Immediately I felt boxed in and was in 10th, behind people I shouldn’t be behind and a little worried I would go into the trail in a really bad position. It quickly sorted out and I got right where I need to be just by slipping by in a few spots. Bronson took it out and had a couple meters on everyone, while Brightman, Woolley and I were the next three. I was a little frustrated about being close and not having a lot of sight so I backed off Woolley to give me room. I felt smooth and the pace felt right but surprised my watch was showing low 6s. I was more surprised Woolley was right ahead of me rather than up with Bronson and I was starting to doubt his fitness. Before I had time to think about it, Woolley made a move past Brightman and was gone. Soon after I felt people on my heels and Brightman’s pace felt a little slow so I made a move as well. I opened a small gap, but found it a little difficult to find my footing on the rocky technical section. We went to a trail intersection and Bronson was now coming towards me which was a little strange, but after seeing markers going left I guess he went off course, going straight instead. I wasn’t too far behind Bronson for a half mile or so and it seemed he wasn’t opening the gap, slowing up on muddy and/or technical sections. Soon the gap opened and he was gone. At a switchback I could see that I had a huge gap on the guy behind me and I was in no man’s land. I could see either from long straightaways but most of the time I was alone. Coming up to the waterstop, I wanted water but the table wasn't super close, it didn’t look like anyone was handing out water and neither Woolley nor Bronson (I guess the gap opened after this) took any. I didn’t take any and figured I would get some at the 5-Mile mark.

Went through the bridge soon after, and I thought about last year versus this year. At this point in last year’s race, I was already feeling really weak while this year, I didn’t feel tired at all. I was feeling pretty good about my race at this point and was thinking sub-1:08 was a possibility. The hill after the bridge was a little tiring, but shortly after I turned back onto singletrack. This stuff felt pretty easy and relaxed but soon I noticed a CMS runner wasn’t too far behind and gaining on me. I went through a downhill that brought me along the side of the pond, but it felt much earlier than expected. Soon after, it got technical again and here it was also a little slippery. My pace slowed a little, but I was still happy that I was about 6:40 average. The CMS guy caught up quick and soon he was just a few meters back. The steep climb towards the end of the loop took a little out of me, and the CMS guy pulled right up next to me. Surprisingly, he didn’t pass but would just remain there for a half mile. The trails back to the start were fairly easy but I felt a little tired at this point and my legs were suddenly really heavy. I took some water before heading out on lap 2.

Running by CMS's Chris Mahoney (before he dropped me soon after) 

Lap 2:

The CMS guy passed shortly after we ascended the hill on the dirt road, and soon enough he was gone. I was thinking the time would be fast- I went through lap 1 about 6:40 pace and I was only at about 4.8 so I felt that was maybe 1:05 if I ran exactly the same on the second lap. However, my legs were feeling it, I wasn’t feeling particularly strong at the start of lap 2, and was sure my pace would be much slower. I wanted to just hold on and hopefully have average pace around 7:00 for lap 2, maybe run a time around 1:06-1:07. Turning into the singletrack made me feel a little better, but my legs were still heavy. Soon I hit the technical rock gardens again and it did not feel easy. I felt so much slower and more clumsy this time around and my average pace was dropping rapidly. I really wanted to just get past this section, but it seemed to drag on forever. It also sounded like there was someone behind me and gaining, but I didn’t see anyone when I looked going around a switchback. Soon I was past the technical rock gardens, but now once again had to go through a muddy section. I definitely was slow here and now I was running into the 5-Milers. The first one I passed remarked “A little warning would have nice” which made me a little upset. I could care less that they didn’t move as I had plenty of room to go around regardless but at 7 miles into a 10-mile trail race, I didn’t save much energy for “warnings”. I got past another hobbling guy who looked like he was in pain by taking whatever route around this muddy section I could find. Coming back to the waterstop was nice, and the water was refreshing.

I was feeling better at this point then I had started the lap, but was still worried about my pace. I figured it would be easy to keep average pace sub-7 with a first lap at about 6:40, but my pace just kept dropping. I was a little worried and started to expect 1:08-1:09. Even on the easier section past the hill, my pace was still dropping. For some reason, I started to think my watch would measure this out to a full 10 miles even though I only got 4.8 on lap one, so I was thinking I would go just under 1:10. Going towards the pond again was a little more unpleasant this time around, knowing I still had a little bit to go, including a technical section and the steep hill. I felt like I was running very poorly this second lap and these last two miles would be terrible. There were 5-milers everywhere now. Most of them would get out of the way or I’d find a path to easily scramble past, but I found it annoying when groups of them would be ahead of me and I would really have to weave to get around them as quick as possible. I felt really slow on the rocky section there and inched closer and closer to about 7:00. I was once again trying to figure out total time, which I thought would be around 1:08 but really wanted slightly faster. The steep hill was very tiring at this time around but I had so little left that I was able to keep myself going and visualizing the finish line. At times, it occurred to me that it was time to kick and I was still running pretty slow but as usual in races, I was too tired at that point to make a big move and instead just tried not to slow more. I kept thinking the finish was at 10 miles on my watch, forgetting that it would be closer to 9.6, so it came much quicker than I expected. I picked it up on the last portion before heading down to the finish. I was surprised to see 1:05 on the clock and I got there quick enough to break 1:06.

Happy to finish up.

1:05:48, 4th overall. Just as I thought my race had completely fallen apart (or at least my second lap had), I somehow still ran a very fast time. I was definitely pleased with this and even though the entire time I was running lap 2 I felt super slow I still managed to run a fast time. Took just under 7 minutes off from last year, though I guess last year’s course was longer/slower (but I still would taken off 4-5 minutes). Based on time/improvement I felt that I did great but based on feel/lack of consistency I felt that my race wasn’t as great. I guess that time is more important, but a little disappointed Lap 2 was maybe 3-4 minutes slower than Lap 1 (not sure on this but don’t know how to check). Very happy I did this. I felt so much better than last year and had so much more fun. May be my best performance of the summer so far (I guess loon was the only other good one, but I feel like I just improved and beat my expectations so much more here).

Not racing again until August. Have really enjoyed trail racing this summer.

Beavers

Tomorrow, I will race the Run with the Beavers 10-mile trail race. I did it last year, which turned out to be a complete sufferfest. I had pretty much written it off due to that reason and cutting back on races due to over-racing, but my schedule is almost completely free this summer and I can still get in this race without overdoing racing this summer. I'll probably end up with 5 hard races total, which is just the amount I'm looking for. This is an extremely last-minute decision, just like last year but this was once again too tempting to pass up. I don't know if I'll go all out but give it at least a 90% effort and try to be in the mix, maybe top 5. It's looking stacked this year. My goal is to shave at least 2-3 minutes off my time last year. I'll probably race on feel and stay in the chase pack. Looking forward to it.

Loon Mountain- Weekly Log: June 26 to July 2

After racing the 10K Saturday, I can relax knowing I don't have another fast road race until August. A couple of fun but slow mountain races coming up, with this weekend a return to Loon Mountain. Not sure what I'm expecting, just hoping to do well.

Monday: 6 Miles.

Was looking at SK trail maps and really wanted to the Browning loop which I haven't done before. Wanted to combine with Duval but with the shorter distance I was looking for it really wouldn't make sense. Instead did two browning loop, each time going back to the parking lot. Did my first loop counter clockwise and second clockwise. Not a bad trail- there were a few cool sections with ferns and small wooden walkways but overall nothing amazing and given the small size I probably wouldn't return. 7AM start was nice- not hot but not a super early wakeup either.

Tuesday: 12 Miles

7 in AM with Dad and Tom, Buckeye Brook Road hill workout. Interestingly enough, we did the exact same workout the Tuesday before loon last year. I don't remember feeling particularly bad last year, just that the splits were kinda slow. This year, the splits were slow and I wasn't feeling great. Energy and breathing wise I was fine, but legs were super heavy. We did 2 short steep sprints and 2 longer (1 mile) climbs with a slightly lesser grade. I got through the steep ones fine but couldn't really do anything on the longer ones as my quads totally locked up and I wasn't able to go any faster than 6:40 pace. A little frustrated. The second long one was even worse and I decided to drop out and just make 7.

5 in PM at Stonington Fun Run. Don't know how many of these I will go to, certainly won't be every week for me. This one was definitely enjoyable. Felt pretty smooth on two mile warm-up. Was looking for a comfortable 6:30 pace at fun run. Stayed behind Sam Alexander and his friend along with James Rose and some other guy in a light blue shirt. Alexander and the other guy took over pacing while me and the blue shirt guy hung a few meters back. Went through the mile in just under 6:30. They gradually dropped the pace down to low 6s and I felt great hanging about 5 meters back from them. Very enjoyable fun run.

Wednesday: 8 Miles

Westerly fun run. Last week I used this as a 10K workout but this time I just wanted to run moderately but not overdo it and stay comfortable. I figured the top guys would be around 5:40 pace and I'd just hang a little bit behind them the whole time. I did my usual 3 mile warm-up, making a loop around browning and ocean view highway. Felt really smooth and was enjoyable. I spotted a fast looking Stonington guy. The kid who sprinted out last week went out hard, which was a little strange as he faded bad doing the same the week before but made more sense when we learned he was just doing the mile. The stonington guy was next and then I lingered back in third. I decided I wanted to slowly reel in the Stonington guy then hang a few meters back and let him pace for the rest. I figured Tom would do the same but as I picked it up he let me go on Crandall. I slowly caught up to the stonington runner by about Bayberry. This was definitely a progression run and even when I was right on the guy and had no intention to pass I kept picking it up. It was more tiring than expected. I stayed about 5 meters or so back until Atlantic where I alternated running by his side and slightly behind him. We picked it up a bit in the final quarter mile but I was content to let him go at the end.

Interesting run, as neither of us ran all-out. Splits: 5:40/5:26/5:16/56 (4:47 pace). My final time was around 17:15 and interestingly enough, it felt worse than running 16:34 the previous week (maybe just going out so much slower had that effect).

Beach cool-down with Sam after. Took my time and jumped in the cold ocean.

Thursday: 8 Miles

Slept in super late and didn't run until 11:30. Mystic loop. Felt really heavy at first and was running high 7s but settled in and was able to coast at 6:50 pace. Was a little weak at first which was worrying as that is usually a sign that I'll feel terrible in a few miles but surprisingly never felt bad. River road helped me get into a nice rhythm but at the same I was sweaty and hot and really wanted to jump into the river.

Friday: 6 Miles

Mystic trails at the Denison Pequotsepos Nature center. Some of the trails were enjoyable, but overall felt gross/slimy running in humidity and through spiderwebs.  Decent amount of trails but still found myself coming back to the start before hitting my target 6 miles and having to get an extension.

Saturday: 4 Miles

Shakeout pre-loon. Ran on the same path as last year's shakeout, a bike path through Franconia Notch state park. To mix it up a little this year, I wanted to do some of the side trails but every single one of them was flooded/very muddy from the earlier downpours and I had no traction with road shoes. It was late, the forest had heavy cover, and the wetness/rain/humidity made it very dark. Overall, felt fine energy wise but legs were heavier than ever and barely ran sub-8 on asphalt. The heaviness was worrying before a mountain race and annoying as I had run easy all week to try to shake the heaviness out.

Sunday: 8 Miles

Loon Mountain Race. Went pretty well. Nothing exceptional time-wise but an improvement from last year and I held my own, place wise and surprisingly on the steep uphills. An absolute blast again and felt much easier this year. Possibly my favorite race, all the more reason to do more mountain running. 11th OA in 1:05:19. Will do separate write-up, but it may be a while.

Weekly Total: 52 Miles (probably increase about 5 per week, then keep it around 60-65)
YTD Total: 1,112 Miles

I have been falling behind on blog writing lately, as the weekly logs are not the only posts I want to be doing. Vacation is next week in Alaska which will be awesome and deserves and equally awesome post but I don't know how much blogging I will be able to do. Here's what posts to expect in the next couple of weeks, but they may come later:

-List of Trail/Road running destinations I want to run this summer
-A couple of racing bucket list posts (did a list of bucket lists racing in RI a long time ago, want to continue w/CT, MA and northern NE)
-Outdoor Track Recap/Senior XC/track expectations (not sure if I'll do this one at all, track already ended 3-4 weeks ago)
-Summer racing update/thoughts (primarly to figure out and finalize a racing schedule, specifically whether or not I do run a half, whether Blessing is 100% out, if Bobby Doyle is an option or if I want to jump into other fun trail races (Beavers, Killington)'
-Alaska races recap/weekly logs
-Possible other stuff that I can't think of right now

Capital City Classic 10K

The 10K is a standard distance in running. It's used in major championships around the world. Yet for some reason, local/low-key road racing seems to completely ignore it. There's so many road 5Ks across the country every single weekend, but it has become difficult to find a road 10K and even harder to find a fast one. There's plenty of fast 4 and 5 milers here and there, but the 10K is forgotten, a rare race among non-pros.

The Search
For this reason, I've never really had the opportunity to run a fast 10K. There's always a plethora of fast, local 5Ks, 4-Milers, 5-Milers, and 10-Milers around but to find a good 10K during my offseason I have to go somewhere far and do something I'm not even vaguely familiar with. My desire to run a fast 10K time has been building over the years, and this summer I decided I was going to take care of it. I looked at a few options, including the B.A.A. 10K and the USATF-NE track 10K championship, Friday Night Lights 10K. For both, the field would incredibly talented and fast but race logistics were difficult. The Capital City Classic was a little farther but fit better in the schedule one day after a college visit and was much easier to get to. As for competition, I wasn't sure what to expect. At first I thought I'd take it easily with 2016's winning time being 34:55. After looking closer, I saw that it was only the second annual this year and there was a $150 prize for the winner. Either way, the course looked flat and fast so if I felt good, I should be able to get a fast time in.

My 10K History
With the rarity of the race distance, I've only broke 40 twice. Back in 2013, I had a really good race at the Niantic Bay 10K and ran 39:59. Two years later on a vacation in Vermont, I bettered that PR with a 38:32 in the Race for the Cure 10K. That was a hilly course and a humid day, so even then I probably could taken at least a minute off that. In 2016, I almost had a perfect opportunity to run a fast 10K in Iceland, but for some reason we missed it.

Thoughts/Goals
This year, I was going to have the opportunity. To summarize my summer racing schedule, I'm cutting down the number of races this year and in road racing, just seeking a few really hard efforts to update a few PRs. Given that I only had two planned road races, I really wanted to excel at this one. It was pretty much right after track ended so I didn't have much time to train. In the weeks before, my running had been up and down with many weak/fatigued legs days but feeling very strong on others, including a 12-second fun run PR of 16:34. I had run a 5-miler at 5:20 pace back in November and felt that I was in better shape now than I was than, but wasn't sure how coming right off track and not training much would play in, so I really didn't have a specific time I wanted to hit, but rather a range I felt that I should be in. I figured a great race feeling good the whole time might be near 32:30 (5:14) while a more tired or out-of-shape race would come near 33:30 (5:23). I decided to attempt something in the middle, shoot for 5:20 the whole time. If I had an extra gear in the last couple, I could maybe get it down to the lower end of the range and if I was really struggling, I could hang in there and possibly drop to the higher end of the range. Either way, I definitely wanted to hit the first 4 miles or so at the pace before making any big decisions.

Main Street start was pretty cool

Finishing by the New Hampshire State House.

Pre-Race
I was really tired that morning. The hotel bed was strangely uncomfortable. With a start of 8AM, I got the advantages of better weather and getting it done quickly, but with my eating routine of having 150 carbs 3 hours before race start, I had to wake up at 5AM which would be a challenge. I set alarms to get me up at 5, but was too tired and waited half an hour to eat, which may have had an impact. Even then, I had to force everything down and wasn't feeling too great.

The forecast was not looking good- about 75 degrees and high humidity. I was surprised to see rain when I got there. Warmed up about a mile of the course, which was a little concerning to see no markings at all. I remember being worried that I'd have to remember every turn, but was later reassured when I saw course marshals with flags walking out to a turn. Warmed-up at little early and was back with 25 minutes to go, but it was nice to have a little extra time to de-stress. Got final bathroom breaks out of the way (which as usual, I couldn't get anything out) before changing to my flats, singlet, putting on my bib and getting ready.

Up until about 10 minutes to the race, I wasn't excited. The weather was terrible, everything was getting soaked quickly (which is why I waited to put on race gear) and I wasn't feeling great. Also, it seemed like I would be running alone as I had spotted zero fast-looking people. Suddenly when I moved to the front, there were plenty of fast guys. I didn't even line up in the first row because the field looked so good. People had singlets, racing shorts, and great-looking flats. A few even had matching brands for each. I tried to loosen up and relax before the race went. We listened to a few people talk, did final strides, and listened to the National Anthem (which I like to hear before a race- it adds a minute between me and a race I'm nervous about and has a peaceful vibe which relaxes me a little).

Race

First 5K
It was time to go off. They shot off the gun and it was a typical mad dash. I pulled up to the second row to the front and felt like it was a good place to stay. When I saw 5:23 pace on my watch, I figured I was good to stay there. After a quarter mile or so I maintained a position close to front. The two fastest looking guys were both in front. A runner with a red Runner's Alley red singlet opened up 20 meters or so on everyone, while another guy with all nike-outfit including a USA singlet led our massive crowd. I was a little tempted to just stay with these guys, but when I saw 5:03 pace on my watch I knew if I didn't back off soon I might be in trouble later. I slowly let the pace drop, allowing myself to be passed by 5 to 6 people. Even when I was back in about 12th, I was still in the low 5:10s and didn't feel like giving up more ground. I didn't care about place but didn't want to keep slowing and would rather latch onto some guys. I followed in the footsteps of a CMS runner, but had to let him go when my pace started to pick up again. Went through the mile in 5:14 outside of the top 10. I'm guessing the top guys including Runner's Alley and Nike were about 10-15 seconds ahead. There were all sorts of fast guys and I wasn't sure who I'd end up ahead of.

The pace started to even out in the second mile as average pace inched towards 5:20. I was feeling decent beside a little leg heaviness but was also worried I was letting up too much. A little downhill helped me coast at a nice pace and get back with the CMS guy but the uphill immediately after tired and slowed me back down. It was little worrying when the average pace ticked over 5:20 despite no major elevation changes. I suddenly wasn't feeling strong anymore and didn't feel like put a surge in the pace, instead preferring to settle near the CMS guy. Everyone except the 2-3 leaders way up front were coming back to me and I got back in the top 10. Mile 2 was already pretty slow in 5:29, but I missed the split instead looking at the average pace of 5:23.

The third mile was less than enjoyable. I was really starting to feel it from the humidity and it only got worse. I told myself 5:25 pace was okay but the average pace just went further and further down without me responding. Despite starting to fade, I was only passing guys. The runner's alley guy was fading quick and suddenly was part of my pack instead of the leaders, who had a good 30 seconds on us. My race thoughts and enjoyment didn't get much worse than at mile 2.5. The pace was pretty bad at that point and I was completely feeling it. It was that weak feeling I got in many summer races and I knew that my goals weren't happening. As the average pace inched closer to 5:30, I got more and more miserable and even the idea of finishing wasn't set in stone. I came very close to dropping out during the mile span from 2.5 to 3.5. I was definitely giving in. It was pathetic but I felt so tired at that point I just wanted it to end. My dad had told me he'd be at 2.8 and I was thinking about dropping when I saw him and walking back him. I didn't and actually moved up a few spots there, including passing the runner's alley guy and CMS. The waterstop just before 5K had a nice field and it looked like a very nice spot to rest. I imagined myself pulling myself to the side and collapsing on the field. It was so hard not to. I managed to keep going but then considered it again as the runner's alley guy dropped out. I got past it, but the next half mile I was only thinking about dropping out and where I should do it. Mile 3 was a 5:34 split.

5K split was about 16:52 and I wasn't sure if I was even going to break 35. It was Bobby Doyle all over again.

Second 5K
Somehow, the exact same thing happened to everyone- go out fast then fade badly. I was in a pretty good position- about 5th place going through 5K. Mile 4 was another weak slog in 5:41. I don't remember much of it. Somewhere near the end of the mile I was feeling slightly better and decided dropping out wasn't happening even if my time was going to be terrible and the rest of the race would be brutal. I was thinking about the course in my head and was just waiting for the next turns. We turned on Langley parkway and I kept myself going as I knew the next road was the last long one. Langley was scenic and nice. I don't remember exact positioning and events in the middle miles- it was a back and forth game. I was passed, but I passed some people.

Mile 5 began the hilly portion of the race. CMS got ahead of me and two leaders- Nike and a Blue Singlet were far ahead. I was in a battle for 4th with two other teenagers. The hills were super slow and tiring but once I got through them coasting on the downhills kept the pace from plummeting into HMP territory/disaster and caught me up to 4th. At one point, I went past another high school runner and he asked me my age. I replied that I was 17. Interestingly enough he seemed to be more competitive and challenge me after that, soon pulling ahead and opening a little gap(I guess concerned about AG win). Mile 5 was a slow 5:54.

I was pretty sure there was just one hill in the course, but suddenly a massive-looking climb awaited me. I kept the pace from going over 5:35 (average) with the down, but was not looking forward to what looked like a 100ft climb. I could see the entire race ahead- USA was in first maybe a minute ahead, there was a blue shirt guy 10 seconds back from him, CMS was another 20 back and then there were the three of us. I gutted out the hill as best I could, which was actually much less steep than expected. A blue singlet runner went by me and gave me encouragement but I let a few meters form. On the following downhill, I got back in the race a little bit and passed the blue singlet runner back. I kept a faster pace from there although really just wanted to finish. On the second to last street I was just searching for the final turn and it never seemed like it would come. I kept picking it up more, slowing gaining on the runner who passed me earlier but not having enough room to get him. The guy behind me had a similar scenario closing on me but the gap was too big. Placed 5th in 34:42, meaning second 5K was 17:52.

Thoughts
I have mixed feeling towards this race. The time was not good at all and I certainly faded but given the conditions and where I was training-wise, perhaps my range of expectations needed to be a little bit wider. I thought it was okay. I definitely was surprised how early the wheels came off, but the humidity was about 90%. I think I could have run the last two miles a lot harder, but at that point I expected to feel worse in the last two miles not better (than the previous two) though that wasn't the case. Had I started to go the minute I decided not to DNF I probably could have finished low 34s, but when at the point of contemplating a DNF I wasn't really thinking about picking it up. The race was okay. I didn't fade as bad as Bobby Doyle last year or Beavers and had a little something at the end, so I going to blame most of this on bad conditions. I think the only major improvement to save time would be in the final miles. I'll have to take this mediocre time for now, but at least it's still a huge improvement over the old PR. I guess next will also have to be a 10K summer. I want to race big events next year, hopefully B.A.A.10K and/or Beach to Beacon 10K.

What's Next?
Loon Mountain is on Sunday. Not sure what kind of shape I'm in but hoping to shave a couple minutes off my performance from last year. The course is changed slightly, about half a mile longer and with a downhill finish instead of uphill so I guess I'd like to run faster than whatever the equivalent of my time last year was. After that, a couple fun, maybe easy efforts at Alaska destination races then July will be used for training (long runs). August I'll likely do a half, the fun run hard shortly after, before transitioning back into cross country. This miserable race has reminded me how brutal road racing can be in the summer and gets rid of any temptations I have to jump into any possible extra races.