November 4th through November 10th

Sunday, November 4th
Tarzan Brown 5.5 mile race.
30:10, 5th/641
Results

The big story today is Kelsey.  She ended up winning the women's overall race at Tarzan in a time of 35:12.  I'm thrilled with her performance and proud of her!

Prior to the race, she mentioned to me that she wasn't sure she was up for racing today and that you can't run your hardest at every race. We went off for a short warmup of about 10 minutes, chatted it up with some WTAC Monsters, and headed to the start.  As for my race, nothing special happened.  Once again, I ran a smart pace early on and that helped me maintain position as the race proceeded on.  For the first half of the race, I was locked in with Mystic Legend Spyros Barros and a Central Connecticut State Runner.  Prior to reaching the turn-around point, Spyros had a solid lead and my focus remained on the college kid.  We played cat and mouse a couple of times over the last few miles.  When we hit the 5 mile mark (27:45), a bunch of spectators encouraged him to "beat that guy" and told him that "you got him."  Those words alone were encouragement enough for me hold him off.

Afterwards, I chatted it up with teammates Jeff, Mike C., Mike B., and Steve.  It was another nice showing by the Westerly Track Club.  Overall, a very fun event that I'd do again in a minute.  My one criticism of the event is course accuracy, but with a weird distance like 5.5 miles it doesn't really matter.

Monday, November 5
Dear Day Light Savings Time,

I see no benefit in changing the clocks. Basically, you have added an extra hour of darkness into my life.  Most importantly, you are messing with my training regimen.  Running in the dark on a daily basis is not cool.

Sincerely,
Tommy 5k

7+ miles
First 3 with Kelsey and Lu around Weekapaug at a pedestrian pace.  Truth is, I was feeling pretty sore and tight from yesterday's run. After dropping the girls off, I went out for another 4+ miles.  I  headed towards the Atlantic Ave area and noticed that the National Guard was no longer patrolling. The bridge was manned by state and local police.  Perhaps the National Guard is focusing their efforts on chasing a Gazelle through the area roads? Pleasantly surprised that I was running about 6:35 pace for the second part of this run.

Tuesday, November 6th
6+ miles on local roads.
First 4 with Lulu and last two two solo.
Was hoping to do some sort of mini speed workout today, but my body wasn't having it.  Mapped out my first 4 miles and it turned out I was running fairly fast.

Wednesday, November 7th
a.m. 10 minute stretch

p.m. One bad man? Or simply a fool?  I'm not sure I want the true answer to this question.

As I arrived home during the beginning of darkness, I had to make a decision about running inside on the treadmill or heading outside into the elements.  After briefly chatting with Kelsey, she informed me that she would be using the treadmill for the next 45 minutes and then I could have it.  I instantly decided that I was going to head out into the sleet and wind to do it.  I threw on one of the most ridiculous get ups I could muster together....a camouflage eskimo hat, rain coat, and orange construction vest.   And away I went..

I ended running area roads and spent a good amount of time doing loops at the Weekapaug Country Club.  Later in the run I decided to stop at Fenway Beach to find out that there really isn't any beach left.  The waves were almost crashing right on the dunes.  7 miles.

Thursday, November 8th
6 miles on Weekapaug roads in the dark.  I've been sore since Monday and I'm not sure why my recovery has been so slow.  Prior to finishing up, I did 6 strides since I didn't get a workout in this week.  It's getting kind of depressing that all of my weekly running is happening in the dark.  It makes it hard to do speed work and get quality stuff into the mix.  I've decided to take tomorrow off in preparation for my weekend experiment.

15 minute stretch at night.

Friday, November 9th
0...enjoyed having the day off.

Saturday, November 10th
East Providence Charity Turkey Trot 4.3 mile race
24:03 (5:35 pace), 1st
The only solid proof I have that I actually ran this race!

I enjoyed running this very small road race in East Providence that had an old school flavor to it.  After a very short warm-up jog with Dave and Kelsey, we headed over to the start, were given pre-race directions, and were given a minute to line up.  I sized up the competition and determined that it was likely that I'd have a couple of runners who would give me a run for my money.  Once the gun went off, two runners flew off.  I placed myself within striking distance, but still was unsure how this was going to go.  About 3/4 of a mile into the race I decided that I need to make a move and went after the top guy.  I ran next to him for a minute, threw a surge in, and was by myself the remainder of the race.  It was just a police motorcycle and me.  Unfortunately, there were no mile markers on the course, so I had no idea what kind of pace I was running.  The first part of the course is flat and slightly downhill, while the second part of the course has some small climbs and a long uphill finish.  As I was headed towards the finish, the motorcycle cop informed me that all I had left was the climb to the finish.  I'd estimate that the climb was the final .3 miles of the race.  I finished comfortably, but was sore afterwards.  Ran a one mile warmdown.

Kelsey also won the women's division (28:38) while Dave took home the Senior Division (32:09)
We enjoyed post race refreshments (hot chocolate, donuts, cidar, etc.)  It was fun this small, low key road race.



Weekly Miles: 39
Stretching: 40 minutes