Quick Update of the Previous Week

Thursday, Suzan and I drove to Cape Cod to join my sister Barb & brother-in-law Jim in Truro, where they had rented a house for the week to get away. The house, likely built in the 1970's judging from the design, was beautifully situated on top of the highest point in town with a view of the water looking West. Our plan was to R&R for a couple days, maybe do a mountain bike ride, then head to Harwich Port Saturday morning to run the Harwich 5K at 9:30am. After the race, we'd make tracks to Niantic, where we'd change and then drive to Latitude 41 Restaurant & Tavern in Mystic to attend Suzan's friend Bonnie's daughter's wedding at 4:30pm. Funny, the real cost of R&R in drive time and white knuckle highway drive experience. But it always seems to be worth it in the end.

We arrived about noon. Jim had made plans to mountain bike about 10 miles south to hook up with an old Pfizer workmate and friend Ed, who was long retired and now age 69 and spending the Summer on the Cape, where he and wife Marilyn had bought an escape house in Orleans. I wound up going on my 1st mountain bike ride of the year, with Ed leading the way on roads passing through Cape Cod National Seashore to the East, Wellfleet to the West, and Truro to the North. All told, about 23 miles before I graciously bowed out to return to the house rather than subject my posterior to known soreness that comes from higher miles I would have incurred had I continued on into Provincetown for a total of 40+ miles that Ed and Jim had planned. Felt good. Chilled on the deck out back with some red wine and that view the rest of the day.

Friday, Suzan I went for an easy hike in Cape Cod National Seashore near an old cranberry bog with gorgeous views of the Atlantic looking East. Lunch in Wellfleet. More chillin' and wine on the deck after, followed by a great grilled tuna dinner with way too much MORE wine that evening out on the deck. Probably not the wisest of pre-race nutrition choices, but I certainly wasn't stressing over it!

Saturday morning we hit the road at 7:30 to make our way down cape with a little buffer time built in to account for traffic contingencies. Arrived in Harwich Port with plenty of time to park the car in the shade, pick up the pre-registration packet, pin up, survey the landscape and do an easy half mile warm-up prior to race start. The race director got on the blower and announced a record turnout of approximately 650 runners. The start was in front of the Chamber of Commerce right on RT 28, the main drag downtown. The temperature was in the 70's but humidity elevated over the previous several gorgeous days, so I opted to run shirtless and handed it to my trusty life partner. This turned out to be a wise decision, as the race course headed inland away from the water and things heated up quickly.

As was the case with the past month's races, I knew this wasn't going to be a landmark performance, given the previous evening's indiscretions. I lined up close to the front of the pack to, if nothing else, make myself feel confident. For what, I had no idea.

At the gun, I didn't feel too bad but didn't have that certain bounce in my step that characterized my better performances, so right away I adjusted for splits to try to not go out too fast and wind up killing myself. I elected to not look at the GPS and to run focusing on turnover, economy and form. Ha. Well, at least I was able to hold the turnover! The other stuff not so much. Things heated up quickly, but I wasn't concerned with that too much because I was well hydrated. It felt like the course was a constant uphill, but easy incline. Just enough to feel a little labored in the heat. I was fairly aware of the ebb and flow of the pack. About mid race, I was passed by a runner who definitely looked like he was in his 60's. Then another a minute after that. On downhill stretches I found I didn't have the gas to  stick close to my age group competition. I chose to latch on to both of them as best I could as a psychological pull. This seemed to work, right through the 3rd mile. As the course rounded the last block heading for the finish after the mile marker, I gave it a kick and had a little something there, so I tried to get as close as I could to the guy in front of me and try to fend off anyone trying to pass. I heard Suzan imploring me to go at the finish line.

I wound up finishing 5th in the 60-69 division with a 22:51, 4 seconds behind the guy who finished 4th, and 76th overall in a field of 669. A 7:22 effort. Better than recent performances and not bad considering the soreness from Thursday's bike ride and otherwise complete lack of pre-race discipline. GPS splits told the tale of my progression through the race. Mile 1 about a 7:09; mile 2 about a 7:17; mile 3 about 7:30. Going to be working on those negative splits in the next few races. Those stats certainly explain why yours truly got passed.

It was a very well-organized race, with a great after party and awards ceremony located down the street at a gourmet pizzeria.

Sunday I ran long with Al Litwin, about 8 easy miles. We were joined heading out on Giant's Neck Road by Noelle Fox, who was with husband Mark in front of their home about to run over to Rocky Neck State Park. Al charted a course out to RT 156, East to Roxbury, to Riverview, Dean, then through the new development to North Bridebrook and back down Giant's Neck to Long Island Sound. Al punctuated the uphills with tempo hard efforts that really felt good and gave some purpose to the outing. After saying goodbyes to Noelle, Al and I completed the run to the shoreline and worked our way to his house, where we changed and then headed to Giant's Neck Heights Beach and Rocky Neck Beach for the next several hours to swim and relax.

Monday, I ran an easy 5 miles at noon on the usual route along Eastern Point, Avery Point, Tyler Avenue, Meech, and back to the fitness center for some stretching.

Tuesday I ran the 6:15pm Stonington fun run at Dog Watch Cafe, about a 23:35 effort. Got to chat with Mike Boumenot and Jeff Walker, Tom Sullivan, Sr. (RD of Strides for the Handicapped for many years), Al Phillips, Way-Way, Paul Gray, many others. Good Mystic pale ale after. Great breeze and conversation to cool down with out on the dock.

Today... Day off. Need the rest!