Monday, December 30, 2013
Saturday, December 28, 2013
12 Races
I kind of went crazy with running races in 2013. I ran 12 races in the year, certainly more races than I have run for many years - perhaps more races in a year than I have ever run before - for a total of over 80 miles of racing.
Part of the motivation was an attempt to qualify in the Grand Prix Series of the Rhode Island Rhode Running Club. This originally involved running in 9 out of 15 designated races around Rhode Island and nearby states, with the distances ranging from 5ks to half marathons. This was changed during the year to 8 out of 14 races due to some canceled race or scheduling conflict. I forget the details.
You know how I am with crazy artificial participation challenges. So I went for it and I did complete the required 8 races to qualify. (I could have done the 9 if I had needed to - so there!) I didn't make the top 5 but I was up there at times. And I did discover some new, different, interesting races as a result.
The year started, as it always seems to lately, on New Year's Day with the Hangover Classic 5 Miler in Bristol, which I wrote about at Celebrating the New Year Tillerman Style. It was frigging cold. There was ice on parts of the course. But I ran a good time (for me) so that was all good.
For reasons that escape me now I ran another race in Little Compton only 4 days later, a 4.8 mile road race. It wasn't even on the grand prix circuit. I must have been crazy.
In February I ran the 15k Run the Reservoir Race in N. Scituate RI, another regular on my schedule these days and took a few photos to use in one of my incredibly annoying Where Am I? quizzes. I thought my shot of the ladies lining up for the Porta Potty before the race was especially well-framed. O Docker was first to answer the quiz correctly. Isn't he always?
In early April I entered another of the grand prix races, the Thomas Giunta 5k in Fall River. Fall River MA is the town immediately to the north of my current home town of Tiverton RI but I hadn't thought of it as much of a running venue before. How wrong I was! The race is in honor of a fallen police officer and the pre-race ceremonies were very moving. I started near the back of the pack and had a lot of trouble in the first mile picking my way past the ladies who like to walk six-abreast with strollers and similar obstacles. But surprisingly in this race I achieved my best age-graded score in the grand prix series of all eight grand prix races I ran. No idea why. Maybe having to go slow in the first half mile ain't such a bad plan after all?
I took the opportunity of the Fall River race to take some urban landscape photos for another Where Am I? quiz. O Docker was first to get it right. Again. Isn't he always?
The Laser frostbiting season was still going strong on the last weekend in April when I skipped sailing to go and run the Newport 10 Miler. The race started and ended at Fort Adams, the home of the Laser frostbite fleet, and at least one superfit young dude did both the running race and the Laser racing. Not me! I was knackered after the running so I went home and wrote a post about Socks. Sounds like I spent most of the race looking at lady runners' legs. Hey, it takes a long time for me to run 10 miles. I have to find something to pass the time.
At the end of May I went into Boston to run one of my favorite half marathons and wrote about it at A Half to Remember. Memorial Day Weekend. A few weeks after the Boston marathon bombings. A race which is always in honor of fallen Boston police officers, and this year especially in memory of Sean Collier the MIT police officer murdered by the marathon bombers. A very emotional day. Glad I was there to express my thanks to all the police officers attending for their courage and professionalism in dealing with the extraordinary challenge the city faced this Spring. Boston Strong!
On the first weekend of June 1 decided to bag another grand prix race. And I was so glad I did for several reasons. It was way over on the other side of the state, at least 30 minutes driving, a 5k in North Smithfield. It was the hottest day of the year up to then, so I didn't run very fast but discovered afterwards that I had scored two achievements…
Guesses ranged from a Blogulator 5000 to a roll of carpet, and an armadillo. For once it wasn't O Docker who got it right.
Geeze, this post is dragging on and we are only up to race #7. Time to pick up the pace.
There was a 10 mile race on a Friday evening in July in Narragansett. It was called the Blessing of the Fleet but I never saw any blessed fleet. It was a showery, damp, humid day. The parking was a long way from the start. It rained on me at the end of the race. I couldn't find any free food or drink after the race. The finish was even further from the parking than the start was. But I did see an amazing double rainbow over the bay (through my rain-spattered spectacles)
There was a 5 mile race on a Sunday in August on Common Fence Point in Portsmouth. I ran out of oomph. Probably because I did a 12 mile training run only two days before. Some times I am really dumb.
There was a 5k race on a Sunday in September in Warren. It was called Finish for the Guinness. They gave you a Guinness to drink at the finish. I should have taken a photo of it to use in a What is this? quiz.
And there was a half marathon on a Sunday in October, the UnitedHealthcare Newport Half Marathon. Best weekend of the year because…
And there was a 5k in Barrington on the Saturday after Thanksgiving to Trot Your Turkey Off, and that's all I have to say about that.
Phew.
So there you have it.
12 races. Four 5ks. One 4.8 mile. Two 5 miles. One 15k. Two 10 milers. Two half marathons.
82. 7 miles.
I must be crazy.
Part of the motivation was an attempt to qualify in the Grand Prix Series of the Rhode Island Rhode Running Club. This originally involved running in 9 out of 15 designated races around Rhode Island and nearby states, with the distances ranging from 5ks to half marathons. This was changed during the year to 8 out of 14 races due to some canceled race or scheduling conflict. I forget the details.
You know how I am with crazy artificial participation challenges. So I went for it and I did complete the required 8 races to qualify. (I could have done the 9 if I had needed to - so there!) I didn't make the top 5 but I was up there at times. And I did discover some new, different, interesting races as a result.
The year started, as it always seems to lately, on New Year's Day with the Hangover Classic 5 Miler in Bristol, which I wrote about at Celebrating the New Year Tillerman Style. It was frigging cold. There was ice on parts of the course. But I ran a good time (for me) so that was all good.
For reasons that escape me now I ran another race in Little Compton only 4 days later, a 4.8 mile road race. It wasn't even on the grand prix circuit. I must have been crazy.
In February I ran the 15k Run the Reservoir Race in N. Scituate RI, another regular on my schedule these days and took a few photos to use in one of my incredibly annoying Where Am I? quizzes. I thought my shot of the ladies lining up for the Porta Potty before the race was especially well-framed. O Docker was first to answer the quiz correctly. Isn't he always?
In early April I entered another of the grand prix races, the Thomas Giunta 5k in Fall River. Fall River MA is the town immediately to the north of my current home town of Tiverton RI but I hadn't thought of it as much of a running venue before. How wrong I was! The race is in honor of a fallen police officer and the pre-race ceremonies were very moving. I started near the back of the pack and had a lot of trouble in the first mile picking my way past the ladies who like to walk six-abreast with strollers and similar obstacles. But surprisingly in this race I achieved my best age-graded score in the grand prix series of all eight grand prix races I ran. No idea why. Maybe having to go slow in the first half mile ain't such a bad plan after all?
I took the opportunity of the Fall River race to take some urban landscape photos for another Where Am I? quiz. O Docker was first to get it right. Again. Isn't he always?
The Laser frostbiting season was still going strong on the last weekend in April when I skipped sailing to go and run the Newport 10 Miler. The race started and ended at Fort Adams, the home of the Laser frostbite fleet, and at least one superfit young dude did both the running race and the Laser racing. Not me! I was knackered after the running so I went home and wrote a post about Socks. Sounds like I spent most of the race looking at lady runners' legs. Hey, it takes a long time for me to run 10 miles. I have to find something to pass the time.
At the end of May I went into Boston to run one of my favorite half marathons and wrote about it at A Half to Remember. Memorial Day Weekend. A few weeks after the Boston marathon bombings. A race which is always in honor of fallen Boston police officers, and this year especially in memory of Sean Collier the MIT police officer murdered by the marathon bombers. A very emotional day. Glad I was there to express my thanks to all the police officers attending for their courage and professionalism in dealing with the extraordinary challenge the city faced this Spring. Boston Strong!
On the first weekend of June 1 decided to bag another grand prix race. And I was so glad I did for several reasons. It was way over on the other side of the state, at least 30 minutes driving, a 5k in North Smithfield. It was the hottest day of the year up to then, so I didn't run very fast but discovered afterwards that I had scored two achievements…
- First it seemed that not many of the other Rhode Island Rhode Runner grand prix point baggers had bothered to brave the wilds of far north-western Rhode Island so I ended up in third place among "Rhode Island Rhode Runner men grand prix point baggers who bothered to do the race and also qualify for the full series." That didn't do my series score any harm. Woo hoo! I'll take it.
- Even better I achieved something I had only done once before in my life. I won a running trophy! It was only for second place in the "incredibly old geezers - we are amazed that they can actually stagger round the course in this heat" category. But even so. Only Twice in a Lifetime! Woo hoo! I'll take it.
Guesses ranged from a Blogulator 5000 to a roll of carpet, and an armadillo. For once it wasn't O Docker who got it right.
Geeze, this post is dragging on and we are only up to race #7. Time to pick up the pace.
There was a 10 mile race on a Friday evening in July in Narragansett. It was called the Blessing of the Fleet but I never saw any blessed fleet. It was a showery, damp, humid day. The parking was a long way from the start. It rained on me at the end of the race. I couldn't find any free food or drink after the race. The finish was even further from the parking than the start was. But I did see an amazing double rainbow over the bay (through my rain-spattered spectacles)
There was a 5 mile race on a Sunday in August on Common Fence Point in Portsmouth. I ran out of oomph. Probably because I did a 12 mile training run only two days before. Some times I am really dumb.
There was a 5k race on a Sunday in September in Warren. It was called Finish for the Guinness. They gave you a Guinness to drink at the finish. I should have taken a photo of it to use in a What is this? quiz.
And there was a half marathon on a Sunday in October, the UnitedHealthcare Newport Half Marathon. Best weekend of the year because…
- Spectacular course
- I didn't run out of oomph
- My son ran the race with me
- My son had a son on the day before the race.
And there was a 5k in Barrington on the Saturday after Thanksgiving to Trot Your Turkey Off, and that's all I have to say about that.
Phew.
So there you have it.
12 races. Four 5ks. One 4.8 mile. Two 5 miles. One 15k. Two 10 milers. Two half marathons.
82. 7 miles.
I must be crazy.
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Quiz Answer - Soulsailor
Congratulations to Joe Rouse on correctly solving Sunday's quiz. The mystery sailor/ blogger was indeed Ant Clay who writes the Soulsailor blog.
Here is the picture in the quiz…
And here is the picture of Ant Clay without that amazing hat….
I had to give a bunch of clues before anyone guessed the answer.
Clue #3 referred to a "title" that Ant and Ben Ainslie had both won. At least one reader assumed I was talking about a knighthood but, in truth, Mr. Clay has not been knighted as Sir Anthony Clay by the queen… yet. I was actually referring to the the fact that Ben and Ant have both won the British Optimist National Championship, Ant in 1987 and Ben in 1992.
Clue #8 said that the mystery sailor's blog had appeared in at at least one of my top ten sailing blogs list. In fact it was in the first such list Top Ten Sailing Blogs of 2005 that I first gave a shoutout for Soulsailor.
I started this blog in 2005 but Ant had already been blogging about sailing for a couple of years by then. In a post in 2006 Who's Your Daddy? I tried to address the questions of who is the Daddy of sailing blogs, who started the first sailing blog, who wrote the first blog post about sailing? Soulsailor is certainly one of the earliest sailing blogs, although depending on how you define the meaning of "sailing" and the meaning of "is" he may or may not be the ultimate Daddy of all sailing blogs.
I always enjoyed Soulsailor's regatta reports in his unique earthy vernacular style, full of references to what he ate for breakfast - often "bacon sarnies"- see clue #6; and of what he drank at the post-racing party - often pints of orange juice with gin and tonic chasers - see clue #7; not to mention vivid descriptions of his various excretory needs. As a measure of respect and admiration for his blog I even wrote a parody report of one of my own regattas in an attempt at his style - SlowSailer Racing Association.
Ant sailed a Solo and an Enterprise in which he had some degree of success, and a Miracle (so he could sail more with his kids as I recall.) In his most recent blog posts he has been recounting his attempts to master a foiling International Moth. Tweezerman came the closest to having the right answer to the quiz before Joe when he guessed at Colin Newman, the famous British International Canoe and Moth sailor. Ant even mentioned that he had seen Colin out sailing the same day in one of his posts about sailing the Moth.
But I had to leave some very obvious clues about Soul of a Sailor and even an Ant-themed Xmas Card before the quiz was solved.
So well done to Joe. I guess it helped to be around in the sailing blogosphere in the dim, distant days of 2003-2005.
Here is the picture in the quiz…
And here is the picture of Ant Clay without that amazing hat….
I had to give a bunch of clues before anyone guessed the answer.
Clue #3 referred to a "title" that Ant and Ben Ainslie had both won. At least one reader assumed I was talking about a knighthood but, in truth, Mr. Clay has not been knighted as Sir Anthony Clay by the queen… yet. I was actually referring to the the fact that Ben and Ant have both won the British Optimist National Championship, Ant in 1987 and Ben in 1992.
Clue #8 said that the mystery sailor's blog had appeared in at at least one of my top ten sailing blogs list. In fact it was in the first such list Top Ten Sailing Blogs of 2005 that I first gave a shoutout for Soulsailor.
I started this blog in 2005 but Ant had already been blogging about sailing for a couple of years by then. In a post in 2006 Who's Your Daddy? I tried to address the questions of who is the Daddy of sailing blogs, who started the first sailing blog, who wrote the first blog post about sailing? Soulsailor is certainly one of the earliest sailing blogs, although depending on how you define the meaning of "sailing" and the meaning of "is" he may or may not be the ultimate Daddy of all sailing blogs.
I always enjoyed Soulsailor's regatta reports in his unique earthy vernacular style, full of references to what he ate for breakfast - often "bacon sarnies"- see clue #6; and of what he drank at the post-racing party - often pints of orange juice with gin and tonic chasers - see clue #7; not to mention vivid descriptions of his various excretory needs. As a measure of respect and admiration for his blog I even wrote a parody report of one of my own regattas in an attempt at his style - SlowSailer Racing Association.
Ant sailed a Solo and an Enterprise in which he had some degree of success, and a Miracle (so he could sail more with his kids as I recall.) In his most recent blog posts he has been recounting his attempts to master a foiling International Moth. Tweezerman came the closest to having the right answer to the quiz before Joe when he guessed at Colin Newman, the famous British International Canoe and Moth sailor. Ant even mentioned that he had seen Colin out sailing the same day in one of his posts about sailing the Moth.
But I had to leave some very obvious clues about Soul of a Sailor and even an Ant-themed Xmas Card before the quiz was solved.
So well done to Joe. I guess it helped to be around in the sailing blogosphere in the dim, distant days of 2003-2005.
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Caption Contest
Or, if you prefer, suggest a caption for this second photo which was taken shortly before the first one.
Thanks to Myc Sunfish and the Barrington frostbite fleet videocam for the shots.
Monday, December 23, 2013
Maps on Monday
A map of the world showing the only land areas (in green) which also have land on the exact opposite side of the globe - at their antipodes.
The amazing thing is that almost all land areas (the ones shaded dark blue) are opposite oceans. Is this purely to be expected on a planet where water covers more than 70% of the surface? Or is there more to it than that? Who can do the math?
Thanks to @Amazing_Maps on Twitter for the map.
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Who is this?
Who is this?
Clue #1: This is a sailing blog. He is a sailor.
Clue #2: I have written about him on this blog before.
Clue #3: One of his greatest sailing successes is a title which Ben Ainslie has also won.
Clue #4: He sails an International Moth.
Clue #5: He has a sailing blog.
Clue #6: Bacon sandwiches.
Clue #7: G&T.
Clue#8: This sailor's blog has been featured in at least one of my "top sailing blogs" lists.
Friday, December 20, 2013
Bitter End YC Wordle
Apologies for the recent intermission on this blog. Tillerwoman and I were making what has become our annual pilgrimage every December to the Bitter End YC in the British Virgin Islands. We returned home yesterday and no doubt I will be posting in the coming days about our experiences at BEYC this year.
In the meantime, this "wordle" just about sums it up.
Saturday, December 07, 2013
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