Doyle's Emerald Necklace 5 Miler

I love this race. It is really a party that happens to have a race before it. This was my 7th time at Doyle's. Sometimes I run slow, sometimes fast. This year was more on the slow side. I didn’t expect to run well and I was right! The good news is that I believe I finally figured out my “injury” issues. I finally was able to get to PT and get some stuff sorted out and am no longer in pain. So, I am very happy with that and ready to get training a bit better.

TNT!

The race… The start was delayed over 20 mins, which kinda sucked. But, hey what can you do? The horn went off and off we went. I tried not to get out too fast, although I was out faster than I should have, knowing that I am not in great shape. I am sure that affected my race a bit, but not too bad. From the mile to 2 mile, I slowed down a bit, but I felt half way decent.

After that, it just went to shit. I was not in it mentally and really just got through it. I really didn’t care and just felt out of it mentally. I picked it up a bit in the last mile, that little bit of downhill certainly helped! Anyway, I finished it off “strong” and got to the important part of the day…BEER and friends.

We had a good group of people there and had some fun drinking beer, enjoying the sun and petting fun dogs!

Our personal beer table.

Hank!

We stopped at the British Beer Company on the way home for some good grub and then called it a night!

I was much more successful bowling in a bowling tournament on Saturday at Alley Katz in Westerly. Coming in 13th out of 117 bowlers in the Over 200 Average Handicap Division and coming in 2nd in the Doubles Under 400 Average Scratch division with my teammate John. 1st would have been better…we missed that by 3 pins!

Alley Katz.

Doyle's Emerald Necklace 5 Miler

One of my favorite races of the year, the Doyle's Emerald Necklace 5 Miler.  It is one of my favorite races mostly because of the after party.  The race itself is OK.  The course is fair, not super fast, but not super difficult.  The easy parts come near the end, which is nice.

I have run this race three times before.  2011, I ran horrible, but was in good shape.  2012, I just ran it for the fun of it and ran just under 7 min pace.  Last year, I had run 58+ miles on the North South Trail the day before the race.  So, I was looking forward to giving the race in honest effort.  I felt I was in pretty good shape, but haven't raced on the roads in a while.  When you are racing on the trails and snowshoes, it is a whole different animal.  You are changing pace constantly working through obstacles and trying not to kill yourself with a major fall.

A road race on the other hand, is all about getting in a good rhythm and holding on to a pace that is just a little too fast and hoping things don't blow up, especially when I certainly do not focus on the shorter race, it makes me feel even more like a fish out of water.  The positive note leading up to Doyle's this year was that I had raced a lot, although on the trails/snowshoes, at least I had that race mentality fresh on the brain.

So, how did the race go?  Pretty well.  I had set a goal of sub 28 mins.  I planned on going out conservative, which works well on this course, as the first part is more up hill than the second half.  If you have some legs left through 3 miles, you can make up some time and come home strong.

I ended up passing a few fast starters in the first mile or so and found myself in pretty much the same position I would finish. I was passed late in the race by one runner, but also passed another guy when I was passed.

I felt like I just held onto a solid pace the whole time, but knew going into the last mile that I was over the pace I need for sub 28....fortunately for me, that's where the fast mile is and also being passed got me moving again.

Splits:
5:42
5:41
5:29
5:39
5:23 - 27:51 Official Time, 11th place out of 1667 Finishers

Check out Scott Mason's Photos!

A runner finishes and cheers on his friends with beer(s) in hand!

Now, Doyle's is all bout the after party.  A fun outside block party with free beer and good times...to read more of the particulars of that, head over to The Sweaty Beer Tent!

Next up...Train...no races for a while.  I guess the next time I toe the line will be in The Quahog Mile...it will be the first time I actually run in one of my races!