Deb, Shep, and I kicked off 2008 with our first race of the year, in Guilford, Connecticut. We spent New Year’s Eve in Old Lyme and made the quick jaunt over to Guilford, another one of Connecticut’s Long Island Sound “shore towns.” A five kilometer race course that has an out and back section, including an orange cone turnaround, would normally be just ordinary; but today’s course was unique for a few reasons.
The Start/Finish was on Guilford’s historic town green, one of the best in Connecticut. The historic homes and shops in this community are amazing. We ran by many of these homes, including the Henry Whitfield Family Home, which is billed as the oldest house in Connecticut and the oldest stone house in New England. The Whitfield home is now the Henry Whitfield State Museum. We didn’t stop to visit during the race, but we went back afterwards. Unfortunately, it was raining, and the house was closed for the season. The course also went by the Griswold Fairgrounds, where we saw some neat antique farm equipment.
So, the course turned out to be better than it looked on paper. Nearly 400 people showed up to run or walk the event, which is pretty cool for New Year’s Day. Apparently, this race is a big fund raiser for the Guilford Rotary. We ran the course once as a warm up, and that was the best thing we could have done. We were able to scout out the turns, see the two tiny hills, and get a feel for which direction the brisk breeze was coming from. I pushed Shep and ran a strong race, finishing fourth. Of course, technically, Shep was fourth and I was fifth, but I paid the entry fee and did all of the pushing! We had a nice battle for third that resulted in me getting outkicked in the final meters by a local high school runner. It is kind of weird to run against kids that are 20 years younger than me. I was particularly pleased with my heart rate profile and my 194 max. Deb had a really good run too. She was second woman and ran a nice time. It was fun to feast on bagels and bananas at the post race awards ceremony, and both of us got Road ID gift certificates for our top five placings. We both already have Road ID’s, which are essential if you train alone, but we will find a use for them. Maybe we will get one for Shep.
Life Adventures 
