Kingman Farm Moonlight Snowshoe 5K

This race is the highlight for me every snowshoe season. To run a race at
night in the woods with a head light on is a great experience. Not to
mention that this race is put on by one of the best race directors in the
area, Chris Dunn. Chris puts his heart and soul into making sure that
everything is perfect for his races. So when the lack of snow in the NE
area started to endanger this race, he and his team spent hours out on the
course trying to re-route it or shovel snow on the course so it would be
runnable in snowshoes. Alas, Mother Nature will not be beaten and at the
last minute Chris was forced to change the race to a snowshoe's optional
race.

I chose to run in my Yak Trax for better grip with all the ice that I
found out on the course during my warm up. As 50+ of us lined up for the
start Chris was very apologetic for the conditions. Most of use didn't
care because we were going to have fun no mater what the conditions were.
Chris gave us a 30 second warning and soon we were off.

Geoff C, Charlie T, Dan F, and Ri, when out like lighting. I settled into
the second pack (slower guys), and was running behind Austin S. One thing
that seemed funny to me is that we were working together like a biking
team warning each other of hazards along the trail. The sounds of "Roots,
Rocks, and Snow (funny guys we are)" could be heard from the group as we
flew down the trail. After about 1/2 mile I decided that it was time to
see what I had in me so I took over the lead from Austin. I was feeling
good as the trail wound around. However my sense of direction is poor at
best. Within 200 yards of me taking the lead I went off trail (totally my
fault). But in a blink of an eye I went from first in the pack to 3rd, as
Austin and Richard passed me. I was now running in 7th place over all and
worst yet I could hear the sound of snowshoes behind me.

I was not going to be beaten by some who was wearing snowshoes, NFW!!! So
I pushed as hard as I could to try and break this plodder behind me. I
figured that I had a huge advantage when we hit the field, because there
was no snow. But even though I was just a few yards behind Austin and
Richard I was having a tough time following the flags. You see that red
flags work great when they sit on white snow. But place them in a field
with mud and dead grass they go invisible. I think I ended up stepping on
50% of them in the field, sorry Chris.

When we finally reached the snow on the edge of the field my running form
went to h3ll. I was post holing and was stumbling like a old drunk.
After we finally hit the equipment barn by the "snow bridge" I was able to
regain some form and run again, but the sound of snowshoes was still in my
ear. All of a sudden a guy that I had never seen before at a SS race
passed me like I was standing still. In a blink of an eye he was out of
sight. AAARRRGGGHHHH!!!

Now I knew that I only had 1/2 mile to go and I wanted to make sure I
finished strong, but I was struggling. In addition I knew that the last
200 yards was up a small hill. My plan was to hold my form best I could
and push hard up the hill. It worked, and I managed to put a couple of
seconds between me and snowshoe boy (Chris Smith).

After the race most of us hung out at the finish area to cheer in all the
other runners. This is one thing I really like about this sport. Yeah
there are winners, but everyone in these races seems to be part of the
bigger picture and really encourages each other to do their best.

The awards were the best ever. Every person had a chance to win a prize
no mater where you finished. In fact every single person walked away with
something. Some even ended up with 2 prizes. I won a pair of micro
spikes...YES!!!

Charlie T ended up toasting Geoff to become the third winner of this race.

1. Charlie T
2. Geoff C
3. Dan 88.6 F
4. Ri F
5. Richard L
6. Austin S
7. Kevan C
8. Scott G
9. Chris S (first snowshoer)
10. Amber F. (first woman), Better half of 88.6
11. Jay C
12. Jay M

So, lets take a quick inventory of this race:

Lack of snow; bad
Quick re-route; good
Change to trail run; even better
Super fast start; bad
Working together to call out obstacles; good
Taking the lead of the 2nd pack; good
Going off course; Even better, the 200 yards of pressure was killing me
Being passed with 1/2 mile to go; bad
Beating the first snowshoer; good
First person over 50; only because the good guys didn't show
Soup and brownies; super (or is that supper)
Winning micro spikes; good
Spending time with some terrific people running around in the dark;
Priceless.

Thanks Chris Dunn for another great memory!!!

Where have I been???

Over the past several month I've kind of gone missing from a couple of
perspectives. First, I've haven't been blogging, because our IT
department has locked down our environment such that I'm not able to
directly access my blog. DAM IT GEEKS (hold on that would be my
department)!!! I could go around the firewalls but then again I have to
set a good example for the rest of the people in the company.

Second, I have not been attending any snow shoe races. The reasons for
this are two fold. 1st even before the Feel Good Farm race I wasn't
feeling well. I was running a fever and everyone at checking was telling
me I was pulling a "Jim Johnson" (aka sandbagging to the max). Well I
wasn't, and I spent that afternoon in bed and the following 2 days nursing
the fever and the next 2 weeks on a sick roller coaster. 2nd, my body was
not really happy with me after the race and I needed to give it a break.
Feel Good Farm was a total disaster.

Third, my wife decided to invite a whole gaggle of family up to our place
in Gilford and I have been playing the perfect host. I guess I had to
hang out with these people because they were my sisters and their
families. We did have a good time and I didn't have to run up any
mountains with screen doors attached to my feet.

Fourth, I've been doing some triple secret training for an Ironman I
signed up for in November. I am now swimming 3 to 4 times a week, or as I
like to call it "I'm taking don't DROWN lessons". I'll be blogging more
on this in the future.

Lastly I'm on a mission from god and I can't be stopped. This April will
be my 25th consecutive year racing in the Boston Marathon. I want to do
well so I've started my marathon training earlier then normal. Usually I
start my distance training in March but I'decided to start putting in the
miles starting in February. My BHAG for this years race is the same as it
was the last 13 year....to break 3 hours. The last time I was able to
accomplish this was back in 1996. Last year I missed it by 1 minute and 8
seconds. AAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!

Anyway, I'm back online, I'm feeling much better, no more company in the
plans, but the marathon training continues.

I hope to be at one of the SS races soon.

Test number 2

This is my 2nd test to see if I can use e-mail to update my blog

Email test of blog posting

I’m just testing to see if I can post an e-mail to my blog.

 

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2009 Recap...A little late

I've been meaning to put this together and I think it is finally
done. Below is a list of all the races I competed in over the 2009
season. There were some HIGH points, Boston Marathon and there were
some low points, a completely burnt out run in Plymouth, NH. I raced
on foot, bike, snowshoe, road, trails, snow, up mountains and across
states. I fell in almost every snowshoe race. I gave it all I had in
every race except for 1, once again it was the race in Plymouth, NH
where I was so beat up I just took it easy and mailed in the effort.
All in all it was a great year for me having turned 50 and putting it
all on the line. Below is the list.



Summary
Toed the line 44

Miles raced 308.84

Time spent racing 35:23:29

Average mile pace 0:07:23

Won Race 1

Won division 16

2nd in division 10

3rd in division 4

Podium finishes 30

Number of runner ran against 34875

Number of runner in my age cat. 2992


Date Race name distance time Pace
1/10/2009 Pooh Hill Snowshoe Scrambel 4.97 0:58:43 0:10:53
1/17/2009 Beaver Brook 5K SS race 3.1 0:20:09 0:07:12
1/25/2009 Curly's Record run 3.7 0:41:32 0:11:11
1/31/2009 Cobble Mtn SS classic 3.6 0:44:13 0:12:17
2/7/2009 Sidehillers 4 Mile SS race 4 0:44:48 0:11:12
2/8/2009 Frosty's Dash for a cure SS 5K 3.1 0:28:56 0:09:20
2/14/2009 Horse Hill 7K SS race 4.35 0:39:48 0:09:09
2/21/2009 Kingman Fram Moonlight SS 5K 3.1 0:28:31 0:09:11
4/5/2009 Great Bay Half marathon 13.1 1:27:52 0:06:47
4/20/2009 Boston Marathon 26.2 3:01:08 0:06:55
5/9/2009 Biglake Half Marathon 13.1 1:29:08 0:06:48
6/8/2009 Krit Classic 5K 3.1 0:19:48 0:06:23
6/14/2009 Emerson 5K race for cancer 3.1 0:18:53 0:06:05
6/18/2009 Westford Summer Series #1 3.5 0:23:07 0:06:36
6/20/2009 Mt Washington 7.6 1:38:00 0:12:54
6/25/2009 Westford Summer Series #2 3.5 0:23:37 0:06:45
6/27/2009 Tilton-Northfield Dare 5K 3.1 0:20:10 0:06:30
6/30/2009 Good Times Series 3.1 0:19:18 0:06:13
7/2/2009 Westford Summer Series #3 3.5 0:22:48 0:06:31
7/4/2009 Center Harbor 4th of July 5 5 0:32:30 0:06:30
7/9/2009 Westford Summer Series # 4 3.5 0:23:38 0:06:45
7/16/2009 Westford Summer Series #5 3.5 0:23:05 0:06:36
7/18/2009 Bill Luti 5 Miller 5 0:33:42 0:06:45
7/23/2009 Westford Summer Series #6 3.2 0:20:49 0:06:30
7/25/2009 Canterbury Woodchuck 5K 3.1 0:19:51 0:06:24
7/30/2009 Westford Summer Series #7 3.5 0:22:46 0:06:30
8/1/2009 Laconia XC 5K 3.1 0:22:20 0:07:12
8/6/2009 Westford Summer series #8 3.5 0:22:57 0:06:33
8/8/2009 Alton Bay Old Home day 5K 3.1 0:19:53 0:06:25
8/13/2009 Wesford Summer Series #9 3.5 0:22:57 0:06:33
8/15/2009 New Durham Parks 5K 3.1 0:19:48 0:06:23
8/20/2009 Westford Summer Series #10 3.5 0:24:00 0:06:51
8/23/2009 Timberman Half Ironman 70.3 6:31:51 0:05:34
8/29/2009 Gilford Old Home Day 5K 3.1 0:22:16 0:07:11
9/5/2009 NHEC Co-Op 5K road race 3.1 0:21:43 0:07:00
9/18/2009 Reach The Beach Relay Leg 1 7.95 0:53:24 0:06:43
Leg 12 3.87 0:30:00 0:07:45
Leg 23 6.24 0:46:48 0:07:30
Leg 34 4.01 0:27:04 0:06:45
10/4/2009 5th annual Pinnacle Challenge 13.75 0:38:25 0:02:48
10/18/2009 BayState Marathon 26.2 3:18:08 0:07:34
11/27/2009 Chelmsford Alumni race 3.1 0:22:00 0:07:06
12/6/2009 Mill City relays 5 0:32:30 0:06:30
12/13/2009 Beaver Brook SS 5K 2.8 0:20:36 0:07:21

Totals and averages 308.84 35:23:29 0:07:23


# of SS races 9
# of Road 5K races 9
# of XC 5K races 2
# of 3.5 mile races 10
# of 5 mile races 2
# of Half Marathons 2
# of Marathons 2
# of Relays legs 6
# of Hill climbs 1
# of Tri's 1

Average Road running pace 0:06:56
Average SS pace 0:09:45
Shortest time spent racing 0:18:53
Longest time spent racing 6:31:51