RunScottyGRun

Now I belong….Ironman Florida Race Report

2010-11-07T23:49:00.009-05:00

The first time I ever did a tri was more than 25 years ago. It was the Wolfeboro, NH GraniteMan Tri. I did no special training and thought I could rely on my running ability to carry me to the finish line. Boy was I wrong. I remember going into the swim I went all out and was soon sucking wind within 50 yards. It was a half mile swim. I was going into survival mode already…ugh!!! Then I struggled through a very hilly 18 mile bike ride and then a 4 mile run. I don’t think I passed a soul. I remember driving home and saying that I would never do that again.

Fast forward to 2003. I had taken the summer off from work and decided to do the Timberman ½ ironman race. All summer long I planned on training but there was always another boat ride to take or beer to drink. I didn’t run a step, or bike much at all. The only swimming I did was to take a quick dip in the lake. When I was picking up my race packet, I took a look around and noticed that these athletes weren’t you average Joe’s. They all seemed to be ripped and laser focused. I was out of my league once again. The weather wasn’t cooperating either. It was hitting 95 degrees. I used a jet ski wet suit which is high on the friction scale. I struggled mightily to finish the 1.2 mile swim. I think I invented a couple new strokes. On the bike I was cramping up quite a bit at mile 40. So much so that I had to stop and stretch. Once the run started I figured I’d kick some A$$. Didn’t happen!! I had no legs left. I ended up finishing in 7:30. I was close to last place. I was humbled.

Over the years I’ve done the Timberman race many times and have had a little success but no real triumphs. So when I decided to sign up for the Florida Ironman, I knew I had a lot of work to do. A real lot of work. I needed to learn to swim long distance, I needed to learn how to stay aero on the bike. I needed to learn how to run after a long bike ride. I needed to learn about nutrition during the race. I needed a plan, an audacious plan. I seeked out the knowledge of all my friends and they all came through.

So one year later I was standing on the beach with some doubts about my abilities but I had 2 things I was focusing on. The first was the race directors words of wisdom “you WILL do this”. The second was what I live my life by “Never give up”. I wrote this message on my right hand.

On race morning I was up at 4 AM. Took care of my normal pre-race business and had a protein shake and a raisin bagel with peanut butter on it. Followed by a Gatorade. Then it was off to the transition area to put PB&J sandwiches in each of my transition bags and to do final set up of my bike. Lastly I needed to drop off my special needs bags a ¼ mile down the street. Then it was back to my room to rest.

At 6:30 it was time to head to the start. My room was located 20 yards from the beach and 50 yards from the finish line. This made many logistics very easy. I slipped on my wet suite, swim cap and goggles. I was about to use a new set of goggles. The ones I had the day before were leaking. This goes against everything I know about racing. Never use anything new on race day. I had no choice.

I headed down to the swim start with 2500 other competitors. 1375 were first timers to the Ironman distance. I was nervous, but kept telling myself that “I WILL do this” and “stick to the plan”. To remind people I actually had 4 plans
1. Finish at all cost.

2. Finish in 13 hours

3. Finish in 12 hours

4. Finish in 11 hours

My swim plan was to stay far right on the 2 loop counter clockwise course and stay out of the hoards of people, it would only cost me about 7 yards if I was able to swim on a direct path to the first turn buoy. At 6:50 AM the pro’s started. Holy cow can they ever swim fast. Then it was my GO time. The announcer did a count down then started yelling GO, GO, GO!!! I didn’t run and dive in, I walked in and eased myself into the water and started to swim. I was getting the s!#@% beat out of me, mostly by women, old women. I kept having to stop and look up to see if I could find an opening to swim. When I reached the first turn buoy I checked out my time, it was around 18 minutes. I was pumped. But I told myself to relax. At the 2nd turn heading back to the beach I had a good rhythm going. I hit the beach in 40 minutes. I was pumped. I had figured I’d be around 45 minutes. I had to run up on the beach and step over the timing mats and by the time I was back into the water I was at the 42 minute mark. The second loop was much less crowed and I was able to get a good rhythm going and ended up finishing in 1:23:04. I was shocked. In my widest dreams I figured I could do 1:30, with a 1:45 my realistic time. I got out of the water in 1677th place.

Off to T1. I grabbed my T1 bag and it was off to the men’s changing tent. It was packed. I ended up in a dining hall that they had to start using for over flow. Changing went slow but I didn’t want to rush. Then on the way to my bike all the fluids I drank in the morning were pushing on my bladder. So I stopped at one of the porta johns. Finally I got to my bike.

By the time I hit the bike mount line 13:09 went by. I didn’t know this but I really didn't care. I mounted my bike and I was off. I started off slow so I could ease into a smooth pedal stroke. Now drafting is a no no and carries a 4 minute penalty if your caught. But this was next to impossible, so I hung on the right side and was passing people, lots of people. I was using many of them as a sling shot when I’d go by. I stayed in the aero position most of the time and was taking nutrition every 3 miles. At the 10 mile mark I took my first GU. Another rule is that littering carries a penalty. When I finish my GU I had to take the almost empty packet and tucked it in the bottom of my biking shorts until I got to a aid station where I could throw it out. But within a mile I felt this dripping on my lower leg. I reached down to find out what it was and my hand and leg was covered in GU. So I had to ride the next 100 miles with a sticky leg and hand.

As the ride continued I was in a good zone. The road was smooth until the 50 mile mark. Then we got on this 10 mile spur road that was like riding on a very bad New England road. It was bone shaking. At mile 55 I had average 21.7 MPH. I was shocked. I was having the ride of my life. At mile 63 we took a hard left into the wind and rollers until mile 80. I was slowing down. This section was taking it’s toll on me. At mile 80 we finally took a left heading south on some sweet tar. I was crushing at 25 MPH. YEEEEHAAA!! I hit the 100 mile mark at 4:43. It was at that point I knew that I’d be able to finish up at over 21 MPH. So for the last 12 miles I took it easy and keep it right around 22 MPH. I wanted fresh legs for the run. I finished up with a 5:17:49 and had an average speed of 21.14 MPH. I was now in 566 place. I had passed 1111 people.

In T2 I took it slow and made sure I kept my heart rate low. RELAX. Once again I had to hit the porta john. This is good because it told me I was well hydrated. I got out of T2 in 7:13. I was carrying a PB&J sandwich and some Endurolyte tablets. I grabbed a Gatorade and munched on the PB&J. It went down easy and I was running smooth. I hit the first mile mark in 8:11. I was thinking “that wasn’t so bad”. So I picked it up a bit. I ended up averaging 7:31’s for the first 6 miles and was passing about 10 people every mile. I was running smooth and easy, I wasn’t even sweating. I started doing the math and thought that a sub 11 hour Ironman could be had. But I was starting to slow. The next 7 miles at the half marathon point I had averaged 8:30’s. At the turn around point I grabbed my special needs bag and grabbed my next PB&J. I took one bite but my stomach was NOT happy. I spit it out and throw the sandwich away. I was starting to get in trouble. I was going into survival mode. All I needed to do is average 10 minute miles. How tough would that be? IMPOSSIBLE!!! My legs were still light and lose but I had no energy left. Nothing at any of the aid stations were helping. By mile 19 I was reduced to run a little, walk a lot, run very little walk a real lot. My sub 11 hour Ironman was gone. I went into total survival mode and it wasn’t until mile 24.5 that I was able to regroup and take it home hard.

My fastest mile came in at mile 26. I ran a 6:50. Crossing the finish line I screamed as loud as I could. I probably sounded like a teenage girl. Then I heard those magic words “Scott Graham from Westford MA, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN”!!! I finished in 11:14:28 in 513th place. I had averaged 9:39 per mile in the marathon. I was given my finisher medal, a hat and a shirt then was escorted over to have my picture taken.

Next was the food tent but I was not able to even look at the stuff. I headed back to my room and cleaned up. I took a couple of calls from friends and family and proceeded to take a 1 hour nap. When I woke up at I grabbed some food from my fridge then headed out to the food tent and grabbed a couple pieces of Pizza. After that I headed over to the bar to grab a Coke. While in the bar the race director came in and I approached him and thanked him. Especially, the enthusiasm of all the volunteers. I though Boston was fantastic, it doesn’t compare to this.

At 11 PM I headed out to the finish line. Here to me are the true determined people. At this point they had been out there for 16 hours. This was a huge party atmosphere. Everyone was dancing, the music was loud and people thumping anything that would make noise. For every finisher the crowd went wild. You could see tears rolling down the faces of most of these people. The last guy finished at 16:59:30. Talk about cutting it close to the 17 hour shut down time.

I went back to my room at 1 AM and was still wired. I needed to sleep but I had drank 4 Cokes. I was wired, I needed to get up at 5 AM to get in line to purchase Finisher stuff. I woke up right at 5 and went out to get some ice and noticed there was already 10 people in line…WTF, these people are tough. I made myself a protein shake and put it in a cup to go. I dressed in just about everything I owned because it was 35 degrees outside. I was about 30th in line. At 7 AM they let us in and in 10 minutes I had everything I wanted. Next it was off to the picture company. They handed me 2 photos of me crossing the finish line and will be sending me a link to all the photos they got of me during the race.

Now I needed to do some laundry. This hotel had 324 rooms and no laundry room. So I ended up walking 3 miles to the laundry mat and 3 miles back. My legs were surprisingly fresh. On the way back I stopped off at a diner and grabbed 2 hotdogs with onions. Boy did those taste good.

The weather had warmed up and I wanted to see what I had left in my legs so I went for a 4 mile run on the beach. It felt great. I had already done a lot today so I took a 1.5 hour nap. Then it was time for the awards banquet. I attended and they showed a video of the race. Guess who made the video? MOI.. On my first loop I was getting interviewed by a guy camera guy on the back of a motor cycle.

I found out that I finished 27 of 239 men in the 50 - 54 age category.

So now I know that I can compete with these Tri people and hold my own. I belong!!

Thanks to everyone who helped me in my journey. There was a lot of you and you know who you are. Thanks again!!!

Florida Ironman Day 3...T – 12 hours and counting

2010-11-05T19:14:00.007-04:00

I am nervous, very nervous. This morning after waking up I did a quick X Stretch and felt wonderful. Then it was time to try my luck in the water. I stepped outside and took a look at the ocean. Holy S%#@%!!!! The water looked like something you’d see in a horror show. The good news is that the sun was shining, but the wind was blowing causing to the ocean to have white caps for as far as the eyes could see.

OH well, let’s give it a try. I slipped on my wet suit and dove in, or should I say I had to walk out 100 yards through the breakers to be able to start swimming so I would get killed by the waves. There was one other guy out there and it looked like he was struggling too. Then there was another problem, my goggles were leaking…NOOOOO!!! But I did plan for such a problem and brought a second new pair. Anyway I continued swimming for about 15 minutes and gave up. It was just to ruff. I headed in and sat on the beach for a couple of minutes trying to figure out what I was going to do if this weather continues tomorrow. I came up with NOTHING!!!

Time to head back to the room and make one of my now famous protein shakes with my not so secret recipe. After that I just hung out for a couple of hours and tinkered with my bike. That’s when I realized that I was not able to get my pump to work with the front 808 wheel. Off to Ironman Wheels I went with my pump and bike. They had the same issue and made some adjustments to the wheel and I was now good to go.

Well then let’s go for a ride. So I put on one of my aero suits and stopped dead when I stuck my head out the door. It was still about 45 degrees out sided. Back in I went and got a set of arm warmers. Heck I’m from NE and we’re tough. I went out and got a good 10 miles in at a fair pace.

Back at the hotel I grabbed some lunch, a Graham PB&J Special with some grapes and a Gatorade. Yum.

Now it was time to start organizing all the transition bags and special needs bags. Thank god I created lists for each thanks to Randy Uram’s starter list he sent me a couple of weeks ago. I also did all the final tweaks to my bike and applied all the numbers to all my equipment. This whole production took several hours. I checked and re-checked everything. Leave nothing to chance I always say.

By 2 PM it was time to put my bike over in T1 and hand off my 2 transition bags. First thing I needed to do is make sure that I would have access to the bags tomorrow morning because I still have to add some PB&J sandwiches to each (fuel of the gods.

After racking the bike it was time to take one more look at the ocean. S@%$@ it’s worst then this morning. After talking to a couple people they assured me that it will calm down by the morning. I sure hope so because I don’t want to DNF in the swim.

OK time to get some grub. I walked back down to the little place I was at the other night and got some more chicken and veggies. My favorite pre-race fuel. As I walked along the beach on the way back from the restaurant I received a call from 2 friends, David Katz and Matt Carroll. They were commuting together from work. They busted my chops for a couple of minutes and wished me luck.

Now it’s time to chill out. I created another list of all the things I need to do tomorrow morning. Which includes making sure I bring my water bottles out to the bike, and adding stuff to my Transition, and special needs bags.

I’m as ready as I can be. I most likely will not send out another report until Sunday. All systems are go, I’m locked and loaded. NEVER GIVE UP!!!!

Forecast for tomorrow...Pain Heavy At times!!

Florida Ironman Day 2

2010-11-04T22:30:00.006-04:00

Day 2 started off a little later then day 1. I was able to get a solid 8 hours sleep and woke up at 4:30 AM CDT. This is good because that’s the time I need to be up on race day. I started my day off with an easy P90X workout, XStretch. This is an hour of slow easy stretching.

Next I thought about going out and doing an easy swim but the rain storm from yesterday was still hanging around and making the ocean look pretty bad. So plan B was to go for a run. I headed out onto the marathon course and ran easy. There were tons of people out on the course and I ended hooking up with a guy from Tampa. We ran easy 8 minute miles and covered 8 miles. I finished feeling refreshed but very wet.

I then cleaned up and it was time to make breakfast. Protein shake. Over the past 6 months I’ve kind of developed my own special formula. 8 oz skim milk, 1 whole banana, raspberries, 1 scoop of protein powder, 1 raw egg, 2 table spoons of coconut oil, and crushed ice. Blend until smooth, pour into a tall glass and enjoy a delicious frap like drink.

Next item on the schedule it was back off to the Super Walmart. Once again I was walking in the rain. I needed to get some more bread, a tall plastic cup for my protein shakes and some straws. I was successful on all accounts.

Then it was back to the expo. Things were really starting to pick up. Yesterday there weren’t many people or vendors. Today the vendors doubled and the line to get checked in was over 2 hours long. I don’t understand why it takes so long to check people in but their process is very poor. Mike O should give them some lessons.

I scanned the long line and spotted Sean Snow, coach of S2 Tri team. Sean is from Concord, NH and did Lake Placid, then went to Kona, now is here for Ironman #3 in 3 months. Next he’s off to Clearwater, Fl next week for the championship 70.3 race. He is an animal. We chatted about the race on Saturday but then got talking about Snow Shoe season. He and I are really looking forward to a change of pace.

Now it was time for lunch. PB&J was on the menu with some nice ice cold grapes. Now your might be thinking PB&J, what kind of power food is that. Well think about it, peanut butter is high in protein. The J of choice for me is strawberry preserves, so I get a fruit and some sugar. The bread was whole wheat with a touch of honey. For me this is my perfect energy food.

After lunch the sun finally came out so it was time to get out on the bike and test out my control of the new wheel set. The wind was blowing pretty good so I started off slowly to get used to how the wind moved the bike around. After a couple of miles I was comfortable with the wheels and got down to business. The area is so flat that I was able to easily bring the speed up to 23 and hold it there for 20 miles. At the finish once again I felt light and refreshed.

Now I was taking a look at the ocean and thinking of heading out for a quick swim. I walked down to the water and stuck my feet in. The water was about 75 degrees, nice!! However, I decided to walk away and save my ocean training swim for tomorrow morning.

When I was walking back to the hotel from the water’s edge, a women stopped me and asked “you didn’t swim without a wet suit, did you”. I’m looking at her thinking that these southern folks are wimps. But then again, I am very afraid of the heat so everything is relative.

Next was the pre-race banquet and mandatory meeting. They really get the crowd going at this event. Their message was “You WILL do this”!!! That’s right there nothing negative in this message. They brought a couple people up on stage. The youngest, 18 years old. The oldest, 81 years old. The person who lost the most weight during training, 90 pounds. Lastly the person they called “The Everyday Hero”. This guy, named Jack is blind. He has a pacer on the swim who is attached to him with a rope, and rides a tandem bike, then is hooked to his pacer by another rope on the run. WOW!!!

Now it’s time for bed.

Florida Ironman Day 1

2010-11-04T07:55:00.006-04:00

I was up at the bright hour of Dark:30 on Wednesday. Did my usual SSS and was out the door to Manchester Airport to catch a 7 AM flight to Panama City Fl. No traffic at that hour so everything went smooth. Had to connect through Atlanta, boy was that airport busy. Landed in Panama City Airport right on time at 11:11 AM CDT. Panama city is right on the edge of the EDT but is on Central time. So the race will start on Saturday at 8 AM EDT.

I gathered my bags. OH BTW, never fly Delta. My one bag I checked weighted 66 pounds. Which was 16 pounds over weight. $90 thank you very much!!!! WTF!!!! I asked if I get a discount because I only weight 150 pounds and most males clock in at 200+ pounds...no dice.

I went out to the taxi stand. Yeah right...This airport is to small for one of those. However I asked one of the Panama Cities finest and she told me to go and stand "over there and something might come along". GREAT!!!! Did I mention it was pouring. OK, but low and behold and transport service car did show up in 2 minutes and I was on my way.

Holy cow is this area flat. The driver got me to my hotel in no time. I checked in and was off looking for my bike. I used TriBike Transport. I found them and everything was out in the rain, including my gear bag. I found my bike and bag. Next up is to go get my bike set up with a set of Zipp wheels.

I show up at the Wheel tent and give them my name. I'm not on the list...WTF!!! There was a mix up and they had me on the list for Kona. I had received a call the day before Kona. "Scott where are you, we have your wheels and we don't want you to miss the race". I had explained to them that I was doing FL, not Kona.
The good news is the guy I spoke with remembered the mistake and the guys had me set up in no time with a 808 front and a 1080 back. Nice.

Back to my hotel room to add all the pieces back onto my bike that I took off for shipping (back bottle cage, bike computer, and peddles). In no time my bike was complete. Nice.

Time to check in and go to the IM shop. Check in was the worst race check in I've ever seen. I had to go to 5 different tables to get fully checked in. What a cluster "F". It didn't help that none of the volunteers had ever done any kind of a race in their life. Off the the IM store. You could spend a lot here but I held back. I don't want this stuff if I don't complete the race.

Now it was time to round up some provisions. I knew there was a Super Walmart about .7 miles away but it was raining very hard. Oh well, looks like I'm getting wet. The good news was that I packed my rain jacket at the last minute so it wasn't to bad. You know jeans weight a lot when they are soaking wet. I bought some bread, eggs, bagels, milk, gatorade, water, bananas, and raspberries. Made the walk back to the hotel.

Time to hook up some dinner. There is a place about 1/3 of a mile down the road that I walked to in the pouring rain. I got some buffalo chicken wings then a chicken meal. That hit the spot.

After all the travel and walking I turned in early. Today is a new day and I hope to get a run and ride in. Hopefully the rain will stop.

8 days left until Ironman Florida

2010-10-28T08:44:00.006-04:00

I really can't believe that after almost 1 year of training for this event I'm finally on the door step of actually running it. I am very tired of training. I've put many things in my life on hold for this selfish pursuit. I can honestly say this will be a "one and done" event. I've neglected far to many things at this point and need to refocus my energies on what's really important in life. Like family, food (I can't wait to have a big bowl of ice cream, or a couple of donuts), and fun. I'm finding that I have a very short fuse these days. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.

At the same time I'm extremely excited to get on that plane and head down to Panama City, FL. This has been a life long goal of mine. From the first time I saw the Hawaiian Ironman on TV I decided that one day I would compete in one of these races. I've always believed that you can do anything that you set your mind to. For and Ironman it takes 4 things. First you have to have the burning desire, without that you will not do all the training required and will cut workout short or skip them all together. While doing some of my longer bricks, many times I would think that I was tired and should stop, but I just kept telling myself that I would only be cheating myself and "NEVER GIVE UP" (more to come on this). Second, you need the time. The amount of time you spend training is insane. I've been averaging 3 hours a day on week days and 5 hours a day on weekends. That doesn't leave much time for anything else. Third, you need a good support system. My wife has been fantastic. I've been generating mountains of laundry with up to 3 workouts a day. She has also been great keeping me fueled, with all the special nutrition I need. I think she's running to the store 2 - 3 times a week. I can't thank her enough. Fourth, you need the financial means to do an Ironman. It's not cheap. I started adding it up the other day and total ended up being.....WTF, WAY TO MUCH!!!!! An example of this is I dropped my bike off at a local shop where it is to be picked up and transported to FL for me the other day. They checked it over and called me up. "Mr Graham, we have some bad news, your front forks are cracked and need to be replaced". Oh SH#$%@$@. So now I have to spend a couple hundred dollars more or risk a catastrophic failure.

Good thing I'm not doing any more of these things because they are so tough to enter, but the WTC who puts these on came out with a new program yesterday. You join their Access Club for 1 year and you can enter early before anyone else for the small fee of $1000, and then you have to pay the $550 to enter the race.....WTF!!! Talk about corporate greed. They have made this so the average person is not able to afford these races.

Goals in order if priority

1. Finish at all cost. I worked so long and so hard at this I can't back down. My father taught me many years ago what the secret of life was "NEVER GIVE UP". I've always competed with this in mind. You just never know what is going to happen. Look at the Red Sox in 2004. I now pass this learning on to my kids and I think it is sinking in with at least 1 or 2 of them, the 3rd I'm not so sure of.

2. Finish in 13 hours. With all my training I think this is the most realistic goal. My targets are a 2 hour swim (this is very conservative), 6 hour bike, and a 5 hour run.

3. Finish in 12 hours. I'd have to be having a very good day but this is possible. The way it breaks down is a 1:45 swim, 5:45 bike and a 4:30 run.

4. Finish in 11 hours. I would have to have the day of a life time. 1:30 swim, 5:30 bike, 4 hour marathon. I can do any one of these three alone but adding the three together will be a real challenge. I doubt this will happen.

My focus for the next couple of days is to maintain my fitness, I can only do harm now if I try "cramming for the test", and stay relaxed. During the race I'm going to stay within myself and never push it until that last 13 miles. At that point I don't think I'll anything left in me to push but you never know.

If you want to track me on race day my # is 1883 and you can go to www.ironman.com or www.ironmanlive.com

12 days left until Ironman Florida

2010-10-25T10:48:00.006-04:00

It's been one long year of training. I can honestly say that I've never trained and prepared myself for something so throughly. It all started back last November when I noticed that the entry for Florida Ironman was opening up right after the race on November 6th. I was at the keyboard and ready to enter my info, but alas they sold out in just a few minutes and I was on the outside looking in. Then I noticed that there was another way in. It was called the Executive Challenge. For as very large fee and if you were a high ranking person is a company, you were in!! I signed up. Then a couple of days later I noticed another way in. The Community Chest entry. Once again the price tag was higher then the normal fee but no where near the Executive Challenge fee. So once again I put in my entry. Funny thing happened as it always does in these matters, the day after I put my Community Chest entry in the people from the Executive Challenge called me up and said I was accepted. Thanks, but NO THANKS.

Now I had to start pulling together all the logistics.
Hotel, no problem the host hotel still had rooms. IN

Flight: big problem, nobody seemed to be going to that airport. WTF!!! After a couple of days poking around I found out that they were changing the name of the airport and 3 letter code over the summer so that is why none of the airline had it listed. I was able to get a flight with Delta out of Manchester NH. Good I don't have to deal with Boston!!

Bike transportation: I contacted the TriBike Transportation company and they had space left and they would pick up my bike at a local bike shop. Done!!

Training Program. With the help of a friend (Randy Uram) I selected Gale Bernhardt's training program. It's a proven method and seemed to fit well with my skill set.

Learn to swim: Big, BIg, BIG problem. I wasn't just bad I was the WORST. Now you're thinking "how can that be". To give you an idea of how bad I was, in one drills I was suppose to be kicking my way across the pool using a kick board. Sounds easy right? Not for me. As I kicked with everything I had, I was slowly moving BACKWARDS!!! This was going to be a problem. In addition I couldn't go 50 yards without stopping to rest. I needed help. I signed up with a local health club with a pool. Then I signed up for the Master swim program. My instructor was very supportive and very patient. I would struggle at most of the drills but kept telling myself that I'm investing my time and sooner or later it would start coming together. It took over 6 months before I started feeling OK, not good but at least OK in the water. I've had good days and I've had days were I could only swim 300 yards before getting out of the pool in disgust. Now after almost 1 year of training I've done 2 mile swims and felt great afterwards.

Biking: Now I've biked many miles over the years but never 112 miles at one time. And surely haven't done that kind of mileage with out drafting off other riders. I needed to put in a lot of lonely miles. And I did. A couple of weeks ago I had a day of "Firsts"
1. I bike the furthest ever, 118 miles
2. I did this without putting my foot down once.
3. I did it alone.
4. I did the first 100 miles in under 5 hours. That's a 20 MPH average.
5. I felt great after the ride.

Running: Well I think I know how to run a marathon but having to swim and bike before doing it would be a test of mind over body. My long run to date is a 25 mile run in 3:15. I felt great after it. This is thanks to my many friends who meet me at the bright hour of Dark:30 on Saturdays to do 1, 2 or 3 loops with me. These guys have been fantastic. David Katz, Peter Floss, Tom Skahen, Matt Carroll, Norman Kim, and Bryan Widmann. Here's a photo after my longest run

Core strength: It's so important to build up your core for an Ironman and that's just what I've been doing. One and a half years ago I did the P90X training program while getting ready for the Boston Marathon. I decided I'd do the same thing for this race. It's working, I've dropped a ton of fat and gained some muscle and increased me endurance exponentially. The down side is that with P90X training and the Ironman training combined I've been working out an average of 21 hours a week.

Family: Here is where things get tough because I couldn't totally control it. My wife, Christine has be SUPER. She hasn't complained once. She understands how important this is to me and has encouraged me every step of the way. I can't say enough about it.

Nutrition: I had to learn how to eat while exercising. I tend to bonk in most distance races and that would be deadly in an Ironman. I seeked out advise from 2 friends. Both have completed Ironman triathlons and knows what it takes. Bill Rozen and Randy Uram have been very helpful in developing a plan while I'm training and racing. I feel really confident about it.

Last Saturday, 14 days before the race was a big test. I would be doing what I called a "Monster Brick", a long swim, bike and run. I was able to swim 2 miles in 1:15, then jump on the bike and go 90 miles in 4:30 then finish up on the run with 12 miles in 1:35. WOW!!! I can only hope that I'm even close to these speeds come race day. But my plan is to go out a little slower in each to make sure I can finish.

I'm getting down to just a few days be for I head out to Panama City, FL. To make sure I don't forget anything I created a list. A very LONG LIST:

Prior to leaving Get

Batteries for bike computer (3 x CR2032)
Reflective tape for running shirt
Black Sharpe
Siccors
Regular baggies
Snack size zip lock baggies for electrolytes and Advil
Re-align bike computer.

Bike maintenance

Take Xwing off
Take pedals off
Clean
Lube
Bring to Fast splits 622 Washington st Newton on Thursday 11/28

Bike Bag Pack:
Write Name on bag with tele #
Pedals
Xwing
Red helmet
CO2 cartridges
Chain whip tool
Cassette release tool
Wrench to install Xwing
Alan wrench set
T9 oil
Perpetum
Endurolytes tablets
Vial for endorolytes
Protein powder
GU (lots)
Hammer Gel (lots)
2 spare tubes

Pack in my Blue Seventy bag:

Wet suit
White goggles
Race number Strap
Biking shoes
Biking gloves
Aero helmet
Biking shorts
Blue Seventy biking top
Racing flats
Acidotic singlet (white)
Blue and white racing shorts
Running socks
Sun glasses (Rudy Mask)
Ironman headband
Running visor
Body Glide
Camera
Itouch
Itouch charger
Laptop
Laptop charger
Running watch
HR monitor
Bike Computer
Electrical tape

Pack in regular suit case:

Bike Pump
5 pair shorts
6 pairs of underwear
6 pairs of running socks
Sweat suit for pre race
Biking jacket
Arm warmers
Toe warmers
Crocks
Sweat shirt
Biking shorts
Tri suit
Coconut oil
Protein Powder
Spoon
6 water bottles
Running shorts
Small towel
Tooth brush
Razor
Blender
Advil Liquid gel caps
Misc.

Buy at grocery store:

Banana’s
Bagels
Strawberries
Peanut butter
Strawberry Preserves
Bread
Orange Gatorade

On Bike:

2 bottles of Perpetuem with 3 scoops each
Water bottle with Orange Gatorade
15 GU’s
Endurolytes in vial
Advil

T1 bag:

Biking shorts
Blue Seventy top
Sun glasses (Rudy Mask)
Head Band
Gloves
Shoes
Aero Helmet
Race Belt with number
Towel
HR monitor
PB&J sandwich

Bike Special Needs bag:

2 Bottles of Perpetuem (3 scoops each)
Endurolytes
Spare tubes
Spare CO2 cartridges
2 PB&J sandwiches

T2 Bag:

Racing Flats
Socks
Visor
Run sunglasses
Acidotic top with reflective tape
Blue and white shorts
Endurolytes
2 PB&J sandwich
Orange Gatorade
GU’s 3

Run Special needs bag:

Bottle of Perpetuem (2 scoops)
Orange Gatorade
Long Sleeve shirt
Endurolytes
GU’s 3
2 PB & J sandwich

Saturday morning things to do:

4 AM - wake up – SSS
4:30 AM Protein shake
5 AM Bagel w/peanut butter
Also start drinking water and Gatorade
5:30 AM go to bike
6 Put body glide on
6:30 AM put wet suit on
7 AM GO, GO, GO!!!!!

Things to remember when racing:

Relax during the swim..RELAX
NEVER PUSH…stay within myself at all times
Stand on the bike every 20 minutes
Eat and drink often on bike and run

Smile for the camera at the finish line.

Call Chris after I finish!!

So there you have it. The hay is almost completely in the barn and I'm ready to have some fun.

Double Secret Training Continues

2010-10-04T14:17:00.006-04:00

I've been racking up the miles over the last several months. In fact, this past weekend I did the most training hours I've ever done in one weekend. The funny thing is I don't feel tight at all. More on that later.

Friday was an easy day leading up to the weekend and only consisted of 1:15 of weights and Ab workout with a 1 hour easy bike. No problem 2:15 in the bank.

Saturday started out bright and early. 5AM, which means I needed to break out the head lamp. I met 2 friends down at East Boston Camp (EBC) in Westford where we were scheduled to run 3, 1 hour loops. The first loop gave us just over 7 miles. We then hooked up with another group of runners and by the end of the 2nd loop we had 15 miles in the bank. After the second stop for fuel my right leg started to lock up. I wasn't cramping but was not that fluid anymore. The third loop got me back to EBC in exactly 3 hours and 23 miles in the bank. Great way to start the day. I headed home to clean up then off to my daughters Softball game. After that it was on to cutting the lawn. This family stuff is really cutting into my workout time. Next it was swim time. I wanted to do an open water swim but didn't want to travel all the way over to Walden. So I headed over to Nabnasset Lake in Westford. I circled the entire lake which I mapped out to be 2 miles in 1:12. I'm starting to really feel good about my swimming. One year ago I couldn't do 100 yards without stopping to rest. No rest for the family guy here, next I was driving my 2 daughters to their social events. Now it's 8 PM and I'm off to do my last workout. Thank god this one was an easy stretching routine for 1 hour. At the end of the day I asked myself if I could have done a 100 mile bike ride and they answer was "YES", WOW I'm in good shape. Saturdays total 5:12

Sunday I planned on getting up and being on the bike just after it is light enough to bike without a head light. Which would have been around 6:30 AM But at 6:30 AM I found myself still in a nice warm bed. Time to get going. I found myself on the road at 7:05 with winter gear on. It was 39 degrees at my house at the start. I needed a 5:30 ride and was looking to put in a century or more. I also wanted to simulate the Florida Ironman course. So I headed down to the Rivah and did a 10.1 mile loop that took me through Chelmsford, Tyngsborough, and Lowell. I did this loop 9 times. Talk about boring but I was able to stay in the aero bars most of the time and only put my foot down a couple of times for lights. I stopped only once because my fingers wouldn't operate correctly in retrieving my Gu from my back pockets with the lobster gloves on. In all I was out for 5:30 minutes with 5:23 of moving time and covered 102 miles. I got home and knew I was spent. There was no way I could do a marathon after that ride. I'm hoping that all the work I did the day before was the cause and not just the bike ride. Once again family time started and I was off to other activities. It wasn't until 6:30 PM that I was able to get my last workout of the weekend in, with 1:15 minutes of lifting and ab work. Sunday total 6:38.

Weekend total: 14:05

My weekly total is up around 21 hours per. Boy do I sleep good these days.

Why do I feel loose? While doing all this ironman specific training I've been doing P90X for the last 6 weeks, which incorporates loads of stretching with each workout and Yoga at least one day a week. My flexibility has been improving while my work load has been increasing.

Next weekend is the peak of training and I'll be adding on another hour of training.

I sure can't wait until this race is in the books. I just passed up donuts. Now that hurt.

Presidential Traverse...aka....Death March report

2010-08-02T11:54:00.003-04:00

Mt Madison climb

So what brings a person to do something like this? Well in my case it goes back to February where a group of us had a great idea to run the 50th Mt Washington Road Race. We all put our names into the lottery and formed a “Group” , which we hoped would all but guarantee us entry into the race. Now I’ve run this race 4 times before and at each attempt all I could say at the top was “Get me off this f’n pile of rocks”. So after the lottery was held we looked up our names and found out that we had “won” the lottery. That’s right our names did not get picked so we didn’t have to run up the “Rock Pile”. So what was our big adventure going to be? One of the guys, Tim Smith, comes up with the idea of doing the Presidential Traverse. So 6 of us decided to take up the challenge,

Tim Smith aka Shutter Bug & T-shirt design king
Joe Karner aka Mr. Organization
Ken Rousseau aka Eagle Scout
Keith Spinney aka Trekking pole challenged
Scott Graham aka Better to have it and not need it then to need it and not have it.
Glenn Swanbon aka No Show

So what is the Presidential Traverse? It is a hike (scramble, crawl and fall) across the Presidential mountains in the Mt Washington National Forest. We decided to take the North to South route, starting up at Appalachia on Rt 2 and ending at Crawford Notch on Rt 302 in NH. This trail crosses 9 mountains, over a 20 mile span and has 8500 feet of elevation gain. Now you may be thinking that 20 miles for me should be easy, and you’d be correct if this was what I would consider a normal hike. This was NOT NORMAL!!!!! All the books and web sites that we read about this hike stated that it should take us 14 hours and 10 minutes to complete. For 20 miles? Come on now, back in this groups hay day we could cover that distance in a little over 2 hours and Keith could do it in less than 2 hours. WTF were people doing along the way?

So we started the planning. Joe was our lead man who spent countless hours researching different routes, getting us a place to stay in Woodstock at his sister’s cabin, arranging food, and countless other details. As a group we must have traded 100’s of e-mail on all sorts of details including:

Gloves
Shoes
Hats
Water purification
Shoes
Fleece coats
Socks
Shoes (we were very obsessive about this)
Food to carry
Route
Escape routes
Car placements
Car pooling
Hike Estimates
Strategy of how to pace ourselves
Who we were going to eat if the going got rough
Getting the 3 day pass from our wives.
Insect repellent
Rain Jackets
Rain Pants
Shoes (there we go again)
First Aid
Parking Passes

We even met as a group at Joe’s house a couple of weeks before to get agreement on the timing, route, and list of things we needed to bring. Were we anal about this? Yes, and for a good reason. All of us had run up Mt Washington and we all found it very tough and the weather to be horrible, and that was on the road!!! We weren’t going to be on any roads and would be longing for one at many points during the hike. We had all hiked together last fall and it was rough on all of us, but this hike had twice the distance, three times the elevation and three times the number of peaks. In addition we would be above tree line for almost 75% of the hike. But we had a plan, an audacious plan. Everything was set.

Keith for several months had warned us that he may need to pull the rip cord once on top of Mt Washington because of his knee. We hoped that he was not going to have to take the escape route we had planned because he was our food if the going got rough. Our first real speck of trouble was with Glenn bowing out a couple of days before. His knee was giving him trouble and he didn’t want to risk the trip. That’s was too bad. Glenn is always good to have on these men’s weekends.

On Thursday four of us (Keith, Joe, Tim and I) meet up at the Visitor Center up on Rt 112 to purchase parking passes and drop cars off at the Appalachian Mountain Clubs parking lots at the Cog rail way (our bail out point) and at Crawford Notch (our final destination). After completing our car shuffle we went over to Joe’s sisters place in Woodstock to make dinner and put together some food for the hike. Soon Ken would show up and Joe cooked us a fine dinner of spaghetti and meatballs. To help pay for our stay we agreed to do some work around the cabin. OMG the work that was planned was to move some rocks to predetermined locations on the property. We were having fun with this but it was back breaking work. We also spend a couple of hours sitting around drinking adult beverages and laughing about past adventures. We all crashed early, 9:30, because the alarm would be sounding at 3:30 AM.

At around 2:30 I was wide awake and went into the living room and just relaxed in the dark. At 3:30 sharp alarms started ringing all over the cabin. Everyone was up and ready to hit the road at 3:45. Not bad. We had pre-made bagel and egg sandwiches the night before and feasted on the ride. We arrive at our starting point at 4:50 AM….NOOOO we are already running 20 minutes behind schedule. By the time we got all of our gear, took pictures and answered Mother Natures call, it was 5:05. We needed to get going. The very last thing we wanted to be doing is hiking off the mountains after dark. So Joe lead our merry band UP. It was still dark and we needed to use head lamps for the first 30 minutes. Come to think of it, I lent one to Keith and I forgot to collect it after the hike. So we started up towards Madison Hut and a good pace. We tried to take it easy but I think we were all a little excited and the pace was quick. We did make a couple of stops along the way so Keith could leave his mark along the trail. We had all dressed light but the effort of going from 1300 feet to 4700 made all of us sweat up a storm. Then the trees opened up and we were at the hut and just about at tree line. The weather was much different. So different, that we all threw on jackets and hats. We decided to leave our packs at the hut and make the final ascent up Mt Madison without the extra weight.

As we started our climb another pair of hikers were right with us. They were experienced and managed the final climb like it was nothing. I on the other hand was nervous and starting to doubt my decision to do this hike. Mt Madison to me is not really a mountain as it is just a big pile of rocks that happened to be stacked up really, really high. As we climbed the wind really started picking up and I was afraid that I was going to loose my Mt Washington road race hat. By the time we hit the top I was physically shaking from fear of falling or getting my leg caught between the rocks and getting injured. The top was nothing more then rocks piled on top of each other. The view was great and we had made it up to the top in 2 hours and 30 minutes, wow that almost 2 hours faster then the hiking books predicted. As I looked over at Mt Washington I could see the auto road. I was longing for that road at this point and will never complain about how steep it is. As we climbed down I really started thinking about turning around and heading right back to the car. I was scared sh@tless as I crab walked back down to Madison hut. This was going to be a lot tougher then I expected. Then it got even tougher!!

After a quick (well almost, we had to wait for Keith to leave his mark in the Madison Hut bathroom), stop we were off to Mt Adams. Now we were above tree line for good and there really isn’t any hiking trails like I’ve known all my life. You know the kind with a nice soft pine needle surface and shady trees. No, this was just a pile of rocks you were walking on and had to focus on every single step or risk injury. To follow the so called trails we had to navigate using cairns, which are pyramid shaped piles of rocks every 100 yards or so that are maintained by the Appalachian Mtn Club. As we looked up Mt Adams we realized that the trail we originally decided to take up was very steep (Airline) so we went around the south sided of the mountain and once again dropped our packs and scrambled up the mountain. Once again the wind was howling and made for an unpleasant stay at the top. Once again I was the last one down the mountain. I was seriously considering heading back to the car once again but Mt Jefferson was next and didn’t look to bad. Boy was I wrong.

As we approached Jefferson, the trail went straight UP. Now we were climbing nearly vertical and were having trouble locating the next cairn. It was so tough that we took a break half way up. Once we hit the top we got socked in with some clouds and couldn't really see a thing. And of course the wind was killing us. This was supposed to be fun….NOT!!! I was suffering and couldn’t believe we were only 1/3 of the way done. The only good thing about Jefferson was the route we took made the decent was much easier.

Mt Clay was next. This is a small peak, in fact it’s not really considered a mountain because there is not enough elevation gain, but it did get our heart rates up.

Now comes the high point in the route, Mt Washington, standing at 6288 feet, which is 5000 feet higher then we started. As we looked up at the “Rock Pile” we could see that it was socked in with clouds, so our views weren’t going to be too good. But as we looked across the mountain range that we still needed to cover we could see that the 2nd half of our hike was going to be “relatively” easier then the first half. Yeah right!! We started are ascent. Joe took it out hard with Keith and I in fast pursuit. Tim and Ken were taking it a little easier. When we hit the Cog Rail we decided to just skirt the tracks and jump the auto road for the final 100 feet of climbing. Joe set a pace that I could not hold and was first on top. I was 2nd and Keith was DFL. Tim and Ken decided to stay on the trail and summitted shortly after us. The top was packed with people who had either drove up or took the Cog…what a bunch of wimps!!! I’ve now been to the top 5 times and always made it under my own power. We all grabbed a bite to eat. In my case I ended up eating my 5th peanut butter and jelly sandwich. We refilled our water bottles and headed out.

We were searching for the Crawford Path down and saw a sign for it. We headed in that direction and after making one small detour we were on the right path, jumping from boulder to boulder. The wind was 50+ miles an hour and the temperature was in the mid 30’s. Nice summer weather we were having.

Our next target was Mt Monroe, by way of Lakes of the Clouds Hut. We did a quick stop at the hut and off we went up Monroe. This was difficult but nothing compared to Madison, Adams and Jefferson.

Then on to Franklin. Once again not to bad. With 7 done we were off to Eisenhower. From a distance this didn’t look to bad but as we finally reached its’ base we realized that we had some work cut out for us. This peak required us to do some real climbing up very steep paths but once we had about 200 feet of vertical left the trail was easy and even had log steps in places to make our footing much more consistent. Once again great views with high winds. At this point Ken was starting to Bonk and while we waited for him Keith suggested that we help lighten Ken’s load by each of use taking some of the contents of his pack. Then someone pointed out that this seemed like an Obama deal where we were all going to carry the load for someone else. It sounded really funny then but we were all very tired. This must have been the yuppie mountain, because there were even log ladders in sections. 8 down 1 to go.

Mt Pierce was the last on our trek and was kind of a let down. This peak is not above the tree line and it was tough to tell when you reached the top. Any way we were done…WRONG!!!

Now the toughest part of the hike was about to occur. We had been hiking for 17+ miles and only had 3.1 miles to go. But all 3.1 miles were down hill, and it wasn’t on a smooth pine needle path. Once again we had to step from rock to rock. Now this wasn’t a race but Keith had poked fun at me all day long about this so I figured I’d make sure I got down off the mountain before he did. I led the group and set a fast pace. I was on a mission. I quick stepped and even jogged in places to try and get down as quickly as possible. After about 2 miles I noticed that I was starting to bonk, but I just ignored it and kept pushing. Finally after 1.5 hours I finished the 3.1 mile trek down. The only problem was I popped out on Rt 302 and not at the parking lot which was about ½ mile away. DAM!!! Now I was running UP 302 back to the parking lot. Thankfully l got back to my car before Keith arrived. I won!!! We ended up taking 13 hours and 30 minutes with breaks. No speed record but we did beat book time.

Soon, Joe showed up followed by Keith then Tim and the guy who really toughed it out, Ken. Now we had to play the car shuffle. The 5 of us got in my van then dropped Keith, Joe and Tim off at the Cog to get Keith’s car. Ken and I headed up and picked up his car, and then we headed back to the cabin. 2 hours after finishing the hike we were finally taking a shower. Did that ever feel good!!

After cleaning up it was time to head into town (Woodstock) for a victory dinner. We ended up at Truant’s and filled ourselves with cold drinks and fine food.

Will I do this hike again? NO, NO, NEVER, NO MORE!!! But I’ve said that about a lot of things in my life.

Today is Monday and my legs have had 2 full days of rest and my quads are still in pain. WTF!!!

Next year I’ll suggest something like a whale watch or really go nut and take a garden tour.

Double Secret Training!!!

2010-07-06T10:03:00.002-04:00

OK, I've been out of touch for quite some time now. That's because I've had my focus entirely on the biggest BHAG of my life. First of all I should tell you what BHAG stands for. Big Hairy Audacious Goal. Every year I challenge myself to achieve something that I had never down before. This is sort of like a Bucket list. As you get older this gets tougher to accomplish.

Last year my BHAG was to run 50 races in the year I turned 50. Well I got to race 46 and I was toast. It was not to be!! But I'm OK with that. If you don't set goals, any path will get you to where you want to be. So I was way ahead of most people.

This year my focus is on completing an IronMan. Notice I did not write the word RACE. My goal is to finish and live to talk (and of course write) about it. Now that my goal was set I needed to gain entry into one of the races. In road races this is an easy task. In IronMan races this is the first challenge you face. These races fill up fast. So you have to be quick on the key board right when the entry process starts or be at the event the year prior. I was on the key board. The event I chose is the Florida IronMan. Why this race? Well from the course profile it seems to have the flattest course. I'm not a very good hill climber running and even worst on a bike. I seem to be very good at setting a pace and holding it for a very long time so this course plays to my strength. They say that the hilliest part of the race is the swim!!! Then again this creates yet another problem.

You see I'm a very poor swimmer. How poor you wonder? Well at the half ironman races I've completed in I'm almost dead last out of the water. Yes out of 1600 swimmers in one of the last events I did I was 1582 out of the water. I swim like a rock, but that wouldn't be fair to rocks.

So my next challenge was to learn how to swim. I signed up at a local swim club in Westford and the instructor has worked wonders for me. I'm not fast but I'm improving. This has not been with out some hard work and a lot of laughs. There was one class where Ivana (the instructor) was trying to get me to kick correctly. I kept telling her that my kick was not important in an Ironman but she was determined. After an hour of working with her I think I finally got her to forget about my kick. You see, during the drills as I kicked I was going backwards. Ivana kept saying "that is not possible". Well it is and now I just kick to maintain balance. So my time when we first started was 3 minutes per 100 yards, now it's down to 1:50. I'm still slow but I'm much faster then I was. Thanks Ivana.

I've already booked my flight, booked transportation for my bike, and set hotel reservations. This Ironman stuff takes a lot of planning and $'s.

I also started a 26 week training program for and Ironman. The problem I've been having is it is way to easy for me at my level of fitness. I'm chomping at the bit to when I have to do "brick" workouts and other 2 a day work outs.

The race is 4 months from today. I hope I'm on the right track.

Boston Marathon Race Report

2010-05-05T08:36:00.000-04:00

By taking great risks you can reap great rewards…or great misery. Time will tell

After months of training through what I consider the worst type of weather most of the time (35 degrees and raining), heck I even did a 21 miler in that weather. I was ready to toe the line.

Friday afternoon I picked up my number and managed to get out of the expo and only spend $5 on GU. Saturday I headed back into Boston to work at the expo where I handed out the tech t-shirts to the official entrants. Everything went well and this time I got out of the expo without spending a dime. So far so good. On Sunday my plan was just to take it easy and hang out. However I needed to coach my daughter’s softball team practice in the morning. No big deal because it was sprinkling so it was a very short practice. Later on Peter Floss and I drove back into Boston to drop one car off across the street from the hotel we would be using after the race. We were there and back in 1.5 hours. The weekend leading up to the race went like clock work. Sunday night I managed to fall asleep by 9 as usual but was wide awake by 2 AM (as usual). I did manage to get back to sleep by 3 and woke again at 5….Perfect. I felt good.

I cleaned up, downed a protein shake, downed 3 Advils and was out the door. First stop was the Country Store to purchase 3 news papers for the bus ride. Second stop, the bagel shop for 2 multi-grain bagels. Third stop was to Matt Carrols house for the scheduled 6:05 pickup. Fourth stop, Mike O’Connor’s house for the 6:10 pickup (I was late by 2 minutes). Last stop was back to my house were Peter Floss was waiting to drive us to the bus. We loaded up his car and were off to Lowell to pick up the Greater Lowell Road Runners (GLRR) bus. In a short time the bus was rolling and we were in Hopkinton in no time. Taking the team bus is absolutely the best way to get to the marathon. In addition the team rents a couple of rooms at the Park Plaza hotel so after the race you can get cleaned up and have something to eat and drink. Anyway we arrived in Hopkinton at 8:15, late by my standards but they wouldn’t let me drive the bus. For the first time in 20+ years of taking the GLRR bus I got in the team photo, ugh, I hate these things. Next I headed over to where the BAA buses were dropping off people. I was looking for a good friend, Melissa Weiksnar who was volunteering. Melissa is one of the most determined people I know and has been working on a Boston qualifier for a couple of years now. I’m sure she’ll get her chance one of these days. I really wanted to find her because she tragically lost her daughter, Amy, the day after Christmas. I wanted Melissa to know that I would be thinking of Amy as I past by BC where she was a student. Unfortunately, I was unable to locate her and headed back to the bus to get ready. At, 9:05 it was “GO time” I was all changed up into my racing gear, gloves, and pin with Phil Riley’s initials on it. Phil had passed away the prior week. Phil was coach of the Stoneham track team and was out on a run with the team when he suffered a heart attack, a week later he was gone. Phil was 58 and was a highly competitive runner. I had running 100’s of times with him and his wit and knowledge of running made the miles go by fast. Phil was a coach, mentor and most of all a friend. I will truly miss him. Other things I had with me were a bottle of Gatorade, 3 GU packets, 3 Advil’s, a throw away shirt and a 50 gallon trash bag on to stay warm in. As I was leaving the bus who was standing there? No other then Melissa!! I was so happy to see her and gave her a big bear hug and told her that I would be thinking of Amy. We also decided that we needed to get together for a run after I heal up from the race. She wished me good luck and I was heading off to the starting line with a smile on my face.

I started the ½ mile jog to the starting line. Now I’ve been doing this race for more then 20 years so I know the quickest way to get from the high school to the center, but the police wanted me to take the LONG way. I wasn’t buying it and just ran on past them. I wasn’t going to go any further then I need to that day. I got to the corrals and located #3 and was the first runner to enter it, in fact I was the first runner in all the corrals. I took a seat in the front and just relaxed. At 9:30 it was time to take the 3 Advil’s and wash them down with the Gatorade. Soon there were runners all around and the excitement was building. I met a whole bunch of first time Boston participants who were really fired up and were looking to go sub 3. I thought to myself that sub 3 was a little rich for me and a 3:10 was a better target based on all my training. Well we’ll just have to see how this plays out. The national anthem was sung and 2 fighter jets did a fly over a few seconds later. I think they were in Boston in 3 minutes. Oh to be young and fast!!! Now it was really GO TIME!!! I ate one of the GU’s and stuffed the other 2 in my gloves for later. I ripped off my trash bag and threw off my shirt. I was ready!!!

With 15 seconds to go they had not dropped the ropes dividing the corrals. The runners started chirping at the officials, and with seconds to spare they had the ropes down. The gun was fired, and we were off in a couple of seconds. It took me 1 minute and 14 seconds to reach the starting line but I was in full stride in no time. I was feeling light and fast. It was at that point I decided to risk it all and go for sub 3 hours. Now this may sound like a foolish decision but I felt I had the endurance, the question was, did I have the speed? Also the group of people I train with on bikes and runs have a little side betting competition every year to see what order we’d finish in. Now there are 70+ people in this group so there were a lot of opinions. Based on how each of us trained the finish order should have been Peter Floss, myself, Matt Carroll, Mikael Taveniku and last but not least Mike O’Connor. Pete has been training like mad man. He has been killing me all winter long on training runs. Every long run we did he would finish 5 – 10 minutes a head of me. By all logic Pete was the big dog to beat. Matt had trained well. As a matter of a fact he followed a marathon training plan to the letter. He was ready to go. Mikael is just plan tough. He didn’t really train much but was in Japan the week before doing some special Japanese Monk ultra running classes (LOL), so he was a mystery to us. Mike, didn’t really run more then 5 times in the last 2 months. How the heck was he going to be able to make it through this thing? He had be injured and called me up on Saturday saying that he needed a lift over to the bus on Monday. I was shocked, the last time he ran with me was 3 weeks before and he only managed 200 yards before stopping. He was in serious trouble. So that is how the logical order for our group was derived. Then there was the smart money betting, which changed the order to Scott, Pete, Matt, Mikael and Mike. I guess I just seem to get really lucky every year at Boston and always finish first for the group no matter how poor I trained or how good other people trained. Time will tell.

What follows is my mile spits

Mile Mile Splits

1 06:46.3 WOW I got off to a good start

2 06:29.5 That was fast but I’m feeling good

3 06:31.8 That’s a little more like it

4 06:21.6 SLOW down idiot

5 06:40.3 That’s were I want to be

6 06:29.3 Damn I’m all over the place today

7 06:34.2 OK can I just hold it at this pace?

8 06:42.1 I’ll take it

9 06:39.1 Good, now just keep it together

10 06:46.5 I’m slipping

11 06:55.3 Don’t lose focus

12 06:49.0 Working back in the right direction

13 06:58.9 Slipping again and I’m getting tired

13.1 00:46.0 At the half way point I was at 1:27:30 The last time I ran a half this fast was in 2005. I was in trouble

14 07:36.8 I decided that the world was getting very dark and I needed to slow it down. But this was bad.

15 07:39.8 OK I guess I’m stuck with running 7:30’s or worst

16 07:05.0 Down the hill and I started feeling good

17 08:01.5 On rte 128 was my buddies they handed me some Gatorade. I was in tough shape.

18 08:04.0 Turn the corner onto Com ave and up the hill

19 07:44.6 Pulling it back together

20 08:57.0 I think I just lost four tires on the bus..NOOOOO Now I’m starting to worry that Pete is catching me.

21 08:39.5 There goes the roof. But I’m thinking of Amy to get me over this hill.

22 07:32.9 Amy carries me over the hill and down along BC. I will finish this thing!!

23 08:13.7 I slow a bit but I’m pulling it back together

24 08:09.1 Hang on

25 08:41.4 That GD hill over the Mass Pike really hurts. I stop for a second to regroup and my legs are jello. I wobble a few steps and start running again.

26 07:50.0 I’m picking up a little speed

26.2 01:56.0 I turn the corner on to Boylston street and I wish I could say I was flying but it was more like a slog.

100 yards before the finish line I noticed a couple of timing mats on the far left hand side. So I hung tight to the left and ran over them. Just after I did I hear the announcer yell out “And here comes Scott Graham from Westford Ma.” And the crowd goes wild (maybe not the last part, but they did call out my name). I finished in 3:13:41. I was hurting but I was able to keep moving. Twice the medical volunteers grabbed me and wanted me to go to the medical tent but I refused. I quickly got my potato people blanket and my medal and started running again. It’s 4 blocks to the hotel and if I stopped I figured I might not get going again. Once at the Park Plaza hotel I was able to make it up to out team rooms quickly and got one of the first showers. Then it was onto the massage tables to loosen up the muscles. As I was getting worked on Pete came into the room and once again I was able to utter the words that my buddies hate to hear from me “What took you so long”? Pete smiled and said he had a tough day. But then again Pete is a big boy and I can’t imagine how he is able to move so fast. Next to show up was a surprise, Mike OOOOO. Holy $&!# how did he do that? He is one tough SOB. Now we were starting to worry about Matt. GLRR had a PC in the room and were tracking each of the runners. The last time we saw Matt’s status was at the 30K mark, but that was an hour ago. Something was wrong. On and on our watch continued, until Matt finally showed up in the hotel. He ended up cramping and dropped out. That’s really too bad, Matt had done everything right and obsessed over every detail. I’m sure he is more motivated then ever and will kill the course next year. Mikael ended up finishing but also had a lot of trouble. I guess he got some bad water or something because he puked the last 10 miles. But he’s tough and finished. So nobody got the exact order correct but it was fun with all the smack talk that preceded the race.

So now I have 24 consecutive Official Boston Marathons in the bank (25 if you count the 1^st one I did as a bandit). Every now and then I think back to that first race. I was a newlywed and had a friend who did it every year and this guy was big and tough (a 250 lb lineman). I figured if he could do it, I could do it. Well I ran a 3:19 that year and after the race I was sitting in the middle of Boylston street in tears. I was mentally and physically broken. My mother and new wife were standing over me and through the tears I told them that I would never do something that stupid to my body ever again. As my better half says: “Stupidity repeats itself year after year”.

So now I going to take it easy for the next 2 weeks then start my training on my next BHAG “Big Hairy Audacious Goal”, I’ve signed up for the Florida Ironman. I can’t imagine how I’m going to be able to run a marathon after swimming 2.4 miles and biking 112 miles. I guess I’ll just have to toughen up.

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Holyoke St Patrick's day 10K

2010-03-23T08:16:00.000-04:00

I trouped out to Holyoke to hook up with my cousins the O’Connor’s at the 35^th annual Holyoke St. Patrick’s Day 10K. As I drove through Chicopee I noticed that I was only about a ¼ mile from where I lived as a kid on Pendleton Ave and figured I’d swing past the old house after the race. Upon arriving in down town Holyoke I couldn’t help but noticing how rundown the city is. Old mill buildings and 3 and 4 story tenement houses were in degrees of disrepair with most windows missing. Now I’m thinking “what have I got myself into”, “where am I going to park my car”? I drove to the location Dan O’Connor had given me “the corner of Chestnut and Dwight” and found that the O’Connor’s had commandeered a parking lot and were only letting their friends in. Great, I will have a car after I finish this thing.

I was greeted by Mike O’Connor, who was already enjoying a St Patrick’s day beverage, “No I’m not running, I’ve had 2 knee operations already” Mike said to me. Soon I was saying hello to almost all of the O’Connor’s. Tommy, Johnny, Jimmy, Judy, Irene, Michael, Danny and Kevin. Francine, might have been there but I’m not sure. Along with the O’Connor’s there was many of their kids (most are adults now), grandkids and many friends. In all I’d say there were about 50+ in the group. The weather was perfect, 75 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. However 75 degrees is perfect for drinking adult beverages and watching a race but not so good for running if all the running you’ve done is in below freezing temperatures or 35 degrees and pouring. This was going to be one hot race for me.

I asked around to see who needed to get there race number and discovered that most of the O’Connor’s weren’t running, with the exception of Danny and Kevin. Most of their kids were running. OK I needed to get checked in and get my number. I jogged over to the start area and quickly checked in. There were over 5000 people registered for this race, making it the 3^rd largest race in MA. WOW. As I jogged around I noticed that there was a pub on just about every corner and every one of them had outdoor taps running and people were packing them at 10:30 in the morning. On the common across from where I was parked was a huge tent which was set up with more taps. This was going to be one big block party after this race.

I socialized with all the crew up until 12:30, then it was time to get ready. I did some stretching and loosened up a bit with a light run. I walked down to the start with Kevin and as I did a guy about my age grabs and says “Hey aren’t you Scotty Graham”? I responded “yes”, He introduced himself to me and said that he recognized me from my picture on my blog. I was flattered because I recognized this guy by his name, Paul Bazanchuk, and he is one of the top 50+ year old runners in the country. We headed over to the starting line together but the race officials wouldn’t let us jump in the front. They wanted us to go around the side and to the back of the pack. Paul and I decided that this was not going to work for us so we jumped over the barriers and got into the 4^th row. Paul warned me to take it easy on the start of this race because we would be climbing to the 3.5 mile mark, and the big guns were going to take it out at 4:30 pace.

Soon the “GO” command was given and we were off. I was running hard, TO HARD, I was going to pay sooner or later. About ¼ of a mile in I passed the O’Connor PARTY. Then I noticed Danny up in front of me. Dan had jumped in from the ¼ mile mark to avoid the crush of 5000 people. He wasn’t going to win so why not. I ran up behind him and gave him a slap on the back and encouraged him to hang with me. No doing, and I continued down the road. Soon we were climbing, and climbing and climbing. I was toast. People were passing me in waves. There was one guy in front of me who would do a cart wheel every now and then to get the crowd going. This really pissed me off. I marked him for a kill.

Finally we reached the top of the hills by Holyoke Community College. The homes up there were very nice and well maintained. A huge difference from down town. Now it was time to open up my stride and see how many people I could reel in. I started off slowly and began picking people off. As I continued I was catching loads of people. At the 5 mile mark the O’Conner’s were on the side of the road cheering us in. I even caught Mr. Cart Wheel. Now I can sleep at night.

I ended up running 43:34 which works out to a 7:01 per mile pace. I was 169^th of 5000 runners and 9^th in my age category and 12 Irish American. This was my slowest 10K EVER!! This was even a slower pace then I ran Boston marathon last year (6:55 per mile). This was one tough race. I got back to the O’Connor’s tailgate party and was the first runner back. Soon Danny’s son was back then came Danny, Kevin and the rest of the kids and friends. Soon the party was in full swing. Food, soda, Gatorade, and adult beverages were flowing. I spent some time speaking with each of the O’Connor’s.

When I say there was a big party in down town Holyoke, I mean really BIG. It was 9 square blocks with all the roads jammed with people, and beverage tents everywhere. It was the largest block party I’ve ever seen. And to think on Sunday it was going to be 10 times larger with the parade. WOW

Around 3 PM it was time to hit the road so I headed out and swung by our old house on Pendleton Ave. Funny we moved out of there when I was 9 years old but I remembered the way from the old dinner like it was yesterday. The road was pot hole city, I think there were more pot holes then tar. The two houses on the lot hadn’t changed much but there was a fence in between them now. I can’t believe that 6 of us lived in a house that size. Thanks Mom and Dad for moving us east and giving us a path to allow us to achieve so much. We are truly blessed.

Time to really focus in on Boston!!!

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Kingman Farm Moonlight Snowshoe 5K

2010-02-22T13:34:00.001-05:00

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???

2010-02-11T07:24:00.001-05:00

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

2010-02-11T07:00:00.001-05:00

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

Email test of blog posting

2010-02-10T12:04:00.001-05:00

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

2010-02-07T15:19:00.002-05:00

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

Beaver Brook Snowshoe 5K

2010-01-02T17:59:00.006-05:00

The GSSS has officially started. You can find the results here. It was expected that a whole bunch of the big boys would show up for this race and they didn't disappointed.

This morning started out with final travel arrangements made at 7 AM. I headed up to Hollis with acidotic Racin g teammate Mike O'Conner towards the end of the snow storm that dropped anywhere from 1" to 12"+ inches of snow through out northern NE. The travel was made easy due to my trusty GPS. I love that thing! We arrived and ran into the Cullen's who were doing their first SS race. They mentioned that their daughter Amber and her husband Dan (acidotic teammates) were going to be showing up.

Mike and I threw on our Yak Traks to get a warm up run on the course. As we did Jim Johnson showed up (Yes my record is intact for beating JJ to races). Right away JJ is starting his sandbagging. "My foot hurts, I don't feel well, I wasn't going to run, I think I'll just hang on DD tail" Give me a break!! He has been crushing every field he toes the line with. He won Runner of the Year award for the state of NH, was selected to the Inov-8 mountain running team, and his biggest win of all, announced his engagement to the lovely and talented Kristin. He is one lucky guy. My money was on JJ.

Mike and I did an easy run of the course and even walked a few times on the hill sections so we did wear our legs out before the race.

Soon I was talking to all the usual suspects at the race, Bill Morse the divine leader of Dungeon Rock Racing, Dave Dunham (master mountain runner of the year), Jim Hansen, Phil Erwin, Steve Wolfe, Chris Dunn, Tim Cox, Scott Mason (Racing photographer extraordinare), Dan Scotina (ultra running machine), Brent Tkaczyk, Dan Cooper, Jay Curry, Keith O'Brien, Richard Blake, .... That's enough, I think you get the point, the same old crew was toeing the line and the competition was going to be fierce. As Mike and I were driving to the race he was saying that he hoped that we could finish in the top 10, I responded that we'd be lucky to finish in the top 20, then I started rattling off all the people I thought might show up. Our goal became "Don't embarrass ourselves".

Soon it was time to toe the line. We headed down to the starting line with approximately 90 others. I tucked myself into the third row and got ready. Just before the race started I made a quick change of my cleats to ice cleats because the cover was thin and I didn't want the long cleats under my feet.

The "GO" command was given and snow was flying everywhere. I started off slowly on purpose and was trapped behind quite a few slower shoers but I didn't panic. I waited until we reached the 180 degree turn before I started to push it. Now this is an out and back course and most of the first half is down hill. So I decided to not go all out in the first half because the last 2 times I ran this course I had nothing left in the 2nd half. Slowly but surely I stated picking off shoers. At the turn around point I had a good lead on the the next shoer. Richard Lavers and Brent Tkaczyk had about a 50 yard lead on me and I figured that my chances of cat hing them was slim to none. So I just

focused on maintaining my form and work as hard as I could.

With about 600 yards to go Brent and Richard were

right in front of me, WTF!!! I tried getting around them but there

was no room on the trail. I just hung behind them and settled in until

the last 150 yards. The problem was they had more left and blew me

away those final yards.

I finished 14th over all and Mike finished 15th. To put this race in

perspective I ran 1 minute and 30 seconds faster then I did a month

ago and Mike ran 45 seconds faster. I guess I have to consider this

a good effort for my first race of the season.

acidotic RACING took 1st in the team competition and I was 2nd in the

50 - 59 year old age category. Mike was 7th in the very tough 40 - 49

year old age category. And of course JJ won the race.

I will declare that A Good Time Was Had By All.

NH Snowshoe season starts tomorrow in Hollis

2010-01-01T17:32:00.002-05:00

That's right the New Hampshire Snowshoe series starts tomorrow in Hollis NH at the Beaver Brook reserve. I've run on this course twice now on snowshoes and it's the easiest SS course in the series. All the big guns should be at this race so finishing in the top 20 will be difficult.

As far as the series goes, my chances of finishing 3rd overall for a third year in a row are just about zip. This is due to I'm another year older and there should be more talented runners joining in on the fun.

I also think the team competition will be tight this year. CMS looks very strong with Jim Johnson, Dave Quintal and Dave Dunham leading the way. Dungeon Rock will be strong with the numbers and acidotic RACING will also have numbers.

If you haven't done it, sign up for the Kingman Farm moonlight madness 5K ASAP. They only have 125 spots and seeing that they opened up the signups 17 hours ago I think they are already 50% full. Don't wait or I'll say I told you so!

The weather looks like light snow so it will be perfect.

Let the fun begin.

Mill Cities Relay

2009-12-06T16:05:00.004-05:00

What a ROAG all star team we had. Every one of the guys ran faster then they and I predicted. Of the 215+ teams I think we finished around 34th over all (sorry Joe but we gave it all we had but couldn't pull out the win).

Tom started us off on very slippery footing and put us in fine position to hunt deer. My goal was to track down at least 5 people (deer). When I took the baton from Tom the footing was very slippery in the transition area. Once on the road I shifted into high gear and started picking off deer. With in the first 3 minutes I had my 5 bagged. Time to reset my goals. 20 deer or die trying! I continued to run with good form and kept the deer on the run. By mile 3 I had 20 down, OK with 1.75 to go, lets shoot for 30. I'm a finally tuned racing machine, I'm thinking to myself. 21 bagged, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 OH no I'm running out of road. I can see Mike with his aerodynamic look with just shorts, a singlet and arm warmers. OH SH!t some young girl is trying to pass me back, time to kick, I'm red lining, dam young legs, this sucks!!!

I handed off and Mike O and he takes it OUT HARD. He's flying. Now I'm worried that we won't make it to the next transition to see Mike hand off to David. As we pass Mike I hang out the window and yell "get moving you f'n pu$$y". Pete then points out to me "gee I wonder what the girl in front of him just thought when you yelled that" OH Well. We get there with 1 minute to spare. Mike picks off 6+ people. What a performance, with only 2.5 miles to run it's very hard to even catch 1 person.

David takes the baton and he's off to the races. Now David has to run the first mile on a path that runs along the river. This path ends up being very slippery and David manages to drop the baton and he doesn't even notice. A guy in back of him yells out and David stops and heads back to get the baton. (If we miss breaking 3 hours I'm going to fry David). David has the long leg 9.5 miles. He hammers it faster per mile then any of us are able to do with our leg. WOW, he finishes and doesn't even look like he ran hard. WTF!!! He even caught 10+ people which is amazing because the field is now spread out over the 22+ miles we have completed.

Now it's Pete's turn to bring us home. As Pete took the baton I took a look at the clock and we have a chance of breaking 3 hours. Only if Pete can run sub 7 minute miles. We know he can so things are looking good. As we are standing at the finish line watching the clock we can see a good 600 yards down the road. With the clock hitting 2:56 we see that destinktive stride turning the corner. He's going to do it!! Come on PETE!!! Pete not only ran sub 7 minute miles but ran some where around 6:45's. He also pasted 5+ people including the girl who was wearing antennas. What an effort!!!!

We were one very proud team. All the early morning runs payed off in a big way.

Thanks guys I very proud to say that I was a member of this team.

Were have I been

2009-10-11T19:57:00.002-04:00

It's been a while since I've updated my blog. I've been busy and have done a couple of races. I did Reach the Beach as part of acidotic-X team. In this race we were one runner short and I volunteered to run a 4th leg. The first 3 legs went as expected, with me averaging around 7 minute miles. As I lied on the grass getting ready for my fourth leg I was dead tired and didn't know how I was going to dig up the energy to run. So I decided to go "Old School". Before there was Gatoraide or GU or Powerbars there was a secret weapon that us runners used during long races. We would set it out during our long runs and have friends hand it to us during marathons. That secret weapon is Coke. It gives you a quick energy boost and doesn't upset your stomach. The way you keep it from upsetting you stomach is to cut it with water and that defizzes it. So I drank down 12 oz of Coke with 12 oz of water and I was good to go. I ran the last leg faster then I did any other leg. Mission accomplished.

Last weekend I did the adventure race Pinnacle Challenge up in Newport, NH. This race has 4 legs to it and I did the race as part of a 4 person coed relay team. Our team came in 3 in the coed division and all walked away with a jug of maple suryup for our efforts.

This weekend I took it easy as I get ready for the Bay State Marathon next Sunday. I'm not well trained but will gut out at least the first half of the race in an effort to help out David Katz run a sub 3 hour marathon. David is in fantastic shape and has more then a good chance of being successful.

I will update my blog next week after the race. Good luck to all those running Bay State. It's a fantastic race to use as a qualifier for Boston for a couple of reasons. First the course is flat and runs along side a river for 2 loops. Second, the timing of the race lets you get a qualifier for Boston for 2 years. Lets hope for good weather (45 degrees) and no wind.

What Happened to my legs...Timberman 1/2 Ironman

2009-08-24T15:28:00.001-04:00

The Timberman 1/2 Ironman race held in Gilford, NH is one of the best run races in New England. Every detail to the race is taken care of by Keith Jordan and his crew at Endorfun Sports. Well almost every detail, you have to run the race yourself.

Friday night I got up to Gilford early so I could pick up my race packet for Sunday's race. Gunstock ski area was already abuzz with 100's of athletes checking in for the Sprint race on Saturday and the1/2 ironman on Sunday. I was processed quickly and was heading back to my place with in 30 minutes even after I purchased a couple of items from the Official Trinkets and Trash tent. Next thing on the agenda was to change the tires and tubes on my bike. Sounds easy enough for a trained professional but I'm not one of those. I made quick work of the rear tire but for some reason the front tire was trouble some. I went through 3 tubes. Where are my ROAG tire changers when I need them?

Saturday morning I was up at 5:30 to set up the water station for the Sprint run turn around. Every year my wife and I manage this water station with the help of our fellow Condo owners. It's a lot of fun and it really gets a lot of people away from the activities on the lake to the other side of their units to watch the race. It seems that every year the number of people rises who run this race whom live in the condos, which is really nice to see. We made quick work of setting up the water station and were ready in plenty of time for the first runners to come by at 8 AM. By 10:30 the last runner came by and we shut down the water station and cleaned up within 15 minutes.

Next up was cleaning and lubing my bike. This went fairly quickly and I was ready to go. I drove my bike down to the transition and set it up for Sunday's race. Covered it in plastic due to pending rain storms and I headed the 1.5 miles back up to my place on top of Mt Graham North. I had a good dinner and was in bed by 8:30.

The plan was to wake up at 4 AM to get ready for the 7:03 start time. Plans don't always work out!!! At 3:12 AM my cell phone started ringing, I leap out of bed to answer it. Calls after about 11 PM at night are never good news. It seems that my house alarm in Westford had been triggered and the security company had dispatched Westford's finest to my house. 15 minutes later I received a 2nd call to be informed that everything was OK. Well now that I'm up and wired I might as well start pulling things together. A quick shower and a protein shake and I was ready to head down to the beach. I had all my equipment pre-packed and took a leisurely 1.5 stroll in the pitch black of the night. When I arrived it was 4:30 and the parking lots were already almost full. Over the next 2.5 hours I got everything ready in the transition area and must have made 5 trips to the Porta-Potties.

While setting up I saw Bill Morse, one of the founding father Dungeon Rock Racing (A snow shoe racing team). He was very worried about not finishing the swim quickly enough and being pulled from the race. I assured him that Keith would not do this because he wants everyone to walk away with positive experience. But Bill continued to worry. I tried!! At 6:30 I made my way over to the starting area and at 6:45 it was announced that there would be a 20 minute delay to the start due to an accident near the bike course. The accident was out on Rt 93 but I'm sure that due to limited Police staffing in some of these small towns they didn't have enough officers to cover the race and the accident at the same time. At 7:30 the pro's began their swim. I was in the 2nd wave and would start 3 minutes later.

Before we get on with the race I wanted to share my goals for this race.

1. Don't drown. Sounds simple but I suck at swimming and I swim more on race day then I do all year combined
2. Don't bonk on the bike like last year. I had 3 water bottles this year with GU's and Shot Blocks.
3. Finish at all costs. Seeing I dropped out last year, it was a tough pill for me to swallow.
4. Finish in less then 6 hours. Very manageable if I don't bonk.
5. BHAG of finish in under 5 hours and 30 minutes. Everything would have to go right for this to happen.

At 7:33 our wave of 50 and older males started. 3 minutes later women 45 and older started in pink swim caps. Then there was a 9 minute gap for the following wave and 5 minutes in between waves from that point on. Just before the gun was to sound for us I realized that I had to pee. I guess that was going to have to wait at least until I was done swimming. When my wave went off I took my position at the back of the group. No sense of getting kicked and punched by all these guys when I have 100+ females who were going to do the job. As always I struggled with the swim. I can't seem to find a good rhythm. And it doesn't help that this is a clockwise course and I sight on the left side. I tend to swim a very crocked 1.2 miles. At the first turn I was over 16 minutes into the race and realized that I was very warm. The water temperature combined with the sun and my black wet suit were cooking me. I struggled through the next 3rd of the race and took turn two at the 35 minute mark. I had slowed but now I was in the home stretch. This got my spirits up and all of a sudden I started figuring out how to best propel myself through the water. I was even passing some people who passed me earlier. I got out of the water in about 49 minutes, my 2nd fastest swim on this course. YES!!!

In the Transition 1 I took my time and made sure there wasn't all kinds of sand in my biking shoes. No need to get blisters if I could avoid them. I headed out onto the biking course and started out very controlled. Last year I attacked the course and by mile 30 I was dead. This years plan was to ride the first 11 miles through the hills controlled then hammer the next 34 miles on Rt 106 and then a controlled finish through the hills. Now truth be told I've only ridden my bike 291 miles this year so I had no grand expectation on the bike other then to drink often, eat GU before my energy was totally depleted and save my body for the run. My plan was working perfectly. Once I hit Rt 106 I was flying and was feeling no pain. I was a finely tuned machine and I could not be stopped. Until my bladder started reminding me that I still hadn't peed yet. I put this pain out of my head and just keep motoring. At mile 48 where I bonked last year I pedaled right up the hill with complete confidence. It wasn't until mile 49 that my left leg started getting cramps. I backed it down a little bit and was able to shake the cramping feeling and motor past my place where my wife and kids and countless neighbors were out cheering. As I went by I screamed out "BRING IT" and kicked it up into high gear for the next mile and coasted into the transition area. I was happy that the bike portion of the race was done and I was still feeling pretty strong. Best of all I didn't have any mechanicals during the ride.

In the transition I once again took my time and put my running shoes on with a fresh pair of socks. I headed out onto the running course and my legs were not happy. But after 1/2 of a mile my bladder was reminding me that I still had to go. I ducked into the first John I came across and boy-O-boy did I have to go. Back on the course I realized that I was getting dehydrated. Good thing that for this 13.1 mile run there were 17 water stations and I used every single one of them. In addition there were countless people out who live on the course with hoses spraying down runners. I took everything I could get. When I passed by my place my wife had prepared a bottle with coke cut with water and defizzed. I used to use this mixture all the time back when I tried to hammer marathons. It's a good energy boost and isn't too bad of shock to your system. During the first loop I was able to run most of the course but I had to take brakes after every quarter mile. My heart rate kept spiking and the only way to bring it under control was to walk. As I came around to start the 2nd loop I made a comment to the cheering crowds "Hey that was so much fun the first time, I think I'll do it again". I received a big laugh and a huge cheer. Off I went on lap #2. At this point my left leg was going ridged. My hammy and my quad were locked up. Running more then 10 steps at a time was impossible. I had waves of people passing me. At one point I heard my name called and I looked up and it was Sean V, and ex-Westford guy who moved up to Maine for the good life. Good thing he saw me because the only way I would have seen him is if he were laying down on the pavement by my feet. When I reached my place for the last time my 12 year old daughter came up to me and offered to pace me up the final hill. I declined but that didn't stop her from encouraging me all the way up the hill. With 1.5 miles left to go I knew I was going to finish but it wouldn't be pretty. I gave it everything I had left and finished in a slow jog. I was wiped out. But a big smile was soon on my face. Who was about to put the metal around my neck? It was Chrissie Wellington, the women's winner. She had just won a major race and was in the finish area handing out metals to slugs like me!! She has a new fan for life. I hope she doesn't think I stocking her.

How did I do against my goals?

1. Don't drown
2. I didn't bonk on the bike.
3. I finished
4. 6 hour finish didn't happen. I ended up with a 6:31:51
5. Never mind!!

So in summation, I swam OK I biked great and for one reason or another I just couldn't run. My finishing pace on the run was 12:30 per mile. ARGGGG!!!

After the race I jumped, or should I say slithered into the lake to cool down, then I proceeded to eat a huge plate of salty foods with lots of pasta and enjoyed a couple of cold Pepsi's. Next up was making my way home. I gathered my stuff and head back up Mt Graham North one last time on my bike. I was really careful not to let my legs cramp during this final climb. When I got home I cleaned up and got on the scale. After everything I ate and drank at the finish I was still down 11 pounds from where I started that morning. I'm guessing that I was down at least 15 pounds when I finished the run and I might have been down almost 20 pounds when I finished the bike. I continued to eat and drink as much as I could and when I woke up this morning I was still down 10 pounds.

I'm starting to think that the half ironman distance is just to much for me with little to no training. I think I might move down to the sprint next year. But time heals all wounds and I might be back at the half again next year.

Age Before Youth

2009-08-18T21:04:00.002-04:00

Last Saturday I went over to the 1st Annual New Durham Parks & Rec 5k. I figured that it would be a small race because it appeared on CoolRunning just a couple of weeks ago. I was right, only 82 people had entered. Now the question was which of the local kids were going to take the race. I knew the course because 10 years ago they held a race on this same course. As I recall back then I had just turned 40 and on that day I was beaten by a 14 year old girl in the final kick. My wife said I was impossible to talk for a couple of hours after the race. Since then I've learned to accept the challenges from the youth and make sure it doesn't come down to a sprint, no matter what the gender is.

For such a small race I was surprised to see that Dave Camire from Yankee Timing was there working the race. So I knew the times and finishing spots would be accurate.

The race started right on time and like a flash a couple of young kids took it out fast. The lead group also included a guy with a NH State Police shirt who I've seen before and in other races I've always reeled him back in after a mile. Lastly there was a guy with a "Blazing Turtles" shirt t-shirt in the lead group.

I just let the group go for the first 1/2 mile then I would start picking off people as they slowed. First came the guy in the NH State Police shirt at the mile mark. Next came two of the young kids before we hit the 1.5 mile mark. Next I caught the last kid at about the 2 mile mark. I noticed that I was starting to run down Mr "Blazing Turtle" but he had over a 200 yards on me and I was running out of road. At 2.5 miles I realized that I was not going to catch him and I peeked over my shoulder and noticed I had over 100 yard lead on the next guy. I pushed with all I had left but wasn't panicking. I ended up 2nd over all and 1st in to 50 - 59 age category.

I spent a few minutes talking to the winner who was a really nice guy from New Durham. He was 41 years old and he had his whole family running the race. I love seeing that kind of family activity. Anyway, at the awards ceremony they announced the winners in each age category and gave them a certificate. When they got to me they made a big deal that I was 50 years old and finished 2nd. I received the standard certificate and because I finished 2nd they gave me a gift card to a local hardware store. They announced that I was #2 to which I replied "I've been called worst"!! The crowd and announcer had a good chuckle.

My time was slow by my standards. I really running tight lately. I'm going to have to start stretching more at night to get more flexible. Next up is the last race in the Westford Academy Summer Series. I'm running this as a fun run because on Sunday is the Timberman 1/2 Ironman that I know I'll be in way over my head with.

Last race of the series

2009-08-13T20:49:00.002-04:00

Ran the final scoring race for the Westford Academy Summer Series Thursday nigh. Ended up 5th over all and ran 1 second slower then last week. Richard Blake won the race. The weather was perfect and I should have been able to run faster. I have no excuses.

I was the first person to finish in the 50 - 59 year old age category and locked up the series championship. I won my age category in all 9 races. For fun I took all the races and scored my races as if I was in the 40 - 49 age category and I would have won that title. In fact I would have won every age category. The only reason for this is in a series it's about consistency and I was able to run every race. The closes challenge I had was in the 40 - 49 age category. After 8 races I was tied with Allen Hall in points but I had 12 second advantage over him. Unfortunately Allen was not able to make tonight's race, which gave me the W. Sometimes half the battle is just showing up.

Speaking about showing up, tonight the legendary Bob Bradford showed up for the race with 2 of his kids. Years ago Bob held the course record on this course. Bob is a great guy and it was good to catch up with him and talk about the old days. He ran well and his kids ran very well. I'll be seeing Bob a couple of times over the XC season because our daughters are the same age and will be battling head to head over the course of the season. It will be fun to watch.

Fast vs Slow Alton Bay Old Home Days 5K

2009-08-09T19:46:00.005-04:00

There are some things that are fast.

And there are some things that are slow!!

On Saturday I headed over to Alton Bay, NH to run the Alton Bay Old Home Days 5K. I arrived early and was able to secure a parking spot right next to the sign up area which was in the boat launch parking lot. I quickly signed up and did a quick review of the course map. We were to start across from the public rest rooms and run towards the high school right over the starting line of the Big Lake Half Marathon. Then we would climb a small steep hill at the half way point. Lastly we would be heading down hill and over a couple little rollers to finish back in the parking lot.

I noticed that Jim Johnson's car in the lot so I went over and we decided to do a warm up on the course. Jim had just set the course record on the Loudon DARE 5K course on Wednesday and set the course record at the Laconia 5K XC race on Saturday. In other words this boy was on fire. We talked about his chances of breaking 16 minutes and decided that the course might not be conducive to this type of time. Time will tell.

Soon the commands to start the race would be given and we were off. Jim of course took off like a shot. Close on his heels was a 14 year Tuttle who is going into 8th grade. This young Tuttle would soon loose his steam and drop back. Jim was running like a mad man. After about a half mile he had a 200 yard lead. This was a race for 2nd place. I was running in 13th place and felt pretty good. The roads were fairly well shaded so I decided to just run comfortably and save something for the short steep hill. I hit the hill and tried to keep my form but ultimately started to drop my head and struggle up the hill. At the 2 mile mark I was at 12:48, slower the usual.

All of a sudden I herd foot steeps behind me. It was the first woman and she went past me like I was standing still. I tucked in behind her and hoped that if I conserved some energy I'd be able to get back the place in the final stretch. I was wrong, but did pass one person and ended up 13th over all with a 19:53, SLOW!! I think I'm running to many races at this point.

JJ on the other hand not only won the race but set another course record with a 15:46. WOW!! Boy oh boy is JJ on fire.

JJ and I did a cool down with two of the local HS studs and got another 22 minutes of running in. So I figure I got almost 9 miles in for the day.

One thing that I though was very interesting was the quality of the 50 - 59 year old runners in the race. The top 5 50 - 59 year old runners were in the top 14 runners. I did a fun exercise and scored the race based on XC rules and guess what? The 50 - 59 year old runners would have beaten all the other age categories.

So what did I learn on Saturday, JJ is FAST, I'm slow, but the 50 - 59 year old runners are faster then any others as a group. I'll declare that 50 is the new 20.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!

Hot is SLOOOW!!!

2009-08-07T15:50:00.001-04:00

OK, last week I reported that Hot was FAST! It's funny how things change in one week.

Thursday was week #8 of the Westford Academy Summer Series. It was 84 degrees when I showed up at 5:55 at the school. I was worried that I won't make the 6:30 start because for no reason what so ever, Rte 495 South from Rte 93 was moving at a crawl. I checked in and started seeing the usual cast of runners. Allen Hall, Rick Porter, and the rumor was out that David Katz would be showing up. David has been running really well over the last couple of weeks and if he showed up he'd be the favorite to win. Allen came over to me and stated that he saw David running over from a couple miles away. I guess I'm running for 2nd place. In addition I noticed that there was a high school kid there from last week who ran with the leaders for most of the race. So the race would be between David and this kid. I'm now thinking about 3rd place. Then Allen points out another guy who ran 2:50 at Boston this year. OK 4th place and that my final offer!!

Paul, lined us up and got us going with a "Very QUICK" gun. It shocked most of us. The guy who ran the 2:50 at Boston took the lead right away and ran away. David Katz took up 2nd and Allen and I were running in 3rd and 4th place respectively. The high school kid tucked in behind us and just drafted. Allen and I started yelling out to David to go catch the guy up front. "He's slowing down", "You can do it", "come on old man". David just replied "NO WAY"!!! We went through the mile in 6 flat. Fast but not as fast as last week. I pushed the pace trying to break Allen but every time I surged he matched me. The tuna salad I had for lunch was starting to bubble up in my stomach. Then around 1.5 miles my left Achilles felt like someone drove a knife into it. I immediately backed it down and let Allen and the kid go ahead of me. I limped for a couple of strides but was able to get back under control after about a quarter mile. By the 2 mile mark Allen was 100 yards up on me and the kid had 50. As we climbed the hill I was able to pull myself within 20 yards of the kid and by the time we hit the dirt road I was even with him. I knew that if it came down to a sprint to the finish I was toast. So for the next 1/2 mile I pushed as hard as I could coming down the hill. It didn't work. He matched me stride for stride. As we turned into the school we had 300 yards to go and I was in trouble. The kid turned on the jets and I was left sucking his fumes. I checked my watch and noticed that I wasn't going to set a PR on the course (for this year), but had a chance of breaking 23 minutes. I pushed as hard as I could and just barely made it with a 22:57.

What happened? It was hot but, not muggy. Allen struggles with the muggy but not the heat and he ran a 22:32, which is his fastest run of the year. Way to go Allen. David, got 2nd over all and P/R'd with a 21: 38. Again, congrad's David. I will never eat tuna salad for lunch before a race again. In addition I did a 9.3 mile run on Wednesday which I think beat me up pretty bad. I have to learn to take it easier the day before a race.

So I guess I have to qualify Hot and Muggy is fast, not just Hot.

Next up is Alton Bay 5K on Saturday.

MUD, Wonderful MUD!!!

2009-08-02T18:44:00.003-04:00

On Saturday I ran the Laconia High School Cross Country 5K. As I was signing up the student who was signing me in was apologizing about the condition of the course. "It's very muddy" she said. I blurted out "Gee, then it should be a lot of fun" The girl gave me a strange look.

I decided to take a run of the course to see what this fine young lady was talking about and determine which shoes I should wear during the race. I was pointed over to the corner of the soccer field where I signed in and off I went. After 200 yards the course crossed the road onto a farmers field. Right away I started to understand what this girl was talking about. The ground was squishing under my feet and I was in the middle of an open field. What were the woods going to be like? The answer came quickly. MUD!!! Mud and water!! Footing was going to be a problem. The trail rose and fell often and made many turns through the mud. This was going to be fun I thought to my self.

I headed back to the starting area and met up with Scott Clark and John Tuttle. I gave the guys my take on the course and I told them that I was wearing my cross country spikes with the 1/2 spikes. The looked at me like I was crazy but my mind was set. Flat bottom shoes would not work on this course.

Soon all kinds of people were showing up and I noticed Jim Johnson's car, it's very tough to miss. Jim came jogging over after his warm up run and he decided on the Inov-8 212's. These are neat trail shoes with long rubber spikes covering the bottom. They were a good choice for this race.

Andrew, Laconia's x-country coach called all the runners to the starting line and set us off. I could see that Jim and Scott took to the lead right away. I started quick but controlled. Right after we crossed the road John Tuttle pulled in front of me. I decided to just hang on his tail and see if I could find his weakness. The field was wet but my spikes were holding really well. When we entered the woods and headed down hill I could see John slipping all over the place. I was running like a cat up a tree and was reeling in John. Then the trail headed up and it was dry. John shifted gears and took off. He broke my sprite and I would never get any closer to him. For the next mile and a half I was running in no mans land. The next runner behind me was more then 200 yards back, so I just kept pushing as much as I could and sloshed through the mud.

There was one little twist in the course that I think hurt all the runners. As we approached the point were we crossed the road from the start they turned us back onto the swampy field for one more fun filled lap of about 1/4 mile. I finished to lots of hoots from runners who had already finished. After finishing I joined in with the other runners and called in the people still out on the course.

JJ, Scott and I went out and did a nice cool down run. JJ won the race with Scott finishing 3rd. I on the other hand finished 15th in a time of 22:20. JJ set the course record at 16:45...way to go big guy!!

It wasn't until after the cool down that I noticed how mud covered I was. Mud was all over my back sided from me kicking it up. Seeing I wasn't running near anyone for most of the race, my front was clean, except for the drool from my effort.

This race was so much fun that I might run more of these during the fall season.

Hot is fast!!

2009-07-30T20:46:00.003-04:00

This title reminds me of an old joke that I learned when I was in grammer school. It goes something like this, Question: What is faster hot or cold? Answer: Hot is faster because you can catch a cold!!!

Thursday night I ran race # 7 in the Westford Academy Summer Series. It was HOT! When I left my house the temp was hitting 90 with no wind or clouds. The race would be a game of attrition. The theme of the race was "Ladies Night". Which means that the ladies got a 7 minute head start over the men.

As I scanned the ladies there was at least one who could beat me outright. This lady was my training partner for Boston this year, Jill Trotter. This was her race to win outright. In addition to the ladies there seemed to be a lot of young kids in attendance. From what I found out, there were 10+ kids from Fitchburg High School. In addition there were a bunch of the WA runners in the race.

The women's race started right on time at 6:30 and 7 minutes later the guys took to the course. A guy with a ipod on took the lead. I just let him go because he looked like a 400 yard wonder. And I was right. The pack went by him and shat him out the back side before we hit the quarter mile mark. At this point a 20 something year old kid took the lead and looked strong. I was in the middle of 5 high school kids. One of which was at my house on Wednesday night for a party my daughter was having. I got next to this kid and said, "I play dirty" then faked an elbow in his face. He looked over at me and if the look he threw me had words, it would have said "I'm going to kick your arse, old man". And then he quickly put 10 yards on me.

I hit the mile at 5:53. Which is the fastest I've run this first mile all year. The group of high schooler's were now pulling away. I decided to try and settle into a pace that I knew I could hold and just relax and run on my toes with a straight back and my head held high. It was working and my breathing became more relaxed and I was reeling in my daughters friend. By 1.5 miles I passed him and listened to him gurgle as I passed and knew I had him beat. A few yards later Ken Cain came blazing past me. I mean he was looking to break me and he just about accomplished it. He didn't even seem to be breathing hard. I let him go because I knew I usually had a little more strength on the up hill at mile 2. Sure enough I reeled Ken back in going up the hill. I hit the 3 mile mark at 19:23, my fastest time this year and was feeling good. As I turned into the school I peeked over my shoulder and there was nobody in sight. In front of me was one kid about 30 yards a head. I wasn't going to catch him but I had a chance of running my fastest time of the year. I finished in 22:46 and PR'd by 6 seconds on the hottest night of the year.

I ended up in 5th place over all and I think if you add up the ages of the 3 kids in places 2nd, 3rd and 4th I'd still be older. It's good to see more younger kids getting involved in this sport.

Jill won the race and also PR'd with at 23:07. She really wants to break 23 minutes and I'm sure she can do it given a cooler night.

Next race is on Saturday in Laconia, NH. It's a 100% cross country race to benefit the HS XC team. It should be a lot of fun

Focus on the positve!!!

2009-07-27T09:16:00.002-04:00

When I was starting to write this entry this morning I titled it "The Mistake". Then I went out for a run Monday morning and slowly realized that as a runner I obsess about the things I do wrong and what I need to do to correct them. Instead of how lucky I am to be able to get the feeling of freedom while I self propel myself all over NE.

So here we go. On Saturday Morning I got up and headed out to Canterbury, NH for the Canterbury Woodchuck Classic 5K. I had a chance to look at the course profile on Friday and I realized that I was in for some PHAT. The course starts down a steep hill then continues down hill for a mile. It levels out for mile 2 then climbs for mile 3. When I arrived in Canterbury there was the makings of a festival going on in the center of town. I'm guessing that the road race was a way to bring more out of towners to the festival.

I did a quick warm up down the hill we were to start on and it hurt to go down it with any speed. As I was doing my final stretching I noticed Morgan Seybert warming up. Morgan is my next door neighbor in Gilford. I've watched him from the time he was a freshman in high school struggling to run past my place a couple of times a day so he could be getting in 80 - 100 miles a week. He wasn't that fast back then but with all that training he put in, he turned himself into quite a force on the roads. He's now 1 year out of college and is tearing up the roads in NY. Anyway I asked Morgan if he was going to take it today, and he responded that he wasn't in to good of shape and that there was another guy there that ran for BC and was flying these days. His name is David Chorney and he was the defending champion of this race. OK so a W for me today was out of the question.

The race director was very focused on starting the race on time and had us lined up 5 minutes before the start. He warned us that a cannon was to be fired at 9 AM sharpe but we were not to start. The cannon fired and most of us jumped but nobody started down the road. I looked around that the average age of the people around me was damn young. This was going to be a fast start. The race director gave us the commands a few seconds later and we were off. ZZZZIIIIPPPPP people were flying. I couldn't believe how fast we were going. I decided right away to hold it back. The pounding on my legs had to be 10x's my body weight. The steepness of the grade could only compare to Mt Washington.

When we hit the center of town 300 yards down the road I looked up and saw that Morgan had the lead by about 30 yards. At about 500 yards into the race the 2nd place guy closed the gap with a surge and was running along side Morgan. The two of them already had over 100 yard lead on me. I surveyed the people in front of me and there was one guy who looked about my age, and he was about 20 yards a head of me, his name was Jon Marvin. I decided to just let him stay there and try and catch my breath.

We hit the mile in 5:35...WHOA-Nelly!!! slow down big fella I thought to my self. This was the fastest mile I've run all year. Thankfully, everyone else was now starting to back it down. By the 1.5 mile mark I started closing the gap on Jon. Now I had a choice, I could lie low and surprise him at the finish or I could drive past him and try and break his spirit. It was spirit crushing time. I went by Jon quickly and put 20 yards in between us. Jon was now running in a pack of 5 others and I was running alone. We hit the 2 mile mark and the course turned UP. I struggled to keep my form but was loosing the battle. At about 2.8 miles Jon went past me and I just couldn't respond. I keep him with in a stones throw of me but was not able to close in the last 200 yards. I should have just stayed behind Jon. OH well, live an learn.

Jon took 1st in the 50 - 59 category with me taking 2nd. When the results were posted I noticed something about all the people in front of Jon and I and it made me smile. Jon finished in 17th and I in 18th place. But what made me smile was the ages of most of the "kids" in front of us. Ten of them were under the age of 20, four were between 20 and 29 and two were in their 30's. Running is making a comeback with the younger generation!! The average age of the people in front of Jon and I was 20.5. Morgan had also hung on to 2nd place. I made sure that I pointed out to him that he was "First Loser". He didn't seem to happy and left right away.

There was a nice raffle and all the age category winners (3 deep) all received a hand made bowl. I collected Morgan's for him.

On Sunday, I got up early and decided I was going to do a trail run. I usually do an 1.5 hour run mostly on trails up to Gunstock ski area. I headed out and it was slightly raining but warm enough to feel nice to the touch. My legs were feeling good and I kept telling myself to run easy and run light. I was feeling super. When I reached Gunstock there were large white tents everywhere. I couldn't figure out why. So I just headed on my usual loop around Cobble Mtn. As I was looping Cobble I noticed a sign for Round pond. I felt great so I decided to head that way. Before I knew it I was running up to the top of Belknap Mtn. The top was socked in and there was no ranger in the look out. I was now 1 hour and 45 minutes into this run and was starting to tire. I had no water and and was worried about bonking. I headed out on a trail that I hoped would take me to the top of Gunstock where I knew the ski area like the back of my hand so I could take the quickest way down. My internal GPS worked perfectly and soon I was standing on the top of Gunstock. Mother nature called so as I emptied my blatter I noticed that what came out was not normal. I was dehydrating. I needed to get down quick and get some water.

I took one of the intermediate trails down and when I reached the half way point I realized what all the tents were for. SoulFest was starting on the 29th. One of the big venues was the main stage and everyone was going to be sitting up on the mountain to watch the shows. The problem was, with all the rain and the construction of new snow making pipes the ski slope was all mud. We're talking 300 yards of mud mixed with grass and fuel from the big crane they had up on the mountain. I was sinking shin deep in the muck as I looped down the mountain. I managed to loose only one shoe during this phase of the run. I was hurting. I backed down the pace and completed the slow trudge back to my place in 2 hours and 58 minutes. I didn't even try walking into my place because I was covered in mud, head to toe (especialy my feet). I ran right down to the lake and jumped in shoes and all. It was the best swim I've done all year.

Note to self...Bring water on long trail runs...idiot!!

As I ran this morning I realized how lucky I am to be able to run a hard 5K on Saturday, then run a 3 hour trail run on Sunday and come back on Monday and do a track workout in the humid thick air of July in New England.

How positive is that?

Weredafacowie!!!!

2009-07-24T13:56:00.002-04:00

Last night was race #6 in the Westford Academy Summer Racing Series. All the usual cast of characters were there, Allen Hall (whom is having a great year racing and is leading the 40 - 49 age category), Ken Cain (who has missed a few races but is still in first for the 30 - 39 age category), Jill Trotter (who knocked me down on a Boston Training run and smashed my head on the curb 3 miles into the 21 mile run, that's my story and I sticking to it), Marc Boutin (Very fast, young gun who just finished his 1st year in college and was running 3rd for the XC team), and my favorite high school kid John Edwin (whom I forced off course into the grass in week one, and he tends to go out fast then us old timers eat him up later on in the race). Lastly 2 of my biking ROAG buddies were there, Rick Porter and George Davis with his son.

The weather seemed to be holding with overcast and flecks of mist every now and then. Tonight's race was a unknown distance and you had to be ready for anything. After finishing the race you had to guess what the distance was and the person closest would get a t-shirt. So the secret to this race was to go out at about 90% and hang on for dear life. Normally the course is 3.6 miles long so we weren't sure if it was going to be 3 miles or 5 miles.

As always Paul (the race director) did his normal thank you's and sounded the bull horn. We were off, but not as fast as usual. In fact Marc was running very conservatively. When we reached the road I realized why, he didn't know which way to turn. I knew we had to take a right but I wasn't going to give it away until I was ready to take it and neither was anyone else behind Marc. This was our only competitive advantage against a 20 year old kid. When I finally hit the turn Marc followed along with another 20'something year old kid. Us old masters then started joking with Marc about where the next turn was. One guy yelled out "Westford Center" another said "onto the dirt rode named Hartford" another told him "Chelmsford" and lastly "Lowell" was yelled out. Marc wasn't buying any of our babbling. And the fact of the matter was there were signs from this point on. So Marc just stated taking control and pulling away.

At about 1 mile into the race Marc and the other kid had about 20 yard lead on me and Ken was on my heels. I also thought that I could hear the pitter patter of Jill's shoes. As we approached the 2 mile mark the kids were 100 yards out and pulling even further away. At this point we were passing some of the walkers (who leave 15 minutes ahead of the runner) and I commented out loud "Damn young KIDS"!! One of the walkers yelled back "hey that's what I just said". At this point Ken and Allen weren't to far behind me. We took a left hand turn on Robinson road so there was to be a good climb and this is where I was going to have to try and shake my stockers. As we hit the hill I pushed it as hard as I could and the boys started dropping off my tail. At the top of the hill we took a left on Hartford and I hoped that I could string out my lead even more. My legs were dead. I had nothing left after the hill. My only hope was that my stockers were dead too. We came down Hartford and turned into WA's parking lot for the final 300 yards. I peaked over my shoulder and Allen and Ken were only 30 yards back. I dug deep and tried to sprint but I had nothing left. I was hanging on for my life. I hit the hill up to the track and peaked over my shoulder again. My stockers had not made up any ground. I finished up 3rd over all and first in my age category.

My time was 20:49. Based on this and that my usual time was right around 23 minutes I figured the course was 3.33 miles. After my cool down with Jill I circled back and asked Paul the distance and he told me it was 3.23 miles. I was close but no cigar. I went home with out another t-shirt. My wife will be SOOOO UPSET.

After 6 of the 10 races I have a strong hold of first place in my age category. I now have finished: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 7th overall in the 6 races. I'm having lots of fun trying to find my speed again and having some good battles with friends. In fact I tallied up my times and Allen's times and found out that there is only 15 seconds separating us after all 6 races. And best of all we are both getting faster almost every week.

42nd Bill Luti 5-Miler

2009-07-20T12:53:00.006-04:00

Saturday morning was a nice time for a race. It rained all night in NH and was overcast and in the low 70's race morning in Concord.

This race was the last race in the CARS (Capital Area Racing Series) so there was sure to be a lot of fast runners. There was money on the line!!

On the way over to the race I was driving down Rt 395 when I spotted a Bright yellow Xtera in my rear view mirror. The car had Kayak racks on top. Could it be Double J? I must beat him to the race I thought to myself. But when I turned off the highway the Xtera when another directions.

I arrived at my normal, very early time frame. I checked the Pre-entry board and Double-J was not pre-entered. I was first to get my number in the post entry tent and after receiving my number I remembered reading some where that this was a chip timed race and asked "Do I need a timing chip"? The volunteer had a blank look on her face so I asked another person at the Post-entry table. Their response is what I expected "OH SH$#, that's right". Soon there was activity all over the place getting the chips in order with the numbers. I secured mine and headed back to my car to get ready for the race.

After getting all my stuff together, who drives into the parking lot? Double-J. I head over to talk to him and notice that parked along side of him is Dan Verrington. The three of use were joined by Scott Clark on a nice easy warm up run. This gave me a chance to ask questions about the course. They were telling me that the first mile was flat to down hill but mile 2 was a long hill. Then after that it's just hang on to the finish. These 3 guys were all planing to run sub 27 minutes. I was planing to run sub 33 minutes. I guess I would only see them at the starting line.

As we lined up at the start I looked around. Holy cow was there a lot of fast people at this race. I was out of my league, but I was here at the race so I might as well give it a go. Bill Luti made a short speech and fired the starting gun. It was a very quick start with ZERO hesitation between the word "SET" and BANG!!! It surprised most of us.

The first mile was flat, but you could see from a good distance the hill we were going to be climbing in mile 2. It wasn't steep but long and daunting. I kept telling myself to keep my form (as poor as it is) and power my way up the hill. It was working. I was passing a lot of weekend warriors but I was still a ways back in the pack. The hill lasted about 4 minutes and once we crested we took a right into what I think was a park. The road was riddled with pot holes so I had to start focused with every step. We were now running on mostly flat terrain and I was trading places with a couple of people around me.

As I passed mile 4 I knew that I was toast and breaking 33 minutes was out of the question. I just tried to hold my position and head into the finish. I ended up finishing in 33:42 good for 64th place and 7th in my age category. This was my poorest showing of the year based on the % of runners who beat me and the % of runners in my age category who beat me.

After the race I hooked up with the same group I did the warm up with and we headed out for another 20+ minute run. JJ got third place and was trying to decide if he should run a 2nd race later in the evening. He did, and won it outright and was able to run a faster pace in the 2nd race. Way to go JJ!!

Now some good news. On Friday I bought a book called "Born to run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen". I'm only halfway through the book and I'm rethinking my running technique. One of the assertions of the book is that bare foot running is much more natural and that all these over engineered shoes we've been programmed to buy are the cause of many running injuries. They state that because we have all this cushioning on our heel our foot lands heel first instead of it's natural method of toe first. This causes us to throw our stride out further in front of us and not place our feet under our hips and drive from a power position.

So armed with this information and combining it with a speed workout I wanted to do I headed out of work early this morning to get to the track 2 miles away. Once at the track I ditched my shoes, socks and shirt. I steeped onto the infield of the track and began a workout that only lasted 4 minutes but was hell and child like delight at the same time. The workout was to run all out for 20 seconds then run easy for 10 seconds, then repeat this 8 times. I felt like a little kid running on the wet grass. My Achilles felt great, my hamstrings felt great. As I got further into the repeats, I felt tired but I didn't have any pain.

I'm now thinking of going out and finding the thinnest running shoes on the market and using them for training. But first, I want to see what my legs feel like tomorrow.

To further solidify the books assertion they talk about the coach of the Stanford cross country team whom has had his runner, running bare foot a couple times a week and has almost eliminated injury's. This team is sponsored by Nike so the folks at Nike when down to visit the coach to find out why they weren't using their shoes. The coach showed the Nike rep's the data and they took it back to corporate did their own testing, comfirmed the findings and started a 2 year development project on a new line of shoes. I believe the shoes has been released but I'm not certain what they are called.

I don't think I'll be running a race bare foot anytime soon but you never know.

Jeapordy Answer....First Loooooooser!!

2009-07-17T06:34:00.002-04:00

Question: What is 2nd place?

Last night I ran the 5th races in the Westford Academy Summer Series. This was the first time where this race really felt like summer. It was 77 degrees and almost 100% humidity.

Every week features a new twist to the race to keep it interesting. This race had a "guess your time" sub race challenge. So I was feeling pretty good when I arrived and I set my predicted time at 23:00. My PR this year on the course is 22:53 so I thought that this was doable.

I did my warm up run and was feeling a little sluggish so I went back to the estimation list and changed my time to 23:30, which was right around where I've run a couple times this year.

I scanned the crowd and there were all the usual people, Allen Hall (who won last weeks race), Rick Porter who is in the 30 - 39 age category and has run really well but due to the lack of other people in this age category has only managed to score 1 point at each race. Allen and I started talking and noticed that there was one kid who was warming up and looked like the guy to beat. We'll see.

I'm currently leading the 50 - 59 group in scoring and this race was an important one to show up to. That is because it was the North Medford club (NMC) night at the race. NMC has tons of people in their 50's so there were going to be a lot of points on the line. Missing this race could possible drop me out of 1st place in the series.

Paul, the race director said a few words and welcomed the members of NMC. There was a big cheer. This was the largest number of runners this season. The funny thing is that way back in the 70's I was a NMC member. Fred Brown had recruited me into the club while I was still in high school. Fred was quite a character and really the founding father of road running in NE. My dad used to direct the Chelmsford Elks 7.(who really knows the distance) road race back then and Fred used to come over our house for meetings with my dad. He could surely put down a cold one or two in his day.

Anyway soon the horn was sounded and off we went. The kid that Allen and I picked out took the lead right away. The kid I forced into a puddle during week 1's race (John Edward) took 2nd and I fell into third. The kid in the lead just took off. John has been getting stronger every week so for the first mile I just let him go. I couldn't hear any foot steps behind me after a mile so I just focused on John's back as we started climbing the hills. Slowly but surely I hunted John down and going up the hills just past mile 2 I passed him. I surged when I passed him to try and break his sprite because John is only a teenager and with young legs if I let him hang on to my shoulder he was sure to out kick me. My surge did the trick and soon John was about 40 yard behind me.

At the mile 3 marker I was starting to loose my form and was shifting to survival mode. At this point in the course you're running on a dirt road that is covered with 3/4 inch stone. So the footing isn't that good and if your tired it really makes for a rough 1/2 a mile. As I turned off the road and into the school parking lot I took a peak over my shoulder and saw Allen and John ruining shoulder to shoulder about 40 yards back. With about 300 yards to go I figured I could push it in and be able to hold both of them off. Not like 2 weeks ago when Cathy Parker ran me down like a wounded animal and shat me out the back side and managed to put 7 seconds between us in the exact same circumstances. Cathy is turely a gifted runner and I will stand no chance of even running in the same zip code as her when she gets into good shape.

As I rounded the corner and up the little hill onto he track I could see the clock turn 22:50. Now I'm thinking, "maybe I have a chance to break 23 minutes". I started to push with everything I had but alas I crossed the line in 23:04. Good enough for 2nd place, AKA FIRST LOOSER!!

I was happy with my effort but I should have gone with my first instinct and kept the time of 23 minutes as my estimated time. Oh well I guess I don't get another t-shirt for my efforts. I can live with that!!!

Back from vacation...I need the rest

2009-07-13T08:58:00.002-04:00

Vacations are a time to sit back and relax....NOT!! In my last report I was writing about 3 races in 5 days and racing myself into shape. Well I did do the 3 races and almost ran a 4th on day 6 but I did the smart thing (after my wife pointed out to me that I was limping).

On Thursday, July, 9th I ran the Westford Academy Summer Series #3 race. It was team night so I gave David Katz a call to see if he could come down. I also ambushed Allen Hall as he signed in and our team was set. As we lined up I took a look around and there were some high school runners along with Cathy and Dan Parker who both beat me the prior week. But I figured that the guy to beat today was David Katz.

The GO command was issued and two high school kids took the lead right away. David and I were running side by side for the first mile. As we passed the mile marker I noticed that we had started to reel in the two high school kids. I told David that the kids were slowing and he should go after them. He said "no way" and off he went. David made up the 50 or so yards in no time and took the lead. Soon, one of the kids drooped off and I was chasing him down. I could see David battling the other kid for most of the race and with 6/10's of a mile to go he dropped him for good. At the same point I dropped the other kid. I was now in third and with 3/1o's of a mile left to go I peaked over my shoulder to see Cathy Parker motoring towards me. Sure enough, within 100 yards she caught me and I had nothing left to respond. I did however post my fastest time of the year and broke 23 minutes and finished 4th over all.

David won the race and was ecstatic. It was his first W since high school. He has really worked hard over the past 6 months and deserved the win.

July 4th, Center Harbor NH was my next race. This is a very tough 5 miler where you run the first 4 miles UP and the last mile down. The temperature was hovering around 70 and it was spitting rain every now and then. Perfect racing weather I thought.

In a flash we were off and running up hill. The lead pack seemed to be pulling away right from the start. I wasn't going to bite because I knew the course and didn't want to blow out in the first 2 miles. I held steady for the first 3 miles and was in 10th place. At mile 4 two people passed me. I knew that I might have an advantage because of the pending vertical drop in the last mile so I didn't panic. I started to let my legs fly. Sure enough I passed both people and ran a 4:50 last mile. It's a good thing I passed one of those guys because he was also 50 and they only gave out prizes for the top 2 people in each age category. The top 50 year old had over a minute on me and ran a super race.

July 5th, I thought about running the Loon Mt race but I glad I didn't. Instead I went on a 10 mile trail run from lake Winni UP to Gunstock Ski Area and back. I enjoyed every step.

July 9th Westford Academy Summer Series #4. I shot home from vacation to cut the lawn and while I was kicking around I figured I'd keep my series lead growing by running this race. Posted at this race was the team results from the prior week. My team won handily. We won t-shirts!!

As I checked out the starting line I joked with Allen Hall that today was his race. Sure enough, Allen ran his fastest time of the season and won. I took 5th but still manged to win my age category. With 4 races down I leading the 50 - 59 age category with a score of 36 points and there are 2 guys tied for second with 23 points. I guess I have to keep showing up to win the series.

Racing yourself into shape

2009-06-30T21:30:00.002-04:00

I've never been a big fan of track work outs. Primarily because I always seem to be running them alone. Yesterdays plan was to run a track workout at lunch. When lunch time came around, I looked at my gym bag and shook my head and then proceeded to grab my lunch and bag the workout. I knew I was doing the wrong thing so I made a new plan. I got on cool running and located a race so I could get my speed work in. The race I choose was the Goodtimes series in Lowell.

The race is a 5K that runs along the banks of the Merrimack river through the Lowell Mill Area. You'd never know you were in Lowell when running this race. I arrived at the race a little late for my likings but was able to quickly sign. They seem to have a theme for every race in this series. Tonight's theme was old t-shirt night. Seeing that I have 1000's of t-shirts I figured I was sure to secure one of the prizes. I have t-shirts dating back to the 70's, but there was one special shirt that I figured would win a prize. More on that latter.

The race had quite a few runners at it for a night time race. I think I heard them say there were 240 runners. We lined up right at 7 PM and were off within a few seconds of lining up. The start was fast. This is because you start on the road and within 200 yards you're on a path way that runs along the river. The start of this path also make you take a couple of hair pin turns so getting out quickly is mandatory.

The first mile went by quickly, for me at least, in a blazing 5:53. I knew I couldn't keep that going so I pulled back a little for mile 2 and ran a 6:22. Mile three I was joined by Keith O'Brien who is forever the cheerleader and encouraged me to tuck in behind him and we'd work together. We managed a 6:13 3rd mile and then I looked up and could see the finish line clock. The two of us pushed each other to the finish to get almost identical times of 19:18. The race officials gave me the edge but I think Keith could have kicked my back side if he really wanted to.

The results were quickly released and I ended up 13th over all and 1st in the 50 - 59 category. For my efforts I received a Shirt Frame. I guess it's for displaying your favorite shirts. Just what my wife wants!! Me hanging one of my shirts on the wall. I guess some people call it ART!!

After the awards, it was time to give out prizes for t-shirts. They had all kinds of categories and the shirt I choose won the category for oldest shirt for a race Dave Camire organized but they didn't give me the award for that because they decided the shirt fit a better category. That category would be Oddest Shirt.

The t-shirt I am wearing was called the "Shade Shirt" I received it back in the 1980's for a race called the "Grab Bag Race". The race was held at the Knicker Baucker Club in Lowell. The idea for the shirt was Dave Camire's. The shirt has this thing that looks like the brim of a baseball cap attached to the back and when the sun is out you flip it up to shade your neck. I don't know if it works or not because this was the first time in 25+ years of owning the shirt that I had put it on. Once again I won another shirt frame. My wife is really going to love me hanging shirts all over the walls of "Her house"...NOT!!

So, now I have done one race this week. The plan for the rest of the week is to race Thursday night in Westford and for the 4th race up in Center Harbor, NH in a 5 mile race. I've done this race a couple of times over the years. In fact, my fastest mile I ever ran was at this race. You see the course climbs for 4 miles then you fall down off the edge of a cliff for the last mile to the finish. So by Saturday I'll have done 3 races in 5 days. If that doesn't get me into race shape, nothing will.

Cherry Picking and doing my own version of a Tri

2009-06-29T09:42:00.004-04:00

OK, so this is a term that I heard many years ago. It refers to the practice of sneaking off to a race that you think nobody has herd of on the same day when there is some big race going on. You do this with hopes that you can finish high up in the race or if luck is shining your way, you may even get the W!

So, on Saturday I snuck out to the Tilton-Northfield Dare 5K. As I drove to the race I noticed that the area seemed to be very flat, my kind of race these days. As always I was bright and early for the 8 AM start showing up at 6:30. I decided that I had plenty of time so I went out on a warm up run to view the course. I was in NH, and any flat area is always next to a very hilly area, and this flat area was no exception. As I ran UP the first mile I knew I was going to be in trouble. Then some how I lost the course and heading UP, UP, UP. At the 2 mile mark in the warm up run I figured I had missed a turn and headed back down the hill, and sure enough I was able to get back on the course. Now on the right road, I was climbing the other side of this hill. GREAT!! At least this time, at the 1.5 mile mark the course turned and headed back down. So this was going to be a slow first half and a much faster 2nd half, that is if I had anything left. I ended up with 4 miles in.

As I scanned the crowd I noticed some young hot shots who looked like they could fly. I started up a conversation with them and sure enough there was one who was shooting for a 16 and change. But he also pointed out 2 other guys who could run 15. There was some speed at this race. As we lined up I also noticed Scott Clark and Tim Cox, speed was the word of the day.

The "GO" command was given and we were off. Or should I say that about 50 people were off like lighting and I was playing catchup right away. Mile 1 when by slowly. It was my slowest first mile in a 5K ever at 6:27. Mile 2 was up the steepest part of the hill but, at 1.5 miles turned around and headed back down the hill in a bone jarring manor. I was passing people and gaining some confidence. Mile 3 flattened out and I was running on fumes. I finished in 20:10, my slowest 5K ever. I ended up 19th over all so I caught quite a few people. I just couldn't seem to get my turnover rate going.

I ended up 2nd in the 50 - 59 year old category, which I received a gift certificate to Applebee's. I decided I needed to do a cool down run and hooked up with Scott Clark and Tim Cox. With them, they had the winner of the 50 - 59 category, John Belvidere from Laconia. We chatted about what each other was doing and what injuries each of us was battling. We sounded like a bunch of old people at a nursing home. Come to think of it we aren't to far off. Total miles for cool down = 2 miles. Total miles run 9.

My story doesn't end there. I shot back to my place in Gilford and did a quick change of clothes into my biking stuff. I needed to bike the 40 miles from my place to Melvin Village Marina to pick up my boat. I always take the long way counter clock wise around the lake to avoid the heavy traffic in Laconia and Meredith. Of course the traffic in Wolfeboro was a bit heavy but that section is only about 300 yards long. It funny though, the wealthiest town on the lake, Wolfeboro has the poorest road conditions. I'm guessing they do that on purpose to slow down the cars so they stop to buy something.

Anyway my ride went without incident and soon I had secured the keys and threw my bike in the back of the boat and was cruising across the lake. It was beautiful out, 80 with no wind and clear sky's. What a great reward for all my efforts. I hooked the boat to it's mooring and now was the part of today's exercises that I liked least, the swim to shore. You might think that I liked this least because I'm a average to poor swimmer and you'd be right, but that was not the reason today. Today the water was cold. There hasn't been enough sun shine over the last couple of weeks to warm up the lake. I must have sat on the back of the boat with my feet in the lake for 10 minutes before I finally took the plunge. I'd like to say that I swam like a fish back to shore but in reality I swam more like a rock, and that wouldn't be fair to rocks. One of these days I really have to learn to swim properly. I bet it would make the 1/2 ironman I do every year much easier.

So I did a reverse Tri on Saturday, 9 mile run, 40 mile bike and 200 yard swim. I think the swim took the longest of the three.

2009-06-26T09:04:00.002-04:00

Sometimes it's about who else shows up!

2009-06-26T06:17:00.003-04:00

Last night I went back to the Westford Summer Series Race to see if I could keep my winning ways going in race #2 of the series. For the first time this year it was hot and muggy. I'm not good at running in this type of weather but then again, who is.

As the crowd started to show up I realized very quickly there was no way I was going to repeat last weeks performance. There were some fast guys showing up and even faster women. As I scanned the competition there was Marc Boutin a star on the Brandis Cross Country team. There was Dan Parker, US military triathlete extraordinaire. The women's side was even tougher, Cathy Parker, NCAA Division I All American. Kara Haas, fast as all get-out. And training partner for the marathon Jill Trotter. Of course Allen Hall was there and the guy I edged out last week, Ken Cain was also there. So the race would be fast and it could be a battle of the top women to take the over win. I had now lowered my expectation to top 10. I hate it when that happens!!!

It was also family night at the race where families would score points based on finishing position. The pre race favorites were the Parker's, who showed up with 5, and the Widmann's who also showed up with 5.

The "GO" command was given, and we were off. Marc and Kara took the lead with one other guy in toe. I hung back and started giving Marc some grief about dogging it and that I was going to tell his coach if he lost this race. Ken Cain when by me in the first 1/2 mile and seemed to be running with power. I just let him go. The guy who went out with Marc and Kara was soon shat out the back side. I hit the mile in 6:10, a little faster then last week and the extra effort combined with the heat was taking its toll on me.

Just before mile 2 Dan and Cathy Parker came up behind me. I let Cathy pass (as if there was anything I could do about it). But when Dan tried to pass me I swerved in front of him and raised my elbows. Dan tried to get around me on the other side and once again I swerved in front of him. On his third attempt, I let him get around. I've known Dan since he was a young kid running in Jr High School and he is a great kid. It was also nice to see a brother and sister running together and enjoying each others company while they kick the back side of their competitors. OH, I forgot to mention that Cathy had ran from her parents house, some 5 miles away as a warm up. Anyway the pair just trotted away from me up the hill.

Next came Allen Hall. As he passed me he gave me some words of encouragement and told me to tuck in behind him. I was spent. I was hanging on for dear life. The last mile of the race I could see that Dan and Cathy had caught Ken and Allen was also in the hunt. I snuck a peek over my shoulder on the turn off the roads into the parking lot and saw Jill making a charge at me. We still had a 1/4 mile left to go and I was out of gas. This was going to be close. I pushed with what I had left and could hear her foot steps getting closer as we approached the track. I could also hear people cheering her on.

To get up on the track you have to run up this little rise that always seems to take any momentum I have away. I managed to carry a little speed onto the track and just nipped Jill. I'm certain that she will get me sooner or later.

So in the end I finished 7th. Kara ended up winning the race. Good for her she works so hard. In the over all series I'm leading the over 50 crew and hope to continue that through out the summer. So I may not have won the race but an acidotic RACING teammate did.

I do have some overall goals for this series:

1. Win the 50 - 59 age category

2. Break 23 minutes.

3. Long shot goal, win another race

4. Super long shot goal, beat David Katz in at least one race.

NEVER, EVER, AGAIN!!!

2009-06-22T07:58:00.007-04:00

Photo by Scott Mason

I want all my friends to go out to their garage and get a 2 x 4 and write my name on it. If I ever sign up for the Mt Washington road race again I want you ALL to use it on me. I don't want the 2 x 4's used to knock some sense into me, I want you to use them to knock me out completely. I've had tough days running before and I'm sure I'll have more in the future but the pain and suffering that goes on during this race is truly unmatched.

If you've been reading my blog, you'd know that I had a plan to run 1:29 which would have been right in line with my last 2 half marathons. My plan also had me staying in my own bed, in Gilford, NH which is only 1:40 away from the start. I had also pre-arranged my ride down the mountain. I pre-purchased all my food for breakfast. I had my sleek acidotic RACING gear all laid out. I was READY.

The morning of the race, everything went like clock work. David Katz had stayed with me over night and we planned to leave my place at 6 AM to head for the mountain. At 5:58 we were out the door. With one quick bio break we arrived at the mountain at 7:45 and secured a parking spot close to the tent and porta-potties. This spot turned into a super location because almost everyone had to go by us to get to the tent. One of the first people we encountered was Everett McBride who was running his 28th consecutive. Then there was Bill Morse who was also on his 28th. These guy's are NUTS!!

At 8:30 we hooked up with our ride down the mountain, a lady by the name of Mim Nelson. I had contacted her through the Mt Washington web forum. She was the best ride ever. She took our bags and once we reached the top had everything waiting for us. Best of all she was a safe driver.

Next was a quick warm up run. David and I did an easy 1 mile run down rt 16. Of course David needed another bio break at the turn around point. David must have emptied his blatter 6 times before the start of the race. I was in trouble. Always bet on a race horse that relieves himself before the start of a race. Me on the other hand was in some pain, my back was once again killing me. Why does this happen to me at this race?

With 15 minutes to go before the start we headed over to the start line. I ran into Double-J and we compare times of who arrived at the race first. I'm proud to say that I beat him again. This is getting too easy. Come on Jim give me a challenge.

David and I lined up 4 or 5 rows from the start. As we lined up I kept telling myself to take it easy and don't get caught up in the start. Bob, the race director made the final announcements and warned us that we would be running in a cloud for most of the race but the top was clear and the good news was "there was only one hill"!!

The cannon was fired and we were off. Holy SHAT that cannon is loud and the concussion hits you like a brick wall. Anyway we started down the small hill to the flats of the race. I looked down at my watch and it told me I was running 6:30 per mile. This race was way to easy. David was right at my side. Then it happened, the road turned, not left, not right, but UPPPP!!! Within 100 yards on the hill my heart rate was already up to 180. I was red lining and I wasn't even a half mile into the race. By the 3/4 mile mark I was reduced to a pile of jello and was forced to walk to regroup. This was going to be a long day. At the mile marker I could see David already had 100 yards on me and was running strong. Mile 2 brought more of the same. I kept battling the mountain mile after mile but I just couldn't keep the running going. At mile 2 the legendary Steve Peterson passed me, and David was now out of sight.

Mile 3, David Lapierre passed me. I tried to strike up a conversation with him but he was way down deep inside himself and wasn't uttering a word. At the halfway point I was at 45:02. Slower then I wanted to be but a 1:30 was still possible. However I was suffering. Walking was now painful. I was not alone. It seemed that everyone around me was doing the exact same thing I was, run a little, walk a little, run a little, walk a lot. Back and forth a we battled all the way up the mountain. At mile 6 I could hear a guy coming up behind me who made more groaning noises then anyone I've ever heard. It was a relief when he finally passed me. At this point we had just poked through the clouds and it was absolutely beautiful out. We were up above the clouds and the view was spectacular. At least that's what they tell me. All I could see was my feet on the ground as my head hung down while I continued my slow tutelage up the mountain.

Mile 7 passed by and I could see the top of the mountain. Time to push it to the top. I gathered all the strength I had left and gave it one more push. Going up the wall I passed 4 or 5 people and just before I finished I saw David on the left side of the finish area with a huge smile on his face, screaming for me to finish strong. Well I finished but I don't think it was strong. I was totally spent. I hurt all over. The nice thing was that it was absolutely spectacular on top. It had to be 60 degrees with no wind and 100% sun shine. David quickly ran over to me and uttered the 5 words he has been dieing to use on me "WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG". He earned the right to use those words. David had ripped off a 1:23!!! This was his first attempt at running up the mountain. However he had biked up it twice, with a PR of 1:21. I bet he has one of the fastest combined times ever.

Mim ran over to us and got us to our bags. We quickly changed and relaxed. What a day, we were on top of the world at a location that claims the worst weather on earth and it was warm and sunny. What more could you ask for?

Soon Mim's third runner showed up, Eric Johnson and he was happy with his effort. By 2:30 we were heading back down the mountain and would be one of the first cars back in the field. I had done some planing for this and brought a cooler which had cup holders built into it and 2 deck chairs. We both secured our meals and enjoyed them while relaxing behind my Xtera.

My splits:

Mile Time Heart Rate

1 9:18 169

2 11:55 174

3 13:39 169

4 13:17 168

5 14:44 168

6 14:22 165

7 13:59 165

7.6 12:44 167

Official time was 1:38:00, my watch clocked me in at 1:37:57. Either way I finished.

Remember get those 2 x 4's ready.

Sometimes it's all about showing up!

2009-06-19T07:08:00.002-04:00

Last night I decided that I needed one more tune up run before Saturday's run up the rock pile. I decide to run race #1 in the Westford Summer Series. This race is a series of 10 races over the summer (dah) with each person scoring points in their age category. So the race is not about wining the entire race but beating the people in your age category and showing up to as many races as possible. The race distance is weird at 3.6 miles. The race gets anywhere from 40 to 200 people on a weekly basis.

So last night my plan was to go and run 30 seconds per mile slower then I usually run a 5K race, that way I'd get a decent workout without killing my legs for Saturday. A small crowd showed up because of the rain. I took a look at the field and saw Allen Hall who has kicked my back side many times over the years. I figured he'd be the one to beat. Also there was some teenagers, and 2, 30'something guys who looked like they could motor.

The "GO" command was issued and I was running stride for stride with Allen. Behind us was some of the teenagers and both of the 30 year old's. Allen and I were joking around a bit because neither of us really wanted to race. After about 1/2 a mile I started jawing at one of the teenagers to get up front and take the lead. He responded that he was fine tucked in behind me to my left. OK then, I saw a large puddle just up a head, so I yelled back to the kid, "if you're not going to take the lead then you're going to get good and WET". So instead of giving way to the puddle, I slowed a little bit so the kid was trapped and would have to run straight through it. He managed to avoid it by making a sharp turn to go around it onto the grass but ended up falling on the wet grass. He popped up quickly and yelled "what did you do that for"? One of the 30 year old's yelled back, "you just got played by an old guy"!! I also chimed in with "us old guys have quiet a few tricks up our sleeves". Soon the kid was shat out the back side of the pack.

There were four of us together when we hit the mile in 6:13. Which was still 17 seconds faster then I wanted to be so I slowed it down a bit. No sense in blowing my Mt Washington race for this one. One of the 30 year old's came around me and took the lead. Allen and the other 30 year old started to drop back. I just let this guy get a 20 yard lead and stalked him for the next 2.4 miles. I hung right behind him and never took the lead UNTIL, I could tell that he was tiring. His breathing was labored and his form was starting to break down. With 2/10's of a mile left to go I went around him and quickly put 30 yards on him. He was broke, I took a quick look over my shoulder and his head was looking down and his form was now ugly. I cruised onto the track and took the W, in just under 6:30 per mile. Right where I wanted to be.

For my efforts I received a pat on the back from the race director and a "that a boy" from some of the people milling around.

This series is a lot of fun. You just never know who's going to show up. But you do know that there will always be someone there to race against.

The race series benefits the Westford Academy Cross Country team which my daughter belongs to. The race Director is Paul Poisson who is the coach and a great guy.

Come on down some Thursday night for moderately challenging run and meet a few new people and catch up with some old friends.

The Rock Pile Awaits

2009-06-18T07:53:00.006-04:00

Why am I doing this? My first attempt up the Mtn was back in 1990. The weekend prior to the race I pulled a groin muscle and was unable to take long strides. I can remember being at the bottom with my wife and 3 month old son wondering what I was going to do. That morning I got some advise from Jim Concannon of the GLRR to just stay under control and when I got to a point where I could see the top with about 400 meters to go, hold back just a bit until I hit the WALL and then give it all I had. Little did Jim know that armed with this knowledge I would go on to pass him on the WALL and beat him by 3 seconds. Just 4 seconds in front of me was Mike Beeman, and just after he finished he started panicking because for some reason he was unable to see. I along with DD grabbed him and helped him out. I also remember it being very warm at the bottom and once we got under the trees the green house effect set in and it got even warmer. But by the time we reached the top I was COLD!!! All I could think of was that I wanted to get off this mtn and I would never do this race again. I road down the mtn in the back of a pickup truck with 5+ others including Tom Carrol (aka Crazy).

At the bottom, my wife had spread out a blanket and set up a picnic for the 3 of us. Petey stopped by and proceeded to play with my 3 month old son for 30+ minutes. After he left my turns to me and says; "Who the H3!! was that, is he safe to have around kids". I assured my wife that Petey was one of the nicest people she'll ever meet and is a little kid in his own right.

At the bottom I realized that this was not a race but a survival test and I would NEVER do something this STUPID to my body again!!!

1999, 9 years later a group of friends convinced me to go back for a "Men's Weekend". We decided to have a little competition amongst us. Two on Two, based on combined time. Loosing team buys the food for our cook out later that night. It was Keith Spinney and Ken Rousseau VS. Joe Karner and myself. We knew this would be close, Keith was a strong runner in his day and once ran a 2:33 at Boston. His team mate Ken could hold is own. My team mate Joe was in super shape and I was hoping that he could give Keith a run for his money. I on the other hand was a slug and was hoping that I'd hang in to edge out Ken by just enough to nullify any advantage that Keith got on Joe.

During the race I remember thinking "what am I doing here"? You'd think that I was smart enough to stay away from this race. I remember hitting the top and quickly getting changed and ran down the mtn in 52 minutes. I beat all the cars down and was the first person on the massage tables. My quads hurt for days because of the run down.

Our plan worked out perfect, Joe kept on Keith's tail the entire race and I was lucky to edge out Ken. Those steaks on the grill sure tasted great that night. Thanks Keith and Ken!!

2007, 8 years later. What was I thinking? 1 week before the race I hurt my back on a 50 mile bike ride and was in so much pain that I was crawling on all 4's until Wednesday. My crawl was so poor that my youngest child got down along side of me and said "Daddy, you don't know how to crawl, watch me and I'll teach you". Kids are to funny! Later that afternoon I decided to go see a doctor. The doctor check me over and determined that I had strained a muscle in my lower back. He suggested that I lay down for a week or two and take mass quantities of Advil. So I asked him if it was OK to run Mt. Washington in 3 days. He shook his head and said; "Oh NO, you're a runner"? I proudly replied "YES". He then stated "You're not going to lay down and rest are you"? "NO" I replied. He just shook his head and walked away.

Friday night Joe Karner and I headed up to Jackson to pick up our numbers. We went over the carriage house to listen to DD give a talk about the race. I was sitting on the floor and in tears because DD was so boring...Just kidding, My back was killing me. Joe and I headed over to our hotel and all we needed to do was cross rt 16 to get some dinner. Sounds simple but I think it took me 30 minutes to complete this 50 yard walk. I was still in some serious pain. The next morning I filled my body with Advil to try and loosen up. I was laying next to my car at the base of the mtn wonder not only how I was going to run up this massive pile of rock, but how I was going to roll over so I could stand up. If you've ever injured your back you'd understand what I'm talking about. If not, you are lucky and don't know pain.

As I took the long walk over to the starting line I was bent over and hoping for a miracle. As I reached the starting line I quickly realize that I need to move further back in the pack then I usually do. In fact I went all the way to the back. After the cannon was fired, I was the last person to cross the starting line. How was I going to make it up this thing? Every step added pressure to my already fragile back.

Once we left the flats and started the climb I started to get some momentum. Because my back was already bent it kinda helped me and because everyone was running so slow I was passing people. At about the mile marker I caught Joe. He looked over at me in amazement. "What the @%@% are you doing" he shouted. I thought for a split second and realized that I was doing something very stupid and almost stopped dead in my tracks. I just couldn't keep the pace going. I backed it down and then proceeded to do a run a little, walk a little routine until I reach the WALL. I finally gathered the energy to try and finish strong. I kicked it into what felt like HYPERSPACE and passed several people on the WALL. When I crossed the finish line I was in more pain then I ever experienced in my life. Once again I swore I'd never do this race again.

They took a photo of me at the finish line (the one at the start of this blog). It was so funny that a bunch of friends, purchased it and had it placed on the front of a Wheaties box. It was presented to me at our annual holiday dinner as the "First Annual PHAT Award". PHAT stands for Pain...Heavy At Times. Which is my nick name. Every year these guys give it out to the person in the group (ROAG, a story for another day) who puts themself through the most pain to complete a race. I'm sorry to say I've won this award 2 years in a row.

My times are listed below along with my prediction for this year.

Year Place Time Pace Age

1990 74 1:20:40 10:37 31

1999 195 1:32:47 12:13 40

2007 326 1:50:26 14:32 48

2009 100 1:29:00 50 Predicted!!

Let's all have some fun Saturday!!

I finally got the W!!!

2009-06-14T14:25:00.003-04:00

In the over 50 age category that is. Since turning 50 I've finished in the top 3 of the 50 and over age category in every race (except for The Boston Marathon), but had yet to finish 1st in the age category. I've been close, one race it was announced that I won but after a couple of days of "fixing" the results I ended up 3rd. In another race I was the first to cross the finish line but they were using chip time and a guy who finished behind me got the W.

Today I headed down to Concord, MA to run the Emerson Hospital 5K run for cancer race. After last weeks very poor showing in Andover (19:48 5K) I wanted to change things up a bit and see if I could redeem myself.

First change was to wear the acidotic RACING White & Blue racing singlet and shorts. Second, instead of starting the race with no real warm up, I did a 2.3 mile easy run on the course. Third, I was going to start the race more conservatively, at least that was the plan.

As always I arrive at the race site early, and it was pouring. This was going to be a wet day no matter what happened. I quickly signed in and went back to my car to get ready for my warm up run. I had a map of the race course so I decided to do my warm up on the course. During my warm up the rain just kept coming down. I finished up and was soaked. It's a good thing I had a total change of running gear for the race.

As I lined up for the start of the race I started up a conversation with a guy who was wearing a BAA singlet. His name was Kyle Bowers. He ran a 2:52 in Boston so I knew that I wasn't going to be finishing to close to him. In addition there were a number of young (teenagers) runners up front who looked like they were going to go out fast. I wasn't going to get drawn into that trap like last weekend.

The race started right on time and sure enough the teenagers went out fast. Kyle was right behind them. I held the horses back and ran very controlled. I was running in 10th place but gaining on some of the people who had got caught up in the start. I hit the mile marker in 5:45 but my watch, a Garmin 305, had not registered the mile point until 5:50. Either way I was much faster then last weekend. So much for my racing plan. But for some reason, I felt much better then last weekend. Could be the warm up run, or maybe it was because I didn't sprint out at the start. At this point I was running in 6th place and that's where I would stay for the remainder of the race.

Below are all my splits

1 5:50

2 6:17 12:07

3 6:12 18:19

3.1 :34 18:53

Overall pace 6:05's

So I ran nearly a minute faster then last weekend and I finally got the W in the 50 year old age category!

I'll take it!!

I guess I need to do another track workout this week so I'll have even more speed for "The Rock Pile" next weekend. RIGHT!!!

Red Sky in the morning...Runners.....

2009-06-09T08:06:00.005-04:00

Go to the TRACK......OOOOOCCCCCCCHHHHHH!! Forecast for today....Pain...Heavy At Times (aka PHAT).

OK it's been some 15 years since I've been to a track to do 440's. I hate the track and the track hates me. I stopped going years ago because every time I went I viewed every quarter like it was a race and always ended up with a pulled hammy.

So after my less then stellar 5K over the weekend I decided that I needed to get to the track to increase my speed (or at least get a little speed). As I was driving into work this morning at the early hour of Dark:OH:30 I took this picture while on RT 128. Was this my warning as to what was coming? I hoped it wasn't but knew that there was some Pain in the forecast.

Now I've been working in Medford for 2.5 years and rarely run from work because the area SUCKS for running. It's a mismash of roads with lights at every corner and way to much traffic. But yesterday I hooked up with an old friend and she showed me a route that brought us by a track just 1.5 miles from the office. I figured that this was the perfect setup with a warm up and cool down built in.

So I got into work and started my 1.5 miles to the track. The plan as always was simple:

1. Do 1.5 mile warm up

2. Do 6, 440's at 5K pace with 440 rest in between

3. Do 1.5 mile cool down

I arrived at the track in Malden and it was a little funky, because it was a 5 lane track around the football field. I guess the main attraction was the football field and the track was just an added bonus. I did one easy loop around the track to make sure there were no bad footing areas and to make sure I still understood how to run on a track. There was one other guy going through his paces on the track but he soon vacated once he saw my pure speed circling the oval (or was he just dieing of laughter?).

Anyway, it was time to get this show on the road. I started my first quarter and my left leg was very tight as well as my left achillies. I was not fluid or even bumpy, I was more like a truck with 4 flat tires going over rail road ties. NOT PRETTY AT ALL. My time was so poor that I'm embarrased to even share it but it was a 110. Not 1 minute and 10 seconds, but 110 seconds or translated to 1 minutes and 50 seconds. Which means I was running a 7:20 mile. AAARRRGGG! How is this possible? I was hurting really bad too. Now I'm thinking to myself, WTF I ran 6:55's at Boston, now I can only manage 7:20' for 1 quarter. I was in trouble. I did my 440 rest loop and was hoping it would get better on the next quarter.

As I approached the starting line I took a deep breath and I was off. Still nothing was working right. Every other step was painful, my left leg was killing me. I finished up quarter number 2 in 103. Well it was a little better but still slow. Quarter number 3 was a little better at 99 seconds. Still that's only 6:36's. I need to change things up. I decided to reverse directions on the track and run clock wise. I thought that by doing this some of the preasure on my left leg would be relieved. Quarter number 4 clocked in at 97 (6:28's). Seeing that I was only going to do 6 quarter I wanted # 5 to be an all out attack. As I started out I kept telling myself to shorten my stride and increase the turnover rate and LIFT you're dam knees!!! I hit the 22o mark in 45 seconds, I was a MACHINE, a slow machine but I was moving faster then I have moved for the past couple of years. The last 100 yards things started to tighten up and I struggled to the finish in 89 seconds (5:56), YEEESSSS!!! Now the key was could I do it again? I thought I had used all of my energy on # 5, but I needed to prove to myself that I could push myself through the pain. As I started out on quarter #6 I could feel that I was running slower, but I decided to see if I could run the first 220 easy and then kick in the last 220. At the 220 mark I was at 49 seconds. I was much slower (10%) then quarter number 5 but at least I was feeling good and had some reserves to finish strong. I kicked it up a bit for the final 220 and finished in 91 seconds (6:04). Not to bad, I'll take it.

As I look over my times I know I can do better, but this was a good starting point. My short term goal is to run most of my quarters at 85 and long term to get them down to 80's. I figure if I go to the track at least once a week I should be able to achieve this by August. We shall see. Below is a summary of my times.

Quarter 1 110

Quarter 2 103

Quarter 3 99

Quarter 4 97

Quarter 5 89

Quarter 6 91

So the red sky did indecate a storm was brewing and now as I type this my legs are telling me it was a really bad storm.

5K's are just way to FAST!!

2009-06-08T08:13:00.003-04:00

Sunday was perfect, weather wise. Over the past several months I've run 3 races, 2 half marathons and a marathon. So my slow twitch muscles are working fairly well. With Mount Washington Road Race just 2 weeks away I wanted to test my ability to have my heart rate shoot into the stratosphere then settle into a rhythm that stressed me but didn't break me. So on Friday I combed the pages of Coolrunning.com for a 5K race close to home. I was lucky, I found 2 races on Sunday that would do the trick. One at 9 AM in Andover (The Krit Classic 5K) and one at 10:30 in Lowell (Lowell Firefighters 5K). Then I started thinking that "hey I'm in good shape, if I do Andover and still fell good I can shoot down to Lowell and do a double". Sometimes I have these types of thoughts go through my head and forget that I'm 50 and the days of doing 5 races in one weekend are long gone. But I figured why not set myself up for it.

So I left my house at 7 AM and quickly arrived in Andover for the race. As always I was one of the first people to arrive and was able to sign up in no time. I checked out the list of runners they had on the wall and quickly realized 2 things. First, they had over 1000 people already signed up for the race. That was truly impressive considering it was a first year event. Second, most of the big guns were down at Rhody's race, which meant I stood a good chance of doing well. As I watch people file in I didn't recognize a single person. None of the top guys were here. However I did spot a group of high school age kids who seemed to be floating down the road warming up. I hooked up with them and found out that one of them had run in the 9:40's for the 2 mile this spring. He was the man to beat today. Not that I had anything to say about it. In talking to the kids they told me that the course was in a lollipop shape and it was down hill the first mile, leveled off for the 2nd mile and up hill for the third mile. My take was that this course would maximise pain, pure speed the first mile, a little recovery the 2nd and all pain and suffering the last mile.

As we lined up the kids took their place in the front row, I settled in off to the side. A women with an air horn walked up and without uttering a word sounded the horn. HOLY SH!%@$, what a fast start. The high school students ran in a pack up front with 2 or 3 older guys tagging along. I settled in next to this woman who was 5 foot nothing and must have weighted 95 pounds soaking wet. She had a quick turnover rate. Her and I battled back and forth the first mile then I just couldn't continue to hold on and let her go. I hit the mile at 6:01, which for me was fast but I figured I was OK, however my heart rate was through the roof. I need to settle down the 2nd mile and recover. I was now running in no mans land and finished up the second mile in 12:21 (6:20 split). I had slowed considerably. I need to pull it back together and push the 3rd mile but I was beat and knew that it was all up hill from here. At this point we were now going by the people who were still running the 1st mile. The road was packed and car traffic was making it even worst. At one point I had to yell out to oncoming runner who were not paying attention to what was coming at them. I hit mile 3 in 19:05 (6:44 split) and all of a sudden I stumbled. I recovered quickly but lost some momentum. At this point a young girl (28) had pulled along side of me and was aiming to beat me. Well it's one thing for a well seasoned women to crush me at the mile marker, but it's a real pride killer to be out kicked by a girl wearing an Ipod. My legs were not able to sprint at this point so I needed to use another strategy, I raise my elbows up and every time she tried to get around me I slide in front of her and did not let her pass. In the end I beat her by less then 1 second and clocked in at 19:48 and ended up 15th over all out off 990 finishers, and 2nd in my age category.

I was hurting. I quickly realized that a 2nd race was out of the question. I could barely walk. So I just hung out for the results which when they came out and were posted on the wall of the gym, they were in a random order. We tried to figure out what order they were in but we eliminated the following possibilities, Race Number, Age, first name, last name, race time, town, and state. So figuring out how you placed we very difficult for everyone except for the first couple of people. At the awards ceremony they announced the top 3 in each category then everyone went up at once and was handed their award. I walked away with a Bauer sweatshirt. That was the first time I received a hockey item at a road race. Beggars can't be choosers!!

What did I learn? I just don't have the turnover that I need for short races. I need to get to a track once a week and work on my speed. I can't do more then one race a week. Lastly I like the acidotic RACING red uniforms. They are comfortable and there fast looking even if the person wearing them is a slug (that's me).

Did a sweet trail run on Sunday

2009-05-18T08:28:00.003-04:00

Trail running is not my thing. I tend to turn ankles, fall or just get tuckered out. The plan was to hook up with 4 other ROAGites in Groton at the end of Cow Pond Road to run the trails. I had planned on racing Sunday but family commitments prevented me from doing so.

The trails we were to run I've run before but only in snowshoes. In fact it the same set of trails that my wife and I got lost on and I had to ditch the SS and run back on the roads to get the car. For some reason my wife has not gone snowshoeing since. Go figure!

The 5 of us headed out and quickly got ourselves up onto an ester that was a lot of fun. After doing a loop and retracing some steps we were heading across the street for some trails that were new to me. These trails were made by mtn bikers and it showed. They were very technical and were constantly turning. This trail also featured many rock formation climbs and descents. I was very nervous on the rocks because rock, moss and rain make for some very poor footing.

I managed to stay upright the entire run but one person wasn't so lucky. David K. went crashing to the ground right in front of me. He popped up quickly and was uninjured. We finished up with 5.6 miles of trail running in 54 minutes. Not fast but it was nice to be out.

I'm a sore loser!!

2009-05-12T09:06:00.005-04:00

Photo by Kristin Wainwright

That's right, I hate to lose and who doesn't? I believe that running is all about putting it all on the line and when the gun goes off it's about how much pain you are willing to endure to beat the guys near you. Yeah there will always be people much better then you, but they are also running their own race against people near them. So it's all about the group your running against.

I think that Chip timing is a good idea when it comes to qualifying for Boston but other wise it has no place in racing. For years runners have been self seeding themselves at races without much direction from race organizers. Of course you will always get the weekend warrior who will try and get up front and go out hard for the first 100 yards of a race but is soon shat out the back side. Other wise self seeding has worked.

Last weekend I ran the Big Lake Half. I've run this race every year since it's inception 8 years ago. It's a "Scenic Race" these are code words for NH races meaning, hilly with the possibility of mountains. So I knew the course was tough and I would be challenged. The race was chip timed, which I know makes it easier for the race officials to post the results but I was unaware that chip times were going to be used to give out awards. To me this makes no sense.

As you can see from the picture above I was clearly ahead of the 2 other guys in the photo as we approached the finish line. However in the results it shows that both of these guys beat me. The guy just behind me #734 challenged me in the last 50 yards. I kicked with everything I had left and just beat him by a second or two. Yet the results show that he beat me by 9 seconds. WRONG!!! I out kicked him. The guy further back in the photo I beat by about 7 seconds yet in the results it shows that he beat me by 4 seconds. WRONG AGAIN!! I beat him to the finish line fair and square. What I really think is funny is on race day he was listed as 50 years old. Yesterday he was listed as 49 years old. As of 10 minutes ago he was listed as 50 years old again. WTF!!!!

My question would be what if the winner (first across the finish line) of the race beat the 2nd place guy by 1 second but the guy in 2nd place crossed the starting line 2 seconds after the gun. Would they give the win the the 2nd place guy? I don't think so!!! So why would they use chip timing for awards in the age categories? It just doesn't make sense.

So if you want to race me, line up next to me and don't rely on chip timing to stealth in for the win. I want a chance to beat you man to man.

I'll get off my soap box now. I feel much better.

What's in a name?

2009-05-11T08:04:00.005-04:00

Photos by Kristin Wainwright

On Saturday I raced the Big Lake Half Marathon up in Alton, Bay NH. If you recall a couple of weeks ago there was a big fire up in Alton. It wiped out a ton of small places right by the finish line. Any way it seemed to be a good day for racing. It was a little warm, around 60 with partly cloudy skies.

As I was thinking about writing this blog on my way home from Alton Bay on Saturday, I realized there were just to many Title's I could use so I decided to write this blog using the titles that I came up with.

1. "I beat JJ today" OK, I always show up early to races. How early well that all depends on the distance. At a 1/2 marathon, at least 2 hours early. Chris Dunn is of the same mind set and I hooked up with Chris and his wife Karen at registration. We then were hanging out by Chris's car when a bright yellow Xterra drove up with Jim and Kristin. So Chris and I beat JJ today!

2. "acidotic RACING is STYLE'N" That's right, Chris brought with him our new team shirts. They are really nice, read and black colors, so they must be fast! In addition I ordered a white and blue tanktop for summer racing and also got the team shirt for the Reach The Beach relay. Add to that the shirt from the race and I walked away with 4 shirts. My wife is going to kill me.

3. "That's going to leave a Mark" Mile one was fast, how fast you ask? Well for me it was the fastest mile I've run in the past couple of years. 5:57.03. Now I've heard that this is a short mile but I was feeling really loose and it didn't' really surprise me. How ever I knew that I was in trouble.

4. "Myles pass by" At mile 2 Myles Chase pulled up along side of me. Myles is my "EXPERT" bike mechanic and owner of MC Cycles of Laconia. Myles is very fit and is a strong biker. He was shooting to run sub 1:25. I thought I had an out sided chance of running with him but once he passed me it was for good.

5. "Cannon ball in my gut" At mile 3 my stomach was starting to bother me. It felt like I had a heavy weight in my stomach. I was starting to slow down.

6. "I'm Dunn" During mile 4 Chris Dunn ran past me like I was standing still. He then slowed down and said that he was going to pace with me. That only lasted about 50 yards and he started pulling away. At the half way point he had 50 seconds on me and was still running strong.

7. "Major Slow Down" Miles 5 and 6 are up a long steady hill. When you reach the top you are at the entrance of the Mt Major parking lot. I was slowing down and needed to get it going again.

8. "I'm getting double Chicked" The first woman passed me around 1.5 miles into the race. Now the 2nd woman passed me at 6.5. She was young and flying and there was no way I was going to be able to catch her.

9. "Chuck and Run" At around mile 8 I noticed a young kid around 19 years old had pulled over and had his hands on his knees. He was blowing chow, it looked like Gatoraide had taken it's toll on him. I figured this was my chance to pass him. But much to my surprise, this kid finished up with his technicolor yawning and jumped right back in running 6:30's. I knew that I was not going to be able to beat this kid. Anyone who can loose their lunch and then start running full speed seconds later is to tough for me.

10. "Game ON" At mile 11 there was a kid about 50 yards a head of me. I figured that if I pushed it I could catch him with in a mile and then would have to work hard during mile 13 to put some distance between us so he wouldn't be able to beat me with his kick. At least that was the plan. At the 12 mile mark I caught the kid. As I passed him he started to break and slow down. I shouted to him, "tuck in behind me and we'll work together, DON'T GIVE UP". For the next mile that's just what he did. With a tenth of a mile to go, he came around me and started his kick. I don't have a kick so I watched him pull away. Then I heard foot steps behind me. No way I was going to let another person pass me so close to the finish. I gave it everything I had and ended up beating the guy by about 2 seconds. Note to self: "If you want to beat someone towards the end of a race don't give him the plan on how to beat you".

11. "I got CHIPPED" At the finish I figured I ran well enough to place 2nd in my age category. I knew that there was one guy a head of me who looked my age so I was content to take 2nd. When the results came out it showed that another 50 year old guy beat me by 1 place and 6 seconds. Hold on the kid in front of me was only around 18 and the next guy in front of him was a couple hundred yards a head of him. Where did this 50 year old guy come from? At the awards I spoke with him and he said that he got a slow start across the chip timing mat. In fact he crossed the timing mat 15 seconds after the gun was fired. Off the gun he finished behind me but because they were using chip timing he finished a head of me. The awards for 2nd and 3rd were exactly the same so it really didn't matter. Maybe I'm old school but, this kind if ticked me off. Awards should be based on gun time, not on chip time. How do you race against someone if you don't know they are there? This guy should have seeded himself up towards the front with the rest of us. To top it all off I just checked the results this morning and now it shows his age as 49....AAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!

12. "Last Myles to slow" I told you about Myles Chase trying to break 1:25. Well he came as close as you can get but failed. 1:25:01. Talk about close.

13. "Dunn Right" Chris Dunn ran a fantastic race placing 20th with a time of 1:27:01. He was 2nd in the 40 - 44 age category. It must me the Shirt!!!

13.1 Liz Hall ended up wining her age category with a time of 1:32:27 and Karen Dunn set a PR for herself. Way to go LADIES!!

Photos by Kristin Wainwright

Below are my splits

1 5:57
2 6:37
3 6:43
4 6:55
5 6:56
6 7:05
7 6:36
8 6:45
9 7:22
10 6:19
11 7:18
12 6:54
13 6:54
13.1 42

Total 1:29:08 Pace 6:48

Dead Legs

2009-04-30T14:54:00.002-04:00

It's been 10 days since the Boston Marathon and I've managed to get out the door 6 times. That doesn't look to bad when I type it but I must say that it has been a struggle. My legs are just plan tired.

Each time I go out I'm doing 9+ miles but I just don't have any bounce in my step. When I run with friends they tend to drop me within 2 miles and I'm never able to recover. In fact I get to such a low point in my running speed that I may be running 10+ minute miles. And that's on the roads.

I'm guessing that I need to give my body a rest and do a ton of stretching exercises. So I'm off to Miami this Saturday for a week long seminar at the Doral Resort & Spa. I've scoped out the area and I think the high point in the area may be 10 feet above sea level. So doing hill work is out of the question. So I will rest the best I can and some how get ready for my next race.

Next up, Saturday, May 9, Big Lake Half Marathon in Alton Bay, NH. I've done this race every year they've had it. This race used to be put on by endorfun but Keith Jordan has decided to focus more on directing Tri's. LOCO is now in charge of this race. I believe the format and everything else is the same.

Hopefully my legs will be back to their bouncy form once again so I can glide across the scenic roads (NH code words for hills).

The Boston Marathon

2009-04-21T11:02:00.007-04:00

Question: How many people does it take to train someone for a marathon?

Answer: A whole village

That’s right it took a whole lot of people to help me get this one done. First off there were my training partners: David Katz, Peter Floss, and Mike O’Connor. These three guys were unbelievable in their dedication to putting in the miles through every kind of weather. On every single run they kick my back side and wouldn’t let me give in. Then there were cameo appearances from Tom Skahen on Tuesdays and Norman Kim on Thursdays both of whom would hammer our group twice a week. In addition there was the whole ROAG nation from Westford and surrounding towns (Roudenbush Outdoor Athletic Group). The moral support they provided us on a daily basis gave me the extra little push I needed to keep up with the training. In addition there were 3 groups of ROAGites out on the course that provided us with our nutrition. One group at mile 6 another at mile 16, and the last at mile 20. It’s always good to see friendly faces along the way.

Then there was the support of the Greater Lowell Road Runners. On four consecutive weekends the volunteers drove us down to the course and followed us to give us water every 3 miles. Thanks Glenn Stewart for organizing these runs and thanks to the volunteers for helping out. In addition the GLRR bus to the marathon makes the job of getting to the race and cleaning up after a “no hassle event”.

Then there was the help of my secret weapon, P90X. This training program is not really geared toward marathoning but is geared toward overall fitness. I can’t begin to describe the power this program gave me during the race. I STRONGLY recommend this program for anyone who is looking to PR in a marathon or any other athletic event. It’s one of the toughest things I’ve ever done but it is well worth it.

Lastly, I’d like to thank my wife Christine who has stood by me for so many years of running and over the last 4 months has endured my mood swings, complaining about sore muscles, provided me my nutritional needs, and was the strength behind my running.

The race weekend: I was lucky because I was able to pick up my number on Friday night. When they opened the doors to the number pick up there had to be over 1000 people already in line. With in 10 minutes I had my number, they got this down to a science. I then went into the expo and managed to not spend a dime. At the Adidas booth the line to pay for items had to be over an hour long. Adidas should take some lessons from the BAA on how to handle traffic. They could have easily doubled their sales.

On Saturday morning I once again headed into the expo, this time to work. Usually I hand out numbers but last year I jumped over to handing out shirts and had more fun so I figured I do the same thing this year. Sure enough I was selected to hand out the shirts. I was stationed in the men’s medium area but the position I was in I only handed out 2 shirts over the course of 3 hours. I was bored, but then again I had some entertainment.

Next to me was a 78 year old lady who was a ball of fire. She reminds me of my Meme’ who is still going strong at 92. This lady decided that if she wasn’t going to hand out many shirts she was going to shake every woman’s hand she could and congratulate them for running the race. She called over 100’s of women and shook their hand and made everyone of them feel special. She was worried that the BAA wouldn’t like what she was doing but I assured her that they would love it. The funny thing was when I was first teamed up with her I was worried that she would need breaks and there was no chair around. I managed to secure a chair and set it up for her. But she never used it once. I hope to have her energy when I’m 78.

While working the shirt hand out I managed to strike up a conversation with Mark Plaatjes who was the world champion back in the 80’s. I first met Mark a couple of years ago in Boulder, CO at his shoe store. It was 3 days after Boston and I was out in Boulder on business and decided to go into this running store. As I was paying for my stuff, I recognized this guy but just couldn’t place him. I asked him if he did Boston and he responded “yes”. I asked him his time and he said around 3:20. Of course I blurted out that “I guess I beat you” or something like that. He was modest and didn’t say anything more. As I was walking out of the store I noticed a picture of him with a time of 2:08, that’s when I realized who he was. I went back and shook his hand and congratulated him on all his efforts over the years. Anyway Mark was out at Boston to pace one of his runners through a 3:20. I just checked the results and Mark finished in a 3:29. I guess I beat him AGAIN!!!

Once again I left the expo without spending a dime. I’m getting good at this. On Sunday I just relaxed. Later on in the afternoon David Katz and I went into Boston to leave a car off so after we were finished we could head home and not have to hang around for the last GLRR runner to finish. We made quick work of this and managed to complete the task in 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Sunday night I was on my own and cooked up some brown rice and steak tips. That was the first pieces of steak I had in a long time. Boy was it good!! I managed to get myself off to bed by 9. However I was wide awake at 1 and finally fell back to sleep at 4. OUCH.

At 5 I was up and getting ready. I already had everything packed and just needed to clean up and go. I stopped at the little store down the street and bought 2 morning news papers for the ride and then picked up 4 bagels.

Next it was off to David’s house. David thought he would be funny and came bounding out of the house in a shower cap, just like he did 2 years ago during the rainy race. David and I were off to Cawley stadium in Lowell to get on the GLRR bus. When we arrived we unloaded my car of all the drinks for the team. Everything went like clock work.

We arrived in Hopkinton by 8 AM with only one glitch on the highway. For some reason the state police had closed a lane of traffic at the first Hopkinton exit, which backed up traffic a bit. Anyway we made it to Hopkinton with plenty of time to spare.

Once in Hopkinton I went out on the grass and stretched out for 45 minutes. While stretching I gobbled down 2 bagels and 2 bananas and washed it down with water and coke. For desert, 600mg of IBP. Now that’s the breakfast of champions!

At 9 AM it was time to head over to the chutes. I decided that it was warm enough to go with just a singlet and shorts, light Run The Rivah gloves, a Timberman tech hat and sun glasses. To top it all off I put on a drum liner trash bag to stay warm before the race. I was the first person to arrive in corral #5. I sat down in the front and waited. Soon they were playing the national anthem and the jets flew over our heads. Those jets are AWSOME. I guess they are able to get to Boston within 4 minutes of their fly over. WOW!

Within a few minutes the gun was fired. It took me over 2 minutes to reach the starting line due to my coral position. Not to worry, we’re using chip time so your time is based on when you cross the starting line.

Race goals:

1. Finish at all cost. I didn’t care what it would take I was going to finish.

2. Break 3:10. Last year I ran a 3:10:38 and wanted to be faster

3. Beat David Katz. David was in top shape and this goal would be tough.

4. Be the first Westford resident to finish. Now I’m really shooting for stretch goals.

5. And the real long shot, break 3 hours. I haven’t been able to do this since 1996 when I was 37 years old. Now I’m 13 years older and not much smarter.

How was I going to accomplish all this? I was going to go out so it felt that I was jogging for the first 16 miles, work the hills and hopefully have something left for the last 5 miles. I also wanted to make sure I was running sub 6:52’s to break 3 hours so I set my goal to run 21 minutes per 5K. Below are my splits.

Mile Splits Total time Pace / Mile

1 07:17.0 0:07:17 07:17.0

2 06:42.0 0:13:59 06:59.5

3 06:42.0 0:20:41 06:53.7

4 06:36.0 0:27:17 06:49.3

5 06:45.0 0:34:02 06:48.4

6 06:43.0 0:40:45 06:47.5

7 06:43.0 0:47:28 06:46.9

8 06:47.0 0:54:15 06:46.9

9 06:47.0 1:01:02 06:46.9

10 06:47.0 1:07:49 06:46.9

11 06:46.0 1:14:35 06:46.8

12 06:42.0 1:21:17 06:46.4

13 06:48.0 1:28:05 06:46.5

13.1 00:42.0 1:28:47 06:46.6

14 06:02.0 1:34:49 06:46.4

15 06:56.0 1:41:45 06:47.0

16 06:47.0 1:48:32 06:47.0

17 07:04.0 1:55:36 06:48.0

18 07:06.0 2:02:42 06:49.0

19 06:59.0 2:09:41 06:49.5

20 07:15.0 2:16:56 06:50.8

21 07:33.0 2:24:29 06:52.8

22 06:41.0 2:31:10 06:52.3

23 06:59.0 2:38:09 06:52.6

24 06:56.0 2:45:05 06:52.7

25 07:11.0 2:52:16 06:53.4

26 07:12.0 2:59:28 06:54.2

26.2 01:40.0 3:01:08 06:54.8

Mile 1 - 16 average 06:47.0 Right where I wanted to be

Mile 17 - 21 average 07:11.4 Faster then I've Ever run this part of the course

Mile 22 - 26.2 average 07:02.9 Not quite fast enough but still a major success

5K splits:

5K 21:24 Slow due the clog up at the start
10K 20:46 Good recovery
15K 21:01 Right where I want to be
20K 21:03 Right on again
25K 21:14 Slowing just a bit but still OK
30K 21:43 The hills are slowing me down
35K 22:10 Heart Break hill hurt
40K 21:47 Picking it up off the back side of Heart Break

Mile by Mile commentary:
Mile 1 was tough. There was a ton of traffic and I couldn’t get into a good rhythm. OMG, 7:17!! Don’t panic, I’ve got a long way to go.

Mile 2. Right on

Mile 3, Right on

Mile 4. To fast, slow down big fella

Mile 5. Right on

Mile 6 Right on

Mile 7 Right on

Mile 8 Right on

Mile 9 Right on

Mile 10. Right on

Mile 11 Right on At this point I passed Jill Trotter in front of Graham's Garage. She was looking strong.

Mile 12 Right on

Mile 13, Slowed up a little but I’m OK

Mile 13.1 Half way. I’m 4 seconds faster today then I was at the half marathon 2 weeks ago. YES!!

Mile 14 Right on

Mile 15 Starting to slip. Pull it back together

Mile 16 Right on. Last year I was at 1:51:11 so I’m in very good shape.

Mile 17 Over the 128 Bridge and I saw the ROAG boys. Thanks guys for the lift

Mile 18 NO! don’t tell me the wheels are coming off the bus

Mile 19 That’s a little better but I need to go faster to break 3 hours.

Mile 20 There goes one wheel.

Mile 21 There goes my second wheel. I then checked my watch and did some quick math. I had 35 minutes and 31 seconds to break 3 hours. Could I pull it back together was the question? I felt strong and figured I’d give it my best shot. I needed to average 6:49’s the last 5 miles. WTF..GO FOR IT!!!

Mile 22 YES!! I’m a finely tuned racing machine.

Mile 23 NO!!! Pull it back together. I can see the Citgo sign in Kenmore square. Here is also where I realized that I had not walked once and I wasn’t going to.

Mile 24 A little better but I’m loosing ground.

Mile 25 I’m done, I’ve lost to much time.

1 Mile to go marker. I checked my watch and I calculated that I needed to run a 6:10 in the last mile to break 3 hours. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!! Time to enjoy the ride home to the finish. Turn onto Boylston street. The crowds were nuts. I was enjoying myself and was throwing my arms up in the air to get more out of the crowd. I was having some fun.

At the finish I didn’t stop. I kept right on running and got my blanket and medal and made my way over to the hotel. I was second to arrive after Eric Beauchesne. I took a quick shower then got a massage. Right when I was finishing up the massage David Katz walked into the room and I utter the 5 words he loves to hear from me “What took you so long”!!! David had a phenomenal race. He ran a PR by 14 minutes and clocked in at 3:05, WOW. David then visited the medical tent. He does this every year for some reason only known to him. My guess is he’s trying to scoop some of the hot nurses. Pete finished up with a 3:21, and should be very proud. Pete is a BIG guy and to be able to move that mass that fast is incredible. All of use qualified for next years race!!

Last night I was able to watch the race. That was some effort by both Americans. I was even lucky enough to see me on the screen for 10 seconds coming down Boylston street. My form was poor at best.

How did I do against my goals?

1. Finish at all cost. Done

2. Break 3:10. Done

3. Beat David Katz. DONE!!!

4. Be the first Westford resident to finish. Done

5. And the real long shot, break 3 hours. Wait till next year!!!

More numbers

1. This was my fastest marathon since 1996.
2. This was my 8th fastest Boston marathon.
3. I finished 1450th out of 26,385 who signed up.
4. I was the 1374th male to finish the race.
5. I was beaten by 76 females.
6. I was 55th out of 1838 in the 50 – 54 age category
7. I was 6th out of 143 MA residents in the 50 – 54 age category
8. 1 was 11th New England resident in the 50 – 54 age category

Time to rest. Big Lake Half marathon in 3 weeks

I ran my first marathon today!!

2009-04-20T18:05:00.002-04:00

That's right, I've run 35+ marathons and never once was able to run the entire race with out stopping to walk. Today I never walked!! This was not my fastest marathon but it was one of my most satisfying. I can attribute it to one thing....P90X. If you've never heard of this, look it up.

I will provide more of an update tomorrow. Right now, I focused on 1 thing....ICE CREAM!

Don't Do Anything STUPID!!!!!

2009-04-05T19:08:00.004-04:00

A couple days ago I decided that I needed a test of my fitness to give myself some confidence for Boston. My plan was to run the Great Bay Half Marathon as a tempo run. So during the week I ran easier then normal and got my self ready for the race.

The Gym before the race.

On Saturday I took the day off from running but that didn't get me out of the honey-do list. So I busted my back side around the yard most of the day. One thing that I aways wait until after the marathon to do is cut the lawn. But Saturday I had it in my head that I was going to get it done. I went to start my very large landscapers mower with a pull starter and after about 10 pulls, my left lower back was screaming at me. So much for cutting the lawn. Now the question was would I be able to run? As the day turned into night I was hobbling around and thought that my race was done. I was then hoping that if I could get some good rest over night things would get better.

This morning I got up and nothing had changed. As I bent over to put my shorts on the pain in my back shot to my brain. OUCH!!! I was having serious doubts about the race. So it was time for the breakfast of champions...600mg of IBP. Hopefully this would help. I arrived at the race 2 hours early to make sure I had plenty of time to loosen up. In the gym I ran into Steve Wolfe who wasn't sure how he was going to do today. He seemed burnt out from last weekends Eastern States 20 miler. In addition I ran into a very old friend from Chelmsford High School, Dennis Ducharme who was a couple years behind me but was a very good runner, better then me of course. After spending the majority of time stretching out in the gym it was time to head to the starting line. My back was not happy, as I jogged to the starting line it hurt with every step. Was this a good idea? Remember don't do anything STUPID!!. Soon it was GO TIME! The command was given and we were off.

Steve Wolfe Getting ready

I decided to take it as easy as possible during the first mile, then pick it up and see how things were going. To my surprise I ran a 6:28...SLOW DOWN IDIOT, Don't Do Anything STUPID!! There were a lot of people in front of me, most likely 70+. Now was not the time to panic. I decided to just keep on moving and to my surprise my back had loosened up. Should I start to pick it up...Don't do anything STUPID!!! I held back. I could see about 100 yards a head of me was John Tuttle who I knew was in his 50's and was a very good runner (I've never beaten him). I just held my pace and bid my time. over the next 9 miles the course is a roller coaster and really beats you up. Not to mention the wind was very strong in areas. John just stayed 100 yards in front of me the who time and was running in a pack that kept dropping people and I ended up catching them all and shat them out. But not John.

At the 10.5 mile mark I noticed that Dennis Ducharme was about 200 yards a head of me. So now I had a target. John T was now out of sight. So I worked the 11th mile hard and caught Dennis at the 11 mile mark. As I went by he said he was dead and the hills and the wind had taken it's toll on him. I gave him some words of encouragement and continued on my way. I picked off another couple of runners in the last 2 miles and knew there was a guy closing in on me. I just kept it smooth right on to the finish. Don't Do Anything STUPID.

So I ended up in 39th place with a 1:29:52 and John Tuttle was in 38th 49 seconds in front of me. Now the question was, was there any other old guys in front of John? Neither one of us knew the answer to this question.

I managed to locate Steve Wolfe and talked him into doing a cool down run, I needed to get 15 in for the day. Steve was disappointed in his race. Heck he ran a 1:25:11 for 24th place, I would take it. So Steve, me and another guy when out for a 2 mile cool down. It's good thing we did, my legs were already tightening up. When we got back the result still weren't up. For some reason it took almost 3 hours from when the race started until they were able to post the results. To my surprise I ended up in 2nd place for the 50-54 year old age category. I'll take it seeing that my overall pace ended up being 6:47's. I wanted 6:45's but this course was tough and the wind made it very challenging.

Race splits below:

1. 6:28
2. 6:37
3. 6:39
4. 6:44
5. 6:41
6. 6:47
7. 6:37
8. 7:06
9. 6:58
10. 6:46
11. 6:52
12. 6:53
13. 6:59
13.1 :41

Total 1:28:52 39th out of 1243 runners.

Three Weeks till GO TIME!!!

2009-03-31T12:59:00.002-04:00

What a week for an old guy!!

Mon 3/23 9 miles in Medford
Tue 3/24 8 miles in Westford with ROAG
Wed 3/25 8 miles in Westford with ROAG
Thu 3/26 8 miles in Westford with ROAG
Fri 3/27 7 miles in Bolton with Joe, Spin and Glenn
Sat 3/28 21 miles on Boston course with Pete and David
Sun 3/29 REST!!!!

That totals 61 miles for the week. In addition I did a 60 to 90 minute P90X workout ever day including Sunday. By my calculations I spent over 15 hours exercising last week.

Which brings me to this week. On Monday I got up at 4 AM with every intention of running. Got my gear on and headed into work. I thought I'd do my standard 8 mile horseshoe. When I arrived at work it was still raining out so I decided to run on the treadmill. Not a good plan! I was still very tired from my long run on Saturday and after just 12 minutes I bagged the run and just did stretching exercises. I guess sometimes your body just knows when it's had enough.

Which brings me to today. I showed up early to the ROAG run and was able to get 3.8 miles in before the group showed up and then we put in a solid 5.5 miles, for a grand total of 9.3 miles. The really good news is my legs feel great this afternoon.

Just 3 more weeks to go. I need to make sure I don't do anything stupid. My wife told me yesterday that she thinks I'm ready. She said that I'm very grumpy lately and I complain about her not providing the right amount of carbohydrates at each meal. I can imagine what many people are thinking after reading this last sentence, "well make your own dam meals". And you'd be right. In fact, I do make most of my own meals. Breakfast, Lunch (yes I pack a lunch every day, I'm a runner and too cheap to buy lunch), and I help out with dinner every night. WOW did I go off track.

Anyway I think I'm ready, and all I want to do is one more 15+ mile run this weekend then start the taper. I'm not a real big fan of tapering because I start gaining weight so I tend to keep the mileage up but slow down a bit. So I'm thinking of running 8 - 9 miles a day up until Thursday before the race. Then run 5 on Friday, and 1 or 2 miles on Saturday and Sunday.

I just have to keep telling myself, "Don't do anything STUPID". NO FALLING!!!

2 good days in a row..WOW

2009-03-24T14:41:00.004-04:00

Wow, I think things are really coming together now. After Saturdays long run I took it easy and only did a P90X workout, and gave my legs a break on Sunday. So come Monday morning I was ready to go. My routine is starting to formulate into running from work on Monday's and Wednesdays, at 5 AM and running from Westford on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6 AM. So Monday I got up at the crack of O'dark thirty (aka 4 AM), and headed into work. I work in Medford and there's not many places I can run without crossing MAJOR roads. So I end up running a out and back course that takes me into Malden and Everett. Still pretty dangerous but it's all I have right now and it gets me 8 miles. The funny thing is I pass Duncan Donuts 8 times on this route, four on the way out and four on the way back. People seem to be stunned to see me running by while they try to take their first sip of coffee to wake up.

On Monday it was cool...I take that back it was 21 degrees when I started and never warmed up. In fact it tends to get cooler as I run from 5 to 6 AM. I put in a hard effort and was rewarded with a time that was close to what I was running last year at this time. I'll take it.

This morning I hooked up with the Westford ROAG boys who are also training for Boston. I showed up about 25 minutes early so I could get a 20 minute warm up run going before we started. The boys tend to start fast, then pick it up to see who's got guts. Today did not disappoint. We started off fairly easy with about a 7:20 pace then after a mile or two it picked up. Tom who is not running Boston always seems to throw down the gauntlet and see who will take the bait. The three of us I think have wised up to this and just let him go and then reel him back in by the end. Sure enough with a mile to go David K and I started to really move. I'm guessing 6:30's or better. We sucked Tom in and shat him out the back sided. We all finished strong and didn't end up sprinting to the finish. Which in my mind is a smart move given we're only 4 weeks away.

David K is is super shape and I wouldn't be surprised if he goes sub 3:05 in Boston.
Peter F is also running really smooth. I'm guessing 3:15 for him.
Mike O is struggling right now but I think he'll pull it together for Boston and run a 3:20

As for me right now, I'm feeling very strong and I have 3 goals:

1. Finish, this is always my primary goal to keep the streak alive.
2. I will be happy if I run 3:10, but I think I can do better with the right conditions.
3. Stretch goal of going sub 3. This may not be in the cards but I'm willing to go for it.

At this time of the year I always seem to get to the point where I want to do the race ASAP. I'm tired of training and tired of running in the cold and darkness. I have to just stay focused right now and make sure I don't do anything stupid. That's very tough for me!!

I hope everyones training is going well. There's a whole bunch of racing that I know the ultra people are about to under take including the Fells trail race this coming weekend. Good luck, can't wait to read the reports.

Humpty Dumpty

2009-03-22T15:43:00.004-04:00

I went out Saturday to do my long run on the Boston Marathon course. The plan was simple, start in Hopkinton and run to BC for 21 miles. The Greater Lowell Road Runners were hosting the run and would have water and Gatorade every 3 miles.

When I woke up Saturday morning, I did a quick check of the temperature and at my house it read 22.6 F. Ouch!!! I don't know about the rest of you but I'm getting pretty tired of running in sub freezing temperatures. Anyway it was suppose to warm up as the day went on but we were starting our run at 9 so when we got into Hopkinton it had only warmed up to 32 F. The problem I see with doing all this running in cold weather is it doesn't prepare you for race day in most cases. Typically Boston is run when the temperature is around 55 to 60 degrees. Which of course isn't bad but if you're used to running at temperatures 20 to 30 degrees less your heading for trouble with over heating and dehydration. A couple of years ago the temperature headed into the mid to high 80's which caused lots of problems for NE runners. In my case I did a blazing 4:21 walk of the course.

OK back to my run on Saturday. I started out nice and smooth running with Jill Trotter and we were knocking down 7:15's right away and I felt great. At 3 miles I grabbed a Gatorade cut with 50% water. And we were back out quickly running 7:15's. At about 4.5 miles I turned to tell Jill something when my left foot hit a mound of sand that was frozen and it sent me tumbling to the ground. As I went down I had both my hands out in front of me and thought for a split second that I was going to be OK. As my arms reached out to absorb the fall I turned my head to the left and I was tucking it in case I needed to roll. As I tucked my head, the right side ended up clunking off the curb and made a loud thud. I popped up right away and as I did Jill shouted at me to SIT. I then noticed that my balance was a little off and my head was spinning a bit. I took Jill's advice and sat down. I kept telling her that I was all right, but she kept telling about some movie star who hit their head last week skiing and ended up dieing later in the day. At the same time a couple of other runners who were coming from the other direction stopped and asked if I was OK because they herd the thud too. After about a minute or two, I felt well enough to continue. Jill asked me if I was OK about once every mile, and continued to make me assure her that I'd tell my wife what happened when I got home so she could monitor me. What I think that saved me was I was wearing my Kahtoola fleece hat that softened the blow and was just enough cushion to stop any abrasions. I won this hat at the Kingman Farm race. Thanks Chris Dunn!!!

Back to running. So Jill and I just continued to knock down the miles until around mile 10 where I was starting to tire and I let Jill pull away. At mile 12 I caught her again while she was getting a drink. She also needed to adjust her shoes so I took off, and was hoping to hold her off for a while, but that was not to be. I think she caught me by mile 13.5. She was flying. From this point on I was on my own. My goal was to get over 128 then run through the Newtown hills with out walking. My planned worked and I managed to average 7:30's for the entire run. Not quite where I want to be during the race but hopefully next weekend I'll be able to knock another 15 seconds a mile off my pace and will be closing in on my race pace.

Jill on the other hand is primed to run sub 3 hours this year and I'd like to wish her luck but I don't think she'll need it the way she's running.

As for my head it's still a little tender but I don't think any real damage was done. I'll live to run another day. For all my snowshoe buddies I'm sure their not to surprised that I fell given the number of times I fell this season during races. I really have to pay closer attention to where I step.

Keep on keep'n on

2009-03-19T13:31:00.006-04:00

Training has been going surprisingly well for Boston. I'm getting out at least 1 hour each day with long runs on Saturdays. I'm a firm believer in the hard / easy method of training. However I'm doing a lot of runs with guys who (in my opinion) run hard every training run.

Some of you might think "What's wrong with that"? Well, your body needs a chance to rebuild muscle damage after every run and if you just keep damaging the muscle fiber your heading for a break down. The three other guys I'm training with David "I float like a butterfly" Katz, Mike "calves of steel" O'Connor and Peter "I'll run threw a brick wall" Floss have all been hammering every training run and every time I join them they're killing me with a fast pace. I've just about given up trying to hang with them the whole route these days and run according to how I feel.

This morning was a perfect example. I arrived early and headed out towards the direction David runs from every morning. David has been struggling with a sore hammy. When I met up with him I asked if this was going to be an easy run today. His reply was "Yes". I'm thinking "good that way I can relax this morning". As the group arrived we called out the route and off we went. 1 mile into the run, I looked at David and asked "I thought we were going to take it easy this morning". His reply "I guess not". GREAT!! I hanging on for dear life once again and after 3 miles was soon shat out the back door. The boys were nice and waited for me up at the pinnacle of our run in Westford center. As we headed down for the 1.5 miles to the finish the pace picked up once again. This time I was ready for them and explained to them that I usually do fairly well in Boston because it's a down hill course and I just let my long stride carry me for the first 16 miles, work through mile 21, then let my stride take over once again for the final 5 miles. So here we were with 1.5 miles of down hill to go. I just sat back at the back of the pack, resting and waiting for my time. With about 1/4 mile to go I made my move. The other 3 guys took note and began to turn it up too. First I passed Peter, then came David. Now I was chasing Tom "runs like a gazelle" Skahen. Tom loves to finish hard and I've never been able to catch him in the past. Today was different, I came along side him and he turned up the tempo 5 clicks. I found that I still had another gear and accelerated. As I pulled away I could hear him making one more effort to catch back up, but low and behold I had even one more gear. Where did this come from? My guess is 2 fold. First, these guys are running hard every day and are just plain tired and need to take a break. Second, with all the extra workouts I been doing with P90X, my hammys are much stronger and I'm able to turn over my feet faster.

Now the three guys, David, Peter, and Mike are all in good shape and will do very well in Boston this year. In fact I'm predicting that all three will PR. But I'll keep saying it to them that they have to have some rest days. All of them are in their mid 40's and sooner or later they will break down. I know, been there, done that, don't want to go back.

Anyway training continues. Two weekends ago I did a 13 mile run on the course from the Wellesley community center to BC and back and ended up averaging 8 minute pace. Last weekend I did a 20 mile run from Natick to BC and back and averaged 7:45's. This weekend I'm heading out to Hopkinton and will run to BC for 21 miles and hope to average 7:30's. But you never know. I feel strong and I'm not afraid to run hard. Of course I'll be taking it easy Friday and make sure I follow my hard / easy pattern.

I pulled the trigger

2009-03-16T09:09:00.003-04:00

Despite my better judgment I ended up signing up for the Mt Washington Road Race over the weekend. I was pushed by several people who in my mind are crazier then me. Steve Wolfe for one who had one heck of a snowshoe season then ends up running at PR yesterday at the New Bedford half with at 1:19:55, CONGRAD's Steve!! Then there was Bill Morse, who also had a super snowshoe season and competed in the Nationals last weekend. He will be running his 28th time up the rock pile. 28 times!!! That's got to leave a mark.

So, this is one lottery that I'm not really excited about winning....YET.

Forecast for Mt Washington Road Race? Pain....Heavy At Times!!!

Mt Washington RR...To sign up or not!!

2009-03-13T08:23:00.004-04:00

Well we only have 2 more days to sign up for the lottery for one of the toughest road races in America. I've only run this race 3 times, and each time I swear that I'll never do it again.

The first time I ran it was in 1990. I remember it was a very warm day at the bottom and I had not gotten a very good nights sleep because we were staying at the Eagle Mountain Nest and our room had to be in the 90's the night before and my new born son decided that he was going to cry most of the night. So I put him in the car at 2AM and went for a 1 hour drive to get him to sleep. It worked but it also knocked the snot out of me. To add injury to insult...I was running with a groin injury and was not able to take full strides. I don't think that really mattered that much because you can't take full strides in that race. That year I think I finished in 1:20 and right as I finished Mike Beeman who finished just in front of me grabbed his head and started yelling that he couldn't see. I guess that the strain and the altitude had cause his sight to go. DD and I grabbed him and helped him out until his sight returned. At that point I was cold and needed to get of the rock pile. So I jumped in the back of a pickup truck and was carted down. That night I DD and his wife and Me and my wife were hanging out in the bar watching a replay of the race. At one point the camera shows DD waking. It was priceless because DD immediately started squawking that "that was the only time I walked....REALLY" To funny.

Fast forward to 1999 and I wasn't in good shape but I figured I could gut out the race. A group of us went up and raced as teams against each other. It was Keith Spinney and Ken Rousseau against Joe Karner and myself. The losers would have to buy dinner for the winners. Joe ran a 1:25 and I ran a 1:30. While Keith ran a 1:25 and ken ran a 1:32. Thanks to Joe those steaks tasted wonderful that night. But once again when I reach the top I was very cold. I don't think I spent more than 5 minutes up there and I turned around and ran back down in 50 minutes. Boy did my quads hurt after that.

My last attempt was in 2007. However 1 week before the race I pulled a muscle in my lower back and was in an incredible amount of pain. After crawling around for 3 days my wife convinced me to go to the doctors. The doctor looked me over and decided it was just a muscle pull and I was to lie down for 2 weeks. Right after he told me this I asked him "Is it OK for me to run up Mt Washington in 3 days"? He shook his head and said, "you're a runner and you're not going to rest, are you"? Well I showed up to the race with Joe Karner and at the base of the mountain I was laying in the grass trying to figure out how I was going to run this race. I was in tears from the pain. I even had 800mg of IBP in me. So as I walked very slowly to the starting line I went directly to the back. This was a first for me. The gun went off and I was the last person to cross the starting line. All the way up the Mt I was in pain. For the final push to the finish I gave it everything I had and the picture of me crossing the finish line is priceless. I'm almost in tears. I ran a 1:50, and was very happy with the results.

Well a group of my buddies (Team ROAG) got a hold of that finish line photo and had it put on a Wheaties box and now give it out as an annual award at their holiday dinner. It's call the PHAT award (Pain...Heavy At Times). It's given out to the member of the group who pushes themselves way beyond all reasonable means. So far I've won this award for the past 2 years. However this year we have a member who pushed them self through a 90Km cross country ski race with little training. I think he owns it.

So what should I do? Sign up and take a chance at getting the PHAT award one more time or sit back and enjoy life? What would you do?

Training and more Training

2009-03-11T08:28:00.002-04:00

I've been off the air for the past 2.5 weeks and doing double secret training. What am I training for you wonder? Well, the answer to that would be the 113th Boston Marathon. This will be my 24th consecutive running of the race. As my wife always says "Stupidity repeats itself year after year".

Anyway I've been able to get in 1 hour runs almost daily since my last snowshoe race. With a long run of 13 miles last Saturday on the course. What a beautiful day it was. In fact there were so many people out on the course that day it almost seemed like the race was going on. I ran from Wellesley to BC and back. The carriage road through the Newton hills was packed with runners.

So what the double secret part of the workout?

A couple of weeks ago I made the decision to get into really good shape. I noticed while running the Snowshoe series that my upper body was not holding up to the pounding my legs were giving it. I found that I was leaning over quite a bit and just didn't have the strength to drive to the finish in many races. My core muscles were just not fit. In addition I knew that I was at least 10+ lbs over weight.

So the question was how was I going to get into good shape? Well I was watching TV and flipped to an Infomercial and saw something that caught my eye. P90X. Now this was not the first time I had ever heard of this program but now I was watching something that really made sense to me. Their program goes on the premise of "Muscle Confusion". This is where you do exercises and before your muscles plateau as they get used to the exercise they change it up and push you to another level. I made a couple of phone calls to people I knew who had done the program and everyone raved about it. But they also warned me that you have to stick with it for 90 days!! I did a whole bunch of checking on the web and read countless reviews and almost every one of them was positive. The only negative ones were from people who just couldn't stick with it for the full 90 days. One other factoid I found out was that you needed to be in fairly decent shape to begin with. If you're a couch potato this is not a good program to start with. Lastly, they have a nutritional program you have to stay on. If you don't like chicken or fish you're in trouble.

So the day after my last SS race up at Kingman Farm I began the program, February 22, 2009. Day 1 went well for the first hour of arms and chest then I was killed during the final 16 minutes and 7 seconds. During this period you do an ab workout called "The Ab Ripper X". Holy S#!%!! What a workout!!!!!! The ab workout consists of 11 exercises that just blow your stomach apart. Of the 349 moves I think I was only able to handle 150 of them at best.

Now before starting this program I had a waist of 35 inches, I was at 175lbs, I had a constant sore back that was always on the verge of blowing out. I couldn't put socks on without sitting down, my right Achilles tendon was always barking at me, and lastly my neck was in constant pain.

Fast forward 17 days. My waist is now 33, I weigh 161lbs, my back feels super, socks are not a problem putting on while standing up, and my neck is loose as a goose (I don't know how loose a goose, but it works for me). Lastly my Achilles tendon is MUCH BETTER. Why do I think it's going so good for me? The program doesn't just have you lifting weights. Your also doing lots of exercises where you stretching muscles and improving flexibility. Yoga is one thing I've never done before and I thought that I was breeze through it. NOT!!! The first time I attempted it I was falling all over the place, couldn't do 50% of the moves and barely made it through the 90 minute workout. Tonight will be attempt #3 at Yoga. My wife is joining me, she should get a good laugh tonight. However I am getting better at it.

How am I doing on the "Ab Ripper X" workout these days. Well I'm not able to do 100% of it yet but I guessing that I'm hitting 334 of the 349 moves.

So has this helped my running? Yes, absolutely without a doubt.

More to come. Or as they say in P90X....Bring IT!!

Kingman Farm moonlight Snowshoe 5k - Random Thoughts

2009-02-24T09:16:00.005-05:00

Now that a couple days have passed, some things have popped into my head about this race.

1. I got a chance to meet Laurel. Her and I have run all the same SS races this year including the GSSS and Beaver Brook. However her next race has the number 100 in its name so you won't find me there. Good luck Laurel.

2. I didn't fall during the race. Hey I have to find my victories where ever I can. I've now managed to stay up right at 3 of the 8 snowshoe races I've run this year. Seeing that falling at the start of Kingman Farm could have been fatal this was a very good thing.

3. I ended up walking. ARRRRG!! I'm guessing I went out way to fast and just burnt myself up early on in the race. Steve Wolfe's video of the race on Have2run shows me in 2nd place after the first 100 yards or so. Not good.

4. Snowshoe racing is so much different then road racing. I think that every person who ran the race stayed for the awards ceremony. There seems to be a much closer bond between all the athletes, no matter if you a big dawg (Jim Johnson) or just someone out for moonlight stroll.

5. Race Director Chris Dunn should get race director of the year. He makes the races challenging while at the same time keeps them fun. And if you don't win something in the raffle after the race you sure have bad luck. Almost everyone walks away with something. There were 2 grand prizes at Kingman Farm. The first was a pair of FlightDeck snowshoes from Kahtoola. Very Nice!!! The 2nd and most people considered this the real GRAND price was a years worth of beer from Red Hook. There was one very lucky person who left the race very happy.

6. I beat DoubleJ at two things that day. First, I beat him to the race. Second, I passed him on the highway on the way home. I guess my Silver streak Xtera is more aerodynamic then his bumble bee yellow Xtera. Once again I got to get my wins where I can.

7. The people from Dungeon Rock Racing are a great group of people. Over the past 2 years I've been privileged to get to know many of them and they are fun loving, and hard racing. I wish them continued success over the years. As long as they finish 2nd to acidotic RACING!!

8. The people from acidotic Racing are also a lot of fun and race so hard that I'm 20th string on this team. That only gives me more fuel to get better.

9. For all my hard work and dedication to snowshoeing this year I treated myself to this when I got home after the race. I just love ice cream!!!

10. P90X training started Sunday so no more ice cream :-(

Lastly, one word of advise. "Keep your snowshoes below your head at all times"!!!

Kingman Farm Moonlight Snowshoe 5K

2009-02-22T07:34:00.003-05:00

The last race in the Granite State Snowshow Series (GSSS) was sure to be a challenge. The race is run as you might have guessed, at night and requires you to wear a headlamp. So not only are we we a bunch of geeks running in snowshoes, but we're bunch of geeks running in snowshoes with headlamps on. At least that's what my kids tell me. Personally I though it was a lot of fun. Kingman Farm is part of the UNH campus and is a working farm with forests, fields and Hicks Hill.

As always I showed up to the race early, very early this time. The race was to start at 6PM and I arrived at the Madbury town hall at 3:15 so I could take a quick run of the course. I put my Yaktrax on and started heading out. As I did Chris Dunn, Race Director Extraordinaire drove into the parking lot, followed by his dad Jim. I greated both of them, then I was off. The start of the trail was in tough shape with most of the snow melted away. The good news was the race was not run on this section of the trail. As I made my way to the starting area the trail improved greatly. The snow was firm but not 100% ice like at Horse Hill last week. In additon the trail was very well marked with flags that Chris had put out on Friday. It was a great run through the woods and the switch backs up Hicks Hill didn't seem to bad. Then again, I was taking it easy and just enjoying the outdoors. On the switch backs I noticed that there was a large tree that had been uprooted and presented a footing challenge. I noted this and would watch out for it during the race.

I got back to the Town Hall and decided that I needed to change my cleats from the ice cleats to the long cleats. As I was doing this Double J drove in. YES I beat him at something!! Hey, I got to get my wins where I can!!! I finished up changing my cleats and headed into the Town Hall to relax and sign in. Sign in was quick and easy. I then found a quite area in the Town Hall to relax and go over my race strategy. You see, I was locked in a battle for 3rd place in the GSSS. I was sitting in 3rd place with Ted Hall only 1 point behind me and Jay Myers 6 points behind me. So I had to beat Ted and couldn't let Jay beat me by to many positions. My plan was simple. Go out fast and hang on for dear life.

Soon all the runners showed up and packed the Town Hall. With 15 minutes to go Chris held a meeting outside to go over the course. It was well marked with flags and seeing everyone had to wear a head lamp nobody should go off course. With 10 minutes to go we were able to do a couple of strides to get used to running in the snowshoes. Chris gave the 1 minute warning, 10, 9 9...2, 1, GO!!!

As I planned, I went out fast. It was a down hill start and easy to take it out. Snow was flying everywhere and reflecting off the light from the headlamps. It was like being in a Nor'Easterner. The course took a few turns early on and the lead pack was flying. I was falling off the lead pack. I tried to hang on but they were too fast for me. By the 1K mark I could feel my heart rate hitting record highs and I needed to get it under control. I started to slow down. By the 2K mark I started to notice something that really started to worry me. I started to get tunnel vision. It appeared that I was loosing my vision and all I could see was what was directly in front of me. The darkness was closing in on me, I needed to do something. I was getting scared I never experienced anything like this before. So I backed it down a little more. People were passing me. Soon Jay had passed me, I need to keep him near. We were approaching the 3K mark where there was a field with a slight up hill and tough footing. I was barely running at this point. Ted couldn't be far behind me. I had to regroup and get my feet moving. Hicks hill was next. As I started to climb the hill Dan Cooper went past me. I needed to get going. I decided to hang on to Dan as long as I could. The good part of Hicks hill is all the switchbacks. Each time you hit one you could see how far back the next person was. I had about a 50 yard led on the next person. There were 8 switchbacks in all so I kept count so I could plan my final kick. I was starting to feel better and just kept pushing. Where was Ted? I was running scared. I hit the last switchback and started my kick. I had something left and was able to push it to the finish. Right after I crossed the line I was met by Jay. He congratulated me because he said that he had beaten me by only 4 positions. Not enough to catch me in the standings. A few seconds later Ted crossed the finish line with his wife, Liz pushing him. Really she had her hand on his back and was PUSHING HIM. So I took 3rd over all in the GSSS.

Later at the award ceremony I learned that I also took 2nd in the 45 and over age category. For 2nd I received a 1/2 case of Red Hook ESB, Red Hook pint glass and a road ID. Lastly everyone who ran all 6 races was awarded a GSSS hat. After the race there was a raffle where I picked up another hat. So it was a very profitable day for me.

Before the race I talked to Double J and Steve Wolfe to find out how they were going to run because both of them were going to run the Amherst 10 mile race on Sunday. Both said they were going to take it easy. Yeah right. As soon as Chris said GO they were gone and of course then fished 1, 2. Jim was way out in front as always.

I would strongly suggest that if you want something different to do during the winter months, try SS'ing races. The races are a lot of fun and will push you way beyond your comfort zone. I can't wait until next year.

Lastly Chris Dunn is one of the best race directors I've ever encountered.

Goals for final Snowshoe race of the GSSS

2009-02-19T12:33:00.003-05:00

OK, This Saturday is the final race of the GSSS and I find myself in 3rd place overall in the series. But Ted Hall is only 1 point behind me and Jay Myers is only 6 points behind me. So it's a tight race for 3rd place. Last year I finished in 3rd place and was very please with that out come, seeing it was my first year of SS'ing and the fact that I was 49 years old. This year however I'm a little pissed at myself for jumping into the series with little to no base running miles and for my very poor performance at the first race of the season, Pooh Hill. You see, back in November of 2007 I damaged my left achillies tendon during a cross country race and just ignored it. 2 days later I ran another cross country race and did even more damage. At that point I could barely walk. Well I took a couple of days off then did a ton of stretching and was back at training for Boston and running SS races in 2008. By August 2008 I was just a mess and decided to finally see a doctor. So guess what the first thing he tells me to do....take some time off...duh!! But the doctor also sends me to a Physical Therapist. For 3 months I follow the doctors/Therapist orders and it still wasn't getting much better. Oh, I was also told that I have what's called "Pump Bump" on my heal. GREAT!! So in December I train for a week then run a relay race and felt pretty good but could only manage 6:20's per mile. I guess I'm getting slower in my later years. Anyway the holidays sunk up on me and before I knew it I had missed almost a month of training.

Then comes Pooh Hill race. I thought I was ready but was under trained. So 1.5K into the race I had to stop and turn Pooh Hill into my version of Poopooh Hill. I guess when mother nature calls I always respond. As I was doing my business I watched 30+ people pass by. Not very good for points in the GSSS. I did catch some but my race was done. Ted and Jay were way ahead of me at that point and I was way down in 15th place. I almost gave up right then.

At Cobble Mt I was able to gain a few spots but Ted got me again. On the other hand Jay had a bad race and I gained some ground on him. In addtion I found myself in 10th place.

At Sidehillers Jay finished just in front of me but Ted and even "Strong Man" Ri had tough days and finished well behind me. The next day at Frosty's I managed to get both Ted and Jay. At the end of the weekend I was now in 4th place. Not to bad. Ted had 3 points over me to put him in 3rd and Jay was 5 points behind me to place him in 5th.

Last weekend at Horse Hill I manged to nip Jay by just a few seconds and Ted placed 4 spots behind me. That's when I took 3rd place.

So the way I'm looking at it right now is that I have to beat Ted to take 3rd. If Ted beats then we would both have 3 wins each head to head. If he only beats me by one spot then he should get 3rd because the next tie breaker in my mind is the total amount of time he has beaten me by would be more then the total amount of time I've beaten him by. In that case I would finish in 4th over all. Don't get me wrong, 4th is nice but it's kind of like kissing your sister...it's nice but....HEY IT'S YOUR SISTER!!!

So I have to leave everything out on the course on Saturday night. I may not win but I won't give it away.

On a side note, Chris Dunn has been tracking the status for everyone and if things were a little different here's how I would guess the series should have finished out.
1. Jim Johnson (DUH...He is kicking the snot out of everyone)
2. Steve Wolfe (he was sick for Cobble mtn and unable to run so missing 1 race kills you)
3. Chris Dunn (he's the race director for 3 of the races but has shown he's one tough SOB)

So, let's have some fun in the dark at Kingman Farm 5K!!

Run UP Mt Major

2009-02-17T08:31:00.004-05:00

I woke up in Gilford on Monday and decided I needed to get a good workout in. So I decided to head over to Alton and run up to the top of Mt Major. Mt Major is not a difficult climb but I figured that if I wore my snowshoes I'd get a good workout in. As I entered the parking lot there was a guy closing up his car and was heading towards the Orange marked trail which I later discovered was called the "Rock Trail". I figured that I had never been up the mountain that way so once I got my SS's on I'd head up that trail. About 10 minutes later I was ready to roll. I decided to use my ice cleats because the trails were packed by snowmobiles and with all the warm then cold temperatures they'd be rock hard. I started with a slow jog to warm up then slowly but surely I picked it up. As I ran, I kept a lookout for the guy who headed up before me. After about 20 minutes I was at a point on the trail where there were loads of boulders and the sun had melted most of the snow so the conditions were hammering my SS's. After about 35 minutes I reached the summit. But nobody was up there. The skies were crystal clear and Mt Washington stood out.

I the fore ground you can see Sleeper Island and Rattlesnake Island.

I decided to sit on the rocks and suck down a Hammer Gel before I made the trek back down the mountain when I heard some voices. Four people came up the face of the mountain. They were all in their 60's and 70's. I began talking to them and asked them what trail they had come up. One of the guys responded "Oh that's Art's trail". I had never heard of that trail so I inquired about it. "That guy over there is Art, and he wanted a quicker way up and down the mountain so he cut his own trail", one of the hikers responded. I then started talking to Art and asked him how often he climbed the mountain. He responded "3 to 4 times". So I'm thinking 3 to 4 times in the winter, but that would be selling this 70 year old very short. He climbs the mountain 3 to 4 times a day!!! He said it's how he stays in shape. WOW, I'm hoping that I can still walk when I'm 70. I hooked up with this group and they showed me Art's trail. It sure was the quick way down the mountain, I don't think it made a single turn, until it hit the main trail 100 yards from the bottom.

It was a great day for a hike and I'm glad I got the chance to meet Art.

Horse Hill Farm 7K

2009-02-16T18:16:00.004-05:00

Another weekend, another race. Thank god it's only 1 race this weekend. I think my body rejected me last week after running 2 races. I was so beat up last week that by Friday I needed to see a doctor about some issues I experienced on Wednesday and Thursday. All seems OK now but of course there are follow on visits later this week. I guess they have to spread my money around the medical field so all the doctors can pay off their BMW's.

Goals for this race:

1. Don't walk.

2. Try not to fall down.

3. Advance in the GSSS standings.

4. Win my age category.

OK on to RACING!!

On Saturday morning I was heading up to Merrimack, NH for the 5th race in the GSSS. This race was layed out by Steve Wolfe on what is, his home turf. So I was expecting another experience like the layout of Cobble Mtn where he and Chris Dunn laid out the course and it was so tough that Steve didn't even show up to the race (just kidding, Steve was very sick and unable to toe the line). I showed up as usual 2 hours before the start and the race director Mike A. was napping in his car waiting for volunteers and racers to show up. I spoke with him for a few minutes and he explained to me that the course was basically bullet proof. Last weekend we dealt with a light packed snow at Sidehillers and then soft wet mash potato's at Frosty's. Today we could uses skates. I guess you have to be ready for anything at these SS races and there is no use in complaining because you can't change anything, and everybody has to do the same course. I always think it's funny when people ask the distance of a snowshoe race. Of course the race director is going to give as close to an accurate answer as possible but due to about 1000's variables a course will run differently on consecutive days. In fact it will run differently at noon as it ran from 7 am on the same day. And guess what, everyone is suppose to run the same course so it really doesn't matter much.

Anyway, Steve Wolfe soon showed up and we decided to take a quick view of the first 2K of the race and Steve needed to redo some of the course markings so Jim Johnson wouldn't get hopelessly lost. As Steve and I headed out in just our trainers we experienced exactly how hard the snow was. I was like being on an ice rink. I had no traction at all and was worried that I might fall even before the race started. We headed out on the main trail and soon hooked up with John Skewes who was testing out his brand spanking new Dion SS's, he had traction!! This was good to see. After a couple hundred yards we took a left off the main trail and then headed UP. I was really struggling to get any good footing. When we reached the top of the hill we ran down a series of switch backs where the 1K and 6K mark would be chalked onto the ground. I made sure I took note of this because here's where I wanted to start pushing it hard to the finish. We continued to run out to the 2K mark and chalked other critical junctions in the course. Soon we were back to the starting area where the lot was now full and buzzing with racers. Dungeon Rock was once again quite noticeable in their bright orange singlets. After greeting all the usual racers, Chris Dunn, Ted and Liz Hall, Bill Morse, Dan Cooper, Jay Myers, and Patrick Smith, oh I almost forgot, Jim "I don't do 2nd place" Johnson! Jim was whining about not feeling well and that he even skipped a day of running over the week. Was Jim ripe for the picking? Nobody was buying it, we all knew that when the gun was fired Jim would soon be ahead of the bullet.

It was now time for the race. We were all lined up and Mike was giving us final instructions when a car came hot wheeling into the parking lot. It was Ri, Ri was late as always, only this time he was really cutting it close. He quickly signed in with a couple of friends and took his position up front. In a few moments we were off. This was a fast start, and I had smartly changed my cleats from the deep cleats that I need last weekend for the mush to my ice cleats for today's hard pack. As always Jim was off like a shot and before we even hit the first turn he was out of sight. I don't know how he does it but I bet he will do really well in Boston this year. Steve W, and Chris D followed with Mike Wade in fourth. After that, 4 of us started working together. Or should I say 3 of us sucked off of poor Jay Myers. Jay was up front with myself, Patrick Smith and Ri in toe. I thought we were running pretty fast when all of a sudden at about the 1.5K mark, Dan Cooper comes flying by me. I wish him good luck, but I'm thinking to myself, WHAT THE F is he doing? Dan's burst however was short lived and we soon sucked him back up under the power line section of the course. As our foursome made it's way around the course we switched positions every now and then but mainly let Jay lead the way. When we hit one of the major hills I was out of gas and started walking ARRRRGGH!!! At that point Patrick passed me and was now on Jay's tail. Ri was now chasing me down. Ri is a very strong runner, or should I say Ri is just plain STRONG. If you read some of his stories about the races he did last year you would just shake your head and say, "I'd never do anything like that". Anyway, soon Ri passed me and I was now on the back of the train. I decided to just rest and wait until I could use my road speed to attack. At around the 5K mark I noticed that Jay was starting to slow down and Ri and Patrick had passed him. I decide it was also my turn. Jay, you see is only 5 points behind me in the GSSS standings and every spot I give up to him would hurt my goal of finishing in 3rd place like I did last year. I managed to pass Jay just before the last climb back up through the switch backs that we started off on. I knew that I could put some distance on him if I let it rip coming down the back side of the hill. So I let the "Big Dogs Run" and flew down the steep hill. At the bottom of the hill was a stream that you needed to jump and take a left hand turn. Well I made the jump with out any trouble but had forgotten about the left turn. I shot into the woods and realized my mistake as I was doing somersaults through the trees. I popped up quickly and got back on the trail for the last .5K. I could see Patrick up ahead of me and I could hear Jay behind me. I though about trying to chase down Patrick for about .0001 of a second and realized there was no way that was going to happen. But now Jay was gaining on me. The good news was the traction was good and I just kept trying to lift my knees and driving to the finish. Once again I was lucky and just nipped Jay by 4 seconds.

Now you might think that I'd be all smiles after the race but Steve Wolfe snapped a photo showing my true feelings. I was in some pain and look at Jay in the tan shirt, HE'S SMILING!!! Something is just plan wrong here.

So, how did I do against my goals?

1. Don't walk. NOPE, I think I walked 2 or 3 times.

2. Try not to fall down. NOPE, I took a great header after jumping the stream

3. Advance in the GSSS standings. Barely, I'm now in 3rd place, but only by a point.

4. Win my age category. Yup, but Jim Hansen was only 21 seconds behind me.

So now the GSSS standings look like this:

1. Jim Johnson 390

2. Ri Fahnestock 346

3. Scott Graham 328

4. Ted Hall 327

5. Jay Myers 322

So nobody is going to catch Double J. (There's a big surprise). We might be able to get Ri if he is late enough to the last race (this is a real possibility). So it will come down to the last race for 3rd place. Ted, Jay and myself are all on Acidotic Racing but we all want this and it should make for some interesting racing at Kingman Farm 5K. You see, Kingman Farm 5K is being held at night and all racers have to wear a head lamp so you really won't have any idea who is behind you and will be running scared the whole race. This is going to be fun!!!

Weekend Double....Ouch!!

2009-02-09T10:04:00.012-05:00

OK, so back 20 years ago I used to be able to do a double and I even did a Penta (5) in one weekend but those days are long gone. For some reason the Granite State Snowshoe Series (GSSS) planned 2 races this pass weekend and if I was to maintain my standing or advance I'd have to make it to both races. After 2 races I was in 10th place, and figured that for me to advance I'd have to have 2 very good races. We'll see!!! I decided to set my goals for the weekend:

1. Run and entire race. Every other snowshoe race I've walked at least once.
2. Try and qualify for the Nationals at Sidehillers.
3. Advance in the GSSS rankings
4. Win an age group.
5. Beat the first place woman in a race.
6. Not fall during a race.

Saturday at Sidehillers

The first race of the weekend was in Center Sandwich. This is a very nice little town in central NH that gets its largest population during the fair they hold every fall. It's a great family take. I left my place in Gilford at 8:30 AM and then realized that it was Fishing Derby Weekend on the lake. You have to see it to believe it, 1000's of people are out on the lake. Whole villages are created with bobhouses, snowmobiles, ATV's, Cars, Trucks and even Planes are on the lake.
This is a shot I took in Meredith with my cell phone.

I arrived in Center Sandwich to find Chris Dunn milling around. Soon after Jim Johnson and his "Very Understanding" girl friend Kristin arrived with Dave Dunham schlepping along in the back seat (hey Dave "Three's a Crowd"). A few minutes later Steve Wolfe arrived. Steve had been fighting the flu the week before so he was talking down his prospects for the day. Steve and I signed in and then headed out in our shoes to take a look at the course and check out the hill we were scheduled to climb. The race starts out on the fair grounds which doubles as cross country ski trails in the winter. The race then crosses a road and heads up a hill. When Steve and I ran the course we noticed that the fair grounds trails we not as firm as we would like and that getting any speed in this section would be tough. But when we crossed the road we figured we'd be in real trouble. The trail was single track and wasn't packed at all. We ran up the hill and just kind of laughed because this hill was nothing compared to Pooh hill or Cobble Mtn. We should be able to dance up this hill. We ran back to the start and gave our report to Acidotic Captain Chris Dunn. Chris kind of looked at us like we had 3 heads and said that he remembered it to be a lot tougher then our report indicated. We'll see.

As more people arrived I noticed that the talent level of the group was a who's who of road racing. I would be lucky to finish in the top 20 today. Chris Dunn kept telling us that we were running for the team today and don't worry about the fast guys up front. The only way I was going to catch any of them was to tackle them at the starting line anyway. But to help us out with the team theme Chris was handing us some very nice Acidotic hats to say warm

Speaking of staying warm, the forecast for this race was in the mid 40's. WRONG! When I woke up it was 0 degrees out side. It must have been in the single digits now.

Paul K. called us to the starting line and explained that they had put snow on the road so we would not destroy our cleats and to try and stay in the middle of the single track or you would be waist deep in snow if you didn't. After last weeks race at Cobble Mtn where I fell down the entire mountain because I couldn't stay in the single track I was determined to not fall and stay on the packed trail. Paul K. then boomed the start of the race "GO!!!". I don't think I've ever seen so many people go out so fast. I felt like I was running in sand and was working way to hard for the first 1/2 mile. I was right on Chris D's tail crossing the road but I was already out of gas. As we climbed the hill my heart rate did it's normal thing and hit about 300. I kept telling myself that this hill is much easier then the others I've run and I should be able to cruse up it. Nothing was working! Half way up I fell and 5 people passed me while I was on the ground. Darkness was closing in around me. I got up but found it difficult to get going again. Slowly but surely I started turning over my feet and was able to continue my climb. Finally I reached what I thought was the top of the hill...WRONG. This course plays tricks on you. At the top were open fields that they had us run around and it seemed that every one of them were UP. Not a steep climb but always a climb. Worse yet was if you stepped 1 inch outside of the packed snow you were going down. Even while staying in the packed snow it seemed that you lost 6 inches for every stride you took. The good news was that I started passing people back up on the fields. The really good news is that I realized that I was a head of a bunch of people who had beat me at the other 2 races in the series.

When we finally started back down to the road I could tell I was being stocked by John Skewes who had beat me at Cobble. So as we came down the bush whack trail I was running scared and was not able to get any good drive from my snowshoes. The snow was just to light and I stupidly left my ice cleats on my showshoes. Once we crossed the road I was in a big field and would be able to peek over my shoulder to see if I was getting reeled in. Sure enough a 17 year old kid was picking up spots and had his sights set on passing me. I was frantically moving back and forth across the trail to find firmer snow so I could drive to the finish. No matter where I went the snow was all the same and I was now running in what felt like mash potato's. Kristin was out in the field taking pictures. I tried to look good for the camera but I think the frozen "stuff" on my nose and beard just made me look like and old guy who was not in control of his body functions.

photo by Kristin Wainwright

I started driving my arms and lifting my knees and was watching the finish line getting nearer and nearer. I could hear the kid behind me and I could hear the people at the finish line cheering us on. If it's a race this kid wants then it's a race I'm going to give him. I was really ticked off with myself last week giving up a place with 100 yards left, it wasn't going to happen today. I gave one last all out effort and manged to get him by 3 seconds. WOW I was dead. I had nothing left and was proud of my effort. Of course Bob Dion had beaten me once again by 1:14 so he took the over 50 title, and once again the first place woman smoked my by 3 minutes. But still I did manage to beat 5 or 6 people who normally beat me. So it wasn't a bad day out on the snow. The really good news was that I qualified for the Nationals. I don't think I'll attend but it's nice to say.

As I made that 2+ hour drive home my bliss was broken by a call from work that we had issues with our Internet sites, so I spent 1.5 hours of the ride calling people and getting things back in order. Fire drills are always fun.

Sunday at Frosty's

Now the real question was could I do a 2nd race in one weekend. My body didn't feel to bad so I was hopeful. I arrived in Atkinson and quickly signed in. I think that they have organized the sign in procedure a little to much at this race. I had to go to 3 different tables to complete the process. Made me feel like I was at the old registry of motor vehicles.

Chris Dunn was already there and was talking team again. There were big points on the block today because of the size of the race. In addition Dungeon Rock would be short runners because one of their team members was moving and he enlisted the help of a couple of team members. However Acidotic was going to be short runners too.

I hooked up with Steve Wolfe and we did an easy warm up on the roads this time. The temperature was already in the 50's and the snow was turning to slush. Once again footing was going to be tough. After Steve and I warmed up we headed inside to determine what to wear during the race. We decide that shorts were in order today. Chris Dunn promptly pointed out that I needed to tan up my legs before showing them to the crowd. I'm guessing they were milkweed white. Steve and I then took a quick run in our showshoes to see what the last km was like. As we ran snow was kicking up and hitting the backs of my legs. It felt very cold and sharpe like knives. I was questioning myself on my choice of attire. My hope was that once I started working hard the cold would go unnoticed. As we lined up for the start a bunch of high school kids with hockey shirts on jumped into the front row. A bunch of us talked them out of this and they moved a couple of rows back. This was going to be another fast start because the course takes a corner after 50 yards. My goal was to get out fast and not get bunched up at this turn.

The race director thanked everyone for coming out and soon gave the command to start. As I suspected it was a fast start. In fact Jim Johnson started so fast that after 100 yards into the race I think he had a 50 yard lead. Jim continued this and was out of sight by the mile mark. The snow was soft and being able to drive through each step was not an option. This would be a battle of attrition. I was running in 6th place and was feeling surprisingly good. At about the half way mark Ri F and Ted H passed me and I was already looking over my shoulder for more to come. I spotted the first place woman was only 20 yards back and Bob Dion was another 20 yards behind her. I was running scared once again. I kept my eyes on Ri and Ted to see if either one of them was faltering. A couple of times Ri stopped to walk up some of the hills, and I figured I'd get him sooner or later. But I think Ri uses the walking as a means to regroup and take off. Sure enough after one of his walks he put it into another gear and passed Ted for good. Now was my chance to get Ted. I came up behind him and he motioned me to pass him. As I passed him I tried to tell him that the first woman was right on our heels. The only problem was I was mumbling and I think it came out more like "firt wman hel blah blah'. After a couple more rollers I notice Ri was walking again. Was this my chance to get him? Not at all, the club house was now in sight and Ri was pulling away. I noticed he threw down a shirt that he was carrying about a 1/4 mile from the finish. I wanted to pick it up and hand it to him at the finish line to be a smart a$$ but was scared that the first woman was going to catch me. I peeked over my shoulder and there she was still 20 yards back. Here we go again, two days in a row. The snow was mash potato's no matter where you ran so I just stayed in the middle of the trail and pushed to the finish. I luckily nipped Kim Webber by 10 seconds. I took the over 50 age category which brought with it a $20 DD card. I never walked and for the first time I beat Bob Dion. SUPER DAY for me.

I did a 3 mile cool down run with Jim J (1st), Dave Q (2nd), Steve W (3rd), Keith O (14) and we got back just as they were handing out the prizes.

Lets see how I did against my goals for the weekend.

1. Run and entire race. Done at Frosty's
2. Try and qualify for the Nationals at Sidehillers. Accomplished
3. Advance in the GSSS rankings. Went from 10th to I think 4th. Official results not out yet
4. Win an age group. Done at Frosty's
5. Beat the first place woman in a race. Accomplished
6. Not fall during a race. Once again done at Frosty's.

Horse Hill Farm for the 5th race in the GSSS!!

Cobble Mtn Snowshoe Classic

2009-02-02T12:59:00.006-05:00

What a day!

And They're OFF!!

Last year on a lark I decided to do my first snowshoe race and it was Cobble Mtn. It was a first year race and seemed like a great lot of fun and best of all it was only 6 miles from my place. Well I ran it and it recked me so I decided to give it another go this year. What is the definition of crazy? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome....aka Cobble Mtn.

As I awoke at 5 AM I peaked outside and it was clear skies. It was going to be a glorious day. I left my place at 6 to meet up with Chris Dunn the race director at 6:30. We both arrived just before the agreed time and we began unloading his van. For a small race there sure is a lot of stuff, which included the 10 cases of Red Hook Beer for awards. Chris and I set a bunch of things up and soon it was time to start getting ready to run. Chris did his normal pre race announcements which included a twist to this race. This race would be a Hat Race. What's a Hat Race you're thinking? A Hat Race is a race where the race director drops hats along the course and if you pick one up and finish with it on you're included in a special raffle for a 12 pack of beer. Not Bad...

Chris gave the 10 second notice....5 seconds...GO!! Jim Johnson took off like a flash. I in turn took off like maple syrup that was left out on a cold winters night. We were going up (what else is new) an easy hill that leads up to the Gunstock ski area. Now on a normal day this wouldn't be much trouble because they pack the snow nicely for the cross country skaters but this snow was from just a couple days ago and it was lite and didn't pack together to well. So with each step you sunk in a little. Mistake #1 I switched from my deep powder cleats to my ice cleats just before the race, so my traction was suspect. Soon this slight hill became steep and I was sucking wind. And that's when it happened. Leslie Dillion passed me. She was looking very strong but shortly after she passed me she was also reduced to a slow pace/walk. I was now running in about 9th place but the world was closing in on me. Ri was the next person to pass me and I decided to hang on to his tail for as long as I could. Soon we hit some of the single track and it was so narrow that it was tripping me up every couple of strides. Not only was it narrow but if you stepped 1 inch outside of the track you could end up waist deep in snow. After 2 bouts with single track then back on groomed trails it was Cobble Mtn time. Last year I was reduced to a "drooling, snot bubble blowing, pile off cow pie" on this climb and this year was no different. My heart rate what hitting somewhere around 300 and it could have been -100 degrees out and I would have still been over heating. This climb is tough. When I reached the top Ri had 30 yards or so on me and I thought that I might be able to catch him. But next came the steep down hill part of the course on single track. I was so tired I was not able to stay in control. I ended up tumbling down 4 times as I came down the back side of the Mtn. On one occasion I ended up falling right next to another guy and we just kind of sat there waiting to see who was going to get up first. He did and extended his hand to help me up. I snapped back, "NO I want to just sit here a while". I was beat and had nothing left. My sunglasses were now full of snow and I needed to flip them up so I could see. By the time I hit the bottom of the hill I was in 17th place and was hot on the heals of the next guy (Mike Doyle, 60 years old). After about 200 yards I was able to make my move and pass him. I noticed that he was most likely in my age category and I needed to stay focused if I was to beat him. I knew what was left to run because Chris Dunn and I had gone out and put the final 1/4 mile of markers out on the course earlier. There was one big hill that climbed for 100 yards then it was flat to down hill to the finish. As we hit the last hill I had 20 yards on Mike but my day was done. He quickly went past me and put 30 yards on me. I crested the hill and figured I give it one more shot. I pushed with everything I had and I was starting to close the gap. I'd like to say I ran out of race course but Mike heard me coming and with 100 yards left he kicked it up and kept his distance on me.

So 17th is where I finished. I know I didn't feel as bad as last year (last year my lungs hurt for 2 days) but it still hurt alot. The bad news was that I finished 4th in my age category. Out of the money again.

After the race there was a spread of food and drink. There was also a kids race that was a lot of fun to watch. Kids just don't run naturally with big planks on their feet. Soon the raffle began and I was skunked in that too. Then came the awards. Chris had built an Olympic style podium for all three people to stand on (Gold, Silver and Bronze). Lastly, was the snowshoe raffle, skunked again. WOW, tough day for me, skunked in everything. Well not quite, I got to run a snowshoe race at a great location with some fantastic weather and a whole lot of great people.

Will I be back next year? You Bet...I'm going to beat Cobble Mtn!!!....AKA CRAZY

Boston Marathon Count Down

2009-01-28T08:24:00.003-05:00

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Running on empty

2009-01-27T09:37:00.004-05:00

This morning I headed out with 3 friends to do 6 miles. Sounds easy right? Well it was, at least for 3 of the people in the run. I was the odd man out.

Since I had Achilles tendinitis therapy starting in late August last year and was out of running for 3+ months I've managed to gain a few pounds. Not that I'm super over weight and could be used as the "before" picture in one of those weight loss infomercials but I've added 10% to my frame, and it wasn't muscle. When it started happening I wasn't to worried because I always seem to gain 10 pounds over the holidays. I've just learned to accept it and it's the bodies way of getting ready for the colder weather. Every year I go into my marathon training having to first drop the extra weight while building endurance. So if you think about it, by carrying the extra weight, I give my body a better workout because it has to move more mass. If you're one of those super techno people I'm guessing it has to do with E=MC^2. For me it gets me stronger and faster as I drop the weight. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Anyway, my usual plan just isn't working for me these days. I'm having trouble dropping the weight and my friends are dropping me on every run. I don't mind getting dropped because I figure that at some point I'll get mad enough at myself to lose the weight and get in shape.

This morning I showed up a little early to do a quick warm up run so I would be loose when we started as a group. When I arrived one of the other guys was already out doing a warm up, GREAT...ARG!! So I headed out and 1/2 mile in I see 2 head lamps bouncing towards me. Now I'll have two guys who are already warmed up. This is not going to be my day. I hooked up with them and we headed back. I was hoping for an easy warm up run but this turned into a slight hammer fest. I was in real trouble, I had only run 1 mile and I was already sucking wind. Once we arrived at the meeting location we hooked up with the last person in our group and we were off.

As we started I was feeling pretty good and was running smoothly up the hill. But once we crested the hill the pace picked up and soon I was shate out the back side of the group. We had only done 1 mile and I wasn't able to keep up. I tried surging a couple of times and would catch the group but would once again fall behind. At the 2 mile mark the boys were out of site, so I decided to alter my route to run straight up into Westford center. If you don't know Westford center, all roads lead UP to the center. Slowly but surely I made my way up the hill. As I was about half way up I started thinking about a race that they used to have up this hill. It was always held in May just before the Apple Blossom parade. The race started at the High school and finished in the center. For some reason they always seemed to change where the exact finish line was. Some times it was at the community center, or the common or at one of the churches, so comparing your times from year to year was not really possible. What you did know was that it was going to be a race of about 1.9 miles and all up hill. I remember one year as I was leading the race I passed the home of a man I worked with at about the half way point. I remember he was out in his yard raking leaves and he just stood and stared at me like I was crazy for running up that hill. Back in those days I felt like I was floating when I was running. The following Monday back at work this gentlemen came up to me and said "Gee you really take that running stuff seriously, don't you"? As I'm standing there listening to this and holding my gym bag I just smiled and started chuckling and walked away. What does this have to do with "Running on empty", well this morning I was not floating up that hill I was barely getting my feet off the ground and needed to stop half way up to regroup.

I've slowed down quite a bit over the years but I'm not going to stop without a good fight. I hope to look back at this post in April and laugh. I'm hoping I laugh sooner, the sooner the better!!

Curly's record run - 4 mile snowshoe race

2009-01-25T17:04:00.011-05:00

Curly's Race Profile....This is going to HURT

When it really comes down to it, racing is all about numbers. Today I tallied a whole bunch of numbers. I traveled out to Pittsfield, MA for Curly's record run. Below is a run down of just some of the numbers.

300 Miles driven to and from the race.

5 AM Time I woke up

6 AM Time I left for the race

5 hours travel time.

86 racers

1 BIG hill

1 Curly

4 Daughters

4 miles running through trails

700 foot climb in less then 1 mile

800 foot decent in less then 1 mile

A whole lot of pain

So my plan was to travel out to Pittsfield, MA to run this race. After doing some research I realized that my travel time was going to eat most of the day. Oh well the things we do for a new experience. My plan was to leave at 6 AM and show up by 8:30. The plan worked, well almost perfectly. When I started out this morning I punched in Pittsfield into my GPS. All was going perfectly until I reached Pittsfield. I could see the Pittsfield state forest on the map but the GPS

didn't show any roads. So I had to watch the GPS and take turns based on where I though the race started from. I only have good news, my plan worked.

Once I located the start area I jumped out of the car and VERY QUICKLY realized it was cold, extremely cold. I ran over to the sign in table and met Curly. Curly has no hair. He explained that he has 4 daughters so he pulled it all out. I only have 2 daughters but I fully understood.

It was time to warm up so I threw on my Yaktrax and headed up the mountain. After only 3 minutes I was sucking wind. This course was going to be tough. I soon turned around and headed back down to find a porta potty. Guess what? They had thousands of them. They call them trees. After my meeting with Mother Nature it was time to get ready to race. It was cold but sunny so I ended up with my usual base layer with a Hot Chillies top and ROAG biking vest. Top it all off with a Dion fleece hat and a pair of sun glasses and I was good to go. Hold on one more thing. After talking with a bunch of people I decided to put on a longer set of cleats on my snowshoes, because I was told that the back side of the mountain was steep so you needed to be able to dig in to slow you down.

The two peaks in the back ground are the mountains we ran up.

Anyway the start time was nearing and I was ready. I was getting nervous because I kept hearing how tough the climb was and how dangerous the back side was. The good news it's the same for everyone.

After a 5 minute delay we were ready to start. One of Curly's daughters gave us final instructions and Curly blew the starting whistle. We were off, and we were climbing right away. Everyone quickly sorted them selves out and we were running on single track. Passing was not an option without the person in front of you letting you go by. After 12 minutes my heart was ripping out of my chest and all of a sudden I tripped and was down on the ground but was able to pop up quickly. I was tracking behind Bob Dion of the famous Dion Snowshoe's, and all of a sudden he stops and lets me pass. Of course I passed but I was ready to walk. 1 minute later I was reduced to a crawl. At the 18 minute mark Bob is now telling me about one year where there was waist deep snow and it took him over an hour to reach the top. One thing I remember Double-D saying to me at the start was that the leaders should hit the top within 20 minutes. That meant I was still a long way off. I was dieing a slow and painful death. When we finally reached the top Bob went by me and was starting to fly down the mountain. I was trying my best to keep up but with all the switch backs I wasn't able to take the corners in control. At about half way down it happened. I went crashing to the ground and started to tumble. After what seemed to be an eternity I popped back up to my feet and was back on the trail. Bob was now out of sight and another guy was on my tail. When we reached the bottom of the mountain we had 1 mile to go and the guy on my tail decided to make his move and pass me. I just let him go to see if I could regroup and make one final push and pass him back with 200 yards left. As we went over the roller coaster terain the guy fell but was up again quickly. However I knew I owned him, he was tired and I was just waiting for a good point to pass. With about 1/4 mile left to go I made my move and passed him and never looked back. I tried to finish with a smile because they had a camera at the line, but all I could manage was a grimace.

I walked around a little bit but was in no mode to do a cool down run. After a couple of minutes I as back to normal and got my place and time. I was 19th overall and ran a 41:32 for 11:11 per mile. I ended up 4th in the 50 - 59 age category.

Next weekend Cobble Mountain in Gilford.

Beaver Brook 5K Snowshoe race

2009-01-19T11:58:00.000-05:00

Forecast for today Pain....Heavy At Times.

So after I published my Pooh Hill snowshoe race report last week ROAG decided that a group of us would head up to Hollis, NH for Beaver Brook. This patch of woods is not unknown to ROAG, as the ROAG crew has snowshoed through here a couple of times. But there is a big difference between a hike in the woods on snowshoes and a race through the woods on snowshoes.

I decided to arrive at the race site 1.5 hours before the race. This was to view the course and get a good workout in. When I arrived the race director had just finished running the course and set the course record at just over 28 minutes. This would not hold up. And he announced that the course was just over 2.8 miles. Seeing that I ran over 10 minute miles last week I wanted to improve on that pace. So I put on some Yaktrax on my shoes and took a tour of the course. A quick side note, if you've never tried Yaktrax, give them a shot. They are super for running on ice and snow. Anyway I headed out on the course and the first 1/2 mile is all down hill. This I quickly took note of because it was an out and back course, and I would be climbing this hill on the way back. After that the course was flat and fast to the turn around point, which I hit at 10:45. On the way back I hit the final hill and boy oh boy it was a lot tougher then I thought. I finished the run at 21:30, a perfect even split. Now could I run faster with snowshoes on? In addition I learned that the real start of the races was 100+ yards away across an untracked field. So the start should get the heart rate up very FAST. As I walked back to my car Rob Smith was getting out of his car and was heading out for a warm up run. Rob was looking fit and had a big smile on his face.

Time to warm up and get into my race outfit in my car. Base layer, hot Chillies shirt and a ROAG vest. Some Hammer Gel down the throat with some G2 Gatorade and my favorite IBP 600mg. Topped off by my fleece hat and a pair of Oakley's. I was ready. ROAG was there in force

Carlos

Frank

Pete

Joe

David

Mike

Warren

Norm

Bryan

Moi

I hope I didn't miss anyone.

All had their game face on and were ready to fly. Time for a team picture. We were looking GOOD!

There were around 50 people signed up and 10 of use were ROAG. Great showing.

The race director called us to the line. The group is in good spirits and ready to fly. I line up next to Rob and introduce him to David and explain the connection with David and Joe Karner to Rob. Time to get serious. I take my place and get ready to go. The race director counts down and says GO!! We're off, well that is most of the people are off. I took 2 steps and tripped and crashed to the ground. I hear someone yell "Hey Scotty's down". As I scramble to get up I yell "And He's UP AGAIN"!!! I'm now running in catch up mode. I quickly pass a bunch of people but as we turn the corner onto the trail I'm running in approx 20th place. I notice that Mike O when out fast. How fast you ask, He's leading the race. HE'S PSYCHO!! I start making my move and I'm passing people at a stead pace. One after another I catch them and shat them out the back side. Now I'm running side by side with Rob and the leaders are 20 yards ahead of us.

As we make our way through the trails, we're pulling away from the main pack. I'm running smooth but I know that Rob is a much stronger runner then me. We reach the turn around point and Rob has pulled 10 yards ahead of me and he's chasing down the leader. I'm now running in 5th, but I notice that Kara is only 10 yards behind me. I'm in trouble. Kara is fast and has been running really strong over the last couple of months. I decide to try to surge to try and break her but she's now right on my tail. At the 3/4 mark Kara makes her move on me and I can't respond. Now I'm hearing another guy behind me. One thing about snowshoe races is they make a lot of noise so there is no sneaking up on people. I'm climbing the final hill now and hanging on for dear life. My lungs are screaming and my legs are not responding. HANG ON BABY!!! I can see the finish, please don't make this a sprint to the finish. I power up the final hill and hold on for 6th place.

My lungs are burning. I learn that Rob won the race. Rob was very modest about the win and so was Kara. Both are great people. I then went back to the finish line and ROAG starts coming in. First David, then Mike, Peter, Warren, after that I just can't remember. David had this nice string of drool hanging off his chin. Everyone was hurting and couldn't believe what happens out there in snowshoes but all were happy they did the race.

Coolrunning.com should have the results later today.

After a few minutes I went out on a cool down run with Rob, Kara and one other guy. Come to find out the other guy was raised in my home town of Chelmsford. We ran the course one more time. So I ended up running it 3 times. Once in Yaktrax and twice in snowshoes. As soon as we finished the cool down run the race director gave out the awards. Winners of the race and winners of age categories got beaver mugs. Unfortunately the age category I fell into was the 40 - 55 group, so no beaver mug for me. Next was the prize raffle. They called every number around mine but no #143. I think Brian, Norm and Warren walked away with prizes. NICE!!

I will boldly declare A Good Time Was Had By All.