November 13-19, 2011

Week Total: 77.31

Saturday - 11.59

5:43 AM - out morning loop to 97, then sam fonzo to conant st to burley (danvers) back out to cherry st to 97 to cedar and home (1:23:26)

Friday - 12.92

4:58 AM - out and back on morning loop (33 degrees)(6.04/45:27)

4:08 PM - ran two loops at Bradley Palmer from Topsfield end (6.88/49:19)

Thursday - 11.92

5:05 AM - out and back on morning loop (5.43/40:16)

4:10 PM - after work at Bradley Palmer - two loops from Topsfield end through the field and back the road (6.49/43:36)

Wednesday - 8.92

3:18 PM - drove to appleton, ran for 30 min. w/ xc gulls, then ran back to school w/ them, then ran back to appleton by myself in the rain to pick up car (1:14:44)

Tuesday - 18.39

5:59 AM - met Adam J. at bike path in Bedford, ran 5 mi. out and back (10.00/1:18:52)

3:05 PM - ran w/ xc gulls out to cows; did 1 ellipse and 3 strong figure 8's; then ran back (8.39/1:08:40)

Monday - 6.96

3:19 PM - from hs w/ gulls course backward + 2 miles + one scilly's loop; then course backwards backwards, a couple feel-good pickups (1:00:12)

Sunday - 6.61

1:28 PM - out skinner to asbury to bradley palmer (topsfield end) then ran through the fields and out the hamilton entrance, back highland to asbury ave to home (48:47)

November 6 - 12, 2011

Week Total: 58.23

Saturday - 7.05

10:46 AM - ran from Franklin Park down to Boston English High School, did 6 laps on the track (mile) then ran around the neighborhood and back up to FP to watch hw buoys and gulls xc (boys 8th, girls 1st by one point over weston) (54:19)

Friday - 6.51

4:04 PM - at Bradley Palmer after work in Rowley; last mile + w/ Roger Perham (49:42)

Thursday - 5.78

10:10 AM - figure 8's and perimeters at school w/ buoys and gulls (47:03)

Wednesday - 9.36

PM - ran out to cows, then did 30 min. easy + one figure 8; ran back from cows (1:17:10)

Tuesday - 9.56

PM - ran out to cows, then did strong ellipse, 3 strong figure 8's, and another strong ellipse, then ran back to school (1:08:36)

Monday - 11.35

5:10 AM - out and back on morning loop (3.53/29:30); PM: 7.82/1:03:48 at practice - down to scilly's, 2 scilly's loops, back

Sunday - 8.62

3:05 PM - 4.75 w/ Heather around Hamilton, then almost four more by myself (1:06:04)

October 30 - November 5, 2011 (week after the marathon)

Week Total: 74.88 (including marathon)

Saturday - 8.31

6:29 AM - morning loop + honeysuckle/red coach add-on (8.31/1:02:16); 29 degrees (1:02:16)

Friday - 16.73

5:02 AM - out and back on morning loop (5.14/40:14) - beautiful morning (45 degrees, breezy);

3:24 PM - ran out rock maple and cutler w/ boys to appleton (cows) - strong ellipse (2k); 5 x strong figure 8 (1k each (3:20-3:15)); strong ellipse (2k - 6:50); did some easy running in between and some standing around with the boys, but not too much; ran back the way we came (11.59/1:25:51)

Thursday - 6.15

3:23 PM - ran course backwards down to scilly's w/ girls xc, one and a half scilly's loops then stopped to talk to dave sawyer and the middle school xcers, then ran back out to 1a, cutler rock maple back to school (51:48)

Wednesday - 9.08

3:22 PM - very easy; ran out to appleton w/ boys, then ran 3 yokes + 3 yokelets recovery pace w/ boys then back to school (1:21:55)

Tuesday - 4.54

3:18 PM - ran down to the park w/ hw xc gulls; ran a mile down there, rubbed out my right calf gently with a stick, ran back w/ the buoys (41:43)

Monday - 2.91

1:24 PM - easy day after marathon, fun recalling yesterday, down asbury to union to arbor/highland and home (25:28)

Sunday - 27.16

7:55 AM - what a day! .94/8:16 warmup (in two chunks); windy and cold (39 degrees) at the start (8:30 am) - started easy, felt great, not much problem with the wind; ran in 9th place for the first few miles, then moved up to 6th around miles 5-6, went for lead chase pack and caught up by 7-8 miles, then ran alone in 2nd place from 11-22, before catching leader between 22 and 23 miles and maintaining to end (slowing a bit) with a very satisfying PR - 2:28:54 and 1st place finish! USATF-NE Marathon Champion!
splits: (5:35.5/5:38.1/5:39.4/5:36/5:36.3/5:41.7/5:42.3/5:40.9/5:43.8/5:36.8/5:36.7/5:50.5/5:34.5/5:27/5:30/5:43.1/5:33/5:43.5/5:47.2/5:41.4/5:47.8/5:43/5:42.8/5:44.4/5:46.4/5:55.5 (into wind)/ 1:16 for last .22)

October 23-29, 2011 (week before the marathon)

Week Total: 57.17

Saturday - 4.02

6:29 PM - ran around in the rain and wind from shoreway acres hotel in falmouth w/ dad and heather the night before the marathon; cold and soaking and not at all promising for tomorrow morning (36:49)

Friday - 5.5

4:20 PM (after short practice - CAL's tomorrow!) - 22 + laps on the track at 7:00-7:30 pace; nice and easy, just keeping the legs moving the next couple days (40:43)

Thursday - 7.42

2:06 PM - cutler loop from Pingree Park early after rainy indoor day of work and no practice; went down to marathon sports w/ heather, benjamin and grace and picked up adios - will I run the marathon in them? (48:33)

Wednesday - 8.09

ran at practice including 2 miles at marathon pace (5:45/5:36), then ran a little after practice to get 8 miles for the day (58:44)

Tuesday - 10.38

5:00 AM - out and back on morning loop (6.02/44:57)

PM - 4.36/35:52 at georgetown at beautiful georgetown-rowley state forest during hw-georgetown meet

Monday - 6.75

5:04 PM (after practice) - out rock maple cutler to highland to goodhue left on waldingfield back up highland but forgot i wasn't running home so i ran past cutler then turned around and went back cutler rock maple to school (46:01)

Sunday - 15.01

1:07 PM - out and back from home - asbury ave to highland to goodhue to waldingfield to 1a to lakeman's to fellows to candlewood to chebacco to belcher to 7.5 mi. then turned around and back (miles: 6:37/6:13/6:26/6:35/6:27/6:18/6:09/6:10/6:05/6:00/5:45/5:46/5:35/5:40/5:32) - felt good, felt hard to run sub-marathon pace at the end (15.01/1:31:21)

Cape Cod Marathon (long edit)

7:55 AM - what a day! .94 mi./8:16 warmup (in two chunks); windy and cold (39 degrees) at the start (8:30 am) - started easy, felt great, not much problem with the wind; ran in 9th place for the first few miles, then moved up to 6th around miles 5-6, went for lead chase pack and caught up by 7-8 miles, then ran alone in 2nd place from 11-22, before catching leader between 22 and 23 miles and maintaining to end (slowing a bit) with a very satisfying PR - 2:28:54 (unofficial) and 1st place finish! USATF-NE Marathon Champion!
splits:
mile 1 - 5:35.5
mile 2 - 5:38.1
mile 3 - 5:39.4
mile 4 - 5:36
mile 5 - 5:36.3
mile 6 - 5:41.7
mile 7 - 5:42.3
mile 8 - 5:40.9
mile 9 - 5:43.8
mile 10 - 5:36.8
mile 11 - 5:36.7
mile 12 - 5:50.5
mile 13 - 5:34.5
mile 14 - 5:27
mile 15 - 5:30
mile 16 - 5:43.1
mile 17 - 5:33
mile 18 - 5:43.5
mile 19 - 5:47.2
mile 20 - 5:41.4
mile 21 - 5:47.8
mile 22 - 5:43
mile 23 - 5:42.8
mile 24 - 5:44.4
mile 25 - 5:46.4
mile 26 - 5:55.5 (into wind)
 (1:16 for last .22)

The night before the race was crazy - Heather, my dad and I drove down from Hamilton after the Cape Ann League XC meet, and arrived at the Lawrence School just before 6:00 pm to pick up my number. It was already raining and windy and dark, but we headed out for a few miles from Shoreway Acres where we stayed on Shore St. (first mile of the course) It was a little surreal running through the puddles into the teeth of the forty and fifty mile per hour gusts but I was glad to have company for the night before the race run. We had dinner at an Italian restaurant downtown (forget the name) and I loaded up on homemade noodles, bread and roasted potatoes. I even had a dark Italian beer (forget the name of that, too - La Rossa, maybe?) Dinner was later than normal, but with no kids to put to bed (they stayed in Hamilton w/ my mom), it was easy to crash as soon as we got back. I kept an eye on what the weathermen were saying and it wasn't promising, but I tried not to dwell on it too much as I closed my eyes, knowing I probably wouldn't get much sleep.

I was up every one to two hours during the night between pre-race nerves and windows that sounded like they were going to be blown in any second. Race morning dawned (around 6 I got up) and the rain had stopped but the winds were still whipping past our second floor room. We grabbed some coffee and a bagel at Dunkin' Donuts before the sun came up and saw Martin Tighe and a contingent of Whirlaway guys (Alliette, Spinney, Fram and Smilin' Dave). Then we headed back to the hotel for a free breakfast which started at seven. I was quiet, but not as ornery as I usually am on race morning. I had gone back and forth about my expectations for the race during the night, assuming I would have to alter my plans due to the inclement conditions. All along during my training I had been telling people I hoped to break 2:30, but I wasn't sure how realistic that actually was, having not attempted the distance since Boston '07.

At about 7:55, we left the hotel - Heather and my Dad in the car, me on foot. I jogged over to the start in sweats, trying to generate a little heat with minimal effort. I saw a couple friendly faces, including good friend, John Barbour, which helped lift my spirits. I left my layers with Heather at about 8:15, opting for a hat and gloves, long sleeves under the CMS singlet and shorts. Also included were the adidas adios I picked up at Marathon Sports in Melrose on Thursday night and ran a few miles in on Friday. I found a spot up front with my CMS 'mates and chatted a bit about expectations, which we were all a little reluctant to have at that point before the cannon went off.

I felt really good in the early going and the sub-5:40 miles were clicking by with ease. I ran for a couple miles with Justin Freeman, Hari Iyer, and Tom Deeg before deciding to try to close the gap on the group ahead of us. There were four guys running together, about 20 seconds up on us, who had stayed about that distance ahead since the first mile. It took me about 2 miles to reel them in and then I had moved past them after a couple more miles.

Two short funny moments during the early miles, when I was feeling good and had a sense of humor. Just after mile 7, where Davisville Rd. crosses Brik Kiln Rd., my dad stood on the side of the road with snacks for me. I had prepared several bags of sport beans, a couple bags of gu chomps and six bags of honey stinger waffles (each bag had half a waffle, broken in half again). As I approached, my dad asked, "Do you want anything?" and I yelled back, "You got any waffles?" and then watched as the surrounding spectators chuckled at my request.

Later, around mile 11 (I think), a little girl cheering told me I was in second place and I asked if she thought I could catch the leader, hoping she would yell, "Yeah!!" or something equally enthusiastic. Instead, she paused, and then let out a weak, "maybe." as I raced past. Given the size of the leader's margin at that point, I couldn't have expected anything different.

I started asking Heather to tell me how far ahead the leader was, because I hadn't seen him, and I learned I was about 2 minutes back before halfway and by 19 miles I was 3:20 behind him. (More on that later.)

Mile 12, which was one of my first miles alone, was kind of a struggle, as the early racing caught up with me a bit as I realized I had outrun anyone I would have been able to work with over the second half of the race. I also had a watch which was not giving me good information as I had programmed my Garmin the night before to split each mile automatically, not thinking that the miles measured wouldn't match up with the miles actually run. I knew I was a little under my goal pace, but I had to do quite a bit of watch-checking and figuring to convince myself of what pace I was running. With noone around, except the race officials on bikes, I was free to do this, and remembered to snack on something every couple miles. The first guy who rode alongside me was pretty intense with his traffic management and screamed at most vehicles while violently gesturing them to pull over and stop. Being used to running with cars around, I'm not nervous of them running me over and am used to altering my path a little to avoid them, but he insisted they make way and I thanked him for it. Unfortunately for him, he got a flat just after 15 miles and had to pull over himself. I was shortly joined by another quieter official, who rode nearby dropping behind me so I could run the tangents on the curves and occasionally offering words of mild encouragement or advice about the terrain changes. The hills kept coming, but they kept going and my pace (I thought) was staying pretty consistent. When I hit 20 miles in 1:53 - flat, I knew I was in good shape to break 2:30 and actually was still under 5:40 pace by about 20 seconds. My elation was short-lived as the climb at the start of mile 21 took my concentration, and I wondered about running 6's the rest of the way. Coming out of Woods Hole, though, I saw John Barbour again, and his encouragement (and the memory of his own sub-2:20 story) kept me moving onto Surf Drive.

My first bike guide had alleged that I would have a tailwind all the way in from 23 miles on, so I was looking forward to that. What I wasn't expecting, at 22 miles, was my current bike guide to say, "He's only a minute up; it's yours for the taking." I dropped it down from 5:43 pace, to 5:42.8 pace in an effort to overtake the leader. When I saw him around 23 miles, though, it was obvious I wouldn't be needing my kick. He had evidently paid for the fast early pace and was only jogging to keep forward progress going. I waved and uttered a soft "Good job." as I went past and headed under the overpass to the elvis rest stop, where my dad and Heather expressed the emotions I was unable to while grinding out the last three miles. They screamed and leapt and smiled to beat the band and I just kept trying to put one foot in front of the other without thinking too hard about it. I wouldn't say it was a pure tailwind, but it was more behind me than in front of me, at least, and with the sun starting to peek through the clouds, I was feeling better than I would have ever expected at this point, and certainly better than I deserved (I think this is called "grace".)

I ran through a couple puddles, which wasn't great, it felt good at first to feel the cold water on my feet and legs, but that quickly turned to stiffening, especially when I made the next to last left turn onto walker street and headed right into the wind for that last mile. Heather and my dad were both on walker street, my dad right near the 26-mile mark and Heather right near the corner (even as I recall it, my eyes get watery)
then I made the last turn onto main street and mustered a final push but tried to smile and enjoy it and take it all in and appreciate the sacrifices of everyone that helped me to get there and then I was across the finish line and the watery eyes came back for a second and I hugged my dad and Heather and tried to hold that piece of tin foil still on me while the wind kept blowing it off; i talked to bob fitz from ne runner and some local reporters and told the story about the little girl at mile 11 and then talked to some other finishers and got in the car to go back and take a shower. Unfortunately, in the car I tried to push my left shoe off with the toe of my right foot and I got THE WORST cramp in my right calf and I started yelling like a little baby and my dad pulled the car over and came around to my side and bent my toes back for me and that calf is the only thing that is really sore three days later.

October 16-22, 2011

Week Total: 59.32

Saturday - 10.15

12:30 PM - 10-mile loop felt good; feeling really strong and ready; went to marathon sports in melrose and heather got a pair of 890's w/ gift card coach karen gave us; i tried on some adidas adizero adios that i really liked

Friday - 7.1

5:45 PM - 17:25/2.41 warmup from HWRHS - rockmaple/cutler/1a to car and to track; 3 x mile w/ 791 m rec (4:56.1/3:51; 4:53.8/4:02.5; 4:51.2); then short cooldown before pizza w/ heather and grace (5:59/.73)

Thursday - 7.18

ran around at hw/na meet (54:51)

Wednesday - 10.2

4:32 PM - out and back skinner thru sharon to bradley palmer and out on road and back (4.65/33:50)

4:57 AM - out and back on morning loop w/ add-on through main entrance on way back (5.55/43:17)

Tuesday - 9.01

9.01/57:56 from HWRHS 1a to gardner/sagamore to candlewood to chebacco to belcher almost to end and back (6:36/6:33/6:17/6:28/6:12/6:14/6:29/6:40/6:26) - 6 x 100m strides on track when I got back

Monday - 6.29

ran around appleton at practice w/ hw xc buoys (51:19)

Sunday - 9.39

2.04/14:14 warmup/5-mile race in 26:09/2.35/17:30 cooldown

October 9-15, 2011

Week Total: 75.95

Saturday - 18.21

1:36 PM - out and back asbury grove, highland, goodhue, waldingfield, 1a, lakeman's, fellows, candlewood, chebacco (ips/ess), belcher, story, eastern ave?, john wise to past villge but before woodman's (9 mi.), then turned around and back - heather, ben, grace and baby will met me on belcher with nuun water and sweet potato chips, then i ran home but left on asbury instead of into grove to meet them at cutler school playground. Miles: 6:42; 6:24; 6:27; 6:28; 6:18; 6:16; 6:19; 6:14; 5:59; 6:13; 6:11; 6:06; 6:08; 6:06; 6:09; 5:53; 6:14 (very windy); 6:00; 1:09.3 for .2 (5:45 pace) (18.21/1:53:19 - 6:13/mi.)

Friday - 9.08

5:28 PM - out and back from school after practice - rock maple/cutler not quite to end (4.09/28:52)

5:01 AM - out and back on morning loop (4.99/40:00)

Thursday - 10.25

10:49 AM - from IHS track - out and back warmup down school st/linebrook/pineswamp to emery ln and back to track (1.25/9:56.6); 7 x 1-mile T w/ 209 m recoveries (1:00-1:11) - (5:19.7; 5:25.3; 5:26.7; 5:24.0; 5:21.7; 5:30.2; 5:23.7); same warm down as warmup (1.25/9:46.2)

Wednesday - 10.39

PM- ran around at xc meet (6.03/49:27)

5:07 AM - out and back on morning loop (4.36/34:23)

Tuesday - 10.52

PM- ran w/ boys and girls at practice; nice and easy w/ a couple feel good pickups (6.26/51:24)

5:05 AM - out and back on morning loop (4.26/34:19)

Monday - 11.62

4:22 PM: out and back from pingree park - union-asbury-highland into bradley palmer and back (6.18/46:47)

5:00 AM w/ al vlahos - out and back on morning loop before Al headed back to providence (5.44/41:59)

Sunday - 5.88

short warmup (1.32/11:47) around base of superquad before start of sugarloaf uphill climb; 2.6 up in 30:27 - 1st overall of 148; dad was 52nd (55:13); 1.96 cooldown (including last .1 to the top) in 22:24 (total - 5.88/1:04:40)

October 2-8, 2011

Week Total: 86.78

Saturday - 6.75

in a slight departure from normal training, i went out and ran up sugarloaf mtn from my parents' condo and ran back down and that was plenty (6.75/1:16:43) - 2600' elevation gain up / 2600' elevation loss down (originally I was intending to do my last 20-miler today, but I wasn't feeling especially motivated to go out for 2+ hours)

Friday - 10.03

5:08 PM - out and back on morning loop out main entrance of asbury grove (6.02/40:48)

5:15 AM - out and back on morning loop (4.01/31:28)

Thursday - 13.2

PM- (9.2/1:01:22) - 2+ mile warmup out rockmaple/cutler and back to hwrhs(15:04); 5 x 1200 (3:45.xx/3:45.81/3:38.65/3:38.01/3:35.40) w/ 800m recoveries (3:40-3:44); 1.5+ mi. cooldown on track (13:02)

5:13 AM - out and back on morning loop w/ no garmin (4/32:03)

Wednesday - 10.56

PM: ran around during hw/masco xc meet (6.06/53:00)

5:10 AM - out and back on morning loop (4.5/34:14)

Tuesday - 13.09

12:48 PM - out and back on morning loop (7.06/48:14) then .48 w/ ben (running) and grace (in stroller) in woods and on roads; ben fell but then got up and kept going

4:54 AM - out and back on morning loop in lightning and some thunder and a little rain and a little more rain at the end (6.03/46:00)

Monday - 9.03

2:20 PM - parked on chebacco rd on way to practice and did out and back chebacco/essex/forest(4.65/33:39)

5:23 AM - very easy and stiff out and back on morning loop (4.38/36:38)

Sunday - 24.12

2:11 PM - Hallelujah! Longest training run of the year. My dad rode his bike alongside me (Fyffe-style) with water and carbs which I took regularly (non-Fyffe-style, about every 3 miles, alternating pieces of stinger waffles and stinger gels/gu chomps) - gave me a good sense of how much i'll need to take in at the marathon  - at least 500 calories; started around my parents' circle then out to asbury to highland to goodhue to waldingfield to 1a to lakemans to fellows to candlewood to chebacco (ipswich) to belcher to story st in essex onto 8k course through center of essex past woodman's (10 miles) toward manchester on western ave/school st/ to pine st/chebacco (hamilton) to essex street to larch row to 1a to perkins to porter/union to asbury to porter ln and around my parents' block twice at the end. Mile splits: (6:36.9; 6:36.8; 6:21.6; 6:31.6; 6:28; 6:22.6; 6:23.9; 6:32.8; 6:22.8; 6:04.4; 6:07.3; 6:13.9; 6:10.5; 6:12.9; 6:21.5; 6:19.9; 6:21.3; 6:24.9; 6:22.6; 6:42.6 (mile 20 when I summarized once a runner for my dad and ended up talking the whole mile); 6:02.8; 6:02.3; 5:50.4; 5:52.4; 35.2 sec for last .12 (5:06.3 pace)

Unbelievable! This was an answered prayer! I've been feeling flat this week (thurs. and sat. especially) and this was just amazing to be able to do this today! Thank you, God! (2:32:04 - 6:18 pace)

September 25-October 1, 2011

Week Total: 99.89 (does this count as backing down from the hundred mile weeks?)

Saturday - 14.02

3:11 PM - fourteen-mile loop ; tough (thank you, Jesus - this was Your strength carrying me today!) I really struggled on this one, thankfully I had my ipod on to drown out all the negative talk in my head...(1:37:13)

Friday - 15.94

5:27 AM - out and back on morning loop (6.02/45:36)

after practice, same loop as Monday PM - rock maple, cutler, highland, goodhue, waldingfield, 1a, lakeman's, fellows, candlewood/sagamore, moulton, 1a to hs (9.3/1:02:01) + 10 x 100m strides (2:40?/.62) - strides felt so good, changed into my spikes and just took my time enjoying each one

Thursday - 12.03

5:16 AM - out and back on morning loop early (6.03/43:56) - leg feels better

bad workout at beverly high school track - 2.25 mi. warmup, 3 x 1200 (4:04/3:56/4:02) w/ 400 m recoveries, then one short 400 at 67, and then about 2/3 of another 400 then called it quits - 6 miles in 39:43

Wednesday - 11.69

5:33 AM - out and back on morning loop (6.16/48:34) - right leg is a little funky

at practice - ran around easy in appleton w/ hw boys' xc team (5.53/46:14)

Tuesday - 14.21

5:22 AM - morning loop (8.14/58:57)

PM: ran/walked course at mile lane and then ran around during meet (6.07/54:43)

Monday - 17.42

5:20 AM - morning loop, good (8.15/54:34)

4:43 PM - after practice from HWRHS - rockmaple to cutler to highland to goodhue to waldingfield to 1a (n) to lakemans to fellows to candlewood/sagamore to moulton to 1a back to school (9.27/58:40)

Sunday - 14.58

6:15 AM - fourteen-mile loop plus grapevine/rubbly add-on; saw jon gillis, ian smith, jon ayers (1:40:40)

September 18-24, 2011

Week Total: 105.1; thank you, God! Help me these last 6 weeks!

Saturday - 18.43

5:22 AM (before Ocean State meet) - morning loop (8.19/59:48)

10:18 AM - ran around at Ocean State Invitational on roads and trails, 7 mile loop, then grabbed a quick sip of water, some stinger gels and half a stinger waffle and went out for 3 more (10.24/1:11:11)

Friday - 16.72

5:37 AM - out and back on morning loop (6.45/47:50)

5:00 PM (after practice) - long warmup waiting for soccer game to end (3.42/25:32) - workout: 1 x 5000m, 3 x 800m w/ 400 recoveries - 5k - 16:28.2 (5:08/5:22/5:19/:39); 800's - 2:28.8/2:26.9/2:26.1; 1.55 mi. cooldown (12:27) - workout total: (10.27/1:07:57)

Thursday - 13.23

5:26 AM - morning loop easy (8.22/59:22)

1:56 PM - so disgusting out! - 5.01/35:41 out and back on asbury into topsfield

Wednesday - 14.39

5:22 AM - steady morning loop (8.18/53:41)

ran around at maudslay during hw/newb meet, part of the time w/ mike mccormick (6.21/49:49)

Tuesday - 13.1

5:28 AM - out and back on morning loop (7.03/48:50)

1:49 PM - out and back asbury to end (topsfield) (6.07/40:17)

Monday - 15.18

5:19 AM - morning loop (8.15/55:58)

PM (at practice) - strong ellipse (w/ no warmup), out to cows and back recovery; 2 strong figure 8's, out to cows and back again, then 25 minutes easy w/ boys (7.03/50:37)

Sunday - 14.05

6:37 AM - fourteen-mile loop; 7:48, 7:11, 7:23, 7:11, 6:58, 7:01, 6:52, 6:40, 6:45, 6:39, 6:46, 6:26, 6:30, 6:14

September 11-17, 2011

Week Total: 104.21

Saturday - 21.23

11:24 AM - after frosh-soph meet at bradley palmer; started out at 19:44 for first 3 miles; then a 6:37, then 6:41 avg. for the next three; then 6:22, 6:26, 6:15, 6:19, 6:25, 6:26, 6:21, 6:31, 6:43, 6:34, 6:45, then a little more - stopped for water at bradley palmer and the fountain was dry, couldn't really answer questions in my head of why I should keep going - pretty tired and dehydrated and low on blood sugar (no water or food during run), so I walked home from Bradley Palmer and took a much-appreciated ride from Joan Stone for the last mile (2:18:18)

note: planning to enlist my dad's help (fyffe-style) when I go for twenty-four next weekend (10/1-10/2)

Friday - 11.06

5:20 PM (after practice) - out and back from school down 1a/gardner/sagamore (5.04/35:20)

5:32 AM- out and back on morning loop (6.02/44:55)

Thursday - 15.75

5:20 PM - left HWRHS for warmup w/ soccer game still in progress (like Tuesday) - warmup on rock maple/cutler out and back (2.14/15:21); 3 x 2-mile on (now-empty) track w/ 382m recovery (<2:00) - (5:06.5/5:07.7=10:14.2; 5:09.2/5:08.7 =10:17.9; 5:10.4/5:08.1=10:18.5); mile easy cooldown + .2 back to car in 9:50 (9.75 total in 59:50)

5:30 AM - out and back on morning loop (6/43:40)

Wednesday - 13.07

PM - ran all around Patton Park and Scilly's during HW XC meet - boys and girls both won again against Pentucket (6.05/47:29)

5:22 AM - out and back on morning loop (7.02/51:10)

Tuesday - 13.12

4:45 PM - got out of practice early and wanted to do 6 x 1000 on the track, but there was a soccer game going on, went for 2-mile warmup out rock maple and back and when I got back there were still 12 mins left in the game, so I kept running around on the grass until the game finally ended at around 5:20; ended up doing 4.5 for a warmup and only had time for 3 x 1000m w/ 600m recovery and a short cooldown (.57). 1000's were 3:08/3:07/3:05; recoveries 2:47/3:13 total: (7.66/56:08)

5:20 AM - out and back on morning loop; had to be back by 6:00, starting work at 7:00 (5.46/40:24)

Monday - 15.23

PM - 7.07/50:00

5:20 AM - morning loop (8.16/56:52)

Sunday - 14.75

out at 6:09 am, before church; 14-mile loop plus a little add-on; first 3 miles at 7:00 pace (21:06); next 3 miles at 6:45 (20:12); next 3 at 6:30 (19:18); 3 at 6:15 (18:41); last 2.75 sub-6:00: 5:54/5:47/4:07 (1:35:08)

60 Quarters

Today I took a shot at a workout on the track with a little more relaxed approach than my last couple attempts. I made sure I had time to get ready (thanks, Heather) and think through what I was going to try to do and then run relaxed the whole time.

No, I didn't run 60 400's on the track, in some vain attempt to prove myself capable of completing the mythical miler's workout.

But I did run over 15 miles today, so in a sense I ran 60 quarters.

And 60 quarters approximates the amount of money in my wallet and car ashtray.

On to the actual workout:

Goal: 3 x 2-mile (5:20 or faster) w/ 400m recoveries (~2:00)

Result: 5:06/5:08 (10:14); 5:09/5:08 (10:17); 5:10/5:08 (10:18)

Felt good - the cooler weather prevailing helped out. I think the 3 x 1000 I did Tuesday afternoon (which was a workout cut short because I was short on time) helped me get used to running a little faster than I have been and so I was able to come back today and 77's and 78's didn't feel so foreign. All the tempo stuff at 80 second laps was making me feel like I couldn't go any faster (not that 78 is way faster, but it finally felt possible to maintain 5:10's for a whole workout).

September 4-10, 2011

Week Total: 90.72 (backed it off a little for Joe)

Saturday - 9.14

5:40 AM - morning loop plus airport rd/sam fonzo/conant st loop (9.14/1:02:54)

Friday - 14.78

PM - ran at practice with boys' team - some decently fast pickups on trails at Appleton Farms, ran easy ~.5 mile between reps (8.78/1:02:58)

5:31 AM - out and back on morning loop (6.00/45:52)

Thursday - 13.26

PM - wanted to do 5 x mile on the track, but ended up doing it on the road with the Garmin - just over 9 miles w/ 5 x mile @ 5:15/5:10/5:14/5:13/5:21 w/ 1:00 recoveries (9.13/56:39)

5:40 AM - easy out and back on morning loop (4.13/33:20)

Wednesday - 14.03

1:11 PM - same out and back, quicker (7.05/44:17)

5:24 AM - out and back on morning loop (6.98/52:57)

Tuesday - 10.49

PM - out and back on morning loop again; 6 x 20-30s strides (5.46/38:46)

AM - out and back on morning loop very easy (5.03/40:36)

Monday - 18.82

8:30 AM - a little under 2 miles warmup on 25k course - saw AJ Migonis and Scott Leslie; led start to finish - under 5:30 pace for first 5 miles, then ran in the 5:30's and 5:40's the rest of the way - definitely slowed when I learned what a big lead I had - ended up averaging 5:40 pace for 15.53 (1:28:03); little under a mile and a half cooldown on the old middle school track. Joe Shairs and Jim Pawlicki rode by on the bike a couple times and my dad (after he ran the attendant run the goose 7k). Also, Matt Curran relieved me of my Native sunglasses and CMS singlet when they became to burdensome in the heat. (Last year, I ditched my CMS singlet at about 2 miles and when I went back afterwards to pick it up, it was gone.)
After the race, Joe advised me to take it easy before I get hurt. I have been feeling great with the greater mileage, but haven't seen much improvement in terms of race times, although the last two races I ran have been pretty hot days.

Sunday - 10.2

noon - historic run in Bradley Palmer w/ Heather, my Dad and both my younger brothers, Adam and Alex - did a little over 4 miles in about 40 minutes on the trails

early AM - out and back on morning loop (6.01/44:31) - very humid and uncomfortable

August 28-September 3, 2011

Week Total: 111.04

Saturday - 14.07

5:14 AM - 14-mile loop through Hamilton, Wenham, Ipswich (1:38:22)

Friday - 14.28

after work 6.10/40:59 in new marathon shoes (nike lunar racer 2)

5:16 AM - morning loop (8.18/56:32)

Thursday - 15.39

after practice - 1.5 mile warmup on track/5 x 1-mile T w/ 200m (~1:00) recoveries - 5:20/5:19/5:15/5:13/5:02 - 1.75 mile cooldown

5:12 AM - out and back on morning loop (6.49/47:05)

Wednesday - 18.19

ran at practice then back to pick up my car (9.97/1:15:50); kind of easy with the kids with a couple pickups

5:09 AM - morning loop (8.22/57:30)

Tuesday - 12.81

PM - after practice ran home kind of hard (4.62/30:20)

5:12 AM - morning loop (8.19/59:51)

Monday - 15.56

2:00 PM (before practice) - roads and trail (7.38/52:38)

5:36 AM - morning loop before work (8.18/57:02)

Sunday - 20.73

10:40 AM - 6:17 pace in the wind and the rain; reminiscent of my last two marathons (Cape Cod '06 and Boston '07)

20 miles w/ irene

I got up around 7:00 with tentative plans to run at around 10 or 11 o'clock after church. I had talked to Joe Shairs earlier in the week about getting together for a 20-miler, but we nixed that yesterday when the weather became a major factor. Joe decided he would probably put a movie on and hop on the treadmill, and I figured I would go for what ever I could when I had the chance.

We found out at breakfast that church had been cancelled due to the weather, so we eased back on the Sunday morning rush and then had our own family service with some singing and a little lesson that mommy taught admirably. Ben played the drums and we all sang. Heather headed out for a run around ten o'clock and then came back shortly afterwards, opting for the treadmill, so I got ready to go.

I knew starting out it would be wet and windy, but it didn't seem unreasonably so. I headed out the main entrance of Asbury Grove and up Asbury Street toward the center of Hamilton. I was soaked in the first couple minutes, but felt good, and after yesterday's lackluster race I was determined to put forth a solid effort. The first mile went by in 6:32 as I approached the end of Asbury Street and had to decide whether to head north or south on rte. 1A. I decided to head south, through Wenham and into North Beverly, hoping that the storm would be mostly north of me. Miles 2-7 were all between 6:18 and 6:24 as I found a rhythm that was only intermittently interrupted by a severe blast of wind. I made my way through Beverly by the  hospital and back into wenham on rte. 22. I followed that all the way to bridge st in Hamilton (about 13 miles). 8-13 were between 6:09 and 6:19. I turned onto Sagamore off of Bridge Street and thought I might be a little under 20 miles the way I was heading, so I turned for a brief jaunt up Sagamore (aka "sacrifice") Hill. This is a paved hill off Sagamore Road that we have periodically trained on for HW XC to prepare for running at Northfield Mtn. It is about a quarter mile up a pretty steep grade - it felt a little like Mt. Washington for about 2 minutes, then I turned at the top and carefully came back down. Mile 14 was an understandably slower 6:33, then I tried to drop it down again as I headed into the final 7 miles. Miles 15-20 were a 6:10; 6:18; 6:10; 6:05; 6:08; 6:06. Then I finished with a 4:30 last .73 (6:07 pace). I felt really good, especially for no water or food; it was nice that the weather was such a distraction from the normal long run concerns.

August 21-27, 2011

Week Total: 103.77


Saturday - 10.15

9:40 AM - slept in till 8, went to breakfast at the Asbury Grove Coffee Shop, had a Grove McMuffin (ham, american cheese and fried egg on grilled english muffin) plus a cup of coffee, came home and grabbed some water then headed downtown for the Hamilton Firefighter's 5-Mile. 1.5 mile warmup with Heather, feeling a little uneasy in the stomach, then we were off...went through the first mile in 5:05, with Nick DeSouza right on my shoulder in his Vibram 5 fingers. 2 miles in 10:24 as we started the climb through Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, still next to each other. I put a little space between us on the uphill, but I could hear his rubber feet slapping the pavement as we came down the hill and out the main entrance onto essex street. Mile 3 was a 5:18 and I was feeling my breakfast and the humidity. Mile 4, which is usually my fastest on this course with a significant downhill was a 5:19. The last mile I was alone, but would have liked better than a 5:26, which is what I got, for a grand total of 26:27. Nick finished 2nd in 26:42. Heather ran a bit faster than last year and was first female, 6th overall in 32:28. Did 3.6 for a cooldown with Nick and then Heather.

Friday - 12.79

5:30 PM - after practice ran home, 4.61 easy

5:11 AM - got out early and did whole morning loop for the first time this week - 8.18 in 56:15

Thursday - 12.24

5:15 PM - after first day of HW xc practice, ran from HW to my parents' house and then ran back with my brother Adam; 5.76 total

5:29 AM - 6.48 out and back on morning loop easy

Wednesday - 16.67


4:19 PM - ~2 mi. warmup to HW track, 400-800-1200-mile-1200-800-400 (400m recovery after first 400 and both 800's; 800m recovery after 1200's and mile) - 67/2:21/3:44/4:59/3:39/2:23/67 - 2 mi. cooldown


5:38 AM - out and back with a couple pickups; 6.5 at 6:38 pace


Tuesday - 15.33

4:13 PM - met John Barbour at Bennett Center at Gordon College for nice 8+ miles around Beverly

5:31 AM - out and back, same as yesterday, but faster and cooler outside

Monday - 14.83

PM - ran for an hour with Greg Krathwohl in the woods of Hamilton, pretty slow and conversational most of the way


AM - out and back on morning loop, slowly


Sunday - 21.76

3:15 PM - long run/track workout right from Daniels' Running Formula; 3 mi. Tempo on the track, followed by one hour of easy running (roads) with 3 x one-mile tempo on the track at the end. I've done this workout once before (in August 2006 training for Cape Cod) and I remembered the 3 miles at the end being the real work - trying to run faster than marathon pace for miles 16-18 (roughly).

I started with a 3+ mile run to the HW track and went right into 3-mile T. First mile was 5:21, second 5:23, third 5:11 for a total of 15:56. I knew I had a lot more running to go, but I really wanted to be under 16 minutes for the initial effort. Then I headed out on a 9-mile loop and ran right around 6:30's, which felt pretty comfortable in spite of the warm, humid conditions. The last couple miles before I got back to the track I was dragging a little and just wanted to get the hard running over with. I felt ok on the first mile (5:23) and actually thought I could go a little harder the next two, but it was all I could do to run two more at 5:27. The 3 miles home I stayed just under 7-minute pace, for a grand total of 21.76 in 2:18:52, which is a 6:22 average.

Pleased with the workout, but of course I wanted to check and see what I had done in '06. Turns out five years ago (almost to the day) I ran the 3 mile tempo a little slower (just over 16), then didn't cover quite as much ground in the hour run (8.7), but my first mile back on the track was a 5:18, followed by 2 5:26's. This is my fourth 20 miler already this summer, compared to only one I had done that year at this time.

August 14-20, 2011

Week Total: 97.23


Saturday - 14.12


6:18 AM - fourteen mile loop from home, felt pretty good - 1:37:38, a little faster than 7:00 pace; tough workout planned for tomorrow afternoon


Friday - 13.69


4:27 PM - from Pingree Park w/ Al Vlahos - roads to trails then back to roads - 5.53 in 43:29


5:22 AM - morning loop (8.16) in 55:53; finished with a 6:18 and a 6:10.


Thursday - 12.87

4:35 PM - 5.84 on trails behind Patton Park, Cutler Road, Pingree School

5:27 AM - Cutler loop - started real easy, picked it up a little at the end - 7.03 in 52:30

Wednesday - 17.38

PM - 2-mile warmup; 3 x 2-mile T on track w/ 400m (~2:00) recoveries; Goal: 5:20 pace (10:40 2-mile) - Conor Lyons (former HW runner headed to Northeastern this fall) joined me for part of this; 10:39 (5:21/5:18), 10:33 (5:17/5:16), 10:34 (5:17/5:17); 2-mile cooldown back to Patton Park. I was happy to be able to stay under 5:20's - the first one felt so easy, I really thought I might be able to run 5:12's or at least 5:15's on the last one, but I was starting to tire a bit by then. (10.51 total)

5:19 AM - easy out and back + 6 strides - 6.87

Tuesday - 15.38

PM - 7.21 from Ipswich track w/ Greg Krathwohl, Alex Vlahos and Kieran Kinnare, 3 of my graduated Ipswich kids

5:19 AM - morning loop; 8.17/59:00

Monday - 13.6

PM - 4.26/30:33, mostly trails, still rainy

AM - rainy, started on treadmill for just over a mile, then headed out for new 8-mile morning loop, 9.34 total

Sunday - 10.19

Met Conor Lyons and Alex Vlahos at my house after church; 10-mile loop at 7:32 pace.

Nice anniversary dinner at the 1640 Hart House in Ipswich (our twice a year date) - rare tuna steak and Heather got the roast duck. Bread pudding for dessert - my favorite!

August 7-13, 2011

Week Total: 105.7

Saturday - 22.42

2:30 PM - ran from birthday party in gloucester (near good harbor beach) about a mile on 25k course, then around back shore, thru downtown gloucester by st. peter's square, along the causeway, thru stagefort park, back 127 to manchester, then pine st/chebacco rd into hamilton and home ;left water/gatorade mix at about 13 miles, which was a good spot for it, carried it for 3 miles, forcing myself to drink the whole bottle (about 16 oz.?), best 20-miler of 3 this summer. 6:16 pace - should have started slower and finished faster, but pleased with the effort and how it felt. (Splits from Garmin: 6:27/6:22/6:31/6:25/6:20/6:21/6:03/6:12/6:17/6:12/6:08/6:09/6:17 (picked up drink) / 6:11/6:20/6:17 (put down drink) / 6:23/6:12/6:12/6:10/6:11/6:08/2:34 for last .42 (6:11 pace))

Friday - 16.53

4:20 PM (after work) - 6.28/48:23 w/ Heather from Pingree Park while my mom watched the kids; nice start to our 7th anniversary weekend!

5:20 AM (before work) - 10.25/1:10:49 - 57 degrees this morning, more than 50 degrees cooler than some of the temps in Texas last week - beautiful!

Thursday - 12.28

4:15 PM (after work) - 6.15/41:17

5:30 AM (before work) - 6.13/45:58

Wednesday - 15.6

4:30 PM (after work) - quick Cutler loop from Pingree Park (7.43/46:28 - 6:15 pace)

5:20 AM (before work) - (8.17/57:53)

Tuesday - 10.02

5:16 AM CST in Texas, about 8.25 w/ Heather

Monday - 14.36

5:30 AM CST in Texas; finished w/ Heather

Sunday - 14.49

AM- Texas early (before church), can't believe how good i feel after the miles i've been running, albeit mostly easy

Yankee Homecoming 10-Mile (A short personal history)

This was my fourth straight Yankee Homecoming, and seventh time total.

In 2000, I ran 57:41 for 32nd place on the course that started and finished on Low Street by the Middle School. I was training for my first marathon, Bay State, which I ran in 2:47:34, just over my goal of 2:45.

In 2005, I stepped off the course around 6 miles (before Maudslay), then finished the race with Heather. This course finished down Turkey Hill Rd (not straight back on 113) and ran through a neighborhood off Hale St(?) on the way up to the high school. The finish was in the same spot as this year's. Fall of '05 I ran my 2nd marathon (Cape Cod) and finished 8th in 2:38:15.

In 2006, I finished 9th on a very hot night in 56:58. That fall, I ran my best marathon (a 2:31:06 at Cape Cod).

In 2008, I had only been running about a month after about a year almost completely off, and I ran the 10-miler as part of the Grand Prix with CMS. I was pleased with a 56:50 result, my fastest on the course to date, good for only 49th place in the Grand Prix year, and a far cry from my best 10-Mile time of 53:19, which I ran in October '06 at the Apple Harvest Ramble in Harvard, MA.

In 2009, I finished as 2nd 32-year-old, (by three seconds), 55:14 to Jim Johnson's 55:11. I was 13th overall. Jim ran with me the entire second half of the race, encouraging me and telling me he was struggling. Finally, in the last mile, he told me to go ahead and kick it in; I didn't have a lot left, and Jim had a little more.

In 2010, I finished one spot behind Jim again. This time, I went out hard and came back to him. He and Mark Hudson went by me around mile 6 and put a pretty big gap on me. After the hill coming up from Maudslay I got a second wind and closed hard over the last two miles to catch Mark but not quite get Jim. I finished 10th, with a new best Newburyport time of 54:20. Jim ran 54:18.

This year, I joked with Jim at the start, that I would start in line behind him, because I knew that's where I'd end up. He said he was hoping to run around 5:20's and that sounded good to me. The night was cooler than most up there and I have been running a lot, although I'm still getting used to the higher mileage.

The race started and I was up near the front as things strung out on High Street. I had a pretty good look at the way things were developing: there was a pack of four up front - 2 RUN masters, a Winner's Circle runner I didn't recognize, and another unfamiliar runner (Bryan Morseman). They were closely followed by Jim Johnson and Justin Freeman. I was behind them. Before the one-mile mark, a guy came cruising by me and I wondered how far up he would move.

I went through the first mile in 5:14 and tried to stay relaxed. Mile 2 was a 5:19 as we turned down Marlboro Street and headed downtown. I felt the enthusiasm of the spectators downtown and felt great as I sped through the lined streets and into the back of the 5k pack. I have to agree with JJ it was a little tight with the 5k runners strewn out all over the road; I seem to remember everyone staying to one side in the past. I took advantage of the water stops all along this stretch as I know I've run into problems here on hot nights in previous years.

When we broke free of the 5k runners I settled down and prepared for the work ahead. The guy who had gone by me so fluidly in the early stages was definitely slowing, so I moved up on him. I also noticed that Jim seemed to be moving up on the Winner's Circle runner (Matt Manning) and one of the RUN masters (Ekuom). As I came alongside the seventh place runner, he told me he was struggling and asked me what I was hoping to run. I told him 5:20's or sub-54 and he said he wanted to break 55. He wasn't wearing a watch and I asked him if he wanted to know our 5-mile split. He said sure - it was right around 26:40 (5:20's). I told him the next hill was always the toughest part of the course for me and we worked our way up it together on the way to my slowest mile of the night (5:34), then I really started to work on catching Matt Manning for 6th place.

Mile seven was a 5:29, with the jog through the neighborhood, which was a little surprising. At first I thought we were avoiding the climb after Maudslay, but then we just dumped back out onto the course. I caught Matt on the climb and made the turn onto 113 which goes all the way back to the high school. At this point I could see Ekuom as well as JJ and a couple other runners near him. I knew I was 6th at this point, but thought I could catch Ekuom if I worked the last 2+ miles. Mile 8 was a 5:20, Mile 9 a 5:16 and I had gained a lot of ground. People were yelling, "You can get him!" Then just after Mile 9, I caught him and tried to push all the way back. I knew there was the little climb and (I thought) the football field, which I was dreading, but I just tried to concentrate on running fast and relaxed. Now that I was ahead, people were telling me, "He's right behind you!" even though I had just passed him.

We made the turn into the school and everyone was yelling. I mustered a final push and as I crested the hill, was relieved to see the finish line in the parking lot, not around the corner on the field.

I did my old man sprint across the line for a last mile of 5:10 (with mile 4, my fastest mile of the race) and an overall time of 53:34, good for 5th place overall and 3rd 34 year-old.  (Jim and race winner Justin Freeman are the same age.) I felt very pleased with the race and had a good time afterward talking with la lot of people.  Cooled down with Heather and Greg Krathwohl (a future CMS runner - entering his sophomore year at Middlebury), who I coached at Ipswich High. He finished 11th in 55:28. Heather ran a 10-mile PR for the second straight year (last year: 1:09:40; this year: 1:07:52).

A good night!

Left for Texas the next morning...

Photo by Peter McClelland.

July 31-August 6, 2011

Week Total: 101.9 miles (unbelievable - every run was a gift from God!)


Saturday - 17.08 (Texas Day 3)

AM - (5:11 am CST) it really is a dry heat; i don't really sweat like i do in the massachusetts humidity; feeling really good - 6:56 pace

Friday - 12.6 (Texas Day 2)

AM - (5:24 am CST) heather's brother, andrew joined me and i was a little braver on dark texas backroads than i would have been by myself; 7:32 pace

Thursday - 16.05 (Texas Day 1)

AM - (5:20 am CST) 6:55 pace, felt warm at first, 85 degrees before dawn, got done as sun was just coming up, felt good

Wednesday - 6.06

AM - (5:05) before leaving for texas; easy, 8:00 pace

Tuesday - 20.57

PM - (5:30) 3.19 warmup w/ heather, greg k. + dakota rees; 10-mile race in 53:34 (best time ever at Newburyport, 2nd fastest 10-mile ever - 1st was 53:19 at Harvard in October '06) - splits - 5:14/5:19/5:27/5:10/5:30/5:34/5:29/5:20/5:16/5:10; 3.25 cooldown w/ heather and greg k.

AM - (5:30) before work - 4.13 easy, 8:00+ pace

Monday - 15.26

PM - (4:15) after work; 6.3 w/ greg k. from pingree park @ 7:25 pace

AM - (5:15) before work; same loop as last Thrus./Fri. except came back a little longer way (8.96 mi. @ 7:08 pace)

Sunday - 14.25

AM - (6:30) started slowly (7:22 first mile) and gradually picked up the pace (6:46/6:57/6:44/6:28/6:37/6:27/6:25), then stayed under 6:20's for the last 6.25 (6:15/6:17/6:19/6:13/6:10/6:05), last .28 in 1:44. Felt pretty good the morning after a considerable effort yesterday.
Probably will try to get in some miles tomorrow, even with the 10-miler on Tuesday - Wednesday morning we leave for Granbury, TX (vacation at Heather's grandparents). Here is the forecast for the week we will be there:

Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Mon	Tue
3-Aug	4-Aug	5-Aug	6-Aug	7-Aug	8-Aug	9-Aug
Sunny	Sunny	Sunny	Sunny	Sunny	Sunny	Sunny
110	109	109	108	107	107	107
85	83	83	82	82	82	82

We'll probably try to do most of our running before sunrise which is 6:45 AM.
At least it's going to be sunny. And there's sort of a cooling trend toward the end of the week.
The other crazy thing is the humidity, or lack of, I guess is more accurate: this morning at 7 am in Granbury it was 82 degrees and only about 40% humidity, which is about as low as it gets around here at mid-day. In the middle of the day in Texas, the humidity was around 20%. We'll see if the "dry heat" makes any difference.
Heather's parents will be there with us, and we generally have quite a bit of time to ourselves when Grammy and Grampy Jersey get to see Ben and Grace; we've been out there the past four years at various times from late May to late August and have usually found some time to run.

Carver 5-Mile

Heather and I drove down early (left Hamilton at 6:05) and made good time. Arrived in Carver around 7:30 with a Dunkin stop near home and a bathroom stop near the race. We're convinced we want to retire to the Cape someday (maybe around the year 2050), and Carver has a similar feel.

Got our numbers without much hassle, unlike many CMS teammates, who discovered upon arrival that they were not registered. Warmed up on the last mile of the course with a big group of CMS men - caught up with Greg Ward and talked Cape Cod with a couple guys.

Couple of strides on the main drag before the gun went off. Stuck to my plan about getting off to a good start, maybe a little too good of a start. First mile felt fast, but not uncomfortable. Garmin beeped for a mile right at the mark in 4:50. I was near JJ, Will Dobbie, and eventual winner Kevin Johnson.

2nd mile went by in 5:09 for a two-mile split of right around 10-flat. Great, I thought, low-25's seems like a good shot. I was in about 10th place at this point. From here, I don't know if it was the heat, the high mileage of the week or the fast start, but I couldn't really seem to maintain. JJ got further and further ahead of me along with the BAA tandem of Dobbie and Terry Shea. Mile 3 was a sobering 5:20 and mile 4 a scandalous 5:28. I got passed by Pete Mallett, Nick Crowell, Brennan Bonner and Chad Carr. The only person I went by in that stretch was an obviously hurting or relenting Josh Ferenc. I thought maybe Joseph Koech was coming back, but I never made up the difference. I passed Pete in the last couple hundred meters and managed a last mile of 5:17 for a grand total of 26:05. For the second straight Grand Prix event, I finished one spot behind the top master.

Summary: 3rd CMS (same as Stowe) and 14th overall (better than at Stowe) was encouraging, although the time was definitely a little disappointing. Considering that I ran 25:17 in May on a similarly flat course in Gloucester all by myself, I assumed that the competition would help rather than hurt my time. Admittedly, my mileage has been higher than ever or at least higher than it has been in a long time and I am getting used to how that affects me. Hopefully in another couple weeks I'll be ready to race better in the midst of the high mileage. As temps continue to drop, I look forward to a productive fall; Cape Cod, maybe?

Cooled down with Jim P., Greg H., and Tim P. then ran into Heather just starting her cooldown as we were almost back. Did a couple more miles with her, then headed back home.

note: the drive down took about 1:20, the drive back took about 2:30.

Pics courtesy of Ted and Mary Tyler @www.jimrhoades.com

July 24 - 30, 2011

Week Total: 100


Saturday - 15.45

AM - 2.5 warmup in Carver w/ CMS men; 5M race in 26:05 (14th, 3rd CMS); 5+ after w/ Pawlicki, Pipp, Hammett and then Heather

PM - 3 easy to get 100 for the week; Ben rode his bike and I pushed Grace in the jogging stroller for part.

Friday - 8 plus

AM - 5:18 (before work) same loop as yesterday morning but a little slower; taking afternoon off and resting for carver tomorrow, hoping for good things, beginning with getting off to a good start and a good fast first mile; hopefully get a chance to see the course a little beforehand.

Thursday - 12 (plus a little)

PM - 4:40 (from home) a little more than 4 miles pretty slowly with my ipod; out and back on asbury street toward bradley palmer state park

AM - 5:20 (before work) a little over 8 miles; highland to center of wenham, down cherry st to cedar st to 97 south into beverly, conant to 1a back to wenham and home, 6:55 pace

Wednesday - 12 (almost)

PM - 4:15 (from work) Cutler loop to home - 5.82 in 36:23 (6:52/6:21/6:09/6:08/6:04/4:49 for .82 - overall 6:15 pace)

AM - 5:20 (before work) out and back very easy 6.06 barely under 8 minute pace; abs sore from running hard yesterday

Tuesday - 18 (I think this Sunday-Monday-Tuesday is my highest three-day total ever)

PM - 4:00 (from work) 2.37 mi. to HW track; 5 x 1-mile T w/ Greg K. and Alex V. (5:15/5:20/5:17/5:17/5:12) w/ 200m recoveries (~1 min.); 3 miles home; would have liked to have run the last one a little bit faster, but overall pleased with workout - much better than the same thing early in the morning last week and the week before (11.04 total in 1:09:58)

AM - 5:30 (before work) 7.02 in 51:22; Cutler loop

Monday - 13.4

PM - 4:15 (after work) 7.37 in 51:13 from Pingree Park on roads; legs are tired from increased workload/yesterday

AM - 5:30 (before work) 6.03 in 45:30 out and back highland/cherry/cedar/97

Sunday - 21

Went for it after church (10:00) and wasn't really sure what to expect. I felt okay early and there were some nice autumn-ish breezes, which were very welcome after the last three days of 90-100 degree heat. Started around 6:40's for the first few miles and mostly was clicking off 6:20's pretty easily.

Compared to my first 20-miler (this summer) a couple of weeks ago, this was much better. I'm not sure if it was the lower humidity, the time of day (a little later and after breakfast) or a better dinner the night before, but the end didn't drag and I felt like I could pick it up if I needed to.

I'm thankful my wife gave me 2+ hours to do this while she took care of our kids and taught Sunday School. I'm still not sure if this is all building for Cape Cod or some other marathon, but it feels like the right thing to do...

The details:

21.05 in 2:16:32 through Ipswich, Essex, Manchester, Beverly, Wenham, and Hamilton. A few hills, mostly quiet secondary roads. Nice shade, some cool breezes. Slowest mile: 6:52 (1st), fastest mile: 6:17 (18th). Thank you, God!

July 17th-23rd

Week Total: 84 miles (highest week of 2011 so far, probably the most I've run since I was training for Boston in winter 2007)

Saturday - 10+

5:50 am - 10.24 in 1:09:08; feeling a little better (cooler this morning), but still a little sluggish - pray that tomorrow is better...

Friday - 12

5:12 am - 12.08 in 1:25:13; went in to work late and got in some miles before it got too hot...started around 7:30's and finished in 6:40's-6:50's; feeling a little better, but still some lingering soreness (from Sunday and Wednesday am?); hoping to go for 20 again this weekend.

Thursday - 8

took the afternoon off from running - mid '90's

5:20 am - couldn't get Garmin to work, so I left without it and didn't feel any pressure to maintain pace; just wanted to make sure my achilles was all right, so I just plugged along for 8 miles in 62 minutes, very humid and warm already...maybe take this afternoon off...

Wednesday - 13.87

4:20 PM - 4.09/27:14; tried to do some form running and some stretching for achilles, didn't feel bad while I ran, got tight afterwards - I know I need to be doing some faster running, but I don't think 5 am is the time for it...

5:15 AM left the house not sure if I was going to head to the track or not; ran 3.2 to HW track and did 2-miles in 11:12 w/ 400m recovery then 1-mile in 5:12; wanted to do more, but needed to get home and left achilles a little tight - 3.3 home 9.78 total

Tuesday - 13.16

4:15 PM from pingree park out and back union, asbury, 1a - 6.14 in 38:34 (6:17/mi.)

5:23 AM out and back highland/1a/larch - 7.02 in 51:01

Monday - 14.18

3:45 PM not quite as easy out and back highland - 6.11 in 41:39

5:15 AM easy out and back hamilton/wenham/beverly by airport - 8.07 in 58:04

Sunday - 12.5

Stowe 8-mile road race (43:29.5 - 5:26/mi.; 21st/919); 2.2 before with Heather, 2.3 after with Heather

Testers?

A friend of mine has developed an electronic device to be worn inside the shoe when running and he's looking for wear-testers once he's finished with the prototype (a couple of weeks form now). Anyone interested in trying out the product can let me know and I'll get one for you. I'm sure he'd also love to hear any feedback about what you think of the product after you try it.

Stowe 8-Miler

This was my first Grand Prix event in a couple of years (since Ollie 2009), and Heather and I were fortunate enough to be able to spend (part of) the weekend alone together in Stowe at the economical and adequate Riverside Inn. We had a great pre-race dinner of shed burgers, nachos and mountain ale, followed by apple-blueberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream! I had a hard time sleeping with nerves and over-hydration, but felt good enough at 6:00 am on race morning.  Read 2 chapters of Job and then got Heather up so we could be at The Bagel when they opened at 6:30. We shared 3 bagels ( I ate most of two) with cream cheese and Green Mountain coffee. Saw Ed Breen and another GBTC teammate (Will Feldman?) enjoying their pre-race breakfast and talked briefly with Ed (Ted according to results). Then we went back to the Riverside and took a short walk on the beautiful Stowe Rec Path to scout out our post-race swim spot.

We left for the start at a couple minutes before 8:30 and jogged the 2-miles up 108 and Cape Cod to Weeks Hill Rd. We saw a big crew of CMS men warming up, including JJ and Pawlicki (surprise!).  Then we met up with Joe Shairs and he ran back in to the start with us and told us about the desirable accommodations at The Golden Eagle Resort. (I was especially interested in the trout fishing pond for kids - maybe next year if we're back!) Got to the start and stood around in the sun for a few minutes - saw Greg Hammett, Jeff Goupil, and met Tim Pipp, coming off a 19:50 4 on the Fourth, and running "his longest race ever". After Krissy snapped a pic of the mustachioed men of CMS,

we settled in to the CMS starting box and got ready to go.

The start was quick, but I was not and I sort of bounced around in the midst of all the bodies while we wound our way through the field and out to Weeks Hill Rd.  JJ was right ahead of me, and Andy McCarron and Chris Mahoney were nearby. We went through the first mile in 5:46, and Andy said, "That can't be right." I said, "I hope it's not." and checked the Garmin, which measured it a little long.  Sure enough, our 2nd mile was a 5:03, and it seemed to balance out, though not quite to the 5:15 pace I was hoping for. Climbing the hill up to Barrows Road, I went by Joe Navas, who looked strong and wondered when he would come back past me.

Sure enough on one of the big downhills he flew by, along with another runner, who I think might have been Chad Carr. I felt pretty relaxed on Barrows, which is mostly downhill and has some nice shaded sections. Mile 3 was a too-slow 5:30, and mile 4 was a 5:13. As we came to the end of Barrows Road and turned onto Moscow Rd., I looked up to see how far ahead JJ and Bob Wiles were - I counted 6 runners between them and me, so I started to try to catch a few. Moscow Road does a little climbing, and I was starting to feel the effects of the sun and humidity, but managed to reel in a couple guys before the turn onto River Rd. There I passed Bob, who was apparently struggling a little, and shortly thereafter I went by Joe N. again. The next runner up, who I determined from the results was Bobby Asher of the Van Cortland Track Club appeared to be struggling and looked back several times, but remained strong and neither Joe nor I was able to catch him.  River Rd. went better than I remembered it going in 2005 and 2006 (the last time I was here) - Mile 5 (Moscow Rd.) was a pleasantly surprising 5:21 and Mile 6 was a forgettable 5:34, but Mile 7 was a 5:25 as we began the somewhat cruel ascent back to Ye Olde England Inn and the finish. I stayed about the same distance behind Joe the rest of the way in and finished with a 43:29.5 for 21st place and 3rd CMS.

I was happy to be able to be a scoring member of the CMS Men's Team which currently leads the Grand Prix by a comfortable margin, but I would have loved to have improved on my 43:14 clocking from '06 (on a slightly different course).

Thanks to Krissy K. for all the great pics - it's good to see that I need to remember to pick my left foot up off the ground.: ) I have two weeks to pick my feet up and sharpen my 5-mile speed for a 25-flat effort at Carver in 2 weeks. Maybe we'll get a freak 70-degree day or some rain.

Heather was pretty pleased with her 53:18.9 for 22nd woman and (also) 3rd CMS in her first race with the team in ages. We cooled down right after she finished and headed straight to a spot off the rec path on the river for a very brisk dunk in the water to soothe the sore muscles and stave off the heat stroke.
We went back to the Inn, showered and checked out then headed back to the post-race festivities, chatted briefly with Jim and Kris, who were about to take off, Joe Shairs and Kevin Tilton, then Jane and Bernie Sexton from Hamilton, who we ran into at registration the day before. It was too short of a stay, and I dreamed of a little bit better result (42?), but we had a good time regardless. Big thank you to my mom and dad who watched Ben and Grace for the weekend so we could go run!

My love and me in our matching Stowe 8-Mile Cotton/Poly blend T's (Oh yeah, and my sick stache which has to come off soon.)

July 10-16, 2011

Week Total: 78 miles

Saturday - ran stowe course after arriving later than expected, first 2.3 mi. w/ heather (8.11 mi./58:15); great dinner at the shed afterward!

Friday - 10 km in AM in 46:39; 5 1/4 after work w/ conor in 38:02

Thursday - 9.24 in 1:08:35 (8 mi. w/ Al)

Wednesday - AM -up at 4:50, chocolate powerbar and 2 glasses of water, left the house at 5:16, got to track at 5:40 (23:24, 3.25 warmup); 5 x 1-mile T w/ ~1 min./200m recoveries (5:39/5:35/5:28/5:22/5:12); 23:24, 3.28 warmdown back home - nice.
                     PM - 4.15/30:13 recovery run on roads/trails

Tuesday - 9.2 in 1:01:09 (6:38/mi.) at 5:30 am; 77 degrees already, going to 90

Monday - 5:15 am - out and back highland/arbor-1a-cherry-cedar-97-airport rd (7.16/49:18); after work - from pingree park around hamilton and wenham, very hot, ran up scilly's once (5.47, 37:05)

Sunday - nice recovery/progession run from zumi's after Church; market to washington to linebrook to pineswamp to fox run to longmeadow to topsfield rd to mill rd to waldingfield to goodhue to cutler to rock maple to meyer to rock maple to 1a to pingree park thru to union to asbury and home; started easy, 6:53, last three miles 6:06, 5:51, 5:42 - felt good after tough run yesterday (11.26 in 1:11:43)

It's been awhile, but...

Having received great inspiration from the blogs of other CMSers (JJ, Wiles, Pawlicki, Tilton, Dunham, etc.), I've decided to try my hand at this.

I've been keeping my log in a google doc, so I don't know if I'll bother to transfer all that data over here or just pick up with this week.

After seeing what the guys who I want to run like have been doing, I've started doing some two-a-days and really appreciate the freedom it gives me on my afternoon run. Last Friday and four mornings this week I got out around 5 am for anywhere from 6-12 miles. I even had a nice tempo mile workout this wednesday at 5:30 am. I've found that it really lets me relax and enjoy my second run of the day, instead of feeling like I have to do 10 miles or it's a wasted day.

I'm really looking forward to Stowe and being a part of the good things the CMS men's team has going this year. Hopefully, I can finish in the Top 5 CMS and maybe run better than I've run there before (43:14 in 2006).

The new year (2011)

It began in Long Valley, NJ at the Brackmann home (my in-laws, Heather's parents).  It always feels like a retreat, a time to relax and be quiet before God.  I usually have some sort of revelation or reminder of my need for Christ and this visit was no different.  The sermon at Valley View Chapel yesterday was about Saint Stephen (the first martyr) and being ready to give a faithful testimony about Jesus.  I realized how slow I am to speak about my savior.  One expression Pastor John used a couple of times was "diligent, private practice will result in extraordinary public performance."  I like this.  I think it applies to knowing the truth so well that it oozes from you in word and deed.  Likewise, it can easily be transferred to the running realm.  It is my great hope and prayer that in 2011 God will use me (and my running) for His Glory and His Kingdom purposes!

Monday, January 3, 2011

Ran 6.13 miles (Garmin) around Hamilton and Wenham after we got home as it was getting dark.  low 30's felt pretty comfortable.  A little sore from sliding around on the track yesterday.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

first track workout of the year

Ran down the mountain to West Morris Central High School track with Heather around 2:30 in the afternoon.   Started with 2 x 1000m T while Heather did some 800's.  It was a little slushy on one end of the track.  Goal for 1000's was 3:20 (~5:20/mi. pace).  First one in 3:15, 200m jog recovery (1:00); second one in 3:21.63, 200m jog recovery (1:03).  Then did 6 x 200 on the non-slushy half of the track, turning around and walking back after each one.  Goal for 200's was 33s (32.3; 32.63; 32.03; 31.72; 32.7; 32.64)  Last piece of workout was a 2-mile progression run with each 400 5 seconds faster than the previous and the last 400 at 3k race pace.   Since I have actually raced a 3k recently, I knew what that meant.  Goal was 70 seconds for last lap.  I should have started a little slower and I didn't quite hit my goals as I picked it up, but I think the slush accounted for some of that.  Ended up running 1:38.6, 1:38.2, 1:34.7, 1:31.6, 1:27.6, 1:22.2, 1:19, 1:13.7.  Heather ran the first mile of the progression with me then did a couple easy 400's with a hard 200 at the end.  Then we jogged back up the 2 1/2 miles back to her parents' house.  Overall, very pleased with just being able to get out and run a workout in early January.  Thankful to my "mom and dad" in NJ for spending time with their grandkids so Heather and I could have a little running date.

Saturday, January 1, 2011
"9-mile" loop from Brackmann house with Heather - up hill for the first 3/4 mile, then rolling the rest of the way (down hill last 3/4 mile coming back)...wore my new Garmin and measured at 9.13.  1:07:42 was comfortable and good effort for Heather.  We talked most of the way.  Saw some mile marks on the road for a 10k(?)  around 40 degrees and overcast, most of the snow they had early in the week had melted.