Weekend running

Sorry to all who objected to the departure from running log format.

(Thanks to all who appreciated the departure...)

Saturday I warmed up down to the center of Hamilton for the annual Firefighter "5" Mile Road Race. Not sure why they always have the "5" in quotes. For a small race, they do a nice job organizing, marking and celebrating this event.

Nice to see Dave and EJN from NE Running with a table set up at the start. Did a little pre-race interview with Eric that I guess wouldn't upload (Not sure I said anything too enlightening, anyway.)

Did about 2.6 on the roads and trails for a warmup. It was cool heading down, but it had warmed quite a bit by the 10:00 start gun.

Informed at the start line that the course had changed at that there weren't a lot of volunteers out on the course. Uh-oh. Fortunately, I had a lead vehicle to follow the whole way and the changes were welcome. It was actually really marked, too, and there were people at every critical turn. (Plug for this race.)

The old version of this course, that I've run a handful of times, included a pretty long climb up through Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. This year, we cut straight through the campus, eliminating the toughest climb.

I went through the mile in 5:07, hoping to run sub-26:00, but it was hard to keep myself honest with a sizable lead by that point. Mile 2 was a 5:17, and I kept slipping a little each mile. Mile 3 was 5:18, mile 4 was 5:19 and finished in 26:24 (5:23). Gave the LVL RNNR camera a spontaneous "L" gesture on the way into the finish and talked to EJN a little more with Ben after the win.

My dad was 2nd over 60, 22nd overall in 38:47. Keeping the legs moving at 67.

Earned a nice $100 gift certificate to NE Running Co with the victory, which I turned in for a pair of Karhu Flow Lights and 3 Honey Stinger Waffles. Had a good time shoe shopping with the three kids while Heather got a pedicure. (I'm no hero; she leads the troops everyday.)

Sunday morning I got up at 5:30 when the alarm went off, with my new Karhus next to my bed to help me get out of bed. No dice. Didn't even hit snooze, just shut the thing off. I haven't been sleeping great and I think it's because I've gotten so used to the AC, I can't sleep without the noise of it. Bad. Heather got up at 6:30 or so and went, knowing it would be hard for us to both run in the PM. I commend her again, for this, following on the heels of her 5:15 am workout with Layce and Regina of Team Gloucester the day before.

After church and Panera, I laced up the Karhus and cruised for 10 at just over 6:20 pace. Really looking forward to taking the new shoes a little longer as I try to make up my mind about a fall marathon.

Awesome time in the afternoon riding bikes with the whole family (my mom and dad, Heather and all 3 kids) on the Danvers Rail Trail. Dinner at Betty Ann's Subs in Danvers - great little sandwich place we "discovered" on Tuesday. (It's been there since 1952.)

This week: get ready for pre-season (team returns Friday, we leave for the ADK's Saturday AM).

Get some miles and get some fast running in on the track.

Is that better, Joe?