Pine mountain ascent

 I've only been up Pine Mountain once before (2018), so when Petey asked me to come up for a run I was all-in.  I arrived in Alton Bay about 30 minutes before sunrise and put in a flat (ish) 6 mile along the lake to warm up.  Warm-up indeed as it was 32 degrees when I started.  I caught sunrise just as I turned on my way back on the out/back run.  Then it was off to Petey's and a quick return to Lake W.  Pete dipped his hand in the lake and we were off.  40 minutes of enjoyable conversation and we were on the sunny summit checking out the view (you could see some of the White Mountains, Belknaps up close, Kearsarge (north and south) and Grand Monadnock in the distance.  We hiked the .8 down the other side of the mountain to Petey's house.  I closed out the day with an excellent and refreshing 2 hour ride.

NHTI 5k - CARS race

 Friday night racing? Never been my thing.  When you enter a 9 race series, sometimes you've got to race at times you'd rather not.  My ankle has been shit.  I got a cortisone shot on Tuesday but it had little impact.  That wasn't a big surprise.  The history on that navicular is not good and the prognosis is dismal.  Onward!

I headed up to NHTI (Concord NH) after work and was a little chilly at the start of my warm-up preview of the course.  Temps in the 50s were fine for racing but 10-20 mph south winds were not.  I joked (semi-joked) with Tim Cox & Sam Wood about this being the longest certified 5k in NH.  I doubt anyone ever gets less than 3.15 on their Garmin.  It is certified but coned in such a way that you cannot run the shortest possible course.  Everyone has to run the same distance so in that way at least it is fair.

I put on my new Nike road shoes and did another easy mile before the start.  It was not feeling easy.  Perhaps a 90+ mile week and an 18+ mile day was not such a good idea?  My original goal was to run faster than SEA (1911) and hopefully beat Ernie Brake.  Ernie was not present and conditions were not conducive to a fast time.  I headed out in 10th place and tried to latch on to anyone to block the wind.  I ran with one guy for about 3/4 of a mile then was on my own.  I closed on Max Goupil (who I'd beaten at SEA) and caught him around 2.25, but he accelerated right away.  I kept him close until about 440 to go when he checked his watch and sprinted away.  Not a good race for me, but I used everything I had in the tank.  I did manage my first age-group 60 win and also took the age-graded win.

Next up: We'll mix it up with a little XC racing at the Canterbury village in a few weeks.

Place Name Time Sex Age City St                 Div/Tot Div
1 Luke Janik         16:28 M 27 Hampton Falls NH 1 MOPEN
2 David Charney 16:46 M 36 Concord NH         2 MOPEN
3 Steven  Groulx 17:57 M 23 Chester NH         3 MOPEN
4 Timothy Cox         18:32 M 50 Northwood NH 1 M5059
5 Broden Cox         18:35 M 12 Northwood NH 1 M0114
6 Sam Wood         18:47 M 37 Laconia NH         1 M3039
7 Andrew Kroeckel 18:52 M 43 Rochester NH         1 M4049
8 Lucas Zamoyski 19:05 M 35 Manchester NH 2 M3039
9 Max Goupil         19:34 M 14 Contoocook NH 2 M0114
10 Dave Dunham         19:37 M 60 Bradford MA         1 M6069
11 Allison Davis         20:13 F 36 Contoocook NH 1 F3039
12 Scott Clark         20:27 M 58 Gilmanton NH 2 M5059
13 Norman Goupil 20:34 M 45 Contoocook NH 2 M4049
14 Sarah Burdette 20:49 F 46 Concord NH         1 F4049
15 Jeff Clark         20:52 M 59 Holderness NH 3 M5059
16 Abbey Wood         21:16 F 38 Laconia NH         2 F3039

Week Ending 04/21/24

 Week Ending 04/21/24

A big week with over 90 miles which was unintended.  I'd put in a couple of big days early in anticipation of easing back into the weekend, but then just didn't ease up.  My ankle has been pretty lousy and the cortisone shot didn't seem to help.  The doctor noted that "there may be a time when the shot doesn't help" and I guess I'm at that point.  I had an uninspired race on Friday night but that kicked off a very nice weekend..

Week - 93

Month - 262

Year - 1384

Life - 160,115

Looking back - April 2019

5 years ago: April 2019 – I raced four times this week including a return to the Boston Marathon. I kicked off the month with the SEA 5k (CARS race #2) Last year I'd run 18:10 on a windy day, this year I thought anything under 18:40 would be good. I counted about 30 ahead at the first big turn.  By the mile (5:47) Ernie Brake was at least 5 seconds ahead and looking strong.  I slowly closed the gap and caught up to him right before we hit 2 miles (11:39).  We locked into a good fight back and forth over the next half-mile.  I was happily surprised to hit the finish in 18:12, only 2 seconds slower than last year and first in the 50+.  Ernie came in 9 seconds later (which was close enough to get him the win in the age-graded). 

 
Top masters
    1   1 M4044   16:43   5:23 Jim Johnson            41 M       1 Madison NH             
    2   1 M5559   18:12*  5:52 Dave Dunham         55 M      15 Bradford MA            
    3   2 M5559   18:21*  5:55 Ernest Brake           57 M     195 North Sutton NH        
    4   2 M4044   18:35   5:59 Mark Doperalski       42 M     246 Deerfield NH           
    5   1 M5054   18:40   6:01 Jim Angell               54 M     147 Hopkinton NH           
    6   2 M5054   19:12   6:11 Darin Brown            52 M      76 Madison NH             
 
Overall
1   1/3  MOPEN   16:09   5:12 Louis Saviano III                      28 M   248 Sandown NH             80.42%
2   2/3  MOPEN   16:10* 5:12 Aidan Cox                                13 M   316 Northwood NH          86.71%
5   1/13 M4044   16:43   5:23 Jim Johnson                            41 M     1 Madison NH                82.59%
14   1/18 M5559  18:12* 5:51 Dave Dunham                         55 M    15 Bradford MA               84.26%
15   1/3  FOPEN  18:20   5:54 Amber Ferreira                         36 F   343 Concord NH               81.31%
16   2/18 M5559  18:21* 5:55 Ernest Brake                            57 M   195 North Sutton NH        84.92%
25   2/15 M5054  19:12   6:11 Darin Brown                            52 M    76 Madison NH                78.02%
 

Next up was the Boston Marathon (04/15/19):  In 2019 I did TWO runs longer than 10 miles (a 12 mile in Feb and the New Bedford 1/2 marathon in March).  Not exactly what you want to do to get ready for a marathon.  My goal would be to just finish but I wasn't even sure that I would START the race until a few days before.  My goal for race day was to run under 3:30 (8 minute mile pace).  I thought I could run as fast 3:15 if conditions were good and I didn't have any issues. I tried to relax as literally THOUSANDS of people moved around and past me.  I figured 7:30's was probably going to be slower than I wanted to go but would just stick with whatever felt good.  It was difficult to judge pace as EVERYONE was flying by me, so I just dialed in on how I felt and kept it relaxed.  I got to the half in 1:33:55.  I was pretty sure I'd be under 3:15 and thought that with a strong second half I might even crack 3:10.   The next milestone was seeing mom, dad, rose, and denise who were enthusiastically cheering for me at the 15 mile mark.  After 10 miles very few people passed me and by 13 I was starting to pass people.

 Dave La finally caught me at 17 and then went by at 18 miles, he had started 4 corrals behind me.  I wished him good luck as his pace was too fast for me.  The toughest part of the hills was navigating between people at all paces from walking to barely moving.  At 22 I’d got back to Dave La.  We locked in together sweeping by a lot of people as I ran my fastest miles of the day (651, 658, 654).  I turned on to Hereford street with Dave but he went into a finishing kick that I could not match.  Dave (who started a couple of minutes behind me) finished in 3:03 while I came in very satisfied at 3:06:15 (7:08 pace) well under my goal and more importantly it didn't seem like I did any additional damage to my ankles.

 I  closed out the month at the CARS race #3 NHTI 5k (04/19/19): Not much turn-around time between Boston (Monday) and this race (Friday).  I did not have a goal other than to finish so that I’d continue scoring points in the series.  It was warm (mid-70s) and windy, and even humid for this double loop race. With the nearly circular loop there was never too much time either into or against the wind.  I made it through the first loop still with Scott Clark and Darin Brown lost ground in the second lap.  Darin turned it on and was able to out lean me at the line.  We were given the same time, but Darin was ahead.  I did get him in the age graded scoring. 

 
Place Div/Tot  Div   Guntime  Nettime Pace  Name                   Ag S Race# Hometown                Age %      
    1   1/3    MOPEN   16:41*   16:41  5:23 Aidan Cox              13 M   445 Northwood NH     84.02%
    2   2/3    MOPEN   16:41*   16:41  5:23 Sandu Ravenchele  49 M   479                           87.76%
    3   3/3    MOPEN   16:50    16:49  5:25 Kirpal Demian         17 M   155 Bow NH              77.81%
    4   1/29   M4049   16:57    16:57  5:28 Jim Johnson            41 M   204 Madison NH        81.45%
   14   1/36   M5059   18:40    18:39  6:01 Scott Clark            53 M   194 Gilmanton NH              80.95%
   15   2/36   M5059   18:54    18:52  6:05 Jim Angell             54 M   147 Hopkinton NH              80.65%
   17   3/36   M5059   19:10    19:10  6:10 Darin Brown            52 M    76 Madison NH                78.16%
   18   4/36   M5059   19:10    19:10  6:10 Dave Dunham            55 M    15 Bradford MA               80.01%
 
MALE AGE GROUP:  50 to 59
    1    14   18:40    18:39  6:01 Scott Clark               53 M     194 Gilmanton NH           
    2    15   18:54    18:52  6:05 Jim Angell                54 M     147 Hopkinton NH           
    3    17   19:10    19:10  6:10 Darin Brown             52 M      76 Madison NH             
    4    18   19:10    19:10  6:10 Dave Dunham           55 M      15 Bradford MA            
    5    25   20:21    20:19  6:33 Brian Perreault          53 M     430 Eliot ME               
 
 
 

Looking back - April 2004, 2009, 2014

 

20 years ago – April 2004: Nothing much of note from this month, I ran 340 miles with no days off and raced twice.  I was working my way back to “racing shape” and started the month with the Bow Lake 15k.  My goal was to run 6 minute miles (56:00).  The course was quite hilly, but I managed a fourth place finish in 56:19. Two weeks later I took on the Muddy Moose 14 mile trail race.  My Achilles was bothering me, and I never felt good.  I ended up taking 6th place in 1:40:27.

 

15 years ago – April 2009: I was feeling pretty good, finally getting on a roll and I hit 343 miles for the month with no days off and four races.  I headed down to Brockton for the rarely run 3.75 mile distance. In an unusual turn I had a good battle at the front of the pack.  I ran with another guy until 3 miles but couldn’t cover his final move.  From my blog:  I led the race for the first 1/2 mile then heard footsteps. The guy trailing me blew by me on the long downhill after the tower. I kept close and pulled back even with him about 3/4 mile into the race. It was good to have someone to work with. We hit the mile in 5:16, which I knew could not be correct (with the hill and wind there was no way I went out in 5:16). We stayed side by side for the next mile and hit 2 in 10:42 (5:26), still short of 2 miles but maybe the second mile was about a mile long? We had a slight tail wind for the third mile and hit that in 15:55 (5:13), which again seemed too fast (short).  Just as we hit 3 miles the guy took off and I just couldn't respond. I kept him close over the last .75 but ended up in 2nd place about 4 seconds back. I heard a few other people mention that the miles were not right but that the distance was "close". The course is used for a summer series as well (although they start further up and a few people mentioned 3.8 as the correct distance for the loop we did).  A week later I made a rare appearance on the track at the George Davis Invitational.  I almost missed the start as they combined the men and women moving our start up by 30 minutes.  I ran a very even (5:18/5:20/5:18) race finishing 6th in the field of 10 in 16:35. A week after that I hit the road and struggled to another 16:35 (at the Chase the Gorilla down Argilla).  I closed out the month with yet another 5k this time in Greenwich RI.  From my blog:  I was hoping for sub 1630 and tried to head out strong. Stephanie Reilly led for the first 400 then I moved into the lead with Eric Lonergan (who won last year in 1555). We ran side-by-side through 3km then I got a stride on Eric. It was short lived as he blew by me at 2 miles. He had about 3-4 seconds on me by 4km but I slowly reeled him back in. I figured my only shot was to get ahead of him before the final 400 or I'd get out-kicked. Unfortunately (for me) I couldn't get a lead and only just barely caught him as we hit the 3 mile mark.  He put the hammer down at that point and beat me by 4 seconds in the last .109, even with me hitting 31.8 for that last part. I was pleased with the effort but not so much with the time. I guess the breeziness and the warmth (70s) were part of it, or maybe it just wasn't my day. Either way I took some solace in getting $150.

 SCOTT CARLSON MEMORIAL - Saturday, April 25, 2009 Warwick, RI

1 16:39 5:22 ERIC LONERGAN 23 M N KINGSTOWN RI

2 16:43 5:23 DAVE DUNHAM 45 M WARD HILL MA

3 17:18 5:35 STEPHANIE REILLY 31 F WHITINSVILLE MA

 

10 years ago: April 2014 – I struggled all month seemingly stuck in some sort of training rut.  I finally went to the doctor after a terrible run at the James Joyce Ramble 10k and found out that I had walking pneumonia.  That explained a lot!

 I did finish in 2^nd place at the “Chase the Gorilla down Argilla”

1 David Long       1/45   M4049 40 M Beverly         MA   17:03  5:29  

2 Dave Dunham   1/38   M5059 50 M Bradford       MA   17:23  5:36 

3 Nathan Hausman 1/36   M3039 35 M Wenham    MA   17:36  5:40  

4  Matthew Curran  2/38   M5059 56 M Gloucester  MA   17:50  5:45

Looking back - April 1999

25 years ago – April 1999: Another month with a badly sprained ankle which caused me to miss a day.  I managed 346 miles and raced three times.  First up was the Red Shoe Barn 5m.  I went out with the lead group (teammates – Richard Bolt & Tom Anderson, along with Chris Teague and Mike O’Brien) and stuck with Teague through 2 miles.  He broke away and went on to beat me by 15 seconds (24:26 to 24:41).  O’Brien and Anderson finished under 25, running 24:52 and 24:59 respectively.  A week later I headed out to Worcester for the Fred’s marathon/half-marathon.  Alex Tilson, who had raced me the year before at the Baystate marathon, was looking to run under 2:22 and asked me to lead him through the half.  I ran an evenly paced 1:10:48 to win the half with Tilson in tow.  He ended up missing the standard but set a CR with a solid 2:25:23. The final race of the month was the Groton 10k, which was a CMS goal race (they had a team prize).  It was sunny, breezy and mid-60s as the pack of about 6 of us hammered the first 5k.  Teammate Richard Bolt and I broke away with GLRR runner Chris Teague.  I gapped them on the uphill from 4-5 miles and held on for a 12 second win in 31:08.   For some reason Richard and I were not included in the team scoring for CMS, we took the team title anyway with five other CMS runners in the top 10.

Looking back - April 1994

 

30 years ago – April 1994: I only raced twice during April although I managed 368 miles with no days off.  I was recovering from a sprained ankle and back woes which kept my racing limited.  I supported U-Lowell at the Alamo Alumni race in Boston.  It was sunny but windy and a chilly 40 degrees.  I ran an slow (for me) 24:37 to take 10th place.  I stayed away from racing until the 23rd when I went to the Mount Misery trail race in Lincoln MA.  The trails were in great shape, but the field was very small (26 finishers).  I ran with Petey until the last quarter mile then took off to win in 43:22 for the 7 miles race.

Looking back - April 1989

 35 years ago – April 1989: I lowered my mileage down to 328 for the month, mostly because I was aiming for a good run at the Boston marathon.  This was my first shot at the marathon, and I trained very hard with a goal of breaking 2:15. The week prior to the marathon I headed to New York City for the second annual Ekiden Relay.  This was a big money race that had teams from each of the 50 states and some international teams. Somehow, I ended up running the shortest leg of the relay a 7.5km (4.41 miles) dash through Central Park.  I ended up running the 2nd fastest time of the day 20:44 (4:42 pace), our team took 4th place, and I came home with $3,000.  The others on the team were Tim Gannon (14:10-5k), Paul Gorman (10.1k -9th pl), Dennis Simoniatis (9.3k-2nd pl), Wally Collins (10k 30:12, 10th pl).  Nine days later I lined up at the start of the Boston Marathon.  This was my first Boston and my first Marathon (I’ve done more than 50 races of the marathon and beyond since then).  I joined 5,122 others on a 67-degree day.  I felt great through 20k, and still pretty good through 30k, but the last 10k was just brutal.  My splits were 31:10, 32:10, 33:10, for the first 30km.  The last 12.2k took me 45:32 (5:59) pace but it was a lot worse than it sounds.  I staggered across the line and was promptly escorted to the medical tent and from there to the hospital.  Over 10 pounds of IV fluid later I was released.  Ouch!  I ended up finishing in 2:22:03 for 17th place.

Looking back - April 1984

40 years ago – April 1984: I only ran 255 miles with five days off due to a badly sprained ankle during the start of my sophomore outdoor track season at the University of Lowell.  I opened the month with the Fitchburg relays 5,000 meters.  We used to call it the “iceberg relays” because it seemed to always be cold and rainy at this early season meet.  Dennis Simoniatis and I planned to tie, doing the race as a hard workout.  We ran splits of 4:41, 4:48, and 4:38 for a 5k of 14:32.  Twelve days later I ran my first 10,000 meter track race at the BC relays.  My goal was to break 30:30 which was the qualifying standard for the NCAA National championships (D2).  I ran splits of 4:44, 4:50, 4:49, 4:50, 4:52, 4:56, and 70 for a 30:12.  That put me over a minute behind the winner (Dartmouth’s Sapienza 28:55).

Couldn't find a college pic of me and Dennis, but here were are going 1 - 2 at New Bedford in 1993

 

Week Ending - 04/14/24

 Passed 160,000 miles lifetime this week.  14 weeks this year and my lowest week was 82 and highest was 94.  Still having issues with my left ankle but getting it checked out this week.  Pretty amazing week with the eclipse, skiing, some great runs, and biking in weather that felt like Spring.

Week - 85

Month - 169

Year - 1291

Life - 160,022

Bumped into Warren Angell on the XC ski trails

Sunrise eclipse day

Sunset eclipse day

Darkness in the middle of the day

Looking back - April 1980

45 years ago – April 1979: I ran 127 miles and took 7 days off during the first full month of outdoor track during my freshman year at Billerica High School.  I raced six times, mostly in dual-meet races.  I started the month with a third place 2 mile versus Central Catholic (11:47).  Five days later I lowered my PR by nearly a minute running a 10:50.4 and placed fourth in a meet against Dracut on our home track at the Marshall Middle school.  Two days later I ran a 11:00 2-mile against Tewksbury and followed that up a week later with a 10:58 versus Wilmington.  After that I ran a 2:25 for a half-mile leg in the Class Relays.  I closed out the month with an uninspired 11:18 2-mile in a dual meet against Andover.  In all I scored 14 points towards my letter.  I’m not sure how many points you needed but I ended up getting the outdoor track letter (a large green “B”).