Racing in January

This month I raced a total of 7 times, but only averaged 2.8 miles per race.  Those short track races just don't add up!  Seven races in a month ranks as the 11th most and seven races in January is my tied for my third best January.  If I keep this up I'll race 84 times this year (not likely).

Most races in a month

Month	Year	Races	Rank
May	1982	11	1
Feb	1982	10	2
June	1993	9	3t
Jan	1982	9	3t
April	1981	9	3t
May	1980	9	3t
July	2006	9	3t
Jan	2009	8	8t
Feb	2007	8	8t
July	2000	8	8t
Jan	2012	7	11t
Aug	2011	7	11t
Feb	2011	7	11t
Jan	1991	7	11t
May	1981	7	11t
Jan	1980	7	11t
April	1980	7	11t
May	2007	7	11t
Dec	2007	7	11t

Splits

The good thing about racing indoors on a 200 meter track is the immediate feedback you get, of course the worst thing is also the immediate feedback you get.  Splits from the USATF NE masters track championships.

Splits	200meters	400 meters	Kilometers	Metric Mile
00:41.1	00:41.1
01:21.3	00:40.2
02:00.9	00:39.6
02:40.7	00:39.8	01:19.4
03:20.8	00:40.1		03:20.8
04:00.8	00:40.0	01:20.1
04:40.8	00:40.0
05:19.7	00:38.9	01:18.9		05:19.7
05:59.5	00:39.8
06:39.8	00:40.3	01:20.1	03:19.0
07:20.2	00:40.4
08:00.9	00:40.7	01:21.1
08:41.6	00:40.7
09:22.1	00:40.5	01:21.2
10:02.8	00:40.7		03:23.0
10:43.7	00:40.9	01:21.6		05:24.0
11:24.6	00:40.9
12:06.0	00:41.4	01:22.3
12:47.2	00:41.2
13:28.7	00:41.5	01:22.7	03:25.9
14:09.9	00:41.2
14:51.2	00:41.3	01:22.5
15:31.8	00:40.6
16:13.0	00:41.2	01:21.8		05:29.3
16:52.3	00:39.3		03:23.6
	16:52.3

Week Ending 01-29-12

I took it down a notch this week due to a very sore hip and the hope of running “fast” on the track.  My hip is still sore and my time was in the range of what I’d hoped but not REALLY fast J

M –       Lunch 4 in 28:44 (sore and tired from the 2 race weekend)

            Out/back on the river 6 miles with Dan in 49:26

T -        Lunch 4 in 27:33

            PM track workout at the Dome with Dan 8x800 in 2:41

W -       Lunch 4 in 28:49

            PM Dan’s woods 6 in 40:38

Th -      Lunch 4 in 27:46

            PM Dan’s woods 6 in 39:46

F -        430am Industrial Park 5 in 38:21 (pouring rain and slushy road)

            Lunch 4 in 27:32

            PM Dan’s woods 6 in 40:54

S -        6 plus or minus with Petey and Dave La in 56:28

            4 nice and relaxing run in 35:22

S -        3 warm-up, 1 mile of strides, 3.1 race in 16:52, 3 warm-down

Totals

Week – 80

Month – 357

Year – 357

Life – 114,430

USATF New England (and Northeast) masters track championships

I decided to pass on snowshoe racing this weekend when I saw that the USATF NE masters would have a 5,000.  It seems very rare to find an indoor track 5,000 and even more rare to find one for masters.  I decided I had to take advantage of this opportunity.  Oddly, even though I've run over 100 New England championships this would be my first on the indoor track.

I headed down to Providence and gave myself ample time.  I got there early and found a good spot for my gear.  Running the first event of the day made knowing when the start time would be a much easier task.  I like not having to worry and just do my "normal" warm-up.  Justin Soucy joined me on the track for a 3 mile warm-up.  After that I changed into racing flats and did another mile with strides.  I was feeling a bit tired and very nervous.  My hip has been bothering me for over a week and I was worried about how it would feel taking 25 laps around the 200 meter track.

Just before the start I chatted with Sean Livingston to see what he was aiming for.  I told him I was hoping to run 40 seconds per lap for as long as I could.  He noted "maybe we can work together".  About a dozen of us lined up and I headed out into the lead right away.  We were just a bit slow the first 200 but I kept the tempo steady, although I didn't feel great.  At 1200m Sean moved into the lead and the tempo increased a bit (my fastest 200 was from 1400-1600m).  I couldn't quite go with Sean but kept running in the 40 second range through 3,000 meters (10:02.8).  It was right around that point that the effort began to take it's toll and I slowed a bit.  I was able to keep it together crossing the line in second place in 16:52.  Sean won with a sub-16:30. 

I'm happy with the effort.  Going in I thought I could break 17 and my stretch goal was to break 16:50.  I'll take it for a January race!  On to the XC winter nationals in 2 weeks!!!

400m Splits:
1:21
2:40 - 79
4:00 - 80
5:19 - 79
6:39 - 80
8:00 - 81
9:22 - 82
10:43 - 81 (5:24)
12:06 - 83
13:28 - 82
14:51 - 83
16:13 - 82 (5:29.3)
16:52.2

January long gone by...

January 1982 – 30 years ago

I raced a lot during my senior indoor track season at Billerica High School, including nine races in January.  I started the month with an MVS and Lowell fieldhouse record for 2 miles with a 9:33.  I was pushed by strong efforts from Scott Spence and Keith O’Brien as Chelmsford crushed us 56 to 30.  I ran the anchor leg of our 4x400 in 57.4.  three days later I ran 4:40 to win the mile as we lost to Methuen (at Methuen) 51-35.  Teammate Jim Sullivan took second in the mile.  Two days later I won the 2 mile race at Dartmouth with a school record 9:31.5 just out-leaning Pat Gilooly at the line.  The following week we had two dual meets at Lowell.  I did the mile/mile relay and 2 mile/mile relay as we won both meets in a close count (45-41 and 44-42).  None of the times were spectacular as I was working toward some fast times at the State Meet.  I closed out the month with a win at the State coaches meet with a PR and school record with a 9:25.1.  I took the victory over Sean Coughlin with a 65 second final quarter.

1987 – 25 years ago

I only raced twice in January of my final year of indoor track at U-Lowell.  I was on the 4x1 mile relay team with Jason Cakorous, Rick Dawe, and John Cotter.  Our time of 17:13 still stands as the school record.  I ran a PR of 4:10 for my leg.  At the end of the month I took a shot at the school record for 2 miles (8:48) but came up short running a PR of 8:52.1 on the fast Harvard track.  I took 5^th place at the Harvard invitational.

1992 – 20 Years ago

The big change for me in 1992 was joining the Central Mass Striders, my first race of the year was a tie with new teammate Larry Sayers.  We ran a course record (still standing) time of 24:00 at the Freezer five.  Ten days later I headed to Fresh Pond for the weekly 2.5/5.0 races.  I was using these as tempo runs so that I wouldn’t have to run alone.  My goal pace for the marathon was 5:10’s so I was hoping to tempo at something in the range.  The first time out I did 8 miles in 40:56, passing through 5 miles in 25:29 for third place.  Two weeks later I ran a 5 mile tempo in 25:38 for first place in cold (15 degrees) and windy conditions.  In between the two workouts I went to Bermuda for the ADT 10k.  I won the trip for taking first in the TAC New England Grand Prix series.  I ended up taking 7^th place in 31:10 on a hot and windy day on a fairly hilly course.

1997 – 15 years ago

This year started well but ended with me out with a stress fracture that I continued to run on until it broke.  I still have the screw in my foot.  I kicked off the new year with a win back at the Freezer Five running a 26:51 in snow and 15 degree temperatures.  A week later I was up at Dartmouth where I won the 5,000 in 15:06.  Two weeks after that I closed out the month with a win at the Boston Prep 16 mile in a course record 1:28:49.  Teammate and training partner Byrne Decker and I raced together through 13 miles where I was able to gap him and then hold on for the win.

2002 – 10 years ago

I had a reasonably successful January in 2002, with just one major disappointment.  I started the year finishing second to Dan Verrington at the Hangover 5k in Salisbury.  I ran 16:02 and Dan ran just fast enough to win (15:59).  Next up was a qualifying race for the US Snowshoe championships.  I headed up to Killington with Richard Bolt to secure a trip to nationals.  Richard took 2^nd in 24:12 and I was third in 25:01 over a tough 5km course, some dude we’d never heard of won in 23:37 (I think he was a skier trying out snowshoe racing).  The following week we headed out to Colorado for the so called “North American Championships”.  The race was not the style of racing I was used to (you had to know the course to know when there would be fast running and when there would be very deep powder).  I ended up a very disappointing 17^th place.  A week later I hosted a race at Beaver brook and topped a field of 22 running 2.7 miles doing multiple loops around a field with just a hint of snow.                                                                                                                                       

                                                                                                                                   

 

 

Workout

Dan and I hit the Dome on Tuesday for the fourth workout in the ten week series.  I was feeling beat from a weekend with two snowshoe races along with lingering bronchitis and a very sore hip.  Dan noted that he was “feeling flat” after a weekend of no running.  This would be our longest workout thus far, but the pace would be ‘reasonable’.  The goal was to run 8 x 800m at 10k pace with 400+ rest.  The rest is always odd at the Dome due to the unusual length of the track.  Dan called our goal pace “optimistic 10k pace” or something like that.

We hit the track and did 3 miles warm-up and another mile with strides.  I felt pretty terrible, flat, tired and sore.  We alternated leading the 800’s and it actually went pretty well.  We hit them all between 2:40 – 2:42, depending on traffic on the track.  Mostly the effort felt okay, the first lap always felt easy and the last 1.5 laps was never terrible.  The longish (2:20) recovery made it seem easy, well maybe easy is pushing it.  After the workout we changed out of flats and did another 2 miles warm-down for a total of 11 miles in the Dome.

I felt okay but if asked to run a second or two faster I doubt I could have.  I’m not sure if that is a bad sign as I’m hoping to run 80 second pace for the 5,000 this weekend.  Maybe a few easy days will help me bounce back?

800’s                 Rest

2:41.0               2:24

2:41.1               2:25

2:41.3               2:22

2:41.8               2:47 (stopped to re-tie my shoe)

2:40.3               2:27

2:41.1               2:30

2:42.4               2:29

2:41.6               2:55 (extra to switch into trainers)

Constitution Hill 3.7 mile snowshoe race

Snowshoe double – part 2

The second part of the first snowshoe season was a return to Lanesboro MA for the Constitution hill 3.6 mile race.  I had a lot of fun at this one last year, taking it out hard in the 3’ of un-tracked snow and working with Tim Van Orden and Tim Mahoney.  This year there was less snow but it was similarly untracked for long stretches.

I hit the road for a longer warm-up to loosen up a bit from the race on the previous day.  After that I switched into snowshoes and headed out for another mile and packed out a little path where I planned to go at the start.  The first kilometer of the course looped a big field and was essentially untracked.

When the horn sounded I immediately found myself in the lead, which was fine by me because it meant I could keep the pace slow.  I threw in some fast running on a little snowmobile track but TiVo then went by when we got back in the deep snow.  Tim M then took the lead for a little and we sat behind him until the loop was completed.  At that point I took off at a pace I knew I couldn’t maintain but I wanted to put some distance on Tim (M).  TiVo came along with me and very much like last year took the lead at 14 minutes in.  By the time we hit the base of the hill he had 13 seconds on me.  About ½ way up the 500’ climb I took the lead and he tucked in.  I snuck a look back to see Tim M and Ross Krause (both CMS teammates) not far behind.  Breaking trail is a lot of work!  TiVo said he’d take over whenever I wanted and just as we reached the summit ridge I waived him around.  He was off like a shot!  The ridge was untracked but nowhere near as deep as last year.  He motored away and I just tried to stay on my feet on stay in second place.  Not much changed in the last ½ mile of descending and TiVo took his first win of the year and I took second.  CMS took the first four places.

We grabbed a few other runners and headed out for a nice easy road run warm-down to close the books on my double-race weekend.  Well, I still had over 150 miles of driving to go!

Weekend totals

Drive – 500 miles

Snowshoe – 15+ miles

Results

1 Tim Van Orden            32:58    m 43 CMS

2 Dave Dunham              33:40    m 47 CMS

3 Tim Mahoney              33:58    m 32 CMS

4 Ross Krause                34:18    m 32 CMS

5 Dave Merkt                 34:23    m 28

6 Steve Dowsett             34:55    m 23

7 Rich Teal                    35:08    m 33

8 Ashley Krause             38:16    f 34 CMS

9 John Agosto                38:37    m 47

10 Erik Wight                 38:52    m 52