Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Feb. update


This was a pretty solid month for me, with 305 miles. That is my best Feb. since 2002 (and my 13th best out of 32 Feb’s. The most I’ve ever done in a Feb. is 480, which I’ll probably never hit in a 31 day month never mind a 28 day one! Since the stress fracture in August I’ve run for four months with totals of 197, 312, 288, and 305. I feel that I’m just starting to hit my stride again, although I’m not quite back to the shape I was in before getting injured. I think the lower mileage and increased intensity is paying off.

I raced six times in Feb., which is the third most trailing only 2007 (8 races) and 1982 (10 races).
The Stew Chase was a surprise as I had raced the day before, but figured I’d see how my legs felt on the road. Sidehiller was one of the deepest fields in the WMAC series this year and I was very happy with my third place. The second place just behind Ben Nephew the following day was also a result I was quite please with. I then hit the roads again with a top 10 finish at the Bradford Valentines race. The New England 10 mile championship was an eye-opener. 77th place may seem terrible, but it is a couple of places better than I got at Newburyport last summer and I was 16th master, just missing my goal of top 15 at Grand prix races. The final race of the month was the Hawley Kiln snowshoe race. The Kiln race was my first snowshoe race back in 1999. With the win, I continued my streak of at least one win every year for 31 consecutive years. I also pulled a little further ahead of Tim Van Orden for the top master’s spot in the series. He could still beat me depending on how the last two races of the series play out.

Here are the races and results from Feb.:
02/01/09 22 9.33 Stew Chase Lynn MA 56:34
02/07/09 3 4.10 Sidehiller Sandwich NH 33:53
02/08/09 2 5.60 Hallockville Hawley MA 43:12
02/14/09 9 5.00 Bradford Valentines Haverhill MA 28:49
02/22/09 77 10.00 DH Jones USATFNE champs Amherst MA 59:56
02/28/09 1 4.60 Hawley Kiln Hawley MA 38:32

The “high point” for the month was climbing the Moats with a huge group and celebrating Al’s final 3,000’ peak in New Hampshire.

Looking ahead:
I’m hoping to keep on the 70 mile a week program for the month. I’m doing a lot of traveling this month, starting with snowshoe nationals in Oregon this weekend. I’m also going to Kansas City for a week for work and finishing the month with a trip to visit my parents in Florida.

I’m hoping to get in two snowshoe races, a road race, and a cross-country races.
03-08 Snowshoe nationals – Portland, OR
03-15 USATF NE 13.1 mile champs – New Bedford, MA
03-21 Catamont snowshoe race – Hillsdale, NY
03-22 Olde Salem XC – Salem, MA

2 comments:

DoubleJ said...

Dave, I was thinking of that Salem XC race too..the last 2 years actually I also considered it...but I'm alas passing on it again and I may have to pass on doing something this weekend too if my hamstring keeps acting up...tonights workout was a nightmare. Not sure whats up. Good month for you! Keep it up!

double-d Mountain runner said...

Ice, Ice, then Ice some more....
Take care of the hamstring.