Florida trip

I spent last weekend in Florida visiting my parents.  I t was a good opportunity for me to take care of their taxes and have a few days relaxing in the balmy southern climate.   I got in a lot of miles, most of them doing a 2.3 mile loop around the development that they live in.  It was nice in the mornings before it got hot but I felt it even at sunrise running in 65 degree temperatures (which were a big shock after the 30’s at home).

The folks took me out to dinner one night (well really it was early afternoon J ) to celebrate my birthday.  A nice gentleman got us a bottle of champagne after the staff sang their version of the birthday song.  I cut loose having a vodka and red bull along with the champagne, I must have been dehydrated from the heat.

On the last full day in Florida I took my parents to Sugarloaf Mountain (310’) which is the highest point in Lake County.  It is also the most prominent point in all of Florida AND it is also the most isolated “peak” in Florida with no other higher point within 200 miles.  We drove to the top and kicked around the radio tower looking for the highest point.  We didn’t have much time as it soon started to pour.  The rest of the day featured downpour and lightning.

We made a quick stop at another county high point (Orange) which was appropriately located in an orange grove.  The final stop of the day was a visit to the Richloam trailhead which also had a fire tower.  Everything I could ask for in a day trip!  Unfortunately the rain was unrelenting so I did not climb the tower nor run on the trails. 

All in all a fun trip with a lot accomplished.

Week Ending 03-27-11

I had a decent week, finally starting to feel better.  84 miles is my highest week this year.  Add to that the workout and I'm very happy with the way things went.  Tired from travel and trying to sleep in 80 degree temps in Florida...

M - Lunch 4 in 27:33.  Afternoon Dan's road 8 in 58:00
T - 430 AM industrial park 5 in 35:50.  Lunch 4 in 26:58.  PM three miles on treadmill in 20:27.
W - 430 AM ind pk 5 in 35:59.  Lunch 4 in 27:27.  PM three on the treadmill in 20:32.
Th - Lunch 4 in 27:29.  PM track workout 6x400 in 76-78 total about 9 miles with warm-up and warm-down.
F - 10 out/back on the beach at Ogunquit in 1:14:32.
S - 430 am Ind pk 6 in 42:22.  Flight to FLA then 7 (80 degrees) in 48:54 loops in the park.
S - 7am 7 in 48:58 loops in the park.  PM 5m loops in the park in 34:23.

Totals
Week - 84
Month - 259
Year - 756
Life - 110,957

Mom and Dad join me for some loops.

March 2001

10 years ago

I was preparing to take a shot at the American record for 50km so I was doing a lot of long runs and “strength” races in 2001.  I raced four times during the month and got two wins.  The wins were on back to back days, with a snowshoe victory at Moody Springs over the killer 8.6 mile version (1:17:30) and a win at Stu’s 30k.  I think Kevin Beck gave me the win in this one, I know we ran almost the entire race together.  My time over the hilly course was 1:48:34 and three weeks later I’d run nearly as fast over 20 miles. 

A week later I took 9^th place in 1:09:58 at the USATF NE half-marathon in Melrose.  In a rare race day lapse I forgot to bring racing flats.  Lou Ristaino somehow mustered up a pair for me he would do the same a few years later when I brought two left shoes to the Trav’s trail race (that time I wore a pair of shoes that were 1.5 sizes too big). 

I closed out the month with a second place finish at the Eastern States 20 mile.  My goal was 5:40 pace, to mimic what I hoped to do at the 50km and I hit it a bit faster than I wanted with a 1:49:58.  Beck was stalking me again running 100m behind me for basically the entire 20 miles.

March 1991

20 years ago

1991 was a good year for me; I ran and won a lot of races.  In March I raced three times and won twice.  I started off out-kicking Bob Hodge at the Hynes tavern race in Lowell, taking the win in 24:52 three seconds ahead of Hodgie.  750 turned out that day.

A week later I ran the New Bedford half-marathon (one of the ten times I’ve run it) and finished 5^th in 1:06:06.  I was running for GLRR at the time and we lost to CMS 5:37 to 5:40.  That is some fast team times, we averaged 1:08 for 5 guys and still lost! 

My final race of the month was a four mile in Salisbury.  I took first on a kick taking Buddy Bostik in the last ¼ mile 19:09 to 19:11.  Mike O’Brien was third in 19:14 and Dan took fourth in 19:43.  The Winners Circle race attracted over 600 despite wind and snow. 

I guess the days of 600 to 750 runner fields are over for the "small local race"...

March 1981

March Looking back:

30 years ago

I closed out my junior year indoor track season with a tenth place finish (9:35.7) at the Eastern championships in Princeton NJ.  Although it was a personal best time I was disappointed and noted that I “felt awful” during the race. 

In the Dome at Princeton on my way to a 9:35 2m.

In between indoor and outdoor track season I hit the roads for only the second (and third) time.  I set a personal best at 5 miles and at 10 km, which is easy to do when you are running the distance for the first time!  I finished 15^th at the Shamrock 5m in Boston running 25:17 which was only good enough for 3^rd in the 18 and under category.   BMHS teammate John Dangora was one of the juniors ahead of me.  Two weeks later I ran the Lechmere 10km in Peabody and took 12^th place in 32:04.  I out-leaned Steve Perkins (Danvers) for the junior category win.  I took home a digital alarm clock that I still have.  That is the oldest race prize that I still have. 

On the last day of the month I started the outdoor season with a PR of 4:31.6 for the mile in a dual meet against Haverhill.  It was only good enough for 2^nd place as the Hillies Tom hinds took the win in 4:28.

Back on Track

I haven't done a track workout since last fall.  Dan suggested that if we both want to be ready for the 10k in 5 weeks we better get rolling.  I'm still hacking a bit from the pneumonia but mostly feeling okay so we hit the track today.

There were some heavy snow-showers as we headed to the track but by the end of our run the sun was shining.  We decided on 6x400 with 400 rest.  Dan has been doing a couple of road workouts a week but has only hit the track once so this would be a good opportunity for both of us to see where our fitness level is.

The workout went well with us alternating leading, Dan on 1,3, and 5 and me on 2, 4, and 6.  Now my goal is to stay healthy enough to hit the track once a week until the 10k (and the 6k) USATF championships.

Workout:
2 warm-up
1 mile strides on the track
6x400 @
77.7
78.3
77.9
78.7
76.9
75.7
3 mile warm-down

Yes, the track is blue!  The white bottom of my flats are now tinged blue.

WMAC snowshoe series

The 12th WMAC snowshoe series is now in the books.  There were a record number of races (18) and a record number of finishers.  Ken Clark also set a season record for total points scored.  Congrats to all, but especially to my CMS teammates for a great year!


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Rank	First	Last	Gend	Age	Team	6	Raced	Points	Points
1	Tim	Van Orden	m	42	CMS	600.00	14	1371.22	97.94
2	Jim	Johnson	m	33	CMS	599.07	9	890.44	98.94
3	Tim	Mahoney	m	31	CMS	589.73	12	1159.13	96.59
4	Dave	Dunham	m	46	CMS	587.39	9	861.07	95.67
5	Connor	Devine	m	17		580.69	7	675.36	96.48
6	Ross	Krause	m	31	RunReg.com	577.52	9	811.25	90.14
7	Ken	Clark	m	48	Hartford Track Club	576.81	17	1510.21	88.84
8	Chris	Taft	m	31		576.58	8	759.26	94.91
9	Richard	Teal	m	32	ARE	567.20	14	1173.85	83.85
10	Erik	Wight	m	51	SMAC	546.63	9	753.29	83.70
11	Amy	Lane	f	31		541.44	8	704.74	88.09
12	Brian	Northan	m	35	ARE	540.63	11	873.58	79.42
13	John	Pajer	m	48	CMS	535.03	7	609.15	87.02
14	Mike	Lahey	m	59	WMAC	528.60	17	1339.69	78.81
15	John	Agosto	m	46	Shenipsit Striders	518.70	6	518.70	86.45
16	Abby	Mahoney	f	32	CMS	513.93	6	513.93	85.66

Winning streak

With my win at Hawley Kiln I've extended my streak to 32 years.  Here are my wins by decade and by year.

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Year	1970's	1980's	1990's	2000's	2010's	Totals
Road	0	70	261	162	10	503
Mountain	0	2	43	71	7	123
Trail	0	2	24	46	4	76
Snowshoe	0	0	1	73	22	96
XC	8	57	19	36	5	125
Indoor	12	73	12	6	0	103
Outdoor	12	78	12	1	2	105
Total races	32	282	372	397	46	1129
Dist raced	50.7	1049.9	2794.2	2698.5	253.0	6846.4
Ave Raced	1.58	3.72	7.51	6.80	5.50	6.06
Wins	3	112	180	59	3	357
% won	9%	40%	48%	15%	7%	32%
Wins by year
1979	3
1980	13
1981	22
1982	18
1983	4
1984	10
1985	7
1986	3
1987	7
1988	16
1989	12
1990	10
1991	38
1992	20
1993	35
1994	13
1995	18
1996	24
1997	8
1998	7
1999	7
2000	11
2001	14
2002	6
2003	3
2004	1
2005	1
2006	2
2007	9
2008	7
2009	5
2010	2
2011	1
Total	357