May mileage

Month	Single	Double	Triple	Day off	>3 runs	Days	Total miles	Avg
January	6	22	2	0	1	31	420	13.55
February	5	23	0	0	0	28	391	13.96
March	8	22	1	0	0	31	418	13.48
April	4	22	3	0	1	30	409	13.63
May	1	26	3	0	1	31	450	14.52
Totals	24	115	9	0	3	151	2088
151	16%	76%	6%	0%	2%
Days
						Ave per day	13.83
	293					On days run	13.83
	Actual runs					Per run	7.13
						Avg week =	96.79

 

 

450 miles for the month of May which trails only May of 2002 (513 miles) as my biggest May.

It is only the 13th time, out of 414 months, that I've run 450 or more miles.

Wachusett Mountain race

This was my 17th time racing up (or mostly up) Wachusett Mountain.  This year CMS change the course again, this time to a great 10k with a steady 5k of climb and a mostly run-able 5k of downhill.  My hope was to run this as hard as I could and see how if the Thursday night race took anything out of my legs.

KT and I met up with Tim M and Baz and did our warm-up by running out/back over the last 1.5 of the course.  It is always a good idea to see how the race will finish so you can judge how much you can give in a final press.  I changed into racing gear and did another mile with strides.  At the last minute I decided to wear gloves (it was 40 degrees and raining), it was a good decision...my hands were never warm during the race.

The field was solid, with 300 starters and a fair number of fast guys.  I found myself in the 20-25th place range in the first half-mile.  I wasn't sore from the 5k on Thursday and didn't feel out of "normal" for a race, but it did seem like everyone went out in a big pack.  I started to feel a good groove and by the mile (7:10) I was in 15th place.  400' of climbing done and 800 to go!

Once we turned into the park people seemed to really motor on the short downhill.  I help place and then started moving up on the guys in front of me.  By 2 miles (13:02/5:52), I caught a small pack that included Craig Fram and Ross Krause.  Both haven't raced much this year but are obviously back to being very fit.  Craig and I moved slightly ahead of Ross.  We hit the summit in 21:04 (8:02) then started the crazy downhill.

I passed a guy soon after we started down, which got me into the top 10, but soon after Brian Keefe (Somerville Road Runners) flew by.  I tried to keep rolling and hit 4 in 26:42 (5:38).  About a half-mile later Ross came flying by and for the rest of the way we fought back and forth with neither of us gaining more than a couple of steps.  We cranked out 5:24 pace to the finish but couldn't reel in Keefe.  Ross went by me for the final time with 400 to go and I just couldn't get back around him.

I was very happy with the effort and the results.  The course was a blast!  Really not my type of race, the climb just isn't steep enough for me and I can't run downhill to save my life :-)

Next up: Bretton woods fell race, USATF NE mountain series race #3

      1     35:50   Eric MacKnight        302    1/25    M20-29    Ballston Lake, NY                Whirlaway                   
      2     36:09   Brandon Newbold       190    1/29    M30-39    Nottingham, NH                   WRT                         
      3     36:12   Jacob Barnett          72    2/25    M20-29    Medford                          SRR                         
      4     36:58   Jim Johnson           270    2/29    M30-39    Madison, NH                      BAA                         
      5     37:28   Trudy Delhagen        225    3/25    M20-29    Brooklyn, NY                     HKAC                        
      6     37:40   Tristan Williams      213    4/25    M20-29    Jackson, NH                                                  
      7     37:53   Todd Callaghan        199    1/55    M40-49    Beverly                          CGCS                        
      8     38:06   Kevin Tilton          239    3/29    M30-39    N Conway, NH                     CMS                         
      9     38:29   Brian Keefe           112    5/25    M20-29    Medford                          SRR                         
     10     38:36   Ross Krause           309    4/29    M30-39    East Thompson, MA                CMS                         
     11     38:37   Dave Dunham            75    2/55    M40-49    Bradford                         CMS                         
     12     38:56   Andy Scott             82    6/25    M20-29    Merrimac                         Lesley U                    
     13     39:17   Allan Serrano         175    3/55    M40-49    High Falls, NY                   SR                          
     14     39:19   Tim Mahoney           179    5/29    M30-39    Holyoke                          CMS                               15     39:21   Craig Fram            131    1/53    M50-59    Derry, NH                        Whirlaway                   
     16     39:24   Tim Van Orden         308    4/55    M40-49    Bennington, VT        CMS                         
     17     39:34   Brandon Kowloon       251    1/28    M60-69    Nayaug, CT                       HKAC                        
     18     39:57   Robert Cipriano       232    2/53    M50-59    Belmont                          SRR                         
     19     41:14   Steve Dowsett         285    7/25    M20-29    Newburyport                      Whirlaway                   
     20     41:51   Bradford Klinedinst    81    6/29    M30-39    Hudson                           NBB                         
     21     42:20   Brian Ruhm            278    5/55    M40-49    Nashua, NH                       GCS                         
     22     42:31   Ryan Welts            296    7/29    M30-39    Northwood, NH                    PI/AR                       
     23     42:46   Abby Mahoney          277    1/20    F30-39    Holyoke                          WMDP                        
     24     42:52   Kristina Folcik       297    2/20    F30-39    Northwood, NH                    LS/D                        
     25     43:08   Christin Doneski       99    1/25    F40-49    Hopkinton, NH                    Whirlaway                   

Week Ending 05-26-13

96 miles for the week along with two races...mostly I feel okay.  I keep saying it is time to taper but this time I think I mean it.  Pretty sore post-Wachusett.  Less than three weeks 'til Mt Washington.  Yee hah.

M - Lunch 7, sore and tired from 12k, 53:01
       PM Winnekenni 6 in 43:51

T - Lunch 7 in 49:59
      PM Winni 6 in 43:43

W - Lunch 7 in 48:15
       PM 6 on the Chelmsford Rail trail in 43:54

Th - Lunch 7 in 50:21
       PM 3 warm-up in 22:18, 2 more miles with strides, 5k race in 17:16, 3 warm-down 23:02

F - 6am Winni  in 64:00
      Noon Winni 5 in 36:22

Sat - 3 warm-up at Wachusett Mountain, another mile with strides, then over to line, 10k race with 1,200' climb and descent, 11th place in 38:36, 3 warm-down.

Sun - 5am 8 very slow very painful miles at Winnekenni in 66:59
         715am 5+ with Petey, D'La etc. at the Chelmsford rail trail 50:05

Totals
Week - 96
Month - 382
Year - 2,020
Life - 120,795

Harvard Pilgrim 5km

Not to beat a dead horse but, I hate racing at night.  I picked the Harvard Pilgrim 5k in Nashua so I could test how my body holds up racing on a Thursday and coming back on a Saturday.  I'm hoping to run the USATF NE 5km champs at Hollis and then 39 hours later race up Mt Washington.  I'll closely monitor how I feel at Wachusett tomorrow and then decide if I can do the double.

Anyway, I did my normal 7 miles at lunch and after work headed up to Nashua (with a quick stop to pick up some supplies at the Runners Alley in Nashua).  I got to the race with plenty of time to chat with "the voice of New England" Andy S and also chatted with old GLRR teammate Dave C.  It was like old home day at the race with a bunch of guys from Loco and lots of GCS teammates working or racing.

I headed out for my warm-up and preview of the course and felt surprisingly "okay".  It was 65 degrees and 100% humidity but the light/moderate rain made it reasonably comfortable.  After my warm-up, I switched into race gear and headed out for another mile with strides and jogged to the start.  I was surprised that no one was lining up, until it was brought to my attention that the race started at 6:15.  D'oh!  Rookie mistake.

I did another mile of easy jogging and lined up.  I'd bumped into Scott McGrath and Nacho Hernando so any hope of win was out the window (last year the winning time was over 18 minutes), but I was hoping to put in a good effort.  Scott asked if he could run with me and I thought he was busting my balls and told him that I was just hoping to keep him in sight.  A few youngsters bolted at the start and a big muscular guy went out hard.

I felt heavy-legged and already in oxygen debt by about 200m into the race, this was going to be a long 5k.  Around 1/2 mile Scott and Nacho started to pull away from me as we passed the young bucks.  The other guy (turned out to be Kris Freeman, who is an Olympic skier and damn good runner) was building up a lead and I was slipping back.

I hit the mile in 5:27 which was right on what I'd hoped for, but it felt way too hard (that's what she said!).  I was already a good 10 seconds behind Freeman and Scott and Nacho were 5 seconds up.  Not much changed in the second mile, Nacho passed Scott and started to close the gap on Kris.  I ran a 5:39 (11:06) which was slower than my split for the first 2 miles in the 12k I'd run last weekend.  Ugh.  I never gave up, but also never felt any better.  Nacho caught Kris with about 1/2 mile to go and I struggled in with a 5:36 (16:42) for three miles.  Nacho crossed the line with a five second victory, just as I crossed the 3m mark.  Scott pushed hard the last 1/2 mile (in what was a workout for him) and easily put 10 seconds on me for that mile.  My last .1 was a decent 35 seconds but I felt like I was running in quicksand.

I headed out for another three miles on the course and picked up my prizes (hat, socks, waterbottle) for winning the 40+.  I'll take the 18 miles for the day, but the 5k will rank among my worst races of the year (so far).  The effort was there but the result was not.

On to Wachusett!

   1   1/19   M119       NACHO HERNANDO       Manchester nh      19 M  1505   16:42.6  5:23   16:42.7
    2   1/47   M3039      KRIS FREEMEN         Thornton nh        32 M  1512   16:47.0  5:25   16:47.3
    3   1/28   M2029      SCOTT MCGRATH        Andover ma         26 M  1497   16:59.6  5:29   16:59.8
    4   1/53   M4049      DAVE DUNHAM          Bradford MA        49 M   509   17:16.7  5:34   17:16.7     5   2/28   M2029      MATTHEW GALLAGHER    Nashua NH          27 M    84   18:31.2  5:58   18:32.0
    6   2/19   M119       MATT GAGNON          Hudson nh          18 M  1500   18:37.4  6:00   18:37.5
    7   3/19   M119       STEVEN VERRAS        Dracut MA          15 M   595   19:00.9  6:08   19:00.9
    8   2/47   M3039      MICHAEL DAY          Mererimack nh      33 M  1538   19:15.1  6:12   20:06.4
    9   1/20   F119       LAUREN ROBINSON      Nashua NH          12 F   572   20:09.7  6:30   20:09.7
   10   4/19   M119       JOSHUA RINES         Hollis NH          17 M    97   20:13.5  6:31   20:17.3

May 23, 1993

I see, Ellsworth, Beauchesne, Fram, Verrington, Morse, me, Slinskey, Sheehan, Woodman, and McGovern



Sick times by the 40+ crowd!



Coming this weekend - Wachusett Mountain race

This will be the 22^nd annual Wachusett Mountain race, and 32^nd time the race has been held (it was held from 1978-1986, and then revived in 1992).  I’ll be racing it for the 17^th time.  I’ve had three wins (1995, 96, and 98), three 2^nd place finishes (1999-2001), and four 1^st place 40+ finishes (2004-2007).  I’m hoping to get through the race with both calf muscles intact.  Everything else will be gravy!  The new course features a 3 mile climb on the road to the summit then 3 more miles of almost all downhill with a mix of road, dirt road, and grass slope.  It looks like a lot of fun!

  

My results:

Date            Dist            Time    Place    Field        40+ Pl    Notes

05/27/95           4.30      24:37    1          163                   Out w Hodge thru 1m

05/25/96           4.30      24:31    1          208                   Sunny windy 60s

05/24/98           4.30      25:29    1          243                   60-70 degrees warm and windy

05/29/99           4.30      24:32    2          243                   70-80 and sunny, caught Bolt at 4.  Eric 2418 Rich 2434

05/27/00           4.30      25:17    2          260                   Eric gone at 1/2m 2432

05/26/01           4.30      25:01    2          209                   Eric gone at 1.5, 2430 60 degrees

05/25/02           4.30      24:59    3          305                   Eric 2420 Craig 2425

05/24/03           4.30      26:48    7          247                  

05/23/04           4.30      27:33    9          204       1         

05/28/05           4.30      28:19    10         197      1          Sunny 60's.  Paul L 25:30

05/27/06           4.30      28:01    4          275       1          4 guys went off course! Low 2507

05/26/07           4.30      28:19    7          328       1          Low 2544.  Warm and breezy. 

05/24/08           4.30      27:28    11         338      3          Out in 15th worked steadily up Fram 26:41

05/23/09           5.20      33:35    9          300       3         

05/30/10           5.10      36:03    29         324      5          Ran the first 2m w Paul K then ran very hard climbs

05/26/12           4.80      31:42    8           226      3          Some scary trail on descent, ran hard but also ran to not get hurt.

 

Bedford Rotary 12k

The Bedford Rotary 12k has always been a great fitness test and this year I would be testing myself for the 10^th time over this unusual distance (7.45 miles).  I was hoping to take a shot at my masters PR (41:45) as this would probably be my last chance at a 12k since it is a rarely run distance.

I met up with Nacho Hernando before the race and we ran out and back over the last 1.5 miles of course for a warm-up.  Nacho has outkicked me in each of the three races we’ve met up in; I was hoping the longer distance would work in my favor.  The field would not be as strong as the last couple of years due to Bedford not being part of the USATF NE grand prix.  The last couple of times I’d just cracked the top 40.  This year I was expecting to be much closer to the front of the pack.  I felt pretty good warming up and switched into racing flats and went out for another mile with some strides.

There was a decent turnout of New Hampshire teams since the race was part of the NH grand prix.  Ethan Crain was back after not racing in about 6 months, once he shakes off the rust he’ll be one of the top masters in New England.  Eric Ashe from the BAA took off at the start and ran his own race, putting about 20 seconds a mile on the chase group.  I can’t say what the other guys were thinking but I was running my own race hoping to get a good time and maybe sneak out a second place finish.

At the mile (5:30) Nacho, Kevin McMahon and I were running in a group.  The split was just a little behind what I’d hoped for but it felt pretty quick.  Both of the guys were putting in surges at various times and I’d drop back a second or two behind them and then regroup.  Not much changed as we hit 2 miles in 10:56 (5:26) and 3 in 16:42 (5:46).  My goal was to hit 3 in 16:40 so I was close to what I’d hoped for.

Nacho made a move on the hill leading up to 4 miles which we hit in 22:25 (5:43) which put me right on pace to tie my PR.  He gapped me a bit on the climb but I also pulled ahead of McMahon.  I regrouped and pulled even with Nacho and we continued to break away.  We passed 5 miles in 28:05 (5:40), which was 5 seconds too slow, but I felt like I was all-out.  During the next mile I was able to get in front of Nacho a couple of times but he always got back.  We hit 6 miles in 33:40 (5:35), we’d picked it up but it was still another mile that was 5 seconds too slow.  I knew I’d need to get 10 seconds on Nacho in the 7^th mile in order to hold off his finishing kick.  I also knew that I was hanging on for dear life.  We hit 7 stride for stride in 39:25 (5:45) and any chance of a PR was gone.  Nacho made his move with 400 to go and torched me by 8 seconds during the final stretch on the track.

I was able to just duck under 42 minutes with a 41:59 and third place overall, missing my masters PR by 14 seconds.  I gave all I had on this day and it just wasn’t quite enough to get the result I’d hoped for.  I did get to double-dip, picking up $25 for third place and another $50 for top master.   Time to switch gears and hit the Mountain running series!

    1   39:04   5:15 Eric Ashe              24M  Brighton MA      BAA           

    2   41:51   5:37 Nacho Hernando   19M  Manchester NH      NHTI

    3   41:59   5:38 Dave Dunham       49M  Bradford MA         CMS/GCS

    4   42:25   5:42 Kevin McMahon     20M  Derry NH                  

    5   42:37   5:43 Ethan Crain           40M  Nashua NH           GCS 

    6   42:38   5:43 Jotham Burnett      33M  Canaan NH          UVRC

    7   42:48   5:45 Anthony Walsh       29M Boston MA            GBTC

    8   42:59   5:46 Bo Wang               26M  Boston MA                 

    9   43:12   5:48 Jon Korhonen         30M Somerville MA             

   10  45:05   6:03 Patrick Connelly      49M Chester NH            GDTC

Week Ending 05-19-13

Felt tired and sore all week, probably should avoid multiple weeks over 100 (at least in a row).  Dropped down to 95 miles this week, did a short speed workout and a race.  May drop a bit more next week and race twice to test things out before Mt Washington.

M - Lunch 7 in 49:14
       PM out/back Winnekenni 8 in 59:10

T - Lunch 7 in 48:23
      PM Winni 6 in 44:00

W - Lunch 7 in 45:46 with 8x200 with 200 rest
       PM Winni 6 in 44:15

Th - Lunch 7 in 52:15
       PM Winni 6 in 46:13

F -  4am Industrial park 6 in 45:16
       Lunch 6 in 47:41

Sat - 3 warm-up in 24:30, another mile with strides, 7.4 mile race in 41:59, 1.5 warm-down
         Later nice relaxing 3 in 30:10

Sun - 3 on the bike path in Chelmsford, into 5 more with Petey & Dave La total 71:13
         Later 4 miles on the River in 30:56

Totals
Week = 95
Month = 286
Year = 1,924
Life = 120,696

Bedford 12k - my history

This weekend I’ll be taking on the Bedford Rotary 12k for the 10^th time in the last 19 years.  Six times I raced it as part of the USATF NE grand prix series.  This year it isn’t part of the series but it is one of the races in the New Hampshire grand prix.  I’m hoping my calf will be okay and I can take a shot at my masters PR (41:45)

12km results:

Date                 Time     Place    Notes

05/21/94           36:59    1          Pulled away in the last ½ mile

05/21/95           40:22    1          Ran the 5k first, then came back for the 12k

05/22/99           37:24    2          Back and forth with Eric Morse, lost by 10 seconds

05/20/00           38:13    5         

05/19/01           37:44    3          Dave Hinga stopped twice during the race, and still won!

05/18/02           40:32    5          Rain and snow!  Ran the 5k after the 12k

05/19/07           41:55    39         Masters PR

05/16/09           41:45    46         Masters PR

05/19/12           41:45    39         Tied my Masters PR

5km results:

05/21/95           15:08    2

05/18/02           16:42    5

Completion maps - State high points

Here are Eric and my completion maps.  Since I'm doing a bunch of ones Eric doesn't have I'm tracking how many I've done multiple times.

Streak

There are only two days that I've never missed since I started running.  I just got both of them again this year to keep my 35 year "streak" alive.  I've been fortunate to have avoided injury, at least injuries that would force me to take a day off.  Here are my totals for May 9 & May 12 for each year.

 

 

Year	9-May	12-May
1979	5	4
1980	4	4
1981	5	8
1982	6	3
1983	12	8
1984	10	10
1985	10	10
1986	6	8
1987	8	10
1988	13	12
1989	12	10
1990	13	16
1991	13	15
1992	19	13
1993	5	6
1994	13	13
1995	13	9
1996	13	10
1997	3	3
1998	11	10
1999	10	11
2000	15	15
2001	15	16
2002	18	16
2003	8	5
2004	13	12
2005	8	8
2006	11	10
2007	14	11
2008	12	12
2009	15	12
2010	4	7
2011	9	13
2012	14	12
2013	17	18
Max	19	18
Min	3	3