Olden days

Looking back March

 25 Years ago – March 1989: I ran 431 miles with no days off.  I only raced one time that month as I was in training for my first marathon and doing a lot of hard workouts.  The only race I did was the USATF (then NEAC) New England 30k championships in Boylston.  My plan was to run through the half-marathon in 5:10 pace then ease up for the last 5 miles.  All of my training was based on attempting the marathon at 5:10 pace so this would be more like a hard workout than a race.  The Stu’s course is pretty tough and on this day I had CMS ace Scott Bagley to deal with.  We rolled through 10k in 31:39, and then our second 10k was 31:37.  We hit the ½ marathon in 66:45 and I eased up.  Bagley took off with team leader Don Drewniak yelling to him that I was falling apart.  I remember thinking that was funny, because I felt great.  Bagley ended up winning and I took second place in 1:37:54.  Bagley’s time is the fastest run over the certified course with my time the second fastest.  In 1989 the average income per year was $27,450 and a gallon of gas cost 97 cents!

 20 Years ago – March 1994: I ran 316 miles with no days off but a groin and back injury were still bothering me so I did stayed away from the racing scene.  My only race during the month was the Total Sports 5k in Londonderry NH.  Mike Beeman (of Mike Beeman’s Total Sports) put on the race.  Teammate, training partner, and friend, Byrne Decker and I tied for the win in a field of 56 runners.  We ran 16:09.