Sunday, March 31, 2019

Final stuff from Florida

As always, celebrated my birthday with the folks and worked on a puzzle with mom.









More Florida

More stuff from Florida.  We visited (and I ran on) the James Van Fleet rail trail.  This was a nice shady run on another hot and sunny day.

https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/general-james-van-fleet-state-trail











Saturday, March 30, 2019

Florida part 3

We also visited a county high point!  Looking down from the highest point in Oxceola county.



Friday, March 29, 2019

Florida part 2

Of course I had to visit a couple of fire towers (Green Swamp & Davenport)







Thursday, March 28, 2019

Florida - Part 1

I always try to find something interesting to do while visiting my parents in Florida.  This time we visited a letterbox in a cemetery in Lakeland.








Wednesday, March 27, 2019

Birthday runs

I turned 55 today and celebrated with two 5 mile runs.  I've had pretty good luck on my birthday in the past:

Birthday runs

Year Dist Notes
1979 0 
1980 6 
1981 6 
1982 0 
1983 0 
1984 10 
1985 13 
1986 8 
1987 11 
1988 21 Won the NEAC 30km championships in 1:39:09 (33:20/34:20/31:29)
1989 12 
1990 13 
1991 27 27 miles on my 27th birthday on the 27th of March
1992 10 
1993 12 
1994 17 
1995 11 
1996 13 
1997 13 
1998 3 
1999 18 Won the Merrimack River Trail race in 56:42
2000 13 
2001 17 
2002 5 
2003 10 
2004 17 Finished 6th at the Merrimack River Trail race in 1:06:19, first race as a Master
2005 12 
2006 11 
2007 13 
2008 13 
2009 10 
2010 10 
2011 12 
2012 19 
2013 15
2014 10
2015 8
2016 20 Rail trail group run from Londonderry to Lawrence
2017 17
2018 15
2019 14 (10am/4pm in Z-hills FLA)


Tuesday, March 26, 2019

Looking back (way back)


30 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.  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 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!

25 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 stay 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.

20 Years ago – March 1999: I ran 439 miles with no days off, but I was hampered by calf issues and a badly sprained ankle.  My only race of the month was the Melrose Police chase ½ marathon which was the USATF NE championships.  The race had nearly 1,600 finishers on a cloudy 40-degree day.  Times were a bit slow over the rolling course with a winning time of 1:07:21. I ended up a disappointing 5th place but was only 9 seconds out of the win.  I remember the entire pack of about a dozen guys sticking together through 10 miles.  It really didn’t string out until the last mile or so.  The finish on the Melrose middle school track was crazy.  The four guys in front of me were in lock-step entering the track.  Dwyer & Snow from the CMS “track team” battled with Hammer (BRC) and Darley (GBTC) right to the line.  Dan Verrington was the final scoring member of CMS crossing the line in 11th place in 1:09:09.  The top 11 within 48 seconds!  Craig Fram was the top master’s runner in 1:07:47.

    1   1/183  M1929 1:07:21   5:09 JACK DWYER             24 M BRIGHTON MA               269 CMS
    2   1/406  M3039 1:07:21   5:09 PETER HAMMER           33 M WABAN MA                 1396 BRC
    3   2/183  M1929 1:07:23   5:09 RUSTY SNOW             29 M WATERTOWN MA              882 CMS
    4   3/183  M1929 1:07:26   5:09 JESSE DARLEY           26 M SOMERVILLE MA            1439 GBTC
    5   2/406  M3039 1:07:30   5:09 DAVE DUNHAM            34 M BRADFORD MA               267 CMS
    6   4/183  M1929 1:07:33   5:10 CHRIS MAGILL           26 M ALBION RI                1026 BAA
    7   5/183  M1929 1:07:41   5:10 JASON CULLINANE        29 M SOMERVILLE MA             200 CMS
    8   1/290  M4049 1:07:47*  5:11 CRAIG FRAM             40 M PLAISTOW NH              1335 WHIRL
    9   3/406  M3039 1:08:00   5:12 JIM DANDENEPU          31 M TAUNON MA                1161 BAA
   10   6/183  M1929 1:08:01   5:12 DAVID MARCUS           28 M SOMERVILLE MA            1156 BAA
   11   4/406  M3039 1:08:09*  5:12 DAN VERRINGTON         36 M BRADFORD MA               957 CMS

15 Years ago – March 2004: I ran 300 miles with no days off but was still recovering from hamstring tear at the attachment. I only raced twice during the month.  The first was a late season snowshoe race on the Merrimack River trail.  I won the 3.3-mile dash in 21:43.  A week later I turned 40 and celebrated by getting my ass kicked at the Merrimack River trail 10 mile.  I ended up finishing in sixth place overall in 1:06:19, CMS teammate Paul Low ran an excellent 58:23 to win the race.

1 58:23 Paul Low            30        
2 1:00:19 Ben Nephew    28        
3 1:01:50 Chris Mahoney  26
4 1:02:53 Michael Cohen  25
5 1:03:35 Richard Bolt      33        
6 1:05:42 Matthew Curran  46
7 1:05:51 Paul Young       38
8 1:06:20 Dave Dunham   40
9 1:07:59 Ken Clark         41
10 1:08:15 Abedon Pichardo 35
11 1:09:36 Donald Fay     30
12 1:09:51 Rob Smith      36
13 1:10:36 Bob Kearns     33
14 1:11:08 Kelli Lusk        34

10 Years ago – March 2009 – I covered 354 miles with no days off racing three times.  I kicked off the month with a trip out to Oregon for the USSSA snowshoe national championships.  It was a fun trip getting to hang out with Richard and Kelly and racing in some crazy deep snow!  I finished a very surprising 6th place at the championships running 47:57 over the two-loop 10km course.  I was in fifth place from 1 mile until 50 meters before the finish where I was outkicked for the final spot on the U.S. Team. 

1 Peter Fain CA M 35-39 44:30
2 Kelly Mortenson MN M 35-39 45:01
3 Charlie Werheim CO M 45-49 46:11
4 DJ Snyder ID M 20-24 46:34
5 Robert Bolton SD M 45-49 47:48
6 Dave Dunham MA M 45-49 47:54
7 Aaron Rogerston NY M 30-34 49:01
8 Mark McManus CA M 35-39 49:13
9 Daren Brungardt CO M 25-29 49:42
10 Sylvester Coons NV M 35-39 50.18

Six days later I headed out to the Catamount snowshoe race in Hillsdale NY.  This was a cool end of the season race that was held just before sunset.  The trail was solidly groomed for fast running.  I gapped the field on the climb and was able to hold off teammate Tim Van Orden for the win in 22:44 over the 2.6-mile course.

From my blog post in 2009:  After a brief course description we were off. After a 1/4 mile it sounded like Tivo and I were on our own. I knew I needed to get some space on Tivo before the downhill or I wouldn't be able to hold him off. At the top (1.2 miles and 950' of climb) I guessed I was 30-40 seconds up and afterwards found out I was 48 seconds in front. I pushed hard on the down, but never felt smooth. I guess I looked like crap, which was how I felt. Tivo closed the gap to 32 seconds, but I held on and got my 2nd win of the season in 22:44 (14:48 to the top and 7:56 down).



Monday, March 25, 2019

Week Ending 03/24/19

No complaints, starting to feel better.  Hoping the quad injury is behind me. 

Week = 80
Month = 279
Year = 817
Life = 142,852

M - 5am work 6 in 854s
       3pm 4 on the Methuen rail trail in 803s

T - 5am work 6 in 824s
      3pm work 5 in 756s

W - 5am work 6 in 824s
       130pm Shawsheen (woods) 7 in 802s

Th - 5am work 6 in 819s
        1130am work 6 in 715s

F - 5am work 6 in 809s
      3pm Methuen rail trail 6 in 758s

Sat - 3+ warm-up, another mile, 5k race, 2 mile warm-down
         later nice easy 3 in 930s

Sun - 330am Industrial park 4
         Noon Zephyrhills 8m

Sunday, March 24, 2019

Gilmanton 5k

I was a bit nervous heading into the first race of the CARS series.  I had to skip racing at New Bedford last weekend with a strained quad muscle.  It was feeling better this week but I was worried about the first 1.5 miles that drops about 300'.

I met up with my CARS teammates (Ernie Brake, Darin Brown, Scott Clark, Jim Johnson) as we old-school guys were among the first to arrive.  E-Brake joined me for a bit of the warm-up.  The big climb from 3k-4k was muddy and icy but not terrible.  The wind was something else, but luckily for us it was a headwind on the downhill and a tailwind on the up.

A field of over 200 sprinted out for the first 100m to the sharp turn.  I counted about 20 in front of me as I took the turn (wide).  Ernie and Scott were right with me as the racing began.  We started reeling in people by 1/2 mile, each of us taking the lead at various times during the first mile.  Phil Brogan injected some faster pace and we held on to him.  I moved into the "lead" right before the turn at 1.5 miles.  Scott and I pulled away a bit as the climbing started.  We hit 2 miles together and I started to gap Scott.  I could hear him behind me, too close for comfort.  I did not want it to come down to a kick.  Finally we were back on pavement and slowly Scott reeled me back in.  With 1k to go he went by and I latched on but he shook me loose and had a couple of strides on me with 1/4 mile to go.  I made my last move at the 3 mile mark on the final turn and sling-shot around the turn and by Scott.  50 meters later I felt like I was in quicksand but I was able to struggle to the line 2 seconds up on Scott to take the 50+ age group.

It was great to see so many familiar faces and get the season going again.  The team scoring is based on age/sex grading.  The five of us took the top 5 spots in the 40+ and were among the top age graded.  Our team took 1st, again a good start to the season.  Next up will be the SEA race in two weeks, that race runs a good 45 seconds (to a minute) faster than Gilmanton.  Something to look forward to!



                      21st Annual Gilmanton Road Race
arch 23, 2019        5 Kilometers (USATF Certified #NH09003RF)       Gilmanton, NH
Timing by Granite State Race Services   www.gsrs.com (see our Calendar of Races)
              Results issues: http://www.gsrs.com/fixresults
===================================================================================
Place Div/Tot  Div   Time     Pace  Name                   Ag S Race# Hometown                Age %       
===== ======== ===== =======  ===== ====================== == = ===== ======================= =======  
    1   1/3    MOPEN   17:09   5:31 Aidan Cox              13 M   252 Northwood NH              81.74% 
    2   2/3    MOPEN   17:44   5:43 Andrew Tuttle          23 M   203 Alton NH                  73.21% 
    3   3/3    MOPEN   17:46   5:44 Lyke Tkaczyk           15 M   218 Northwood NH              75.63% 
    4   1/17   M4049   17:53   5:46 Jim Johnson            41 M   200 Madison NH                77.20% 
    5   1/8    M2029   18:19   5:54 Timothy Lindberg       25 M   181 Ashland NH                70.88% 
    6   1/12   M1519   18:28   5:57 Kirpal Demian          17 M   155 Bow NH                    70.86% 
    7   2/8    M2029   18:33   5:58 David Martino          26 M   192 Laconia NH                69.99% 
    8   2/12   M1519   18:37   6:00 Lars Hogne             15 M   216 Strafford NH              72.18% 
    9   3/12   M1519   18:51   6:04 Benjamin Neff          16 M   140 Bow NH                    70.27% 
   10   1/25   M5059   19:20   6:14 Dave Dunham            54 M    15 Bradford MA               78.70% 
   11   2/25   M5059   19:22   6:14 Scott Clark            53 M   194 Gilmanton NH              77.95% 
   12   4/12   M1519   19:36   6:19 Sam Berube             18 M    46 Bow NH                    66.27% 
   13   3/25   M5059   19:59   6:26 Ernest Brake           57 M   201 North Sutton NH           77.98% 
   14   1/11   M0114   20:15   6:31 Tyler Tkaczyk          13 M   219 Northwood NH              69.22% 
   15   1/16   M3039   20:17   6:32 Phil Brogan            33 M   142 Concord NH                64.77% 
   16   5/12   M1519   20:19   6:33 Colin Lessard          16 M   107 Bow NH                    65.20% 
   17   1/3    FOPEN   20:43   6:40 Addison Cox            16 F   251 Northwood NH              73.64% 
   18   6/12   M1519   20:50   6:43 Nathan Demers          18 M   158 Bow NH                    62.34% 
   19   4/25   M5059   21:05   6:47 Darin Brown            52 M    76 Madison NH                71.05% 
   20   7/12   M1519   21:33   6:56 Silas Frary            19 M   148 Concord NH                60.25% 

Monday, March 18, 2019

New Bedford half-marathon


New Bedford Half Marathon (03/17/19):  This was the 15th time I’ve run New Bedford but only the second time I went to the line and did not “race” it.  I strained my quad during the 5 mile race last weekend and ran tentatively all week.  I got checked out at Pinnacle Physical Therapy on Friday and was advised to NOT race a half-marathon.  Good advice.  The CMS squad only had 5 guys entered (and I was one of those five) and you need 5 for a full team.  I decided I’d go and run through it at training pace since I’d want to put in my mileage anyway.

I met up with Dave La who was celebrating his 55th birthday by aiming for a senior age group PR at the 13.1 mile distance.  Originally, I had hoped to run with Dave but now my goal was to run around 8-minute pace.  We did a 2 mile warm-up and Al Bernier joined us for some of it.  After a quick change we headed to the start line.  Dave went to the proper area and I went off for another ¾ mile of jogging before tucking in at the back of the field.  I figured that’d help keep things from being too fast.  With 2,000 runners there would be a lot of people to pass.

A little after 11am the gun went off and it was interesting at the back of the pack as everyone waited patiently to start walking forward.  I was even able to start slowly running by the time I reached the line which took 2:41 to cross.  The wind was blowing and it was about 40 degrees and sunny.  Pretty decent conditions for a mid-March race.  I felt comfortable and mostly just concentrated on not running into anyone.  The streets were packed and I would have to jump onto the sidewalks sometimes to stay out of trouble.  I reached the mile in 7:17 and was surprised at how easy that was.  The quad felt good.  I readjusted my goal to 7:20 pace and continued to run cautiously through the masses.  By the top of the hill at 3 miles I was right on 7:20 pace and it was thinning out.  I could now run without weaving.  The Fast stretch from 3-8 miles was enjoyable.  I clicked off a couple of 7:10’s and a couple of miles just a bit under 7.  I could feel some tightness and mild soreness in the quad at that speed and eased up a bit.  I was passing less people now as the pace I was running was nearing the pace of those around me.  The section along the ocean from 9-11 is always windy.  It was windy today but nothing too bad.  I had miles of 7:08, 7:01, and 7:07 during that stretch.  I felt pretty good as we got back into the city and still picked off a few people over the final couple of miles.

On the final little downhill and the last .1 straight I eased up a bit and about ½ dozen people went by.  The only person to go by at any other point during the race was a guy in the first mile and BAA’s 5th man on the senior team who I caught at 6 (and again at 10).  He went by me a third time on the final straight.  I wasn’t worried as I figured no one out there started as far back as I did and for scoring purposes “net time” is what counts.

Dave ended up running an excellent race and clocking a 1:26 as the 2nd man on our 50+ team (and he took 4th in the 55-59 age group).  I was 5th man for our squad which ended up taking second place!  I did a little checking and there were 2020 finishers and I took 442nd place, so I passed about 1500 during the race.  A Personal Record (PR) for me!

7:17                      
7:21                      
7:20                      
7:10                      
7:10                      
6:58                      
6:58                      
7:17                      
7:08                      
7:01                      
7:07                      
7:08                      
7:10                      
1:04                      
1:34:09                           

Sunday, March 17, 2019

Week Ending 03/17/19



I came off of the 5m (Malden) with a slightly strained quad/hip flexor (rectus femoris).  I listened to it closely during the week only running as hard as it allowed.  It seemed to be getting better.  Not good enough to try racing on it.  I ran New Bedford to support my CMS 50+ team but only at a (quick) training run pace.

Week = 80
Month = 199
Year = 737
Life = 142,772


M – 5am Icy roads so onto the treadmill for 5m at 814s
        3pm Edgewood 5 in 829s

T – 5am work 6 in 843s
       3pm work 5 in 756s

W – 5am work 6 in 832s
        3pm Edgewood 5 in 750s

Th – 5am work 6 in 833s
        3pm work 5 in  745s

F – 5am work 6 in 827s
      3pm 4 at Pinnacle PT in 745s

Sat - 630am 3 on my own into 5 more with D-la, Spence & Petey (bike) in 819s
         930am 3 more in 924s

Sun - 1015am 2 warm-up with D-la and Albee in 850s
          11am 13.1 at New Bedford in 7:10s



Thursday, March 14, 2019

Race gap


I hope to keep the gap to a minimum going forward!  The time between my last race (Baystate) and Malden was 140 days making it my fourth longest stretch without racing (over 41 years).

Rank
gap
Race1
Race2
Reason for the gap
1
329
09/15/85
08/10/86
Scoped knee (twice)
2
291
07/02/97
04/19/98
Fractured navicular (screw)
3
146
08/22/99
01/15/00
Ankle injury (no surgery)
4
140
10/21/18
03/10/19
Right ankle, then left ankle, then Right hamstring
5
119
07/06/03
11/02/03
hamstring & ankle (no surgery)


View before and after the race...


Wednesday, March 13, 2019

New City for me


The race in Malden was my first in that city (I don’t like city races).  I’ve now raced in MA 802 times in 104 different cities/towns.


Last dt.
Location
St
# in Location
10/21/18
Lowell
MA
82
104 cities/towns
11/05/17
Boston
MA
64
802 races
04/14/18
Andover
MA
48
07/31/18
Newburyport
MA
37
02/24/18
Tewksbury
MA
35
12/12/09
Worcester
MA
32
07/04/18
Chelmsford
MA
31
10/09/16
Methuen
MA
31
05/01/16
Billerica
MA
29
05/26/18
Westminster
MA
23
02/11/17
Haverhill
MA
22
03/06/16
Cambridge
MA
20
08/22/18
Lynn
MA
19
03/02/13
Hawley
MA
17
09/30/18
Gloucester
MA
15
05/21/11
Northfield
MA
14
03/18/18
New Bedford
MA
13
02/26/17
Amherst
MA
12
11/24/96
Fitchburg
MA
11
09/02/18
Adams
MA
11
06/05/15
Amesbury
MA
10
04/01/17
Salisbury
MA
9
04/27/14
Dedham
MA
8
01/27/13
Pittsfield
MA
8
06/10/12
Newton
MA
8
09/25/81
Wilmington
MA
8
01/01/99
Sterling
MA
8
10/28/07
Falmouth
MA
8
01/01/18
Salem
MA
7
10/12/15
Lawrence
MA
7
11/11/17
Reading
MA
6
11/26/15
West Newbury
MA
6
11/21/09
Wakefield
MA
6
04/24/05
Groton
MA
6
12/13/08
Melrose
MA
6
02/14/16
Peabody
MA
5
10/04/09
Topsfield
MA
5
03/05/95
Boylston
MA
5
07/19/15
Brockton
MA
4
04/23/11
Medford
MA
4
10/02/82
Dracut
MA
4
01/19/08
Florida
MA
4
07/27/13
Carver
MA
3
05/19/96
Agawam
MA
3
10/18/98
Tyngsboro
MA
3
01/07/01
Bourne
MA
3
03/04/01
Clinton
MA
3
05/06/07
Westford
MA
3
08/09/08
Shelburne
MA
3
10/08/17
Wayland
MA
2
09/11/16
Acton
MA
2
12/13/15
Merrimac
MA
2
06/29/14
Weston
MA
2
04/19/14
Ipswich
MA
2
09/13/05
Newbury
MA
2
01/22/12
Lanesboro
MA
2
02/13/82
Beverly
MA
2
09/29/91
Marshfield
MA
2
12/14/91
Northbridge
MA
2
06/06/92
Winthrop
MA
2
08/02/92
Oakham
MA
2
07/04/94
N Andover
MA
2
12/06/98
Framingham
MA
2
11/26/00
Leominster
MA
2
11/02/03
Ashby
MA
2
05/03/05
Marlborough
MA
2
05/09/09
Carlisle
MA
2
03/10/19
Malden
MA
1
03/31/18
Upton
MA
1
09/09/17
Wellsely
MA
1
02/16/13
Paxton
MA
1
11/18/12
Westfield
MA
1
10/01/11
Harvard
MA
1
06/16/10
West Boylston
MA
1
05/26/10
Danvers
MA
1
04/28/79
Taunton
MA
1
06/06/81
Gardner
MA
1
05/07/83
Springfield
MA
1
06/28/85
Swampscott
MA
1
05/22/88
Maynard
MA
1
04/18/89
Hopkinton
MA
1
06/03/90
Plainville
MA
1
07/04/91
Stoughton
MA
1
09/07/91
Brookline
MA
1
09/22/91
Webster
MA
1
10/27/91
Canton
MA
1
02/08/92
Hudson
MA
1
03/01/92
Barnstable
MA
1
05/12/93
Bolton
MA
1
06/05/93
Grafton
MA
1
06/09/93
Shrewsbury
MA
1
07/18/93
Cummington
MA
1
04/23/94
Lincoln
MA
1
10/29/95
Stoneham
MA
1
07/02/97
Lancaster
MA
1
10/04/98
Attleboro
MA
1
06/10/01
Somerville
MA
1
02/16/03
Strubridge
MA
1
10/10/04
Monroe
MA
1
01/07/06
Savoy
MA
1
08/12/06
Oxford
MA
1
10/28/06
Hamilton
MA
1
05/03/07
Southborough
MA
1
02/16/08
Tisbury
MA
1