Week Ending 09/24/23

 Week ending 09-24-23

 

I hit my third week in a row at or above 80 miles (my limit).  I continued to phase out biking with only 4:15 on the bike this week (3 days).  Both glutes, right hip, and left ankle have all been bothering me this week.  More troubling is just the general fatigue I’ve been feeling.  Some days I’m really struggling out there.  Not sure why but hoping a couple of more weeks at normal mileage and without getting up at 3:15 am and I’ll bounce back.

 

Week – 80

Month – 278

Year – 1,790

Life - 157,666

 

 

 

Eric and Mur-dog

 Touching article about Eric and Murdoch in the AKC magazine:

Hawks 5k XC race

Hawks XC – Elm Brook Park, Hopkinton NH 09-16-23

I had planned on doing the Essex County Greenbelt 50 mile ride this weekend but with hurricane Lee brushing the coast the ride was canceled.  I saw that the first race in the Delta Dental XC series was a new event in Hopkinton NH.  The 8am start time made it even more appealing!

I arrived with plenty of time to sign up and get in a course preview.  I’m glad I gave myself extra time as the start was ¾ mile from the finish, that made for a 3.8 mile warm-up.  The Hopkinton XC team did a fantastic job marking the course with plenty of flags and arrows.  The course was a great mix of dirt road, some grass trail, ¾ mile of single-track, and a mile on top of the dam on a nice dirt surface.

81 including a good number of high school runners lined up along the airfield and sprinted off at the start.  The little 30’ climb in the first ¼ mile slowed a few of the quick starters and I counted 15 in front of me as we topped out on the west end of the dam and dropped down to the grass trail on the other side.  I slowly moved up and got myself into the top 10 before we hit the singletrack.  I was a step or two behind the father daughter team of Matt and Madeleine Lane.  He was a sub 4 miler and sub-2:20 marathon among his many accomplishments and she is a freshman sensation at Hopkinton.  I stuck with them on the twisting and turning but reasonable footing of the singletrack.  We popped out at the eastern end of the dam at 1.5 miles into the race.  At that point four guys blew by, I felt a little bad that maybe I’d held them back on the singletrack but no one had called out or moved up on me.  Two of the guys turned out to be in my age group (Rob Rothe is the Hopkinton coach), but no way I could go with the upped tempo.  I was struggling to keep the Lanes in sight.  One more guy (Rob Dapice) went by and I focused on not letting him go.

I took a quick peek back at the end of the dam, knowing I had about ¾ of a mile to go.  Erin Lane (two time Footlocker XC champion among many accomplishments) was about 10 seconds back and I could see Kara Haas not to far back.  The other Lanes slowly gapped me in the last ½ mile and although I felt like I was working hard I could not go with them or with Dapice.  I only just managed to hold of Erin Lane to take 13^th overall and 3^rd in the 50+.  It was another race where I felt like I pushed from start to finish but just didn’t have it.  I’m hoping a few more weeks with some decent mileage will get me over this hump.  Onward!

Place     Time      Name                   Age Group           Club                      Pace

1             17:42     Russell Leino      Male 40-49         SRR                       5:41

2             17:55     Matt Clarner       Male 16-19         HMHSxC              5:45

3             18:14     Tim Perry             Male 40-49                                       5:52

4             18:43     Ben Daniels         Male 16-19         HMHSxC              6:01

5             19:28     Liam Orourke     Male 16-19         HMHSxC              6:15

6             20:13     Rob Rothe           Male 50-59         Hopkinton, NH   6:30

7             20:22     Brian Lavoie       Male 50-59         Hopkinton, NH   6:33

8             20:42     Max Goupil         Male <15             HMHSxC              6:39

9             20:47     Jorge Guerra       Male 16-19         HMHSxC              6:41

10           21:01     Madeleine Lane Female <15         HMHSxC              6:45

11           21:02     Matt Lane           Male 40-49         Contoocook, NH 6:46

12           21:10     Rob Dapice         Male 40-49         Contoocook, NH 6:48

13           21:14     Dave Dunham    Male 50-59         CMS                      6:50

14           21:16     Erin Lane             Female 40-49     Contoocook, NH 6:50

15           21:46     A. Whiteknact    Male <15             Contoocook, NH 7:00

16           22:16     Kara Haas            Female 50-59     GLRR                    7:09

 

Week ending 09-17-23

I met my goal of 80 miles for the week but came up short of the time on bike due to the cancellation of the 50 mile ride on Saturday.  It was a disappointment to not ride with Byrne but I had a fun weekend with running, racing, riding, and relaxing!

Week – 81

Month – 198

Year – 1710

Life – 157,586

Ice spice really nice

First two XC races

Of the 42 runners in the 40+ race at Carlisle, 21 had also done the first race in the series (the Old Goat TC race 2 weeks ago).

The average time differential was a 42 second improvement.  I came out pretty close to that with a 40 second improvement.  Still I can’t say I’m happy with the run.  Hoping for some improvement in two weeks.

 

Pl	Time	Name		Age	Team	Cat		Diff
37	25:45.7	Glenn	Stewart	73	GLRR	60+		-88
8	18:18.1	Jason	Cakouros	58	HFC	50+		-77
20	20:49.4	Chris	Mancini	43	Tracksmith	40+		-77
14	19:22.5	David	Harper	56	CMS	50+		-68
22	20:56.0	Tyler	Leeds	40	GLRR	40+		-66
25	21:31.5	David	Teszler	57	HHS	50+		-66
1	16:33.2	TJ	Unger	45	HFC	40+		-65
11	18:49.6	Mark	Furler	40	GCS	40+		-64
13	18:57.0	Douglas	Hall		Tracksmith	40+		-61
39	27:14.1	Scott	Casper	55	GLRR	50+		-56
3	17:26.2	Lee	Danforth	45	HFC	40+		-50
30	22:18.3	Jimmy	Fallon	63	HFC	60+		-49
17	19:56.4	Eli	Queen	45	Tracksmith	40+		-43
21	20:53.3	Dave	Dunham	59	CMS	50+		-40
7	18:13.3	Steve	Brightman	54	CMS	50+		-31
34	23:18.1	Brian	Beaulieu	49	GBTC	40+		-22
32	22:41.2	Robert	Ruel	71	HFC	60+		-17
16	19:39.8	Mathew	Swanson	45	Tracksmith	40+		-17
42	42:52.4	Raymond	Boutotte	77	GCS	60+		-16
41	27:47.1	Matt	Lynch	63	HFC	60+		-2
33	22:54.7	Paul	Stacy	56	Unnatached	50+		-1
29	21:56.4	John	Barbour	69	GLRR	60+		41

GBTC XC

I’m hoping to do the five races in the USATF New England Cross-Country (XC) series this fall.  I kicked off the season two weeks ago at the Old Goat TC race in Sutton.  Next up was the Greater Boston TC race at Great Brook (Carlisle).  I’d done this twice before so I knew what I was in for.  Last year I’d run 19:58 for the 5k course and knowing I’m not quite back since my hamstring tear (and stress reaction in my knee) I figured a good goal would be 20:30.  The course has three loops and gets progressively tougher, with a ½ mile loop, then a mile, and finally a 1.5 mile.  Each time we’d come back through the start/finish area, so nowhere to really hide if you are having a tough day.  The field was kind of small (less than 50) for the 40+ crowd as we lined up on the “Lantern Loop”.  After a rousing rendition of the Star Spangled Banner (lyrics be damned), we were sent on our way.  It was only 70 degrees but was very uncomfortable with dew points in the 70s (tropical).  I found myself with Brian Ruhm (Gate City) in the early going and hoped to stick with him.  After the initial loop he turned to me as I was falling back and encouraged me to stay with him as he was “keying off” me.  He wouldn’t have to worry about me as he pulled away.  I pushed as hard as I could and just was not feeling great.  I passed one guy before the mile (Teszler – HHS) and got three other guys (Hemmingway, Leeds, and Mancini) between 2 miles and 2.5.  Sadly I spotted teammate Tim Van Orden on the sidelines around 2 miles dealing with ongoing heart issues.  I encouraged him to walk in if he could, we only had 5 entered so if he was able to a finish would give us a scoring team.  I held my position until 400 to go when Mancini went past and I had no response.  I ended up running 20:53 which was disappointing.  I finished exactly half-way in the field of 42 with a 21^st place and took 8^th in the 50+.  Our team had a great day with Greg Putnam taking top honors in the 50+ and our squad taking first.

 

Next up the Brown Bear 8k in two weeks.  I ran a low 32 at that last year, nervous I won’t break 35 this year.  Ugh!

 

Pl	Time	Name		Age	Team	Cat
1	16:33.2	TJ	Unger	45	HFC	40+
2	16:57.7	Aaron	Price		BAA	40+
3	17:26.2	Lee	Danforth	45	HFC	40+
4	17:45.3	Gregory	Putnam		CMS	50+
5	18:04.0	Timothy	Gavin		HFC	40+
6	18:07.9	Dave	Dugan		Tracksmith	50+
7	18:13.3	Steve	Brightman	54	CMS	50+
8	18:18.1	Jason	Cakouros	58	HFC	50+
9	18:27.1	Brian	McCarthy		HFC	40+
10	18:28.7	Shamus	Brady		Tracksmith	40+
11	18:49.6	Mark	Furler	40	GCS	40+
12	18:51.8	Eric	Silva		Tracksmith	40+
13	18:57.0	Douglas	Hall		Tracksmith	40+
14	19:22.5	David	Harper	56	CMS	50+
15	19:35.1	Ross	Tucker		Unnatached
16	19:39.8	Mathew	Swanson	45	Tracksmith	40+
17	19:56.4	Eli	Queen	45	Tracksmith	40+
18	19:59.1	Frank	Nelson		HFC	50+
19	20:18.6	Brian	Ruhm		GCS	50+
20	20:49.4	Chris	Mancini	43	Tracksmith	40+
21	20:53.3	Dave	Dunham	59	CMS	50+
22	20:56.0	Tyler	Leeds	40	GLRR	40+
23	20:57.8	Rodney	Hemingway		GLRR	40+
24	21:09.1	Tim	Van Orden		CMS	50+
25	21:31.5	David	Teszler	57	HHS	50+
26	21:41.1	Peter	LaGoy		GLRR	50+
27	21:50.0	Mark	Blaisdell		GLRR	50+
28	21:53.8	Gerard	Cnossen		Tracksmith
29	21:56.4	John	Barbour	69	GLRR	60+
30	22:18.3	Jimmy	Fallon	63	HFC	60+
31	22:29.6	Matt	Story		GLRR	40+
32	22:41.2	Robert	Ruel	71	HFC	60+
33	22:54.7	Paul	Stacy	56	Unnatached	50+
34	23:18.1	Brian	Beaulieu	49	GBTC	40+
35	25:03.1	Paul	Corcoran		HFC	50+
36	25:14.6	Tim	Hagerty		GLRR	50+
37	25:45.7	Glenn	Stewart	73	GLRR	60+
38	26:55.6	Stephen	Peckiconis		CSU	60+
39	27:14.1	Scott	Casper	55	GLRR	50+
40	27:27.8	Peter	Hogan		Unnatached
41	27:47.1	Matt	Lynch	63	HFC	60+
42	42:52.4	Raymond	Boutotte	77	GCS	60+