45 years ago – May 1979: I raced six time over the final month of my freshman outdoor track season. Kicked off the month with a personal best in the ½ mile with a 2:20.9 in a home meet against Methuen. Teammate (and Billerica High School hall-of-fame runner) Kevin Curtin won in 2:02. Two days later I ran in a freshman/sophomore meet at Wilmington. I ran a 2 mile personal best of 10:50.0 losing to Hines (Haverhill) by almost exactly one minute. Next up was the mile in a dual meet against Austin Prep where I set a mile PR of 5:28. A week later I was back in the 2 mile running an 11:03 to take fourth place in a meet against Lawrence. At this point I earned my first outdoor track letter by getting 22 points. Points were based on your place in each meet. I closed out my freshman year with an 11:04 2 mile on the Haverhill track finishing second in the Freshman Championship meet. I think it may have been the MVC or Northern Area Freshman meet.
Tuesday, April 30, 2024
Monday, April 29, 2024
Unusual events
Last week featured a bunch of unusual events. Nothing bad just some oddities.
- Saw the International Space Station four times, including a first ever TWICE in one morning (3:20 and 4:54 am on Saturday)
- Not only spotted, but RAN with Nate on the Methuen rail trail
- Ran with Richard Bolt for the first time in 2 years
- Thunder and rain during the Sunday bike ride meant cutting short the normal 2 hour ride
- Ran my fastest lunch 3 mile this year
- Ran my fastest Rail Trail 6 mile this year
- Ran my fastest 10 mile training run this year
Sunday, April 28, 2024
Week Ending 04/28/24
Week Ending 04/28/24
This was a bit of a surprising week with a lot of quicker runs. I'm trying to listen to my body and really only check the watch AFTER I've finished the run. I had my quickest morning runs this year and I closed out the week with a preview of the Aviation Museum 5m course in my fastest time for a 10 mile training run this year (granted I haven't done many runs longer than 7 miles). I'm hoping to race in Londonderry next weekend but will wait until a couple of days before to sign up.
Week - 86
Month - 348
Year - 1470
Life - 160,199
Thursday, April 25, 2024
CARS standings
I’m currently in fourth place overall in the CARS but the series is a best 6 of 9 and a couple of guys have missed one of the races. Top 10 in the overall would be respectable and if I cracked the top 5 that would be great. I’ll miss at least one of the races (and probably two), but if I can stay off the injured reserve then I should be able to make it through the series.
MALE CARS POINT STANDINGS
Points SEA NHTI
Name
Sex Age
Hometown
1984 984 1000 Steven
Groulx
M 23 Chester
NH
1968 1000 968 Timothy
Cox
M 50 Northwood
NH
1900 945 955 Sam
Wood
M 37 Laconia
NH
1843 929 914 Dave
Dunham
M 60 Bradford
MA
1839 922 917 Max
Goupil
M 14 Contoocook
NH
1769 892 877 Scott
Clark
M 58
Gilmanton NH
1739 868 871 Norman
Goupil
M 45 Contoocook
NH
1698 838 860 Jeff
Clark
M 59 Holderness NH
1638 816 822 Nick
Gosling
M 41 Meredith
NH
1636 807 829 Jonathan
Kovar
M 54 Contoocook
NH
I’m currently leading the masters age graded standings,
but with Ernie Brake skipping the NHTI race he fell out of the top 10. He’ll
move back in since it is also scored as the best 6 of 9 races. If all of
us stay healthy it should be a close battle between me, Ernie, Tim Cox, and
Scott Clark. Great fun!
MALE MASTERS AGE GRADED STANDINGS
Name
Sex Age Hometown
SEA
NHTI Total
Dave Dunham
M 60 Bradford
MA
82.74 80.91 163.65
Timothy
Cox M 50
Northwood NH
81.92 78.83 160.75
Scott
Clark
M 58 Gilmanton
NH
78.14 76.29 154.43
Jeff
Clark
M 59 Holderness
NH
73.99 75.41 149.40
Vincent Perelli
M 60 Hopkinton
NH
71.55 72.70 144.25
Jonathan Kovar M 54
Contoocook NH
68.33 69.80 138.13
Stuart Siegler
M 63 Alton Bay
NH
69.88 68.08 137.96
Norman Goupil M 45
Contoocook NH
68.42 68.31 136.73
Brian
Byrne
M 76 Concord
NH
67.98 66.13 134.11
Benjamin Strauss M 53 New Boston
NH
66.47 67.16 133.63
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Pine mountain ascent
I've only been up Pine Mountain once before (2018), so when Petey asked me to come up for a run I was all-in. I arrived in Alton Bay about 30 minutes before sunrise and put in a flat (ish) 6 mile along the lake to warm up. Warm-up indeed as it was 32 degrees when I started. I caught sunrise just as I turned on my way back on the out/back run. Then it was off to Petey's and a quick return to Lake W. Pete dipped his hand in the lake and we were off. 40 minutes of enjoyable conversation and we were on the sunny summit checking out the view (you could see some of the White Mountains, Belknaps up close, Kearsarge (north and south) and Grand Monadnock in the distance. We hiked the .8 down the other side of the mountain to Petey's house. I closed out the day with an excellent and refreshing 2 hour ride.
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
NHTI 5k - CARS race
Friday night racing? Never been my thing. When you enter a 9 race series, sometimes you've got to race at times you'd rather not. My ankle has been shit. I got a cortisone shot on Tuesday but it had little impact. That wasn't a big surprise. The history on that navicular is not good and the prognosis is dismal. Onward!
I headed up to NHTI (Concord NH) after work and was a little chilly at the start of my warm-up preview of the course. Temps in the 50s were fine for racing but 10-20 mph south winds were not. I joked (semi-joked) with Tim Cox & Sam Wood about this being the longest certified 5k in NH. I doubt anyone ever gets less than 3.15 on their Garmin. It is certified but coned in such a way that you cannot run the shortest possible course. Everyone has to run the same distance so in that way at least it is fair.
I put on my new Nike road shoes and did another easy mile before the start. It was not feeling easy. Perhaps a 90+ mile week and an 18+ mile day was not such a good idea? My original goal was to run faster than SEA (1911) and hopefully beat Ernie Brake. Ernie was not present and conditions were not conducive to a fast time. I headed out in 10th place and tried to latch on to anyone to block the wind. I ran with one guy for about 3/4 of a mile then was on my own. I closed on Max Goupil (who I'd beaten at SEA) and caught him around 2.25, but he accelerated right away. I kept him close until about 440 to go when he checked his watch and sprinted away. Not a good race for me, but I used everything I had in the tank. I did manage my first age-group 60 win and also took the age-graded win.
Next up: We'll mix it up with a little XC racing at the Canterbury village in a few weeks.
1 Luke Janik 16:28 M 27 Hampton Falls NH 1 MOPEN
2 David Charney 16:46 M 36 Concord NH 2 MOPEN
3 Steven Groulx 17:57 M 23 Chester NH 3 MOPEN
4 Timothy Cox 18:32 M 50 Northwood NH 1 M5059
5 Broden Cox 18:35 M 12 Northwood NH 1 M0114
6 Sam Wood 18:47 M 37 Laconia NH 1 M3039
7 Andrew Kroeckel 18:52 M 43 Rochester NH 1 M4049
8 Lucas Zamoyski 19:05 M 35 Manchester NH 2 M3039
9 Max Goupil 19:34 M 14 Contoocook NH 2 M0114
10 Dave Dunham 19:37 M 60 Bradford MA 1 M6069
11 Allison Davis 20:13 F 36 Contoocook NH 1 F3039
12 Scott Clark 20:27 M 58 Gilmanton NH 2 M5059
13 Norman Goupil 20:34 M 45 Contoocook NH 2 M4049
14 Sarah Burdette 20:49 F 46 Concord NH 1 F4049
15 Jeff Clark 20:52 M 59 Holderness NH 3 M5059
16 Abbey Wood 21:16 F 38 Laconia NH 2 F3039
Monday, April 22, 2024
Week Ending 04/21/24
Week Ending 04/21/24
A big week with over 90 miles which was unintended. I'd put in a couple of big days early in anticipation of easing back into the weekend, but then just didn't ease up. My ankle has been pretty lousy and the cortisone shot didn't seem to help. The doctor noted that "there may be a time when the shot doesn't help" and I guess I'm at that point. I had an uninspired race on Friday night but that kicked off a very nice weekend..
Week - 93
Month - 262
Year - 1384
Life - 160,115
Sunday, April 21, 2024
Looking back - April 2019
5 years ago: April 2019 – I raced four times this week including a return to the Boston Marathon. I kicked off the month with the SEA 5k (CARS race #2) Last year I'd run 18:10 on a windy day, this year I thought anything under 18:40 would be good. I counted about 30 ahead at the first big turn. By the mile (5:47) Ernie Brake was at least 5 seconds ahead and looking strong. I slowly closed the gap and caught up to him right before we hit 2 miles (11:39). We locked into a good fight back and forth over the next half-mile. I was happily surprised to hit the finish in 18:12, only 2 seconds slower than last year and first in the 50+. Ernie came in 9 seconds later (which was close enough to get him the win in the age-graded).
1 1 M4044 16:43 5:23 Jim Johnson 41 M 1 Madison NH
2 1 M5559 18:12* 5:52 Dave Dunham 55 M 15 Bradford MA
3 2 M5559 18:21* 5:55 Ernest Brake 57 M 195 North Sutton NH
4 2 M4044 18:35 5:59 Mark Doperalski 42 M 246 Deerfield NH
5 1 M5054 18:40 6:01 Jim Angell 54 M 147 Hopkinton NH
6 2 M5054 19:12 6:11 Darin Brown 52 M 76 Madison NH
1 1/3 MOPEN 16:09 5:12 Louis Saviano III 28 M 248 Sandown NH 80.42%
2 2/3 MOPEN 16:10* 5:12 Aidan Cox 13 M 316 Northwood NH 86.71%
5 1/13 M4044 16:43 5:23 Jim Johnson 41 M 1 Madison NH 82.59%
14 1/18 M5559 18:12* 5:51 Dave Dunham 55 M 15 Bradford MA 84.26%
15 1/3 FOPEN 18:20 5:54 Amber Ferreira 36 F 343 Concord NH 81.31%
16 2/18 M5559 18:21* 5:55 Ernest Brake 57 M 195 North Sutton NH 84.92%
25 2/15 M5054 19:12 6:11 Darin Brown 52 M 76 Madison NH 78.02%
Next up was the Boston
Marathon (04/15/19): In 2019 I did TWO runs longer than 10 miles (a
12 mile in Feb and the New Bedford 1/2 marathon in March). Not exactly
what you want to do to get ready for a marathon. My goal would be to just
finish but I wasn't even sure that I would START the race until a few days
before. My goal for race day was to run under 3:30 (8 minute mile
pace). I thought I could run as fast 3:15 if conditions were good and I
didn't have any issues. I tried to relax as literally THOUSANDS of people moved
around and past me. I figured 7:30's was probably going to be slower than
I wanted to go but would just stick with whatever felt good. It was
difficult to judge pace as EVERYONE was flying by me, so I just dialed in on
how I felt and kept it relaxed. I got to the half in 1:33:55. I was
pretty sure I'd be under 3:15 and thought that with a strong second half I
might even crack 3:10. The next milestone was seeing mom, dad,
rose, and denise who were enthusiastically cheering for me at the 15 mile
mark. After 10 miles very few people passed me and by 13 I was starting
to pass people.
1 1/3 MOPEN 16:41* 16:41 5:23 Aidan Cox 13 M 445 Northwood NH 84.02%
2 2/3 MOPEN 16:41* 16:41 5:23 Sandu Ravenchele 49 M 479 87.76%
3 3/3 MOPEN 16:50 16:49 5:25 Kirpal Demian 17 M 155 Bow NH 77.81%
4 1/29 M4049 16:57 16:57 5:28 Jim Johnson 41 M 204 Madison NH 81.45%
14 1/36 M5059 18:40 18:39 6:01 Scott Clark 53 M 194 Gilmanton NH 80.95%
15 2/36 M5059 18:54 18:52 6:05 Jim Angell 54 M 147 Hopkinton NH 80.65%
17 3/36 M5059 19:10 19:10 6:10 Darin Brown 52 M 76 Madison NH 78.16%
18 4/36 M5059 19:10 19:10 6:10 Dave Dunham 55 M 15 Bradford MA 80.01%
1 14 18:40 18:39 6:01 Scott Clark 53 M 194 Gilmanton NH
2 15 18:54 18:52 6:05 Jim Angell 54 M 147 Hopkinton NH
3 17 19:10 19:10 6:10 Darin Brown 52 M 76 Madison NH
4 18 19:10 19:10 6:10 Dave Dunham 55 M 15 Bradford MA
5 25 20:21 20:19 6:33 Brian Perreault 53 M 430 Eliot ME
Saturday, April 20, 2024
Looking back - April 2004, 2009, 2014
20 years ago – April 2004: Nothing much of note from this month, I
ran 340 miles with no days off and raced twice. I was working my way back
to “racing shape” and started the month with the Bow Lake 15k. My goal
was to run 6 minute miles (56:00). The course was quite hilly, but I
managed a fourth place finish in 56:19. Two weeks later I took on the Muddy
Moose 14 mile trail race. My Achilles was bothering me, and I never felt
good. I ended up taking 6th place in 1:40:27.
15 years ago – April 2009: I was feeling pretty good, finally
getting on a roll and I hit 343 miles for the month with no days off and four
races. I headed down to Brockton for the rarely run 3.75 mile distance.
In an unusual turn I had a good battle at the front of the pack. I ran
with another guy until 3 miles but couldn’t cover his final move. From my
blog: I led the race for the first 1/2 mile
then heard footsteps. The guy trailing me blew by me on the long downhill after
the tower. I kept close and pulled back even with him about 3/4 mile into the
race. It was good to have someone to work with. We hit the mile in 5:16, which
I knew could not be correct (with the hill and wind there was no way I went out
in 5:16). We stayed side by side for the next mile and hit 2 in 10:42 (5:26),
still short of 2 miles but maybe the second mile was about a mile long? We had
a slight tail wind for the third mile and hit that in 15:55 (5:13), which again
seemed too fast (short). Just as we hit 3 miles the guy took off and I
just couldn't respond. I kept him close over the last .75 but ended up in 2nd
place about 4 seconds back. I heard a few other people mention that the miles
were not right but that the distance was "close". The course is used
for a summer series as well (although they start further up and a few people
mentioned 3.8 as the correct distance for the loop we did). A week
later I made a rare appearance on the track at the George Davis
Invitational. I almost missed the start as they combined the men and
women moving our start up by 30 minutes. I ran a very even
(5:18/5:20/5:18) race finishing 6th in the field of 10 in 16:35. A week after
that I hit the road and struggled to another 16:35 (at the Chase the Gorilla
down Argilla). I closed out the month with yet another 5k this time in
Greenwich RI. From my blog: I was
hoping for sub 1630 and tried to head out strong. Stephanie Reilly led for the
first 400 then I moved into the lead with Eric Lonergan (who won last year in
1555). We ran side-by-side through 3km then I got a stride on Eric. It was
short lived as he blew by me at 2 miles. He had about 3-4 seconds on me by 4km
but I slowly reeled him back in. I figured my only shot was to get ahead of him
before the final 400 or I'd get out-kicked. Unfortunately (for me) I couldn't
get a lead and only just barely caught him as we hit the 3 mile mark. He
put the hammer down at that point and beat me by 4 seconds in the last .109,
even with me hitting 31.8 for that last part. I was pleased with the effort but
not so much with the time. I guess the breeziness and the warmth (70s) were
part of it, or maybe it just wasn't my day. Either way I took some solace in
getting $150.
1 16:39 5:22 ERIC LONERGAN
23 M N KINGSTOWN RI
2 16:43 5:23 DAVE DUNHAM
45 M WARD HILL MA
3 17:18 5:35 STEPHANIE
REILLY 31 F WHITINSVILLE MA
10 years ago: April 2014 – I struggled all month seemingly stuck
in some sort of training rut. I finally went to the doctor after a
terrible run at the James Joyce Ramble 10k and found out that I had walking pneumonia. That explained a lot!
1 David
Long 1/45 M4049 40 M
Beverly MA
17:03 5:29
2 Dave Dunham
1/38 M5059 50 M Bradford
MA 17:23 5:36
3 Nathan Hausman
1/36 M3039 35 M Wenham MA 17:36
5:40
4 Matthew
Curran 2/38 M5059 56 M Gloucester MA
17:50 5:45
Friday, April 19, 2024
Looking back - April 1999
25 years ago – April 1999: Another month with a badly sprained ankle which caused me to miss a day. I managed 346 miles and raced three times. First up was the Red Shoe Barn 5m. I went out with the lead group (teammates – Richard Bolt & Tom Anderson, along with Chris Teague and Mike O’Brien) and stuck with Teague through 2 miles. He broke away and went on to beat me by 15 seconds (24:26 to 24:41). O’Brien and Anderson finished under 25, running 24:52 and 24:59 respectively. A week later I headed out to Worcester for the Fred’s marathon/half-marathon. Alex Tilson, who had raced me the year before at the Baystate marathon, was looking to run under 2:22 and asked me to lead him through the half. I ran an evenly paced 1:10:48 to win the half with Tilson in tow. He ended up missing the standard but set a CR with a solid 2:25:23. The final race of the month was the Groton 10k, which was a CMS goal race (they had a team prize). It was sunny, breezy and mid-60s as the pack of about 6 of us hammered the first 5k. Teammate Richard Bolt and I broke away with GLRR runner Chris Teague. I gapped them on the uphill from 4-5 miles and held on for a 12 second win in 31:08. For some reason Richard and I were not included in the team scoring for CMS, we took the team title anyway with five other CMS runners in the top 10.
Looking back - April 1994
30 years ago – April 1994: I only raced twice during April although I managed 368
miles with no days off. I was recovering from a sprained ankle and back
woes which kept my racing limited. I supported U-Lowell at the Alamo
Alumni race in Boston. It was sunny but windy and a chilly 40
degrees. I ran an slow (for me) 24:37 to take 10th place. I stayed
away from racing until the 23rd when I went to the Mount Misery trail race in
Lincoln MA. The trails were in great shape, but the field was very small
(26 finishers). I ran with Petey until the last quarter mile then took
off to win in 43:22 for the 7 miles race.
Thursday, April 18, 2024
Looking back - April 1989
35 years ago – April 1989: I lowered my mileage down to 328 for the month, mostly because I was aiming for a good run at the Boston marathon. This was my first shot at the marathon, and I trained very hard with a goal of breaking 2:15. The week prior to the marathon I headed to New York City for the second annual Ekiden Relay. This was a big money race that had teams from each of the 50 states and some international teams. Somehow, I ended up running the shortest leg of the relay a 7.5km (4.41 miles) dash through Central Park. I ended up running the 2nd fastest time of the day 20:44 (4:42 pace), our team took 4th place, and I came home with $3,000. The others on the team were Tim Gannon (14:10-5k), Paul Gorman (10.1k -9th pl), Dennis Simoniatis (9.3k-2nd pl), Wally Collins (10k 30:12, 10th pl). Nine days later I lined up at the start of the Boston Marathon. This was my first Boston and my first Marathon (I’ve done more than 50 races of the marathon and beyond since then). I joined 5,122 others on a 67-degree day. I felt great through 20k, and still pretty good through 30k, but the last 10k was just brutal. My splits were 31:10, 32:10, 33:10, for the first 30km. The last 12.2k took me 45:32 (5:59) pace but it was a lot worse than it sounds. I staggered across the line and was promptly escorted to the medical tent and from there to the hospital. Over 10 pounds of IV fluid later I was released. Ouch! I ended up finishing in 2:22:03 for 17th place.
Monday, April 15, 2024
Looking back - April 1984
40 years ago – April 1984: I only ran 255 miles with five days off due to a badly sprained ankle during the start of my sophomore outdoor track season at the University of Lowell. I opened the month with the Fitchburg relays 5,000 meters. We used to call it the “iceberg relays” because it seemed to always be cold and rainy at this early season meet. Dennis Simoniatis and I planned to tie, doing the race as a hard workout. We ran splits of 4:41, 4:48, and 4:38 for a 5k of 14:32. Twelve days later I ran my first 10,000 meter track race at the BC relays. My goal was to break 30:30 which was the qualifying standard for the NCAA National championships (D2). I ran splits of 4:44, 4:50, 4:49, 4:50, 4:52, 4:56, and 70 for a 30:12. That put me over a minute behind the winner (Dartmouth’s Sapienza 28:55).
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Couldn't find a college pic of me and Dennis, but here were are going 1 - 2 at New Bedford in 1993 |
Sunday, April 14, 2024
Week Ending - 04/14/24
Passed 160,000 miles lifetime this week. 14 weeks this year and my lowest week was 82 and highest was 94. Still having issues with my left ankle but getting it checked out this week. Pretty amazing week with the eclipse, skiing, some great runs, and biking in weather that felt like Spring.
Week - 85
Month - 169
Year - 1291
Life - 160,022
Bumped into Warren Angell on the XC ski trails |
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Sunrise eclipse day |
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Sunset eclipse day |
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Darkness in the middle of the day |
Looking back - April 1980
45 years ago – April 1979: I ran 127 miles and took 7 days off
during the first full month of outdoor track during my freshman year at Billerica High School.
I raced six times, mostly in dual-meet races. I started the month with a
third place 2 mile versus Central Catholic (11:47). Five days later I
lowered my PR by nearly a minute running a 10:50.4 and placed fourth in a meet
against Dracut on our home track at the Marshall Middle school. Two days
later I ran a 11:00 2-mile against Tewksbury and followed that up a week later
with a 10:58 versus Wilmington. After that I ran a 2:25 for a half-mile
leg in the Class Relays. I closed out the month with an uninspired 11:18
2-mile in a dual meet against Andover. In all I scored 14 points towards
my letter. I’m not sure how many points you needed but I ended up getting
the outdoor track letter (a large green “B”).
Tuesday, April 9, 2024
CARS (Capital Area Race Series) race #1 - SEA 5k
Due to injuries I hadn't done the CARS the last two years. I was looking forward to getting back to racing in the Concord area again this year. The Kezar Lake squad (Ernie Brake's club) looked strong so this year I'd signed up with the Northeast Delta Dental squad. The team scoring is based on the top 3 Age Graded points, so it should be a good competition. I haven't been feeling great with the major concern being my ankle which is always giving me some pain. Lately it has been quite bad and since it has been 2 years since I last saw my podiatrist it is time to go back. Still, I'm training pretty hard and my mileage is solid. My hope was to run around 19 flat (and hopefully under).
I got in a nice warm-up/course preview with Ernie, Scott Clark, and Tim Cox (and his youngest son Broden). It was nice catching up with the guys and commiserating about getting old and so many injuries and niggles. Right before the start Tom Raffio (NEDD) gave his prerace instructions and a birthday shout-out for me. In my honor, he also bought 250 donuts from Brothers for everyone to have after the race. I also got a nice gift basket (in a Nike shoe box) from Kara and her girls with a bunch of gift cards (donut related) and a box of Capn' Crunch! Sarah also gave me a big cookie and got Governor Sununu to honor my birthday with a proclamation and a flag flown over the Capital Dome!
Now I had to race! I went out in 10th place and by 440 yards in I'd moved up to 9th. Ernie Brake was a half-step behind as we hit the mile in about 6-flat (Garmin split). Ernie pulled around and really accelerated at 1.7 miles. I lost a couple of steps and thought the race was over. We had a bit of a headwind at that time and Ernie tucked in behind Max Goupil. I got back up to him at 2 miles (12:10) happy with the split and that it was a RACE. By 2.5 I had a step on Ernie and we'd dropped Max. I had visions of beating Ernie but he had other thoughts as he eased by me with 440 to go. I had no reaction and struggled into the finish 4 seconds behind Ernie in 9th place running 19:11. I knew Ernie would be me in the age graded as well as he is 2 years older than me. I was disappointed with the time but happy that I gave all I had on this day. I'm hoping to give Ernie a good race in 2 weeks when the next CARS takes place at NHTI. Onward!