Looking back (doesn't seem that long ago)

10 years ago – February 2004

I had trouble with my hamstring and Achilles all month long and got a cortisone shot in my ankle.  In all it was a disappointing month with only 241 run while missing 2 days.  I only raced twice during the month (early on), both snowshoe races.  I finished in fourth place at the Saratoga Winterfest 5k despite running a pretty quick 22:33 (7:16 pace).  The following week I directed and raced in the Northfield Mountain snowshoe race.  The field was VERY deep with many attempting to qualify for snowshoe nationals.  I followed the long train in very deep snow on the climb, keeping the leaders in sight.  All heck broke loose on the descent as we hit the wide open groomed trail.  I got smoked, finishing in 16^th place.

 

 

5 years ago – February 2009

I had a decent month running 305 miles with zero days off and SIX races!  I started the month running the Lynn Stew Chase which is one of my favorites (it is the third oldest 15km race in the country).  I had a really good 8 mile race but completely ran out of gas the last 1.3 miles.  I was pretty happy to run right around 6 minute mile pace for 22^nd place in 56:34.  The following weekend I tried a snowshoe double (Sidehiller & Hallockville).  I basically ran alone at Sidehiller (2 minutes behind Kevin Tilton and Jim Johnson and 3 minutes ahead of fourth place).  No complaints about my third place finish over 4.1 miles in 33:53.  The next day I headed out to Hawley and had a tight race with teammates Tim Mahoney and Ben Nephew.  Ben took a wrong turn and went a little long, then we all went a little long but recovered.  Ben took 1^st in 43:05 and I was 7 seconds back with Tim close behind.  A week later I was back on the roads in my home town (Bradford) for the Valentines 5m.  Nate Jenkins won in a solid time of 25:22, my long-time training partner Dan Verrington was top master in 27:32.  I rolled in well over a minute behind Dan placing 9^th overall and 2^nd in the 40+ with a 28:49.  The next weekend I headed back out to Western MA for the USATF NE 10 mile road championships.  I was hoping to break 60 minutes and met my goal (just barely) running a 59:56 taking 16^th in the masters and 77^th place overall.  I closed out the month with a rare victory.  I took it out hard at the Hawley Kiln 4.6 mile snowshoe race and managed to get to the single-track with a lead.  The snow was very tough on the single-track with a lot of post-holing.  I pulled away during that section and managed to hold on for a 1:24 win in 38:32.