Five years ago

5 years ago: March 2015 – I was coming back from injury and only raced once before going back on the injured list.  NHTI Spring Ahead 3 Miler –The week was my 6^th since coming back from the injury and I was starting to feel a little more comfortable running on the roads.  I headed up to Concord and got there with plenty of time to preview the course. Right before the start I asked Chris Mahoney what he thought Heather Mahoney would run and he said around 6’s. My goal was sub-6 (if I was over 6’s I’d be bummed) with the feeling that I could hit right around 5:50’s, anything under that would be a very good day.  107 lined up in the quad and zipped out. I did not get out well and it took me a bit to get into a groove. I was in 12^th when I checked my watch at ½ mile (2:48). Soon after that I closed on and passed Heather. My next goal was to pull away from Tim Cox’s nine-year-old son Aidan. I got by him before the mile (5:42) and had moved myself up into 7^th place.   At 1.5 miles I got two guys and moved into 5^th place. Chris offered encouragement as I went by then yelled at Heather “Don’t let Dunham get away”. Dang, she was sticking tough and only a few seconds back!  With a half mile to go, I tried to kick but realized I was already going as fast as I could. I crossed the line in 17:05 (5:33 last shorter mile) which got me well under my goal of 5:50’s. Heather was right behind me in 17:10, well under 6 minute pace! I went out for a 1 mile warm-down and my ankle really flared up. It was quite sore and swollen post-race.   On Thursday I saw my (excellent) podiatrist and got a cortisone shot...along with 2 weeks off for the reinjured ankle/foot.

Place Name              Ag S City St                               Time     Pace

1 Nacho Hernando     22 M CONCORD NH                   14:52    4:58

2 Tim Cox                 41 M NORTHWOOD NH             16:31    5:31

3 Seth Richardson     16 M WOLFEBORO  NH              16:48    5:36

4 John Brown            32 M MUNSONVILLE NH            16:52    5:38

5 Dave Dunham        50 M BRADFORD MA                  17:05    5:42

6 Heather Mahoney   32 F WESTFORD MA                  17:10    5:44

9 Aidan Cox              09 M NORTHWOOD NH             17:37    5:53

I finished out the month with a long weekend down in Florida visiting my parents. We had fun (I did at least) and it was a relaxing weekend. I got in some running as I started back into it after my 2 weeks on the DL. The highlight was a visit to Hillsborough River State park (pictures below) where I got in a trail run and we visited a fire tower.