Looking back - January 2012

 2012 – 10 years ago

I started of the New Year at the Frosty Four 4 mile race in Salem MA. I found myself out in front at the start with Ben Strain right there (he told me he was aiming for 22 flat which was also my goal).  Soon after I was off the back of the lead pack (which included Ben, Jim Pawlicki, and Dan. By 2 miles (5:30 - 10:46) I passed Ben and was 2 seconds behind Jim Pawlicki and Dan Verrington.  I ran a very hard 1/4 mile to try and drop them but right before the 3 mile mark (5:37 - 16:23) they pulled up to me and just after 3 they went by. 

Dan and I both checked our watches with about 1/2 mile to go, he still had a stride or two on me and Jim was right there along side Dan.  We took the final turn, and I went into my final kick.  I hit the finish in 21:54 (5:31) knocking 13 seconds off my PR from last year.  We headed out backwards on the course for a nice 4 mile warm-down and a solid 12 mile start to the New Year.

Fifth Annual Wicked Frosty Four Sunday, January 1, 2012 Start Time: 10 AM

  1  Eric Sofen             1/30   M2029 26 M Seattle, WA              21:25  5:22
    2  Nick Sousa          2/30   M2029 28 M Salem, MA               21:31  5:23
    3  Michael Nickerson 3/30   M2029 22 M Salem, MA               21:33  5:24
    4  James Pawlicki     1/65   M3039 37 M Lynn, MA                 21:51  5:28       CMS
    5  Dave Dunham      1/88   M4049 47 M Bradford, MA            21:54  5:29       CMS
    6  Dan Verrington     2/88   M4049 49 M Bradford, MA            21:59  5:30       CMS
    7  Ben Strain           2/65   M3039 33 M Beverly, MA              22:08  5:32       CMS
    8  John Ayers          3/88   M4049 45 M Beverly, MA              22:26  5:37
    9  Jason McDonough  3/65   M3039 33 M Somerville, MA         23:22  5:51
   10 Kevin Delaney       4/88   M4049 43 M Arlington, MA           23:26  5:52

On January 8^th I headed up to Hanover NH which marked the ninth time I hit the track at the Dartmouth relays. This time out I decided to run a very unusual double (at least for me) the 1,500 & the 800 meters.  I met up with Eric and Murdock and headed out for a 3 mile warm-up. I took the lead at 200m and tried to run an even pace.  My goal was to run in the 4:40’s, I slowly pulled away from the chase and built up a 3+ second lead with a lap to go.  I went into my kick but that was essentially the same speed as my running up ‘til that point.  Mark Coogan yelled at me with 100m to go “you better kick, they are coming”.  Unfortunately, I was already full-out and was caught right at the line, missing out the win by 5/100ths of a second.

Eric grabbed Murdoch and we headed out for another 2 miles as sort of a warm-down, then I got back on the track for another 1.5 with a couple of strides.  Another small group lined up for the 800 and we were off in a blur.  By 200 I was alone in third place with the leaders 7-8 seconds ahead.  It was a lot of fun and over before I could really get going!  I came away with third place and a new PR by 3 seconds.

Splits
1500 meters
37.6      :37.6
1:15.4  :37.8
1:53.8  :38.4
2:32.6  :38.8
3:10.7  :38.1
3:48.6  :37.9
4:26.5  :37.9
4:44.65 :18.2
  

800 meters
36.6      :36.6
1:13.1   :36.5
1:50.4   :37.3
2:26.92 :36.5
 

Next up was the Fudgesicle 5k, Dan V was planning on running 5:20 pace for 2 miles then easing up.  My plan was to push the pace with Dan through 2, and if I felt good enough try to continue on.  We did the course as a warm-up then did a couple of strides and we were off.  Dan took the lead about ½ mile in and I tucked behind him until we hit the mile (5:27).  I moved to the front and kept the pace honest, Dan moved back in front at about 1.5 and I took over again just before 2 miles.  I hit 2 in 10:53 (5:26), about 2 seconds up on Dan.  The last mile was tough with a solid headwind and a slight up hill.  I managed to close out in 5:46 (16:39) and 42 seconds for the final part.  The win gave me my 34^th consecutive year with at least one win. 

    1 Dave Dunham         1/4       47 M4049 Bradford        17:21  5:35
    2 Dan Verrington       2/4       49 M4049 Bradford        17:51  5:45
    3 John Rheaume        1/10      30 M3039 Lowell           18:00  5:48
    4 James Sullivan        1/2       26 M2029 Chelmsford    18:05  5:50
    5 Liam Skinner          3/4       45 M4049 Lowell           18:37  6:00

I headed up to North Conway for the second annual Whitaker woods snowshoe race on Saturday (01-21).  It was 9 degrees when I arrived at the race site.  I met up with race director and teammate Kevin Tilton and we headed out on the course.  We ran the 4 miles putting the final touches on course markings to make sure everyone stayed on course this year.  The loop was very fast groomed snow with a little single-track that was also well packed. 

At the start everyone bolted like it was a sprint.  I was hurting and in 5^th place in the first 200 meters.  I slowly caught up but JJ was out of site now except on the long straights.  I worked as hard as possible and was rewarded with a third place finish and over a minute improvement on my time from last year.

Pl Time Name                Gend     Age       Club     
1 27:27 Jim Johnson       M          34         CMS     
2 28:25 Judson Cake      M          34         Acidotic
3 28:40 Dave Dunham    M          47         CMS     
4 29:49 Danny Ferreira  M          29         Acidotic
5 30:33 Chris Jasparro    M          44         TNT     
6 31:06 Chris Dunn        M          43         Acidotic
7 31:52 Ryan Welts        M          31         Acidotic
8 33:44 Dan Hayden      M          25                    
9 33:53 Scott Mason      M          54         TNT     
10 34:22 Jason Massa    M          44         Acidotic

The second part of the first snowshoe season weekend was a return to Lanesboro MA for the Constitution hill 3.6 mile race.  When the horn sounded I immediately found myself in the lead, which was fine by me because it meant I could keep the pace slow.  I threw in some fast running on a little snowmobile track but TiVo then went by when we got back in the deep snow.  About ½ way up the 500’ climb I took the lead and he tucked in.  Breaking trail is a lot of work!  TiVo said he’d take over whenever I wanted and just as we reached the summit ridge I waived him around.  He was off like a shot!  Not much changed in the last ½ mile of descending and TiVo took his first win of the year and I took second.  CMS took the first four places.

Results
1 Tim Van Orden           32:58    m 43 CMS
2 Dave Dunham             33:40    m 47 CMS
3 Tim Mahoney              33:58    m 32 CMS
4 Ross Krause               34:18    m 32 CMS
5 Dave Merkt                 34:23    m 28
6 Steve Dowsett            34:55    m 23
7 Rich Teal                    35:08    m 33
8 Ashley Krause             38:16    f 34 CMS
 

I decided to pass on snowshoe racing this weekend when I saw that the USATF NE masters would have a 5,000.  It seems very rare to find an indoor track 5,000 and even rarer to find one for masters.  Justin Soucy joined me on the track for a 3 mile warm-up.  After that I changed into racing flats and did another mile with strides.  Just before the start I chatted with Sean Livingston to see what he was aiming for.  I told him I was hoping to run 40 seconds per lap for as long as I could.  He noted "maybe we can work together".  At 1200m Sean moved into the lead and the tempo increased a bit (my fastest 200 was from 1400-1600m).  I couldn't quite go with Sean but kept running in the 40 second range through 3,000 meters (10:02.8).  It was right around that point that the effort began to take its toll and I slowed a bit.  I was able to keep it together crossing the line in second place in 16:52. Sean won with a sub-16:30.