Not a bad week as I dialed it back a bit as I'm getting closer to the USATF NE XC champs. Met my goal of a "fast" 5k at Great Bay and got in a couple of quick days during the week and got in 82 miles. Closed out the week with a great 2 hour ride that was good for the body and the soul.
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| Looks like no one wants to be near me at the star (I'm on the far right). |
' I hadn't run a road race since July 4th. The week after racing the Chelmsford 2 mile (my best race of the year - 11:02) I tore a calf muscle at the Loon Mountain race. After missing nearly a month I focused on getting back as quickly as possible and circled November 6 on the calendar, figuring if all went well I'd be ready to race at the USATF NE XC championships. Leading up to that I've been doing nothing but XC races, but I've been doing some speed work and hoped that would translate to a decent road 5k. With no XC on the schedule this weekend I chose the Great Bay 5k.
I visited the course the day before to refresh my memory as I'd only done this once before back in 2009. This is a FAST course with 150' of downhill (but it also has 95' of uphill). Most of the up is in the first 1/2 mile then the only uphill is just after 2 miles where you climb 25' over 200 meters. The final 3/4 mile is very fast. My goal was to crack the top 10 times for 50+ and the top 5 in the 55-59. I'd need to get under 18 and really hoped to break 17:45
Over 600 lined up (decent numbers but down from the "normal" 800+ they'd get) and it was up to 40 degrees, sunny, and calm. Perfect for racing. Teammate Jim Pawlicki said I "looked fast", that bolstered my confidence. I got on the line as no one really seemed all that intent on getting to the front. Steve Dowsett gave me a fist bump (great to see him!) and it was time to go.
I kept out of traffic at the start and found myself setting in with the second woman. I was also keying off of Kevin St Laurent who was a few seconds ahead, no one knows the course better than Kevin and I knew he was aiming for sub-17. I hit the mile at 5:41 which was right where I was hoping to be. There was a little back and forth with the 2nd woman and another guy but otherwise the road was clear and I was cutting tangents (you really needed to on this course). I hit 2 miles in 11:22 (5:41), and was gearing up for the tough little hill. We dropped the woman on the hill and I had a bit more back and forth with the guy I was with until he sprinted away at the 3 mile mark. A 5:42 final mile got me to the line in 17:43 (rounded up by Granite state timing to 17:44).
I gave it my all and was happy to get through unscathed (I think). Jim Pawlicki seemed happy with his race but a balky leg kept him from doing a warm-down.
I arrived just in time to catch the overall awards and pick up 2nd place in the age-graded results ($50). It was very close between me and 3rd place which was $25 (3 seconds in the age graded). I was very happy about that but even happier with running the 3rd fastest time ever for a 55-59...and a top 10 all time in the 50+.
On to the USATF NE XC champs!
Male 50+
1 2005 Tom Ryan 50 16:26 5:18 Cape Elizabeth ME
2 2022 Anthony
Balakier 50 16:39 5:22 Portsmouth NH
3 2017 Pete Bottomly 56 17:04 5:30 Cape Elizabeth ME
4 2001 Stephen Reed 53 17:06 5:30 WISCASSET ME
5 2004 Randy Waterman 52 17:30 5:38 Sunapee NH
6 2005 Steve Reed 57 17:32 5:39 Wiscasset ME
7 2002 Stephen Reed 54 17:41 5:42 WISCASSET ME
8 2022 Dave
Dunham 58 17:44 5:43 Bradford MA
9 2003 Randy Waterman 51 17:44 5:43 Sunapee NH
10 2004 Steve
Reed 56 17:45 5:43 Wiscasset ME
Male 50 to 54
1 2005 Tom Ryan 50 16:26 5:18 Cape Elizabeth ME
2 2022 Anthony
Balakier 50 16:39 5:22 Portsmouth NH
3 2001 Stephen Reed 53 17:06 5:30 WISCASSET ME
4 2004 Randy Waterman 52 17:30 5:38 Sunapee NH
5 2002 Stephen Reed 54 17:41 5:42 WISCASSET ME
6 2003 Randy Waterman 51 17:44 5:43 Sunapee NH
7 2010 Gary Mastin 52 17:49 5:44 Newmarket NH
8 2007 Floyd Lavery 50 17:49 5:45 Portland ME
9 2006 Jim Boulanger 52 17:57 5:47 Somersworth NH
10 2008 Gary
Mastin 50 18:01 5:48 Newmarket NH
Male 55 to 59
1 2017 Pete Bottomly 56 17:04 5:30 Cape Elizabeth ME
2 2005 Steve Reed 57 17:32 5:39 Wiscasset ME
3 2022 Dave
Dunham 58 17:44 5:43 Bradford MA
4 2004 Steve Reed 56 17:45 5:43 Wiscasset ME
5 2022 Chris
Kealey 55 17:49 5:44 Newburyport MA
6 2021 Mike McGuire 56 18:49 6:04 Stratham NH
7 2009 Ron Newbury 59 18:57 6:06 Freedom NH
8 2012 Bob Strout 56 18:58 6:07 Salisbury MA
9 2005 Walter Fortier 56 18:59 6:07 Concord NH
10 2017 Todd Gerrish
My mom gave me a clipping from the Lowell Sun. Some kind words from Dan Vassallo after he took down my course record at the Bay State Marathon.
Hoping to run a quick time at the Great Bay 5k tomorrow. Not sure what "quick" is but I hope to crack the top 10 for over 50, so I'll need to break 18 for that. I'm hoping I can handle 5:50's (which is just over 18) and maybe under 5:45's (17:45). If I run at the fast end I could crack the top 3 in the 55-59. It looks like a perfect morning for it with 37-40 degrees and no wind.
The Canterbury XC course features a tough 1.5 mile loop that is done twice with a little extra after the second loop to get close to 5km. They started using this loop last fall and will probably keep using it. It has a nice mix of cart path (dirt road), grass, and rough single-track trail. It also has two tough little hills on the loop (so you get to do them twice) with a total of over 300’ of climb/descent. It really hurts especially the second time around, climbing 80’ in .2 then dropping 40’ in .1 before the final gasser climbing back up 50’ in .1. This is truly a great Cross-Country course.
I was hoping to run
even splits this week and hopefully sneak under my time from May (20:26), I
exceeded on both counts. Here are my attempts on this course:
10/15/21 – (didn’t
run all out with 2 days until XC nationals) 10:21 & 10:21 – 20:42
10/23/21 – 9:48
& 9:54 – 19:52
05/14/22 – 10:00
& 10:14 – 20:26
09/16/22 – 10:15
(course was just 1 loop with about 400 meters before we did the loop)
10/15/22 – 10:20
& 10:16 – 20:36
10/22/22 – 10:02
& 9:58 – 20:13
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I was feeling a lot better heading
back to Canterbury for the final Shaker Village 5k XC race. Despite
a very cranky ankle I had a decent week of training and a good mid-week workout
on the treadmill. I got to the race a bit early and it was 40 degrees and
sunny, just a perfect morning to race. I gave teammate Steve Brightman a
quick description of the course (as I assumed he’d be leading the way) and then
headed out to run the loop as a warm-up. The course was marked very well
with the exception of the tricky 90 degree turn that can be easy to miss as the
main trail continues straight and cuts off a big portion of the race (see the
May 2021 Canterbury race where a few went right through and into the
lead). I let Tom & Tom know and they fixed it prior to the
start. The biggest field this year (30 for 2 loops and maybe 10 more doing
1 loop) lined up for the series finale. Kara Haas and I would be the
series champs as long as we stayed on our feet. I was hoping to run
faster than last week (20:36) and if possible sneak under my time from this
spring (20:26).
Steve shot out at the start and one of the NHTI youngsters and Peter Gillis followed a bit behind. I found myself alone in fourth place and concentrated on staying on my feet. The first ½ mile is cart path and grass with a downhill after which we’d hit a tricky ¼ mile of single-track with a lot of leaves down. It was very hard to see where you were stepping and after my injury at Loon Mountain I’ve been very cautious about potholes. I made it through and was about 4 seconds ahead of my time from last week at the mile. I felt like I climbed pretty well but really didn’t make up any ground, that was the last time I saw Steve as the NHTI kid went by him. He’d end up passing him again on the single-track and motoring on for a win in a solid 18:53. I hit the end of the first lap in 10:02 which was encouraging. I figured I had a sub 20:20 in the bag if I could hold on. When I got back onto the single-track I was surprised to see how much I’d made up on Gillis who was 24 seconds ahead of me at the end of the first lap. With a half-mile to go I closed to a step behind him and he waived me on to pass, but I just couldn’t find that extra something to get around him (he picked it up as I closed on him). I made another move on the final hill and did get by but I knew I’d need more than a few strides as we hit the last 100 meters and he rumbled by to re-take third place. No complaints as I ran my second loop in 9:58 and total for the 5k was 20:13 which is my fastest time this year and only trails my 19:52 from last fall.
I did a quick mile warm-down with Steve and Kara (who won in 21:54, her best time this year) and then headed over to Concord for a nice extended warm-down to close out the day.
No complaints (well, I could complain about how much the arthritis in my ankle is bugging me) about this week.
I got in 85 miles, had maybe my best race since getting injured at Loon (July 11) and had a solid workout mid-week.
I'm looking forward to the USATF New England XC championships in two weeks although I might not be in the top 10 for CMS in the 50+! Considering a fast 5k this coming weekend but not 100%.
How about the difference in one week at Canterbury? Same trees 7 days apart...
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| What a difference a week makes. |
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| Canterbury 10/15 |
30 Years ago – 1992: I raced twice and “ran through” a marathon and half-marathon over the course of the month. I started the month at the Applefest ½ marathon. I was feeling sick prior to the race and almost dropped out. I hit the predominantly downhill 10km split in 30:15 and thought “no way am I dropping out now”. I continued on to a course record 1:06:07 and went right through the chute and right into the nearest porta-john. Two days later I was down in Newport RI running through the Newport ½ marathon which was part of the Hockomock Swamp Rat series. I ended up finishing in 7th place running 1:17:05. Five days later I raced on the roads of Londonderry at the famous Mack’s Apple run. I took home some cash patiently waiting until four miles then pushing the pace to a win in 24:48. The next day I ran the Baystate Marathon as a workout taking 13th place in 2:52:18. I ran a personal record 509 miles over the month.
35 Years ago – 1987: I only raced twice this month both times supporting my team (Greater Lowell Road Runners). The first race was the Plymouth to Provincetown relay. There were over 250 teams running that year. I ran the “long” leg a rolling 14.2 miles from the Bourne Bridge. There was only one split on the course (10 miles in 50:54) and I was 1:12:00 for the 14+ miles. The following weekend I finished fourth in the NEAC (Now USATF NE) 8km road championships in Boston. I called the course “hilly” but did manage to break 24 with a 23:50. My splits were: 4:52/4:41/4:57/4:52/4:28(.96).
40 Years ago – 1982: I raced four times during the final month of my freshman cross-country season at U-Lowell. On Oct 2 I finished in second place in a dual meet we had against MIT. The unusual thing about the race was that it was a HOME meet, the only one I’d run at U-Lowell. I know they can have home track meets now, but I don’t think U-Lowell (Umass Lowell) has had a home XC race since this one. We won the meet 26-29 and I ran 23:34 for the 4.7 mile course in the Lowell/Dracut/Tyngsboro state forest.
This was the second race in the three race Shaker Village cross country series. I get a chuckle every time they call it "Adult cross country", it makes me think that it might be rated R or something.
I was feeling sluggish and my ankle was really yelling at me in the morning. During the warm-up I kept thinking about my "crankle" (cranky ankle) and how hard I might want to race. There was no one else out on the course when I did a preview loop. The course was very well marked. I was a bit nervous about the footing with all of the leaves down after yesterday's rain and wind. Really there was only about 400 meters of single-track that had truly bad footing and difficulty seeing where you'd step. I figured that'd be a good place to relax and try to recover during the race.
A very small field lined up for the 2 loop 5k course with the option to bail after one lap if you wanted to. The first race in the series was a single loop with a short warm-up loop for a total of 1.8 miles. I was hoping to run the big loop around the same time I did for it during the shorter version of the race. I was also planning to go out with whoever took it out and then see what I could do for the second loop.
I ended up alone right from the start and concentrated on keeping from rolling an ankle or something disastrous like that. Looking at the Strava segment, I ran fairly slow (for me) in the single-track part with times of 2:02 and 2-flat. I 'd done it in 1:57 at the single loop race and 1:55 in the Spring race (when I was feeling frisky/fit). I felt pretty strong on the dirt road hill (I'd end up running it faster BOTH times than I did at the single loop race). That got me through loop one in 10:20. I listened for them announcing second place but never heard it. I knew Kara was back there but not sure how far back. I was happy to see that my 1/2 mile from 1.5 to 2 miles was only 2 seconds slower than lap one. I upped the effort (although maybe not the actual speed) on the single-track and made up the 2 seconds. I was wheezing a bit and ran as hard as I could on the final hills. That got me home in 20:36, so my second lap was 10:16. I was very happy with that. All things considered this was a good hard run and the bonus was that I picked up a win. I'll take it!
