I compiled how many
times I did a run longer than 6 miles. I only did that 75 times. Even
more telling is that I only did 29 runs over 8 miles, so basically every-other
week I did a run that was over an hour. I was happily surprised that I
did even that many!
|
Distance |
No. times |
|
13 |
1 |
|
11 |
4 |
|
10 |
22 |
|
9.5 |
1 |
|
9 |
2 |
|
8 |
13 |
|
7 |
32 |
My final race for the month was a Thanksgiving dash at Maudslay state park. I haven’t done a Thanksgiving race since 2015 as I’ve typically done the Chelmsford Alumni (and Friends) cross country race on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Due to work constraints, I wouldn’t be able to attend the Chelmsford race so I signed up for the Turkey Trot. I’d last raced in Maudslay in 2010 (when I did both the Trav’s race and the Turkey Trot). At one time when this was the Winner’s Circle race it was the largest mass start cross country race in the USA. With the splintering of the race (Joppa Flats RC now hosts the Maudslay event) the field is about half, but still large for a cross country run. This year they had a little over 1,000 runners at Maudslay.
I carpooled with Dan Verrington, and we arrived a little more than an hour before the 8:20 a.m. start time. Not many were on site, but teammate Greg Putnam was one of the early arrivals. After getting our numbers I sat in the car until the last second as it was still a bit chilly out there (26 degrees). Greg wanted to head out a bit later so Dan and I trotted off to preview the course for a warm-up. There was nothing surprising except for a random Ken Tripp sighting (he wasn’t racing just spectating). The tough decision was what shoes to go with. The course has a great mix of grass, trail (with some roots, leave, rocks), and cart path that could be a bit rough in spots. It did not seem to be the type of course for spikes especially with the frozen ground. I decided to go with my Nike road flats despite them having basically a smooth bottom which meant iffy traction especially on the first 200 meters of icy grass.
My plan for the race was to get out and not get knocked down in the first crazy ¼ mile. I hoped to get out ahead of Chris Kealey who runs in Maudslay every day and always races well here. Putnam would win the 50+ with ease, but I hoped to give Chris a run for his money for 2nd place. The first ¼ mile was as crazy as I remembered and I just concentrated on not slipping. Once I got to the cart path and began the 70’ of drop to the bridge (a little past ½ mile) I started passing many of the fast starters. I went from around 50th to about top 25 by the ½ mile (2:49) and was ahead of Kealey when I crossed the bridge and began climbing. Chris went by me at ¾ of a mile (after 75’ of uphill) and I latched onto him as we were passing smaller groups of people. We hit the mile in 6:03 and had finished the 100’ of climb from the bridge. We were in a pack with three other guys (and afterwards I realized I had gotten to as high as 9th place when I got to the front of the pack). Kealey was always a step or two ahead of me and I basically ignored everything but moves he made. It was fun to be RACING someone, time really meant nothing but I was definitely running as hard as I could. The flat 2nd mile was covered in 6:13. Chris gapped me a little but I got back to him on the downhill to the bridge (1/2 mile in 2:59). Then we turned the corner for the tough last kilometer to the finish (climbs 70’). A couple of the younger guys sprinted by. I kept close to Chris until ¼ mile to go when he really pressed the pace and I fell back. No complaints, I gave my best and pleased with a 3rd place finish in the 50+. Dan took top honors in the 60+.
50+Pl Time
Name
Age City/State
Pace Div
Div/Pl O'all
1
17:44.3 Gregory Putnam
53 Stoneham,
MA
5:43 M50-54
1 6
2
18:45.4 Christopher Kealey
55
Newburyport, MA 6:03
M55-59
1 13
3
18:50.9 Dave
Dunham
58 Bradford,
MA
6:04 M55-59
2 14
4
20:07.2 Daniel Verrington
60 Bradford,
MA
6:29 M60-64
1 21
5
21:52.3 David
Brooks
56 Newbury,
MA
7:03 M55-59
3 51
I raced last weekend (11/19/22) which isn’t so unusual. The unusual part is that was the first time I’d raced on any November 19. With over 1,500 races I’ve raced at least once on most every day of the year. I’ve now only got five days that I’ve never raced on:
02/29 (not many
opportunities for that) only 11 chances since I started running in 1978 (1980-2020)
04/04
11/16
12/18
12/24 (not many
opportunities for this one either)
Some highs and lows this week which was the final week of a two week vacation. This was my third consecutive week over 90 miles which is way too much. I just need to stay busy and active during time off or I end up thinking too much (bad idea). I made it through mostly unscathed but was feeling the mileage and three races in 6 days.
Time to go back to work (literally) and lower my miles for a week or two.
I'd been feeling a bit down after the USATF NE XC championship race two weeks ago. I think it was the normal let down after the long build up (since July) focusing on one race. I signed up for Rachel's run as it was the final race in the five race USATF NE cross country grand prix. From past results I knew that this was the slowest race in the series and as such would not help my scores as the series was a 'best 4 of 5'. My head wasn't quite in it and knowing how rough the course was my main goal was to not get hurt during the race. I've been a bit shy about racing on rough surfaces since the injury at Loon.
I got to the race in time to see the women head out and then I jumped onto the two loop 5k course for a preview/warm-up. The course is tricky slow with a fair amount of turns and a lot of roots and rocks. There is really only one hill but the down after it is so steep you (or I) can't really bomb down it. My hope was to help the CMS senior squad which improved every day leading up to the race as some speedsters signed up. I changed into my Inov-8 trail shoes (no spikes for me on this course) and did another mile. I felt pretty flat. Nothing to do about that now but get out there and hope for the best.
CMS had 9 guys line up but no open runners, all masters and seniors.
I got out okay but found myself way back in the field of 81. I was able to pick off some guys on the first steep rocky downhill then looked ahead to focus on main rival Brad Klindenst and teammate Dave Harper.
I got Brad on the downhill just after the mile and then put in my fastest half-mile of the race pulling into the end of the first lap in 10:18. I kept my head up and focused on Dave but never made a dent in his lead. I did catch one guy (Remington Gaetjens) and he repassed me in the last 400 and just buried me.
Takeways from the race: CMS won the masters and seniors with a perfect 15 points (took the top 5 places in both categories). I was 5th man for CMS and 5th overall in the seniors. Only 9 ran in the seniors! I ran very even with a 10:18/10:19 per lap. Cross country is fun in a sick and twisted way.
Another big week of miles for me as I try to kill off the last of my vacation time (use it or lose it!). I kept myself busy with a couple of races and mixed in some time down in CT bagging more towns. During the week I passed the halfway mark (169 cities/towns in CT). I may even be able to finish this by the end of the year with a couple of long weekends remaining.
I'd heard about the Northfield Mount Hermon cross country race from Sarah Prescott (class of 1984). It sounded like a "bucket list" type of race with all of the history involved. The Pie Race is the oldest continuously held race in the USA. I've run the Boston Marathon, the world's oldest marathon and The Dipsea race the oldest trail race in the country. The NMH race may claim to have the roots of the running boom as Frank Shorter ran it in 1965 (it was his first race).
The race is held on a Monday afternoon, so typically this would have kept me from running. This week I'm on vacation and was headed to CT on Monday so it worked out well. I was a bit tired from racing the day before but with a goal of finishing in the top 25 (top 25 overall and top 25 40+ get a pie) I figured I had a decent shot.
I got there a bit early and had plenty of time to get out and preview the course. It was a mix of turf, road, cart paths, and rugged terrain. There was about 300' of climb and drop...it would not be an easy race! I did another mile on the beautiful track before heading to the line. Unfortunately the 315 start was a loose estimate and the race didn't kick-off until 330. One of the NMH kids asked me what I was aiming for (maybe because I was one of the few people warming up) and he seemed happy that my goal was top 25 as he noted most of his teammates were tired as the season ended over the weekend with the New England championship.
About 150 took off at a sprint. I counted 30 kids ahead of me at the first turn (200 meters in). Reality began to set in soon after and by 1/2 mile (3:10) I had moved up to 20th place. I slowly gained on quick starters and by the mile (6:15) I'd moved up to 15th place. At that point we hit the XC trails which were pretty rough with roots and rocks, but the course was clear of leaves and you could pick your spots. I moved up to the top 10 by 1.5 miles and with a few good climbs I found myself in 6th place by the 2 mile mark (6:52/13:07). The volunteer at 2m noted "it's all downhill from here". I closed a little on 5th place but never got too close and I'd pulled away from any challengers. I crossed the line in 6th place and first in the 40+ with a 19:39.
I capped off the evening with a warm-down with Sarah (who finished third in the 40+!) as she took me on a tour of the campus. It was 40 years ago when she first ran this race. Amazing!
I wasn't sure about doing a Grand Prix race as they tend to be pretty crowded at the start and since I've been focused mostly on cross-country I wasn't sure how "speedy" I'd be. After doing the Great Bay 5k two weeks ago and runnign sub-18, I figured I'd give the Bigsteps race a shot since it was also part of the USATF all-terrain series (I'd done all of the races but had a DNF at Loon Mountain). I was hoping to crack 18 minutes again, but knew that'd be tough with this course. It probably wasn't wise to also have a 90+ mile week and get in over 6,000' of climb and descent but that is what being on "vacation" does for me.
Boy, 1030am start time seems SO late in the day. I already had too much mileage so I spent the morning on the computer doing data entry (putting Eric Morse's training logs into excel). I got to the race fairly early (915) and was happy to see so many familiar faces. That reminded me of one of the reasons I've enjoyed doing Grand Prix races.
 |
| Jim and Krissy, me (smirking) and Scott G |
I bumped into Alex McHenry who was heading out for a warm-up after his 3+ hour drive from VT. We linked up and ran the course to check it out. The first mile had a couple of turns (that'd be tough in the crowded start) and 15' of drop. The second mile would be faster with 30' of drop but almost all of that was in the last 1/4 mile. The final mile would be sneaky tough, with 30' of climb in the first 1/2 mile and a steady climb of 40' over the last kilometer (.6 miles).
I quickly changed into race flats and singlet and headed out for a mile with some strides. I felt a bit tired but the strides felt good (I hadn't done anything under 8:15 pace all week). I got to the line with four minutes to spare but they ended up starting at least a minute early so I'm glad I snuck in on time. I jumped in about 15 rows back, it was really tight with such a narrow start on the access road to the school. Too bad, they didn't (or couldn't) start on the wide main road. Off we went and it took me four or five seconds to cross the line and then another 100 meters of slow running before we turned onto the main road and I could start going. I glanced around and saw Jeff Walker (RI) who is running VERY well right now. I'd seen him before the race and he was aiming for 17:40, so I wanted to keep him in sight if I could. I also saw Dave Westenberg (top 60+ guy from GLRR) only a few steps ahead. I was where I should be and just started picking people off (mostly women who had started ahead of me - USATF gives them a corral at the front, which is fair...but you have to be careful as you can end up running right up on someone). I was 2:55 at the 1/2 mile which was a bit slower than hoped for (but was really about 2:50). I got rolling after that and latched onto Kevin Alliette and Bob Jackman. We hit the mile in 5:39 which was right on schedule. Walker began to pull away and Jackman also shook me loose before 2 miles (11:17). At that point I felt I had the sub-18 but figured it'd be close with the uphill running. I was also running out of steam. From 2 to 2.5 I was 3-flat and I really tried to put together a kick after that. It did not happen, another 3-flat and I now thought I wouldn't break 18. I kept pressing as I was getting passed left and right. The last steeper part up the access road was so tough and seeing the clock tick away didn't help. I crossed the line in 18:02 clock (or gun) time and was happy to find after that my chip time was 17:56.6. Goal met and bonus of finishing 5th in the 55-59.
I got in an enjoyable (but FAST) warm-down with Dan Vassalo and Tim Shea. Dan had broken my BayState marathon record a few weeks back and was looking to chat, I was very interested to hear his account. Sub-8s for a warm-down is cooking for me but a slog for those guys. I hope they had fun, because it was a blast for me.
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| Great fun heading up to Craney Peak |
 |
| The tower at Bass Pro in Hooksett |
 |
| This couch has been out for months and recently got an occupant |
I have a lot of time I need to use up before the end of the year. The two weeks off in November meant I really needed to find something interesting to do. I decided to work on running in every city/town in Connecticut. I've already run in all of MA, NH, VT, and RI. CT seemed like the next logical step. I spent quite a while in the planning phase, pouring over maps and websites figuring out the best places to run. My rules - a run must be at least 3 miles but I only have to step in a town during those three miles for it to count. With that in mind I looked for places where multiple towns meet. That might not get me to the most interesting places but it would be a bit more manageable. Next up was finding parking, this can always be a challenge. Cemeteries come in handy as there is usually no issue with parking.
During week one I spent four days putting in 65 miles of running in 56 different towns. I also drove 778 miles during that time. Basically I'd get up at 5 am, hit the road and run once every hour for 5 or 6 hours with 30 minutes in between (driving to the next location). That kept me busy. The biggest surprise was how much climb/descent I'd do (6,000'), that was tough since most of my running has been on the very flat Methuen Rail Trail.
Pictures from some of the nicer places:
