July races

I have only had 12 races (fun run 5K's do not count) six plus months into the year. Looking ahead for July, it looks like I will do five but really on the fence about 1500m on the outdoor track.

2 mile road race in Chelmsford on the 4th
10 mile trail race in RI (NE Championship)
1500m track race at New England Championships
Fred Warren 5.5 mile road race  in Holden
Yankee Homecoming 10 mile road race in Newburyport

Photo above from my last visit, 2014, to the Homecoming in Newburyport. This is a nice 10 mile road race. Expect traffic and a hot night on a Tuesday evening.

CMS Members Only 5K event

I got to the VFW Hall in Boylston after a 100 minute drive from Quincy. Had some time to lend a hand and set up table cloths and center pieces. I warmed up for 2 miles with Phil Savoy Jr and Barbara McManus. I added another mile and tied my shoes tighter a few minutes before the 6:30 start. I found a tick crawling on each sneaker. Yikes! I got them a few minutes earlier when I jogged a few steps on a trail. Race started and I was prepared for six minute miles.

Bryan Trinque trailed me until the mile, 5:47. He took the lead and never looked back. My 2nd mile was 6:08 but rebounded with a 5:55 last mile. Bryan took the win with a time around 18:02. I rolled in for 2nd around 18:42 which was a good year.

After a 2 mile cool down with Bryan, we stopped and chatted with Dan Vassallo who arrived. Poor guy had a nasty commute too. We went in the hall and had a catered dinner on the club. We voted for the next CMS board and I signed Krissy and I up for the Fred Warren 5.5 mile for two Lincoln's.

The highlight of the night was to walk up with Barbara to allow her to announce that Dan was being awarded a lifetime CMS membership and a gift to get him to his trials qualifier. This club rocks. What a great gesture by the board. Dan came up and got the award. I asked him to read the quote that he provided a week before he finished 10th at the Boston Marathon. It was along the lines of taking out a few scalps with bad weather. He sure did.

Ribfest 5 mile

Lined up for the start line, about 8 rows back for the Ribfest 5 mile road race, another New England Championship event on Fathers Day in Merrimack, NH. My goal was to run sub 6:00 miles. First mile was exactly that and 2^nd mile just under. All was good and had Dave Dunham rolling along. The 3^rd mile, only one with shade, had the pace slow to 6:08 and I knew it. Dave motored onward. The course climbs very subtly up after 5K and I was just wiped out. 

Within mile 1 with Chris Smith in the white hat and Dave Dunham next to Heather Mahoney
Photo by Kim Gordon

I ran by Krissy as she was still heading out. Mile 3 to 4 gave me a 6:31 mile and I was not surprised. I knew it was poor. With the downhill finish, I managed to get back on track and salvage some pride with a 6:03 mile for the last one. Coach, Joe OLeary was the beacon but stayed 10 seconds ahead of me at the finish line. 118^th place, 23^rd in the 40-49 age group, 30:42.7 chip time.

118  James Pawlicki   43  Central Mass Striders   18:45.3 (5K split) 30:47 (gun)  30:42.7 (chip)

I regrouped with the CMS guys, hearing how races developed. The open team finished 3^rd overall, masters and seniors took team wins. I grabbed my bag, found my dad and watched Krissy finish before taking off for a car show in Brookline, MA..