Boston University Mini Meet #2

I signed up in advance for another 3K at Boston University. Like last week, my seed time of 9:18 put me into heat two. It had a wide range of abilities from a low nine to a ten minute seed. I got out with only a few folks behind me and ran each lap pretty even. I went through the first kilometer in 3:06 and then the mile around 4:58, a few seconds quicker than last week. I kept up the pace for the next two kilometers for a 9:18.20, good for fourth in the heat. The last kilometer was tough as I was alone other than lapping a few runners. My ‘ol college teammate from Salem State, John Bowser, ran around 10 minutes to run in his first indoor track meet in 14 years. It was great to see him racing. He holds PR’s of sub 8:30 for 3K and sub 15 for the 5K. Kristen patiently captured the race on video below.

Boston University Mini Meet #1

This was mini meet number one in a series of three hosted at Boston University. I signed up for the 3K with a seed time of 9:22. I warmed up inside with CMS teammates Chris Mahoney, Justin Fyffe, Patrick Rich, Jeff Goupil, Kevin Tilton, and Kevin Gorman all of which were racing the 3K as well. Justin and Patrick ran 8:38 and 8:47 respectively in heat one which is the fastest of the heat line up. The rest of the guys including myself got into heat two based on our seed time. In typical fashion, I bolted out into the back of the pack. The race seemed to go out very fast yet my first lap was reasonable at 38 seconds. I went through the half mile in 2:30 behind Jeff Goupil, Stephanie Reilly, and Kevin Gorman who was leading our "second" pack of the heat. My 1K split was 3:07 which if multiplied by three had me on pace for a 9:21 which was reasonable. Mile one passed in 5:00. Jeff Goupil made a move up and away from our pack putting some ground on us over the next few laps. I stayed behind Kevin until two laps to go and then surged around Bruce Davie and his GBTC teammate with a lap to go. Kevin caught me with 100m remaining and he beat me to the finish line by less than 3/10's of a second. My official time was 9:18.59 for 12th place in the heat of 17. Full results are here. I feel pretty good about the time as it is my first indoor track race since a year ago (similar time on the same track). Below is my last 250 meters of the race that Kristen caught on her iPhone.

Andover Country Club 3.5 Mile Cross Country Race

I ran this race in 2004 so I was familiar with the terrain and great atmosphere. CMS teammate Al Bernier won the race back then. I ran 18:31 finishing a few strides in front of Greg Putnam who was running unattached. Race director, Dave Labrode, tagged me as a “fast guy” while registering. “Give him one of those numbers” pointing to a stack of low bib numbers. I got bib # 8. Slowly, more and more CMS guys showed up which was awesome. Jim Johnson, Bob Wiles, Mike Quintal, Dave Quintal, and Dave Dunham were present at the time of our warm up so it was evident that we had a solid team. It was nice to catch up with the guys before and after the race.

The race went by pretty quick. Picture several ups and downs along a golf course. I did not rest for a second (well maybe one hill). I had a nice back and forth duel with Dave Dunham. He advised after the race that he planned on keying off me. It certainly helped having him there in the second half of the race. He would pull away on the downs and I would catch back up on the ups. Dave Quintal entered the fray with about 800m to go and took charge. I was barely able to reel him in on the downhill grass finish for 7th place overall, 19:32 for the 3.5 mile course. Someone got 3.53 miles measured on their Garmin.

I stayed for a great post race meal: salad, pasta with meatballs, and some cookies. Life was good. Good race, good competition, good company, good food, good day. Dave Dunham has a nice write up on the race.

Andover Country Club 3.5 Mile Cross Country Race results November 28, 2010 results

Wikd Turkey 5 mile run Salem, MA

Talk about a last minute, casual approach to a Thanksgiving Day race. I woke up without the alarm just before 7am. It was too late to zip up to Newburyport for a 5K cross country race. Thus, a five minute ride to Salem for the Wild Turkey 5 mile road race (8am start) made sense. I ran the idea past Kristen who was in no mood to wake up but she was supportive as long as it promised a trip to Dunkin Donuts for a coffee. I was able to dash into the registration area at 7:25 and plunk down a check for $25 to freeze my ass off in slightly altered but USATF certified course with more ocean view than in the past. I warmed up over in Pickering Wharf in the racing gear which allowed me to rock a pair of brand new racing flats courtesy of a Marathon Sports gift certificate redemption in Melrose last Sunday. The Saucony Grid Type A4 features a very thin sole and weighs in at 7oz. I noticed a pronounced wind on my return back to the Salem Common which was going to be a factor in the race which I heard featured a round trip ticket in the domestic United States from Air Tran for the male and female winner.

As I got to the starting line of over 1K runners, I was pleased to see Salem State University athletes Alex DeRosa and Alex Gomes. They were coming off strong cross country seasons under the guidance of Dennis Floyd. Furthermore, Ben Strain was rocking the CMS Polar Singlet and admitted his last minute approach to the race was much like mine (in the last 60 minutes). The race went off and I was buried behind 25 runners in no time. I caught up to Alex DeRosa and went through the first mile in 5:25. Ben was ahead of us by ten seconds and I told Alex that I need to catch Ben by mile three. I whipped around Winter Island and was closing in on Ben and Alex Gomes who seemed to be struggling. I caught Ben before three miles and then we hit that nasty head wind in Salem Willows. I got a few strides ahead of Ben at Dead Horse Beach exiting the Salem Willows and was hoping to reel in Gomes but I did not have any surges left to give. I was pretty flat in the next five minutes gaining nothing but seemed to loose nothing. With about 1000m to go, Alex DeRosa came up on me and passed me strong. I encouraged him to catch up to his teammate, Gomes, who did not seem to far ahead. I tried to keep pace with DeRosa but I began to fade and take a nap. About 300m remained and the foot steps of Ben Strain aggressively approached and passed me like I was standing. I was not in the mood for searching for "that" gear. I went after Ben and Alex at the last left hand turn with 100m to go and they held on and kept position. Alex ran 27:41, Ben ran 27:43, and I one second back with a 27:44 which placed me at 8th overall.

Alex asked me what I was looking to run before the race and I thought 28 minutes was in store based on the 5K effort a few weeks ago. Deep inside, however, 5:30 pace or 27:30 is my 5 mile standard for decency. I went off for a cool down with Alex, Ben, and 52 year old phenom, Rich Tabutt. I bailed on the post race food and awards due to my lack of warm clothing and I was freezing my ass off. Kristen, as well, was all over the course snapping photos and needed to exit the cold and get her cup of coffee at Dunkins.

Wild Turkey 5 Mile Run November 25, 2010 results

Wild Turkey 5 Mile photos by KrissyK

Splits:

525

530 1056

533 1630

543 2213

531 27:44

East Boston Savings Bank 5K

This is Kristen's race as she is the race director of the third running of the East Boston Savings Bank Fall Back Challenge. The race takes place on the first day of day light savings. The race was consolidated down to a 5K and new course this year. I heard several local runners were disappointed to not have the 11K that was part of the dual race theme last year and the year before. I had no allegiances to the longer race despite having a good race in the 11K last year. Keeping with tradition, I volunteered my services to help out and if possible, would jump into the race as a participant if possible.

Kristen and I got to the bank two hours before the race started to pick up coworker and assistant race director, Nicole Diano. We drove the course to put out mile markers 1 and 2. This gave me a chance to see the course although I saw a map and knew the neighborhood well. The first mile has a tough hill 200m from the start leading into Brooksby Farm for a turn-around. As you exit the property, mile one is passed. Shortly thereafter, you take a right up a slight grade passing the water stop at 1.4 miles which is followed by generous decent to Lowell Street which contains mile 2 and then into the bike path return to Lahey Clinic. About 800m remains back to the East Boston Savings Bank parking lot where Granite State Race Services set up shop for the finish. The course is more or less flat in the second half. I set up the cones for the home stretch through the parking lot so that cars would not park there. I still had 90 minutes to wait before the start of the race so I waited in the lobby of the bank while bank employees arrived to volunteer their services as course marshalls and set up registration.

I warmed up with teamate Joe Shairs and Bill Jackson from the Wicked Running Club who is a regular Danvers 5K participant. We ran the course backwards so that they got a feel for the last mile of the course. Bill and I then ran up the first mile so that he knew what the hill looked like. I got back to the car with 8 minutes before the race start time. There were plenty of Peabody police on motorcycles to navigate the race and block traffic at Lowell Street. The bank's Chairman and CEO, Dick Gavegnano got the race of almost 100 started. Joe and I jumped right out front and charged the hill that followed less than 40 seconds in. I got a few strides ahead of Joe at the top of the hill and took my awkward stride (felt that I needed a hip/back alignment) through mile 1 in 5:35 with Joe about eight seconds back. I stretched out the legs down to Lowell Street passing mile 2 in 10:53. I hit a headwind exiting the bike path while just trying to maintain form and pace. The last 400m had a slight incline but not enough to whine about. As I began to make out the time on the running clock, I saw that it was going to be close to break 17. I crossed the line in 17:02 with Joe coming in second in 17:28. This was Joe's first race since February and it was great to see him back in action. Meanwhile, it was nice to stretch the racing legs again since the marathon. Official results

BayState Marathon

The plan was to run 6:00 mile pace for as long as possible and finish under 2:40. Based on recent race activity, I felt I was in 2:38-2:39 shape. I wound up in a in a pack of several that included Chris Spinney, Dan Verrington, George Adams, and Jon Chesto in the early miles. The pack broke up and left Chris and I behind as that group began clicking off 5:52's about 5 miles miles into the 26.2 mile trek. Chris fell back a bit as I went over the Rourke Bridge approaching my dad and mile 13. There were some solo miles back to the Tyngsboro bridge where I did manage to pass a few including Martin Tighe who was out pretty quick early on. I also started to run into the back of the marathon runners. Everything was going pretty good up through this stretch and liked the fact that the George Adams group was only 45 seconds up running past Greater Lowell Regional High School. I thought that I could slowly reel them in. Mile 20 passed and I laughed at the painted words on the pavement regarding "hitting the wall."

Going through 21 miles, the legs got heavy, and began to slap my Nike Lunarracer2's to the ground. Joe Donnelley zipped past me and gave me words of encouragement. He looked so good and effortless while my pace was tiring. I tossed my hat and gloves to the side of the road. Shortly thereafter, Dave Kanzajian from Whirlaway offered me water at 22.5 miles. I refused and thanked him. Ten seconds later, I got a sharp cramp in my left hamstring. Uh oh. Actually is was like #@*&?!

I've had such muscle cramps before in marathons. There is no way to come back, recover, from the dehydration and glycogen depletion. I carried forward hoping no more muscle cramps would return. Then I got a calf cramp in the same leg. Now I was playing hop scotch over the last 5K and not having fun. I got desperate over the last 2.2 miles looking for any spectator with liquids, food, or a loaded gun. The 24 mile clock had 2:25:25 with 2.2 miles to go and it was going to be close to break 2:40. I forgot about the .2 and thought to myself that I just needed to run two sub 7:00 miles to get under 2:40. No problem. I finally found someone with water and offered her $100 bucks for it. She gladly gave it up laughing. I took a sip and placed it carefully down 20ft past the hand off. I had no energy to thank her and barely enough to bend over and place it carefully on the curb without spilling it. I recall a water stop around the corner but it was all too late. One more runner passed me and I could not do anything about it while on the Aiken Street Bridge cursing and praying for no more cramps. The hop scotch running routine was getting old. Dave Quintal was on the bike yelling for me. I apologize here as I recall swearing under my breath that I hate this marathon crap. I am positive he saw my unfortunate grimace. A few careful turns here and there put my carcase into the baseball park looking at my watch to gauge what was required to stay under 2:40. I saw something like 2:38:50. I stumbled into some shuffle to restrain any reminder of a cramp. My dad was in the stands yelling with 50 meters to go. I tried to change my stride into a sprint here and there while keeping Martin off my heels along the warning track. I fought the clock and staggered through the finish on the other side of 2:40. I was so pissed not getting under 2:40. Photos show me laughing in disgust before the second finish mat was crossed. How dare I forget how humbing this marathon stuff is. I have so much respect for it, I rarely jump into them. I walked over to Kristen beyond the finish line and had to strech my legs while leaning against the infield wall. I laughed with humble pie. I placed 26th overall with a net time of 2:40:01.1.


My anger and frustration wore off soon enough. Just behind me, Ken Tripp set an 18 minute PR. 12-13 minutes ahead off me our top four CMS guys Andy McCarron, Jim Johnson, Scott Leslie, and Greg Hammett all set PR's. George Adams ran a masters PR. It appeared that CMS won the men's open division. I soaked it the atmosphere and caught up with several relfecting on thier splits and races in the previous hours. I soon got some food while hanging out with Kristen who took several photos (mostly CMS folks). We watched several finishers cross the line in the 3:30-3:50 range. I reflected on my race thinking that it could have been a lot worse. Worse like the guy Kristen and I watched hit the ground 20 feet before the finish line whithering in pain (leg cramps). He needed attention from a group of volunteers to get up and walk across the line a minute later. He had a stretcher waiting for him. The moment got a huge cheer from the crowd and myself. It made me feel better to not sweat the two seconds I did not want on my time for the marathon. I got pretty cold so I shuffled back to the car to change and found a home in the Brewery Exchange with Kristen and my dad. I got my Iron Runner jacket for completing the USATF-New England Grand Prix Road Race series. I got one that I still have from 1997. The marathon was typically the race that I did not partake in each year since then.


I signed up for the Boston Marathon this morning by default (was there a choice?) to jump into it next April. I will research the avoidance of muscle cramps which got me real good in the last five miles at Boston in 1998 and 2000 en route to 2:44 marathons. Reflecting back on the effort from BayState yesterday, I would not change a thing during the race. I will reconsider better opportunities to stay hydrated, perhaps consider salt tablets to set some sodium in the 2nd half of the race.


Overall BayState Marathon Results 2010


Photo credits to Scott Mason (two above more here) and Kristen for the photos.


How I got to 2:40:01.1
5:50
12:06 17:46
6:01 23:48
6:02 29:51 5 miles
5:54 35:46
6:01 41:47
5:58 47:46
12:06 59:52 10 miles
6:02 1:05:55
5:59 1:11:55
1:18:38 Half Marathon Split
1:24:00 at 14 miles
6:04 1:30:05 15 miles
6:00 1:36:06
6:02 1:42:09
6:00 1:48:09
12:21 2:00:31 20 miles
6:11 2:06:43
6:15 2:12:58
6:08 2:19:07
6:18 2:25:25
6:20 2:31:46 25 miles
8:19 (last 1.2 miles) 2:40:06 on my Ironman

Facial expressions tell a lot and speak louder than words......

James Early Cross Country Invitational Westfield, Ma

I laced up the cross country flats today to take part in the James Early Cross Country Invitational race in Westfield, MA at high noon. The Salem State Alumni men had a team that included folks from my era like Brian Beaulieu, John Bowser, Dennis Floyd, Mike Gilmore, and coach Tom Derderian. We could not have asked for a better day for weather; about 60 degrees, dry, sunny, and dry throughout what I think is billed as an 8k course. Brian's Garmin dialed his distance race in 4.98 miles. I was not sure what to expect today for an expected time with the recent marathon training which has been void of interval and oxygen debt running. I warmed up with local CMS teamate Tim Mahoney and John Bowser about a half hour before the race. The first mile of this race consists of jockeying for position around Stanley Park - soccer fields surrounded by a tree-lined boundary. This means a steady diet of carefully envoked surges to pass runners while there is plenty of visibility to look ahead and see the front pack develop. I survived mile one in 5:19 and was OK knowing that I'd settle into 5:30's soon enough.

I passed miles two and three in good shape with a controlled 5:35 average pace and ready to throw in a few more battles ahead. I passed a few college guys heading into mile four and up a few rolling hills back onto the soccer fields for the final 800 meters. The hills hurt and found myself watching my steps through the roots to ensure I would not fall or trip. I held my own and a quick glance of the watch indicated that a sub-28 minute effort was a given with 200m remaining. I clocked in with a 27:39 good for 35th overall and 2nd alumni behind Mark Dawson who ran an awesome 26:47 barefoot! Brian, John, and Dennis finished up to complete the team scoring which placed us one spot ahead of Salem State University younsters which is coached by Dennis. Dennis is coaching a talented All-American Senior, Alex Gomes, who finished 2nd overall with a 25:52. Another athlete, Alex Derosa, set a personal best on the course with a 27:10.

Finally, I was surprised by Kristen after the race among friends and the Salem State folks with a huge birthday cake to celebrate my 36th. We manged to demolish more than 3/4 of the cake in five minutes. It was great catching up with alumni, student athletes, coaches, and friends. Special thanks to the team duo of Debra and Brian pulling the alumni team and clothing together. High fives to all the folks who ran the race and hugs and kisses to Kristen for her thoughtfulness and talented photos within.

Before and after photos of the cake.

James Early Cross Country Invitational Results Westfield, MA October 9, 2010

James Early Cross Country Invitational photos Westfield, MA October 9, 2010