Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Monday, August 28, 2006
Mount Toby 14 Mile Trail Run
Mount Toby 14 Mile Trail Run
This race falls under the category of reasons to not get hung up on race times and finishing order. This has been a year where I have not trained with the mileage and intensity of past years. I have a five year boy old who, a time demanding job, and a great spouse who I want to spend time with. Something has to give. Accepting less training requires a change of mindset when race day comes up. It is not about giving up a PR, so much as it is about going out with what you have and not worrying about the miles you did not run. If I can run a good race, I am always ecstatic. A good race for me is race at the end of which I am spent, but I have been in it mentally and physically the whole way.
I ran The Mt. Toby 14 Mile Trail Run yesterday. Conditions were near ideal during the race. It was dark overcast and gloomy. I had one my best runs of the year. Since I had no aspirations of greatness I ran the 2.5 miles from my home to the start, and headed out with a hope to break 2 hours. The terrain is all jeep trails, and the runners are an interesting mix of road runners (me) and trail runners. There are serious and not so serious competitors from both running camps banging it out.
The course is an out and back run split into 4 pieces. The first four miles have two large hills and take you to Cranberry Pond in Sunderland from the Town Park. You gain a lot of elevation in those first four miles, only to lose most of it on the descent to Cranberry Pond. From Cranberry Pond to the Summit of Mt. Toby is about three miles, and 900 vertical feet. The race boasts 1900 vertical feet over 14 miles. The last mile is the steepest, with most runners walking over the loose rocky trail. Tag the fence and the race is a mirror of what you just did.
My PR for MT. Toby set two years ago was 1:50. I finished yesterday in 1:51. I tagged the fence in 59 minutes and came off the Mountain to Cranberry Pond in 18 minutes. At the fence I thought that 2 hours was likely if I did not burn out on the last four miles. I also thought that I could run under 1:55 if the gods approved. Most of the last four miles consisted a of duel between me and another runner. The other runner (50+ male who's name I should know) after I passed him stayed on my heels for the last 3.5 miles of woods. Every time I shook him off he would beat his way back. I felt like I was flying and could not imagine that this guy could keep up his pursuit of me, but he did. I dropped him when we came out of the woods. I sprinted down the last hill and finished strong.
My friend Tom ran with a cell phone in case the new baby were arrive early. Tom just wanted to do the run, so he was happy and finished easily. Priorities change for all of us and he told me he will not likely be running over the next few months after his and his wife Julie's second child is born (likely in the next two weeks).
This race filled the bill for a successful outing. With no undue pressure to run a certain time, I ran faster than I would have imagined possible. I also enjoyed the whole affair.
I ran home after the race in the rain. That was fun in that it allowed me to chalk up another 20 mile day before the Hartford Marathon.
Today I feel like a truck hit me, so I did not go to work. My feet (unusual) really hurt today. I stayed home because I have a sore throat, and the rest of my body feels abused. While writing this I started to really feel bad. A 102+ fever totaled me all day. Around 6:00 PM I started to feel much better. My son and wife are at an ice cream social to celebrate the start of a new school year, and Ben's first day of kindergarten is Thursday. I hope they bring me an ice cream sandwitch.
Keep your feet on the trails,
Mark
This race falls under the category of reasons to not get hung up on race times and finishing order. This has been a year where I have not trained with the mileage and intensity of past years. I have a five year boy old who, a time demanding job, and a great spouse who I want to spend time with. Something has to give. Accepting less training requires a change of mindset when race day comes up. It is not about giving up a PR, so much as it is about going out with what you have and not worrying about the miles you did not run. If I can run a good race, I am always ecstatic. A good race for me is race at the end of which I am spent, but I have been in it mentally and physically the whole way.
I ran The Mt. Toby 14 Mile Trail Run yesterday. Conditions were near ideal during the race. It was dark overcast and gloomy. I had one my best runs of the year. Since I had no aspirations of greatness I ran the 2.5 miles from my home to the start, and headed out with a hope to break 2 hours. The terrain is all jeep trails, and the runners are an interesting mix of road runners (me) and trail runners. There are serious and not so serious competitors from both running camps banging it out.
The course is an out and back run split into 4 pieces. The first four miles have two large hills and take you to Cranberry Pond in Sunderland from the Town Park. You gain a lot of elevation in those first four miles, only to lose most of it on the descent to Cranberry Pond. From Cranberry Pond to the Summit of Mt. Toby is about three miles, and 900 vertical feet. The race boasts 1900 vertical feet over 14 miles. The last mile is the steepest, with most runners walking over the loose rocky trail. Tag the fence and the race is a mirror of what you just did.
My PR for MT. Toby set two years ago was 1:50. I finished yesterday in 1:51. I tagged the fence in 59 minutes and came off the Mountain to Cranberry Pond in 18 minutes. At the fence I thought that 2 hours was likely if I did not burn out on the last four miles. I also thought that I could run under 1:55 if the gods approved. Most of the last four miles consisted a of duel between me and another runner. The other runner (50+ male who's name I should know) after I passed him stayed on my heels for the last 3.5 miles of woods. Every time I shook him off he would beat his way back. I felt like I was flying and could not imagine that this guy could keep up his pursuit of me, but he did. I dropped him when we came out of the woods. I sprinted down the last hill and finished strong.
My friend Tom ran with a cell phone in case the new baby were arrive early. Tom just wanted to do the run, so he was happy and finished easily. Priorities change for all of us and he told me he will not likely be running over the next few months after his and his wife Julie's second child is born (likely in the next two weeks).
This race filled the bill for a successful outing. With no undue pressure to run a certain time, I ran faster than I would have imagined possible. I also enjoyed the whole affair.
I ran home after the race in the rain. That was fun in that it allowed me to chalk up another 20 mile day before the Hartford Marathon.
Today I feel like a truck hit me, so I did not go to work. My feet (unusual) really hurt today. I stayed home because I have a sore throat, and the rest of my body feels abused. While writing this I started to really feel bad. A 102+ fever totaled me all day. Around 6:00 PM I started to feel much better. My son and wife are at an ice cream social to celebrate the start of a new school year, and Ben's first day of kindergarten is Thursday. I hope they bring me an ice cream sandwitch.
Keep your feet on the trails,
Mark
Monday, July 31, 2006
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Out for a bike ride tonight
12:02 A.M.
I did not grow up a runner. I found myself on a bicycle. When I was 10 years old, or around that time, I road my bicycle alone to places my parents would rather not imagine their odd fourth child riding off to. I knew by the time I was 16 that I could be an athlete, because I could ride my bicycle farther and faster than any one I knew. A friend introduced me to the North East Bicycle Club's weekly critereum at the Hanscom Air Force base in Lincoln, Massachusetts. For the next 8 years riding would be my obsession. This obsession was followed by a three year fascination with Karate, and I never returned to racing. Life takes funny turns, and at 26 I was burned out on Karate, and my knees hurt when I got back on my bicycle. Oh, and I had to be an adult now.
Six years later. I am thirty two years old, over weight, and not sure I can ever get back in shape. I then remember while on a spontaneous run with friends up and down a trail I remember that for a brief period in 1978, when I was 15, I became a runner. I ran for one season indoor track at Newton North High School. My wife said okay to my idea to buy a pair of running shoes and seeing if I could become a runner again.
Eleven more years. I am a 3:09 marathoner. Running is what I am, when I am not with my son and my wife. I have been running two marathons a year since October 2003. You know what I have found out. Getting on a bicycle is still fun. Tonight I chose my 18 year old mountain bike instead of the cool loaner car to go get a quart of milk for tomorrow morning. What a great night it is, and it was felt wonderful to be riding this old bike. Earlier in the day I was out on my racing bike for the first time this year. I dropped my car off to be serviced and made the 10 mile ride home on a racing bike I bought 25 years ago. The plan was to run back, but I wanted to get a few things done around the house today. So I rode back the Toyota dealership (it was not ready, but they produced loaner with out hesitation). Running is what I love, but I really enjoyed my riding today. Wednesday I start a new job with former employer and I will have an 8 mile round trip commute instead of the 50 mile drive that I have made for the last 8 months. I can bike and run to work. Cool.
So runners, my advise: Dust off your bike and do your errands on two wheels instead of four. It is great when you can.
Keep your feet on the road,
Mark
I did not grow up a runner. I found myself on a bicycle. When I was 10 years old, or around that time, I road my bicycle alone to places my parents would rather not imagine their odd fourth child riding off to. I knew by the time I was 16 that I could be an athlete, because I could ride my bicycle farther and faster than any one I knew. A friend introduced me to the North East Bicycle Club's weekly critereum at the Hanscom Air Force base in Lincoln, Massachusetts. For the next 8 years riding would be my obsession. This obsession was followed by a three year fascination with Karate, and I never returned to racing. Life takes funny turns, and at 26 I was burned out on Karate, and my knees hurt when I got back on my bicycle. Oh, and I had to be an adult now.
Six years later. I am thirty two years old, over weight, and not sure I can ever get back in shape. I then remember while on a spontaneous run with friends up and down a trail I remember that for a brief period in 1978, when I was 15, I became a runner. I ran for one season indoor track at Newton North High School. My wife said okay to my idea to buy a pair of running shoes and seeing if I could become a runner again.
Eleven more years. I am a 3:09 marathoner. Running is what I am, when I am not with my son and my wife. I have been running two marathons a year since October 2003. You know what I have found out. Getting on a bicycle is still fun. Tonight I chose my 18 year old mountain bike instead of the cool loaner car to go get a quart of milk for tomorrow morning. What a great night it is, and it was felt wonderful to be riding this old bike. Earlier in the day I was out on my racing bike for the first time this year. I dropped my car off to be serviced and made the 10 mile ride home on a racing bike I bought 25 years ago. The plan was to run back, but I wanted to get a few things done around the house today. So I rode back the Toyota dealership (it was not ready, but they produced loaner with out hesitation). Running is what I love, but I really enjoyed my riding today. Wednesday I start a new job with former employer and I will have an 8 mile round trip commute instead of the 50 mile drive that I have made for the last 8 months. I can bike and run to work. Cool.
So runners, my advise: Dust off your bike and do your errands on two wheels instead of four. It is great when you can.
Keep your feet on the road,
Mark
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Vermont City Marathon
KeyBank Vermont City Marathon – The Race Report
The following is my account of the KBVC Marathon that I ran two weeks ago. An edited version of this will appear in a running club newsletter.
This course is one of the best for spectators, providing four opportunities to see friends and family with a short walk between each viewing. Spectators get to enjoy downtown Burlington which has a feeling to it similar to Boston's Quincy Market.
The Race.
The marathon course consists of four loops two to the north and two to the south. I did not like the Mystic Places Marathon course because it had two turns and meanders. This course has more, but I really like the course.
At 8:05 AM, May 28, 2006.
The first miles of the Vermont City Marathon bring you through a downtown neighborhood loop through the shopping district. It was warm and after my first mile I thought I might be in trouble. Settling into what I thought was a slower more sustainable pass I shocked to run a 6:32 mile. I slowed down, but I would speed up and slow down for the next 7 miles before I finally settle into a good pace.
The crowds were enthusiastic all day, but the runners leave them behind during the second loop. Heading north for three miles on Route 127 the course is suddenly on an empty highway. It is good that this part of the course is over early in the run because there is no shade to be seen. A down hill slope helps the runners make there way away from the downtown. At six miles the runners do a 180 turn around on 127 and head back towards downtown Burlington. There I got to see what 3500 runners look like. I searched for familiar SMAC faces and soon heard a call from Tom Davidson. He was running well and I was happy to see him.
Miles 7 through 9 were long upward grades that bring the runners back to the city and nearly constant crowd support. Miles 10 through 12 sent the runners south of the city through the some beautiful areas. Confidence was growing as I approached the 13 mile mark. Last fall I started to dissolve after mile 14 at the Niantic Mystic Places Marathon.. The last 12 miles of that run were some of the worst miles I have endured in any race. I really was not up for a repeat performance today.
Soon after the halfway point I passed a runner who had said earlier that she was trying to run a 7:45 pace. Her skin was now bright red and she was panting. At the time I told her that she was running about 7 minute pace. I never did see her again.
My strategy over these last five miles was to slow my pace back to about a 7:30. I knew that I had gone out too fast, but I was trying to correct my pace before the miles and the increasing heat did. The race picked up intensity from the crowds as the runner re-entered the Downtown and waterfront. The big hill of the marathon is at mile 15 at Battery Park. At this point I felt that I not likely to bonk my way out of a decent pace. The only race goal I was really committed to was qualifying for the 2007 Boston Marathon. That meant a 3:20 run today. We ran through Battery park near the start of the marathon, then out for another loop to the North.
As the miles passed from 18 to 21 I could feel that I was beginning to fade in pace, but I did not feel that I was about lose it. There were even brief periods of optimism about setting a PR, but the heat and the miles only increased. The last miles 4 ½ miles of the course are on the excellent bike path hugging the shore. Here I kept doing the math, and started to see that I would not finish in 3:10, but the I was very likely finish before 3:20. Closer in I realized that I had a chance to finish under 3:15. The final miles through to Waterfront Park were lined with cheering spectators. I heard my name called before I crossed the finish line at 3:14:52 guntime.
The Vermont City Marathon. It is a well organized, well supported event with a beautiful course. For those who think that the Spring is only about Boston I say skip Boston one year and do this marathon.
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