the wilesthing

In running season, change is only constant | SeacoastOnline.com

2011-11-03T17:04:00.000-07:00

In running season, change is only constant | SeacoastOnline.com

By Bob Wiles
November 02, 2011 2:00 AM
As I enjoyed a run through the woods behind Portsmouth High School on Saturday morning, it occurred to me that the last year has slid past me very quickly. It seems like yesterday that the limbs on the trees were just budding and now they are surrendering their exhausted leaves to the autumn winds.

It reminded me that we runners also move through cycles during the year. Parts of the year are centered on training and some months are ideal for racing. Sure, there are folks who race all year long, but even those hearty souls tend to make use of different surfaces and distances that change with the seasons. Road races give way to snowy trail races and outdoor track events move to shorter indoor tracks.

The point is that nothing stays the same. We are always in a constant state of evolution. Hopefully we spend most of that time moving forward, but sometimes things get in our way that cause us to regress. And sometimes we are forced to find the silver lining in those moments when we aren't moving forward as we had planned.

Taking time after the fall races to let our bodies recover is an important part of training. While we may surrender some aerobic fitness during this recovery, we are actually preparing ourselves to be better next year by giving tired muscles and small twinges a chance to fully heal. In this case, it is a very good trade-off to sacrifice some fitness that will quickly be re-gained once you start up again in a couple of weeks.

Want proof that taking a little time off to recover is not going to ruin your chances of running well next year? Look at America's finest track runner over the last decade, Bernard Lagat. He takes the month of October off every year to let his body recover from a long racing season. In fact, he gained 12 pounds in the month of October this year while enjoying his rest! If our nation's best runner thinks that taking a month completely off from running and apparently eats everything that crosses his face during that month, surely us mortals can allow ourselves a little recovery time and a couple of slices of thanksgiving pie in the coming weeks.

And speaking of taking a break, the time has come for this column to go into hibernation for a few months. When we began the Seacoast Running column in March, the goal was to discuss interesting running-related events taking place in the Seacoast during the primary running season, which we decided was roughly March through October.

Over the last eight months I have tried to offer some helpful advice on training and racing and share my strategies for attacking some of our most popular race courses. This summer also saw a handful of rare opportunities to meet and interview running icons who visited us on the Seacoast. Having Dick Beardsley and Dean Karnazes visit our town and running with all of us on our favorite routes is not something that happens every year and we were very lucky to share that.

I think my favorite aspect of writing this column each week is that it created opportunities to meet more runners in the area than I ever had before. I have really enjoyed chatting with countless runners at races all year long. My favorite thing is hearing parents tell me about their children and how they are falling in love with running and enjoying their progress.

I also learned that a ton of people who are not runners follow the running scene on the Seacoast. I found myself discussing races and other running events with people at cookouts, youth soccer games, even at the grocery store, all because they had read this column and were interested in the running community.

The Seacoast Running column will resume in the spring and I will once again try to find interesting and helpful topics to write about each week. There were several instances where suggestions or questions from local runners served as the starting point for a column. That is something I am very grateful for and I'm looking forward to more of that next year.

For now, I'll wish everyone a fun and successful conclusion to the fall and I'll see you next year!

Bob Wiles lives in Kittery, Maine. He can be reached at bob.wiles@gmail.com.

These are the best months of the year to run on the Seacoast | SeacoastOnline.com

2011-10-26T01:57:00.000-07:00

These are the best months of the year to run on the Seacoast | SeacoastOnline.com

By Bob Wiles
October 26, 2011 2:00 AM
A couple of weeks ago I sang the praises of the local running community. Individually we are modest and easy to forget when a car passes us along the side of the road, but collectively we are an awesome sub-culture of healthy and passionate souls.

I was reminded of this over the weekend as I ran out around New Castle and down into Rye with a couple of friends. Exchanging subtle waves with dozens of other runners out on a Sunday morning enjoying the beautiful fall morning along the coast convinced me that we are in the middle of the "Perfect Storm" in terms of running...right now!

We have smoothly transitioned from hot summer days and nights into the cool, dry autumn months. Sure, we now have to wear a shirt most of the time and even a hat or gloves on some mornings, but in my book, October and November are a couple of the best months of the year to run on the Seacoast.

Visually, we get to watch the amazing scenery evolve right before our eyes as leaves transition from bright green to all sorts of beautiful hues, from electric yellow to fiery red. A variety of migratory birds chirp greetings down to us as they pass overhead, destined for warmer vacation spots in Florida or the Outer Banks. Tangent: Geese offer us a great example of working together in packs. They take turns up front and enthusiastically offer each other constant encouragement. They draft off each other and help each other re-connect with the main pack when someone falls off the back.

In terms of weather, there is a reason why fall marathons usually see the fastest times. Cooler temperatures and low humidity offer perfect conditions for comfortable running. My standard approach for dressing to run in the fall is that I want to be chilly standing around before I start moving and after a couple of miles it usually feels perfect.

To really overload your senses with everything that is majestic about the fall, I'd recommend venturing into the woods for a few miles. One of my normal routes consists of a combination of roads and trails, and this time of year it is always a treat to slide into the woods and run along trails lined with freshly fallen leaves.

With trails behind Portsmouth High School, the Urban Forestry Center, Mount Agamenticus, Odiorne Point State Park and countless others, you could check out a new trail system each week throughout the fall and never repeat yourself!

Another great aspect of fall is the opportunity to try cross country racing! For folks who took up running as adults, we missed out on the delight that is XC. However, there are dozens of cross country races within a short drive of us and it is an experience that every runner should enjoy. Something about dashing through the fields and woods with trees close on each side really reinforces the pleasure of just being outside and having fun.

Yes, I'm quite sure that fall on the Seacoast is a perfect combination of ingredients to cook up some amazing running. Great people, amazing scenery and beautiful weather ...; what else could we possibly need?

I've just had a great idea! Anyone who wants to meet me at Portsmouth High School this Saturday can join me for a run through the cross country trails and through the Urban Forestry Center. Heck, maybe we'll run down to Odiorne State Park as well! I'll be there and ready to go at 8 a.m. See you soon!

Bob Wiles lives in Kittery, Maine. He can be reached at bob.wiles@gmail.com.

Great Bay 5K could see season-best times from runners | SeacoastOnline.com

2011-10-22T04:50:00.000-07:00

Great Bay 5K could see season-best times from runners | SeacoastOnline.com

Great Bay 5K could see season-best times from runners

By Bob Wiles
October 19, 2011 2:00 AM
With only one race remaining in the 2011 Seacoast Road Race Series, hundreds of local athletes have trained and raced their way through the wet spring, a hot summer and now into a cool fall. The real reward for any race is the journey itself, but the cumulative effects of a well-executed racing season also generally bring runners to their finest form in the fall. That generally being the case, I'm excited to see how many locals turn up for the Great Bay 5K on Oct. 29 and run a season-best time.

To help the well-seasoned SRRS participants demonstrate their fitness, the scenic Stratham course features one of the fastest 5K layouts in the area. By starting and finishing at different venues, the Great Bay race does not have to go up as much as it goes down, making for a fast scamper along flat and gently downhill roads with just one minor bump in the final mile to keep runners under the legal speed limit.

The starting location for this race has been modified in recent years, but the course is certified and is assuredly a full five kilometers. Next weekend, runners will start in the parking lot at Stratham Hill Park, not even a stone's throw from the starting line of the Stratham Fair Road Race just a couple of months ago.

After escaping the parking lot with a couple of right-hand turns, the course offers a fast straight section down the left side of Route 33, turning left onto Stratham Lane just before the first mile marker. And it isn't just any mile marker ... it is the Mackenzie Mile. This race is one of the few races to offer prize money for the first man and woman to reach the mile. Why do they do it? To instigate a fast pace and ensure that runners and spectators enjoy an exciting race!

The second mile on this course is arguably one of the fastest around. With about a third of a mile on Stratham Lane before turning left onto Dearborn Road, there isn't a bump in sight to slow runners down. Just be sure to cut tangents and run the shortest possible route, as Dearborn winds a little bit and staying on the same side of the road the whole time will add distance to your route.

The final mile will turn left onto Orchard Hill road and then right onto Tidewater Farm Road. From there you will have basically a straight shot through some nice residential neighborhoods and down into the driveway to the Great Bay Discovery Center. The finish line is on a quick downhill section, so there is no reason to hold anything back as you cross the line.

With the start and finish in different locations, runners will want to choose their parking spot wisely. There is just over a mile separating the beginning from the end, and the easiest way to cover the span is by taking Depot Road.

When I park for this race, I choose somewhere near the start. This makes registering and checking in very easy, and then after the race I use the mile back to my car as part of my cool-down. Late October can be pretty cool and windy, so someone more clever than I am once suggested taking a jacket down to the finish during your warm-up as a good way to avoid getting chilly immediately after the race ends.

The awards ceremony is at the Great Bay Discovery Center, and being the finale of the SRRS, it usually serves as the awards venue for the overall series as well. Whether she chooses to run the finale or not, Durham's Nicole Toye has already done enough this summer to claim the overall series crown on the women's side. In fact, she has completed the series with the minimum possible points total to emphatically announce her return to the local racing scene this year.

On the men's side, things are slightly more interesting. Nick Crowell of Portsmouth has run just five of the first seven events, meaning he needs to race the Great Bay 5K in order to fulfill the requirement of doing at least six events. If he does race, he needs to finish in the top five to claim the series title. Considering he won this race last year, it is a fairly safe bet that he will be able to complete the task if he undertakes it.

If for some reason Crowell does not race, Somersworth's Rob Levey will win the men's title, having already completed the obligatory six races with a sufficient point cushion over third-place runner Chris Ritchie of Hampton.

Regardless of how the final race plays out, the 2011 Seacoast Road Race Series has been another exciting one, and with the Seacoast Half Marathon serving as the bonus race again this year, the excitement will continue into November for hundreds of the SRRS participants who are registered.

Bob Wiles lives in Kittery, Maine. He can be reached at bob.wiles@gmail.com.

HubSpot part 2: Crazy in a good way

2011-10-12T15:53:00.000-07:00

My thoughts about inbound marketing pioneer HubSpot had to be broken into two installments when I realized that my head was full of too many observations to stuff into one entry. In part 1 I talked mostly about HubSpot’s people and what makes them unconventional. In part 2 I’ll look at some of the remarkable and bold things they are doing that makes them crazy (crazy in a good way, not ‘eating an airplane' crazy).

Traditional businesses might act tough and believe passionately in their goods or services, but how many of them are TRULY unafraid of their competitors? Know many who have the guts to re-tweet their competitors if they see something that would be helpful to their customers? HubSpot will. Every company keeps tabs on the other guys. Most will convince themselves that the other guys aren’t doing anything good. It makes selling this idea to customers easier. But when HubSpot sees an idea from a competitor that they think their customers would benefit from, they’ll share it.

This confidence reminds me of another Boston superstar…Larry Bird. Larry Legend was perhaps the best trash-talker in the game and there is a famous story of Bird telling his opponents exactly where he was going to take the game winning shot from at the end of a close game. Then, moments later he came down the court, got the ball exactly where he said he would and proceeded to knock down the game winning shot in the defender’s face. When you know you’ve got the goods you don’t have to keep secrets. You can throw the other guys a bone and then still wipe the floor with them.

This leads into product confidence. When you believe in your product as strongly as HubSpot does, you can stand behind a simple and firm pricing model without going through round after round of heated negotiations which usually result in relatively meaningless concessions on each side. It generally accomplishes little, other than satisfying an egotistical need to ‘win’ a pricing battle. By putting out products which have the capability to make an amazing impact on customers’ businesses, HubSpot can offer possibly the simplest and most straightforward pricing model I’ve ever seen. And in my opinion the prices are cheap! Combining a top shelf product with a simple and reasonable pricing model means less time squabbling over money and a quicker transition from lead to customer.

Another example of HubSpot’s confidence is their transparency. Not only is the kimono wide open…its laying on the floor around their ankles. I guess a simple example is this blog. Everything I’m writing about is stuff that I saw while walking around at HubSpot and from chatting with HubSpotters. A more tangible example is their content-rich website and the efforts they make to give away content. HubSpot creates and gives away more content than most companies sell. Because they are a software company and not a social media consultancy, they tell you exactly how to do everything it takes to be successful in the new arena. Once you’ve digested all the free content you’ll see that their software tools will help you put your new ideas into action.

In a world where people say, ‘Not my job’ far too often and people get slapped for not driving in their own lanes, HubSpot encourages people to develop new ideas and give them a try. Their VAR program is a perfect example of this, but it isn’t the only one. Employees are constantly thinking like innovators rather than merely punching in each day to do the tasks that are clearly defined in a job description. While traditional companies drive change and innovation from the top down (if at all), Hubspot has a culture of innovation which leads to new ideas all the time. Not every new idea will be a winner, but by encouraging people to be creative and granting them the freedom and tools to test their ideas, HubSpot has greatly accelerated the rate of innovation.

So, from what I can see, Hubspot is complimenting the competition, giving away tons of stuff, telling everyone exactly what they are doing, and constantly trying new things when they already have something that works great. See why I called them crazy?

Injury Causes New Perspective on World of Running | SeacoastOnline.com

2011-10-12T04:11:00.000-07:00

Injury causes new perspective on world of running

By Bob Wiles
October 12, 2011 2:00 AM

I used to think that the cliché, "You don't know what you've got until it's gone" applied only to ice cream or playoff baseball, but a recent running injury has shown me that it can hit much closer to home.

Running is such a habit for all of us that we sometimes go through our daily routine without appreciating the beauty of the fall foliage we're running past or even the health benefits we're realizing for ourselves. Sometimes we just run because we're runners.

Like grocery shopping on an empty stomach, I've started noticing great things happening everywhere I turn. For starters, you guys are everywhere! Because I took my own running for granted, I think seeing runners out on the road while driving somewhere didn't even register with me. Now I'm hyper-aware of how many dedicated soldiers are out putting in the miles every single day, and I'm admiring (and envying) every one of you.

My house is 6 miles from Great Island Common in New Castle, and my son insists on visiting the playground there at least once per week. Last Thursday evening I passed exactly 17 runners on our way there! The weather wasn't even that great last Thursday, but you were all out there. More of you like to run in small groups than I realized. Some like to fly solo, but packs of 2-5 are very common as well.

Collectively, our Seacoast running community is a powerhouse. When we put our minds to it, we can turn a first-year event from a smattering of runners who all have a loose connection to the cause into an instant classic with over 1,000 runners. Take the Turkey Trot in Portsmouth as an example. In its first year the new race had nearly 1,000 finishers and then last year grew by 30 percent. I can't wait to see how many folks turn up this year to earn their pumpkin pie later in the day!

The Seacoast Road Race Series is probably the best display of our local running obsession. With almost 900 runners taking part in the series this year, participating events can almost bank on more than 1,000 entries preregistered and another few hundred showing up on race day.

In fact, I was volunteering at the latest installment of the series last Sunday at the Great Island 5K and saw the amazing force of our local running community in action. Hopefully I'm not unique in this regard, but I have to admit that when I show up at a race to run I sometimes get a serious case of tunnel vision. I block out most of what is going on around me as I warm up and prepare for the race. We have all run races with thousands of other athletes but the combination of nerves, focus and preparation usually makes me pretty oblivious to everything else that is going on if it doesn't affect me at the moment.

But as a spectator all of that goes away and I got to take it all in with amazement. In fact, I was able to enjoy some nice conversations with folks that I normally wouldn't get to if I was preparing to race. While I was out on the course and runners started flooding by me, I had a startling realization about the volume and diversity of our running community.

I don't think it really matters if you are at the front of the pack, in the middle, or in the back. When the gun goes off we all get into our own zone and focus on the task at hand. Even if you make an effort to notice the folks running alongside you, you'll notice only a few because for the most part you'll all be moving along together. It wasn't until I stood in one spot and watched the entire progression of 1,200 runners whip by that I appreciated what an awesome army we have.

By taking up a spot on the course, I was able to see the entire forest rather than just focusing selfishly on the singular tree that I am. It gave me a new perspective on the entire world of running, and admitting that is slightly uncomfortable.

While running is a largely individual sport and training can sometimes be a lonely task, I'll never again forget that each of us is an important part of a community of runners on New Hampshire's Seacoast, and that community is a large and powerful force.

Bob Wiles lives in Kittery, Maine. He can be reached at bob.wiles@gmail.com

HubSpot: Making or Breaking All the Rules? Part 1

2011-10-08T16:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon I spent a few hours at inbound marketing pioneer, Hubspot's offices in Cambridge, MA to get a tour from UX Director Josh Porter. While I was there I was lucky enough to catch a recording of HubSpotTV and take in happy hour with 20-30 other Hubspotters at a nearby bar. But it was much more than a tour and a beer. It was a shocking flood of ideas and observations that left me wondering if what I had just seen was real, and if so...how on earth is Hubspot thriving despite breaking almost every rule of business that I've learned over the last decade???

Don't get me wrong...I love the company I work for and we do a ton of great things. It's just that almost every rule of office behavior and business practices that I thought were typical from my own experiences and from talking with other businesspeople over the course of my career seem to have been thrown out the second story windows at Hubspot.

Skipping the very obvious low hanging fruit, I won't even delve into the fully stocked beer coolers (yes, plural) that make their home in the cafeteria. At 4 PM on a Friday afternoon when I arrived, dozens of young professionals were congregating in the cafe to watch the recording of this week's HubSpotTV segment. Some were grabbing beer from the complimentary coolers and taking a seat to listen to the panel discussion. Others were having a water or soda and others were quietly working on laptops. But the first striking observation that I made was that this company is made up of young people. At 34 yeras old, I felt (and looked!) like a dinosaur at Hubspot. While I'd estimate the average age at my company to be somewhere north of 45, I'd bet my Return of the Jedi lunchbox that the average Hubspotter is less than 26.

As I was introduced to a few people and started talking with them, I also quickly noticed another common trend...they're all new! Extremely smart and knowledgeable about inbound marketing, but new. Granted, at a company that has only been around for 5 years there aren't going to be people at Hubspot with 10 year anniversary plaques on their desks, but other than CEO Brian Halligan, I didn't meet anyone who has been there longer than a year. At most companies, employees don't even really know what they are doing until they've been there for a year.

Yes, that's right...I met the CEO on my first tour of the building. Its probably because he was situated at a cubicle like everyone else and not hidden in an office the size of my house, far removed from the ground troops. Aren't CEO's supposed to signify their superiority in a multitude of manners, starting with real estate? Not at Hubspot. As Josh walked me around the building I was caught quite off guard when we stopped along a row of desks and he said, "Hey Brian, this is my friend Bob." He stopped what he was doing and we had a brief conversation, but to be honest I spend the whole time trying to wrap my head around the whole scene.

At this point, my head is spinning and I'm wondering, "WHERE AM I???"

Over the last decade I've seen paranoid employees hoarding knowledge, often to the detriment of projects or relationships, in the name of maintaining exclusivity and job security. "If I'm the only guy who knows how to do X, I can't be replaced." Definitely not the mindset at Hubspot. I was talking with a NJ native named John over a Belgian beer at trendy Artbar and he shared an anecdote about information sharing at Hubspot. He called it crowd-sourcing and basically someone had thrown an open question to the rest of the folks via their internal Wiki about a tool to help a customer and he got 4 good answers from co-workers in a matter of minutes. Working together synergistically to get results for customers without fear or hesitation seems to be the collective mindset at Hubspot.

This might be partly because every Hubspotter I spoke to at some point in the conversation said, "Everyone here is smarter than I am." After I heard that statement for the fourth time I stopped the person and said, "You know, everyone here says that. I'm sure someone holds that dubious distinction, but I bet it isn't you or any of the other people who claim ownership of the title." But I think the statement is a manifestation of two ideas that the folks at Hubspot seem to share. First, they are a humble group. I mean, they are only setting the marketing world on fire...why would you get a big head??? And second, they all admire and appreciate the value of their peers. Quite different from companies where the SOP is knocking down co-workers to make sure you look good in comparison, even if you aren't pulling your own weight.

So far we've established that Hubspot is a company made up of young, fresh, smart people with a mutual respect for each other and a willingness to collaborate for the good of the company and their customers.

In part 2, I'll share the other half of my observations from my visit to Hubspot, so stay tuned...

Ultrarunner Dean Karnazes to share his remarkable story in Portsmouth | SeacoastOnline.com

2011-10-05T17:24:00.000-07:00

Ultrarunner Dean Karnazes to share his remarkable story in Portsmouth | SeacoastOnline.com

By Bob Wiles
September 28, 2011 2:00 AM
Earlier this year, ultrarunner Dean Karnazes ran from California to New York, covering almost 3,000 miles in 75 days and raising $178,000 for anti-obesity charity Action for Healthy Kids. In 2006, he ran 50 marathons in 50 days, one in each state. Karnazes has also ran across the five greatest deserts on the planet, and he's accomplished countless other mind-boggling endurance running feats.

Through it all, Karnazes has never lost his joy for running. It's his job and race-specific training can be a grind at times, but he keeps it fresh.

"Sometimes if I need a mental and physical recovery day, I'll just throw my credit card and a cell phone in my backpack and go out wandering for a six- or eight-hour run," Karnazes said. "If I feel like stopping at a coffee shop along the way, I do. I don't worry about pace, I just go exploring. I never run the same route twice."

On Wednesday, Oct. 5, Karnazes will speak at The Music Hall in Portsmouth as part of The North Face "Never Stop Exploring" speaker series. Runner's Alley is also a presenter of the event.

Karnazes' motivational talks are fascinating and inspirational. Through his epic adventures, he has experienced life to the fullest and continued to find happiness out on the roads and trails of America and beyond.

When he speaks about the joy of running, the sincerity and enthusiasm easily sneaks into his relaxed southern California voice, "When you see kids running, they are experiencing joy and being free. They love to race and run fast, and they learn to find joy along the way."

During his Run Across America, Karnazes stopped at 15 schools to speak with children and inspire them to lead active lifestyles and never stop exploring. "Stopping to speak to a group of children right after running 40 miles was an interesting juxtaposition mentally, but their excitement was always unbelievable," he said.

Karnazes started running at age 6 as an easier way to get back and forth from school to help his mom. "I fell in love with running and have continued to explore and push the boundaries," he said.

The thought of running for six or eight hours to help recovery seems insane to most runners, but Karnazes has built his body into an ultrarunning machine over the years. His bones and muscles have adapted to requirements of his activities, and his body's ability to clear lactic acid has baffled scientists. But Karnazes believes that our bodies were designed for running and that by being very active at an early age we can stay strong and help avoid injuries.

In addition to the amazing sights he's seen along the way, Karnazes has also met some amazing people. On day 67 of his 75-day run across America, Karnazes literally ran into the White House to meet Michelle Obama. The two of them teamed up to promote "Let's Move," the first lady's campaign to raise a healthier generation of kids.

Not content to just run across his home country, Karnazes is currently planning a global expedition in conjunction with his 50th birthday next year. "The United Nations recognized 204 countries, and my goal is to run a marathon in each of them."

With a focus on raising money for an important cause in each country, Karnazes hopes political differences among nations can be set aside. "Running unites people," he said. "Some countries will use the money to create clean water systems or to fight malaria and others might focus on anti-obesity programs."

Karnazes ran a marathon in Bristol in 2006 during his Endurance 50 and noticed that New England is a beautiful place. "I'm hoping that the leaves have started changing when I'm in New Hampshire next week."

"We're super excited to have Dean coming to Portsmouth," Runner's Alley owner Jeanine Sylvester said. "Dean is such an inspirational and well-known figure, and we are very happy to be able to share his story with the Seacoast running community."

Proceeds from ticket sales will go to the Portsmouth Track Boosters Club, Sylvester said.

Bob Wiles lives in Kittery, Maine. He can be reached at bob.wiles@gmail.com.

This week's column; Great Island 5K brings out best in runners | SeacoastOnline.com

2011-10-05T03:19:00.000-07:00

Great Island 5K brings out best in runners | SeacoastOnline.com

By Bob Wiles
October 05, 2011 2:00 AM
Throughout the spring and summer I have tried to provide useful race previews for the Seacoast Road Race Series events. Well, now fall is upon us and there are only a couple of events remaining on the schedule. This week we'll take a look at the Great Island 5K!

First conceived in 1993, the race will be run for the 18th time on Sunday. Start time for the 5K is 10 a.m., followed by a kids fun run at 10:45.

Like all SRRS events, this race attracts a bunch of people. With over 1,100 preregistered runners, parking will spill out of the Great Island Common parking lots and onto Route 1B as well as some side streets. If you are attending the race as a spectator I would recommend parking to the south of the entrance to the Common, as this is the side that is not on the race route. This will make more room for runners along the course and also allow you to leave early if necessary.

For the runners, registration is standard 5K pricing at $20 for early birds and $25 on race day. You can register and pick up your race number on Saturday evening from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. or on race day starting at 8 a.m. Both take place in the Great Island Common Recreation Building. You can also sign up for the fun run at those times.

When the gun goes off at 10 a.m., runners will make a lap around the common before heading out onto the scenic roads of New Castle. Turning left out of the parking lot onto Wentworth Road (1B), the course gently rolls toward the water.

Hugging the coast as you turn left onto Walbach Street, the first-mile marker awaits immediately after a right turn onto Piscataqua Street. Still running with the water on your right, the course bears left and spills back onto 1B for a moment before cutting back onto the water along River Street. Here is a quick drop in elevation and a great spot for making a move on anyone you're racing against.

A short climb up Oliver Street brings you back onto 1B for another quick section before touring the neighborhood on Locke Road. You will find a water stop and the second-mile marker in this rolling neighborhood before once again taking a few strides on 1B.

The race course goes cross country for a while as it turns onto Neals Lane for about half a mile of dirt road. This is another great place to surge and make a break from your competitors if you like dashing on the dirt.

When the dirt road spills out onto 1B for the last time you can tell the finish is getting close, and a left turn brings you back into the Great Island Common for another lap around the fields before approaching the finish line.

I can't really explain it, but this race is one of those 5Ks that seems to fly by. It isn't a short course and it isn't the flattest course in America, but because you are not on the same road for any long stretches, the time just seems to go by very quickly.

With tremendous community support and a very strong reputation, this is one of the races where you feel the crowd support, particularly for the first and last half-miles on the Common's grounds. Last year I distinctly recall being carried from second place into first by the feverish support of the spectators urging me to pass the out-of-towner who was making a valiant bid for glory on a course that I consider home turf. It is still the most exciting and satisfying finish to a race that I've been a part of.

In addition to the vibe you'll feel before and during the race, the post-race atmosphere is also first class. With great food and the excitement that kids' fun runs bring, a wonderful awards ceremony with the coastal backdrop is among the best around. And with cash and lobsters up for grabs, there are usually some impressive times posted at this race. It isn't uncommon for semi-professional runners to drive up from New York to try for the course record, which is worth an extra $400 for both men and women.

Proceeds from the Great Island 5K have supported great projects such as the skating rink and playground at the Common among others over the years. This year's proceeds will go toward funding two scholarships that have been established in memory of race co-founder Dr. Tom Quinn.

For more information or to register for the race, visit the race website at www.greatisland5K.com.

Bob Wiles lives in Kittery, Maine. He can be reached at bob.wiles@gmail.com.

Krempels King of the Road Challenge

2011-10-04T16:57:00.000-07:00

As some of you know I've been doing some cycling lately to cross train and give some lingering running injuries time to heal. I've been having a blast doing it and I'm starting to think that cycling will remain part of my normal exercise regimen even once the abs are back to normal.

Anywhoo...I am putting together a team to participate in a local charity ride taking place in Stratham, NH on October 15th. It is the Krempels King of the Road Challenge and it benefits the Krempels Center, which is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of people living with brain injury from trauma, tumor or stroke.

"Great Bob, what do you want from me???"

Good question. Below is a short list of requests in order of preference. Choose one, all, or none, but keep in mind that the quality of future holiday greeting cards you receive from me may depend on your choice. Choose wisely.

1. Join me! I'm hoping to put together a team of 10 riders and the date is quickly approaching! I can promise you that Team Wilesthing will be the coolest team in the challenge, if coolness is determined by the amount of riders wearing denim bib shorts. If you're interested in joining me, register at www.kingchallenge.org and choose Team Wilesthing from the drop-down menu when you get to the step for joining an existing team. I can promise you that this will be one of the best days of your life, especially if you aren't married, don't have kids, and never saw Vanilla Ice live in concert.

2. Sponsor me! I'm sure somewhere along the way I must have loaned you $10. Here's your chance to pay me back. (I expect at least $20 from you, Paradis!) Even if you loaned me money and you're still waiting for me to repay you, just add another $10 or $20 to my tab and bill me at a later date. Much later please. If you want to help me meet my fundraising obligation, please visit MY PAGE. Any help is awesome, and the more you help the more awesome you are. My goal is to raise $500 and I've only got three weeks left to get there, so if you think that the Krempels Center might be worth skipping a couple of cups of coffee for (trust me, it is), send me your Dunkin Donuts money and I'll buy you a coffee the next time I see you! (It's tax deductible! Here's the receipt form.)

3. If you aren't a cyclist but know someone who is, please forward this to them! Make sure you tell them that local pro, Teddy King of team Liquigas-Cannondale and his brother Robbie King are leading the charge on this and will be riding along with several other pros.

I know everyone gets hit up for money all the time for this various causes, so I appreciate any support I can get!

Thanks in advance for supporting this great cause!

Running Column

2011-09-22T03:48:00.000-07:00

Some of you know that I've been writing a weekly column for the Portsmouth Herald since this spring. I'm not sure why I didn't think to post links to them on a weekly basis throughout the summer, but I'll start now.

http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20110921-SPORTS-109210385

Writing for the paper has been a good challenge and opportunity for me. I've had the opportunity to meet some new and very interesting people and learned about several topics that I wan't very familiar. I've been able to interview Dick Beardsley and I'll be interviewing Dean Karnazes shortly for an upcoming column.

A Walk on the Wiles Side

2011-09-14T16:39:00.000-07:00

Well, I told Jim I'd start blogging again if he posted a recap of Market Square Day and I came home from work this evening to see he'd put it up. I guess I have to keep my end of the deal. ("Quid pro quo, Clarice")

I'm starting to think people like it when I'm not running because that is generally when my alter ego, "The Wilesthing" emerges from his hiding place deep within the darkest recesses of my mind.

Here's the latest drivel...

On a more genuine note, I've not run a step in over a month and have only jogged a few times since Stowe. Part of the reason I wanted JJ to post a recap of MSD is because that is the last time I felt good. I knew I had unintentionally peaked for that race and shortly afterwards began a mental and physical slide. I ran a couple of local races and wasn't able to break 16 minutes, ran a 10K where I was lucky that Dan Hocking was only doing a tempo because he would have killed me otherwise, and then headed into Stowe knowing that I was going to get my ass handed to me and I had already planned some downtime afterwards. That made it easier to just enjoy the weekend, do my best to help the team, and then look forward to recharging the batteries.

Underneath the mental burnout was also the re-emergence of the ab/psoas injury that laid me up last winter. I was ignoring the warning signals because I had some races that I wanted to run well in and that led me to make the same mistakes I made last time. This time the combination of events made the decision easier to just step back and enjoy the summer without freaking out about my fitness.

After a couple of weeks of total rest I started riding a borrowed bike and enjoyed it enough to buy one of my own. Since then I've been riding pretty consistently and have found a few group rides that are pretty challenging for me.

Just this evening I did a group ride that averaged over 40km/hour down through Hampton. I felt like I was going to puke at the end and nearly got dropped a few times but was able to catch a wheel and get dragged back on each time. Pretty intense feeling to whip up the coast in a pack of 15-20 guys at 26-27 miles per hour. I took most of my pulls at the front but did skip a couple towards the end and the last pull I took was pretty brief. I didn't want to slow down the group so I pulled through pretty quickly and tried to latch on. I did get gapped a couple of times by breakaways that Jim Marchese instigated. He made them when I was on the front, so I think he was trying to remind me that I've still got some work to do if I want to hang with the big boys.

Right now my plan is to start running around the beginning of October. Hopefully that will allow the abs enough time to have healed and I'll gradually start running again to get back into shape and the plan will be to work on just aerobic running through the winter with no racing plans and then think about racing again in the spring.

Hockings Kicking Ass

2011-09-13T17:17:00.000-07:00

Here is the closest I've been to a race (or even running, for that matter) in about 8 weeks.

On Labor Day I rode by new bicycle over to Pease and caught some video of Dan and Lesley dominating the St. Charles Children's Home 5K. I was second in this race last year behind Joseph Koech so I was happy to see Dan return the favor by smoking him in exactly the same fashion he did me last year. Dropped him on the hill in the second mile. Lesley basically ran away with it after Nicole Toye valiantly hung with her for about half a mile.

Bob bought a bike

2011-08-23T05:55:00.001-07:00

Well, I haven't really run since Stowe for a few reasons. Initially it was because I was feeling really worn down, but I was also still ignoring the lower ab/psoas pain that had returned throughout the spring. I had some good races and thought I could keep ignoring it, but it just continued to get worse. So when I realized I needed a break it made sense to give the muscles time to properly heal, which is something I probably should have done last winter instead of rushing back.

So, I started out cross training by borrowing a touring mountain bike hybrid from Charles. I realized how much fun it is and decided to get a road bike of my own. After shopping around and trying out a bunch of different bikes I ended up getting a great deal on a Cannondale CAAD 10 4 at Papa Wheelies in Portsmouth. It is a 2011 and they are starting to get shipments for 2012, so my timing worked out pretty good for a great bike at a clearance price.

I also found a group that rides on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from Portsmouth at 5:15...my kinds of guys! I'm learning to ride in a group and the guys have been really helpful and supportive.

Also, I logged my first long-ish ride on Saturday when Guy and Pam Stearns took me for a 50+ mile ride up through Berwick and over to the coast.

At this point I'm not sure when I'll be running again, but the cycling substitute has be pretty well distracted for the time being!

Summary of my first week owning a bike:
8/17 - 25 miles
8/18 - 40 miles
8/19 - 20 miles
8/20 - 55 miles
8/21 - 15 miles
8/22 - 25 miles
8/23 - 40 miles
First week in the books: 220 miles (355km). Not too shabby.

Still trying to approximate the conversion to running effort. I think that aerobically for me right now the ratio is something like 4/1. Muscularly it is more like 3/1. For the most part right now I'm fine aerobically and even decent hills in our area aren't hurting my lungs much (although the last 15 miles on Saturday in the sun and humidity had me working pretty good). My legs are taking a little time adapting to the different motion.

For now I'm calling this an open-ended experiment. I wonder how long it will take me to strap some aero bars on this thing, register for a triathlon and make a fool of myself doing the doggy paddle in a lake???

Oh, and the picture of reverend Jim in the new logo is supposed to reflect my current state of confusion and uncertainty. I love Taxi re-runs.

Haven't been strutting that ass much lately.

2011-08-03T10:08:00.000-07:00

8/1 - 18 miles on bike

8/2 - 24 miles on bike

8/3 - 12 miles on bike

8/4 - 24 miles on bike (18.5 of that in 59:15 is probably about a solid tempo-type effort for me right now, FWIW)

8/5 - 16 miles on bike - Had a very close encounter with three deer (2 doe and a fawn). We stopped to check each other out for about 10 minutes. The mom and fawn got almost close enough to touch, easily within 10 feet, probably 6-8. The mom did some half-hearted foot stomping to make sure I knew she was willing to protect her fawn and then the little guy got even closer to me and copied her. It was really cute. I must not look too intimidating on a bike. They decided I wasn't a problem and went back to eating grass that I could have spit a sunflower seed to with ease. Amazing. The fawn must have only been about 8 weeks old.

Week ending July 31, 2011

2011-07-26T12:56:00.000-07:00

7/25 - off

7/26 - 5 miles, felt easy but was a little quick maybe because I haven't been running

7/27 - 10 miles on demo bikes (I want a road bike, BAD!)

7/28 - 13 miles on bike in about an hour

7/29 - 13 miles on bike in about an hour

7/30 - 7.5 miles (47:30)

7/31 - 12 miles with Greg Ward in Ogunquit (84 minutes)

Week ending July 24, 2011

2011-07-21T17:33:00.000-07:00

7/18 - off

7/19 - off

7/20 - off

7/21 - 6 miles in UNH trails

7/22 - off

7/23 - off

7/24 - off

Summary: I successfully quit Diet Coke this week. The first few days really sucked.

Week ending July 17, 2011

2011-07-13T12:38:00.000-07:00

7/11 - off (but I did get a free Slurpee)

7/12 - 7 miles easy

7/13 - light workout, 1K + 4x400 @ race pace with full recovery (8 miles)

7/14 - 9 miles easy

7/15 - 7 miles easy

7/16 - 5 miles easy

7/17 - Stowe 8 Miler (44:11, 28th!) - 2+ miles warm up with the gang, race was as awful as I expected. Went out fairly conservative and still blew up. 21:15 for 4 miles, almost 23 minutes coming back.

Summary: Time for a break. 46 miles for the week.

Week ending July 10, 2011

2011-07-06T11:51:00.001-07:00

7/4 - Friends on the Forth 5K - 16:03, 1st. Scored some big points with the wife, and probably all wives in the greater Portsmouth area. (10 miles) Oh, and this is the women's winner.

7/5 - 6 miles AM, 10 miles PM

7/6 - 8 miles (hotter than tits on a bull)

7/7 - 6 miles AM, 8 miles PM

7/8 - 10 miles

7/9 - Harbour Trail "5K" (16:08, 1st) 4 miles warm up, 3 cool down. Course isn't certified, but I still feel like crap. I don't sandbag like JJ, so when I say I think I'm going to get my ass handed to me in Stowe next week, I mean it. (10 miles)

7/10 - 11 miles with Dan and Leslie

Summary: 79 miles. Still feeling flat. Going to rest up and hope for the best at the next couple of races.

Wilesthing being ripped off

2011-07-05T19:04:00.000-07:00

Seriously...you would think America's best marathoner could come up with original material. Nope, he's hoping to become the same internet sensation that the Wilesthing is by copying my training videos. RIGHT DOWN TO THE SAME MUSIC.

I know I'm generally ahead of the curve, but this is just ridiculous. I'm not sure he hasn't violated some copyright laws somewhere in this little video.

Wilesthing = trend setter

Week ending July 3, 2011

2011-06-27T05:13:00.001-07:00

6/27 - 11 miles Am (72 minutes), 7 miles PM (48 minutes)

6/28 - 5 miles (35 minutes)

6/29 - off

6/30 - 5 miles AM (40 minutes), 8 miles PM (56 minutes)

7/1 - 6 miles AM (48 minutes), workout PM (6 x 800, no watch, probably about 5K pace with 200m jog recovery) (9 miles)

7/2 - 10 miles (70 minutes)

7/3 - 8 miles (56 minutes)

Summary: 69 miles for the week. HAHAHAHAH...69. Feeling really stale and wondering if this is what over-training feels like. I'm borderline indifferent about running right now. It might just be that I'm enjoying things with the boys so much that I'd rather be doing that than running. Abs are flaring up a little and I probably cranked too hard getting back into shape this spring. Just kind of going to not worry about mileage for a while and try to enjoy running easy most days.

Tree house project

2011-06-21T08:26:00.000-07:00

Camden and I started working on a tree house a couple of weeks ago. I promised JJ that I'd take some pictures as we went along. I was doing good at first but as you can see I missed pictures of putting up the walls towards the bottom. The base is about 8 feet off the ground. The house itself is 6 x 8 feet and the front deck is 2 x 8 feet.

First, some 2x6 supports anchored to the tree.

Because Camden and I have been doing this mostly alone, I had to build the main base in the tree because I wouldn't be able to lift it on after building it.

Base is just about done...time to put some more support under it.

We used some 4x4s angled into the tree to add some strength.

For the walls I built them on the ground and used a rope to hoist them into place.

The roof will slope from front to back and there will be a door going out to the deck.

Had to make a couple holes for branches to come through...

Obviously I missed a few steps in the photo sequence.

After I finished with the frame we put down the floor. The only tricky part to that is cutting out holes for the tree! Once the floor was screwed down we started working on the walls. Those were a little tricky to get lined up after I measured and cut the sections. I used the ropes again to get them in place and got a couple of screws in them so I could untie the rope and get them on just right. We had to make more holes for the branches to come through.

Once the walls were on we painted them. Camden did a lot of the painting with his roller on a stick. We made quite a mess but got the job done. After the paint dried we started working on the deck railings.

With the railings done it was now kid safe and Camden was able to help me start the white trim. I did get a little help from Uncle Charleie getting the roof up. We had to be careful getting the holes just right on the roof because we don't want too much extra space around the top.

The next step was getting the trap door and ladder in place. That was pretty easy and Camden helped me do that last night. All that is left to do is a little trim on the other side, shingles on the roof and I will build a door. After that just some accessories and decorating and this tree house will be ready for action! To say that Camden is excited about this project is an understatement. Every night when we finish up for the evening he gives me a big high five and tells me how brilliant I am.

Week ending June 26, 2011

2011-06-20T11:18:00.000-07:00

6/20 - 10 miles (60 minutes)

6/21 - 10 miles (63 minutes)

6/22 - 6 miles AM (46 minutes), workout PM (3 miles warm up, 4 x 800, 8 x 200 with 400m jog after 800's and 200m jog after 200's, 2 miles cool down. 2:21.0, 2:22.6, 2:22.0, 2:23.7 (fighting the need to find a bathroom on last 800, pretty much from the start), 31.9, 32.7, 31.4, 31.9, 32.0, 31.9, 31.8, 29.5) Last 200 was pretty much all I've got, and there was a slight tailwind. I would probably be able to pace a 4:00 mile attempt for approximately 215 meters. (10 miles)

6/23 - 10 miles (72 minutes)

6/24 - 5 miles AM (40 minutes), 5 miles PM (33 minutes)

6/25 - Bobcat Bolt 10K - 3 miles total warm up, race in 33:39 (1st, course is probably a little long), 3 miles cool down. Nice morning with the Hockings, Al and Diana, despite rain which was heavy at times. (12 miles)

6/26 - off (You guessed it...treehouse work! When your son says, "Dad, can you cancel running and work on the treehouse with me?" there is only one answer.)

Summary: 68 miles, decking on the porch, door made, trim finished, trap door hardware attached, pulley and basket to house completed (this is so mom can send drinks and snacks over, basically looks like a clothesline with a basket attached)

Week ending June 19, 2011

2011-06-13T04:59:00.001-07:00

6/13 - 8 miles AM (60 minutes), 10 miles PM (72 minutes)

6/14 - 6 miles AM (48 minutes), 10 miles PM (67 minutes)

6/15 - missed AM run (took Carter for a walk on the beach in Rye at 5:00 AM so Camie could get a little more sleep), workout PM (5 x mile, legs are still a little heavy and achy so I wanted to do something fairly smooth and comfortable.) 3+ warm up, 5:08, 5:04, 5:00, 4:59, 4:53, 3 miles cool down with a good set of 100m strides. Basically the reps cut down from about 10K pace to about 5K pace. I tried to surge on a different 400 in each rep to work on changing gears a little bit. Picking it up was easy but the challenge is not slowing too much after the surge. (12 miles)

6/16 - 6 miles AM (48 minutes), 8 miles PM (55 minutes)

6/17 - same as Wednesday morning but we went to York beach today, 10 miles PM (63 minutes)

6/18 - 8 miles (58 minutes)

6/19 - was going to do a long tempo but skipped it to work on the tree house. Decided I'd rather spend Father's Day being a dad instead of a runner. Almost done. Just needs shingles on the roof, some trim on the other side and some accessories. Camden and I are having a lot of fun building it together. He did a lot of the blue paint and fetches tools for me while I'm up in the tree.

Summary: 78 miles, 1 tree house

Week ending June 12, 2011

2011-06-06T04:49:00.000-07:00

6/6 - 8 miles AM (58 minutes), 10 miles PM (70 minutes)

6/7 - 11 miles AM (75 minutes), 7 miles PM (54 minutes)

6/8 - missed AM run (was up in the night with a sick Camie and couldn't drag my butt out of bed at 5), workout PM (3 miles warm up, 4 x 800, 8 x 200 w 400m jog after 800's and 200m jog after 200's, 2 miles cool down. Tried to be mindful of the heat (85 with 98 heat index) and not worry too much about times. Ended up being 2:24.5, 2:23.6, 2:23.4, 2:23.4, 31.9, 32.9, 31.9, 31.8, 32.6, 33.4, 32.8, 31.2) (10 miles)

6/9 - 6 miles AM (48 minutes), 8 miles PM (58 minutes)

6/10 - 5 miles AM (40 minutes), 5 miles PM (33 minutes)

6/11 - Market Square Day 10K - (31:40, 1st) 3 miles warm up including some strides and a couple minutes quicker, 5 miles cool down out onto New Castle with Lesley, Dan, Pat and Katie. (14 miles)

6/12 - 16 miles (1:55)

Summary: 100 miles for the week with a 10K PR.

Week ending June 5, 2011

2011-05-31T05:06:00.000-07:00

5/30 - off (built a sweet tree house with Camden)

5/31 - 6 miles AM (42 minutes), 10 miles PM (66 minutes)

6/1 - 5 miles AM (40 minutes), 7 miles PM (48 minutes)

6/2 - workout (2 mile tempo, 2 x 800, 2 x 400, all with 400m jog recovery - 10:28, 2:24, 2:24, 68, 66) (10 miles)

6/3 - 6 miles AM (48 minutes), 8 miles PM (58 minutes)

6/4 - 8 miles (56 minutes)

6/5 - Rhody 5K - (15:18 - 7th) 4 miles warm up with the team and then strides and a couple minutes tempo, course in reverse to cool down during the women's race.

Summary: 70 miles for the week. I'm sort of scheduling recovery weeks around grand prix events as a mini taper. Was hoping to be a little faster at Rhody but whatever. Went out conservatively for me (4:55) and was even the whole race, 9:50 at 2 miles I think. Went from about 35th place at a half mile to top 10 before the 2 mile mark. Good win for the team and a really solid CMS debut for Nick. Al ran really well too! We picked up the slack for missing a couple of guys who are usually in the mix for the team scoring.

2011-05-26T05:20:00.001-07:00

Week ending May 29, 2011

2011-05-23T07:29:00.001-07:00

5/23 - 11 miles AM (77 minutes), 5 miles PM (38 minutes)

5/24 - 11 miles AM (74 minutes), 9 miles PM (62 minutes) Here's my 11 mile loop out around New Castle island

5/25 - 6 miles AM (48 minutes), workout PM 12 x 400 + 1 x 200 with 30 seconds jog (~100m) recovery (71.3, 69.6, 72.5, 69.8, 72.0, 72.0, 71.4, 71.6, 71.4, 72.5, 71.8, 71.0, 31.6) 14:48.5 for 5K of work. Recovery was all between 29.6 and 33.5. Strong wind on the home straight and first turn on the track which threw me off a little bit. There were a few times when I was pushing too hard and a few times when it felt like I was coasting on the aided back stretch. (10 miles)

5/26 - 6 miles AM (48 minutes), 8 miles PM (56 minutes)

5/27 - 6 miles AM (48 minutes), 10 miles PM (69 minutes)

5/28 - 8 miles AM (60 minutes)

5/29 - Runner's Alley/Redhook 5K - (15:20, 1st) 4 miles warm up with JJ and Ben plus strides, course again for cool down with JJ, Ben and Nick. (10 miles)

Summary: 100 miles for the week with a sharp little workout and a good race in the sun. As I said in my newspaper column, Redhook kicks off the summer racing and it sure felt like it today.

Week ending May 22, 2011

2011-05-16T05:51:00.000-07:00

5/16 - RIP Sammy 6 miles AM (48 minutes w/ some short easy strides. Legs are pretty sore from yesterday's workout), 9 miles PM (66 minutes)

5/17 - 11 miles AM (80 minutes), 8 miles PM (52 minutes)

5/18 - 5 miles AM (38 minutes), 10 miles PM (3 miles warm up, 4 mile tempo in 20:52 (5:15, 5:15, 5:14, 5:08), 3 miles cool down)

5/19 - 6 miles AM (45 minutes), 9 miles PM (63 minutes)

5/20 - 8 miles AM (60 minutes), 10 miles PM (67 minutes)

5/21 - 12 miles (77 minutes, started a tempo with Nick Crowell out around New Castle but his stomach acted up so we both bagged it and just cruised. Still was around 46 minutes for the 7.6 miles loop. I'll try to do something to get my legs turning over a little tomorrow)

5/22 - 11 miles (73 minutes with 20 minutes of 1 minute on, 1 minute off in the middle miles)

Summary: 105 miles for the week. Not too much quality work but I want to let the hard 18 miler last Sunday soak in and still keep up the miles so this was a good week. Legs feel pretty fresh and fine. Abs and psoas is still a little sore. Doing light stretching and PT exercises just about every day.

Week ending May 15, 2011

2011-05-09T06:22:00.001-07:00

5/9 - 8 miles AM (60 minutes), 7 miles PM (51 minutes) wanted to get in 10 but I've had a headache since I got up this morning plus I'm trying to show a little discipline and give the double psore psoas's psome rest.

5/10 - 11 miles AM (70 minutes), 7 miles PM (55 minutes)

5/11 - 6 miles AM (38 minutes), no PM run, long day at work and no lunch break

5/12 - 6 miles AM (45 minutes), workout PM (Aussie quarters, 8 x 400 w/ 200 quick recovery before each rep: (42.4) 71.5 (43.8) 70.9 (44.2) 70.3 (43.0) 72.7 (45.9) 70.6 (44.3) 71.1 (44.6) 71.4 (43.2) 66.4, 15:16 for the session, so 5:05 average pace) First time I've done this workout so I wasn't sure what to expect. I'm surprised how slow 6:00 pace feels when you are doing it, but I wish I could get the 400m wheels a little sharper. I don't know what I can run for an open 400, but I bet it isn't much faster than 65.

5/13 - 8 miles AM (58 minutes), 10 miles PM (68 minutes)

5/14 - 11 miles (75 minutes)

5/15 - 18 miles (1:47:30) (http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=4508051)

Summary: 101 miles for the week with a sharp little workout (Aussies quarters) and a nice hard long run to finish the week.

Week ending May 8, 2011

2011-05-02T09:41:00.000-07:00

5/2 - 6 miles AM (45 minutes), 9 miles PM (58 minutes)

5/3 - 6 miles AM (45 minutes), 10 miles PM (67 minutes)

5/4 - 11 miles AM (75 minutes), daddy duty no PM run

5/5 - 7 miles AM (55 minutes), 10 miles PM with 8 x 200 thrown in (65 minutes)

5/6 - 6 miles AM (45 minutes), 10 miles PM (67 minutes)

5/7 - 8 miles AM (58 minutes)

5/8 - Medical Center 6K (18:44, 4th) - 3+ warm up with strides, 3 cool down (10 miles)

Summary: 93 miles for the week, solid race. Strategizing before the race I was planning to lay back a little for the first 1.5 miles which climb pretty good and then try to make up some ground on the back half of the course which is mostly downhill with just a couple little rollers. That went out the window when the gun went off. I got out really good and found myself up in the front pack and feeling good so I just let it happen. I did fall back a few steps on the first good climb and settled into 4th behind Matt Ely for the rest of the climbing. Once we got over the hump I managed to make contact with Matt and we went back and forth a few times over the next mile and a half. When we turned right at 3 miles I knew it was just a 1200m finish but Matt made a move and I wasn't able to match it. Too bad because I was mentally prepared to really work for this race but he was just stronger and put 7 seconds on me in the last 1200. Still the best finish I've had at a GP event and because I've never run a 6K before, a cheap PR.

Week ending May 1, 2011

2011-04-25T08:58:00.001-07:00

4/25 - 5 miles AM (40 minutes), 5 miles PM (33:30)

4/26 - 5 miles AM (36 minutes), 10 miles PM (61 minutes)

4/27 - 5 miles AM (40 minutes), workout PM (2 x mile (4:54, 4:56), 2 x 800 (2:28, 2:27), 2 X 400 (71, 70) 400 jog recovery after miles, 200m jog after 800s and 400s. (10 miles)

4/28 - 5 miles AM (40 minutes), 7 miles PM (47 minutes)

4/29 - 5 miles with strides AM (40 minutes), 8 miles PM (52 minutes)

4/30 - 7 miles (50 minutes)

5/1 - Jame Joyce Ramble 10K (31:47) PR - 3 mile warm up, 4 mile cool down (13 miles)

Summary: 85 miles for the week. Was hoping to be a little faster on Sunday but it was windy and I competed the best I could. Splits (from memory) were something like 4:52, 9:57, 15:07, 20:21, 25:37, 30:42, 31:47. A few faster guys were a little slower than I expected but a few didn't seem to be affected. Tried to work with Brennan Bonner (GBTC) to stay on pace but he did more of the work for the middle 4 miles.

Week ending April 24, 2011

2011-04-19T06:23:00.001-07:00

4/18 - 10 miles on Boston Marathon course with Brandon and a couple of his PEA kids (77 minutes)

4/19 - 5 miles AM (40 minutes), 10 miles PM (66 minutes)

4/20 - workout (2 x 2 miles (9:58, 10:00), 1 x 2.25 miles (11:13), 200m jog recovery in 60 seconds) 6.5 miles @ average pace of 5:05 including jog recovery. Tough one. (11 miles)

4/21 - 5 miles AM (40 minutes), 9 miles PM (68 minutes)

4/22 - 5 miles AM (40 minutes), 10 miles PM (68 minutes)

4/23 - Out of Hibernation "5K" - 15:12 (warm up and cool down with Chris, Heather and Brandon, lousy weather) (11 miles)

4/24 - 14 miles (92 minutes)

Summary: 90 miles

Week ending April 17, 2011

2011-04-11T04:56:00.001-07:00

4/11 - 6 miles AM (48 minutes), 9 miles PM (58 minutes)

4/12 - 6 miles AM (45 minutes), 10 miles PM (67 minutes)

4/13 - workout (3 x 2400, 1 x 2800 @ 5:00 pace, 200m jog recovery in 60 seconds) 6.625 miles @ average pace of 5:08 including jog recovery. (11 miles)

4/14 - 6 miles AM (48 minutes), 9 miles PM (67 minutes)

4/15 - 5 miles AM (40 minutes)

4/16 - Girls Inc. 5K (15:22) Ran with DD, had fun. (10 miles)

4/17 - off

Summary: 73 miles with a good workout and a good 5K. Stomach muscles are getting a little sore so I took Sunday off and will probably pull back on the miles a little bit for a while and try to make more time to do ab exercises.

Week ending April 10, 2011

2011-04-04T05:02:00.000-07:00

4/4 - 6 miles AM (46 minutes), 10 miles PM (66 minutes)

4/5 - 6 miles AM (48 minutes), 10 miles PM (66 minutes)

4/6 - workout (5 x mile + 1 x 2000 @ 5:00 pace w/ 200m recovery in 60 seconds. 7 miles including recovery at average of 5:17 pace) (11 miles)

4/7 - 8 miles AM (64 minutes), 8 miles PM (60 minutes)

4/8 - 6 miles AM (48 minutes), 10 miles PM (65 minutes)

4/9 - 10 miles AM (65 minutes) plus 2 hours of full court alumni basketball madness...very sore!

4/10 - 15 miles (1:37) Wanted to get in 18 at a harder aerobic effort but my whole body was trashed from basketball yesterday

Summary: 100 miles

Week ending April 3, 2011

2011-03-28T10:56:00.000-07:00

3/28 - 5 miles AM (40 minutes), 5 miles PM (33 minutes) Wanted to do a tempo today but feel lousy. Too many kids with runny noses around me this weekend I think. Hope it passes quickly.

3/29 - 5 miles AM (40 minutes), workout PM (7 x 1200 + 1 x 1600 @ goal 10K pace (5:00) with 200m jog recovery in a little under 60 seconds. Total workload with recovery of 7.125 miles @ 5:22 pace) (10 miles)

3/30 - 6 miles AM (48 minutes), 8 miles PM (57 minutes)

3/31 - 12 miles (80 minutes)

4/1 - 5 miles AM (40 minutes), 10 miles PM (66 minutes)

4/2 - Todd's Trot (5K) 15:51 - Ran another lap to cool down at about 6:00 pace because I wasn't very happy with the effort. (10 miles)

4/3 - 11 miles (70 minutes) - was planning to get in more but I was still feeling worn down and probably needed a lighter week.

Summary: 87 miles, sort of a recovery week but mostly because I've been a little sick and not sleeping well because the boys are a lot sick.

Week ending March 27, 2011

2011-03-21T04:56:00.001-07:00

3/21 - 6 miles AM (48 minutes), 8 miles PM (57 minutes)

3/22 - 5 miles AM (40 minutes), 10 miles PM (65 minutes)

3/23 - 5 miles AM (40 minutes), workout PM (12 x 800 @ 2:29-2:31 w/ 200m jog recovery in right around 60 seconds) (12 miles)

3/24 - 5 miles AM (40 minutes), 8 miles PM (56 minutes)

3/25 - 5 miles AM (40 minutes), 10 miles PM (65 minutes)

3/26 - 20 miles with Seth (2:35)

3/27 - 6 miles (39 minutes)

Summary: 100 miles. Getting back into the swing of higher mileage gradually. Still tired but it will pass.

Week ending March 20, 2011

2011-03-14T05:36:00.001-07:00

3/14 - 5 miles AM (37 minutes), 11 miles PM (workout, 6 x mile @ 5:13-15 pace w/ 400m recovery @ 6:40 pace. 5:32 average pace for the 7.5 miles including recovery.)

3/15 - 5 miles AM (40 minutes), 8 miles PM (60 minutes)

3/16 - 5 miles AM (40 minutes), 10 miles PM (65 minutes)

3/17 - 5 miles AM (40 minutes), 11 miles PM (10 mile tempo with a mile cool down. 55:10 total, split 28:20 and 26:50 on Hay St. loop. Probably a little too hard for right now. I'm wiped and my stomach is a little upset.)

3/18 - 5 miles AM (40 minutes), 8 miles PM (58 minutes)

3/19 - 10 miles (70 minutes)

3/20 - 18 miles (1:56)

Summary: 101 miles for the week with some good quality sessions. Doin' the bull dance...

Week ending March 13, 2011

2011-03-07T05:35:00.001-08:00

3/7 - 5 miles AM (39 minutes), 8 miles PM (57 minutes)

3/8 - 5 miles AM (38 minutes), 10 miles PM (workout - 8 x 800 @ 5:15 pace w/ 400 quick recovery (6:20 pace) total 6 miles @ 33:40) This wasn't quite as tough as I thought it was going to me with the quicker rest sections. Maybe I could have done the 'on' a little harder or the 'off' a little quicker, or more reps. Interesting session though, got 4 miles at probably current 10K pace and overall 6 miles averaging 5:38.

3/9 - 5 miles AM (40 minutes), 8 miles PM (55 minutes)

3/10 - 5 miles AM (37 minutes), 10 miles PM (65 minutes)

3/11 - 5 miles AM (38 minutes), 10 miles PM (56:40) (Progression run. Started around 7:00 pace, got under 6 quickly and got it down to about 5:10 towards the end. First half in right around 30 minutes, second half in 26:40.)

3/12 - 10 miles (70-72 minutes?)

3/13 - 8 miles (53 minutes)

Summary: 89 miles for the week with a couple of nice efforts. Probably the best week of running I've had in a couple of months. Also, yesterday was the 2nd Annual St. Paddy's Five Miler. This year's champ was Dan Hocking of Northeast Running Services. Winning races is a pretty good way to advertise your coaching and training services! I took a little video of the race. It is a little choppy and not up to my normal film production standards, but I'll try to put together a couple of minutes worth of race footage within a couple of days.

Week ending March 6, 2011

2011-02-28T05:42:00.001-08:00

2/28 - 5 miles AM (40 minutes), 5 miles PM (36 minutes)

3/1 - 5 miles AM (38 minutes), 10 miles PM (66 minutes)

3/2 - 10 miles (66 minutes) (workout - 3 x 2 miles @ 10:56, 10:52, 10:48 with 400m jog recovery)

3/3 - 5 miles AM (37 minutes), missed PM run, daddy duty.

3/4 - 5 miles AM (38 minutes), 10 miles PM (65 minutes)

3/5 - 10 miles (65 minutes)

3/6 - 15 miles (1:45)

Summary: 80 miles, getting back to decent mileage.

Week ending February 27, 2011

2011-02-21T05:17:00.000-08:00

2/21 - 5 miles AM (40 minutes), 5 miles PM (36 minutes)

2/22 - 5 miles AM (40 minutes), 10 miles PM (65 minutes)

2/23 - 11 miles (6 x mile @ ~5:25 pace)

2/24 - 5 miles AM (40 minutes), 5 miles PM (37 minutes)

2/25 - 5 miles AM (40 minutes), 10 miles PM (66 minutes)

2/26 - 5 miles (34 minutes)

2/27 - 10 miles (57:30) Progression run. Started around 6:15, ended around 5:15. Felt really good today. This didn't feel like much work until the last couple miles.

Summary: 76 miles for the week. Abs are still a little sore after the two faster runs this week but not as bad as they had been.

Week ending February 20, 2011

2011-02-14T05:12:00.000-08:00

2/14 - 5 miles AM (40 minutes), 10 miles PM (66 minutes)

2/15 - 8 miles AM (57 minutes)

2/16 - off (I wrenched the crap out of my back loading some wood flooring into the truck and couldn't move all day. Had to get help putting my socks on for work. Thought about going to the ER but decided to see if it loosens up at all today. Kind of scary. Getting old sucks.)

2/17 - 7 miles (49 minutes) Back is still pretty stiff in the lower left side, but being straight up when running isn't bad as long as I keep a very quiet upper body. Should be back to normal tomorrow.

2/18 - 5 miles AM (40 minutes), 10 miles PM (64 minutes)

2/19 - 10 miles (71 minutes)

2/20 - 15 miles (~1:50, no watch)

Summary: 70 miles for the week.

Week ending February 13, 2011

2011-02-07T07:58:00.000-08:00

2/7 - 8 miles AM (56 minutes)

2/8 - 5 miles AM (35 minutes), 5 miles PM (40 minutes)

2/9 - 10 miles (67 minutes)

2/10 - 5 miles AM (38 minutes), 7 miles PM (50 minutes)

2/11 - 4 miles AM (30 minutes), 6 miles PM (36 minutes) I was hoping to try a 4 mile hard run @ about 5:15 pace so I did an easy mile and then got through 2 miles before I had to bail. Not the muscles, just out of shape. Did 800m @ 6:40 pace, getting pissed the whole time. Threw in a mile @ 6:00, then was planning to coast in another 1.5 miles @ 6:40 pace. Got through another 800m and Eye of the Tiger came on so I had to max out the treadmill @ 12 mph and let it rip. I'm glad I did. It basically turned into a weird little workout. I feel good though, so hopefully I'll just be tired tomorrow, not overly sore.

By the way, if you want to have a child on 11/11/11, you better get busy tonight.

2/12 - 8 miles (56 minutes)

2/13 - 8 miles (56 minutes)

Summary: 66 miles for the week. Geez, almost feels like I'm actually a runner again. About 2/3 of the runner I want to be.

Cross Training

2011-02-02T14:19:00.001-08:00

Week ending February 6, 2011

2011-01-31T11:54:00.000-08:00

1/31 - 5 easy miles AM, 5 miles on treadmill PM (all at about 7:30 pace, with a mile at 2%, 2 miles at 4%, 2 miles at 2%) Followed by PT exercises. First double in a while, wanted to see how it would feel to run again after just 6 hours of rest. Seems OK but I can tell it is a little more sore than last week. Tomorrow morning is when it would be sore though if I was pushing it too much. If it feels OK tomorrow I think I will skip the morning run and see if a warm up and then a few miles at about 6:00-6:30 pace bother it.

2/1 - 8 miles on treadmill (2 miles warm up, 2 miles @ 6:30, 2 miles @ 6:00, 2 miles cool down) PT exercises. Feels OK, a little sore but just like after other easy days. This might just be my new "normal", I don't know. I assume this will gradually sort of fade, but i suspect it is going to take quite a while. Going to be really snowy tomorrow and I think it will be a good day to join a gym about a mile from the house for easier access to a treadmill.

2/2 - 6 miles on treadmill, about 7:30 pace

2/3 - 5 miles AM, 30 minutes bike PM w/ PT exercises

2/4 - 6 miles AM (4 @ 6:15 pace)

2/5 - 10 miles with about 4 @ 6:00 pace

2/6 - 6 miles on treadmill 45 minutes

Summary: 51 miles for the week with a little biking.

Interactive Treadmill design idea

2011-01-28T06:39:00.000-08:00

I sometimes kill time running, especially on the treadmill by letting my mind wander. I actually get a lot done while running that ins't very obvious. I can think through quite a few things that I might have to otherwise sit at my desk and think through. It is actually pretty good multitasking. It also helps get through everyday runs that can sometimes be boring. Especially lately as I've been just dawdling on the treadmill, having something to think about is the only way I can tolerate it.

The last few days I've been mixing in some incline on the treadmill, which got me thinking about what grade to put it at to simulate different real roads, like Sagamore hill in Portsmouth, NH. That led me to think about Mount Washington. I think the treadmill at work maxes out at 10% so I know it isn't capable of simulating Mt. W, but that got me thinking more about it.

I wonder if there is some existing treadmill or program which allows you to program your treadmill to automatically adjust grade to simulate a road or race course of your choosing? The quick web search I've done since then only revealed one person wondering something similar, but the closest thing I've found is the NordicTrack iFit and I can't tell exactly what that does.

I tend to shoot holes in my ideas pretty quickly, so the first thing I thought is that you can't really simulate downhills on a treadmill, at least with current designs. I suppose you could design one with a rear lift as well as a front one, but I assume that would create some kind of safety issue. For the time being, let's assume it could be done safely. Maybe limit the rear lift to 5% rather than the 10% you can get on the front.

Whatever the format for loading the program, you would have to set it to make adjustments almost constantly if you were being really precise, so you might have to do some feathering to smooth it out a little bit, like make adjustments every 1/100 of a mile rather than every foot. The program would have to constantly compare your distance traveled to the corresponding grade at that distance into the route. It would also have to ignore or limit grade to the constraints of the treadmill, let's say 10% incline and 5% decline. Though to be honest, many people assume you should run at 1% incline on a treadmill normally anyway to more closely simulate outdoor running. Maybe this would be factored in.

Collecting data for inputting programs becomes the next thought. Could something as simple as an elevation profile from something like Google Maps be somehow converted into data that could be programmed and transformed into a format that a treadmill could be set up to decipher and execute? If so, that would be pretty simple.

The other piece of my fantasy treadmill that I would want to add is a handheld remote so I don't have to actually touch the screen. Reaching to touch the screen can actually be a little difficult once you get moving at close to race pace. I'd rather have a small (wireless for safety) remote with just an up/down button for adjusting the pace and an emergency stop button.

The other thing that would be cool, but possibly cost prohibitive would be a video monitor mounted to the front which could show your route as you move. The key here would be making a video of the course at a closely calibrated speed so that it would be slowed precisely to follow along with the distance traveled on your run. You wouldn't want to have the video get too far ahead of you or behind you. Collecting the data for this would be next to impossible, but it is a cool idea.

So there you have it. My thoughts on a programmable, varying course treadmill with interactive grade adjustments and dynamic video route display. Anyone want to help me patent this thing?

Maybe you're thinking "Just go outside and run." Well that isn't always possible for a variety of reasons. And imagine how much more enjoyable treadmill running would be if you could be indoors in Maine during a blizzard and decide you want to run part of the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina, or through downtown Cairo, Egypt? Wouldn't that make your hour on the Dreadmill go by a little quicker?

Who's with me on this???

Week ending January 30, 2011

2011-01-24T11:27:00.001-08:00

1/24 - 5 miles on treadmill with about 2000 feet elevation gain

1/25 - 5 miles on treadmill with some climbing

1/26 - 5 miles on treadmill (3 x mile @ 8% incline, 8 mph)

1/27 - 5 miles on treadmill (3.5 miles @ 4% incline)

1/28 - 5 miles in treadmill with some incline (Christ...I'm starting to feel like 50% Moulton)

1/29 - 8 miles around Newcastle loop with Brian and a little bit with Guy. Mostly around 7 minute pace I guess, last mile a little quicker.

1/30 - off, felt fine but had a busy day and figured I should still be smart and take some days off here and there just to ease back into running every day.

Week ending January 23, 2011

2011-01-17T10:14:00.000-08:00

1/17 - 45 minutes on bike. "I have a dream that one day I will run again."

1/18 - 5 miles easy

1/19 - 30 minutes on bike

1/20 - 7 miles easy

1/21 - 5 miles with some treadmill incline

1/22 - off

1/23 - off

The York Independent

2011-01-15T18:37:00.000-08:00

Everyone who reads my nonsense knows I used to be a fat piece of trash, right?

A paper in York did a little story about New Year's Resolutions and decided that my transition would be interesting.

Q&A about me starts on page 4.
http://www.e-pages.dk/thehippo/65/

Week ending January 16, 2011

2011-01-10T11:18:00.000-08:00

1/10 - 60 minutes on bike, PT in afternoon

1/11 - 5 miles, felt like about 35 minutes but I didn't have a watch on.

1/12 - does snow removal count as XT?

1/13 - 30 minutes on bike

1/14 - PT

1/15 - off

1/16 - 5+ miles, about 38 minutes of running

Summary: I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and gosh darn it...people like me.

A swimming miracle!

2011-01-05T11:45:00.001-08:00

I figure if I'm not accomplishing anything lately I can use the space to share the accomplishments of others...

Big day for Camden (my 3 year old son for those who don't know) at swimming lessons today. He's been going to swimming on Wednesdays for about a year and while he enjoys it, he kind of likes to sometimes do his own thing and is reluctant to interact with the other kids at times (though he has a girlfriend, Kelsey who he is deeply enamored with. He got her a doll for Christmas and she gave him a Fisher Price MP3 player!).

He also has been very reluctant to stick his head under water. I think I might have caused this by getting some water in his mouth while washing his hair in the shower quite a while ago, but I'm not sure.

Over vacation we went to the pool to practice swimming with me a little bit and try to show him some more encouragement.

Well, I got a call from Camie after lunch today informing me of a "Swimming Lesson Miracle!" today. Nana takes him because she watches him on Wednesdays. Apparently on the way up Nana reminded him to listen to what Anne tells him (she's the instructor & family friend).

When he got to class he got his clothes off, marched over to the side of the pool, raised one fist in the air and declared "TO INFINITY...AND BEYOND!!!" and then proceeded to jump into the pool all by himself!

I'm told he then proceeded to spend most of the class swimming back and forth in the pool with his head underwater as much as his lungs would allow!

Nana said all the other parents and grandparents (who know he's been rather timid) were quite shocked at first and then were cheering for him and making him feel like Michael Phelps.

Wish I was there to capture it in a Wiles Studios film!

Fireside Race Reports, Episode 2

2011-01-04T17:45:00.000-08:00

(Hopefully it is obvious that these are intended as flattery and nothing else. I'll never mention someone in a Wiles Studios production that I don't admire and respect.)

Testicle removal

2011-01-03T19:36:00.001-08:00

Karate Bob

2011-01-03T17:48:00.000-08:00

Week ending January 9, 2011

2011-01-03T10:36:00.000-08:00

1/3 - PT exercises, stretching, 30 minutes fairly hard stationary bike. (I've never done much on it, so I don't really know what the effort should feel like. I was trying to stay above 95-100 for cadence doing a random route that changed the workload a bit. It was harder on the quads than the lungs, but I was breathing hard at the end and sweating a little bit, so I guess it was a good start.) Felt good to at least get the blood flowing a little bit.

1/4 - 30 minutes stationary bike, random workout, tried taking my pulse a few times and at a cadence of 100 I can really only get my HR to about 120. But it doesn't feel like I want to crank my legs much harder. PT appointment in the afternoon went well, and follow up appointment at the physiatrist in the evening was kind of dull, he just reminded me that I should be very slow and careful about building up when I start running again.

1/5 - 20 minutes bike, 1 miles easy treadmill run @ 8:30

1/6 - 4 miles easy AM, 60 minutes on bike PM

1/7 - 40 minutes bike, PT in the afternoon

1/8 - 4 miles

1/9 - 4 miles

Summary: 13 miles running, a few hours of biking for the week. Feels like I might be starting to heal a little bit, but I need to be patient and not push it too much. PT on Friday was tough and my quads, adductors and glutes are still sore from some exercises that involved a skateboard. Plan for next week is to run 5 miles every other day, biking as many days as possible, keep stretching and PT.

2010 reflections

2011-01-03T08:57:00.000-08:00

Looks like everyone is doing a 2010 recap, and I hate to be the odd man out!

Well, despite ending 2010 on a sour note with an injury 2010 was without a doubt the best year of running I’ve had. A few numbers and then a brief summary:

4022 miles run. I was hoping to average over 80 miles per week (4160) and was on track for that through the first couple of weeks in December. However, ending the year with 23 miles in the last 21 days brought be back down under that average a little bit. The last few weeks aside, there is no doubt in my mind that the consistent decent volume combined with lots of tempo and strength work allowed me to take my fitness to a new level in 2010.

22 road races, the most for me in a year. Not counting USATF-NE Grand Prix races, I ran 18 races, winning 14, 2 2nd place finishes, a 3rd, and a 4th. I ended up 10th in the Grand Prix but was only able to run in 4 of the 7 races.

Set 18 PRs for the year, counting indoor stuff early in the year. Managed to set a few course records at some smaller races, but still kind of fun to do.

Looking back on 2010, I think the ball got rolling on a chance encounter with Al Bernier in December of 2009. He came along on a Sunday run in Portsmouth after a fresh snow that took us through a bunch of trails and along the beach. We talked about the indoor mile he had run the day before and I became curious about what I might be able to run for a mile. So the next weekend I ended up at the BU mini meet with Al and Diana to give it a try. Not knowing what I was doing, I lined up at the finish line on the 200M track and Al had to tell me that the start line was 9 meters back, where he was lined up. That first race was a blast and I decided to run as much of an indoor season as I could. I started working out indoors at UNH with a few guys and ran a couple more miles, as well as a couple of 3Ks and a 5K, recording times at each distance that I was fairly pleased with, 4:26, 8:35, and 14:56.

Somewhere in there Al suggested I join CMS and I didn’t hesitate to accept the offer. I immediately got very excited about running with a team for the summer and it turned out to be a great decision. CMS is definitely the right fit for me and I get very excited a few weeks before every team event. As much as I enjoy running well, it is great to see your teammates running well also, and I got quite a kick out of Gorman frothing towards the line at Bedford in the 12K, where Fyffe smashed the course record as well. JJ dropping the hammer over the last 5K at New Bedford and the Polar Express rolling along with 6 finishers within 70 seconds in the half marathon, there were just a lot of great experiences though the summer and I’m already looking forward to next year.

On the local scene, I did a few spring tune up races and then started the Seacoast Road Race series in Dover for the Footbridge 5K. Mahoney was still with Whirlaway at the time but we had a fun group and I managed to win with a course record (new course) and beat John Mentzer for the first time, which I was convinced was a fluke but still a sign that I was making progress with my fitness. The next SRRS race was Redhook and another tough field with JJ and Ben Jenkins as well as John to do battle with again. I went out too hard in something like 4:42 and John passed me a little after 2 miles and I thought I was toast but managed to convince myself to see how hard I could go before I dropped and was able to squeak out the win. That was a big race for me because it gave me a chance to keep fighting after I thought I was beat and I learned what emptying the tank really feels like.

Carter was born the week before Market Square Day and I didn’t run the three days before the race and then blew up after going out too hard with Pat Moulton. Mentzer spanked me here and Kevin Tilton ran a great race. I had been hoping to run well here but sometimes things just happen. There was a great CMS crew though, and we had a nice cool down out towards Newcastle Island.

After having to miss a couple more SRRS races I decided to bag the series. I had decided that the Seacoast Half Marathon was my focus for the fall and I didn’t want to get caught up in 5K and 10K races that would take me away from the training plan I was committing to. I did run a couple of 5Ks during the build up and ran PRs both times despite not cutting back on mileage those week. These two races were really encouraging for me and helped break up the training cycle a little bit. In hindsight I’m glad I did this because I was really happy with the half marathon and I know it is because I stuck to the training plan. I am a little bummed that I didn’t get to race John more this summer though, because he is a great competitor and I know he was looking forward to a few more races as well. Hopefully 2011 will allow us to get on the line together a few more times.

I should have shut it down immediately after the half marathon and had told myself I was going to, but for some reason I didn’t. I think I knew I was in great shape and didn’t give enough consideration to the last year of consistent hard training that my body had endured without complaining. I just pushed the limit a little too far and learned that I’m not impervious to injury. For much of the summer I trained through little soreness and small annoying stuff, convincing myself that most of it was in my head. I was feeling this soreness in my abs for the last 6 weeks of my half marathon training but ignored it. It was worst after workouts and then would get a bit better after a couple of recovery days. More warning signs that I ignored.

Looking ahead to 2011, the first thing I need to do is let this thing heal. When injured, it can be tough to think beyond the injury and all seems gloomy, but I know that if treated properly, this will pass. I just have to stop looking at my calendar and wait for it to come. In the meantime I’ve noticed that riding a bike doesn’t seem to bother me so I’ll start biking a little bit to try and get my blood pumping at least a little bit. Right now I feel like I’m totally out of shape. Luckily, I have guys like Dan Hocking and Mark Miller to look at. Guys who have had substantial injuries and were able to return to competitive shape.

I don’t really have time goals established for 2011, but I really don’t see any reason why I can’t set PRs at every distance.

Until I get healthy, I’m having fun spending a little more time with the family. Having more energy is fun. I’m not falling asleep right after dinner right now, and Camden has lots of new toys from Christmas that he likes me to play with him. I’ll also continue to goof around with little Wiles Studios films to keep myself and maybe others entertained. We got a new iMac for Christmas so it is easy to do with iMovie.

Week ending January 2, 2011

2011-01-03T07:09:00.000-08:00

12/27 - 5 miles (33 minutes)

12/28 - off

12/29 - off

12/30 - off

12/31 - off

1/1 - off

1/2 - off

Summary: I'm a hot mess.

Fireside Race Reports, Episode 1

2011-01-02T18:28:00.000-08:00

While I'm at it...

2010-12-30T19:42:00.000-08:00

My abs and groin are still too sore to run, so I decided to get in a little speed work by tidying up the basement double time.

Energy to spare

2010-12-30T19:39:00.000-08:00

Well, I can't run so I might as well hunt, right? Maybe I'll change the name of my blog to "Bob Wiles: Runnin' & Gunnin'

Week ending December 26, 2010

2010-12-23T09:18:00.000-08:00

12/20 - off

12/21 - off

12/22 - PT in AM, then easy warm up on bike, some stretching and 1 easy mile on treadmill

12/23 - easy warm up on bike, some stretching and 3 miles on treadmill, about 22 minutes. Half a mile at 6:00 pace to see how it felt. Seems OK at the moment, we'll see if it is more sore this evening or tomorrow. If it feels OK I'll try 5 miles tomorrow and then hopefully stay with 5 miles for a few days. Somewhat encouraged that the rest is helping at the moment, but there is still some tightness and minor soreness.

12/24 - 4 miles easy (4:30 AM)

12/25 - Christmas!

12/26 - 5 miles easy

Summary: Still sucks.

Week ending December 19, 2010

2010-12-16T07:09:00.000-08:00

12/13 - off (PT am & pm) (pelvic tilts, tilts w/ heel raises, tilt w/ single leg raises, legs squeezes, stretching)

12/14 - off (PT am & pm)

12/15 - off (PT am & pm)

12/16 - 5 miles easy (PT am & pm)

12/17 - off

12/18 - see above

12/19 - see above

Summary: Sucks.

Week ending December 12, 2010

2010-12-06T05:28:00.001-08:00

12/6 - 48 minutes AM (6 miles), 64 minutes PM (10 miles)

12/7 - 45 minutes AM (6 miles), workout PM (2 miles warm up, 8 x mile @ 5:18-5:20 w/ 400m recovery, 2.25 cool down) (14 miles)

12/8 - 48 minutes AM (6 miles), 56 minutes PM (8 miles) "Nobody told me there'd be days like these..." - John Lennon

12/9 - 82 minutes AM (12 miles)

12/10 - 35 minutes AM (5 miles), 63 minutes PM (10 miles)

12/11 - off

12/12 - off

Summary: 77 miles for the week, but I'm afraid I'll have to accept the fact that I'm O-fficially injured. Since sometime in October I've been feeling some strain in my lower abs, mostly after harder running and races. It got to the point where I feared the onset of a sneeze or a cough. I tried treating it with some ice and ibuprofen and stuck it out through the fall racing season, figuring I'd give it some rest after the Seacoast Half. Well, I didn't give it rest and it has gradually gotten worse over the last few weeks. To me, it seems like a sports hernia based on what I've read, but recent x-rays and ultrasound suggest is is only a deep strain at this point, which I guess is good. Hopefully nothing is torn, but I've also read that picking it up in an ultrasound can be tough, so I'm not really sure. I really only know that on my run Thursday afternoon it got worse and I actually felt something new pop up in that region. Nothing really sharp, but not good. Since then I have been aware of it all the time, like walking, rolling over in bed, pretty much all the time. I start PT this week, which hopefully will help. I don't really know what to do in terms of running. Before I thought I wasn't making it much worse because after a workout it would subside during a couple of easy days, but now it is there all the time and I feel like I'm making it worse with every run. So I think I've decided to completely shut it down until I can at least walk through a day without feeling it, and we'll see how the PT goes. I've been dancing with the devil for a while now, training really hard and not giving myself any real down time to recover. In hindsight I should have completely shut it down for a little bit after the half marathon but for some reason I didn't. I can't do a sit up right now. The pain/weakness is really deep in the lower abs/right groin. Sort of feels like it is under/behind the pubic bone. Anyone have an experience with this?

Week ending December 5, 2010

2010-11-29T05:30:00.000-08:00

11/29 - 60 minutes AM (8 miles), screwed by work PM

11/30 - 45 minutes AM (6 miles), 65 minutes PM (10 miles)

12/1 - 48 minutes AM (6 miles), 63 minutes PM (10 miles)

12/2 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 67 minutes PM (10 miles)

12/3 - 48 minutes AM (6 miles), 65 minutes PM (10 miles)

12/4 - 40 minutes (6 miles)

12/5 - 90 minutes (13 miles)

Summary: 90 miles for the week, but kind of a shit weekend. I just kind of felt like we had more important family things to do, like getting our Christmas tree, decorating, and playing with the boys. It was a fun weekend, but I wimped out on the running a little bit. Camden and I watched the Polar Express and had some hot cocoa Saturday night. Pretty happy with the consistency of T-F though.

Week ending November 28, 2010

2010-11-22T05:08:00.000-08:00

11/22 - 48 minutes AM (6 miles), 70 minutes PM (10 miles)

11/23 - 48 minutes AM (6 miles), 70 minutes PM (10 miles)

11/24 - 42 minutes AM (6 miles), 42 minutes PM (6 miles)

11/25 - off

11/26 - off

11/27 - off

11/28 - Andover XC (3 miles warm up plus a few strides, race in 18:25, 3 miles cool down) Ran like crap. Went out too hard with Nate and then blew up on the way back. JJ got me on the last hill and I didn't give him a good fight. Great race though, lots of fun. Recommend it to anyone for next year. (10 miles)

Summary: 54 miles, basically I decided to shut it down for a few days and enjoy the family and the holiday. I'm glad I did. It was a nice weekend and we had fun relaxing and getting a few things done. Plus it helped me recharge my batteries a little bit. Time to get back in the saddle though.

Seacoast Half Marathon - 2010

2010-11-15T12:15:00.000-08:00

First, the details...

Foster's Daily Democrat article
Results
Quick little video

Splits:
1) 5:03
2) 5:12
3) 5:06
4) 5:09
5) 5:25 25:55
6) 5:18
7) 5:18
8) 5:12
9) 5:38
10) 5:21 52:43 (10 mile PR)
11) 5:20
12) 5:20
13) 5:24
13.1) :32
Total: 1:09:19

(I'll try to add a few pictures as I get them)

Well, yesterday was the 2010 Seacoast Half Marathon, or as I've been calling it for a few months, "My goal race for the fall." I've been thinking about this race off and on since the week after the 2009 race where I finished 2nd to Whirlaway stud Dan Princic. I started focusing on it in earnest shortly after the USATF-NE 10K. During my cool down at that race I ran with Lesley Hocking for a little bit and decided to talk to her husband Dan Hocking about a training plan. Dan is a great runner, a really smart guy and has a lot of great ideas about training. I decided he'd probably be able to put together a better training program than I'd find in a book or on my own because he knows a little bit about me and my background. I told him that I wanted to try and run under 1:10. Dan certainly didn't disappoint. He put together a great personalized training plan for me. On paper it looked a little intimidating when I first got it, but to be honest I ended up having a training cycle that was just about perfect and the workouts that Dan prescribed showed a pretty remarkable instinct for paces and volume. His plan didn't call for any races in the training but I substituted a couple of 5K's for some of the faster workouts and set 5K PR's in both races despite having done no 5K workouts, just off the strength I was building in the cycle. OK, I'm sure I'm flattering him to the point of embarrassment, but I'm really just trying to give credit where it is due. Dan's been working through a tough summer of injuries after whipping himself into fantastic shape this spring, and my other secret goal for asking him to help me with training was to get him thinking about half marathon training in general, because I think Dan could use his own training philosophies to get himself an OTQ half marathon or marathon next year.

After reviewing the list of entries and looking for familiar names, I had a feeling that I might be the favorite this year unless there was an unknown visiting from out of town or something, which is certainly possible. (The race walking division this year had a woman who would have walked an Olympic Trials Qualifier if the event had proper judges on the course to certify it, and she came in from New York to compete) Also, a few fast guys had been denied entry after the race sold out, including 2008 winner and recent CMS addition Chris Mahoney, which I was a fairly disappointed about. I do almost all of my training alone these days so I tried to prepare for the possibility of a solo time trial while hoping for some company. As I said, training was about perfect in terms of sticking to the program and after a couple of sharpening workouts and a nice little taper, I got to the starting line ready to roll. I felt confident that my backup goal of breaking the course record (1:11:24, Tim Rider, 2007) was a safe bet barring any major problems and that I was capable of running 1:10 if I ran intelligent and hard.

As I was milling around the start I saw Dan, who had come to support me at the race. (and maybe see how his training plan translated to the race! :) ) After a nice presentation of colors and a national anthem, Andy got us off and running on a beautiful morning. Just before the gun I reminded my friend Rob Levey to take it easy in the first mile and not let the excitement take him out too fast in his first half marathon. I then promptly made a hypocrite of myself and skipped out to a 5:02 first mile, which felt like 6:02 in terms of effort. Oops. Well, the course actually sets up for a positive split, with an elevation profile that loosely looks like a wide V. The first 4 miles are downhill and fast. I reminded myself of that while still trying to back off a hair in the second mile, which still felt like a breeze in 5:12. I passed Camie, Camden and Carter, as well as her parents at about a mile and a half, where I executed a perfect ditching of the arm warmers, throwing them across 2 lanes of road and landing them in the stroller, which got a few remarks from the crowd.

This year at Foyes Corner I made sure to stay left instead of running out around the traffic circle like we did last year, which is the correct route. Unfortunately by 2 miles I think I was about a minute clear of Rob, who would run alone for 2nd place and wisely didn't copy my quick first mile. Mile 3 winds a little bit but I was able to run the tangents really well because the course volunteers stopped traffic for us and I split my watch at 15:20 for 3 miles. At that point I made the decision to split my watch without looking for the rest of the race because I knew I was a little ahead of the pace I had in my mind and didn't want to scare myself out of running as hard as possible.

I know this course like the back of my hand (or the front of my hand while I was in high school) and I've always thought that mile 4 was a little short and mile 5 was a little long. After reviewing my splits I'm still convinced of this. Mile 4 is a fairly straight shot down to Rye Beach where I ended up passing most of the race walkers who had a head start on the runners. Almost all of them shouted encouragement as I went by, and I think I startled a couple by practically brushing shoulders with them in my commitment to the tangents. The 4 mile marker is immediately after the course turns left to come back up the coast, with little protection from the wind. It was at this moment that I realized that the weather wasn't quite as perfect as I thought it was while standing on the starting line a couple of miles inland from the coast. The wind was actually pretty surprising and I found myself running mile 5 directly into a headwind with my head down most of the way. I reminded myself that this mile split is always off and that this headwind would be at my back somewhere else on the course. I tried to just maintain effort and looked up ahead to Odiorne Park where the course gets some shelter from the trees, hoping it would bring relief from the wind...which it thankfully did. Mile 5 was passed in 25:55, which actually might be a PR for that distance. I'm not sure if I had a faster split in any other longer races this summer but I can't recall one.

From the mile 5 marker to just after mile 7 the course winds back in towards Foyes Corner for one of the short sections of the course that doubles back on itself. I grabbed a cup of water at about mile 5.5 and got a good mouthful down. I had taken a cup at mile 2 as well but didn't get down as much as I had hoped. Mile 6 was passed at 31:13 and shortly after 10K I had a brief game of chicken with a guy on a scooter. I was on the far left side of the road cutting the tangent and he was trying to stay out of the way as much as possible, so we ended up headed for each other on the wide shoulder. He pulled into a driveway about 20 meters before I got to him and disaster was avoided. (Fat Bob from 2005 probably would have won that battle, but not scrawny 2010 Bob!) Just before mile 7 I ran past the nicest croquet course in the area in Jim McLaughlin's back yard and got some encouragement from Jim from his front porch. Mile 7 clicked off at 36:31 as I ran back by Jim "Muscles" Marchese (that tough sum'bitch once suffered a broken collarbone in the first 1/4 mile of the Great Island 5K and proceeded to finish the race in about 16 minutes!) who was manning the hairy blind corner just before the mile marker.

Foyes Corner is always a good spot to run by with lots of loud spectators and a couple of spirited water stops, which gave me a little boost. To be honest I had started to become aware of my loneliness and I got back to Foyes at just the right time. Winnie the Pooh and Tigger where cheering loudly at the water stop as I went by. You might recognize them the next time you're at Runner's Alley in Portsmouth. Mile 8 goes back up to where I had passed Camie half an hour earlier and then turns right out onto Newcastle Island. I gave the gang a little wave as I went by and got some loud encouragement from that popular viewing spot as well.

Mile 8 was passed in 41:43 for a 5:12 mile, but I knew I was now biting into the toughest mile on the course. Mile 9 is a long gradual climb up past the Ice House, the Wentworth Golf Club and peaking at the Wentworth Hotel. It was also directly into the wind again, as we were once again exposed to the coast. I knew it was a tough mile, but I did look down at the mile 9 split and was a little bit disappointed to see 5:38 for that mile. I tried to tell myself that I'd get that breeze at my back in mile 11 coming off the other side of the island, and tried to get back into a quicker pace once I got behind the trees leading up to the Great Island Common (Camden's favorite playground!). This mile also winds and rolls a bit but I felt like I got back on track a little bit and did look down at mile 10 to see 5:21 and a total time of 52:43. I was getting tired enough to not be capable of much math, but I had gone over the numbers enough in the days before the race to know that if I got to 10 miles in under 53 minutes and wasn't falling apart that I'd have no excuse not to get under 1:10. So at mile 10 when I saw 52:XX, I remember thinking, "OK, you're in position so don't f*ck it up."

I really think that the last 5K was where Dan's training program benefited me the most. He had me do enough pace work that I felt my body would tolerate the pace even when tired. Also, I really think the "long runs" (read "long hard tempos") I did helped build more muscular endurance than I've ever had. I remember the last 5K in 2009 and I could tell my form was breaking down and the wheels were coming off as Dan Princic continued to pull away from me. This year I was able to run the last 5K at almost exactly goal pace, despite climbing from sea level to the highest point on the course over the last 2 miles. This year was certainly a much better experience than last year coming down the stretch.

Mile 11 winds out off Newcastle and back towards Portsmouth. I got there in 5:20 and was at 58:03. I quickly assured myself that 12 minutes was plenty of time for the last 2.1 miles as long as nothing really bad happened and I passed the last water stop (they always win the water stop competition) and had a couple of high school boys tell me they loved me. I think I'm flattered. Mile 12 bumps over a couple of little bridges but is fairly straight and flat. I remember specifically passing the exact driveway with bushes where I fantasized about pulling off the course last year and grinning inwardly as I realized how much stronger I am now. I got to the 12 mile marker with another 5:20.

The last mile on the course is arguably the toughest, except that the wind might have given that honor to mile 9 today. It is almost all either uphill or flat, but there is decent crowd support and you can sniff the finish line. I tried to stay on task and finish hard. There is a nasty little hill about half a mile from the finish that is a real groove buster and I put my head down to march up it, reminding myself that once I felt the road level out again it was time to get on my horse and make a run for the finish. There were a few cars on the course in the last section and I actually ran right on the bumper of a blue car for about a minute trying to run as short as possible but the car was kind of in the way. As I turned left back into the high school parking lot I made my way up the last hill on the course before passing the mile 13 marker (didn't catch the split, I've estimated above) and opening up my stride to hammer back down into the finishing area. As I was coming down at about 800m pace I heard Andy announce something about the course record and I finally allowed myself to get excited and broke the tape in 1:09:19 with a scaled-back "Fyffe finishing the Vermont marathon" celebration, which was fairly exuberant for me with a fist pump and a holler.

After collecting myself and talking with Andy and my family, I caught up with Dan and we chatted a little bit. I really think that he put me in the best shape of my life and prepared me to run a little faster than I did. I tried to picture Brandon and some of the other guys I battled with all summer out in front of me in the later stages of my lonely time trial, but there is something about a fierce battle that allows me to tap into that last extra bit of effort that can't be summoned in a time trial.

I've got mixed feelings about this. It reveals something about myself that I don't like, but also makes me happy to know that I can run faster. It is easy to say on Monday afternoon, but I can run faster. Yesterday's PR only adds to my desire to realize my full potential. This training cycle gave me some permanent fitness gains that I will try to build on for next year to get faster. I'm satisfied with the results but deep down I believe that if someone showed up in mid 1:08 shape yesterday I would have given them a fight.

But hey, at times like this I think back to the talk I had with my step-dad the morning after my junior prom. "Bobby, sure you were hoping to hit a home run, we all are. But you never, EVER, complain about a 69."

(pics courtesy of Cheryl Senter, Seacoast Online)

Week ending November 21, 2010

2010-11-15T10:44:00.000-08:00

11/15 - 38 minutes (5 miles)

11/16 - 60 minutes (8 miles)

11/17 - 40 minutes AM (5 wet ones), 68 minutes PM (10 miles)

11/18 - 35 minutes (5 miles)

11/19 - off (having groin/ab thing looked at by doc)

11/20 - Jingle Bell 10K (2 miles warm up, race in 32:14, 2 miles cool down) (10 miles)

11/21 - 107 minutes (15 miles)

Summary: 58 miles, good recovery week. I was hoping Saturday's race would be a bit slower but Connor Jennings showed up and I had to work a little harder than I expected to based on the results from recent years.

Week ending November 14, 2010

2010-11-08T10:13:00.000-08:00

11/8 - 37 minutes (5 miles)

11/9 - 65 minutes (10 miles)

11/10 - workout (2 miles warm up, 4 x mile at HM pace with 400m jog recovery (5:18, 5:17, 5:17, 5:16) 3 miles cool down) (10 miles)

11/11 - 52 minutes (7 miles)

11/12 - 32:30 (5 miles)

11/13 - 37 minutes (5 miles)

11/14 - Seacoast Half Marathon (2 miles warm up, race in 1:09:19, 2 miles cool down)

Summary: 59 miles for the week with a nice half marathon CR/PR. I'll try to slap together some kind of summary today. My body is a bit beat up but not too bad I don't think. We'll see how next week feels for recovery.

Week ending November 7, 2010

2010-11-01T10:48:00.001-07:00

11/1 - 46 minutes (7 miles)

11/2 - 36 minutes AM (5 miles), 66 minutes PM (10 miles)

11/3 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), workout PM (2 miles warm up, 4 miles in 19:56 (5:00, 4:59, 4:59, 4:58) 3 miles cool down) (9 miles)

11/4 - 56 minutes (8 miles)

11/5 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 55 minutes PM (8 miles)

11/6 - 40 minutes (6 miles)

11/7 - workout (3 miles warm up, then 5 miles @ 26:29 (5:12, 5:20, 5:19, 5:16, 5:22), 4 miles cool down with a set of strides) (12 miles)

Summary: 75 miles with a good hard workout on Wednesday. This felt a little easier than the one last week, especially the last mile wasn't as bad. Sunday's race pace workout was OK, but to be honest it felt a little tougher than I hoped it would. We did a lot of yard work on Saturday and I think I've got a little cold so I won't worry about it. Plus I ran it on the course instead of the track so there was some roll. Here's the 5 miles and elevation, which I'm just looking up to make myself feel better, I think. (OK, I feel better. It is a little long and the slower miles have some elevation gain.)

Week ending October 31, 2010

2010-10-25T05:04:00.000-07:00

10/25 - 48 minutes AM (6 miles), 60 minutes PM (8 miles)

10/26 - 55 minutes AM (7 miles), 67 minutes PM (10 miles)

10/27 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), workout PM (2 miles warm up, then 4 miles in 19:55 (4:58, 4:59, 5:00, 4:58), 4 miles cool down with a good set of strides) (10 miles)

10/28 - 60 minutes AM (8 miles), 60 minutes PM (8 miles)

10/29 - 60 minutes AM (8 miles), 65 minutes PM (10 miles)

10/30 - 75 minutes (11 miles)

10/31 - Structured road fartlek, hard sections of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 minutes with half of previous rep as recovery (11 miles)

Summary: 102 miles for the week.

funny morning run

2010-10-20T06:27:00.001-07:00

So yesterday morning I got up for my normal 5:30 AM shuffle over to Portsmouth and back to Kittery. The Piscataqua river is about 1.5 miles from my house and there are actually two bridges that you go over because Badger's Island is in the middle of the river. So you go over a normal bridge, then go past Hebert Brothers Seafood and Badger's Island Pizza before you go over the Memorial Bridge, which is the beat up old metal bridge that goes up every half hour to let boats and ships through. There is lots of discussion about whether to replace the bridge, restore it, big political topic around town lately, but that's another story.

So I know most of the other runners and walkers who are out at this time of day. Most of them I don't know personally, but they are a familiar part of the day. Well yesterday morning as I'm starting onto the first bridge I hear a funny noise behind me and turned to see a guy skating up and past me on roller blades. Kind of odd for this time of day and not one of the "regulars", but whatever. He was wearing a backpack and talking on his cell phone, which was also kind of odd. So he gets up ahead of me a little big and pulls off the road and skates over to the big menu board at Hebert Bros. to check it out. Again, kind of odd behavior for 5:30 AM, but whatever, I'm hardly one to set international standards for normal and odd behavior. I've been towed with a water ski rope on a sled behind a 1986 Honda Civic at 50 miles per hour (verified by the sober driver) in a blizzard in Maine, which some people might consider odd.

Anyway, after I jog past him he skates back out into the road (I'm now on the sidewalk getting ready to run across the metal grate bridge and using the wooden sidewalk) and up alongside me, still on his cell phone. I said something to him, like "mornin'" in my best hick voice and he says, "Hey, looks like I skate faster than you run." to which I said, "Yeah, you'd smoke me." I realize that isn't the most impressive retort, but I think I was in the middle of a thought about a new phallic nickname and he interrupted me. But now that he got my attention I let "Shamu" slip from my mind and said to myself, "Oh, what the heck!" and picked up the pace. I caught him right before the bridge starts and as I went by I said to him, "UH-OH!" in a playful tone, indicating that he was now losing the race. He's still on his phone, mind you. I had a head start so I passed him easily but I immediately heard his cadence pick up so I knew he took the bait and I heard him say into his cell phone, "I'm racing a runner!" So I'm on the sidewalk and he's gaining on me from the middle of the road (there is hardly any traffic at this time of day) and all of a sudden the poor bastard gets to where the pavement turns to metal grate and he takes a massive frigging dixie right onto his face. I was still ahead of him so I didn't see it, but I sure heard it. His body nailed the metal grate, then I heard a loud, "UURROOGGHHH!!!" and about a second later he tells whoever is on the other end of his phone that he just fell real bad. I actually felt pretty bad so I eased up and stopped to lean out past the green metal columns to peek at him out in the road about 100 feet back. By that time he was standing back up and trying to lift one leg to climb out of the road and onto the sidewalk where I was. I thought about going back and checking on him, but I heard him start to skate slowly again and figured he was still on his phone so he must have survived. I still feel kind of bad about it, but it was pretty funny.

Week ending October 24, 2010

2010-10-18T05:22:00.001-07:00

10/18 - 45 minutes AM (6 miles), 65 minutes PM (10 miles)

10/19 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), workout PM (2 miles warm up, then 8 miles in 41:54 (5:15, 5:14, 5:15, 5:14, 5:15, 5:15, 5:14, 5:12), 3 miles cool down with a good set of strides) (13 miles) This was a pretty hard effort.

10/20 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 60 minutes PM (8 miles)

10/21 - 48 minutes AM (6 miles), 40 minutes PM (6 miles)

10/22 - 45 minutes AM (6 miles), 63 minutes PM (10 miles)

10/23 - 45 minutes (7 miles)

10/24 - 1:44 (18 miles)

Summary: 100 miles for the week, ending with a great long run. Finished with a 5:35, feeling strong and reasonably controlled.

Week ending October 17, 2010

2010-10-11T11:41:00.000-07:00

10/11 - 7 miles easy

10/12 - 5 miles easy AM, 8 miles easy PM

10/13 - 5 miles easy AM, 8 miles easy PM

10/14 - 18 miles @ 1:47:00, finished before 7 AM!

10/15 - 6 miles easy

10/16 - 11 miles easy

10/17 - 6 miles easy

Summary: 74 miles, good recovery week. Feel healthy, pretty rested and ready for a few more weeks of training.

Week ending October 10, 2010

2010-10-04T10:54:00.000-07:00

10/4 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 65 minutes PM (10 miles)

10/5 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), workout PM (2 miles warm up, then 3 x 15 minutes @ 5:18 pace w/ 3 minutes recovery, 2 miles cool down) (13 miles)

10/6 - 75 minutes (10 miles)

10/7 - 60 minutes AM (8 miles), 68 minutes PM (10 miles)

10/8 - 60 minutes AM (8 miles), 67 minutes PM - 10 miles with 8 x 100m hill sprint. Right achilles has been tight so I didn't use a very steep hill. (10 miles)

10/9 - 75 minutes (11 miles)

10/10 - Great Island 5K (4 miles warm up, race in 15:09 (1st), 3 miles cool down) (10 miles)

Summary: 100 miles for the week. Substituted Sunday's planned long run for a hard 5K, so I'll try to get in a long run early next week, which will be an easy recovery week aside from that. Feeling good.

Week ending October 3, 2010

2010-09-27T05:14:00.000-07:00

9/27 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 48 minutes PM (6 miles)

9/28 - 48 minutes AM (6 miles), 68 minutes PM (10 miles)

9/29 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), workout PM - 2 miles warm up, then 8 miles in 42:38 (5:20, 5:20, 5:20, 5:21, 5:21, 5:20, 5:21, 5:15) 2 miles cool down with a set of strides. (12 miles)

9/30 - 48 minutes AM (6 miles), 60 minutes PM (8 miles)

10/1 - 45 minutes AM (6 miles), 67 minutes PM (10 miles)

10/2 - workout - 3 miles warm up then 8 x 3 minutes @ 10k pace w/ 1:30 rest, 2 miles cool down (11 miles)

10/3 - last 16 miles of Maine Marathon with Seth, watching him punch his ticket to Boston!

Summary: 101 miles for the week. Finished the week feeling really good, although Monday morning I'm feeling a bit lousy. I think it is just something in the fall air mostly.

Week ending September 26, 2010

2010-09-20T05:23:00.000-07:00

9/20 - 48 minutes AM (6 miles), 68 minutes PM (10 miles)

9/21 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 68 minutes PM (10 miles)

9/22 - 30 minutes AM (4 miles), workout PM (5x2K w/ 2 min. recovery (400m), 2 miles warm up, then 6:12.8 (1:56), 6:14.3 (2:01), 6:14.2 (2:00), 6:14.0 (2:04), 6:12.2, 2 miles cool down. (11 miles)

9/23 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 45 minutes PM (6 miles)

9/24 - 45 minutes AM (6 miles), 63 minutes PM (9 miles)

9/25 - 54 minutes (8 miles)

9/26 - 120 minutes (20 miles)

Summary: 100 miles for the week with two good workouts. I wasn't sure how the 20 on Sunday would go after cleaning the garage on Saturday, but it went pretty good.

Week ending September 19, 2010

2010-09-13T10:46:00.000-07:00

9/13 - 7 miles easy

9/14 - 6 miles easy AM, 7 miles easy PM

9/15 - 5 miles easy AM, 9 miles easy PM

9/16 - workout (2 miles warm up, then 10 mile tempo @ 53:31 (5:22, 5:21, 5:22, 5:22, 5:21, 5:21, 5:23, 5:22, 5:23, 5:14) 2 miles cool down with a set of strides) (14 miles)

9/17 - 5 miles easy AM, 7 miles easy PM

9/18 - 6 miles easy

9/19 - 12 miles, most of it easy

Summary: 78 miles for the week. Most of it easy, one strong workout. Good recovery week.

Week ending September 12, 2010

2010-09-06T08:23:00.000-07:00

9/6 - St. Charles Children's Home 5K (4 miles warm up, race in 15:12 (2nd), 5 miles cool down with a set of strides) (12 miles)

9/7 - 61 minutes AM (8 miles), 62 minutes PM (9 miles)

9/8 - 60 minutes AM (8 miles)

9/9 - 48 minutes AM (6 miles), workout PM (2 miles warm up, 6 mile tempo in 31:37 (5:17, 5:16, 5:17, 5:17, 5:17, 5:13), 4 miles cool down) (12 miles)

9/10 - 48 minutes AM (6 miles), 58 minutes PM (8 miles)

9/11 - 53 minutes AM (8 miles)

9/12 - 1:47:30 (18.4 miles) Felt much better than two weeks ago. Finished much better this time, staying right around six minute pace.

Summary: 95 miles for the week with 2 great workouts and a 5K PR. Both workouts went great and I'm looking forward to a lighter recovery week to let the training sink in.

Week ending September 5, 2010

2010-08-31T05:22:00.000-07:00

8/30 - 0ff (Daddy duty while Camie went to NYC for the day)

8/31 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 69 minutes PM (10 miles)

9/1 - 48 minutes AM (6 miles), workout PM (2 miles warm, 8 mile tempo in 42:35 (5:22, 5:19, 5:19, 5:20, 5:21, 5:20, 5:20, 5:14) 1 mile cool down) (11 miles)

9/2 - 48 minutes AM (6 miles), 60 minutes PM (8 miles)

9/3 - 48 minutes AM (6 miles), 68 minutes PM (10 miles)

9/4 - 90 minutes (13 miles)

9/5 - 52 minutes (8 miles)

Summary: 83 miles for the week. A little light, but with a day off I guess it isn't bad. Good hard workout on Wednesday.

Week ending August 29, 2010

2010-08-23T05:11:00.000-07:00

8/23 - 37 minutes AM (5 miles), 61 minutes PM (10 miles)

8/24 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 45 minutes PM (7 miles)

8/25 - workout (6 mile tempo) 2 miles warm up, 6 miles in 31:42 (5:16, 5:19, 5:15, 5:17, 5:17, 5:18), 2 miles cool down. (10 miles)

8/26 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 51 minutes PM (7 miles)

8/27 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 65 minutes PM (10 miles)

8/28 - 52 minutes (8 miles)

8/29 - 110 minutes (18.4 miles) w/ set of strides after

Summary: 90 miles for the week. Really pleased with Sunday's long run but I was starting to bonk a bit at the end.

Week ending August 22, 2010

2010-08-17T05:07:00.000-07:00

8/16 - 48 minutes AM (6 miles), 65 minutes PM (9 miles w/ strides)

8/17 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 63 minutes PM (10 miles)

8/18 - 82 minutes (12 miles)

8/19 - 73 minutes (11 miles)

8/20 - 35 minutes AM (5 miles), 63 minutes PM (10 miles)

8/21 - 57 minutes AM (9 miles)

8/22 - 40 minutes (6 miles)

Summary: 83 miles for the week. Had a long tempo planned for Sunday but had some massive allergies kick my butt and I could barely manage 6 miles. Bummed, but I suppose I was due for a rest week and I'm excited about launching into fall half marathon training!

Bridge of Flowers 10K

2010-08-16T07:24:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday was the Bridge of Flowers 10K out in Shelburne Falls, MA. This was the USATF NE Grand Prix 10K, and since I am not planning to run Bay State Marathon in October, this was my last race in the road race GP this summer (I' am planning to do a couple races in the XC series for fun). Unlike Stowe where we made a family trip out of it, this was a day trip so I was up at 4:30 and out the door before 5:00 to meet Dan V. and Kevin T. at the river in Andover. I got there a few minutes early so I put on my shoes and went out for an easy mile or so on the trails to loosen my legs up a little and get the body into gear for the day. Once the other guys got there we hopped into Dan’s truck and headed out.

We pulled into Shelburne Falls at about 8:15 and saw the registration area was pretty mobbed. It didn’t look like the race would be able to start on time based on what we saw, so I wiggled my way inside and used some ninja tactics to reduce the time waiting in line from an estimated 30 minutes down to about 10. I managed to get the chips and bibs for the other guys while I was up there so we snuck out the side and got a little warm up going. We didn’t end up having much time to spare and the national anthem was starting just as we made our way down to the bridge that the race starts on. One of the nice things about the start was that they had a divider in the middle of the road so that guys started on one side and girls starts on the other. This was cool because the women got to be right up on the line as well. And considering they only had gun time (no starting mat), it was a nice move and I think more races should consider it. I snuck into the start line and got back a couple of rows, a new trick of mine to make sure I don’t go out too fast. Before long we heard some cow bell and we were off (I got a fever! And the only prescription is MORE COWBELL!)

The course overview I got from everyone focused almost entirely on the mountain in mile 3, but I found the first couple of miles to be pretty challenging with a few nice hills, quite a few turns, and typical grand prix jockeying for position. At about a mile I got a good view of the field in front of me and quickly counted. I was in 13th place but moving quickly and comfortable right behind Brandon Newbould. I think we hit the mile in about 5:04 which was a little surprising considering the turns and hills but it didn’t seem that bad. Mile 2 was more twisting and turning, but not as much rolling that I remember and we came through in 10:14, after having passed a couple of people. I pulled up to JJ, who was somewhat incognito in a Polar jersey straight out of the early 80’s. He must raid Dunham’s closet before races or something. We ran by some fantastic supporters at several points along the course in the form of Justin Fyffe and Kevin Gorman who both sat this one out with injuries. I’m pretty sure I flipped KG off at one point late in the race for no particular reason, other than the fact that he was on a bicycle and I was wishing I was on one too.

Shortly after the 2 mile marker we came back across the bridge (which was great because it is right in the middle of town and the crowd support was really awesome. You can tell the community really gets into the race and that always makes it a great time.) and after a couple of quick turns I heard a drummer pounding away to welcome us to “the hill”. Critenden hill climbs over 400 feet in a bit over half a mile. I don’t think I’ve ever walked up anything that steep, and I know I’ve never tried to run up anything like it. To be honest, I’d probably be nervous about riding a bike DOWN it. This is probably the one place where having run up Mt. Washington is an advantage. Too bad I never have. I got passed by a good handful of people on the way up the hill, as I had no real choice but to gear it way down and just try to avoid the embarrassment of walking during a championship race. Believe me, the thought crossed my mind. The sickest thing about the hill is that there are several turns on it and without previewing the course I didn’t know when the torture would end. I kept telling myself the peak was just around the next turn. It wasn’t. But finally I caught a glimpse of a man playing the accordion under a bouquet of balloons and felt pretty sure that he was either there to assure us all that we had lost our minds or he was the marker on the course located at the peak of the hill. Thankfully it was the latter.

Shortly after the peak of the hill is the mile 3 marker, which I passed in 17:02, meaning that the 3rd mile was 6:48. Seemed like about 12:48. I was too delirious to do the math at that point but I knew it was slow. I also knew that everyone else was going to start flying down the rest of the course and I had better get the legs back into high gear as well. After focusing on resuming a smooth breathing pattern for a minute while picking up speed, I was soon flying down the quick descents, testing the limits of how fast my legs would let me go. I consider myself to be pretty poor at climbing, but my long legs generally serve me pretty well going down. I gradually started catching up to the guys who had pulled away from me or passed me on the hill. I got to mile 4 in 21:42, which meant that the last mile was 4:40. I was back into about 10th place by my estimate, but wasn’t really sure. Later in the race there were a couple of spectators calling out places to us, which is cool. I started to reconnect with Brandon, as well as Ryan Carerra and Dan Princic. The four of us seem to all be in pretty much identical shape, because we’ve all been duking it out in the chase pack for the last few GP races. While this is good for the clock, it hurts like hell because there is no letting up and the second half of the race is pretty much trading punches and keeping the pedal to the floor.

Somewhere around here I pulled back up even with Dan and we were about 10 meters back from Brandon. We passed Fyffe who was shouting encouragement from his bike and I finally realized it was him. I had heard him a few times before but wasn’t sure who it was. That got me excited to try and make a move on Dan and catch Brandon. Dan didn’t want to give up his position without a fight though, so we both were hammering pretty much all out down the course, trading places several times. You have to convince yourself that anyone around you is the enemy during the heat of battle, but I really value these guys and consider myself to be competing WITH them, not AGAINST them. I know I wouldn’t run as well by myself, and probably most guys rely on good competition to get the best out of themselves as well. Dan and I finally got back into contact with Brandon right around 5 miles. I missed the split but it must have been about 26:50? I was fighting hard but honestly didn’t know if I would be able to maintain all the way to the finish. The course was taking its toll on me.

I managed to pull ahead of Brandon early in the last mile I think and tried to run scared the rest of the way. I was trying to sniff the finish line from a mile out, but it was tough. There was another red shirt about 25 meters in front of me and I went by Justin for the last time who encouraged me to catch him. I tried to put Dan, Ryan and Brandon out of my head and just focus on this red shirt, hoping he would show the slightest sign of weakness. He didn’t. And I could still hear the guys behind me. They weren’t packing it in either. We came down another steep little hill as we turned left before making our way down a little street lined with spectators. There had been nice crowd support for much of the race but I could feel their numbers swelling and knew we must be getting back close to the bridge, which we would cross one more time at the beginning of the final straightaway for the finish line. As I turned the last left hand turn to cross the bridge, I took my only peek back of the race, hoping to see nothing close, but I saw red, and knew that Brandon was trying hard to hunt me down. From there I hammered across the bridge and through the crowded and very loud street up to the finish line. As I approached I saw 32:57 and knew that I wasn’t going to sneak under 33, but it didn’t really matter. This course isn’t about time. The only way to run this course is just the way we did…for place. I finished 6th in 33:03 (1 second ahead of Brandon, who closed most of the small gap I had on the final straight) which I was very pleased with. The goal was top 10, and I was very happy to succeed in that regard. A few of the normal GP contenders missed the race, but I was really happy because I managed to eek out in front of the guys I’ve been doing battle with all summer.

Guys quickly came barreling in and before long the finish area looked like a war zone with guys showing their effort on their faces and smiling at the insanity of the course at the same time. The CMS crew gradually collected and chatted about the race. We figured BAA had won it pretty easily, but we knew it might be pretty tight for 2nd place between us and Whirlaway. It wasn’t until after a nice cool down and a swim in the river with JJ and Mike Quintal that we saw Steve Vaitones walking around with the team scores verifying them with each team. He showed us the report and his tentative results had our team total 1 SECOND ahead of Whirlaway. So with the top 5 guys scoring, that means a total of 50K came down to 1 second! If that isn’t a lesson for everyone to push all the way to the finish, I don’t know what is! I think there may be some obscure rule about going to the tenths of a second when the scores are really close because a day later a few guys had their time changed by 1 second (so probably rounded up to the next second) and the team margin went from 1 second to 2.

After a nice cool down and a swim as I mentioned, we got some snacks and waited around for the awards. I expected them to hand out prizes, and top 10 paid cash, so I wanted to grab that before leaving. Turns out they mail the money and only the top 3 had to be there for the podium, so we stood around for about an hour for nothing. This was probably the only disappointment of the day. After that we got back on the road, stopping for some Taco Bell on our way. For the most part the drive was nice and Shelburne Falls is a really pretty area. All in all, it was a great day!

Week ending August 15, 2010

2010-08-09T05:56:00.000-07:00

8/9 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 70 minutes PM (10 miles)

8/10 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 65 minutes PM (10 miles)

8/11 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), workout PM (2 miles warm up, then 5 x mile w/ 400m recovery, 5:17, 5:16, 5:16, 5:11, 5:06, 2 miles cool down) Not a real killer, but I was feeling kind of sluggish so the first couple took a little effort to get going. Once I got rolling this felt pretty smooth. According to Joe Vigil these mile reps during base phase should be about 85% of mile PR, so for me that would be 4:26/.85 = 5:13. He recommends 3 minutes recovery, but that seems way too long for someone like me who is mainly an aerobic guy, not a college 800-1500 guy. (10 miles)

8/12 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 59 minutes PM (8 miles)

8/13 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 51 minutes PM (7 miles)

8/14 - Bridge of Flowers 10K (3 miles warm up, race in 33:03, 3 miles cool down) (12 miles)

8/15 - 100 minutes (16 miles)

Summary: 98 miles for the week with a hard race and a solid 16 miler on Sunday. For some reason I can run the day after a race, it is the second day after that I'm really sore. I'm typing this on Monday morning and my legs are killing me.

Week ending August 8, 2010

2010-08-02T05:17:00.001-07:00

8/2 - 48 minutes AM (6 miles), 58 minutes PM (8 miles)

8/3 - 65 minutes (10 miles)

8/4 - 48 minutes AM (6 miles), 67 minutes PM, varying pace (10 miles)

8/5 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), workout PM (2 miles warm up, then 10 x 1K @ ~15K pace, 3:16, 3:17, 3:15, 3:16, 3:17, 3:17, 3:18, 3:17, 3:17, 3:13, all with 400m recovery in a little under 2 minutes) (12 miles)

8/6 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 72 minutes PM (10 miles)

8/7 - 60 minutes (8 miles)

8/8 - 3 miles warm up, Lobster Festival 10K (32:09), 3 miles cool down (12 miles)

Summary: 92 miles for the week, missed a couple of morning runs. Another nice week of base work, with an accidental 10K PR! I went to the Rockland Lobster Festival to meet up with Seth for a fun race and tune up before Bridges of Flowers next weekend. Based on previous years, I thought I could come run a tempo and win. But...ran into Michael Bunker at the starting line and realized that wasn't going to happen. We ran together and chatted a bit at about 32 minute pace for the first 4 miles, sort of agreeing to just run hard for a while and not try to kill each other. His girlfriend was biking alongside us and it was actually a really nice time just running though Rockland at a hard yet sustainable pace on a beautiful morning. The cruiser had ditched us so it really was just like a hard training run with a friend. I call this an accidental PR because normally at the 2/3 mark of a PR effort I want to puke/quit/die and have to gut it out. Today at 4 miles I thought, "Huh, I wonder if one of us should make a move at some point?" So I was obviously still very much in control on the rolling course. A little after 4 miles I picked it up a little bit and got about 10-15 meters on Michael because it just felt like a good idea and I was wondering how Beach to Beacon was feeling in his legs. At about 4.5 we turned right and into a nice long hill which kind of took the wind out of my sails. Michael reeled me in and we stayed together for another couple minutes and hit 5 miles in under 26:20. I told him he covered the move nicely and that I'd got enough of a workout so if he wanted to hammer it in he was on his own. Shortly after that he did drop the hammer and take off, as he was hoping to be under 32 minutes for two days in a row, which he did. I brought it home at an honest but tolerable pace and finished 2nd in 32:09. Nice to know I'm getting stronger and that I can run and PR in the middle of higher mileage than I've ever run and without killing myself.

Week ending August 1, 2010

2010-07-26T05:10:00.000-07:00

7/26 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 57 minutes PM (8 miles)

7/27 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 64 minutes PM (10 miles)

7/28 - workout (legs are heavy and tired from increasing mileage so this was a compromise between not doing a workout and doing something really hard. I did 6 x mile, starting at about half marathon pace and working down close to 5K pace) (2 miles warm up, then 5:25, 5:21, 5:15, 5:09, 5:03, 4:59, all with 400m recovery in about 2 minutes, 2 miles cool down. With 1 minute recovery this would probably be a nice workout under normal circumstances. I like that it started out feeling pretty smooth and comfortable and gradually got quicker. I tried to stay relaxed and focus on breathing smooth and relaxing as the pace got quicker. I also am still working on starting races more intelligently and a workout like this might help with that. All in all, not a killer workout, but a nice "base" workout that should allow me to recover quickly and keep the miles up.) (11 miles)

7/29 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 69 minutes PM (10 miles)

7/30 - 71 minutes AM (11 miles), 40 minutes PM (5 miles)

7/31 - 80 minutes (4 miles warm up, 5 miles tempo in about 27:30, 3 miles cool down) (12 miles)

8/1 - 117 minutes (18 miles)

Summary: Back to back 100 mile weeks. Doin' work.

Quote of the week: R.P. McMurphy from One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest "Is that crazy enough for ya'? Want me to take a shit on the floor?"

Stowe 8 Miler

2010-07-20T07:59:00.000-07:00

I noticed that I've done a recap of the previous Grand Prix races, so I figure I can keep that rolling with a little summary of the Stowe 8 Miler up in Stowe, VT this past Sunday.

We decided a couple of weeks ago to make a little family trip out of the race and booked a room at Ye Old England Inn, which was the host site for the race as well. The room was nice, albeit a little small considering the gear that a family of 4 with 2 small kids travels with. Camden brought his trusty cot which he set up next to our bed with his new LL Bean sleeping bag, and we set up the pack-n-play for Carter. That left just about enough room for us to make a small path to the bathroom. We got settled and then did some shopping before picking up my packet and heading across the street for pizza and pasta. After dinner we caught up with some of the CMS crew for a few minutes and Camden and I took a swim in the hotel pool before settling in for the night.

In the morning the CMS crew started rolling in around 7:30 and most of us ended up meeting down by the starting area before heading out to warm up. The sun was out and it was getting warm, so warming up wasn't too difficult. We compared moustaches, some attempts more feeble than others. I basically like anything that fosters team unity and operation Magnum seemed to accomplish that, which was good. However, I know that at least a few of us irked SWMBO with this operation (She Who Must Be Obeyed).

Leading up to the race I've been lacking confidence a little bit because I'm not getting in the mileage I want to and can just feel that I've lost a little bit lately. The last few races I've done weren't really that helpful for getting a good feel either, as I had a couple of races where I wasn't really pushed so I didn't get a good gauge. I had thought that I should be around 42 minutes, but from looking at historical times it didn't seem like a course for really good times. I told Camie before the race to be looking for me somewhere between 42 and 43 minutes, hopefully closer to 42. Luckily, Camden brought his binoculars so he could look for me.

The XC style start was cool, and it was nice to have a little section for each of the teams. I got in the second row for the start to make sure there was no temptation to get out too hard. I've been trying to start more controlled lately and I think it will serve me well in the future. Luckily, the whole lead pack went out pretty conservatively so there wasn't much issue there. I tagged onto the back of a big pack of 15-20 guys and strolled out of the field and through the first mile in about 5:12. This was perfect for me and it felt really good.

Shortly after the mile the front group started to bring the pace down a little bit and things started to string out for me and the rest of the guys on the back of the lead pack. I've cleared my watch but I think I hit 2 miles at about 10:35, still feeling pretty good as the course started to roll a little bit and we were out in the sun quite a bit. I tried to make a point of grabbing water at each stop and at least cooling off a little bit and wetting my mouth. I was rolling along with a few guys going back and forth and came up on Brandon Newbould who came back off the lead pack a little bit. I gave him some encouragement and he hopped on for a while as Dan Princic and another Whilrer were with me. Ryan Carerra was also right with us and we would all jostle back and forth through the next couple of miles. The third mile was about 5:23 I think.

The fourth mile had a nice steep downhill, but it was actually too steep to really rip. I felt myself actually braking a little bit but the fourth mile was the fastest of the day in a little under 5 minutes. On a long straight section I could see everyone in front of me for a couple of minutes. I counted and realized I was in 14th place. There were a bunch of yellow BAA shirts, a few shirtless guys, Justin Freeman and lastly a small pack of 3-4 guys about 25 yards in front of me. I could also see up ahead a left turn with a water stop on the right side of the road. After the leaders came though, a few of the volunteers came over to the inside of the turn with cups, allowing the rest of us to take the short line which was nice. However, there were only a couple of them and I took the last cup from them when I realized that Ryan Carerra was right on my tail. I took about half of the cup and handed it back to him, feeling bad that I took the last one. I spent the next mile wondering how on earth he said "Thank you" so politely and clearly in the middle of a race. I figured he must be pretty comfortable and would be passing me soon.

The second half of the course rolls uphill for the most part with some flat sections. A BAA guy passed me somewhere in mile 5 and I think I had pulled in front of a couple of the other guys I was near. Somewhere after mile 5 (5:27 I think) I think the road took a left turn up a hill and then down onto a hard dirt road. I started to notice Justin Freeman coming back as well as the BAA guy who had passed me a little earlier. I also noticed Pat Moulton up ahead and he wasn't getting any smaller either. A spectator with a camera told me I was #10. I hit mile 6 in about 31:30-40 I think, because I recall thinking that a couple of 5:15's would get me home in around 42 minutes. I took a peek back just as I was coming up alongside Justin and noticed I had a 25-30 meter gap behind me. I relayed this info to Justin as I went by and tried to make a clean pass because I didn't want him to tag on with me. I had been feeling rough for a few miles and the legs just didn't really want to turn over but I felt like I did pretty good on the dirt section. I really think flat is the best for me.

As we came off the dirt and up a hill back to the main road I was working on reeling in the BAA guy and Pat was starting to seem like a realistic target if I could get something good going for the last mile+. I passed the BAA guy right at 7 miles and around that time started to sense that I had some company behind me. I didn't look back but later realized it was Ryan Carerra and Dan Princic who closed the gap on me and had put themselves in the top 10 as well. I was about 20 meters back of Pat and had thoughts of catching him briefly, but figured if I came close he'd just kick it in to hold his position. This is actually what I ended up doing as Ryan got on my heels with about 400 to do. I managed to hold him off and about this time Pat took a quick look back and picked it up a little just to make sure we didn't get too close. I took the last left turn in to the finish line for 8th place in 42:29. I had hoped to be a bit quicker but from looking at where I finished relative to the other guys, I think I was right about where I should have been considering the last 6 weeks of training hasn't been perfect.

I got a high five from Fyffe who had finished second overall and the rest of the shirtless and moustached CMS crew started rolling in pretty quickly. BAA sent a deep team up to Vermont and took the team title by about 4 minutes, with us in second, also about 4 minutes ahead of Whirlaway. After some drinks and snacks we got in an easy cool down and I took a swim in the hotel pool after some ice cream to relax and wait for the awards ceremony which took place out behind out hotel.

On the way home we stopped at the Ben & Jerry's factory for a tour and some ice cream!

Week ending July 25, 2010

2010-07-19T06:00:00.001-07:00

7/19 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 57 minutes PM (8 miles)

7/20 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 64 minutes PM (10 miles)

7/21 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 64 minutes PM (10 miles)

7/22 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 65 minutes PM (10 miles)

7/23 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 61 minutes PM (9 miles)

7/24 - Stratham Fair Road Race (5.7 miles) (3 miles warm up, race in 29:34 (1st), 4+ cool down) (13 miles)

7/25 - 103 minutes (15 miles)

Summary: 100 miles for the week with some good aerobic running and a decent race.

Week ending July 18, 2010

2010-07-12T05:05:00.001-07:00

7/12 - 32 minutes AM (4 miles), 58 minutes PM (8 miles w/ strides)

7/13 - 66 minutes (10 miles)

7/14 - workout (3 miles warm up, then 2 x mile, 2 x 800, 4 x 400, all at 5:00 pace) 4:59 (2:01), 5:00 (1:59), 2:30 (59), 2:29 (59), 74 (53), 74 (51), 73 (56), 74, 2 miles cool down. (10 miles)

7/15 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 50 minutes PM (7 miles)

7/16 - 52 minutes AM (8 miles)

7/17 - 45 minutes (6 miles)

7/18 - Stowe 8 Miler (3.5 warm up, race in 42:29 (8th), 2.5 cool down) (14 miles)

Summary: 72 miles, decent race. Thought I should have been a little faster but by comparing to other guys, it looks like I ran about what I should have. I've got to find a way to get the miles up and get stronger.

Week ending July 11, 2010

2010-07-05T14:36:00.001-07:00

7/5 - 59 minutes (9 miles)

7/6 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 63 minutes PM with 2 water stops, muy caliente! (9 miles)

7/7 - workout (1 mile warm up, then 10x1K @ 5:00 pace w/ 400m recovery, 3:06 (1:54), 3:07 (1:52), 3:06 (1:54), 3:05 (1:52), 3:06 (1:54), 3:06 (1:56), 3:06 (1:57), 3:06 (1:53), 3:04 (1:51), 3:05, 1.5 miles cool down) (11 miles)

7/8 - 64 minutes (9 miles)

7/9 - 48 minutes (7 miles)

7/10 - Harbour Trail 5K (4 miles warm up, race in 15:57 (1st), 3 miles cool down) (10 miles)

7/11 - 98 minutes (15 miles)

Summary: 75 miles for the week with a nice hard workout and a decent race. Took a wrong turn in the race and probably lost about 10 seconds, and from there got frustrated and wimped it in. I'm actually happy with the result because I know I could have been in the 15:30's with any pressure.

Week ending July 4, 2010

2010-06-28T05:23:00.001-07:00

6/28 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 60 minutes PM (9 miles)

6/29 - 67 minutes (10 miles)

6/30 - road workout - 2 miles warm up, then 2 x 3 miles w/ 1 mile recovery (16:13, 7:43, 16:08), 1 mile cool down. (10 miles)

7/1 - 58 minutes (8 miles)

7/2 - 64 minutes (10 miles)

7/3 - 66 minutes (10 miles)

7/4 - 64 minutes (10 miles)

Summary: 72 miles for the week.

Week ending June 27, 2010

2010-06-21T10:59:00.001-07:00

6/21 - 59 minutes (9 miles)

6/22 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 65 minutes PM (10 miles)

6/23 - workout (3 miles warm up with a few strides then 2 x mile, 4 x 400. I was originally planning to do 2 x 800 in between the miles and the 400s, but after the second mile I was already dead so I modified it. The lack of sleep is catching up to me big time lately, plus I need to ease up on some of my easy days. 4:57.9 (2:05), 4:57.5 (2:16), 72.9 (66), 71.6 (66), 71.4 (68), 70.3, 3 miles cool down) During the workout I was thinking this was a bomb but looking at it on paper doesn't look too bad, aside from the rest between the 400s being about twice what they should be. (10 miles)

6/24 - 60 minutes (8 miles)

6/25 - 42 minutes (6 miles)

6/26 - Strawberry Festival 5 Miler (3 miles warm up, race in 26:23 (1st), 4 miles cool down including a stop for strawberry shortcake!) (12 miles)

6/27 - 100 minutes (13 miles nice and easy)

Summary: 73 miles for the week with a medium effort race. Legs feel better than when the week started. I think because I got a little bit of rest. No race this coming weekend so hopefully I can get in a workout geared towards Stowe and get to feeling decent again before the race.

Week ending June 20, 2010

2010-06-14T05:30:00.000-07:00

6/14 - 75 minutes? No watch, pretty comfortable pace (11 miles)

6/15 - 65 minutes (10 miles)

6/16 - workout (3 miles warm up with a few strides, then 5 x 800, 200 w/ 200m recovery after the 800 and 400m recovery after each set. 2:22 (58), 32.8 (1:58), 2:24 (61), 32.8 (2:05), 2:22 (61), 32.8 (2:07), 2:22 (63), 34.1 (2:07), 2:18 (61), 31.9, then 2+ miles cool down. Nice workout. Felt good to push the last couple of reps. I'm regaining some mental and emotional strength after last week's ordeal. Some guys can just run hard but I'm finding that I have to be mentally and emotionally ready to put in the work. Funny thing is...I don't believe in that kind of crap. (10 miles)

6/17 - 38 minutes AM (5 miles), 40 minutes PM (6 miles)

6/18 - 71 minutes (11 miles)

6/19 - 53 minutes (8 miles)

6/20 - Margarita's Father's Day 5K (4 miles warm up, race in 16:07 (1st), 4 miles cool down) (11 miles)

Summary: 72 miles for the week. Not many miles, but the lack of sleep is catching up to me and I'm feeling pretty tired and sluggish most of the time.

Week ending June 13, 2010

2010-06-07T05:37:00.000-07:00

6/7 - 55 minutes AM (8 miles), 32 minutes PM (5 miles)

6/8 - 52 minutes AM (8 miles), Carter Kaye Wiles joins the team at 3:04 PM, 8 lbs., 9 ozs.

6/9 - off

6/10 - off

6/11 - off

6/12 - Market Square Day 10K (3 miles warm up, race in 32:19, 3 miles cool down) (12 miles)

6/13 - 99 minutes (15 miles)

Summary: Scariest week of my life. 48 miles

Week ending June 6, 2010

2010-05-31T05:42:00.000-07:00

5/31 - 74 minutes (11 miles)

6/1 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 62 minutes PM (9 miles)

6/2 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 65 minutes PM (10 miles)

6/3 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 65 minutes PM (10 miles)

6/4 - off (at the hospital, but no baby yet :( hopefully soon!)

6/5 - York Hospital 5K (4+ warm up, race in 15:56, 3+ cool down) basically 10K effort, finished pretty comfortably. (10 miles)

6/6 - 85 minutes (13 miles)

Summary: 78 miles for the week with a day off. Not bad. Probably would have been over 90 if I ran on Friday, so a good week. Where's my baby???

Week ending May 30, 2010

2010-05-25T10:37:00.000-07:00

5/24 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 52 minutes PM (7 miles)

5/25 - 65 minutes (10 hot Moultons)

5/26 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 51 minutes PM (8 miles)

5/27 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), workout PM (2+ miles warm up, then 12x400 + 1x200 @ goal 5K pace w/ 100m recovery (they averaged 32-36 seconds) 71.8, 70.0, 71.7, 71.8, 72.0, 71.5, 69.4, 71.8, 72.4, 71.5, 72.1, 71.2, 32.2, 2 miles cool down. This went pretty well considering my schedule is a little hectic right now and I sneaked this in while Camden was taking a nap. 14:49.4 for 5000m of work. Great workout, hopefully I can stay rested and fresh now for a few days, but that is doubtful. (8 miles)

5/28 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 42 minutes PM (6 miles)

5/29 - 49 minutes (7 miles)

5/30 - Runner's Alley Redhook 5K, 4 miles warm up, race in 15:23 (1st), miles cool down (10 miles)

Summary: 76 miles for the week. Nice sharp little workout on Wednesday made me think Redhook might have been a little faster but I went out too hard (4:41) and paid for it in the second half of the race.

USATF NE Grand Prix - Bedford 12K

2010-05-24T07:32:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning was my second USATF NE Grand Prix race as the series hit Bedford, NH for the Bedford Rotary 12K. I was excited about the race Friday night and woke up early Saturday morning to get some breakfast into me before a shower and a shave to get me really awake. For some reason that is becoming a habit for big races. I think it helps me get into gear a little quicker in the morning. After making a plan with Camie about checking my cell phone often in case the goes into labor (son #2 is due in a couple of weeks but she’s thinking he might be here sooner than that!), I was out the door by 6:30 and headed up 101 just past Manchester and into Bedford.

As I pulled into the high school parking lot I saw Jeff Goupil and the rest of the crew started rolling in pretty soon after that. The Rotary Club does a nice job organizing the event and we picked up our packets and shirts before meeting up with the rest of the crew outside. This race was the first time I’ve seen and used the new “B-Tag”, which is a race bib that has the chip right inside it, so no chip for the shoe, ankle, or anything like that. That was pretty cool and I didn’t hear about any issues with the timing so it sounds like the technology is pretty solid. The CMS crew + Mark Miller headed out for a few miles over the last part of the course to warm up, and I couldn’t help noticing how light and springy guys like Fyffe and Miller look on their feet, just bounding along looking effortless. After the warm up, guys went their separate ways for the last 10-15 minutes before the start to do their own thing; change into racing shoes, last minute warm up, water some bushes, get psyched up!

The starting line at a Grand Prix race is a pretty intimidating place. There are dozens and dozens of very fit guys with their game faces on. There are pockets of color as teams stand together ready to storm into battle as a group. Guys have their little methods for shaking out nervous energy in the moments before the gun, shaking out legs, touching toes, jumping up and down. Luckily, the starter was merciful and didn’t waste much time before giving the commands. As usual, most of the pre-race thoughts went out the window once the race started. It didn’t go out quite as hard as I thought it might. After a few hundred yards, things seemed pretty sensible. Fyffe, Koech and Miller were up front, then a bunch of us were shifting around settling into pace. There were probably 20-25 guys ahead of me for the first quarter to half a mile and I kind of realized that it felt a bit slow so I started inching up along the outside of the traffic. The pace was probably fine, I was just excited and nervous about having so many guys in front of me.

The first mile cuts into a little neighborhood and by the time we got there, things were thinning out a little bit. Andy McCarron and I were basically side by side and there were a few Adidas NE guys right with us. There may have been a few others around or ahead of us, and there were several CMS guys right on our tail as well. Somewhere in here, Matt Ely and Ben Schmeckpeper zipped by us after starting conservatively. Matt kept pushing right up to the lead pack and Ben kind of stayed with us I think. By this time people were pretty much settled into their paces so there wasn’t as much shifting going on. Andy and I were clipping along pretty good right behind a wall of three Adidas guys (Michael Bunker, Nick Wheeler and Nathan Krah I think). I signaled to Andy that we should stay with these guys, because I was assuming they had a few more guys behind us and the team would need us to cover these guys if they went anywhere and he agreed. I was feeling pretty good, and somewhere around 2 miles or so I though the pace slowing a hair, or maybe I was just over excited. I pulled up alongside Wheeler and told him I’d take a mile in front, and he said OK. In that moment he and I basically agreed to work together for a while. He tucked in behind me and I think we started to pull away from the other few guys just a little bit. I had missed the first mile marker, but I think we hit 2 miles in right around 10 minutes, maybe 10:05. I didn’t split my watch at the mile markers, but I peeked down just out of curiosity. I contemplated not wearing it at all, but I knew I’d be curious about it after the race. I took us through 3 miles in around 15:12 and Nick hopped back in front shortly after that for a turn in the front of our little chase pack. We could still see the leaders, which was a 4 man pack of Justin, Mark, Matt and Joseph.

Somewhere between 3-4 miles the course starts to roll a bit more, with some climbs and also some drops. I’d call it a very fair course because you got a nice little decline for every climb. Up ahead I could see Justin pull away from the others to take control of the race, and about this time Joseph Koech also started to fall back a bit from the BAA guys. Back in the chase pack, Nick was beating me up a little bit on the climbs, keeping the pace steady as he went up them. He’d pull ahead a little bit going up, then coming back down I’d come back even with him and sometimes pull in front again. We were definitely racing each other, but it was great because we were pushing each other to run harder. We were on top of each other for the majority of the race. In fact, Nick actually clipped my heels twice during the race, that’s how close we were. During the most substantial climb on the course, Nick motioned up to Koech and said something about reeling him in. We were both thinking aggressively but that really got me excited because I’d never even considered running with guys like Joseph. The idea of catching him in a GP race seemed crazy to me, even if he was having a tough day. As we were gaining on him, I also realized what my CMS responsibility was for the rest of the race. I needed to “cover” the BAA guys between me and Fyffe. In order to do that, I needed to keep the gap between me and them smaller than the gap that Fyffe had on them. That way, our combined time would neutralize their combined time. I knew Ben Schmeckpeper was close behind me, but I hadn’t noticed any other BAA guys that close to the front so I was hoping that our 3-5 guys would take care of theirs.

Nick and I caught Joseph before the top of a hill somewhere before mile 5. We had passed mile 4 in something under 21 minutes (maybe about 20:40?), which was great considering the main hill is in the 4^th mile. He was still pushing the hills and I was still pushing the downhills. On the flat sections we were both pushing as much as we could. Around this time I realized that we were pretty much holding steady with BAA up ahead. They didn’t seem to be getting any smaller up on the horizon, and only slipped out of sight at the turns on the course. When we hit 5 miles in under 26 minutes I think I started to realize that I was in unchartered waters. I think it was about 25:50 and I was beginning to feel it in my legs. I also noticed somewhere in here that it was feeling a little warm. Not hot, but just nice and sunny. I threw a little water over my head and hung on to Wheeler as we kept pushing along. As we came up towards mile 6 we turned right onto the main road that would take us back to the school. We had warmed up out on this road so I had a bit of an idea about how the last mile would be. It winds a little and rolls a little, probably a little bit of an uphill mile, which isn’t really what I wanted, but we were getting down to the final stretch. Shortly before turning onto this road Nick pulled ahead of me for the last time. I would spend the rest of the race trying to keep him as close as possible. It varied from 2 yards to about 15, but I never got in front of him again. We passed 6 miles in 31:08 and I remember thinking to myself, “Well, I know I’m in 32 minute 10K shape now!” so that made me feel good, but I wasn’t really too excited about having another 1.4 miles to go. I tried to remind myself that I couldn’t let Miller and Ely stretch out their 30 second gap on me, and I focused on running the tangents as short as I could. I missed the mile 7 split that was right as we turned left back into the high school. I was hoping to muster an attack on Wheeler as we approached the track but he was also finishing strong. We had to run about 300 meters backwards on the beautiful new track (with a great football field of field turf) and as we came around the last turn with about 100 meters to go I was trying to kick with everything I had, running with my eyes closed and trying to reel Nick in, but it wasn’t happening. I crossed the line 5th in 38:43 and doubled over to suck some air into my aching lungs. I looked over and Nick was in the same position. After a few seconds we both stood upright, smiled at each other and shook hands. We both had a great time slugging it out and pushing each other. Nick is a great runner, along with his brother Curtis and it is great to have guys like that representing Maine at these New England championship races. I came into the race hoping for a top 10 finish, and to finish 5^th in a Grand Prix race makes me feel really good about my training and my fitness.

I made my way out of the finish chute as Andy was coming in, finishing up a great race! I started walking back up towards the far end of the track to encourage the CMS guys that were all barreling in towards the finish now. The next CMS shirt I saw coming was Kevin Gorman, who was kicking home for a huge race! I’d call his the performance of the day, to be honest. After a minute or two, our whole team was gathered back up, catching breath and congratulating each other. It was great! I get so excited when I see guys have great races, and I love hearing about it in their own words. As we started to look around at the uniforms, we did some rough math in our heads and started thinking that we had probably done enough to win the team title, unless we had missed anybody from the other top teams who maybe weren’t in their team colors. A few minutes later we were all changed into trainers for a fun little cool down. Guys were chatting about the race and sharing stories. I commented to Justin that it amazes me how we can all be so energized and giddy just 10 minutes after finishing a hard race effort. Like he said, that’s how you know you’re in great shape.

The post race spread was high quality, with a bunch of fresh fruit, bagels, as well as chicken tenders, fries and lasagna. Really good stuff and a bunch of drinks. The awards weren’t the smoothest I’ve seen, and honestly took about an hour to complete and we couldn’t really hear the lady with the microphone. Small criticism of an otherwise great event!

Days like this make me really glad that I’m part of CMS and get to do these USATF NE Grand Prix races with such an awesome group of guys! I can’t wait until the next one! Depending on when my son decides to pop out and greet the world it might be Rhody 5K, otherwise it will be 6 weeks later in Stowe for the 8 miler.

Week ending May 23, 2010

2010-05-17T06:14:00.000-07:00

5/17 - 46 minutes AM (6 miles), 55 minutes PM (8 miles w/ strides)

5/18 - 64 minutes (10 miles)

5/19 - 32 minutes AM (4 miles), workout PM (2 miles warm up then 2x1600, 2x800, 4x400 w/ recovery of 400m after the miles, 200m after the 800s and 100m after the quarters, all at goal 10K pace. 4:58.6 (1:59), 4:58.4 (2:00), 2:29.9 (1:01), 2:28.2 (58), 74.8 (34), 74.7 (33), 74.1 (34), 74.9, then 2+ miles cool down) (9 miles)

5/20 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 45 minutes PM (6 miles)

5/21 - 43 minutes (6 miles)

5/22 - Bedford 12K (3+ miles warm up, race in 38:43 (5th), 3 miles cool down) (13 miles)

5/23 - 110 minutes (17 miles)

Summary: 84 miles for the week. Very good race at Bedford, though I should have fought a little harder for 4th place over the last mile.

Week ending May 16, 2010

2010-05-10T05:30:00.000-07:00

5/10 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 61 minutes PM (10 miles)

5/11 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 58 minutes PM (8 miles)

5/12 - 32 minutes AM (4 miles), workout PM (1.5 miles warm up, then 10x1K @ 10K pace w/ 400m recovery, 3:09 (1:54), 3:08 (1:52), 3:08 (1:54), 3:07 (1:58), 3:05 (1:56), 3:06 (1:56), 3:06 (1:57), 3:06 (2:01), 3:04 (1:57), 3:01, 1.5 miles cool down) Nice workout, but the recovery felt long compared to what I normally do. Maybe 90 seconds would have been better. I was a bit gun shy after last week's bad workout. 31:05 for 10K of work. (11 miles)

5/13 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 60 minutes PM (9 miles)

5/14 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 31 minutes PM (5 miles)

5/15 - Bobcat Bolt 5K, 4 miles warm up, race in 15:33 (1st), 4 miles cool down (11 miles) (course map)

5/16 - 80 minutes (13 miles) (route here)

Summary: 91 miles for the week with 5 doubles. Nice solid week.

Week ending May 9, 2010

2010-05-03T05:08:00.000-07:00

5/3 - 45 minutes AM (6 miles), 65 minutes PM (9 miles)

5/4 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), workout PM (2 miles warm up, 6x800 + 1x200 @ 10K pace w/ 200m recovery) (2:34.1, 61 recovery, 2:34.5, 64 recovery, 2:36.0, 67 recovery, 2:34.3, 67 recovery, 2:35.9, 64 recovery, 2:34.7, 65 recovery, 31.5 for 200m, 2+ miles cool down. Total of 5000m work in 16:01. This was a total crap workout. It was supposed to be 12 x 800 but I felt like garbage as soon as I started and really wanted to quit after 2 reps but managed to at least get in 6 before quitting. It was hot out, my legs felt dead before I started, I'm tired...bunch of excuses. At the end of the day I just had a crappy workout. I haven't had many so I won't dwell on it. I knew I would be better off with another recovery day and then a workout tomorrow but I'm traveling tomorrow and won't have any time to run so I took a shot at it today. I didn't even manage to run my goal 10K pace for the 6 that I did. I was hoping to be at about 2:31-32 for the reps.) (8 miles)

5/5 - 60 minutes (8 miles)

5/6 - 90 minutes (13 miles)

5/7 - 86 minutes ( 2 x 3 miles tempo w/ 1 miles in between) (13 miles)

5/8 - 87 minutes (12 miles)

5/9 - off (Mother's Day...first day off since Christmas)

Summary: 74 miles for the week which wasn't bad considering I was in Phoenix for work.

Week ending May 2, 2010

2010-04-26T05:25:00.000-07:00

4/26 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles) (Here's a map of my very boring morning run, out and back every morning), 63 minutes PM (9 miles w/ strides)

4/27 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), workout PM (3 miles warm up, then 12x400, 1x200, 100m recovery, 3 miles cool down) (72.0, 71.0, 74.8, 71.9, 72.0, 72.6, 72.7, 72.9, 72.1, 72.7, 72.3, 70.8, 32.9, all recoveries were between 30 and 34 seconds, 15:00.7 for 5000m of work) (10 miles)

4/28 - 62 minutes (9 miles)

4/29 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 65 minutes PM (10 miles)

4/30 - 41 minutes (6 miles)

5/1 - Children's Museum 5K - 4 miles warm up, race in 15:37 (1st), 3 miles cool down (10 miles) results and a nice article

5/2 - 127 minutes (18 miles)

Summary: 87 miles for the week. Couple of busy days caused me to miss a couple of morning runs, but the 5K went really well. A fairly tough course and a very honest time that I'm happy with.

Week ending April 25, 2010

2010-04-19T11:11:00.000-07:00

4/19 - 80 minutes (11 miles)

4/20 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 65 minutes PM (10 miles) (Here's a map of my normal 10 miler)

4/21 - 32 minutes AM (4 miles), workout PM (3 miles warm up, 6x800 + 1x200 @ 5K pace w/ 200m recovery) (2:24.4, 63 recovery, 2:25.7, 66 recovery, 2:26.0, 65 recovery, 2:27.0, 67 recovery, 2:28.7, 68 recovery, 2:26.2, 65 recovery, 31.7 for 200m, 2+ miles cool down. Total of 5000m work in 15:09, tough workout after a decent stretch of days going back to last week. Splits gradually got slower during the workout which was frustrating but I probably was asking too much of myself with this workout right now.) (9 miles)

4/22 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 68 minutes PM (9 miles)

4/23 - 40 minutes AM (5 miles), 48 minutes PM (7 miles)

4/24 - Out of Hibernation "5K" (4+ warm up, race in 15:02 (I don't think the course is certified), 3+ cool down) (10 miles) The course is probably closer to 3 miles than 5K, but it was fun to race on the roads I run every day. I won't be counting this as a PR.

4/25 - 105 minutes (15 miles) (Here's a map for the standard Sunday run with the boys)

Summary: 90 miles for the week with a tough workout and a good race, even if it was a bit short.