Clarence DeMar Marathon

Jess and I headed into town a bit late this morning.  I didn't even realize that registration at Keene State closed at 7.  We arrived fashionably late at 7:13.  Too late, the RD was gone, the transport bus was gone, and I thought the worst.  We took our chances and headed to Gilsum for the start to try and ask forgiveness for our tardiness.  They were expecting me (I ran into the RD at Olive Garden earlier this week and said I would be there) and had a number and shirt.  Another surprise was that the race starts at 8:00, not 8:30.  Man, I really didn't have my stuff together this morning.  Once the gun went off (twice) George Adams and I settled into a manageble just under 6 mpm pace.  The first half of this course is down hill and can give you a false sence of strength.  George hung for about 12 miles and decided to back off ever so slightly.  I'm talking a few seconds per mile.  This guy is tough as nails.  He has more mental strength than anyone that I know.  He has a way of pushing past physical pain and locking into a mechanical rhythm.  Anyway, my goal for today was to run comfortably for most of the race and try to drop it the last two.  I have to keep in mind my goal race at Bay State.  I hovered around 6 minute pace though 24 and decided it was now or never.  I was pleased to finish the last two miles in 10:21 and have that extra gear.  I am ready for Oct 18. 
Besides George Adams' amazing performance was Kevin Gorman (who expressed interest in joining CMS).  His previous PR was 2:44 and he was hoping to at least be close to that.  Not only did he accomplish that he broke 2:40 by three clicks.  It was a pretty good day to run and I had fun talking to everyone afterwards about their efforts.
Results: http://www.coolrunning.com/results/09/nh/Sep27_32ndAn_set1.shtml

4 X Mile

Objective: 4 x mile @ 5 minute pace
Recovery: 400 meters
Keeneyans: Me and Andy McCarron (Steve Chabot showed up later)
Result: (are you ready for this)
4:58
5:12
6:12
5:31
Overview: I was just plain tired. After the first effort I knew it wasn't going to happen today. The last 9 days or so have been pretty intense for me (two PR's). Two good races plus what I considered an awesome workout last Wednesday. So I am not discouraged. On another note, Andy probably had his finest workout this training cycle. He went 4:59/4:58/4:58/4:54. He also had a good race Sunday. The closer we get to Bay State the more I think CMS can take the Grand Prix. I also believe if everything goes right we can put three men under 2:30. It's going to be a good day for sure.

Lone Gull 10K

Jess and I had to get up pretty early for this one. It is a three hour drive without rushing. When we got to the race venue it was already after 8 and the traffic was backed up at least a half mile. I slowly went into panic mode. I need 30 minutes to warm-up and it didn't look like it was going to happen. It did. Thanks to Jess waiting in the registration line for me, I got in 3 or 4 before the race.
I decided again not to wear a watch. Just run up front and see what happens. I took charge early on and took everyone through in 4:47. I thought it to be a bit fast but Joseph Koech wanted to go faster. We lost him around here and never gained contact again. The race was going to be for second place. The chase pack was made up of the GTD squad (Dan Vassalo, Nick Wheeler, and Curtis Wheeler) myself and BAA's Will Dobbie. There was a lot of movement throughout the entire race. It seemed everyone wanted it although Dan seemed the strongest. He would serge every few minutes and we would have to respond. I responded by letting the pack go (creating about a 10 to 15 yard gap) and reeling them in after it was over and going up front. This was the theme the entire race until mile 6. It was a free for all mad sprint to the finish. We all finished within a few seconds but Dan took second. I ended up third with Will Dobbie fourth and the Wheeler boys 5th and 6th. Again, I am very pleased with my effort and feel the summer work is paying off. Today was a 10K PR (30:40) by almost two minutes. I am very excited for Bay State now and have to start and seriously consider my race plan. Next weekend I will be running Clarence Demar for a training run.

Mile Repeats w/ some 8's

Objective: 3 x mile; 2 x 800; 2 x 400
Recovery: 400 jog in between efforts
Keeneyans: Andy McCarron and Me
Result:
4:37
4:38
4:37
2:18
2:17
x x x
x x x
Overview: My calves were screaming on the 800's. I thought it would be wise to skip the 400's. Andy agreed. He hit 4:53/4:51/4:53. I don't know what he did for the 8's but he felt good about the workout. I expect something great from him this Sunday.

Ollie Road Race

Today I met Mark Miller and his wife at their place in Keene. We headed down in the rain and hoped it would let up. It didn't before the start of the race but during it seemed to be quite manageable. I warmed up with the CMS crew and anxiously waited for the gun to go off. My goal today was to drop the watch again (I didn't want to know how fast or slow I was going), and run up front no matter who was up there and for as long as I could. At about a mile and a half in, Miller made a move going up the only hill on the course. I was surprised because he told me he was going to wait until mile three, but I guess he was excited. I couldn't believe how many people were in the lead pack. Even after the surge. As far as I could tell at least 30 people answered the call. By the time we hit a parking lot and hair pinned around a turn Joshep Koech made another move. This time it seemed to thin things out because we all lost contact with him and ended up in single file for a while. By 3.5 miles Me, Mark Miller, Mathew Kiplagat, and Patrick Mellea formed a chase pack. I tucked in behind Matthew and Patrick across the bridge and was able to avoid most of the wind. I felt like this was my chance to go for it and made my one and only move the whole race a little after the 4 mile mark. Unfortunately Patrick was ready. We pushed hard fighting each and reeling in the leader. It was going to be close. All three of us crossed the finish at almost the same time. Joseph held on and kept the lead and I couldn't stop Patrick from passing me at the very end. To me it was the most exciting finish I have ever been involved in. I wish the distance of the course wasn't screwed up, but I feel I ran as best I could and am still very excited to have run so fast (for me). Next up is the Lone Gull 10K.

Basic 4's and 2's

Objective: 10 x 400 w/ 200 jog rest. Then 4 x 200 w/ 200 jog rest.
Keeneyans: Me, Andy, and CMS newcomer Jim Lamereaux.
Result:
71 sec
68 sec
69 sec
67 sec
66 sec
67 sec
65 sec
64 sec
64 sec
62 sec
30 sec
30 sec
28 sec
26 sec
Overview: This workout was one of the easier ones I have done recently. I wanted to do something a bit shorter and quicker to wake things up. Looking forward to Ollie!

Swanzey Half Marathon

You could not have asked for a better day to run. It was fairly cool early in the morning and by the time the gun went off it was perfect. This course is advertised by the RD as Fast, Fast, Fast, but every year I feel differently. Don't get me wrong, I love the race and the course. I just feel it is not as "fast" as the people not racing it think it is. There is about a two mile section that they actually moved in 50 tons of dirt to dry out the rail road bed. This created a muddy, sandy, gravel section. Extremely fun to run in, but certainly not fast. Once you get out of that it is rolling and you can open it up a bit.
My goal coming into the race was to run comfortable at 5 seconds per milevfaster than marathon goal pace, cross the finish line (400 yards from Monadnock High Track), then do an all out mile. The objective was to see what my legs could do when they didn't want to do anything at all. I was confident I would stick to the plan all the way until the gun went off. What the hell happens when the gun goes off? I would really like to know. My first mile was 5:04. Idiot! I couldn't control myself until after 5K. At this point I realized it was not going to be as easy of a day as I thought it was. I turned my watch off and just decided to run on feel. I crossed the line in 1:09:23 (5:18 per mile pace), which is a PR for me and pleased. I think that no matter what happens you always feel you could have gone faster. Anyway, after a few minutes me and Andy McCarron headed over to the track, asked ourselves, "What the hell is wrong with us?", then proceeded to gut out an all out effort four times around track. I came in at 4:47 and I think Andy hit 5:08. It was hard but worth it. All in all it was a really good day and look forward to Ollie next week. Especially the Harpoon Beer!
Results: http://www.coolrunning.com/results/09/nh/Sep6_Swanze_set1.shtml