2018 USATF East Region and NE Masters Championship

Another January and another USATF East Region and NE Masters Championship that I did not plan on running, nor did I train for, yet I ended up at.

I was pretty positive I was NOT going to run this race this year, but I ended up deciding to run it about a week and a half out. I did not decide what to run until about 4 days before the race though

I settled on running the 3000, mile and 800. I have no desire to run the 5000 on the indoor track and will never do it no matter what!

I figured I would give the 800 a whirl, because why not!

Here is a very quick run-down of each race.

3000 meters
First race of the day for me, I felt like I got out well and fell behind a big group of guys that went out behind Scott Leslie. I knew Scott would win and would probably be a minute in front of me. After a couple of laps I caught up to the group that was ahead of me and I settled in. When I felt like my stride was getting hindered, I move by 2 or 3 of them and fell in behind 2nd place. Same deal with 2nd place, after like 3 more laps I went by because I felt I was being slowed. I didn’t want to be the one doing the work, but away I went. I was able to hold on to 2nd place running just under 10 mins in 9:57. Mission accomplished.

Excuse me...

Pardon me...

1 Mile
I was pretty spent from the 3000 and I did not get out too well in this race. Of course I wanted to get as close to 5 flat as possible and went out just over pace in around 38. I went through the half in around 2:33+ and kinda just held onto that running 5:08. I was able to run some people down in the 2nd half of the race, so that was good.

800 meters
Hahaha….yeah. Well. I had a stretch goal of breaking 2:20. It was not that long ago that I would end 800 meter work outs in the low 2:20s….but hey, you are only as fast as what you train for and I don’t train for the track. With that said, I felt I got out great in the first 100 meters. I wasn’t sleeping like I was in the mile. I went through the 400 in around 70/71 and damn my legs hated me. I brought it home in a 2:24 and was happy to not be running around a track again anytime soon.

Overall the day was a success in my opinion. I got the legs turning over and I got to have some “fun” racing. Next year...I will do some work outs prior to race day!

Full Results

Per usual, a big group of us hit Ogie’s Trailer Park for after race food and drinks. It has turned into a pretty nice tradition.

Baystate Marathon 2017

The 2017 USATF-NE Grand Prix is now over.  It didn’t play out anything like I had hoped, but I finished it.  Starting in February in Amherst for the 10 miler, I thought I was getting myself into shape, but the rest of the year just never came together!

The Baystate Marathon was the last stop for the series.  The last and only time I ran at Baystate, things went incredible well.

Fast forward to this year, I was ramping up for the race pretty well, after a year of aches and pains and super low motivation, I had a solid 5 week block from 8/14to 9/17 and then started developing a cough that just would not go away.  Come to find out, I had walking pneumonia.  So, 4.5 weeks before Baystate I was barely running, just trying to get my respiratory system back in check so I could at least compete at Baystate and finish off the series.  About 3 weeks before the race I did a 3 mile run at 8:12 pace, which I believe was the low point on the sickness level.  But, I rested and got better…better enough and went into Baystate with realistic goals and a body capable of executing a pretty solid game plan.

Race day started out cool enough, maybe 50 degrees.  Not perfect, but good considering the way the weather has been lately.  We really never had a great weather day at a single USATF GP raced this year, it was very odd.

After parking and hanging around a bit, it was port-pottie time and wait around until the start.  My plan was to start much further back than if I were racing it.  I was thinking somewhere around 7 minute pace seemed reasonable.  I ended up starting right near the 3:05 Pacer and some familiar faces.

Gun goes off and here we go.  Man there were a lot of people around, I am not used to being in such large packs.  I felt like I was bouncing off everybody!  I fell into stride with Leslie O’Dell and some other master females which were near or around us.  For most of the first 13 miles I ran with Leslie, Ginger Reiner whom caught up to us around 6? And a couple other random dudes, other then the few seconds that Leslie was laid out on the ground after a cone jumped out in front of her, making her do a triple somersault and skid across the pavement before rejoining the group.  I did not know she was an aspiring gymnast; she should stick to running…

If you want to see more pics, check out Leslie's Facebook page, there are 100s

Pretty early, my legs felt…rough, but, my energy was good and I kept pushing along.  After 13, our little group broke up and I was somewhat alone, but chasing people down.  I started clicking away some 645s and passed a bunch of people.  I got through 30k still feeling somewhat OK.  Tired, sore, but OK.  The next few miles I stayed in that same range of 645ish.  I slowed a bit on 22 and 23 to 650s and then 24 was finally over 7.  I was pretty done.  I ran just over 7 again and then the last mile I was just under 8.  I had no more umph!

I crossed the line in 91^st place.  I was in 138^th at the half way point, so I would say I was pretty successful considering.  I did not negative split the course, which pissed me off a bit, but hey….I haven’t run over 10 miles in a month and a half!

Afterwards…we headed to Beerworks for beer and food.  Barely anyone in the joint….that makes post marathon food and beer much more enjoyable than being cramped with hundreds of others!!  My only complaint with Beerworks is that the bathroom is soooofaraway from the bar.  But, maybe that is a good thing?

Next…RI 6 Hour is tomorrow…I play Race Director for a day and watch others suffer!  After that, get in shape…again and run some decent races.  I am looking forward to next years GP Series, maybe I can get my rear in gear and score for the team once next year!

USATF GP #4 & #5

After a long break from USATF GP Races, we had two on back to back weekends.  Not great weekends for me to have them on, as I was getting sick right before CVS and was much worse before Lone Gull.

Sickness aside, I had to get the races in….here is a short recap of each.

CVS Downtown 5k...

I have not run this race since 2006.  I like the new course better than the old one.  I felt I may be able to run 17:30 feeling the way I was…I felt like I ran reasonably smart and was able to come away with a 17:07 running splits of 5:24, 5:32, 5:37…and a slow 34 for the last 0.1068xxxxx

It was a pretty hot day and I was glad it was not a longer race.  I was happy with that time given how I felt and I had great visions of feeling better for Lone Gull and running a better race…as I tend to do as the distance gets longer.

Fast forward a week to Lone Gull...

The week before the race I took 2 days off to try to feel better as my chest congestion had gotten much worse.  I ran on Friday coughing more than I ever had in a run and Saturday was only a little bit better.  At that point I knew I wasn’t racing and would just run in the race at some pace.

I started pretty far back taking 13 seconds to get across the line.  I went out in 6:32 and tried to just get in a good run progressing from there.  I ran about 20:00/18:37 for the 5k splits.  This was my first time at Lone Gull and I would definitely vote for it to be back in the GP for next year.

Now...4 weeks to get healthy.  My training for Baystate has not been good…I never had any thoughts on heading there to a run a PR, but I would like to run a decent race.  I guess I will have to hope my body just remembers how to run a marathon.  

Editor's Note:  I went to the doctor and have "borderline pneumonia"  That explains a lot!  On meds and rest...Baystate is going to be fun!  :/

Some Racing Happened

I started a post after VCM that I never got to finish, so here it is with what other races and happenings that have occurred.

Thanks to Jack Pilla and Hoka One One New England I was able to run the relay at the VCM.

I ran a two-person mixed team with Jackie.  I expected to not run great, as my training has been pretty non-existent.  People kept saying, oh you will probably surprise yourself, you will run fast.  Well, I know my body pretty well and generally have a good idea of the shape I am in.  I thought if the stars aligned perfectly I could possibly run 6 min pace.  I went out just over that pace and had some miles just under and just over.  I went through 10k in 37:21 (6:00.6 pace) and 10 miles in 1:00:42 (6:04.2 pace).  The watch was reading way long, so it "appeared" I was running faster than the race marks, but I know better than to rely on the GPS.

The last 3 miles were a bitch,. I was in major slow-down mode.  I crossed the 13.1 mat in 1:20:57 (6:10.5 pace), running the last 3.109375 in a dreadfully slow 6:30.7 pace. haha

Jackie wanted to break 7 min pace and pretty much ran that on the dot, negative splitting.

We finished 2nd in our division out of 295 teams.  Not too bad.

The rest of the trip was fun, the main reason I wanted to go.  Burlington is a cool town with a lot of good places to eat and drink!

The week after VCM I was signed up to run Cranmore.  I was originally looking forward to Cranmore and just running different race and just racing in general, hoping it would get me out of my funk.  Well, the Friday I was supposed to leave for Cranmore, I just wasn't feeling it.  More the trip in general than the race itself.  So, I said F-it and stayed in RI.  It was the right choice.  It was a better weekend.  I was able to go to DJ's last RI state meet and got to go bowling.

The next weekend was Gaspee Days 5k.  My first 5k ever and this was 20 years from that date, so of course I had to run.  I knew it would be slow, but I didn't really care.

It was a hot ass day, but I was excited to have double digit Turtles out racing.  I ran pretty stupidly (for my fitness level) and suffered on the way in.  It seems I run well here every other year over the last 4 years.  When I run well I have that moment of WOW, I don't train for 5ks and I ran semi-fast...I wonder what would happened if I tried harder...that generally fades in a week or so.  haha  Although I ran Gaspee for the first time in 1997, I have only run it 8 times...but it seems to be the new norm to run it

1997-20:12
1999-19:22
2001-17:21
2012-17:20
2014-16:46
2015-17:36
2016-16:47
2017-17:52

Next up on the schedule was the Ribfest 5 Miler.  Back to the USATF-NE Grand Prix Series.  Ahhh...I remember being motivated for this...not so much now.  I was still game for the race though.  I now had a good idea of how bad my fitness level was and knew I would not make the same mistakes I made at Gaspee.  Come the Thursday before the race, I did something to my back, which is still killing me, but this made me even more conservative in the race.

I went out at 6 min pace and felt pretty good leg-wise.  I was thenable to track down a good amount of runners over the last half of the race.  My last mile was my fastest at 5:45 (downhill last .25ish).  Overall I was pleased with 29:38...that's pretty much my marathon PR pace! Yup, I have some work to do.

Now, I am feeling slightly more motivated than I had been feeling.  I just need to figure this back thing out.  It certainley feels better when I am up and about, sitting SUCKS!!

USATF-NE GP Race # 2: New Bedford 1/2 Marathon

The second USATF-NE GP race was upon us and another race where my body was not happy with me leading up to it. I had a solid 2 weeks after Amherst, one really good work out and then woke up one morning with some pain in the back of my knee, in which I ran 13 hilly miles on and then the next day I had to stop mid-run because the pain was too much. The was the Sunday leading up to New Bedford. I had pain to the touch behind the knee into my outer hamstring on Monday and somewhat on Tuesday. I took those two days off, along with Wednesday to be sure I was doing everything I could to make it to the starting line on Sunday. I haven’t taken three days off in a week in about a year. I ran 2 miles on Thursday with no pain, but a very tight leg. I then ran 3 miles on both Friday and Saturday with no pain and less tightness, so….what’s 10 more miles?

The weather leading up to New Bedford was looking a bit ify at best. On Friday the forecast called for 3 to 5 inches of snow and 20 to 30 mph winds. YAY! When all was said and done, the temps were good, there was no snow or rain…BUT there was a lot of wind. New Bedford is always windy, but this was WAY windier than usual.

Around 5 miles

So, onto the race… The gun went off and.....we walked over the line. Once we got going we hit some swirling odd mostly headwind through the 1st mile. I wanted to run in the 5:45 range for these first few miles and I hit the first mile in 5:46. I was trailing a large pack that was about 20 feet ahead of me, so I made a small surge to catch up. There had to be 25 guys in this pack, it was nice to just latch on and let the pack do the work. Unfortunately the pack was short lived. We only stayed together through around 2.25 miles. Hathaway Road went by quick, the wind wasn't blowing as bad there and it got down right warm as the sun popped out. I felt like I worked way to hard from mile 3 to 4, only to run a 5:59 mile. After that mile we were on the fastest section of the course. Dave caught up to me and I felt a bit better, felt like i started rolling well. The next 2 miles were 5:25 and 5:36. The speed came to an end shortly after that as the wind started blowing again, but we were able to slide through 9 miles at 5:45.3 pace. That' where all the fun would end.

As you hit the 9 mil mark you could look down and see the white caps crashing in the harbor and the flag straight out flapping away, in the unfavorable direction. Once we hit that corner it was like hitting a wall. The wind would blow hard then a tad less, then harder. Dave had 15 secs on me at this point, but was basically alone up ahead. I had the advantage of having 3 or 4 guys to run with. We were in a pack bouncing off each other as our bodies got hit by the wind in different ways. It was brutal. We caught up to Dave just before the 10 mile mark, which I hit in a blazing 6:30. The next ¾ of a mile were no better, we were just getting beat down by the relentless wind. Finally hitting the 11 mile mark in 6:21 we were clear of the worst wind of the day. My legs were left feeling like Jell-O and as much as I tried to push on, I just couldn’t get it going. Hitting the 12 mile mark brings on the hill and one last kick in the balls before having some downhill to the finish. I did not run the hill well and for once Dave actually gapped me on a hill! I was passed by a couple runners when we crested and I was just done. I gave one hard push when we turned the corner onto Rt 6 and got hit by more wind. We turned the final corner onto Pleasant Street, ironic no? And I was able to muster up something that resembled a kick to pass two runners that passed me at the top of the hill. My finish time was 1:17:47 (same pace as Baystate?) It is not a time to be thrilled with, but considering I wasn’t able to finish my run the previous Sunday, I am happy with how I performed.

After the race, a very short cool down back to the car was all I felt like doing as it was getting pretty chilly and then off to The Pour Farm for some tasty beverages and food.

I have now run New Bedford 8 or so times. It was my first ½ Marathon, it is a race I have run hard in and PR’d and a race that I have used as a marathon paced long run. So, I have experienced it in many different forms. This year’s weather added to the variety! One thing that has stayed the same at New Bedford and I am surprised by it every time for some reason…but the cops out working the race are by far the most friendly encouraging cops I have ever encountered in a race! It is great to see!

Anyway, onto the next USATF-NE GP race at the Frank Nealon Boston Tune-Up 15K in Upton, MA on April 1st.

If anyone is looking for some fun at the end of April, there is only one place to be…The Fool’s Mile at the Foolproof Brewing Company. Come check it out!

USATF-NE GP Race # 1: Amherst 10 Miler

My main goal for 2017 is to run the full USATF-NE Grand PrixSeries. I have run races in the series here and there over the last 15 years, but have never been able to run the full series. Last year it was a thought, but the schedule wasn’t to my liking and my motivation to race was lacking greatly. This year I was 95% happy with all the races in the series and was excited to have a plan and focus for the year. On top of that, joining CMS for this purpose has given me other goals and has added to the race experience.

I was finally starting to get on a roll with training at the end of January and the first week of February, ending with the Krispy KremeChallenge. Once returning from North Carolina I began to feel sick and that turned into a full-blown cold. I still ran every day, but the mileage and quality were shit.

I was finally over that and had a good workout on Thursday February 16th. It was a work out that showed some progress over the last month. That was followed by a good long run with a good size group on the Sunday. My foot had been bothering me during the day starting on maybe that Saturday, but it only bothered me when I was sitting, standing or walking….not while running! That changed on Wednesday the 22nd. I got out of my car to run and I knew right away my foot felt not so good. I ran about 50 feet, stopped, turned around and walked back to the car.

I was going to run on Thursday to see how it felt, but figured I would give it another day of rest and icing. Friday I ran about ½ mile on it and there was no pain. I still had the pain during the day, but it was definitely less than it had been. The day before Amherst, I ran 2.8 miles from home and had no pain and ran much quicker than anticipated without effort. OK, cool…I will at least make it to the starting line.

Race day was here and it was forecast to be around 40 at the start with some wind. This is decent weather for February, but with the crazy warm weather as of late, it felt a bi chilly walking outside. Wind aside it was still an ideal temperature for a 10 miler.

Fast forward to the race itself, I had thoughts on what I could run, but was a bit unsure. Amherst is not an easy course, mostly because there are two miles on the course that take away 30+ secs from you…easily. So, you have to run fast elsewhere without going crazy, to make sure your overall pace is where you want it to be.

The goals I had in mind were to break 59 mins and the outside goal was to run 5:50 pace, which is 58:20. I ran the last 10 miles of Baystate in 58:40, so 5:50 pace seems easy in my brain…but when you run over 6 mins on 3 miles in the race, you really need to be running 5:40-45s to get it done. I knew Dave would be game to run in that zone and I spoke with Alan Bernier before the race and he had similar goals.

The gun was quick, I was talking with Steve Dowsett and all of a sudden there was a bang. I felt like I got out good, but not too quick. I really held back the first half mile. I wanted to go through the mile in 5:50 as I knew the 2nd mile would be fast because of the nature of the course. Dave, Alan and I were within feet of each other though the mile in 5:48.9. Perfect. As we moved along, Alan and Dave would gap me on the small downs and I would catch back up on the ups. We hit the flat after 2 miles and I got just ahead of Alan and started catching up to Dowsett, then went by. I felt pretty good, but felt slow. I figured it was we were beginning to go gradually up hill. This mile just continues to get steeper and steeper until you peak around 3.3 miles. The mile was not as steep as I remember from running the course in 2012 but it definitely slowed you down. I was 5:27 at 2 miles and then 6:14 through 3. I was pleased enough with that slowdown, I had done some data searching before the race and the slowdowns that I had found ranged from 40 secs to a minute and a half. On the up new teammate Ed Sheldon went by me, but I was able to get him back when we peaked and started heading down. In my mind I had gaped all the people I had passed, but this was not the case at all, as I would find out later on in the race.

I was 6:11 at 4 miles and from there until 7 the race was pretty uneventful. Some downs and some flat. The dirt road was in solid shape, my fat ass was sinking in spots, but overall you could not complain. I was focused ahead, trying to make up as much time on the down hills that I could. I picked off a few runners and as each mile went by, although not feeling amazing, I felt better about what my time would be.

Right before 7 miles Dave came back on me. I went through that mile in 5:30 and he went through in 5:26. He loves those down hills. I knew I need to keep my foot on the gas and not let him get by and pull away like he did at the Newport 10k.

I was successful in doing this and put a couple seconds on him between 7 and 9. However, than Ed Sheldon came back on me! This was right before turning right on Strong Street heading uphill towards the 9 mile mark. I was able to keep in in sight, but he gaped me enough where I didn’t think I would be able to catch. Finally we peaked the hill at around 9.6 and started the downhill towards the loop around the parking lot. When we finally entered the lot, I started moving a bit, but didn’t start kicking until we hit that final right hand turn. I pushed as hard as I could and was reeling Ed in, but in the last 10 feet he heard me coming and put in a last burst to hold me off. I should have started moving earlier than I did, but I was pretty shot from that last hill. I finished in 58:23, pretty much my pie in the sky goal for the race, so I’ll take that.

Dave came in 12 seconds later, running damn close to his 10 mile PR on a not very PR friendly course.

After waiting through the shit-show that was the awards, we headed out for a 2 mile cool down then headed to the Northhampton Brewery for some beer and food.

Imperial Stout and some chili with my cheese.

All in all, I am pleased with this race. My training has been less than optimal, but I now have a starting point. There are less than 3 weeks until race # 2, the New Bedford ½ Marathon. While I cannot make huge leaps and bounds in fitness between now and then, I plan on doing as much as I can, while hoping my body plays nice and allows it!

U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials

This weekend the 2012 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials will take place in Houston, TX.  These trials are shaping up to be one of the most competitive in US history.  There is a lot of speculation that records will fall, not only the fastest winning times in the history of the trials, but also the fastest times to make the team.

LetsRun goes into great details on their site about the competitors and how everything will shake out, see the links below and see the other links to interviews etc. they have up on their main page.

LetsRun Men's Preview
LetsRun Women's Preview

So how do I think things will turn out?  I don't believe that it will take a sub 2:10 to make the men's team as Ryan Hall has stated.  Not that I think it will be a much slower time, but probably in the 2:11-2:12 range.  The women's top three on the other hand, will have to have a great day.  I feel it is possible that 2:25 will be needed to make the team, will it actually happen, we will see? 

Picking the top three for both the male's and the female's is tough, a lot can happen in a championship race.  There may be some underdog's that go for it, which will shake the race up depending on when moves are made.   Anyway you look at it, there is great depth in each field, which will make for some exciting racing, too bad we won't be able to watch it live!

So here are my top three picks...

Men
1-Ryan Hall
2-Dathan Ritzenhein
3-Meb Keflezighi

I don't see any upsets happening in the men's race, with that said, I also would not be surprised if Meb does not make the team and the same goes for Dathan.  Meb is coming off of NYC and wasn't able to get back into full training as soon as he wanted to, but that might have been a good thing, maybe he will be fresh and ready to roll.  Ritz..I can see him out of the top three, but I can also see him beating Hall.  He hasn't raced a marathon in a while, but he certainly has not hit his full potential in the marathon.

So who can pick up the pieces if these guys falter?  There are many guys waiting for these guys fall apart...Mo Trafeh and Brett Gotcher are just two that could come though, but there are a half dozen other runners that I wouldn't be surprised if they were standing on the podium at the end of the day.

Women
1-Desiree Davila
2-Shalane Flanagan
3-Amy Hastings

Again, I think the women's race will have more ladies together late in the race.  I do feel the top two are a lock, and I pick Amy Hastings as a dark horse getting it done...Obviously if Kara Goucher has a normal day, she should be there and can also win outright.  And what about Deena Kastor?

Now the race up front will be very interesting to see, but I am also excited to see how the "ultra runners" fair tomorrow.  There is a good group of runners that mainly focus on distances greater than 26.2 miles, but they made the trials and will be toeing the line.  See iRunFar.com for a great preview of those runners.

Year in Review

Another year in running has passed, most of the races and adventures that we conquered earlier in the year seem so distant, it is as though they never happened.  Here is a re-cap of some of the events I was lucky enough to be a part of this year.


1/1/11 - I started the year off defending my title at the Hangover Classic in Bristol, RI, winning in 27:57. The previous 2 years this race had bad snow luck, the course was covered in inches of snow and ice.  This made for slow and dangerous conditions, so it was nice to get on some dry roads this year.

1/2/11 - This date was supposed to mark the first snowshoe race for the TNT Snowshoe Team, however, Hollis, NH did not have enough snow, so the race turned into the Beaver Brook Snowy Slushy Trail Race.  With a small field of 17, I was able to take my second victory in two days, I think that was my last win of the year!

1/15/11 - Feel Good Farm Snowshoe Race... this is one of my favorite snowshoe races.  Feel Good Farm is an interesting place, as is the owner.  This ended up being the first snowshoe race for TNT in 2011, and for some unlucky soles, it was their first snowshoe race ever.  FGF is a tough place to strap on the shoes for the first time.  We had 10 Turtles toe the line at FGF and I finished 7th in a field of 67.  Unfortunately, this race has been taken off the Granite State SSS schedule.

1/22/11 - Whitaker Woods Snowshoe Race was one of our longer snowshoe race trips, heading up to North Conway, NH. This was a first time event put on by Kevin Tilton.  He had a great course set-up and we had another good TNT showing, with 12 runners toeing the line.  The highlights of this trip were popsicle sticks and a trip to Moat Mountain.

1/29/11 - A group of 7 made their way up to Center Sandwich, NH (Home of the largest dining room set in the Northeast).  The Sidehiller 4 Miler was the next race on the Granite State Snowshoe Series calendar, and also a northeast qualifier for the USSSA Nationals, which meant there would be a strong field.  I had a pretty good race and it came down to my first ever snowshoe sprint battle in the last 1/4 mile with Charlie Thierrault and Danny Ferreira, both of acidotic RACING.  In the end I beat Danny, but Charlie out leaned me at the line...it made for a fun finish.

2/5/11 - Another snowshoe race, this time in Exeter, NH for the Exeter Snowshoe Hullabaloo.  This might have been my worst race of the year, up until this point at least!  The path was super narrow and I kept clipping my shoes and went down multiple times.  The course was pretty cool otherwise...but this just wasn't my day.

2/6/11 - I was talked into running the Super 5k in Narragansett, RI so we could field a men's team and win the team prize.  It was a beautiful day down in Narraganset albeit a little windy.  With the afternoon start, I was still able to get in a long run in the morning and then attempt to run a 5k off of a race the day earlier and a long run a few hours earlier.  I was happy to come away with a 4th place finish in 17:00 and more importantly, the team victory!

2/19/11 - Snowshoe double-header...Since the Beaver Brook Snowshoe Race from 1/2/11 was postponed we ended up with a double-header on 2/19/11.  The TNT SST made the trip to Hollis, NH in the morning for the BBSSR, which by the way WAS my worse race of the year, then we headed to Milly's Tavern in Manchester, NH for some food and beer before heading to Madbury, NH for the Kingman Farm Moonlight Snowshoe Race.  The night race is by far the most fun of the year, and after running like hell in the morning I came back to run a good race, but ended up finishing 5th instead of 3rd after following Geoff Cunningham off course.

2/26/11 - The next to last snowshoe race was held at Northfield Mountain.  This was to be the first NEF Snowshoe Championship, it was a tough race with lots of climbing and it made me tired.

3/13/11 - 2 weeks after running up Northfield Mountain on snowshoes we headed way up north to the FINAL! snowshoe race of the season, The Granite State Snowshoe Championships.  This race starts across the street from Mountain Washington.  It was a nice mix of groomed trails and long climbs.  The race went well for me, finishing in 5th place behind 4 acidotic guys.  We finished out the year sipping on some beer provided by Redhook and acidotic RACING.

3/20/11 - The New Bedford Half Marathon, finally a race where I could show that I was in shape, getting ready for the marathon doesn't usually result in great 3-4 mile snowshoe races.  This race went pretty well, and I ran faster than I had expected.  I tied my PR according to the official results, and on the watch I beat it by a second.  I ran with teammate Matin Tighe late int he race, but couldn't reel him back in, in the final half mile, and he got me by 2 seconds.

4/10/11 - Doyles Emerald Necklace 5 Miler, It was a great after party, I don't think I raced?  Jackie ran a 5 mile PR though!

5/1/11 - The Cox Sports Marathon was the main goal of the spring.  This was actually the first time I had ever run a marathon in Rhode Island, so that was something to check off my list.  The race went pretty well, I feel I ran as well as I could with the training I had in the legs.  I finished with my second fastest marathon in 2:42:37

5/21/11 and 5/28/11 - We through in two USATF Mountain Series races before getting down to training for the Transrockies Race.  Northfield Mountain Race on 5/21/11 and Wachusett Mountain Race on 5/28/11.  The Wachusett Race went much better then the Northfield Race, but both were a blast.

7/17/11 - North South Trail Long Run.  Jackie, Karen and myself ran 35 miles of RIs NS Trail.  It was a great run in 90+ degree heat!

Jackie and Karen on the NST

8/7/11 - Because we are in the Brooks ID program, Jackie and I were lucky enough to get a free entry into the 1st Annual Rock n Roll 1/2 Marathon in Providence, We had no intentions to race this 1/2, but took it as a good opportunity to get in a long run.  I ran 17 miles before the race, while Jackie did slightly less.  We then ran in the race together, starting out EZ and passing all the runners that went out too fast.  You can read about it HERE.

8/21 - 8/26 - Transrockies Run...the epic run of the year.  I highly recommend anyone that enjoys running in the woods to try this adventure.  You can read about it here!

Stage 2 Transrockies

9/18/11 - Our Turtle teammate Karen Benway was planning on racing the Pisgah 50k.  This worked out well because Jackie and I had 30 miles on the schedule.  So we decided to make the trek up to the race and it made for a nice easy way to get in 30+ miles, while practicing fueling for the upcoming JFK 50 Miler.  Other than a wrong turn late in the run for me, it was a great day.

10/5/11 - 6:45 pm TNT vs NRA Showdown.  This was probably the most proud I have been of the Tuesday Night Turtles as a team.  When there is a race on the line, and the other team is trash talking that they would beat us to death, the Turtles came out of the woodlands :)  We might not have the fastest folks around, but we had the most team pride on this night, and with that we took home the big W...it was a great night!

11/13/11 - RI 6 Hour.  This was the third running of the RI 6 Hour, not bad for a race I thought up in the shower one morning.  The 2011 event went well, other than those damn cops.

Sunrise @ Warwick City Park

11/19/11 - The JFK 50 Miler was a great trip.  I was happy with my new 50 mile PR and super happy to see the TNT Women's Team of Jackie Jackman, Karen Benway and Issy Nielson, come away with the team victory and also breaking the Women's Team Record that was set back in 2002 by over 2 hours!!  JFK Race Report

2011 JFK Course Record setting women's team!

So those were the major explorations of the year, there was also running the Fat Belly to Fat Belly the afternoon after running Northfield Mountain and the Grog and Dog Jog on Columbus Day Weekend.  Not to mention the Run for Hope a few weeks ago, but I had enough recapping!  On to 2012, which I already started with a not so good race at the Hangover Classic, ending my three year winning streak.  But I followed that up with a great 2 hour long run today in the Arcadia Management area with Karen Benway and Zak Kudlak, so things are already looking up!  Good Luck to everyone with their 2012 adventures!