Race #4 and #5

42 days into the new year and i have 5 races in so far, not too bad, but would be higher if there was snow on the ground.

My fourth race of the year was the Super 5k in Narragansett, RI, an out an back course along the ocean. It was a last minute decision to run this year, like 3 hours before the race. I ran the course as a warmup with Martin Tighe and Chris Jasparro, felt pretty good. I lined up on the front row to start even though i knew i would not get out fast. I haven't been doing any speed work, so there is no zip in my legs and i find i have to build up to pace instead of just blasting out. Something to work on in the spring.

The mile did go by in 6.08, the fastest i have done that in years. Middle mile was slow, 6.34. At the turnaround, i had teammate and fellow Death Race entrant, Issy Neilson come up on my heels, she was right there for close to a mile before i pulled away by a few seconds in the last mile, a 6.18. In the end, i finished in 19.41, my fastest 5k in 6 years. In 2006 i ran this race in 17.16, that was before all my knee problems. Now the knees feel fine and i will be getting faster, thing is, i have no real interest in running 5k's. Maybe i will do another one this year just to see the improvement, maybe.

The next race, #5, was more to my liking, a 15k trail race in Burlingame State Park, Charlestown, RI. The race was appropriately called the Brrr-lingame 15k trail race and it was chilly out, about 23 degrees and windy at the start. It is a two loop course, mostly single track with a lot of small ups and downs.

For some reason, i went out fast here, coming into the woods, i was running 5th, that ended real quickly. I was passed by 15 runners in the next mile, i only got one of those places back. That is what i get for the too quick start. I settled in and ran a pretty good first lap, averaging 7.12's, the second lap was slower. I started feeling the pace with about 2 miles to go, i looked behind and did not see anyone, so i backed off a bit and ran 1.08 slower than the first. As i crossed the finish, i was surprised to see three runners battling just 15-20 seconds behind me, i never saw them, one was Bob Sharkey, newly turned 60 and killer mountain runner. It is good anytime i can finish in front of Bob. I ended up 19th in 68.03 @ 7.19 pace, 1st in the 50-59 age group. The race was won by Greg Hammett with my only teammate today, Alan Bernier in second. The Westerly Track Club put 5 in the top 10 to easily win the team honors. Congratulations to them.

A big shout out to Mike Galoob for putting on this trail series this winter, the South County 4th Season Race Series. It is great to have more trail races on the schedule without driving to another state. I do miss the snowshoe racing, but this series is a good alternative.

Next up? I don't really know, i'll take it week to week. I'll be at Amherst for the DH Jones 10 miler, but behind a camera, not racing. 

Canadian Death Race. I'm in!

I'm entered!! Crazy as it sounds, i just entered the Canadian Death Race in Grande Cache, Alberta, Canada. The race is in the Canadian Rockies, west of Edmonton. In a nutshell, it is 125 kilometers (77.6713 miles) in less than 24 hours, 3 peaks to run over, 17,000 feet of climb and descent. Sound crazy? Yes it is! 

Course Profile: Click here.

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It is not so much a race as an adventure.

This will be a group run, i will be running with Thor Kirleis, Issy Nielson and  Henry Sacco. Thor and Issy have run ultras before, not sure about Henry. Me? I have never run beyond 27 miles and that was done in 1982, i never knew how to run slow enough to run farther, that 27 was in all likelihood done in way under 3 hours. I am banking on the experience of Issy and Thor to get me through this event.

I have 6 months to get ready for this, i'll need most of that.

How to train for this. Not really sure. 20-25 mile runs, repeats up Wachusett Mountain, a few runs up in North Conway with Kevin Tilton as a guide. Maybe some tough trails races like Soapstone Mountain or Seven Sisters. I'm already in Mt Washington, that will help. It will be interesting to say the least.

One thing is for certain, i WILL finish. And have fun doing it.


Stay tuned for training updates.

I hope they have good beer in Grande Cache!! 

First Snowshoe Race of the Year

A few hundred meters from the finish ( photo by Gianina Lindsey)

Finally, there is enough snow on the ground to race on. Very early Saturday morning, i headed up to North Conway, NH with teammate Chris Jasparro to the Whitaker Woods Snowshoe Scramble. It is a 4 mile race on groomed trails and some single track in the middle of North Conway. This was the first race of the Granite State Snowshoe Series since the first two races had been postponed due to lack of snow. Snow was falling lightly and it was a bit cold, maybe 10-12 degrees, but did not feel that cold. After registering and saying hello to many of my trail/snowshoe friends, Chris and i did a mile or so warmup on the trails. This was the first time on the shoes since last February, but i felt great on them, smooth and strong. 


As the race went off, i fell into a pace i thought would be good for me, the lead group separated quickly and i found myself entering the woods leading the second group while watching the guys out front disappear. Chris J was at the tail end of the lead group and seemed to be running very well, Chris, like me, is in much better shape this year and should place well in some of these races. This course is basically uphill for the first half and downhill for the rest. As i came into the start of the hills, i was catching up to Dan Hayden of Acidotic Racing. Dan was running bare armed out there, too cold for me, but as Dan said before the race, as long as he had gloves on, he would be fine. I was gaining good ground on Dan on the uphills and did catch and pass him about the time we hit the high point of the course. On the start of the downhills, it was different story, Dan ran with a bit more reckless abandon than i did, a few times i pulled up on his heels only to have him pull away again. In the last mile, i was maybe 10-15 seconds behind as we came out onto the last part of the course, what looks like a groomed 400 meter track, i closed a little, but was 9 seconds behind at the finish. I had too much left at the end, i need to learn to push harder at the end of snowshoe races, it is not quite the same as the end of a road 5k. I finished with a time of 33.53, last year i ran 38.50. I am running lighter and stronger this year and it showed, this was my best SS race in the 4 years that i have been running these things. Now if we can just get some more snow in NH so i can run more of the series, i will be very happy. Chris J ran a great race to finish 5th, this is his 3rd year doing these races and a huge jump from last year.
Big shout out to Jess and Kevin Tilton for putting on a great race...Thank You!


Post race? What else but a visit to a brewpub. In this case Moat Mountain Smokehouse and Brewpub. Chris and i met up with Don Fredrickson at the bar. Had an imperial stout that was very good and a rye ale that was just so-so. Food here is always good and i love their "yam fries".


Next week is the Sidehiller in Center Sandwich, NH. Lack of snow has already altered the course, it should be fast, just hope the snow lasts til the weekend. There should be a better Turtle showing at this race. Post race at Milly's Tavern in Manchester.


I started this week with the Epic Trail Run, Bradford to Salisbury, Ma. This was a Dave Dunham/Dan Verrington production. It was cold!! No it was f*****g cold, 6 degrees at the start and i had 20 miles to run. I should note that i had not run 20 miles since November of 2004, the Philadelphia Marathon. Pace was easy and the miles went by quickly, the company helped too. I only started to fade in the last mile, letting the pack go with 1/2 mile to go. Finished in 2:42, not a bad start to some longer runs that will be upcoming.

At the finish, Dan Verrington, Me, Todd Callaghan, Jim Pawlicki, Joe Shairs
Bob Jackman,Joe O'Leary, Dave Principe, Dave Lapierre, Ken Tripp
Thor Kirleis and Dave Dunham

Of course, we hit a brewpub on the way home, this one was Watch City Brewing in Waltham, MA. Bob Jackman, Dave Principe, Thor Kirlies and myself enjoyed a few brew and a bite to eat. One thing i will say about this place, they never seem to have anything i would call earth shattering on tap. The cask stout was ok, there wasn't an IPA on tap. I should have tried the barley wine, but after running 20, that would have put me in a coma.

Comeback in Progress

Flagging the course at Loon Mountain this year. l-r, Sam, Paul Kirsch, me, Tim Van Orden
Tim Mahoney and Bear. Photo by Paul Bazanchuk.

By the way, the sign say "mountain runners - we're not that bright". I beg to differ.

2011

Miles - 1669

Jan. to June  641m

July to Dec.   1028m

Races - 18

Snowshoe - 6

Trail - 3

Mountain - 3

Relay - 3

Road - 3

It was a slow start to the year, but once July hit, i was starting to find a stride. Steady miles and dropping some weight finally got me to where i was enjoying my runs more. Longer runs were getting easier and seeing that most of those were on trails, i was really starting to feel good. I ran Mt Washington in June, totally bombed there. Ran Mt Ascutney a few weeks later and was faster than at half way at the Rockpile. Things were already turning around. I ran sub 6.30 pace for 5k at the infamous Ross Handicap, things were really falling into place. September was a down month, a lot of photography duties got in the way. October brought a big breakthrough at Vulcans Fury in NH, i ran strong for most of the 11+ mile race on tough trails. Check this race out next year if you want a good trail run. I ended the year with the Mill Cities Relay on my birthday, a very good run, 6.39 pace at 8 mile and then i dropped my wristband and backtracked to get it, losing all my momentum. I think the wristband was cursed, as it had dropped off the wrist of our lovely leadoff runner earlier in the day. Ran the Nooseneck 18k the day after Christmas and was strong until the last hill. I think 2012 will be a good one for me!

On to 2012

Goals

Blog more :)

Average over 200 miles a month. 2400+ for the year.

Drop weight under 150, that will come with the miles.

Take at least 20 minutes off last years time at Mt Washington. Bad race in 2011, lots of room for improvement.

Break 18 minutes for 5k. Should not be a problem.

Run more trails and avoid the roads as much as possible.

Run an epic trail race somewhere in Canada. Hmmm, where could that be?

Make more homebrew. And share it of course.

Stay Healthy!!!!

Take more photos at races, i ONLY shot about 70 thousand last year.

Favorite shot of the year? Could be this one.
Ben Nephew at the Rhode Island 6 Hour Race

Fall Wrapup

It has been a long time since my last post here, but since we are at the end of the fall and my running has improved, i should post something. Since my last post in mid-July, i have been pretty steady with the mileage, running 45-50 most weeks or about 200 miles per month. There have been aches and pains, but no injuries to speak of. Half of those miles were done on trails up until the clocks changed in November, now i'm mostly on the roads except for my weekly night trail run with John Peabody. Headlamps, water crossings, single track, roots, rocks, train tracks (look out for the Acela train) and lots of deer, it is fun, but not for the faint of heart. I just picked up a Concept2 Indoor Rowing Machine too, looking forward to some good cross training this winter.

8 miles in (Steve Wolfe Photo)

That brings us to racing. I have run 5 races this fall, 2 on trails and 3 road relays. The most recent was the Mill Cities Relay, run from Nashua, NH to Lawrence, Ma covering 27 miles and 5 legs. I was running this one for my secondary club, The Goon Squad. We were set up as a mixed masters team. Leading off was my excellent friend Sarah Prescott (Goon name:Goatie), Sarah has been a P.R. machine this year. Next up was very fast senior Linda Jennings (Goon name: Sonic Boom), Linda has been running some of the National USATF Grand Prix Circuit and is wicked fast in her age group. Running third was Jack Mulligan, Jack was filling in for late scratch Fernando Braz. I was next up (Goon name: Flash), i was running the long leg which was 9.5 miles. Our anchor runner was John Murphy (Goon name: Pusher). We knew we weren't running for the win in our division, but that doesn't mean we weren't going run fast anyway. When i took the handoff from Jack, i really did not know what to expect. I figured i would be happy if i ran just under 7's, my first mile was 6.24 after which i backed off a bit and tried to fall into a good rhythm. I locked on at 6.35-6.40 and held pretty steady for 5 miles or so then fell off a bit to 6.45's. It might have been better if not for unknowingly dropping my relay wristband and then backtracking a couple hundred yards to pick it up, that destroyed my momentum. After that, i just figured i would jog in, spirit broken, but i dug down and got back into high gear for the last mile. I may have cost us bout two minutes which was only one lost place in division. All in all, our team ran great despite my mess up. Once done, we all headed into the post race party at the Claddagh Pub, had some food, drank some Guinness and hung with friends and fellow runners. It was a great time! I can't wait for next years race! This was also my birthday and i treated my self by running faster than i thought i could right now, i was a good 15-20 seconds a mile better than i thought i could do for a longer distance. It is fun getting fast again, but i do have a ways to go before i will be satisfied. The goal is sub 6's. I'll get there.

Grog and Dog Jog

Other races i have done this fall include the Rhode Island 6 Hour Relay. Our team the Tuesday Night Turtles finished second overall after a number mishap by the then second place Fuel Belt team. There were timing chips on the numbers and one of their runners forgot his number and had to backtrack to get it. It is a tough way to lose a place. We went from a 3 minute deficit to an 8 minute lead in a lap and finally won by about 12 minutes, but way behind the lead Acidotic Racing team. I also was on the "B" team at the Grog and Dog Jog at the Wild Colonial Tavern in Providence. Run 1 and a quarter miles, eat a hot dog, drink a beer and hand off to your next runner. Dressing up for this race is not a requirement, but most teams do and that is the most of the reason this race is so much fun. Our team dressed up as Larry the Cable Guy, good thing he wears flannel shirts with cut off sleeves, it was 80 degrees plus at race time. Race time is basically thrown out the window hear, first over the line is all that counts. We were top 15, good enough for us.

TNT second place team at the RI 6 Hour Relay

My other two races this fall were both trail runs, but that is where the similarity ended. One race, the Lil'Rhody RunAround is flat, fast 8ish mile race with some roots and plank bridges to cross and a mile of pavement at the end. The other was the Vulcan's Fury Trail Race in Nottingham, NH, 12 miles? with about 1600 ft of climbing. Single track, steep ups and downs, stream crossings, running water down the middle of some double wide trails, climbing up rocks, a lot of twists and turns, basically what makes for a fun race. I had one tough fall here, sliding across a very wide rock while on a decent from the peak, a good amount of rock-rash that i did not even notice until the race was over. It was great fun, looking forward to next year's version. I will get more of my Turtle teammates to this one.


So, now that the fall is over and i am rounding into halfway decent shape, we look towards snowshoe season. This should be good, i have been racing on snow for the last 3 years, but never in very good condition. All we need right now is snow, bring it on! Hopefully i can keep up on my blog updates too.

Ascutney

Finally, i get to run a race that i also ran last year, this gives me a time to aim at. So up to Windsor, Vermont i went to run the Mt Ascutney Road Race up the mountain. It is a 3.75 mile paved road that rises 2300 ft, finishing just below the summit. Two years ago, this was my first ever mountain race. That year, after running 2 miles on the road, the course veered off onto single track trail to the actual peak. I did not care for that route to the top and thankfully, they changed back to the traditional road course last year.

Last year i really suffered going up this mountain, this year i knew would be better, just a matter of how much. For the last 10 weeks, my running has been pretty steady, usually around low 40's to 50 mile per week. I have been running a lot of trails and recently, a decent amount of mountains. Training runs up Wachusett, Cranmore, Black Cap, Loon and Middle Mountain along with the Mt Washington Road Race had me feeling pretty good.

Time to run. After a short warmup run, i lined up back in the pack at the start line. At the gun, you start climbing. I started off cautiously, call it slow if you like. The plan was to run to the mile and then take short walking breaks the rest of the way. I locked on to what i thought was a comfortable pace in the first mile, right behind Rich Miller and Goon teammate Hank "Spanky" Wilder. Just before the mile, i took my first walk break, maybe 50 meters and ran again. I caught up to Spanky and we went back and forth a few times until i pulled away. I figured to have him with me or in front for the race, so i was a bit surprised to leave Spanky behind. From then on, i would walk some of the corners where it was steeper and try running the staight sections. It was hard to tell if i was running better than last year, it seemed like i was running more but it still is so tiring. Towards the top, there are some sections that flatten out and i could stretch out the stride a little. I checked the watch a few times in the last mile and figured it would be close, but i would be faster than last year. Coming around the last uphill bend, i was surprised to see that i was way under last year as i ended up 3 minutes and 56 seconds to the better. Needless to say, i was happy with that. Can i knock off another 4 minutes next year? Why not.

The Goon Squad - Spanky, Flash, Thunder God and Taz

Happy to be done with it, i was asked almost right away if i was running to the top where the lookout tower was. Of course, i said sure, lets do it. I jogged to the tower with Paul Bazanchuk. The rest of the gang was way up in front, i had no desire to push that fast. The view from the tower was great (see photo at right). After the awards, we ran back down the mountain, it is a nice way to wreck your legs for the next days run.

One last stop, we all headed over to the local river to soak in the cold water and enjoy a few adult beverages. It is a nice way to finish off the mountain running series.

Want to read a race report by the winner and series champion? Go here: DoubleJRunning.blogspot.com

I guess i have to find some trail races to do now, or i could always try a road race (yuk).

Loon Mountain

I spent the weekend up in Lincoln, NH for the 5th round of the USATF-NE Mountain Series race at Loon Mountain. Once checked into the motel, i headed over to Loon to run the course, but upon arriving, i ran into race RD Paul Kirsch, who was about to go out and flag the course. I decided to go along with Paul, as well as Tim VanOrden, Tim Mahoney and Paul Bazanchuk to help out. It sounded like fun and was, and one hell of a workout to boot! We headed up the mountain with 2 dogs in tow (Sam and Bear), marking the course and enjoying nice conversation. It was pretty warm out and that took a toll on the dogs, so Tim M and Paul brought them down in the gondola and left Paul B, Tivo and myself to hike Upper Walking Boss with the flags. I learned two things, Upper Walking Boss really sucks to go up and the mosquitos were about as bad as the ascent of the mountain. My quads were burning at the top and i wasn't even racing. I think i lost a pint of blood too.

The easy way up the mountain

Tim Mahoney, Rich Miller, Paul Bazanchuk and Tim VanOrden
soaking in the ice cold Pemi

The next morning, it was overcast and cooler. Just after the start, the rain came in. I took the easy way up the mountain in a gondola with my camera equipment. Once at the top, i had to hike up to the north peak, top of Upper Walking Boss. Last year, i ran into a bear at the top and Eric Blake ran into the same bear a little later on course. No bears this year, although we did se one the day before while flagging to course. I took a bath in Deep Woods Off, no bug problems today. I parked my butt down the slope a bit and shot away. The rain would come and go, then eventually, the clouds moved in and visibility at the top was about 100 feet. By then i had shot about 2000 images, time to go.

You can see my Loon photos here: scottmasonphoto.com

For a good race write up, go here:
Dare Mighty Things

After the race, we headed to the river out front, the Pemi, and soaked in the ice cold water while enjoying a beer. A very nice way to wrap up the race.


Next week is the last race of the series at Mt Ascutney, Windsor, Vermont. I will be running, not shooting. I look forward to hanging at the river afterwards. I know it will be a good time.

Ross Krause at the top of Upper Walking Boss in 2nd place

Tough Run at Mt Washington

For the last 5 or 6 years, i have been wanting to run the Mt Washington Road Race but every year something came up.......yes....injuries. I have had balky knees for that long. First it was a kneecap tracking problem in the left leg, then the right knee started up, probably from favoring it over the other. I had been to orthopedics, podiatrists, chiropractors and physical therapists, they were all kind of useless to my problem. My savior is Nicole, my massage therapist. It took a while, but she got everything straightened out and now i have been running pain free for over a year. So with that being said, i really wanted to run the Rockpile this year. Of course, our team missed the lottery, but through the kindness of Paul Kirsch of the White Mountain Milers, i got a number along with TNT teammate Martin Tighe. 

Now that i was in, i had to start training for it. Easier said than done. I had about three months to get ready for this, i had been running a bit over the winter, mostly 25-30 mile weeks with some snowshoe racing thrown in too. But when it has been 5 + years of injuries and no real competition you get lazy and out of shape. Getting back after a long layoff, especially after 50 was not going to be easy. I kept getting sidetracked, sometimes it was the weather, sometimes it was lack of motivation. I seemed to be falling behind on my training timetable. Finally, in early May, things started looking up. I had a few 40-50 mile weeks, lots of trail running, but no hills (Rhode Island isn't know as a hilly state). I knew that all i could do is just get in steady distance and hope for the best. I did run the Wachusett Mountain trail race and sucked on the uphills, but flew the downs, at least i know i had leg turnover. This would be no help at Mt Washington though.

If only i could find Mr Peabody and Sherman and hop in the wayback machine. I would have loved to run this race when i was 30 and a road rocket. I think it would have been good, i had a 1.07 half marathon and 23.58 5 mile pr. I loved running hill repeats. If only.........


On to race day. I arrived an hour and a half before race time and parked next to Tim Van Orden and Dave Quintal. After some small talk, headed out to find Bill Riley, who we were bringing back down the mountain. Right about then, the rain started and it was coming down pretty good for a while. It stopped with 25 minutes to spare so could get a warmup in with Martin. The legs felt ok, not great. Off to the start line, i lined up about halfway through the pack, too far back i would find out shortly. The cannon went off and so did we. With the first mile having some down and flat running, my mile was a bit faster at 10.45. I was concentrating on getting past slower runners, not my pace. It probably did not matter anyway. Second mile was 13 minutes, that was my last good mile split. It was about here that my lack of preparation was showing, third and fourth miles were around 14 minutes, halfway at about 48 and i was thinking that a 1.36 finish wouldn't be that bad. Then it got ugly. My back tightened up on me, i was walking too much, but i did feel best going up the dirt section and actually got my stride going just before going back to pavement, then around a sharp bend the legs just did not want to cooperate anymore today. I walked a lot of the last two miles, there was nothing in the tank. Almost to the top, i made sure i ran past Joe Viger, who was shooting pictures, then rounded the corner to the "wall" and i really wanted to run up it. I walked most instead, then watched the clock tick over to 1:45 as i crossed. Boy, was i glad that was over. I ran into Amber & Danny Ferriera and Rich Lavers right after that a vowed to never run this again, well maybe i will, maybe i won't. We will see what next year brings and decide in March. 


One consolation was scoring on the winning seniors team for the White Mountain Milers. I was happy about contributing.


Once back to the bottom of the mountain and it was time for fun. I broke open some homebrew, Bob Fitzgerald had a growler of Moat Mountain IPA. Time to hydrate. It is always great to hang with friends after race like this. 


Funny thing i found about this race. It does not trash your legs like a marathon would. I was talking to Craig Fram afterwards and he was saying that your legs will be fine in an hour. It is like eating chinese food, you will be hungry in an hour. It only makes sense as there is no pounding unless you are one of those crazy guys who run back down the mountain.


Next race is Mt Ascutney, more torture but for less time.


Next week is Cranmore, i will be behind the lens for that one. See you there.