Sun Tzu and the Art of Cross-Country: NE Cross Country (8/22/15 - 11/8/15)

USATF-NE Championships
coming up over the knoll I twisted my ankle on in 2010
Photo by Emerson

“Can you imagine what I would do if I could do all I can?”

Five years ago this past August, I ran the Bridge of Flowers 10K out in Sherbourne Falls.  It's not the best race in the world: it's in the middle of nowhere; you don't actually get to run over the Bridge of Flowers; and, there is the dumbest hill ever in a race at mile 3.  Anyways, it is important in my own personal history.  It was a year after I had returned from my cycling across the Balkans.  But also, while I was a good 10 minutes behind the rest of the Somerville Runners: Jon May, Chris Smith, Robert Cipriano and Joe O'Leary, it convinced me I could run with these guys if I tried.  That night I went out and I bought two packs of cigarettes.  They were the last two packs I ever bought.  Other than the 2 and a half I had a month later at Nellie and Carl's wedding, those cigarettes were the last I ever smoked.

I only remark on this as to view Sunday at Franklin Park. From the bottom of the Bear Cage Hill to the Mile 2 mark, I knew Joe was right behind me.  Emerson had yelled for me and then him as I made the turn off the hill: "Joe's still right behind me." And, throughout the stretch along the team areas, people who knew Joe were cheering for him.  Soon after the turn by the stone lean-to where the BAA puts their tent, I ran past the Mile 2 mark and then Joe ran past me.  I immediately pushed to get onto his shoulder and stayed with him until the hill up to the picnic area in the Wilderness.  Maybe I could have kept with him; maybe my own judgement of perceived effort isn't correct yet*; or, maybe, I wasn't quite ready to run a race with Joe, physiologically or psychologically.

Regardless of my own understanding of my abilities, this cross-country season has been a major catalyst for improvement.  I entered the season with 3 goals: 1) run 18:30 at the Mayor's Cup; 2) Break 32 minutes at USATF-NE Championship; and 3) score at least 16 points in the Cross Country Grand Prix.  While I achieved, and even surpassed, two of these: "There ain't no Coupe de Ville hiding at the bottom of a Cracker Jack Box". 

New Hampshire Cross Country Festival

“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.”

There are two basic strategies to getting faster are to increase volume or to increase intensity.  My strategy for this cross country season was a hybrid.  I was going to increase the volume of miles while increasing the intensity of my quality workouts.  However, I made a conscious effort to take everyday runs without worrying about any pace.  While my quality workouts shot up in intensity and speed, my everyday runs were slower, longer and easier.  

Due to the XC schedule, I had to take each step in increments.  The first race - New Hampshire Cross Country Festival - I thought would be too early to see any improvement and had yet to install any tactical (specific race) workouts.  And while at the time that was true, looking back it was the first step. My 20:26 there was probably equal to a 20:00 5k at Franklin Park.  

"Speed is the essence of war"

The goal of intensity workouts should be two-fold - physiological and psychological.  Most of my workouts early in the cross-country season were geared toward 10K pace.  I attempted to put in interval blocks of several miles on bike paths.  Later I switched over to largely shorter, faster track workouts: 10 x 400; 15 x 200, etc.  In the beginning, psychologically I could run "that fast" over some sustained period.  But then the shorter stuff taught my brain I could running even faster - even if for 30 seconds....

Wayland XC Festival

"With regard to precipitous heights, if you are beforehand with your adversary, you should occupy the raised and sunny spots, and there wait for him to come up."

While this two pronged strategy got my race paces - in general - down (At Wellesley, I ran 22 seconds faster than New Hampshire), I new that to really gain I would need some tactics.  Three of the seven XC races I planned this year would be a Franklin Park.  So the week between the Greater Boston meet and the Codfish bowl, I substituted one quality workout with doing hill repeats (up and down) on Bear Cage Hill.  In the 5k it comes at mile 1.5.  But, for the 8k it comes at mile 1.5 AND mile 4.25.  This stretch is crucial.

Women's Leaders - Mayor's Cup

This training paid off immediately in the Codfish Bowl.  At mile 1.5, I passed many of the college kids who were beginning to straggle.  And coming down the back side of the hill, I knew I could catch a breathe before heading back out.  By the second time up, I was the only one around me who was comfortable going up the hill.  I passed a couple people up the hill and then one more in the stretch to the finish.

"The quality of decision is like the well-timed swoop of a falcon which enables it to strike and destroy its victim."

At New Hampshire, I may have made a crucial mistake.  At mile 2, we ran up to this tall tower that looks like a lighthouse. (It's obviously not, since Manchester is 45 miles from the ocean.)  But, I caught up with Bradley at that point.  But, I chose neither to overtake him nor even to attempt to run with him.  This is because, somewhere, I feared either my own speed or my own capabilities.  

I learned a little more by the Codfish Bowl.  And as we were on the first loop through the Wilderness - about mile 2.5.  I was closing in on Bradley.  My immediate thought was, don't pass him until you are ready and then make sure you don't slow down afterwards.  So I sat behind him for about 50 yards and then I swung around him making a joke.  I was running at a perceived effort that I thought I could continue.  I was also pushing myself beyond a psychological envelope.

Two weeks later, at the Wayland Cross Country meet, I was able to channel this envelope pushing confidence again.  First, I was now really ready to smash that 20 minute barrier.  Second, there was the Emma vs. Jesse rivalry and this was the last time we would race one against one in the season. And, third, I came across the passing Bradley moment again - at about 1.5 miles. This time maybe I had more confidence and I passed him.

Emma finishing at Mayor's Cup

"Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win."

For me the "gold standard" of Cross Country is the Mayor's Cup.  It's held every year on the weekend of my birthday.  It's run over the course that was the 1992 World Championship. And, it's a challenging but neither technical nor "hard" course.  For Mayor's Cup, I thought I had lined everything up.  My training had largely been centered on this as the stepping stone to the Holiday racing schedule.  And after running the Codfish Bowl once, the USATFNE meet twice and this race thrice, I was ready.

Indeed, at the gun, I did a good job of not getting caught up in the blazing across the field. Once we made the first turn around the Stadium, I had eased into a very quick pace. I didn't know what exactly to do. I felt like I was working but not about to blow up. So when Maria Severen came by me, I just ran with her. 

I hit mile one at less than 6 minutes. But instead of my usual ease up because we might screw everything, I put my head down and as we took the left to the Bear Cage I just took a big gasp. I went up the Bear Cage hill between a full charge and hard run. at the top I let myself breathe and while I hadn't caught my breath by the top we got to the downhill, I took off down it anyway and spent most of the ballfields finding my breathe again. 

In the end, I had put up a 6 flat on the second mile. I was now a little tired but enough trips around the park made me comfortable enough to know what I had to do. On the uphill through the wilderness I decided not to put a hard run in since I knew from the picnic area to the ballfields would be gentle downhill. 

Sure enough, At the steep downhill of the ballfields, I had regulated my breathing and was ready to just put in a hard 600. It didn't feel that fast with one or two people passing me - including the woman's winner who passed me like I was standing still. However I was still running hard. After the last turn where the backstop no longer is, Longo was there to yell at me: "YOU CAN BREAK 19!" 

I just put my head down and made for the line, breaking 19 and beating last year's time by a full minute!

Mayor's Cup Finish
photo by Emma

"If you know others and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles."

As we came off the Bear Cage Hill the second time at the USATF-NE meet, I could see Joe ahead of me.  There was no way I could catch him now.  Maybe if I had stayed with him going up to the picnic area?  Maybe I can keep with him; maybe my own judgement of perceived effort isn't correct yet; maybe, I am quite ready to run a race with Joe, physiologically; or maybe I am not quite ready to run a race with Joe, psychologically? 

Or maybe it's as easy as - I shouldn't have run the first mile faster than six minutes?

Cigarette adverts might be borrowed: "I've come a long way," I might still be trying to learn myself.  

Race # 1: New Hampshire Cross Country Festival

Location: Derryfield Park, Manchester, NH

Date: 8/22/15

Distance: 5K

Goal Time: 20:00

Actual Time: 20:26

Race #2: Greater Boston Track Club Cross Country Festival

Location: Wellesley, MA

Date: 9/13/15

Distance: 5K

Goal Time: 20:00

Actual Time: 20:04

Race #3: Codfish Bowl

Location: Franklin Park, Roxbury, MA

Date: 9/26/15

Distance: 8K

Goal Time: 32:30

Actual Time: 31:45 (Cross Country PR)

Race #4: Wayland Cross Country Festival

Location: Wayland High School, MA

Date: 10/11/15

Distance: 5K

Goal Time: 19:45

Actual Time: 19:27 (Cross Country PR)

Race #5: Mayor's Cup - Franklin Park 5K

Location: Franklin Park, Roxbury, MA

Date: 10/25/15

Distance: 5K

Goal Time: 19:15

Actual Time: 18:55 (Cross Country PR)

Race #6: USATF-NE Cross Country Championships

Location: Franklin Park, Roxbury, MA

Date: 11/8/15

Distance: 8K

Goal Time: 31:30

Actual Time: 30:57 (Cross Country PR) 

*- Perhaps the most amazing part of the Fitzgerald article - the Matrix is 15 YEARS-OLD?!!

Little Ones Before the Big One: Shifters and Doyles (4/4/15-4/12/15)

Race #1 - Shifters 5k

Eva, Victor (129), Mike and Melissa (288)
photo by Tom Cole

Date: 4/4/15
Location: Waltham, MA
Goal Time: 22:30
Actual Time: 19:09

My goal had been to run to Waltham and then do MP during the race...

I couldn't get myself going early enough this morning, so I had to ride my bike instead. Then that took so long riding directly into 25mph winds all the way, that I didn't warm up.

So I decided to not worry about anything for the race. The start lead to a XC narrowing about 100 yds ahead. So, I took the start easy and hung with Toledo Steve for the first 1/2 mile.

Once the crowd dispersed, I started to run. At the one mile mark, I looked at my watch: 6:45. Pretty good considering the first 400 was probably on 8 min pace.

So, right in front of me was Deb Downs. I figured, I'd catch up with her and then run with her for a while. The first part happened, but the second part didn't. I felt good so I just blew by her.

As I approached the second mile, I was catching up with Jim Normile. I caught up with him and tried to catch my breath. Instead he put in a bit of an attack on me. I figured I didn't have that energy and would lose him.

But as I crossed the mile 2 mark, I just felt okay. So I put in some effort to catch him and instead of staying with him when I caught him, I just blew by him. So, I figured I only had a mile left, I would see what I could do.

At about 2.5 you take the left back onto Wavery Oaks. And this is the signature hill of the course, back to the parking lot. I figured I wasn't going to let Jim back into our little race. I took the first part of the hill at a good clip. Then for the top third, I dropped whatever hammer Seth could pick up later.

I made the right turn before the quarter mile snake through the parking lot. I looked over my shoulder and Jim was a good distance behind but once I caught my breath from the hill I took the downhill and then the last left into the finishing straight.

I hadn't looked at my watch since the mile one mark, so when I got in sight of the finishing clock, I wasn't surprised to see I would barely miss breaking 20 minutes. But then I realized it was 19 minutes that I would barely miss. Wow.

Really good surprise race.

shoutouts -

Aharon & Andy were 2nd & 3rd overall
Deb was 2nd woman
Bradley, Joe, Barbara and Melissa Glockenspiel all won their age group
Carrie-Anne and Todd were second in their age group
John Wichers took third in his




Race #2 - Doyle's 5 Miler

Finishing Doyle's!

Date: 4/12/15
Location: Jamaica Plain, MA
Goal Time: 31:30
Actual Time: 31:26

At 9:45, I went downstairs to grab my bike to get out to JP.

And it was not there.  This is weird to me since I had put it in the bike room.  Crap stolen! After about 10 minutes of searchng the basement for...(Maybe somebody moved it?)  And then 10 minutes of not having a clue what to do...I pulled out Ajax Telemon - which I haven't ridden since the 300K Brevet last year - reattached the wheels, pumped up the tires, greased the chain and hopped out onto the road.  I got into JP with very little time to spare.

At the gun, Mariah and I decided to stay back.  Once the crowd disbursed, I started moving my way up.  I had two targets in front.  First I wanted to catch Mike Quinn.  And then when I got to him, I moved on to catch Matt Ridout.  So by the end of the first mile I was up with Matt.  In front of me was Nichole.  I decided to leapfrog to catch up with her.

I never did.

From the turnaround at mile 2 until the end of the race, I kept closing on Nichole.  But I never got within 20 yards of her.

But I managed to run at the limits of my ability.  I never looked at my watch except for the mile 3 time, because when the volunteer said it, I thought it was fast.

It was fast and also short... It was more like mile 2.9.  I did apparently run a 6 minute mile, but they had be a bit under.

That's when I started to pick up the women's race.  I was sitting behind woman in purple and looking ahead where Nichole and Amanda Watters were.  I didn't actually know the placements of the three woman and I didn't know how much energy I really had.  So I didn't want to run hard to catch up with Nichole with the purple woman in tow and then get tired and drop off where the only thing I'd done is make Nichole's race harder.

But in about 1/4 mile we passed a volunteer who was calling out the woman's places - Nichole and Amanda were 3&4 and purple was 5th.  "Ok," I thought, "Nichole isn't the leader and she'll have to fight Amanda for 3rd anyways."  So now I charged ahead a bit right as we got to a little bump.  Purple woman didn't come with me so I charged the little hill hoping to open up a lead.

On the downhill, Nichole had gone ahead of Amanda.  So I decided to leapfrog to Amanda and then catch my breath and then leapfrog finally to Nichole.  I passed Amanda and went toward catching Nichole.

Right before we turned off the road on to the trails by the golf course, I heard my watch beep for mile 4.  And then passed the volutneers who were stationed where the course said it was mile four - probably 4.1 or so.  They called the times - 25:25.  I was thinking, great, 6 flat could give me a PR.

Nichole looked back - probably to see where Amanda was.  I looked back and saw purple woman reasonably close behind me.  I yelled: "you gotta run! She's closing!"

That was the closest I got to catching Nichole.  She started running harder.

I finished with a 31:26 and a Masters PR!!!

Shoutouts -
Picklesheimer - 4th Overall, 1st AG
Jake - 6th Overall, 2nd AG
Nichole 3rd Overall, 2nd AG
Gordon MacFarland defeated Matt again.

Trails and Trials: Scottoberfest and USATF-NE XC (11/8 - 11/9/14)

Scottoberfest

Saturday - Trail Run and beer & wurst

Create Maps or Search for a route from millions at MapMyRun

****
Race: USATF New England Cross Country Championships
Location: Franklin Park
Goal Time: 32:59
Actual Time: 33:25

"Watch out for the Cricket Pitch": Mayor's Cup (10/26/14)

Around Mile 2
photo by Joe O'Leary

Event: Mayor's Cup
Race: Franklin Park 5k
Goal Time: 19:30
Actual Time: 19:54 (Cross Country PR)

On the last loop, we came out of the Wilderness with about 800 yards left.  Bradley was just ahead of me.  My plan was to race up the last incline, catch my breath on the steep drop into the ball fields and then slowly build speed as we went around the backstop and then the spot where the other backstop used to be.  At that point it's just a sprint to the finish line by the third backstop.

It didn't happen

****

Tim, Bradley, me and Brendan - four runners / four jerseys
photo by Joe O'Leary

The first quarter mile is across the ball fields where I used to practice football in high school.  And then it narrows a lot on right hand turn toward the stadium.  So what usually happens is the long start line of cross country speeds out to try to get to that narrow bit first.  And regardless of how ready you are, you end up sprinting across the ball fields.

20 minutes earlier Bradley, Tim, Brendan and I had stood as a Motley Crew of SRR cross country runners.  I went through my plan to not run too fast following everyone so quickly over the ball fields.  I figured a 6:25 - 6:30 first mile would set me up pretty well.

It didn't happen

***

Sure enough when the air horn went off, I was sprinting across the damn ball fields.  We came up near the middle and I called out: "Watch out for the Cricket pitch."

Brendan responded: "Of course; why wouldn't there be a cricket pitch here?"

I described how we used to run routes in JV games where the second move of the chair-route would be right as you hit that so the opposing d-back was surprised by the change in footing.

I looked at my watch and saw we were still running sub 6 minute mile pace.  I should probably slow down, I told myself.

It didn't happen

***

We finished the first loop and hit the mile marker at 6:09; 15-20 seconds too fast.  The second loop includes the Bear Cage Hill.  It's the only real challenging hill on the course.  And fortunately in the 5k, you only have to make that hill once. (The 8k - which I'll in the NE Championships - and the 10k  have you run the hill twice.)

My plan for this loop was to stay calm and then hit the hill without losing speed, regain my breathe on the down hill and then along the outside of the ball fields drop the speed to my full racing speed.

It didn't happen

***

Sprinting home
Photo by Joe O'Leary

While I had done the hill properly and regained my breathe, I never regained speed.  As we came across at the start of the 3rd loop, we ran passed the 2 mile mark.  my time had slowed - a lot.  But I still had a chance to do well.  If I could just not lose it in the Wilderness and keep up speed, I could really bring home a monster personal record for Cross Country.

We took the left into the Wilderness.  The trail is neither difficult nor technical.  However, it is winding.  I kept trying to get my body up to some speed.

It didn't happen

***

The sprint to the finish saw me with no chance to catch Bradley.  My shot at a huge PR didn't fruit. However, it was a 30 second PR. As a team we took 9th.

The team at the finish: Urvi, Tim, me, Bradley, Brendan and Eva
photo by Erin Morin

3 Days of Columbus: BAA Half Marathon (10/11 - 10/13/14)

2014 BAA Distance Medley medals - 5k, 10k, Half and Medley

Race: BAA Half Marathon
Location: Boston, MA
Goal Time: 1:27:20
Actual Time: 1:28:59

The last time I ran a "distance medley" was in same place White Stadium.  Of course that was 22 years ago, a relay and the distance were track distances.  Mark ran the 1200m; I think Donavin ran the 400 and Benjamin ran the 800. (I could be wrong; it's entirely possible I forgot the salient details of a minor race at the Boston City Championships back when George Bush Sr was still President.)  I finished the race with a 1600m.  It was one of the best runs of my life.  I managed to get us into second place.  I remember trying futilely to close that last 100m on South Boston High School. (In retrospect, with some knowledge of game theory, it would have been better to run easy for that last few and accept 2nd place to save myself since I had to run the 2 mile the next day and the mile the day after that.  Maybe I would not have been so tired at the end of the mile and dropped to third?)

Well, the BAA distance medley was not a relay and the distances were longer.  They were also over a longer period of time.  April was the BAA 5k and June held the BAA 10k.  Columbus Day weekend finished with the Half Marathon. The half marathon starts right next to where I practiced high school football.  It runs along the golf course and out of the park and onto the 203 bridge that goes over Forest Hills.  At the base of the bridge is the mile one marker.  I hit it at 6:30.  While this is a little quick, I figured it was okay since it was downhill, but then I heard Mark Duggan - and his Irish accent - behind me: "Well, that was too f---ing fast." indeed. For me, the next five miles continued at that too fast pace.  But - once again- they were downhill.  So while my plan had been to speed up each mile, I just kind of kept the even too fast pace.  So that by mile 5, I plan had caught up with my speed...

The Medley was a big target for me this year.  It was the first year with age group prizes and I really felt that I could get into the top 3.  After the 5k in April, this was confirmed.  My 18:59 had put me into second place in my age group.

Around mile 3
Photo by Thomas Cole

Age group or not, the turn around at mile 5 of the half marathon offered me an opportunity.  At the start Matt had told me to line up with Megan.  I had not wanted to push my way to the front.  So I figured I'd catch up with her on the road.  The turn around was the first time I saw her.  And then as I pushed harder (now going back uphill from Fenway back to JP and Roxbury) I was slowly pulling Megan back.  I wasn't speeding up but somewhere in my head I thought that was okay because I had banked time in those first five miles.  So every downhill I would close the gap with Megan to about 20 yards.  And every uphill, she'd open it back up again.  But each time I closed it by a little more and she opened it by a little less.  By the time I had made it to the 10 mile turn around: a) I had put myself in perfect position to catch Megan, and b) at 1:07 flat, I was at the perfect spot, if I could run the last 5k at 6:30/mile, I would achieve my goal.

I had been less prepared for the 10k than I had the 5k.  It showed.  My 40:40 dropped me from 2nd in my age group to fourth.  That meant I had to beat one of two names on a page Jamie Hull or Zach Mills in the half, if I planned to crawl back into the top three.

Mile 11.5, the last time I saw Megan (212)
Photo by Tom Cole

There would be no clawing my way back this time in the distance medley.  22 years ago I had made an exciting charge trying to catch Chucky from Southie High.  Today, my piriformis just made the rolling hills back to the Shadduck and the uphill back toward the zoo just painful.  Then when we entered the zoo - I got a side stitch.  As we weaved through the walking paths of the zoo (but unlike Miamiman - didn't see a single animal) I felt knew 1:27 and then 1:28 were slipping away from me - as fast as Megan was.  The only thing that kept me running was the desire to beat two people I didn't know - Zach Mills and Jamie Hull.  Finally we left the zoo and through Playstead to turn toward White Stadium - home of virtually every track meet and football game in my high school career.  On the path from the zoo to the stadium, my mom and Aunt Judy and Uncle Larry were cheering for me and other Somerville runners.  This brief second in the park really pumped me up a bit and I was able to gather myself for the last quarter mile.  I came in right under 1:29: 1:28:59.  It is my 3rd fastest half marathon ever and might have put me in good with the medley.

Looking at the results later, I had beat both Hull and Mills.  AND I beat Mills by enough that should have put me into third in my age-group for the medley.  Alas.  Two elite masters runners who didn't sign up for the medley per se did run all three events.  So those two took first and second - I took 5th. bummer.

Shoutouts

Liz and John Hadcock both won their age groups.
John won his age group in the Medley!

SRR Teams -
Mens' Open (of which I was the lead scorer) - 3rd
Mens' Masters (of which I was also the lead scorer) - 3rd
Womens' Open - 3rd


***
Also on the Weekend

Saturday - New Bedford Whaling Museum

For my mom's birthday we headed South to New Bedford -

There be Whales, Captain

I think the North Star is that away

Urvi aboard the Lagoda

Even Urvi has to watch her head aboard

Sunday - Canucksgiving!

Thanks to the awesome spread from Amy and Maple Leaf Joe Lauer

Beauty, eh?

Joe carving the Turkey

Monday - Tufts 10K and MiT Museum

Liz K.

Jen

Barbara

Polaroids, Polaroids everywhere and not a drop to drink

Urvi in the Kinetic Sculpture

Cheers to a great weekend...

HWAET!!!: Cross Country Grand Prix (11/10/13)

Master's race start
Photo by Joe O'Leary

Event: USATF Cross Country Championships
Race:  Masters' Men 8K
Goal Time: 35 ish??
Actual Time: 33:15

Hwaet!!

I was King Hrothgar in my fourth grade class's play Beowulf.  I'll let that sentence settle in.

But, since that time I have had an odd fascination with Beowulf.  I've read it several times in retellings and "translations."  (Since the epic poem was written in Old English, it is actually not correct to call it a "translation" into modern English.  But to be truthful, you'd have a better chance of reading Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata in the original Renaissance Italian than you would reading the first known work in "English".)

Last Autumn, I discussed the connection of the Old English idea of wyrd - or, personal fate - as it related to Marathon Running.

While that might be weird to you (or even wyrd), I have found another odd connection between running and Anglo-Saxon epic poetry.

The first word of known English is - hwaet.  For as long as I've known the word it's been generally thought to have been used by a bard as he started his poem in front of a hall of drunks at the end of their meal.  And it was thought to have the meaning roughly analogous to: "EVERYBODY, SHUT THE $%&# UP, I'M ABOUT TO RECITE AN EPIC POEM!!!"

Often on races soon after tough ones or when I'm generally tired in a workout, I yell "HWAET" (rhymes with "bat") to myself.  Either because I need to focus or because I'm so tired I need to recite epic poetry to myself:

"I sing of arms and of a man, who - exiled by the Fates - 
 First from Troy came to these Latium shores..."

Sunday, in Franklin Park, another Canto in the Epic of 2013 USATF took place.  The last race of the Cross Country Grand Prix followed the last race of the Road Grand Prix - the Manchester City Marathon - by one week.  And my legs were definitely feeling the 26.2 from Man City.

The Masters' Men 8k was the first race of the day and it was the only race SRR had a full team for.  (We had exactly five masters.)  As I warmed up, I found myself trying to wake up my legs - HWAET - and trying to work out some pains in them.

At the horn, HWAET was not enough.  The usual ridiculous speed over the first lap took me to a 6:12 mile.  (The 8k course is the same as the 5k from the Mayor's Cup, just with a fourth loop that includes another trip through the Wilderness and another ascent of the Bear Cage Hill.)

In his 2000, version of Beowulf - now the Norton Critical Anthology Edition - Seamus Heaney did not use hwaet as an interjection but as a conjunction.  He merely starts his "translation" with: "So."  This actually was the only part of the entire work that bothered me; and it bothered me a lot.  Good thing there wasn't facebook because I would have been ridiculed for a 3 paragraph half whining half angry commentary on my favorite 20th Century poet because of his translation of this obscure word.

Easy into mile two, it definitely felt more like "so" than a yelling interjection.  While I slowed way down, I did pass 4 people who had run the first mile even too-faster than I.  By the first trip over and down the Bear Cage Hill - around a mile and a half - I was only 50 yards behind Matt Story from Greater Lowell Road Runners.  I determined that while I was more "so" than "HWAET"  I was going to use his white hat as a rabbit to chance down over the next 3.5 miles.

Recently, Dr. George Walkden has presented a new and disconcerting view of Hwaet.  In his paper, "The Status of hwaet in Old English" Dr. Walkden concludes:

"According to the alternative analysis pursued in section 4, there were two variants of hwæt in Old English: both were interrogative, but one was underspecified for the feature [thing] and thus able to assume a non-argument role. Non-interrogative clauses preceded by hwæt are wh-exclamatives parallel in interpretation to Modern English ‘How you've changed!’"

This interrogatory word would not only challenge the view of my fourth grade Challenge class teacher who had me play King Hrothgar and my old drunk English 201 professor who saw it as the interjection to quiet a crowd, but it even challenges the late Heaney's conjunction theory.  (Heaney's translation does makes sense if think of the bard is following especially bad minstrels who storm off stage yelling their band name "Sexual Mead! Sexual Mead!" or some Anglo-Saxon comic with antimetabole nationalist jokes: "In Mercia, you break the law; but, in Wessex the law breaks you!" It's like the bard might be saying "So [that guy's done].")

Clowning at mile 4
photo by Joe O'Leary

While I passed the 5k point 30 seconds faster than I did at Mayor's Cup, the race kinda fell apart there.  I was burnt from the three miles and I went into my five miler "strategy" whereby the fourth mile is a recovery mile.

Unfortunately, like the now new definition of hwaet downgrades it's excitement from:

"EVERYBODY SHUT THE $%&# UP, I'M ABOUT TO RECITE AN EPIC POEM, We have heard of the might of kings..."

to the more mundane:

"How we have heard of the might of kings...."

So, too was my fifth mile downgraded in excitement.   As we came down the Bear Cage Hill, I could not catch the three people who had passed me on the way up.  And along the flats Matt Story just motored away from me like I was slowed by a Firedrake.

My 33:15 was good enough for 72nd out of 98th.

Finishing strong(?)
photo by Liz Cooney

SRR Masters' Team was 8th out of 8th.
Greg finished 7th overall, Tom Bok and Rory were 42nd and 47th.
Tom Cole ran is first five miler, first cross country race and scored for SRR in his first club race
Matt Story took 70th - 15 seconds ahead of me
Bev and Kate were 23 and 34 in the women's race
Matt Ridout did not finish in last in the Men's open 10k (better than I can say for the year I ran it).


Honestly, if you think about it, why would the scribe ever write down the "EVERYBODY SHUT THE $%&# UP, I'M ABOUT TO RECITE AN EPIC POEM" part of the recitation?  It would be like writing down "the Castle of Arrgghhhhhhh."

Cup-o-Hell: Mayor's Cup (10/27/13)

SRR after the Mayor's Cup
All photos courtesy of Anthony White

Race: Mayor's Cup Franklin Park 5k
Location: Franklin Park, Boston
Goal Time: 20:00
Actual Time: 21:02

At Doyle's, Sara Saba sat down with us: "How was the race?"

- Jesse: "Terrible"
- Urvi: "Awful"
- Tim: "Horrible"
- Deb: "I missed the start"

Saba paused, "Well, I guess I'm glad I didn't run it."

****

Indeed, the night before was my 40th birthday.  Many of us were not really in shape to take on the challenge of a cross country 5k.

Urvi left the house around 10:00 or 10:15 to jog down to Franklin Park.  I laid on the couch as long as humanly possible.  So, at 11:15 I got dressed and out of the house.  I rode pretty hard down the Orange Line all the way to Franklin Park (About 6 miles).  Sweaty and groggy (and refusing to take off my sunglasses), I found my way to the registration desk; got my shirt and number and spoke with Deb - who needed to get back to her car. (turned out that was a mistake)

I made my way back across Playstead Park to the starting line.  By now most of the race was lined up along the edge of the field.  I made the SRR group - which was next to Greater Lowell also - high fives (better achieved than this one..) and "happy birthday"s and "I can't believe you're here"s were the order of the minute.

As the air horn went off to start the race, I dropped into the back of the pack to not get caught up in a 4:30 mile or anything.  (Deb heard the air horn go off but was not near the starting line).  As we ran over the bump of the cricket pitch and across my High School football practice field, I was happy I wasn't with the front runners jockeying for position.

Deb Running across Playstead Park - Three Minutes after the start

Loop 1 - Overlook and White Stadium

In the first loop I was trying to gain my traction.  I found what appeared to be a good pace. As we lapped the outside of White Stadium, I started gaining on people who had gotten themselves into the mayhem of the 4:30 mile to start.

Loop 2 - White Stadium and The Bear Cage Hill

The start of the second loop is right at Mile 1.  I passed that at 6:12, which would be great for a 5k under normal conditions.  I wasn't under normal conditions and knew that would be my fastest of the day.

The second lap around White Stadium leads to the left turn up the Bear Cage Hill.  This is the hardest part of the course.  A brief steep climb up to the old bear cage and then a bit steeper past it.  However, in a 5k it's only at mile 1.5 and any lost ground (such as the 6 people who passed me going up) can quickly be recovered.  (The 8k and the 6k go up it twice and the second time is with about a third of a mile left - so that's where you make your move).

Loop 3 - The Wilderness

Despite my ability to gain back the time lost on the Bear Cage Hill, I was unable to gain back the time lost from Saturday Night.  I hit the second mile and the clock read 13:08 - 6:56 for mile two - umph....

Off we went with the left turn into "The Wilderness" -about as "wild" as you can get two miles from Forest Hills and JP Center.  Soon I completely ran out of energy.  Just all of it sapped from me like some sort of Sci-Fi movie sucking it out.  The winding kilometer through "The Wilderness" felt like 10 kilometers.  Several people passed me here; I passed one injured person.

We came out of the winding trails and atop the chill overlooking Playstead Park.  Under normal circumstances, this is where I start to pick up speed.  My high school days of track, football, cross-country and softball all coming together as the heart to drive me to finish strong.

I merely ran the same speed.

I did manage to sprint the last hundred or so yards - the stretch Jason Manhart and I used to race each other at the end of football practice.  I wanted to break 20 minutes; I tried to break 21 minutes; I finished with a "Masters PR..."

Finishing - Masters' PR

Shoutouts

Larissa ran a 18:31 in the Women's 5k
Jenn was the third woman in the Open 5k

Teams -
me, Joe and Scot Dedeoe[sic] were the 7th place men's team
Jenn, Florentien and Urvi were the 6th place women's team