Around the Bends: Summer Track Season (6/26/16 - 7/29/16)

Jason and I - early on in Friday Night Lights 10K
photo from KrissyK

I pulled my track spikes out of the bag and put them away in the closet, so that come winter when I need them for indoor I'll forget where I put them.  (Hopefully I read this post: ON THE SECOND SHELF IN THE CLOSET, IDIOT!)

Squaring the Oval: 26x1 Relay 
Event: Club Challenge Cup Marathon Relay
Date: 6/26/16
Location: Tufts University, Medford
Distance: 1600m
Goal Time: 5:20
Actual Time: 5:21

This year the SRR teams were named for the main Squares in Somerville - Porter, Union and Davis.

26 x 10 handoffs, 2010 and 2016

I had a lot of practice this winter trying to hit the 5:20 pace and even broke it twice.  So I went out with the same plan. I had this winter, 7-40 second 200s and then a sprint 200 to the end.

Urvi handed off to me and I took off. The 26x1 is largely a timetrial.  There are other people on the track but they haven't started at the same time as you and you can't really fall in with anyone because anyone you catch is going slower than you and those that are your speed or faster - you can't catch.

But, for 3 and a half laps I stayed pretty well on target.  My watch at 1400m said 4:41, so a fast 200 could still give me a good time and maybe a PR.  I didn't have it in me.  And as I passed to Nat, I saw 5:21.

I Don't Want Your Life: Friday Night Lights
Event: Friday Night Lights 10k
Date: July 22, 2016
Location: Denahy Park, Cambridge
Distance: 10k
Goal Time: 39:00
Actual Time: 44:something

I had planned to fill this report with James Van Der Beek Quotes done in a crappy Texas accent. Then I remembered - That's Varsity Blues.  Friday Night Lights is a completely different

Earlier this month I ran the World's Largest 10k - The Peachtree Road Race.  Since it was in Atlanta it was hot and muggy - starting at 75F and finishing around 85F.  On, the plus side, I figured the race in Cambridge would be cooler.  It wasn't.

At 6:30 pm race time the temps were 95F.  The humidity was not as bad as ATL, but it was still humid and 95.  Jason and I decided not to let the heat bother us and went out with the plan of 6:16/1600m.  The first one was a little too fast.  I tried to keep up the pace while Jason dropped back.

Video from Mike Giberti
Also check out his video of the Men's Elite Race

The second 1600 was slower, the third was slower than that and then the fourth one was up over 7 minute miles.  I just pulled my hat down and coasted through the last 9 laps...

Worcester Bound!: 5000m Championships
Event: USATF-NE Track Championships
Date: July 29, 2016
Location: Holy Cross, Worcester
Distance: 5000m
Goal Time: 18:00
Actual Time: 18:46 (1st, Age Group)

I made my warm up a run from Union Station in Worcester, through Kelly Square and up the hill to Holy Cross. I got there with a few minutes to spare and was able to get my number,etc before the start.

Only about a dozen of us started, so they put us in a joint heat: men, women, masters etc.  I definitely took off too fast in the first 150 meters.  So when we passed the finish line at 200 meters, I pulled out into the third lane to let everyone faster than me just go by.  The plan of 43 second 200s fell apart pretty quickly.  However I managed to break 6 minutes in each of the first 1600s.

Then with about 4 and a half laps left, I started looking for Jason.  I found him diagonally from me and about 190 meters behind me.  I knew I couldn't catch the next person, but I relaxed knowing Jason wouldn't come back and pass me like the 10,000 the week before.

Despite the tough race, I managed first in my age group!

Baby It's Cold Outside I: Indoor Track (12/19/15-1/31/16)

SRR Lou's team with Lou Ristaino
Brendan, me, Robert and Bradley

Lou's 4x1600 Relay (12/19/15)
Goal Time: 5:20
Actual Time: 5:23 (PR!)
Team Time: 21:47

Continuing a 15-year New England track tradition, the USATF held the Lou Ristaino 4x1600 Relay on the second of the 3 BU Mini-Meets.

Continuing a 2-year Somerville Road Runners tradition, I put together a 4x1600 Relay team that had zero chance of winning.

There were enough teams to make two heats this year.  Heat one was those who put under 20 minutes while the second was over 20.

We were in the 2nd heat.

Took the third leg this year.

Tried to stay within myself. Since, I wasn't starting with anyone, I decided to follow the simple 40" lap plan. I actually ran the first lap too slow - 42".  My new left shoe came untied in the first turn of the second lap - d'oh.

Anyways, I spent the next 6 and a half laps trying to not step on my laces. But then I successfully dropped it to 40 - 41" every lap.

I hit the last lap and sprinted out a 38" before handing off to Robert.

7 second PR!

As a team we took 3rd in our heat and 11th overall.

Leg 1 - Bradley, 5:21
Leg 2 - Brendan, 5:56
Leg 3 - me, 5:23
Leg 4 - Robert, 5:07


BU mini meet (1/2/16)
Race: 1 Mile
Goal Time: 5:20
Actual Time: 5:18.84 (PR!)

I had a simple plan to hit 40" laps.

I ticked them off pretty well. There was a girl behind Emma and I whose coach was calling out splits: 39.5-40.5 pretty much every lap.

As we hit the 800, I started pushing a little knowing that it would take a little more work to run the same speed. Then with 500 left, I thought it was 300 left. So, I picked it up a good bit until I realized my error. I did one more 40" lap for lap 7 and finished off with a 37" final lap for my adult mile PR!

Emma also finished with a PR - 5:24

Culla - 3K Age Group Champ

USATF Masters' East Regionals (1/31/16)
Race: 1 Mile
Goal Time: 5:15
Actual Time: 5:18.51 (PR!)

Basically I ran the exact same race I ran three weeks ago.

I went out and clicked off 40-41/sec per lap.  In the second lap I got caught up in a with the group and put in a 37 second lap.

At around Lap 5 Culla was trying to convince to catch up with the next guy who was 20 yards ahead of me.  I was caught between running my race and trying to get "in a group."  I decided on the latter; although the former may have been the better option.

The last lap I had a little left and put in 36 seconds to barely beat my previous PR from three weeks ago and 3rd in my age group.

Culla won his age group for the 3000m
Joe took second in his AG in the 5000m
Pawlicki was 2nd in his age group in the 3000m
I took 2nd in my age group in the shot and was the only person in the weight and superweight

26 x 1: A Race in Four Acts (6/27/15)

Annika/Erik handoff
all photos by Tom Cole

Race: 26x1 Marathon Relay
Distance: 1600m
Goal Time: 5:30 (officially I put 5:40, but that was just in case I felt awful)
Actual Time: 5:31 (tied my adult PR)

I think it was George Bernard Shaw who described the three acts of a play once as:

Act 1 - get your hero up a tree
Act 2 - throw rocks at him
Act 3 - get him down the tree

It turns out the track mile (or 1600m) is very similar but it comes in four acts:

Lap 1 - get yourself up a tree (or, the "Way Too Fast Lap")
Lap 2 - find your comfort level (or, the "Goldilocks Lap")
Lap 3 - throw rocks at yourself (or, the "Graveyard Lap")
Lap 4 - Get yourself down (or, the "Home Stretch Lap")

Matt handing off to me

Lap 1 - The "Way Too Fast Lap"
If you don't do the mile consistently, you are never ready for it.  This year Mark Duggan thought he was ready for the mile.  He tried to tell himself: "Just don't do the first 200 in 37 seconds or anything dumb."  As he crossed the 200 mark he looked at his watch - 0:37.  Dammit!

After my race, Cipriano asked me if I "slowed down eventually."

When Furhrmeister gave me the baton I took off like it was the 4x100. Except, I had to run 16 times as long as that. So by 25 yards I realized I was running way to fast and did almost slow to the correct speed. Instead of 41 seconds at the 200 I was at 39. While this is too fast it's less too fast than I would normally run too fast. I then ran the second 200 too slow hitting the lap at 1:24+

Lap 2 - The "Goldilocks Lap"
This lap would usually be left out if you wrote a play about your mile run.   The second lap of the mile is like the middle hour and a half of Once Upon A Time in America: a bit long and kinda dull but you have to get through it to get to the interesting parts and you spend most of it asking questions while meaningless dialog goes on around you.  (So wait, this woman is grown up Jennifer Connelly? Oh, am I supposed to believe that Treat Williams is 35 years older now?)  But on the good side, you find your correct pace. And, since you didn't tire yourself out too much in the first lap, your goal speed isn't too hard. So, runningwise, it's just right.

By now the equilibrium was there. I banged out a 1:22+ for 2:47 at the half despite my mind wondering to questions like: Who sells a cemetery and makes everyone move the bodies?  Is that really the premise of this part of the movie?

On my 1600

Lap 3 - The "Graveyard Lap"
Joe describes this as the graveyard lap.  Especially for non-milers, you've put yourself on the line and it isn't really that close to being done.  It feels like you are not going to be able to finish.  Definitely in previous years this has been the bane of my mile.

This year, it wasn't.  I felt really good.  I even briefly - very briefly - thought about actually speeding up.  I rejected that thought worried about going out too early.  I ran another 1:22 to hit 4:10 at the 1200.

Handing of to Jim

Lap 4 - The "Home Stretch Lap"
The last lap is a toss up.  Either you have put yourself in a position to run a good last lap, or you haven't.

I still felt okay.  However, I didn't have any speed in me.  My training for Tour de Cure and for Mt Washington had just left me without any pep at the end.  I still had my fastest lap - 1:21.  But it wasn't there for a great finish to a good race.  I matched my time from Lou's Relay in December

The Murder of Gonzago
But my mile was only a play-within-a-play, a dweam-within-a-dweam.

November Project coming in for the win

For two hours and 15 minutes, 23 teams had done 1600s around the track.  When Cambridge and November Project handed off to their last runners, it was nearly a dead head.  By 250 meters into leg 26, it was a dead heat.  November Project sat on the Cambridge runner.  And with about 350 meters to go took off.  Openning a gap of 15 seconds over Cambridge, November Project was the winning team.  SRR Team 1 took third.  My team, SRR Team 2 was 7th.

Winter Wonderland: Indoor track 2015 - (1/3 - 1/25/15)

January - not with a bang...

Event #1 - BU Mini Meet (1/3/15)

Mike and I in the 3000m - photo by Tom Cole

Location: Boston University

Race #1: 3000m

Goal Time: 11:00
Actual Time: 10:53 PR

Mike and I got into the heat with largely high school runners.  So while the high school kids took off (like I would have 25 years ago) we stayed to the game plan.  My goal had been 44 second laps.  The first one was really 41, but I soon hit the grove and started clicking off 43 to 45 second laps.

At 2000m, Mike and I were off the back by about 50 meters.  But I noticed they were slowly coming back toward us.  With three laps to go, Mike made his move past me.  While I couldn't go with him, I was able to follow at a distance.  The last lap I did around 41 seconds, passing people all the way to the end.

200m - photo by Tom Cole

Race #2: 200m
Goal Time: 0:30
Actual Time: 0:32.21



Event #2 - Lazy Dog Classy 3 Miler

Brendan and I in the Lazy Dog - photo by KrissyK

Location: Lynn, MA
Race: 3 Miler
Goal Time: 18:30
Actual Time: 19:31

I have nothing to say...

Event #3 - Greater Boston Track Club Invitational

Finishing the mile - photo by Tom Cole

Location: Harvard University
Race: Mile
Goal Time: 5:30
Actual Time: 5:35.35 PR

The second year of the USATF-NE All-Terrain Series started with the mile at the the GBTC Invitational.  My seed time got me into the first heat of the Masters' mile. (The back of the Masters' Mile).  My goal was 5:30, but I figured I'd start at 5:20 pace and try to hold that.  I didn't.

With 2 1/2 laps left Matt came by me.  Once again, like the 3000, I couldn't stay with him.  The last lap I brought my last lap down to 42 seconds.  It was still my fastest track mile since high school.

...but a whimper

The Lou: Lou Ristaino 4 x 1600 relay

It was a long wait for the relay to start
Photo by Thomas Cole

Race: Lou's 4 x 1600 Relay - BU Mini-Meet #2
Place: BU Indoor Track
Goal Time: me - 5:30; team: 21:15
Actual Time: 5:30.79 (PR!!); 21:27

After the Mass Ave Mile back in 2012, Bradley and I talked about the anomaly of the mile.

There's a big problem with the mile for distance runners.  If your shortest race is 5 kilometers, the mile feels like a sprint.  It's not...

Yet there's a problem for sprinters.  If your longest race is 400 meters, the mile feels like a marathon. It's not...

This year was the 14th annual Lou's 4x1600.  I started to get a team together earlier in the year.  And then they scheduled it for 2 days after Christmas.  With Maple Leaf Joe in Toronto and Brendan in the Bronx watching BC blow a 14 point lead and then miss an extra point in OT, I needed to grab new guys.  Bradley and Joe were only too happy to run it.

After sitting around the whole BU meet (including Joe actually running in the Mile), we were ready around 2:30 to run.  I was running first.

Now as Bradley described, it's not a sprint.  So, I decided that I would drop into last place of the 6 teams at the start and just follow for the first lap.  That way I wouldn't run too fast in the first lap - as one is prone to do in the mile.  BUT, I did...

Despite staying in last and just hanging out in the back of the group, my goal of 41-42 second laps, I ran the first 200 in 34 seconds. blerg.

Klucznik starting the mile
photo by Thomas Cole

Well, I found a groove for a while before the inevitable slowing down around lap 6.  Joe told me as I ran by: "These next two laps are when you have to work."  In retrospect, I understand that better now than I did three and a half minutes into a mile.  I probably could have put myself into another layer of pain, but I didn't...

With one lap to go, I was far off the back and had already been lapped by two different teams.  I managed to run right under 39 seconds for that last lap.  I handed off to Mark for a 5 second PR from this year's Club Cup 26x1 Relay back in June.

Mark ran a 5:44 - 4 seconds faster than the 26x1
Bradley ran a 5:10 - 21 seconds faster than the 26x1
Joe ran a 5:00.7 - while slower than the 26x1, it was his second mile of the day and in the first one he destroyed his 26x1 time with a 4:47!

Liz - en route to her incredible mile time.
Photo by Thomas Cole

Jen Rapaport ran the 3000 and Mile - 11:33 / 5:47
Chriz Klucznik ran the mile - 4:44
Liz Cooney ran the third fastest mile in her age group in the NATION this year! - 6:13

Field Trip!: USATF-NE Track Meet (6/29/14)

Shot Put

Meet: USATF-NE Outdoor Championships
Events: Shot Put and High Jump

I stood there at the shot put pit Coach Rod asked me what was going on.  I tried to explain that I was trying to get a throw in with the 50+ group since I had to get back to the high jump area.

"Are you doing two events at the same time?" he asked.

"Basically."

Fortunately it didn't mean I had two bad events.  Instead, I had one great one and one terrible one.

High Jump

High Jump
Previous (adult) PR: 1.42 meters (4'8")

Steve was going to start at 1.02 meter.  So, I said I would do that and then run back over to the shot put and see what I could do.  I cleared 3'4" with ease.  Thanked the official and told him I'd be right back once I got a throw in at the Shot Put.


Shot Put
Previous PR: 8.85 meters (29' even)

So after I had cleared a basic height in the High Jump, I convinced them to let me make a throw with the 50+ flight, so at least I had one throw in.  My work on the glide turned out okay.  The measurement was 8.91 meters - 16lb PR! (I threw 37' in high school but that was a 12 pounder.)

High Jump
Well, by the time I got back to the High Jump - it was up to 1.45 meters.  So, I didn't get to try from around 4 feet before moving up.  Three straight jumps and three straight failures.  On the plus side it got me back to the shot put pit.  (I did win my age group and was 3rd master since I was the only one in my age group and there were only 3 masters).

Shot Put

Shot Put
As I jogged back across the track (avoiding disrupting the 200).  I got back into the under 50 shot put flight at throw 2 and still had 5 throws.  With a PR under my belt, I went for it.  My next toss broke 9 meters and my third one was 9.49 meters!

The last two I was kinda playing around trying to find my glide into max distances.  If you see the picture, you'll notice my foot is a good foot or so from the end of the circle.  That's just an extra foot I threw that didn't count.  So, I kept trying to get it so I was actually throwing closer to where they measure from.  Each felt weird as I was worried about fouling.  While I didn't think any were good throws, they all broke 9 meters. Every throw (put) was above my previous PR.  AND, this year I didn't come last in my flight.  Took 2nd in my age group.

5000m

Emer in 5000m

Joe in the 5000m

5000 meter winner, Men's

Mike Quinn finishing the 5000m

Womens' 5000 winner

Endurance Underground

Rod helping out with the blocks

Emma on way to 2nd

Emma and Urvi cheering me in the Shot Put

Zen and the Art of Passing the Baton: 26x1 Relay (6/21/14)

Team Photo after race
Photo by Tom Cole

Event: 26x1 Relay
Distance: 1600m
Location: Tufts University
Goal Time: 5:30
Actual Time: 5:35 (PR!)

At the high school, college and Olympic levels, passing the baton is a big deal in relays.  A quick scan of the interweb finds hundreds of articles and looking at Youtube baton pass technique gives you 4,800 videos. Coaches suggest doing blind handoff drills during warmups and cooldowns. The marginal return of those miliseconds can make the difference between first and fifth.

I remember at practice after the BC Relays in high school Coach B and Dwayne Sykes discussing the travails of bad handoffs:
COACH: Dwayne, isn’t dropping the baton the loneliest feeling in the world?
DWAYNE: No. The loneliest feeling is walking back across the track to go pick it up.

Adult amateur distance runners who run a mile 1600m on the track once a year – don’t do any of these things.  It becomes a comedy of errors at the point of baton…

Last year, Jason refused to hand me the baton until I started running.  So I kept trying to grab at it and he kept moving it away from me so I couldn’t get it.  Finally, when I was running a pace he found acceptable, he gave it to me. (Fortunately, I was the anchor so I didn’t have to pass to anyone else).

Scot Dedeo and Rachel Shanley had an awkward hand off this year.  Scot came barreling in at near 200m pace to finish his 1600.  Rachel was convinced NOT to start running at 200m pace to begin her 1600.  So at these asynchronous speeds, Scot was forced to handoff to Rachel nearly behind him.

Some good can come of such handoffs.  In 2010, I handed off to Urvi even though we didn’t know each other yet…

2010 handoff, Urvi and I
photo by Robert Cipriano

This year, I was the 10^th runner for Somerville’s Trains team.  (This year the teams were Planes, Trains and Automobiles).    I got the handoff from Eva in more or less the best possible handoff for the situation.  While I of course went out a little too fast, it wasn’t unmanageable.  An 81 second first lap hadn’t destroyed me.  My next two laps, I followed Caffrey’s advice to maintain and be comfortable.  The last lap, I still had some juice left and didn’t feel like I was going to die.  I kicked it up a notch at 400 to go.  Then I tried again at 200 to go and had nothing.  Out of the turn with a 100 left, I had a bit of a sprint left.  I came in full bore and tried to hand it off to Benai in kind of a tomahawk motion.  But, she of course didn’t know what I was doing so she tried to grab it when it was high in the air. 

This led to a humorous picture that Karen really enjoyed showing everyone and SoRad said it looked like I was trying to play keep away with the baton.

The masterful Jesse to Benai handoff (Neil of November Project, looks on incredulously)
photo by Tom Cole

The SRR A Team, “Planes”, was victorious and broke the meet record with a 2:16:04.  Chris Antunes beat the meet record for a 1600, but that was broken only minutes later by Andrew Rotz from November Project.

November Project and Greater Lowell – A took 2^nd and third.  SRR – Trains: 5^th.

 1. Finish 2:16:04 SRR Planes(14)

 2. Finish 2:22:51 NovProject(10)

 3. Finish 2:24:11 GLRR 1(4)

 4. Finish 2:34:56 NETT(9)

 5. Finish 2:38:12 SRR Trains(15)

 6. Finish 2:39:47 TMIRCE(11)

 7. Finish 2:46:00 MRC(7)

 8. Finish 2:46:22 GLRR 2(5)

 9. Finish 2:46:45 TVFR(12)

10. Finish 2:51:58 ComRun(2)

11. Finish 2:57:17 GFRC(3)

12. Finish 3:11:01 SpiderOneRacing(13)

13. Finish 3:11:20 Wicked(17)

14. Finish 3:16:28 Mystics(8)

15. Finish 3:16:40 GLRR 3(6)

16. Finish 3:20:06 SRR Automobiles(16)

17. Finish 3:24:41 BOMF(1)

Back on Track, again: Pentathlon (3/14/14)

Start of the 1000m

BEST OF RACE
Race: USATF Masters National Pentathlon
Location: Reggie Lewis Center, Roxbury, MA
Goal Points: 1774
Actual Points: 1558 (2nd, 40-44 age group)

Event 1: 60 Meter Hurdles

Hurdles with my own distinct style

Time: 15.86 seconds

Points: 5

Robert wanted to see me do the hurdles.  He found it especially ridiculous that I was going to do it without any training.

I figured I could handle it.  During the warm ups, I tried to clear a couple.  Uh, oh, Not gonna be easy.  One of the officials came up to me, "This doesn't seem like your event, son."  Nope, definitely not.

We lined up, I began to worry about making it over the hurdles.  But, I figured all I can do is go for it.  The gun went off and I hesitated to let everyone go first so I wasn't in their way.  So I ran, stuttered and leapt over the first hurdle, whew. Ran, stuttered and leapt over the second hurdle, whew.  Repeated that three more times and as I came over the last one, I put up my arms in victory.  Of course I still had to sprint another 10 meters to the finish.

Unlikes say World's Strongest Man, which is scored based on place (1st place gets 10 points, second gets 9, etc) Pentathlon is scored based on your performance.  The faster you run, the longer you jump or throw, the more points you get.  

So, while the leader in my age group ran a 10.93 seconds and got 477 points; my 15.86 seconds got me a grand total of 5!

Event 2: Long Jump

Long Jump

Distance: 3.72 meters

Points: 214

Long jump was probably the event I thought the least about.  I knew I wasn't going to be any good at it; but, unlike the hurdles, I knew I could successfully do it.

Everyone was putting tape on the ground to mark their specific spots where to start their run or switch from jog to hop to sprint...  I didn't.  On my turn I just started running down the runway.  Hit the board and landed.  I looked back - and realized it was bad.

After my first jump (which was turned out to be my longest), the guy why was leading my age-group asked: "So, you're just here to have fun?"

"Yeah," I said, "trying it out - and, waiting for the thousand."

"Oh, that's the one you're going to win?"

So, still in last but at least I scored 42 times as many points as I scored in the hurdles.

Event 3: Shot Put

Distance: 8.34 meters

Points: 443 points

I assumed the shot put would be my best field event.  I had done it for years in high school and had spent last summer training for the New England Masters'.  After a couple of warm up throws (puts) I was ready to go.

So while I was about 1 1/2 feet short of my PR from last summer, I still was able to come in second in my age group in the event.

Event 4: High Jump

Height: 1.42 meters

Points: 374 points

The high jump really scared me.  I just wasn't sure I would be able to do it.  I did it serveral times in high school and as high as 5' 4".  But, the last time I did that George Bush was president - the father.

Talking with the guys in my age group, who apparently weren't worried about me beating them, told me to start from the right side with the strong leg next to the mat when I jumped.  So I figured I'd try it.  I ran up, jumped stepped and as I went up, that was off two feet...that's illegal.

Maybe I'll try from the left.  I ran up to the practice height, leapt and without thinking just cleared it.  Somehow a twenty year old memory synapse just fired correctly and BAM, I'm clearing it.

Once the event started, I had started at the lowest possible height I could think of - 3'6".  On the first jump, I cleared it and it felt that I cleared it by what I thought was a lot.  I asked one of the high school students who was assisting the judges by how much.  "Around a foot."

I went to the main official: "I'll pass to four feet."

Once the bar got to four feet, I rejoined the jumping.  Each jump gave me more and more confidence.  The first guy in my age group missed at 1.27 meters.  Then the other guy in my age group joined at 1.36 meters. He missed the first one; I missed the first attempt.  He missed the second attempt; I made the second attempt. Then he made his third.

We moved up to 1.39 meters, he cleared and walked up to me: "No pressure, now."  And for me there was no pressure.  I had guessed 4 feet (1.21 meters) so I was playing with the bank's money at this point.  I cleared 1.39 on the first attempt.  

The height went up 3 more centimeters.  I missed the first two; he missed the first two.  He missed the third. I just reminded myself - don't think.  I ran up and cleared 1.42 (4'8").  Won my age group in the event.  I proceeded to 1.45 and missed all three.

Event 5: 1000 meter run

Running the 1K

Time: 3:24

Points: 522

We sat down awaiting our turn in the 1000.  The guy in second came up.  "Quick math says the only way you can beat me is if you run a 3:30 and I don't score."

Well, I hadn't really been worried about beating him in the pentathlon.  I mean, he was a multi-event athlete. I'm a long distance runner, who was doing the pentathlon just for fun.  But then I thought about it.  Really?  it's close enough and my best event is coming up.

Several times through out the day, I heard Pentathletes complain about the 1000 meter.  So, I figured I'd have a good chance of beating the other two in my age group, but by enough to take second overall?

The gun went off and everyone flew out in front of me.  Run your race, run your race. By half a lap I was in fourth of the section and first in my age group.  The basic goal had been laps of 40-40-40-40-38.  Of course I ran the first two laps too fast and paid for it in the next two.  

But as I turned the first turn, I saw the guy with the quick math ahead - wait, I could lap him!  Now there was nothing to do but pass him.  I caught and passed him on the back turn.  Then all I needed to do was sprint to the finish.  BAM!!!

Five Done

Second place medal

Finished in second place in my age group.  Total Points - 1558 points.  Considering I scored 5 in the hurdles, it was a GREAT result.  Might start training for the pentathlon (or at least the hurdles)...

Shoutouts -

David Ash for winning my age group

Jefferson Souza who broke the 35-39 year old age group record with a 3623.

Chariot Racing: Circus Maximus intervals (7/2/13)

Distance: 6.7 miles

Time: 45:47

Workout: 5 x 2 laps (~1280 meters) @ Interval pace + 1 lap (~640 active rest)

The guidebook said there was nothing left of Circus Maximus except the beaten down track.  And that unless you were a jogger or dog owner or real geeky Classics buff, there was nothing to see.  Well, 2 out of 3 ain’t bad.

Tuesdays is track workout day for SRR.  And CoachJoe’s (who was busy breaking 10 hours at Ironman Austria) workout for this week was 5 x 1000 @ Interval pace for me; 8 x 600 @ Interval pace for Urvi’s group.  I mapped out that Trevi Fountain (and our hotel) was only 2 km from Circus Maximus. 

The track was largely loose gravel or grass; half of it was cutoff and you have to run over the berm that was once the center of the chariot track.  Also I was doing 1280s at Interval which I NEVER do.  Normally, we top out at 1000 meters in my group.  But when in Rome…

Despite missing my paces because of all of above, I kept reminding myself – YOU’RE DOING YOUR TRACK WORKOUT ON CIRCUS MAXIMUS!!!!

Back on Track (and Field): USATF-NE Masters Meet

Meet: USATF-NE Masters and Open Meet
Event: Shot Put
Goal Throw: 10 m (32' 10")
Actual Throw: 8.85 m (29' 00")

1st in 35-39 Age Group!

Back on Track: BOOM! goes the Dynamite (6/22/13)

Me, as anchor leg finishing up with our team in 4th.
Photo by Sarah Wright

Race:  26 x 1 CLUB CHALLENGE CUP MARATHON RELAY
Location: Tufts University, Medford/Somerville, MA
Goal Time: 5:25
Actual Time: 5:46
Team Result: 2:35:47 - 4th Place

I came around and finished the first leg of my lap and looked at my watch: 1:22.  Oh, it's gonna be a bad run. I looked at Tim and Seth and just shook my head.

This is the third time I've run the 26 x 1 relay.   (It is what it sounds like. Each team has 25 runners who run one mile (1600 meters, actually) and one runner who starts the race with a 592 and later runs a mile him/herself.)  This year, I took on the role of team captain for SRR-Paper (Dynamite with a cuttable wick).  Captain is a lot of work - herding 26 cats each running 1 mile - each arriving at different times...

The day started early - 7:30.  (Although Tommy had to be there even earlier, so I didn't feel too badly).  As we stood at the captain's meeting, we were shocked that for the first time in three years there would be no delay and no need for Brendan K. to use his advanced iPhone meteorological skills.

As team captain, I decided to make Brendan put down the Doppler and pick up the baton for the "speed leg."

Speed leg with SRR-Scissor's Brendan K. in the lead
Photo by Ted Tyler

I had realized looking at the teams that registered, I realized that the first SRR team (SRR-Rock), Cambridge's 1st Team (CRCi) and Greater Lowell's A team (GLRRA) would be competing for the cup.  SRR - Paper (Dynamite with a cuttable wick) would be running for fourth and best B team - our own unofficial Calder Cup.  By the end of the first full mile leg, my predictions started to bear out.  We had dropped behind the monster duo of SRR-Rock's Larissa Park and GLLRA's Lindsay Willard.

The timers on SRR-Scissors
Photo by Robert Cipriano

As team captain, I was able to organize two husband wife handoffs - Tom Bok and Florentien de Ruiter and Dan and Ali McGinty.  (Korynn tried to get a pic of the McGinty handoff for me, but Dan's big head blocked everything out like an annular eclipse.)

Double SRR Handoff; Simon and Brandon handoff for SRR-Paper (Dynamite with a Cuttable Wick); Alex and Jake handoff for SRR-Rock
Photo by Tom Cole

Our last 4 runners leading up to me - Simon, Brandon, Tommy B and Jason - were able to hold off the hard charging CRCii team and give me an easy job at finishing in fourth. (Like, Hall of Fame reliever Dennis Eckersley once said, Lots of times the game was "saved" before I even came in.)

Jake breaking the tape and winning for SRR-Rock; notice no expense spared for the tape (Did you get Dan to borrow that from work or something?)
Photo by Robert Cipriano

This was fortunate since almost instantly, I realized my captain's duties that neglected a warm-up, hurt my chances of running well.  The first lap was too much effort and too damn slow.  Then i kinda tapered off from there.  In my head, this was my own victory lap as captain: I had gotten 26 people there on time, I like to think I assisted Culla in getting SRR-Rock to be the winning (and record breaking) team, I now just was going to enjoy this run without hurting myself (especially since I wasn't in shape to PR the mile...).  While I was able to still bring in a 1:17 last lap, those middle two were kinda crappy.

Final Leader Board:
 1. 2:17:26 SRR Rock
 2. 2:19:13 CRCi
 3. 2:22:41 GLRRA
 4. 2:35:47 SRR Paper (Dynamite with a Cuttable Wick)
 5. 2:37:45 CRCii
 6. 2:39:54 TMIRCE
 7. 2:46:09 MRC
 8. 2:51:18 GLRRB
 9. 2:51:23 WickedSpeedy
10. 2:59:31 GFRC
11. 3:14:11 TVFR
12. 3:14:57 SRR Scissors
13. 3:45:42 WickedMilers

Team Rock with the Challenge Cup
Photo by Tom Cole

Official Leg Times
Total        LegTime Lg    Runner          
0:01:34    01:34      S      Brendan Kearney
0:07:25    05:51      01    Michael Quinn  
0:13:37    06:12      02    KAREN ENCARNACION
0:19:48    06:11      03    Karen Serafin    
0:26:21    06:33      04    Laurie Gagnon  
0:32:49    06:28      05    Florentien deRuiter
0:38:02    05:13      06    Tomas Bok        
0:44:25    06:23      07    Bill Hees        
0:49:57    05:32      08    Brendan Kearney  
0:56:29    06:33      09    Elizabeth Cooney
1:01:43    05:13      10    Lino Mancini    
1:07:43    06:00      11    Eloise Marais    
1:13:15    05:32      12    Corey Maillette
1:19:26    06:11      13    Andy Marinelli  
1:25:06    05:40      14    Brendan Caffrey
1:31:36    06:30      15    Sara Radkiewicz  
1:38:04    06:28      16    Wendy Palto    
1:43:42    05:38      17    MATT NOYES
1:51:08    07:27      18    Alison McGinty  
1:56:49    05:41      19    Daniel McGinty  
2:02:20    05:31      20    Tim Morin        
2:07:31    05:10      21    Scot DeDeo    
2:12:55    05:24      22    Simon Anderson
2:18:08    05:13      23    BRANDON WILLIAMS
2:23:21    05:13      24    Tom Breider      
2:30:01    06:40      25    Jason Lachapelle
2:35:47    05:46      26    Jesse Morrow (C)  

Paper Scissors and Rock
Photo by Tom Cole

BOOM! goes the Dynamite with a cuttable wick! (Bill would like to mention, it's a "fuse")

THE KEG OF GLORY: CLUB CHALLENGE CUP 26x1 RELAY (6/25/11)

“I drink from the keg of glory, Donna. Bring me the finest muffins and bagels in all the land” ~ Josh Lyman, The West Wing

Matt, Team Captain of SRR-Wind, drinking from the Keg of Glory

Race: Club Challenge Cup 26x1 Relay

Location: Somerville, MA

Goal Time: 5:30

Actual Individual Time: 5:45

Team Time: 2:38:06, Third place over all.

At the end of the day, I was able to laugh at my overzealous start. Joe O’Leary – coach and role model extraordinaire, who at 42(?) runs a track mile faster than I did at 18 – also had a good laugh at my first 200 after the race. “My first 200 was only 2 seconds faster and I thought I was going out too fast!”

But, before the end of the day, there is the beginning of the day. The morning was filled with summer thundershowers. Now, for those from the South and West, New England thundershowers are not the refreshing heat beating rains one gets in the late afternoon of the Dog Days. Nope, they are cold (comparatively), less intense and far longer. What would be 15 minutes of respite in Atlanta or Saint Louis is 3 hours of dreariness in New England. The storms threatened to make the track and running upon it a total mess. Things did not look good for the relay.

Rain, Rain, go away, the running clubs want to play.

The Club Challenge Cup 26x1 Relay is what it sounds like. Each team has 25 runners who run one mile (1600 meters, actually) and one runner who starts the race with a 592 and later runs a mile him/herself. The 12 Teams who were entered this year – including four from Somerville Road Runners – waited around wherever they could stay dry awaiting the start.

On the threshold of H-Hour, Brendan Kearney - race director, runner, and clandestine meteorologist – announced that the race would be pushed back half an hour, “as this cell of storms should pass over.”

“You’re a weather man now?” I asked.

“Well, I looked at the Doppler on my iPhone. I think I can see what the clouds are going to do,” was Brendan

“Okay, sure thing,” I scoffed.

[Aside] I would like to take this moment to apologize to Brendan. Your remarkable climatological skills with only a smart phone proved exceptional. I’m sorry for my misplaced derision. The rain cleared up right when he predicted it.

To borrow from team captain, Matt Noyes, we have a “long-established (read year-long) tradition of team naming.” Last year Somerville Road Runners’ three teams were: Blood (Fast), Sweat (Faster) and Tears (Fastest). This year: Earth, Wind and Fire. This year I made the jump from Fast onto the Faster Team Wind. And, I got to run the second mile (third leg, as Josh ran the 592 meter “speed leg” before he then ran our 9^th or 10^th mile).

Dennis put in a fantastic first mile. As he approached the hand-off, he looked quite confused. Unlike virtually everybody else in our club, I was NOT wearing an SRR jersey since I have not successfully been able to buy one yet (instead I had on my early 1990s Deion Sanders Falcons jersey); AND, he probably had no idea who I was. I looked up and just yelled “WIND!!! WIND!!!” Confusion subsided; crisis was averted.

When I received the baton we were in fifth place behind SRR-Fire, Cambridge-A, Greater Lowell - A and Wicked Running, I think. I set out on what felt like a good and quick pace. Well… one of those was correct. It was quick!

After the aforementioned overzealous 200, I came around the second turn. Along the front stretch, there was a puddle roughly the area of Kazakhstan and the volume of the Caspian Sea. Third place, from the Wicked Running Club, was going right to avoid the puddle. I just trudged right through the Caspian Sea in lane 1; and, by the end of the first lap I had put SRR-Wind into 4th place. The Wicked runner sounded as if he sped up when I passed and tried to stay with me. By the end of 500, however, something Wicked that way went – fading away behind me.

What time is it? PRIMETIME!!!

Laps 2 and 3, I put myself into a good pain position. I was running well. As I completed my third lap – I hit it at 4:18. While this was a bit slow, I knew I could still put in a good time with one last 80 on the last lap. I started to gun it – at least I thought. I was definitely putting in more effort, but as I came around and handed off the baton to Karen. I looked at the watch and had run a 5:45. My last lap for all the effort was only an 87, ungh.

Fortunately, from Karen on down, my team picked up my bad performance – leading to the final legs. Among those who picked me up was my personal friendly rival - Bill Hees. Bill ran a 5:44 to beat my time by one second - bastard!

Yet before that could happen, the first two teams had to fight it out. SRR-Fire and Cambridge-A were, in the eyes of the race director, neck and neck when SRR’s Greg, mile 24, got the baton for the next to last handoff. Brendan gave him quick update and some encouragement. “You have only about a hundred yard lead, kick it up!” It was only when Cambridge came through not handing off did Brendan realize SRR-Fire had a 100 yards PLUS one lap lead.

[aside] Apparently Mr. Kearney is such a savant when it comes to meteorology that he has forgotten how to count to four.

With a good kick from Greg followed by Alex and Joe, SRR-Fire maintained their lead to set the meet record – 2:19:26. Cambridge-A came in only a minute and a half back – 2:21:04 which would have been the meet record.

Joe O'Leary (lane 2 in yellow), coming in for the Bell Lap for SRR-Fire

As Cambridge-A was coming in for second, my team – SRR-Wind, Cambridge-B and Greater Lowell-A were within one minute of each other and running for the last podium spot. With the anchor leg and most of the team lining the track Aharon Wright took a close race – 30 seconds to Cambridge and 1½ minutes to Lowell and made it not so close opening up a 1 minute lead and securing our spot for third on the podium!

Robert, enjoying the Keg of Glory

Thanks to Karen Sarefin for the pictures.

Final Times: http://www.racemenu.com/assets/result_files/11/original/7th_Annual_26x1_Mile_Club_Challenge_Relay.pdf