USATF NE mountain series - standings after 4 races

 The updated USATF NE mountain series standings are posted here.

Wachusett mountain history

 I've updated all of the stats for the Mt Wachusett road race. Check it out here.

Over the River and through the woods

 Next up was a return to the Capital Area Race Series (CARS). My calf was feeling much better and on Wednesday I tested it out a little with a couple of quicker half-mile repeats. I had no adverse reaction so thought it would be time for a full test with a race. The “Over the River and through the woods” was set for Sunday. I got a migraine on Saturday and woke up on Sunday morning feeling tired and hungover. Not exactly ideal for race morning.

I headed up to Concord NH and met up with Dave Lapierre for a course preview/warm-up. It was an ideal morning to race with temps nudging 50 degrees, cloudy skies, and no wind. The course was in great shape despite the overnight rain. After a change into race gear we headed out for another mile and got to the start line as final and seeded ourselves in the fifth row. A quick moment of silence to remember Joe Kasper (long time announcer of the CARS) and over 200 were sent off.

My goal for the day was to stay on my feet and avoid reinjury to the calf. I got out to a slow start and wasn’t in the top 30 as we went into the festively lit “Root Canal” tunnel. (pictured below before the race)

 

A couple of 90 degree turns had us climbing up over the highway then a little 180 turn had us on the narrow bike path that leads over the Merrimack River. I had moved up a bit by then and had my sights set on a little pack not too far in front. I was encouraged by my ½ mile split of 3:17 which was quicker than I expected. I caught the second place woman as we exited the bike path and hit the mile in 6:36 (3:19 split). As I turned into the cross-country section of the race (1+ mile of mildly rooted and somewhat twisty trail) I was passed by a younger guy in full sweats and a winter hat! He would be the only one to pass me during the race. I kept the couple of guys in front in sight and even closed a bit despite the uneven footing. A 7-flat mile got me back onto the road safely. I slowly reeled in a youngster in front of me and got him with about ½ mile to go. Doing the math in my head I was thinking I had a shot at breaking 21 minutes, but I forgot the course was a little long and rolled through the finish with a final 6:37 mile (3:21 & 3:16 splits) for 20^th place overall. I ended up taking the win in the 60+ win Dave La snagging third and I also held onto third place in the age graded results. I was happy with the result and even happier with an excellent warm-down of sorts getting in a nice 2 hours on the bike.

 

M60+ results

Div/Pl Name                      Age    Division        Time   City, State

1        Dave Dunham          62      M6069          21:05  Bradford, MA

2        Vincent Perelli          62      M6069          22:22  Hopkinton, NH

3        David Lapierre         62      M6069          22:51  Amherst, NH

4        Richard Clymer        65      M6069          23:19  Concord, NH

5        Christopher Baerman 60    M6069          25:31  Laconia, NH

6        John Tuttle             69      M6069          25:55  Alton, NH

7        Michael Quinn         62      M6069          26:48  Arlington, MA

8        George McGrath      63      M6069          28:10  Hopkinton, NH

9        Paul Horvath           67      M6069          28:46  Somersworth, NH

10      Dominic Geffken      62      M6069          29:16  Concord, NH

 

AGE GRADED CARS RESULTS

Place Time    Agtime  Agegrd% Name                     Sex Age Hometown                  

    1   17:42   15:47   81.22 Dave Beaudoin            M    48 Manchester NH          

    2   18:24   16:24   78.13 Mike Veilleux            M    48 Weare NH               

    3   21:05   16:44   76.61 Dave Dunham              M    62 Bradford MA            

    4   18:35   17:06   75.01 Corey Girard             M    44 Pembroke NH            

    5   24:59   17:07   74.92 Bob Lemaire              M    75 Wolfeboro NH           

    6   20:57   17:39   72.61 David Saarinen           M    55 Bedford NH             

    7   19:30   17:40   72.58 Michael Martinez         M    46 Manchester NH          

    8   22:22   17:45   72.22 Vincent Perelli          M    62 Hopkinton NH           

    9   23:19   18:01   71.16 Richard Clymer           M    65 Concord NH             

   10   21:26   18:03   70.98 Benjamin Strauss         M    55 New Boston NH          

   11   22:11   18:04   70.94 Darin Brown              M    59 Madison NH             

   12   19:32   18:06   70.82 Nicholas Gosling         M    43 Bristol NH             

   13   22:51   18:08   70.69 David Lapierre           M    62 Amherst NH             

   14   22:55   18:40   68.67 Bruce Dyke               M    59 Chichester NH          

   15   25:55   19:17   66.50 John Tuttle              M    69 Alton NH               

 

Week Ending 05.31.26

 Not a terrible week despite struggling with ankle arthritis and then a nasty migraine on Saturday. I managed a workout (short) on Wednesday to test my calf and then completed the race on Sunday. I also managed to keep some steady miles with an 80+ mile week.

Week - 84

Month - 330

Year - 1,762

Life - 168,762

Game face on before the CARS race (Over the river and through the woods)

Little workout

 This week was a bit unusual with the holiday and then I had to work off-site for Wednesday and Thursday. My calf was feeling a lot better so I decided to give it a little test. On Wednesday I did an 8 mile run in the morning and felt pretty good so after work I hit the Methuen Rail Trail. Goal was a 2 mile warm-up into 2 x 880 with 880 rest. It was 87 degrees which was a "bit" hot for me and there was a strong west to northwest wind. That'd mean the first 1/2 would be into a cross-wind and head-wind and the second would be a cross-wind and tail-wind. I was hoping to get under 7 minute mile pace for the halves (3:30). It felt a bit harder than I hoped for but was quicker than goal pace with a 3:21 and a 3:14. This was a good sign and after easy running on Thursday and Friday with no problems I decided to give the Over the River race a go on Sunday. Fingers crossed...

Long Weekend

 The Memorial Day long weekend was my first camping weekend this year (and I have a few planned). I packed up my bike, camping gear, and a bunch of maps of high points and geocaches. I hit the road midway through the workday on Friday and got in a nice run on the Northern Rail Trail about half-way to the campground at Button Bay in Ferrisburg VT.

I met up with Eric and his happy puppy and we got in a nice run on the trails and carriage roads around the campground (on the shores of lake Champlain).

A nice dinner and fire and then early bedtime for me (long day). I did get up to check out the International Space Station and was happily surprised to catch FOUR other satellites during the 6 minutes the ISS passed by. Beautiful dark skies! 

Saturday morning featured a run on the D&L rail trail with Eric and Danny V, which was a great opportunity to catch up (we hadn't run together since last October). We checked out Dan's house (that he is building) and were impressed with the progress he has made.

Later we hike Pease Mountain as the day clouded up a bit but was still pretty nice.

I mapped out a nice hour loop to get some biking in.

Another dinner and fire before the rain came. It rained all night and although it wasn't heavy rain it was consistent. That and temps in the upper 40s would make for a long wet day. We decided to call it a weekend and Eric took the damp dogs home and I headed south. I made a quick stop in Vergennes and bagged the city high point, a 1/2 mile jog up/down the road to a Watertower.  I had a nice final run on the Hopkinton Rail trail to break up the long drive.

I closed out the weekend with a run on the Londonderry Rail Trail in the rain and a nice garage run as the rain continued.

Week Ending 05/24/26

 I made some modifications to my training this week (cutting out the afternoon run and mixing in a Ride & Go). My goal was to get over the calf strain that has slowed me down over the last couple of weeks. 

Week - 80

Month - 246

Year - 1,678

Life - 168,678

Calf improved during the week as I closed in on 8 minute pace for my shorter runs.Got in 21 miles on the Go (1:30), 29.8 miles on the Spin bike (1:30) and 15.6 miles on the outside bike (1:06).