September 1994

 September 1994 -30 years ago: A bunch of nagging injuries (left adductor, ankle, and hamstring) kept my mileage lower than I would have liked I didn’t miss any days and got in 368 miles and four races. I wrapped up my five race trip to Europe with the World Mountain running championships in Berchestgaden Germany. Maybe I trained a bit too much while over there? I had dead-legs at the start of this 8 mile climb and found myself outside of the top 50 at the first kilometer. I slowly moved up and by 3k I was in the top 20. By the end I worked my way up to 15th in 1:03:21, a little over 2 minutes behind the winner. Dan Verrington was our second man in 50th running 1:06:34. The following week I was back on the road running the Millyard 5k. I locked my keys in the car before the race and had to run in my heavy trainers. I ended up running 14:50 for third place. On the 17th I ran the 11 mile leg of the Lake Winnie (Fred Brown) relay. We were crushed by Whirlaway who beat the CMS squad by 15 minutes. I had the 2nd fastest time of the day on my leg running 59:10 over the hilly course. The final race of the month was the U-Lowell alumni cross-country race held at Chelmsford High School. I battled with Dave Cremin through miles of 5:00 and 5:04 before Dave buried me on the sand hill (the hill is no longer there, lost to expansion of the Drum Hill rotary). I took second place in the field of 35 running a 15:47.            

Looking back - Sept 1989

 September 1989 - 35 years ago: I covered 378 miles and raced four times during this month. I started the month at the New Haven 20k, it wasn’t the U.S. championships that year, but it was still a pretty stacked field (back then the field was 2,000 strong…now more like 7,000). I ran 3 mile splits of 14:36/14:52/15:28/15:08 to record a 1:02:08 or just a couple of ticks under 5-minute-mile pace. I was well out of the money taking 9th place. Top 4: Reifsnyder 59:20, Rex Wilson 59:30, Andy Ronan 59:35, Derek Froude 60:44. A week later I raced out in Amherst MA at the Collegetown 8k which was the USATF (then NEAC) New England championships. It was 95 and very muggy, the course was flat and fast but fast times were not run on this day. Mark Donahue did run a solid 24:12, Zimmerly (24:57) and I were the only other guys under 25 (24:54). It was ugly. The following week I shifted gears to XC and got a win at the Dartmouth invitational. I was 34 slower seconds than I’d run five years before, but it was fast enough to hold off GLRR teammate Bob Hodge (29:25 to 29:30). The following week saw 600 gather in Wilton NH for the NEAC 15km championships. Canadian Norm Tinkham won over the hilly course in 45:44. I took fourth in 46:21 (a personal best at the time). Paul Gompers and Hodge had a good battle running 46:03 and 46:08 respectively. In a bit of a shocker our GLRR open team beat the CMS boys by 7 minutes (4:04 to 4:11).

September 1984

 September 1984 - 40 years ago: I had a bunch of issues this month with plantar fascia woes and a series of back spasms but managed 374 miles with no days off and one race during my junior XC season at U-Lowell. I kicked off the cross-country season at the Dartmouth invitational (Hanover NH). The Dartmouth duo of Jim Sapienza and Bob Kempainen were expected to go 1-2, but Kempainen must have had a bad day as I snuck in between the two and got one of the two silver bowls that were handed out. Luckily, they hadn’t engraved names on it prior to the race! Sapienza ran 28:46 for the 5.8 mile course and I finished 5 seconds behind him. It was a good start (at least for me) of the XC season. Kempainen would go on to make the USA Olympic team in 1992 & 1996 (marathon).

Week Ending 09/15/24

 Steady progress as my last 3 weeks have been 44, 56, and 63  Had my 6 week post-op appointment with my doctor this week.  The pictures from inside my knee were a bit scary (some pretty significant wear) and talk of "seeing what you can tolerate" weren't exactly what I hoped to hear.  On the good side, I was assured that the pain I'm feeling now (3-5) is typical post-op pain and that I won't really have an idea of how much I've gained until 12 weeks.  I got in my longest run (7) and my fastest as well (7:36's) on Friday.  Onward!

Week - 63

Month - 125

Year - 2,697

Life - 161,428

Looking back - September 1979

 September 1979 - 45 years ago: I started my sophomore year at Billerica High School with my first season of cross-country! I did some training over the summer (6 miles a day 5 days a week) with the goal of making the varsity squad by the end of the season. I got in 138 miles with 8 days off (mostly weekends) and raced three times during September. My first XC race (09/17/1979) was a dual meet at Billerica’s home course against Lawrence. I finished in second place (JV) running 16:29 for the 2.6 mile mostly paved course around the parking lot of the high school. A week later I won my first XC race taking first in a dual meet against Dracut at Dracut with a 14:21 for 2.4 miles. Five days later I was back on my home course this time against Central. I took 1:24 off of my time from two weeks before. I led the JV squad running a 15:05.  This would be the highpoint of the season as I only raced a couple of more times due to multiple ankle sprains.  

Long ride/fun weekend

 Next up was the Maine Lighthouse ride.  Byrne Decker and I had done a nice 50 mile ride last year and he brought this ride to my attention.  They had many options (25,40,62, and 100 miles).  I thought that 100km (62 miles) would be fun, although Byrne really wanted to do 100 miles.  I’ve found that those extra hours after 100km are just not that much fun and settled on 100km.  I headed up early to get a couple of Maine towns I’d never run in.  I parked in Westbrook at a nice trailhead and chatted with a hunter who was very excited as it was the first day of expanded hunting season.  I got in my 3 mile run mixing in a little trail and track.  Then it was off to South Portland, I parked at the ride parking lot and headed out to Bug Light and Spring Point for a scenic 3 mile run.  I should have skipped the section running on the break to the lighthouse.  The boulder hopping was VERY slow going for me.  I did not want to fall, that would ruin the day! 

I arrived back at my car and Byrne had parked just a few minutes before.  We did our final preparations and biked the ½ mile over to the start line.  At 7am it was still in the 50’s but with the sun shining and knowing it’d get into the 70’s we both went with shorts, t-shirts, and arm sleeves.  It was just about perfect conditions for a ride.  There was a big turnout, and they should have split up the start on the 100km as the start was narrow and soon after we were on a narrow bike path.  For most of the first 10 miles we had to ride single-file and it made for some very slow going.  No real complaints as we weren’t racing this, just out there having fun. 

 It opened up a bit after 10 and we increased the tempo.  That only lasted a little while as I took the lead on the section on the Eastern Trail (unpaved).  Most riders including Byrne were on narrow tires and the recommended speed was no faster than 10mph.  Around 19 miles we had our first stop of the day (a quick bathroom stop and then another at the aid station).  We spent less than 5 minutes but took our time getting a drink and some food.  Byrne really liked the pickle juice, and I was all about the chocolate kisses.  Our next five was quick and then we were soon after back at the next aid station taking a few minutes to drink again and fuel up.  We had a much quicker next 10 miles and rolled into the 41 mile aid station feeling good.  This was a very scenic stop on the beach with views of Wood Island light.  It also had the fantastic dark chocolate peanut butter cups.  So yummy!  

The next five miles was our quickest of the day as we were now seeing a lot of the 40 mile riders and catching them (which made it feel even faster).  We had our last short break at 51 miles and rolled out knowing we didn’t have an hour of riding left.  Byrne was floating away on the climbs, and I made up some grounds on the downhills (heavier bike).  We arrived back in South Portland 4:42 after we departed, covering the 62 mile route in 4:24 of actual riding or almost exactly 14 mph.  All in all, it was a fantastic ride, we chatted most of the way and took in the views and just enjoyed being outside on such a nice day.  Great fun.

The weekend wasn’t over, and Sunday was a blast with a pleasant 5 mile run with Scott Spence and Petey (bike) before getting a real taste of Fall with a bright sunny but chilly (55-60) ride in Concord/Loudon.  An excellent ride that was the cherry on the top for the weekend.

 

Week Ending 09-08-24

I struggled a bit this week with my knee being particularly sore.  I may have overdone it a little, so I backed off a bit later in the week.  The pain above my knee has improved over the last couple of weeks but the pain at the incisions was very sore.  I’ll keep a close watch on it, and I’ve got my follow up appointment with the surgeon this coming week.  I got in 138 miles biking (8:54) including one long outside ride of 62 and a nice 24 mile as well.  I also put in 4 hours on the ElliptiGo for another 64 miles.

Running = 56

Month = 62

Year = 2,634

Life = 161,365