Looking back - August 2006

 20 Years ago (August 2006): I raced four times during this month and logged a solid 383 miles.  I kicked off the month (08/05/06) with my first ever triathlon.  The Race to the Face was a unique tri that featured a 6.5 mile bike (with a mile of rough trail), then a ½ mile swim across Echo Lake, and finally a 2.5 mile run up Cannon Mountain (2,280’ of climb!).  I got smoked on the first part of the bike ride but once the climb started, I made some headway.  I ended up with the 42^nd fastest ride of the day, then on to the swim where I struggled mightily.  My 16 minute zig-zag through the lake was the 138^th fastest (ouch).  I made up a LOT of ground on the climb taking 30:35 to run up Cannon and in the process passed about 100 people to take an overall 23^rd place.  

A week later (08/12/06) I ran the Dam trail race (Oxford, MA).  The 10.5 mile trail race had many turns, and one poorly marked one cost the lead pack of 5 a few minutes as they went the wrong way (and eventually came back and moved back into the lead).  I ended up 7^th and tops in the 40+.

 

1 1:08:26      Greg Hammett

2 1:08:43      Aaron price

3 1:09:58      Bryan Johnson

6 1:10:36      Rob Smith (outkicked me)

7 1:10:41      Dave Dunham

11 1:16:00    James Pawlicki (off course)

 

The following week (08/17/06) I did a rare weeknight race at the Westford Academy Series (3.6 miles).  Eric Beauchesne took the win in 19:20 with me a full minute behind.  I finished out the month at the USA 50km trail championships (Headlands, CA).  I ran the first 20 miles with the top three women and then ran out of gas.  The course turned out to be well over 31.1 miles with only the winner breaking 4 hours.  Ben Nephew (2^nd – 4:00:32), Dan Verrington (5^th – 4:14:59) and I teamed up to take home the team title.  Dan and I were also 1^st and 2^nd in the 40-45 age group.  We also did a run across the Grand Canyon a few days before the race!

 

Looking back August 1996

30 Years ago (August 1996) - I raced three times, twice in Europe on the “Mountain Circuit”. I started the month with a 2nd place finish at the Bridge of Flowers 10 KM which also served as the USATF NE championships. I was the New England Champion missing the old course record by 2 seconds but was 32 seconds behind Moroccan Houssine Siba. CMS had a very strong team taking 2nd-7th place!

 

1 Houssine Siba                 23M Kingston, NY              1/77            31:10 5:02

2 Dave Dunham                32M Bradford, MA    CMS    1/156            31:42 5:07

3 Mike Nahom                   28M New Milford, CT         CMS    2/77   32:09 5:11

4 Craig Fram                     37M Plaistow, NH    CMS    2/156            32:18 5:13

5 Eric Morse                      31M Barre, VT                   CMS    3/156 32:22 5:13

6 Dan Verrington               34M Bradford, MA    CMS    4/156            32:46 5:17

7 Gary Gardner                  25M Keene, NH                 CMS    3/77   32:46 5:17

18 Richard Bolt                 25M Lunenburg, MA CMS    6/77              34:17 5:32

The last two races were European Mountain races leading up to the World championship. I was sick during the trip and never felt ready to race. I managed a 5th place finish at the Challenge Stellina in Susa Italy (5,000’ of climb) and a third at the Kitzbuhlerhorn race in Kitzbuhel Austria (4,000’ of climb). Kitzbuhel is an unusual race as the race gets steeper as you progress. The last 500 meters is marked out in 100 meter increments. My last 100m took 37 seconds!

Week Ending 08/09/26

 I struggled with the heat this week, but summer rolls on. Foot was not terrible this week and knee held up okay (I guess). So glad to not have a race in this brutal weather.

Week - 85

Month - 105

Year - 2,544

Life - 169,544

Ate an apple straight from the tree at the Londonderry rail trail

Looking back - August 1991

 35 Years ago (August 1991) - I was busy this month, running five races. I started the month with a handicapped race in Windham NH. The director had everyone estimate their finishing time and the slowest runner started first and everyone else following based on predicted finish time. Theoretically everyone would reach the finish at the same time. I was the last to start in the field of 30 and I ended up with the fastest time of the day over 10 KM (31:05), I’m not sure what place I got. A couple of days later (08/07/91) I hit the track in Worcester. I’m not sure why I did this race, but Bob Hodge went so maybe we decided to head into CMS country and test ourselves. I ended up taking first in the 2 mile, running 9:10.1. Hodgie finished in second just 1/10th of a second behind me and Rich Marion took 3^rd in 9:19.2. Next (08/17/91) I was back on the road running the Londonderry Old Home days 5 KM. This was a tough race with a very fast first mile (over the Millennium Mile course), then a flat middle mile and a tough final mile coming back up the first mile of the course. I managed 14:44 for first place. My time was the course record until the race was moved.

Four days later (08/21/91) I hit the woods of Lynn for the Lynn woods relay. Our “Sully’s Ice Cream” team set the still standing course record and I set the still standing standard for the 2.5 mile course (12:05) over the anchor leg. 

My final race of the month (08/28/91) was the USATF (then called NEAC) 5 KM road championships in Goddard State Park (Greenwich, RI). A hurricane had come through the day before and due to downed trees, they had to modify the course which turned out to be about 30 seconds long. I took third place in 15:07 as CMS put 8 in the top 10.

 

1 14:56 Eric Morse  CMS    2 15:06 Scott Bagley         CMS    3 15:07 Dave Dunham GLRR

4 15:08 Rod Ellsworth       CMS    5 15:20 Geoff Smith CMS    6 15:26 Mike Platt   CMS

7 15:29 Buddy Bostick       CMS    8 15:30 Scott Clark  CMS    9 15:34 Brent Coon   GSH   

10 15:37 Keiron Tumbleton          CMS

 

Looking back - August 1986

 40 Years ago (August 1986) - I only raced twice this month as I was training hard preparing for my final Cross-Country season at U-Lowell and used the races to check my fitness. At the Lowell Firefighters race (5 mile) I took second place in 24:32. Larry Olsen was the winner in 24:24, Larry always showed up to race and this was one of the first times I’d gone up against him. We’d race many times over the next couple of decades. The other race I did was also in Lowell, the very popular Dubliner race. Over 1,200 turned out for this run on a perfect day for racing. I didn’t really “have it” on this day running 24:34 to take 2^nd place 31 seconds behind Doug Sweazey.

July

 July was my third biggest mileage month this year with 385. It was my best average per run with 5.27 miles. Both were a bit of a surprise as I struggled this month with the ongoing arthritis in my ankle/foot and multiple migraines during the month. Onward!

Week ending 08/02/27

 This week was a rare 90 mile total, the last time I had a 90 was back in April. Since that time I’ve been dealing with foot/ankle woes that have kept the mileage in check. I started some new medication for migraines last week and was struggling with side effects. I cut back on the dosage and felt a little better this week (at least a little by the end of the week). I’ll give it another week and if I still feel lousy will reach out to my doctor. Checked a few boxes off this week with “camping in Lowell” and “spending the night in the outfield of a baseball field” with the camp night at the Lowell Spinners field.

 

Week – 90

Month (August 20) July 385

Year – 2,459

Life – 169,459