Got my consult for rheumatology and will try a couple of things later this month to try and address the arthritis in my ankle and foot. Troubled all week with the foot/ankle and left knee (MCL). Definitely feeling the impact of racing last week. Plan to take it "easy" for a few days while I'm on vacation this coming week.
Week - 82
Month - 69
Year - 2,891
Life - 169,891
A few pics from the race last weekend...
35 Years ago (Sept 1991)- I raced five times for a total of 41 miles in September of 1991. I started the month of with a Labor Day run (09/02) with a field of 1,811 at the New Haven 20k. I took 9th place in 1:01:48, winning $100 for my sub-5 minute pace effort. The race was won by Bob Kempanian in 60:17. Eric Morse took fourth 30 seconds (60:47) back.
1 1:00:17 4:52 Bob Kempainen NH $2,500
2 1:00:33 4:53 Chris Fox MD $1,500
3 1:00:43 4:54 Driss dacha MOR $1,000
4 1:00:47 4:54 Eric Morse VT $750
5 1:00:58 4:55 Khalid Karyani MOR $500
6 1:01:02 4:55 Tom Wood CO $400
7 1:01:26 4:57 Budd Coates PA $300
8 1:01:43 4:59 Darrell General MD $200
9 1:01:48 4:59 Dave Dunham NH $100
10 1:01:56 5:00 Robert Quinn CAN $50
A few days later (09/06) I was off to Manchester NH for the Millyard 8km race. The course was an unusual 3 loop effort, maybe to find flat ground? Larry Sayers was the winner in 24:07 and I took second in 24:26 in a field of 450.
1 Larry Sayers 24:07
2 Dave Dunham 24:26
3 Scott Clark 24:29
4 Mike O’Brien 24:32
5 Art Sorrell 24:38
6 Rob Edson 25:38
14 Petey 26:57
The next day I tried my hand at a short cross-country race. Pine Manor College hosted a 3 x 3km XC relay. I ran 9:07 for my leg. Bob Hodge and Mike Woodman also ran for the team, but we lost to BAA 28:02 to 28:07. The following weekend Steve Peterson and I did a 30 mile long run during my 110 mile week. We started “slowly” running a 7:54 opening mile and 72:02 for the first ten. The tempo increased and our next 10 was 69:57 (2:21:59). The final 10 took us 69:53 for a total of 3:31:52.
The next weekend (09/22) I was back on the roads at the New England 15km championships. I felt "crappy" and hung on to a big pack for the first 3 miles of hilly terrain (Webster MA). CMS's Rick Dorion won in 46:31 and I was 2nd in a disappointing 46:52.
1 Rick Dorion 46:31
2 Dave Dunham 46:52
3 Jon Corso 47:08
16 Art Demers 50:02
A week later (09/29) I closed out the month with a win at the Marshfield 20km road race. I may have been a bit tired from the Pogues concert the night before? The race was part of the Hockomock Swamp Rat series. I ran 1:04:50 outkicking Craig Fram in the final stretch. 5km splits were pretty even over the "rolling" course= 16:12, 16:06, 16:15, 16:17.
1 Dave Dunham M27 64:50
2 Craig Fram M30 64:56
3 Mike Woodman M26 66:58
4 George Rose M30 67:27
5 Tom Carroll M41 68:35
45 Years ago (Sept 1981) - I kicked off my senior year of Cross-Country at Billerica high school with four consecutive wins and four course records in September of 1981. On the 15th we beat Lowell at home with a sweep of the top five spots (15-40). I was first in 15:17 over what I recall was an XC course in name only. I'd estimate that at least half of the course was paved. A week later (09/21) we suffered a tough loss to Chelmsford on our home course, losing by a scant point 27-28. I lowered my course record to 15:07 on this day and some familiar names from Chelmsford ran quite well that day (Scott Spence 16:03 & Keith O'Brien 16:28). Four days later (09/25) we took on Wilmington on their course where I set a record winning in 12:47, we beat them 18-37. Three days after that (09/28) we raced at Austin Prep where I ran 12:00 for a new record on their 2.4 mile course. We won this meet as well, beating Austin 22 to 33. In all we finished with 5 wins and 1 loss in the MVC west division.
Loss 28-27 Chelmsford 09-21-81
1 15:07 Dave Dunham Billerica
2 15:47 Mike Busnach Billerica
3 16:03 Scott Spence Chelmsford
4 16:26 Dave Kelts Chelmsford
5 16:28 Keith O’Brien Chelmsford
6 16:40 Bernie Brown Billerica
7 16:53 Dave McCarthy Chelmsford
8 16:58 Dave Willman Chelmsford
9 17:12 Jim Sullivan Billerica
10 17:31 Kevin Healy Billerica
Billerica’s 7th man was Freshman Gary Disarcina who went on to play professional baseball for the California Angles from 1989-2000. His career stats: Batting average .258, Home runs 28, Runs batted in 355.
Cathy Norton cheers me on as I run on a rare “grass” section of the Billerica home XC course
I wasn’t planning on running the USATF NE 8km championships (North Shore RunFest, Salem MA), but CMS was running short of a full team in the 60+ (and 50+). Prior to this race I’d run 192 New England championships since 1987, but I had only run three last year and had not done a road championship since the 8k champs last August.
USATF New England championships I’ve run:
Indoor Track 10
Outdoor Track 2
XC (cross country) 12
Road 145
Mountain 15
Trail 8
Total 192
I gave myself plenty of time to get to the race as Salem isn’t the easiest to get to and parking can also be an issue. I planned out my parking spot so that I would be on the outside of the course to ensure I wasn’t stuck post-race. It wasn’t all that inconvenient as I was within ¼ mile of number pick-up and the starting line. I saw so many familiar faces during pick-up and during my warm-up on the course. CMS had a tent near the starting line, but I just stopped by to say “hi” since I would just be keeping my gear in the car. I got many warm hugs from friends I had not seen in quite a while. I did not feel very good on the warm-up, funny but Dan Vassallo and company went blowing by just as the speed enforcement sign registered me as traveling at 4 mph! I know I was going faster than that but boy was that embarrassing. Dan later made my day by introducing me to a friend “I’d like you to meet Dave, he is a real guy”. I headed back to the car for some hydration and changed into race gear. It was warming up quickly and seemed very warm in the sun. It had shot up to 75 degrees and had that feeling like you needed a drink right after you finished having a sip. I brought a bottle of water with me as I did another mile and got to the starting line with 5 minutes to go. I counted back 20 rows figuring that’d be around 300th place, which is where I thought I’d be if I could break 33 minutes (which was my goal).
Nearly 800 took off at 9 a.m., and it was something of a mess back where I was. The first 1km (.6 miles) loop featured five turns, very narrow streets, some speed bumps, a few cars that got stuck in the road, a coned lane that was WAY too narrow, and a huge dead rat! It was very tight where I was and my goal was to not take a spill in the congestion and the obstacles. I made it safely then picked it up trying to find a groove. Two annoying guys were chatting right behind me until I pulled away after 2 miles. Nothing is wrong with doing a workout at a race but just shut up. No one is impressed that you can chat while racing. Anyway, I found my groove and was consistent in my pace losing just a couple of seconds on the small climbs. After 2 miles I focused on the group in front of me aiming to get up with a couple of the 60+ age group runners I could see ahead. I picked off about 20 people from the mile to the last ¼ mile of the race. I think five guys went by me in the last ¼ mile as they kicked for the finish. I had no kick, although it sure felt like I picked it up (the last mile was my fastest). I was disappointed when I saw the clock and it was already over 33 minutes. My official time was 33:09 which is my fastest 5 miles this year but disappointing, nonetheless. I was happy with how consistently I ran, the splits were very even, I just can’t seem to get going any faster. Mile splits: 6:37, 6:35, 6:37, 6:38, 6:34. I was 251st out of 788 and 10th of 62 in the 60+ age group.
Pl Time Name Age Pace Team
1 28:32 Gregory Picklesimer M60 5:42 SRR
2 29:51 Scott Grandfield M61 5:58 GSH
3 30:30 Norm Bouthillier M61 6:06 Whirlaway
4 30:44 Charlie Bemis M63 6:09 Whirlaway
5 31:56 Alex McHenry M61 6:23 Green Mtn
6 32:13 Constantino Rago M64 6:27 BAA
7 32:17 Christopher Smith M60 6:27 SRR
8 32:40 Barry Sussman M61 6:32 Notch
9 33:07 David Teszler M60 6:37 Heartbreakers
10 33:09 Dave Dunham M62 6:38 CMS
11 33:23 Tony Bates M67 6:41 Green Mtn
12 33:37 Nick Persampieri M66 6:43 Green Mtn
13 33:51 Daniel Healey M65 6:46
14 34:06 Richard Jordan M63 6:49 Notch
15 34:48 Terry McNatt M61 6:58 CSU
My warm-down after the race consisted of a mile on the busy roads of Salem with a bonus stop at the Bewitched statue which is a virtual Geocache. After that I headed to Peabody for a very short hike to visit the town high point and then on to Lynnfield for a longer (3/4 mile) hike on the trails of the Bow Ridge Conservation Area & Kallenberg Quarry which featured a bunch of mountain biking trails that took me to the highest point in town.
Made it through the week :-)
Foot and ankle really bugging me this week and also wearing a Zio monitor to find out more information about the heart palpitations I've been having. Hope to get results quickly but Dr said "keep doing what you're doing". Got in a race this weekend and decent mileage despite the grumpy foot. The only regret was missing the Sunday ride.
Week - 87
Month - 370
Year - 2,805
Life - 169.805
Earlier this month I checked the box on two “to do” items. I was hoping to do some camping this month and also wanted to catch a game at the Lowell Spinners. I was surprised to find I could get both of these in one event! The Spinners had a camping night. What a cool event, with a car show before the game, a train ride around the ballpark, then a fun time watching the Spinners beat Worcester. After that it was time to set up tents in the outfield and catch a movie on the big screen. What a full day of fun!
