I signed up to run the 2014 Pineland Farms 25k Trail Race for
one reason. I wanted a shot at redemption.
I first started coming up to New Gloucester, Maine for this
trail running festival back in 2010
and have loved it ever since. Unfortunately, the last couple trips to the Pine
Tree State have been less than kind to me. Two years ago, this roller-coaster of a course did a number on my knee. Last year it was the mud (and my calf)
that did me in. This year, I was determined to avenge my recent losses, conquer
the course and once again get back down under that elusive 2-hour barrier.
This past weekend I had the great pleasure of seeing my son
Casey graduate from College. It was a bitter sweet moment for me as I am so
very proud of the man that he has become. But, at the same time, I know that his
path of life will soon be leading him elsewhere.
He and I have been through an awful lot together. So many ups
and downs over the years. But we made it through in one piece. I was barely 23
when he was born and most of what I learned about being a Father I learned
first with him. He was the trailblazer. And still is.
Congrats Casey!
I love you.
And always will.
This past weekend I ran a 1:24:08 at the Pack Monadnock 10m. That time was good enough for
51st place overall and 11th in my age group. And, beyond that, there really isn’t a whole lot more to say about my race. I never really felt all that great and I never really
felt awful. I was just sort of …meh. I was definitely at my limit in terms of overall effort,
but never felt comfortable during any of the climbs and never really managed to clock any fast miles, or gain any significant ground.
Going in, I had hoped to get a bit closer to (or even dip under)
1:20, but since I’ve done no speed or hill-specific workouts all year, it’s not terribly surprising that I didn’t meet that goal. I did this race partly
because it was in the NH Grand Prix,
but mostly because I deferred last years refunded entry fee to this year. So
basically, I ran because I paid for it and not because I trained for
it. And it showed in the results.
I went into this year’s TARC Spring Classic 50k trail
race with fairly low expectations.
All I hoped to do
was run the 31 mile course in 4 ½ hours, or less. That’s it! And, to do
that, all I needed to do was to average 8:42/mile (nearly 2 minutes per mile slower than my road marathon PR), or 54 minutes for each of
the five 10k loops. Easy, Right? I'd run the course
twice previously during training. The first time, I ran it in 55 minutes,
while navigating and pausing at nearly every turn to look at my map. The second time, I ran it
comfortably in 52 minutes. So, 54 minutes per lap seemed more than reasonable. Of course, that was before the rain made a mess of
everything!
