Just Another Day in Studville...

Chess, Anyone?...

In light of the fact that fully 3/4 of the team is now in the "masters" category and the decades of intense training and competition are beginning to take their toll (both physically and mentally) the team is very slowly and very gradually transitioning to a new sport, despite the deep misgivings of Mr. Byram.

O'Toole, Sattler and I are now proud members of Chess.com, an enormous online community of chess players where you can partake in "chess training" sessions, read up on the latest openings and gambits, see how the best chess players in the world are doing in international chess tournaments and challenge someone on the other side of the planet to an online chess game.  The site even assigns you a ranking (based on a formula only a Nobel Prize-winning mathematician can explain). 

We've found that there are many parallels between competitive running and chess.  Chess is challenging, even grueling at times, it takes some training to get good at it, there can be an addictive aspect to it, it has a long and interesting history and it satisfies our competitive nature.  Also, similar to our early-morning joint running workouts, we've begun a little ritual of getting together at the local Starbucks on weekend nights for some chess games and hot chocolate. 

In fact, you can compete in chess much more often than in running; if you have an internet connection you can engage in international chess competition within a couple of mouse clicks.  In fact, the three of us (Mr. Byram will be joining us shortly, I'm sure) are currently in the middle of an online intra-team 3-man chess tournament.

The other advantage of chess over running, and the one that's most compelling to us older runners, is that it's a no-impact sport.  It doesn't strain any achilles tendons, pull any hamstrings, or blow out any knees, which means we can compete in this mental sport for decades to come.

Don't get me wrong, we won't be retiring fully from running anytime soon (at least Mr. Byram and I won't).  But when the joints blow out on a permanent basis we'll make a nice, smooth transition into a much less painful sport and then dominate the local chess scene, assuming there is one.  In the meantime we'll continue to sharpen our physical and mental muscles.

Race Report: Race to Fill the Pantry 5K

Wow, what a great race yesterday in Glastonbury!  Nice, cool weather, a flat course, a well-organized event and stiff competition. 

I can't say my confidence level was sky-high at the starting line.  My last 5K race was in June with no real speed work to speak of since then, I was suffering from a chest cold and I was surrounded by young and fast-looking guys.  Then, after a spirited shove-off which immediately put me in 3rd, somewhere around the 3/4-mile mark I blinked and I was suddenly in 6th with the 7th-place guy nipping at my heels. 

But I drew on that two-decades plus of racing experience and refused to panic.  Instead, I settled into the middle of the chase pack which was six men strong, all of whom were under the age of 30 (except me of course, at 37).  And with Duncan Gerity a country mile ahead of everyone by then, it was essentially a 6-man race for 2nd place.

Again, drawing on that well of experience I ended up doing a much better job of running the tangents than my young opponents which allowed me to move up in the pack, and eventually lead the pack at about the halfway point.  Then my marathon-distance training helped me to maintain the brisk pace while the rest of the chase pack started stringing out behind me.

With about 3/4 of a mile to go and in sole possession of 2nd place (but not by a heckuva lot) I decided to ditch the feeling of being a fox running away from a pack of hounds.  Instead, I took a very irrational approach and focused on chasing down Mr. Gerity.  I locked my eyes on the middle of his back (good thing I have excellent eyesight) and tore off after him. 

In a sense this was a bit foolish since I couldn't have caught him even if he tripped and fell flat on his face.  But it did inspire a prolonged kick which put enough distance between me and the young guns to secure a 2nd-place overall finish in 16:51.  And I'm proud to say that I finished a scant 37 seconds behind Mr. Gerity which, in light of his running ability, I'm chalking up as a considerable success. 

And it was "Keenan Day" at the race as my 9 year-old Cameron took 2nd in the U12 division with a 22:06.  In the kids' fun run my 7 year-old Owen took 4th and my 3 year-old Shane came in, I think, 4th to last.  The only disappointed Keenan was Amy who now has to figure out what to do with four medals instead of the usual one.

So...I've got three weeks of prep work to attend to before the big Santa's Run 3.5-miler here in town, and since a baptism in the family is keeping me out of the Roxbury Marathon that means that the 2009 racing season ends on December 6th!

My "40 x 40" Marathon Schedule...

Alright, folks...I'm not kidding around about this "40 marathons by the age of 40" goal.  I'm going to pull this off, one way or another. 

One thing that has motivated me a great deal recently was coming up with a solid marathon schedule for the next 9 marathons.  I don't know who said it, but it's a brilliant statement:  "If you're failing to plan, then you're planning to fail!"  So here's the plan...

Marathon #32 on 12/12/09:  Roxbury Marathon in Roxbury, CT.

Marathon #33 on 2/21/10:  Hudson-Mohawk Marathon in Albany, NY.

Marathon #34 on 4/19/10:  Boston Marathon.

Marathon #35 on 6/6/10:  Nipmuck Trail Marathon in Ashford, CT.

Marathon #36 on 10/9/10:  Hartford Marathon.

Marathon #37 on 2/20/11:  Hudson-Mohawk Marathon.

Marathon #38 on  4/18/11:  Boston Marathon.

Marathon #39 on  6/5/11:  Nipmuck Trail Marathon.

And finally, Marathon #40 on 10/23/11:  Marine Corps Marathon.

Now that's long-term planning!  Hopefully this schedule will work out.  Life has a tendency of getting in the way sometimes.  But the good news is that the deadline is not until August 10, 2012.  So I've built a ton of "cushion" into this schedule, which allows for additional marathons to be tacked on in case one of the scheduled races doesn't work out for some reason.

Sattler, I hope you're ready for Marine Corps 2011!

Vermont 50 Mile Race Report 2009 Mud Brothers

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;

For he to-day that stomps in Mud with me

Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so clean,

This day shall gentle his condition;

And athletes in New England now-a-bed

Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,

And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks

That ran and biked with us upon Mt. Ascutney this day.

Despite the written warnings and advice to hang it up, I remained committed to starting and finishing this race. My family Stayed at at the Burton Family lodge, a nice bed and breakfast that was conveniently located 4 miles uphill from the race start. After a somewhat fitful night of sleep I woke up before my alarm at 4:00 AM., packed up and headed out the door of the Burton Family lodge...into the pouring rain. Got on Peggy's old mountain bike. Note that the grips have been removed, and given the fact that I have almost never ridden at night, and have not really touched a bike in a year or so. I was rather concerned for my safety. I decided to "exercise" the demons out of my DNF New Haven Road Race Shirt, by wearing the shirt for this race. Some might have thought that was just bad karma to wear a tainted garment, but I had sacrificed my NH race for this day, so I thought it only fitting to purify the jersey in this way.
I arrived at the base lodge of Mt. Ascutney rather wet and with strange fatigue from my ride to the start. I was also soaked and kinda cold. I sat around a bit nervously waiting for the start, and talked with a few others there, but was kind of tense. I felt much better after I stripped down to my short shorts and jersey, and donned my trusty muddy gators. Although it was raining and windy, the thermometer said 50. I always trust the thermometer, so I sneered at the masses with their multiple layers, jackets, and gained a bit of confidence. We lined up out side and headed out the entrance and logged a nice easy downhill mile at 8:22. Rain was steady, and everyone was really chatty. The 600 mountain bikers had headed out 15 min before us so we just followed their tracks as we ran along a stone dust road. We then hooked a left turn onto our first trail. The ground at this point was all torn up. It was like running in a freshly roto-tilled garden. The bikes tore it up, and we patted it back down. Knee was a little tight at this time, but I just kept a really easy pace walking anything that resembled a hill. Goal was to finish, and I could tell early on that it was going to take a lot. After around 5 miles we caught our first mountain bikers. They were worthy prey. Their tires were completely caked up till the wheels would not spin, and their gears were jambed with huge globs of gunk. Not only could they not easily pedal through the mud, but they had to perfectly balance their weight to keep any traction, then drag their bikes up hill. The hills were towering and relentless. I got in the positive zone and started hammering the downhills and whooping at the end in celebration of survival. The ground was spongy and I just flew. I did take one minor spill as I went down quickly as I stopped short. I took the muddy hand and impressed a brown warpaint symbol of resolve over my heart.
As we went on at about 15 miles or so, the rain picked up and the trails got a lot worse. Instead of a garden type of soil the trail turned to a liquid goo. Getting up the trails was now a matter of hiking up the sides of the trails wherever possible, and using the trail-side trees. At around mile 20 I started running with this guy Dan, from the Navy. It was his first 50 also. He was faster up hills, I was faster down, so we started motivating each other. From my training, I was not intimidated by anything under 35 miles, so making it to the 50K point was key. Then we just went station to station. But the trail got even sicker as there were huge falls off of the narrow trail. We reached a point where event the flat section of the trail was not runnable. When it was at it's worst  I was using more of a XC ski stride. Goal was to finish. If I was dead I could not finish. To keep positive I started taunting the course, looking for even worse conditions. The course did not disappoint and I took another minor spill. At around mile 40 or so, time began to stand still. There were several miles that seemed to go on forever. The only real pain was in my hips from all of the sliding. We came out of the trail and hit a gravel road, and a guy with a big pack passed us. I was really hurting at the time, but this really got me focused, and I smoothed my breathing, and got back on track, and re-passed. From about 30 miles on we were only passed by two people, and were able to hold somewhat steady. As we exited a field and hit the final ski slope, I slipped off the trail and rolled twice. Since it did not hurt it was rather funny, Dan waited as I scraped myself up and headed for the finish. Peg called out as I traversed the slope, and It was all over. Mission accomplished.   This race has redefined my concept of distance running. I am certain now that I can go longer, and that I can go faster. 

The trail held me with her vampire like trance and seduced me, till I had no choice but to blissfully and completely surrender to her beauty, even as she sought to destroy me.   Late at night, my heart beats strong with her blood in my veins.  Even now I await her tapping at my window beckoning me to again take it the edge. When she calls, I will not deny her.

 

Training Log: 10.4.09

The achilles tendon-testing continued as I climbed my way up into the South Glastonbury Hills.  Wasn't brave enough to try the Orchard hills or Belltown yet, but I tried Hopewell, South Pond and Sunset.  I covered 8.3 miles at just under 8-minute pace and everything felt fine.  Both achilles tendons are a little stiff right now, but not too bad.  It was a nice way to start an easy Sunday morning.

I'm not entirely sure why, but I decided to download some big-band music to my MP3 and take a listen during the workout this morning ("The Phil Collins Big Band", no less!), but with Dave Matthews on stand-by in case it got ugly.  But I was pleasantly surprised to find that big-band provides some pretty decent running music!

Training Log: 10.3.09

It looks like I'm fully recovered from the DeMar Marathon.  I decided to test the legs, tendons, joints, psyche, etc. and put in a good workout in a light rain this morning.  10.1 miles at an average pace of 7:18. 

I ended up covering a few miles on the GHS track where I did some "in's and out's" where you push the pace on the straightaways and jog the turns.  But no problems to report, and a few hours later all systems are still go.

So now that I know that I've survived another marathon and that I'll live to race another day I just have to settle on some short-term goals.  I always need a target out there to be firing at.

Race Report: Clarence DeMar Marathon in Keene, NH

Alright, marathon #31 is in the books and man, it was a bear!  I had a few things conspiring against me, namely the cold and rainy weather, a gastrointestinal system that decided to stage a rebellion at mile 19 and a tender achilles tendon that forced me to pull back a bit during the closing miles.  But I managed to get to the finish line in 3:11:25, good for 18th place overall. 

The most vivid memory I'm taking home from the race was walking around after crossing the line, soaking and cold, shaking like a leaf, partially delirious and being handed a steaming cup of the most delicious cup of vegetarian soup I've ever tasted!

So, on the downside the ego took a bit of a hit when I finished in 18th place after taking 2nd last year and the left achilles is, once again, in rough shape.  On the up-side, I'm now qualified for Boston '10 and '11 and I'm now only 9 marathons away from achieving my "40 x 40" goal.

I think it's safe to say that Coach's race report on his 50-mile trail run will be a LOT more interesting than my report.  Can't wait to read it!

Team Supreme Launches Northern New England Invasion

A major component of the team's "World Domination" plan will be executed this Sunday in northern New England, that country which Robert Frost called simply "North of Boston" (the title of his first book of poems).  

The team will dispatch two envoys to two different endurance races; K-Law is being shipped to Keene, New Hampshire to compete in his second Clarence DeMar Marathon while Coach goes where no TS member has gone before...a 50-mile trail race in Vermont!

However, J-Dog and Sourdough will be nervously awaiting their teammates' race reports since K-Law just recently recovered from an achilles injury and Coach is bringing a knee of very questionable integrity to his battle with the Vermont trails.

But if both Coach and K-Law manage to reach their respective finish lines they will make team history in two categories:  "Most Miles Raced by a TS Member" (50!) and "Highest Combined TS Racing Total in One Day"  (76.2!).

Boy, we'd better scrape up some funds to hire a Team Archivist!

40 by 40

I'm a person who's pretty "goal-oriented" in the sense that I need challenging, quantifiable goals laid out before me, in writing, at all times.  So, ever since my goal of annihilating the Highlanders in the GMCR3 was attained on Sunday (which happened a lot sooner than expected) I've been floundering around aimlessly in my running world, desperately seeking a nice, solid goal to latch on to. 

Well, now I have one and I even came up with a catchy name: "40 by 40".  The goal is to have 40 marathon finishes under my belt by 8/10/2012 when I turn 40.  And right now my marathon count stands at 30.  So I'll need 10 more marathons in less then 3 years.

I have to say, I like this goal a lot.  There's clearly a physical and psychological challenge to it.  There's also a hefty administrative/logistical challenge with 3 young boys, a law practice and extensive soccer coaching duties to factor in. 

But, what's nice is that this goal does not create any pressure to clock earth-shattering times.   Sure, I'll give it the old college-try in every race like I always do, and if I end up with a slow time for some reason then it will still be frustrating, but the blow will be softened by the fact that it would still count toward the 40/40 goal.  Whether my finishing time is 2:40 or 5:40, it's still a marathon finish! 

One obvious issue with this goal is that it will trigger a shift in focus from "quality" to "quantity" meaning that, in all liklihood, my marathon PR of 2:43 will stay as-is for the rest of my running career.  But after plenty of meditation time, I've decided that I'm good with that.  Hey, that's a solid time.  I'll be more than happy to boast to my grandkids someday about my 2:43 at Albany, NY way back in the winter of 2008. 

Also, I guess I've decided that I'm no longer interested in spending the time and effort (physical and mental) that would be required to lower that time.  That's a huge investment when there are so many other things going on in life.

And maybe the best thing about 40/40 is that it will lay a nice foundation for my entry into the world of Masters running!  Hey, us runners look forward to hitting 40, right?

GMCR3: An Early Shut-Down

In stark contrast to Round #2 where the final score was a dramatic 16-14 with the Scrappers falling short by just a one-mile fun run with Melody, Round #3 is officially over with a full 10 days left in the month.

K-Law was the only competitor to log miles on Saturday with 10.5.  Then on Sunday, the Scrappers ended the competition with the equivalent of a crippling round-house right that landed squarely on the Highlanders' chin: 22.6 to 6.1.

South Side:  16,  Apple Hill:  4

At the beginning of the month, K-Law was still shaking off an achilles issue and Sourdough announced that he we competing under protest.  Meanwhile, with both Highlanders feeling great, Coach was gearing up for a 50-mile trail race at month's end and Sattler was setting the stage for a Hartford Marathon appearance.  In light of all this, the experts were expecting the Scrappers to get scrapped relatively quickly.

But then the Highlanders ran into injury problems which proved to be insurmountable; Coach early in the month and then J-Dog soonafter.  And in retrospect, it was a TKO on Labor Day as Apple Hill managed only one win since that fateful day.  In fact, K-Law has announced that he is only requesting two bottles of craft-brewed beer as his award, instead of the agreed-upon six pack since there was only about a week's worth of actual competition.  

GMC officials have announced that the Challenge will be suspended in October so that the Highlanders can fully recover from their various physical ailments. 

In the meantime, a special GMC medical task force will look into whether it would be advisable to subject two "older" runners (both Highlanders will be Masters runners in November) to the rigors of the Challenge and recommend whether or not the Challenge should be called off permanently.  This investigation is prompted by the fact that the physical and psychological stress of the GMCR3 nearly killed off the entire Apple Hill team.