The Keenan Family 411

Road Warriors

Now that soccer season has wrapped up (more or less) Cameron has time to join me in wreaking some havoc on the local road racing scene. 

We both ran in the Race to Fill the Pantry 5K here in town last weekend.   Despite banging his ankle early in the race, Cammy toughed it out and finished the 3.1-mile course in 23:32.  That's an average of 7:35 per mile and good for 54th place out of 200 runners.  This was Cam's first race as a member of the Gideon-Welles Running Club, and he did his team proud! 

I had to contend with a whole pack of presumptuous "young punks" (that would be anyone under the age of 30) but two of them got away and I settled for 3rd place.  But I clocked a 16:38, which was my fastest 5K time since '09, so in the immortal words of Monty Python..."I'm not dead yet!"

Our two little guys got in on the action as well and decided to run in the kids' fun run, which was roughly 100 meters long.   Owen managed to finish 3rd (out of 7!), although he probably would have placed higher if the little booger wasn't so laser-focused on just beating Shane, who took 4th!

The Keenan's Clean House at the Bill Landers 5K!

Here's a shot of me and Cameron at the start of the Bill Landers 5K "Building Bridges" 5K in Glastonbury yesterday.

I managed to take 2nd place in 17:14 and lost to a guy from the "Hello Kitty Athletic Club".  That's a long and embarassing story.

Meanwhile, Cameron scorched the course in 23:10, good for 45th out of the 300+ field and the first 10 year-old to cross the line!

And the race had a team division, so we pieced together a team comprised of players and parents from Cameron's travel soccer team and our "Glastonbury Storm" team battled to a 5th place finish out of 9 teams!  More importantly, the whole crew had a blast!

Not to be outdone, Shane ran his little butt off for all 700 meters of the kids' fun run with no breaks...he may be the next all-star "Keenan Runner". 

Owen wasn't even remotely interested in the fun run 'til he heard that all finishers would receive a free ice cream cone from McDonalds, at which point he couldn't wait for the race to start.  He took off like he was shot out of a cannon, then promptly stopped to "recharge his batteries", then managed to jog all the way to the finish line.

Man, it's great to be surrounded by all these distance runners!

Boston Marathon Report!

Well, Boston has come and gone again and I'm pretty fired up with my finishing time of 2:55:06, which was my second-fastest time out of 11 Boston Marathon campaigns and 7th fastest marathon time out of 30 (geez, what's wrong with me?).  801st place overall out of 25,000 and 16th Connecticut finisher.  Very cool.

Although the race went beautifully, the race aftermath was a lot less glamorous.  After finishing I immediately hiked about a quarter mile to the Park Street T station to take the T back to my car.  Then I had to stop at the Framingham Plaza on the Turnpike to take a very deep one hour nap before downing a McDonalds grilled chicken sandwich and "brownie bites" which are, by my estimation, the most delicious morsels of food in the entire western world.  Or at least they tasted like it at the time.  Anyway, that perked me up enough for a safe drive home. 

Since the race was on Monday we all trekked up to Boston for a fun weekend.  Once again, Amy somehow managed to set us up in a swanky hotel, this time a Double Tree with indoor tennis courts, for peanuts.  And it was Patrtiot's Day weekend, so we were able to take in a lot of the festivities and learned a lot of neat facts about the start of the Revolutionary War in Massachusetts.  Amy and the boys wisely steered clear of Boston on race day...it's a rather hectic event. 

I've been walking around like one of my 90 year-old clients the last few days, but I managed to get in an easy 4-mile jog this morning.  And since I'm clinically masochistic I'm already scouring the calendar for a fall marathon!

Shamrock Pics!

The race organizers took over 2,000 pictures from the race but somehow I was the only one of the Keenan's that was caught on film, even though all four of us more-or-less dominated the event.

Click here, here, here, here and here. And yes, that's nasty dried/frozen spittle on my chin.

Day at the Races!

The organizers of the "Shamrock Run" in Bristol, CT are reportedly considering re-naming the event the "Keenan Boys' Shamrock Run" after we showed up and utterly dominated (sort of) one of the bigger local races which kicks off the spring racing season here in central Connecticut!

Owen and Shane started things off by running in the kids' fun run.  Owen needed a couple of stops to "re-charge his batteries", but eventually he took advantage of the downhill finish and supposedly passed 20 runners on the final straightaway (although that claim is under investigation). 

Shane had a much different experience as his little legs struggled to get him up a few inclines early on, and then he took a little spill near the halfway point.  He then insisted on Amy carrying him to the finish, but since that would have led to a disqualification, Amy more-or-less dragged him to the end instead.  He wasn't exactly thrilled about that, but receiving the finisher's medal partially made up for the frustration of having his orders, once again, ignored.

Cameron was pumped to do the two-mile race and he ended up doing a bang-up job!  He covered the 2 hilly miles in 17:17 (8:38 pace) which placed him 190th out of 432 runners.  I joined him for the trek and particularly enjoyed listening to him talk about little-known World War II facts while running up a big hill and passing lots of walking grown-ups!

After deciding that I would not be shown up by my little guys, I put in some extra effort in the 5-mile race and somehow managed to pull off an overall victory, taking 1st out of 364 runners in 27:47.  Luckily, they were not testing for performance-enhancing drugs at the finish line. 

So it was a great morning overall, enhanced by sunny (but cool) weather and the fact that Poppy & Grandma were on hand to cheer for the Keenan runners.  The only disappointment was that the rumor that the overall winners of the 5-mile race (me being one of them) would receive a Wii video game system turned out to be untrue.  Instead, I received a home-made ceramic plate (see picture) and mug.  My proposal to have them displayed in the living room china cabinet was soundly denied.

Disney Marathon Pics!

For anyone who's interested, you can click here for shots from my recent Disney Marathon.  These are not in the photo album on the sidebar.  Double-clicking a photo will bring up an enlarged view.

"Action Sports International" apparently took about 80 shots of me during the race, and most of them actually came out pretty good!  I guess it helps to steer clear from other runners!  

Mike Pounds Pavement at the House of Mouse!

This race report is a bit delayed, but I treked down to sunny Orlando, Florida this past weekend with Sattler, my training buddy, to run in my second Disney Marathon!  Sattler was registered to run but a partially torn Achilles tendon forced him to scratch.  Sad for him but great for me since I had a nice, one-man supprt crew to sweat the logisitical details for me.

Our plane took off at dawn on Friday morning and the race wasn't until Sunday morning, so we had plenty of time to relax and soak up the sun before the race.  We strolled around Downtown Disney, chowed at Disney's Boardwalk and tackled some harrowing rides at Universal Studios which served as a fantastic distraction from the usual pre-race jitters.  Neither of us spotted a cloud all weekend!

On race day I had been hoping to break 2:40, but my plans were thwarted by very warm weather.  Temp's were in the low to mid 70's, which is unfortunate since ideal marathoning weather is closer to 50. 

But I pushed it as hard as I could while enjoying the scenery.  The course goes through all four parks.  In the dark, early-morning hours you run around the big lake at Epcot with all the lights and lit torches, which was sort of surreal.  Then you shoot off to the Magic Kingdom and run down Main Street amid throngs of spectators, straight through Tomorrowland and then under Cinderalla's Castle before heading to Frontierland.   You also get to run through most of Animal Kingdom before finishing just past the big golf ball at Epcot.  Sure beats my regular running route in Glastonbury! 

My finishing time was 2:48:21.  Well short of 2:40, but still not too shabby.  It was my second-fastest marathon time out of 29 races and good enough for 32nd out of a field of 15,000.  Geez, it's too bad my percentile for law school and college wasn't as impressive!  So, I feel like I was aiming for Jupiter and ended up hitting the moon, which still ain't too bad.  And now I have a few months to recover and get ready for Boston. 

And a great big thank-you to Amy for holding down the fort while I was gone. A weekend with no kids, sunny weather and running a fun (albeit an exhausting) marathon was quite a treat!

My photo album is on the left.  Thank-you to Sattler for all the candid shots!

The Keenan Boys Rock the Freedom Run 5K

Yes, it appears that Amy has yet another running psycho to contend with.  That means more races to go to where she will stand around for hours on end, more pickiness at dinner time on the eve of each race, and even more foul-smelling clothes that are soaked with sweat from each workout.  Oh, the joy!

Cameron kicked off his road racing career this morning by jumping into the Freedom Run 5K (3.1 miles) in downtown Hartford which, to Cameron's delight, benefited the Connecticut National Guard.  I joined him for his maiden 5K trek with Owen and Shane in the double-baby jogger.  Owen was immensely helpful as always as he screamed, "Faster!  Faster!" within 30 seconds of the race starting.

To say that Cameron did well is a bit of an understatement.  His finishing time was 25:55, which means he averaged 8:21 per mile for 3.1 miles! 

Not impressed?  Well, how about 133rd place out of 336 runners.  That means he finished ahead of 203 runners, or 60% of the field! 

STILL not impressed?  Well, Cameron is most excited by the fact that he finished ahead of 21 members of the Armed Forces, and he beat someone from each branch...Army, Air Forces, Marines...even the Navy!

Not to be outdone, Owen jumped into the 1/2 mile kids' fun run!  As expected, he took off like a missle and then started walking at the 200 meter mark after announcing that he had run out of batteries.  Thirty seconds later he announced that his batteries were recharged, and he sprinted his little bum off for another 30 seconds before draining his batteries again.  His batteries ended up draining and recharging a dozen times during the race and he spent most of the time in last place, but he must have switched to Energizer batteries with 300 meters to go, as he ran all the way to the finish and passed 5 or 6 kids in the process.  What a bulldog!

Shane decided he wanted a piece of the action too and he jumped into the kids' 100-yard dash.  He started with a disadvantage by being the smallest runner in the field, and then he didn't help his cause by running in the wrong direction when the gun went off.  He was last across the line, but he nonetheless had a blast and smiled from start to finish!

Photo album is on the right!

Keenan Family Running Report

All four Keenan boys actually have a lot to report from the world of running! 

To start off, the Apple Harvest 5K Road Race took place a couple of weekends ago and I had the pleasure (mildly sarcastic tone here) of serving as race director.  I was pleasantly surprised (there's that mildly sarcastic tone again) to find that we ended up with close to 300 runners, which was more than double the field we had last year.  That's great for the proceeds department, but not so great for logistics since I only ordered one porta-potty.

Anyway, I decided to hold a kids fun run before the adult 5K race and entered all three Keenan boys.  Much to Cameron's chagrin, the distance was only about .2 miles.  This is well short of Cam's favorite 2-mile distance, but Owen and Shane seemed to think .2 miles was just fine.  One of the perks of being race director is that I get to assign the bib numbers.  So, of course, I assigned bib #'s 1, 2 and 3 to the Keenan crew...that looked pretty cool on the starting line.  I also had "Keenan Law, LLC" printed on the top of all of the race bibs, so it absolutely couldn't get any cooler.   

There were no official results since it was a "fun run", but Cam ended up in 4th since he didn't have enough time to actually accelerate.  Owen was as determined as I've ever seen him and kept a surprisingly small margin between himself and Cam, but there's was no way to determine what place he finished.  Shane somehow managed to finish ahead of one other little guy and I don't think he stopped smiling the whole way.

On the absolute opposite end of the distance running spectrum, this past weekend I competed in a grueling 35-mile trail race in Guilford, Connecticut.  It was one of those down-and-dirty trail races with lots of rocky terrain, a few creek crossing which got you soaked up to your knees, and some steep climbs which required the use of all fours.  Indiana Jones would have loved it!  It took me nearly 5 1/2 hours to finish (would have been faster if I didn't get lost 4 or 5 times) which was good enough for 3rd place overall.  West Point ended up sending a relay team of cadets and Cameron is now bragging to anyone who will listen that his Daddy finished ahead of the entire Army relay team!

So...life is good in the world of running for the Keenan crew!

Mike's Race Report: The Clarence Demar Marathon in Keene, NH

With the exception of a major logistical gaffe to start the day off, my trip to and from the Clarence Demar Marathon in Keene, New Hampshire with Mr. O'Toole was a great one.

I began the day by sleeping through my alarm clock. The plan was to wake up at 3am and then pick O'Toole up at 4am so that we could get there a comfortable 60 minutes before the last shuttle bus was scheduled to leave for the starting line in Gilsum, NH. Instead, I woke up to O'Toole's honking horn in front of the house, rolled over and saw 4:22 on the digital clock and I was immediately two feet above the bed and heading for the door. On top of that, I had neglected to fill up the car with enough gas on Saturday, so we had to make a NASCAR-like pit stop just past Springfield, MA. But when all was said and done we arrived at Keene State College only 15 minutes later than planned.  Nonetheless, I think O'Toole (a former Boy Scout) was rather underwhelmed by the morning's events.

The race started right on time (love that) and I passed the one-mile mark with the leaders at 6:00 flat. I then decided to blast the next four miles and see how many of the other front runners were the real deal. I passed the five-mile mark in 29:48 (sub-6 pace) and ended up with sole possession of first place. I started wondering about my chances of winning the whole thing, but did not enjoy that feeling of being a fox with about 300 hounds chasing me somewhere back there. I also started wondering if this would be my sub-2:40 day. So I let up on the throttle a bit, but kept the pace at a still-challenging 6:15.

I managed to hold the lead until the halfway mark, at which point the eventual winner absolutely blew my doors off.  Then things started unraveling once I hit the big hill at 22 miles as I was forced to walk up it.  I then took a half dozen more walking breaks but managed to hold off the rest of the field and crossed the line in 2:51 taking second place overall.  A big congrats to O'Toole who executed a race strategy that was the exact opposite of mine (running strong late in the race instead of breaking down) which earned him a time of 3:09, good for 12th and qualifictaion for the next two Boston's.   

The race had more rolling hills than I would have wanted and it was awfully humid, but it was a pretty, scenic course.  Horse farms, rivers, lakes, a nice golf course and fall foliage that was just starting to turn.  I also thought it was very well organized and that the volunteers on the course were very spirited and friendly (despite the fact that I was wearing my Yankees cap!).  So I have a feeling I'll be back there in the future.

All-in-all, I'm very happy with the race.  That was marathon #27 for me and it tied my 2nd-fastest time.  It was also my 3rd "silver medal" finish in a marathon.  What's more, it was the third sub-3:00 marathon in a row (after failing to break 3 hours from April 2002 to February 2008) which gives me some confidence with my sub-2:40 effort at Disney a little over 3 months away.

Today I woke up with a very tight Achilles tendon, but it felt fine after walking around a bit.  And no running today...just a relaxing, early morning walk around town while catching up on the news with the MP3.  But today I'll certainly be feeling and moving in a more geriatric manner than normal.  Ah...the life of a marathon runner!