Race #41 - End of Summer Classic - Hingham, MA - 34:04

I was in the Bay State for the 2nd time in the last 20 days, but this time to drop my son Bobby at his home for the next four years and not for a vacation. He is attending Boston University and Ro and headed up on Friday morning so we can get an early start for him on Saturday. Of course I found a Friday night race which I just had to run. I was hoping to get my son to run or possibly Mike Mulka who lives in Boston, but both declined. They missed out because this race was very nice with a great post race party afterwards.

The was the 2nd "End of Summer Classic" and according to the race director, it doubled in size. I predict this race will grow immensely in the coming years. I ran this race after a 7 hour drive in the rain to Quincy where we were staying for the night. My legs were certainly stiff so I needed plenty of warming up.

The race was held at Bare Cove Park and was run along the roads as well as some trails. I am not familiar with the park, but part of the course was run along the water which was very nice. There was also the Bare Cove Fire Museum near the start which was extremely cool.

positioned myself at the front of the pack, more for a picture opportunity than to get a jump on the runners. I was hoping to run sub 7's with an outside shot to got 6:45's. I wasn't sure of the course, but if it was flat I thought I could go fast, mainly because it wasn't hot or that humid. It wasn't flat, but not too hilly either.

At the front, this very fast looking young girl asked me what my pace I would be running, which flattered me, and I quickly responded, "hopefully 6:45's". She said she didn't know what pace to run, but she obviously figured it out because she won outright, beating all the men as well. Not a huge surprise, but that doesn't happen much in these races.

I hit the first mile in 6:33, but some of it was downhill which was nice, but I figured I would to tackle it on the way back. My 2nd mile was 6:50, 3rd at 6:58 then a 7:03 but I finished with a 6:45 but it was a fast downhill. There was one women in front of me that I just couldn't catch the first 4 miles and a guy behind me that was closing in on me. I was determined not to let the guy behind pass me which helped me pass the women in front. I sprinted past her in the last 100 yards finishing in 34:04. It was good enough for 5th in my age group.

The post race fare included hot dogs, pasta, watermelon, and ices. The was also a band and lots of tents handing out information on various running related items.

Ro and I didn't hang there to long because we had Bobby back in the room and we were meeting her cousins who live in Boston.

Race #40 - NYRR Half Marathon - 1:45:15

All I will say is that it was hot from the start. Course was great but Central Park takes a lot out of you, especially on a hot and humid morning. Thanks to Oleg, Ray and Rosanne for getting me into the city but the two mile walk after the race to the car was terrible.

Race #39 - Falmouth 7 Mile Road Race - 48:46

I know I have written in previous blogs about past races that the weather was great, but today was absolutely spectacular. This course is probably one of the best of any race I have ever run. Race time temp was about 75 with a slight breeze and the crowds wonderful. I was fortunate to be given an elite number which landed me in the first corral with all the Kenyans, Frank Shorter, Bill Rodgers, Meb and Joan Benoit Samuelson, not to mention countless other very fast runners.

I left the Pier 7 Condos in South Yarmouth at 6:30am to catch one of the hundreds of buses to take the runners to the start in Woods Hole. I parked at John Wesley United Methodist Church about a 1/2 mile from the buses. I boarded one of the buses at 7:30 and was at the start by 8AM. It was two hours before the start so I had plenty of time to kill. I knew I would see elite runners as well as former elites, such as Shorter and Rodgers. I got myself a cup of coffee and just relaxed at the front and stalked the elites for a picture. I got to see the start of the Achilles runners and the wheelchair competitors. I made friends with other runners such as Brian who has run all 36 previous Falmouth races.

The organization was superb and with 10,000 runners, that's not easy to do.

After a fly over by the Coast Guard and Air Force, the gun was sounded and the elites were off. I was about 15 feet behind them and planned to run sub 7's for the 7 mile race. It didn't seem like a difficult task but the course is full of little hills. In fact I caught up with Bill Rodgers of Boston Marathon fame at the start and ran with him for the first 400 meters. As I sped ahead, I heard him caution me that the initial 3 miles was full of hills. I ran this race 15 yeas ago so I was well aware of the hills in the beginning and at the end. It was hilly but also in the shade because the next 4 miles was basically flat but in full sun. Not sure which I liked more.

I hit the first mile at 6:53, second mile at 6:52 but I wasn't feeling comfortable. The hills were getting to me. Mile 3 was 6:59, 4 - 6:59, 5- 7:00, 6-7:00 and mile 7 was 7:02. I felt like I was running even splits early on but thought I was going faster in the later miles. In fact, I pushed hard at mile 7 knowing I didn't have much time to give back if I wanted to go sub 49. The last 1/2 mile was rolling hills with a nice sized hill just before the finish which I hit hard but paid for the last 250 yards. I was happy with going sub 7's and knew I pushed as hard as I could. The crowds were great along the course as there was lots of water.

The post race party in a park near the finish was to notch with hot dogs, Cape Cod chips, Bear Naked snacks and other FREE goodies. Cigna was the main sponsor and they were great, handing out all kinds of stuff.

I would run this race every year if I lived nearby. Great course, great people, great sponsors and very scenic.

I now have the balance of the week to spend on Cape Cod to run and bike.

Race #38 - Prineton Free Wheelers Metric Century

Ok, so race #38 wasn't a race actually, but a bike ride through New Jersey. I said I was going to mix it up during my 50 @50 and I did so in July. I love bike riding, but never seem to have enough time to do so. My neighbor and friend Marshall Samtur has been riding a lot the last few months and is always asking me to join him. When he mentioned the Princeton event, I checked my scheduled and immediately said yes once I knew that date was open. I have been getting on my bike for at least 50 miles per week in July so I felt good about the ride. I just wasn't sure how far I could go. I have done these tours before but never more than 50 miles. One of my goals is to ride a century (100 miles), but never could train enough to feel confident that I could do it without much pain. When Marshall suggested the metric century, I was in. It's not a race so you do rest along the way to fuel up or get your legs back. We were also joined by Marshall's sister in law Renee and her daughter Rachel as well as his friend Tony.

I headed over to Mercer County Community College for 7am with the thoughts of starting at 7:30. Both Marshall and I had other kid events to attend later in the day. Marshall's daughter Liz is an excellent swimmer and had championships and I had to run over to my son Michael's baseball game to help coach.

We picked up our t-shirts and ride instructions and then headed out. Renee & Rachel were doing the 50 so we weren't riding with them. These rides are well organized with arrows of different colors spray painted in the streets to match up with the distance you plan on doing. This was their 29th year of putting on this race and it went off without a hitch.

We started out easy thinking we would do the first ten miles at a comfortable pace. One thing to note, I was riding my Ho Koo Hi Koo which is my Gary Fischer mountain Bike and 98% of the riders had skinny tire road bikes. My comfortable pace is about 15 MPH, but on a road bike it is easily 18-20 which makes me work harder the whole way. I bought the mountain bike to take advantage of the canal path by me as well as when I go up north in the mountains in the spring. I will need to get a road bike and Jason at Halter's in South Brunswick has been encouraging me to stop by to get fitted for a nice one. They have one great bile shop and it's in South Brunswick.

Back to the ride. We opted to do the 65 less hilly ride which was the right call. Once we got going, I felt great. Marshall was nice enough to hang with me for a while, but he loves to push it especially on the downhills. It's just so hard to keep up with him with my knobby tires. With Tony, its a fair fight for me. He had me on the flats but I was stronger on the few hills that were out there.

We stopped after mile 20 for the club's rest stop which included watermelon, bagels, nut bars and muffins. We hung around for 15 minutes to chat with other riders then headed out. After another 20 miles we were back at the same rest stop to fuel up again. The weather was turning out to be spectacular with cool temps early and plenty of sunshine later. It was turning out to be a very nice day.

The first 40 miles took us through quiet roads and lots of farms filled with shoulder high corn. The Princeton free Wheelers Club mapped out a great course. There was limited traffic and great scenery. I know we passed through Robbinsville, Allentown, Bordentown and other Burlington county towns.

By mile 40 my legs were getting a little fatigued but knowing there was only 15 miles to go motivated me to keep riding fast. The next five I lost sight of Marshall but he was kind enough to wait for me so we could ride the last 8 miles together. Tony had left early at the second rest stop but we caught up with him with about 5 miles to go. Once we hit the campus of MCCC, we sprinted back to the parking lot and our cars. Tony filed in right after us and Renee and Rachel were less than 60 seconds behind us. We finished up in less than 5 hours which I thought was good. Marshall said we averaged 16+ miles per hour. My heart rate never got above 133 and my legs felt fine.

We headed over to the nice spread of food put out by the PFW and chowed down like we hadn't eaten for weeks. Nothing like a 65 mile bike to work up an appetite. One question I asked myself, could I do another 30+ miles now? I know I can, it is a matter of how will my legs feel in those next 30 miles. I won't do unless it's a road bike. I would be crazy to do on my mountain bike. I plan on doing one or two more before the year is out but i won't count them towards my 50.

Next up for me is the Falmouth 7 mile road race in Falmouth, Cape Cod. This is one great race and I hope to run it fast. It is hilly so I won't be breaking any personal records, but I would like to average a sub 6:50 pace. I will be away on vacation the week of the race and there are great rail to trails bike paths on the Cape. I know of one that is 25 miles long so I am sure I will be on that one a few times. Bobby and Mike will be joining me for the rides.

I have 12 races to go so if you haven't joined me yet, you better take a look at my schedule of remaining races. I would love to see a few of you at these races. You know who you are.

See you on the roads.