Trialed and true

FRIDAY
11:15 AM - 12 miles, 1:22:00 - West Hill.
Canal path, two loops at West Hill and back. Threw in a few steady stretches mid-run and finished up with a 5:42 last mile on the path. Felt comfortable, but thought for sure I was under 5:30.

SATURDAY
7:45 AM - 5 miles, 38:40 - Central Park.
All over the place with Hodgie and A-Ten while watching the Trials. Nothing but a whole lot of stop-and-go mileage, but made sure I clicked the watch every time.

I was positioned at the 6-mile mark of the men's Olympic Trials marathon in Central Park this morning, hootin' and hollerin' at the top of my lungs for the 120 some-odd studs who came flying by in a steady stream of sustained speed. One runner never made it to that early mile marker however, and all it took was one quick phone call before those excited chants turned into an eerie silence.

"Ryan Shay just went down," best bud Sean McKeon shouted at me from the other end of the phone.

"Did he trip?" I asked.

"No dude, they're giving him CPR," he informed me. "It doesn't look good."

Next thing you know an ambulance comes flying by with its lights flashing and people are wondering what in the hell is going on. About a half an hour later, rumor was floating around the park that Ryan Shay had passed away. The race, possibly the most exciting event I've ever had the pleasure to witness in person, suddenly didn't seem so important any more.

Needless to say, it's been an emotional day on many fronts. The race itself was exciting and inspirational - lots of positive energy making its way around the park this morning. Lots of impressive performances too, most notably Ryan Hall, Dathan Ritzenhein, Brian Sell and local homeboy Nate Jenkins. Ryan's untimely death put a terrible twist on an otherwise fantastic day, but sometimes such a tragic event can help to put everything else back into perspective.

This life is short, so you need to make the most of it while you can. Ryan Shay sure did, and he's inspired me to do the same.

Quotes of the Day

"You can't think about 'what if I fail,' because it will cause negative thoughts, so instead you have to turn the energy around and feed off that energy. All these people are cheering for you. They don't know you, they just want you to do well."
- Ryan Shay. RIP, 11.03.07

"You’ve got to run smart, but you’ve got to have the faith that you can finish. You can’t get scared. If I go out and feel good, I’m not going to be afraid to run with that lead pack. You have to take that chance. If that means I’m running 2:25 and crawling home, then so be it. At the same time, if it’s late in the race and I’m coming up on people, if you have even a passing thought of not thinking you can pass certain people like Meb [Keflezighi], then you won’t make it. The time to be in awe of them is after the race. Until then, everyone’s equal and you go for it."
- Nate Jenkins. He wasn't afraid, he took that chance, he didn't crawl home and he didn't have a passing thought about passing Meb late in the race.

Big Apple picking

7:50 AM - 8 miles, 1:00:00 - Tufts.

Easy does it on the grass before work. First 30 minutes solo, last half hour with Casey. Hilly as hell but the soft stuff was a welcome respite for the legs.

I'm heading down to the Big Apple with Hodgie-San tomorrow afternoon to catch the men's Olympic Marathon Trials on Saturday morning, so this will likely be the last you'll hear from me for a couple days.

So let's cut to the chase, who's gonna make the Olympic team?

Good question. I think a lot of guys have a good shot, and personally I'll be pulling for one of the dark horse, blue-collar types -- Brian Sell, Peter Gilmore, Jason Lehmkuhle, Fasil Bizuneh, etc. -- to pull through, but there's a handful of proven thoroughbreds -- Meb, Abdi, Alan Culpepper, Dan Browne -- who aren't making the trip to New York just to take a leisurely stroll through Central Park with 127 of their closest friends.

Don't forget about the pair of young studs -- Ritz and Ryan Hall -- who each only have one marathon under their belt, but are definitely two of the more talented, if not the most talented, guys in the field. Too inexperienced to win the big one? Perhaps, but way too talented not to be considered serious threats to actually pull it off.

Then there's a handful of unproven unknowns worth keeping in mind as well, including Josh Rohatinsky, James Carney, Ed Torres and Matt Gonzales, who have all been running well enough of late that they could really surprise some people. OK, a lot of people. It's not likely any of these fellas will actually make the team, but it's not entirely impossible either.

If one thing is for sure about the outcome of this race, it's that nothing is for sure. My gut feeling is that our Olympic marathon team will be made up of two of the established favorites, say Abdi and Alan Culpepper, and one relative long shot, let's call him Peter Gilmore.

Last, but certainly not least, there's a handful of guys with local ties -- Mike Smith, Terry Shea, Nate Jenkins, Marzuki Stevens, Ed Baker, Pat and Casey Moulton, Steve Meinelt and Matt Pelletier -- who I know are all primed and ready for a good race. I'll definitely be rooting for the members of this homegrown crew and I'm confident they'll do New England proud.

Hopefully I can join them in four years and do the same.

Quote of the Day

"Running sharpens the focus on life and intensifies the emotions. Is there any better reason to do anything?"
- Anton (Tony) Krupicka, trail running's "nature boy"

Boo!

7:50 AM - 4 miles, 31:50 - Hampton 4.
Dead-dog tired. First mile in 8 minutes, last 3+ not much faster.

7:30 PM - 9 miles - Westboro.
14:55 warmup to WHS track, 2 x 1 mile (5:02.44, 5:01.77), 8 x 400m (73.62, 73.12, 72.70, 73.22, 72.59, 73.86, 71.56, 71.63), 13:20 cooldown back to the store. 400m jog recovery (2:18, 2:13) after the miles, 200m jog recovery (1:00-1:10) after the 400s.

I didn't want to work out tonight. After waking up exhausted and putting in a pitiful 4 miles before work followed by almost 10 hours at the store, all I wanted to do was go home, get something to eat and get my tired ass to bed. The workout Kevin sent to me via e-mail earlier in the day would have to wait until morning. To make a long story short, it couldn't wait that long.

Now for the unabridged version.

Around 6:30 I went out to the car and brought in my gym bag after convincing myself I'd go for an easy 4-mile shakeout jog and strides after I closed the store up at 7. Right at the magic hour, Rich called to check in and see how the day went and told me about his workout earlier this morning - repeat 1,200s on the bike path with short recovery, the same workout he did a couple weeks back but faster. It got me fired up. Then I started thinking about my teammates, who at the very same hour were beating the shit out of each other running circles around the BC Res. Since I had to work the whole day and couldn't make it out to Brighton, I was forced to fly solo - never a welcome endeavor - but knowing that my mates were all running hard in the dark after equally long days at work, I had no excuse.

What I did have, however, was a watch whose Indiglo didn't work, which made Kevin's assigned workout of...

5 min tempo (2R) 5min tempo (2-4R) 10 x 1 min w/ 60-90 sec rest

1 min intervals should be in the 5K pace to 5K pace minus a couple of seconds.

...near impossible. So I improvised. Instead of running on effort over a number of minutes I decided to run by feel over a set distance. Since 5 minutes at tempo pace is just about a mile and 1 minute at 5K pace is a few ticks under a 400, and the only place to get accurate feedback when running at such speeds in the pitch-black is on a measured track, that's where I went.

Again, the Indiglo on my trusty Timex was out, so the best I could do was run on feel, click the split timer and look at the damage afterward. I was encouraged to see that although I was a little quick, I wasn't totally reckless. More importantly, I was consistent and under control throughout, and with Sunday's shit show still in the back of my mind, this made me feel a little bit better about myself.

Now that I've got a good workout under my belt and eaten enough to loosen that belt up a bit, I can finally go to bed. Goodnight.

Quote of the Day

"Writing, like running, is as much about faith as it is technique. Like the best runners, the best novelists are a little bit insane. However self-effacing a champion may act off the course, he's got to believe in himself. The best novelists don't just make the story up, they actually think it's true."
- Benjamin H. Cheever in a Runner's World piece about Once a Runner author John L. Parker.

Lucky 13

7:45 AM - 5 miles, 34:50 - Pakachoag 5.
Sub-7-minute pace before 8 AM. I really have no explanation for this phenomenon.

6:35 PM - 8 miles, 55:20 - Millbury.
Pitch-black prowl with Sean through the mean streets of Millbury. Oh how I've missed the two-mile climb at the end of this run. Not.

Quote of the Day

“I don’t think about what was. It was great, but you can’t bring those days back. Life goes on.”
- Ronaldo da Costa, former marathon world record holder

Mundane Monday

6:45 AM - 8 miles, 58:10 - RockPak 8.
Got out early before meeting with the electrician to do a walk-through at the new place. Started out in the dark, didn't realize it was only 32 degrees and underdressed accordingly. Had a pretty good run though - legs were in surprisingly decent shape, but the groin was a bit more uncomfortable than it has been of late.

Quote of the Day

"So in one sense, he's my best buddy and we're great friends, but when it comes to competition, he wants to take out my throat."

- Clint Verran on his good friend and training partner, Brian Sell.

Crossed up

12:00 PM - 10 miles - Franklin Park.
16 minutes up, Mayor's Cup 8K (57th - 26:02), 21 minutes down. Out in 4:52 and it was a steady decline from there.

5:45 PM - 5 miles, 38:10 - Carrara's Trails.
Easy shakeout from la casa de Carrara with Sean during halftime of the Pats game. Took advantage of the trails with what daylight we had left, then finished up on the roads.

Let's put it this way. Two weeks ago I raced 13.1 miles at an average pace of 5:19 per mile. This afternoon, I raced - and I use that term loosely - 8 kilometers, or just under 5 miles, at a not-so-blistering clip of 5:16 per mile. I'm not making any excuses, but deep down I know that today's finishing time isn't anywhere reflective of my current fitness level. To be honest, I'm not sure what it's reflective of, but I do know that I never felt good today - not even for a second. I couldn't make a move, or even respond to one, to save my life. Outside of my 26:11 debut on this course as a freshman in college, this was my slowest Franklin Park finish ever. Bottom line, I had a shitty race. It happens. I'm over it.

Luckily, I had a few teammates who had some pretty good races, so a quick congratulations to Jeff and Justin on their new PRs and Coogs, Brad, Ryan and Fabian on their own solid performances. The women tore it up as well, with Kristen and Erin cracking the top-15 in a stacked field. On the whole, NB Boston was well represented at Franklin Park this afternoon.

So, that's it. The first cross country race of the season is in the books and the fact of the matter is I'm our 7th man, not even taking into account the three studs who sat out for us today.

So what will I do now? I'll lace my shoes back up tomorrow morning, pack away a few more weeks of solid training and have a better race at New England's in three weeks. That's what I'll do.

Quote of the Day

"Aw, it's the same damn hill."
- Chris Voce cementing our decision to avoid Bear Cage Hill on the warmup this afternoon.

Sum it up

7:30 AM - 7 miles, 48:25 - Rockland 7.
Easy run in the rain before work. Threw in a few short random pickups just to stretch the legs out a bit. Hopefully they stretch out a little more before tomorrow.

Weekly Summary: October 21-28
Sunday - AM: 18 miles, 2:00.
Monday - AM: 6 miles, 42:15. 6 x 20-second strides.
Tuesday - AM: 4 miles, 30:00. PM: 13 miles. 10 x Bottom-to-Top on Heartbreak Hill.
Wednesday - AM: 8 miles, 57:40.
Thursday - AM: 7 miles, 48:00. PM: 5 miles, 37:50. 8 x 200m strides.
Friday - AM: 7 miles, 48:45.
Saturday - AM: 7 miles, 48:25.
Totals: 75 miles, 9 runs. Good week, and a busy one to boot. Lots of extracurricular stuff going on so my sleep suffered a bit but I should be OK for Mayor's Cup. I didn't really back off the training any since it's still early in the season, but I'm looking forward to getting back on the grass tomorrow and mixing it up over the shorter-than-usual 8K distance.

Quote of the Day

When you put yourself on the line in a race and expose yourself to the unknown, you learn things about yourself that are very exciting.”
- Doris Brown Heritage, 5-time world cross country champion

Tight squeeze

10:35 AM - 7 miles, 48:45 - Bike Path.
Managed to squeeze in a post-MRI, pre-work trot on the bike path. Felt pretty sluggish for the first 5 miles or so, but eventually snapped out of it.

Busy days, busy nights and no immediate end in sight. Other than posting the day's raw data, providing the occasional witty anecdote and searching high and low for an appropriately motivating or inappropriately funny Quote of the Day, don't expect much out of me for another week or so.

Come to think of it, that's no different from any other day here at the daily runaround, so forget what I just wrote. Don't expect much out of me, period.

Quote of the Day

"Any time you go through adversity, it’s character-defining. It’s an old cliché, but you don’t learn character on the mountaintops. You learn it in the valleys. Going through tough times, that’s what makes great runners."
- Todd Harbour, Baylor cross country coach

Into the black

7:50 AM - 7 miles, 48:00 - Rockland 7.
Reverse Rockland loop before work. Didn't feel overly terrible despite a short night of sleep.

8:00 PM 5 miles, 37:50 - Westboro.
Solo from the store after work. 13:04 up to the WHS track, 8 x 200m w/200m jog recovery in 35.19, 35.62, 33.83, 33.69, 33.39, 33.76, 33.36, 33.58, 12:28 down back to the store.

If you've never run repeat 200's on a deserted pitch-black track at 8:30 on a Thursday night at the end of October, I suggest trying it sometime. There's nothing like the isolated feeling of losing yourself in a rhythmic trance on the track as the crisp autumn air makes its way into your lungs and then escapes back into the night sky. I felt like Haile Gebrselassie in Endurance, only whiter and slower.

Quote of the Day

"I think the reason I did so well in that race is that I wasn't worrying about expectations. And that's something that I've really taken to heart that I've really learned from that experience. I want to go out there and do my best obviously, and I've prepared and done everything I can to do that. But I've learned that you can't allow expectations to get to you...So I love being in this situation. I can just go out there, know that I'm ready, be confident, race my best, and see what happens."
- Josh Rohantinsky, 2006 NCAA cross country champion, on his expectations for the Olympic Trials Marathon on November 3rd.

World Series Wednesday

7:40 AM - 8 miles, 57:40 - RockPak 8.
Easy run on the roads before work. Legs felt fine but the rest of the 'ol body is a bit on the tired side.

Good news: Dr. Davis was able to successfully appeal on my behalf and my MRI is now scheduled for 8:45 on Friday morning. Hopefully this marks the end of any insurance-related funny business in regard to this medical matter.

Bad news: None, really. Life is good.

And a World Series title would make it that much better. Let the string of sleep-deprived nights begin.

Go Sox!

Quote of the Day

"I would prefer to be 25 with fresh legs."
- Khalid Khannouchi. Me too, Khalid, me too.

No lights necessary

11:10 AM - 4 miles, 30:00 - Lake Park.
Pre-workout shake by the lake. Three big loops on the dirt, then a mile on the track in 5:57 (3:12/2:45) to finish up right at the magical 30-minute mark.

6:15 PM - 13 miles - Heartbreak Hill.
27:45 warmup including an abbreviated drill set, 10 x Bottom-to-Top (1:50, 1:52, 1:50, 1:51, 1:50, 1:50, 1:50, 1:47, 1:45, 1:41), 15:55 cooldown.

Hit the hill hard tonight with Fabian, Ryan, Nieskens and Jeff. It's always an adventure when going full throttle on a grass incline in the dark but we're certified experts in this stuff so we managed just fine. Luckily the rain held off for us but the humidity and wind were unusually nasty for an October night. Still, we had another solid workout as we head toward the start of the cross country racing season on Sunday.

Yep, the crazy three-meet post-collegiate fall cross country season starts this Sunday at Franklin Park with 18th annual running of the much ballyhooed Mayor's Cup. This will be my first off-road race in two years and if you guessed I'm excited, well, you obviously know me pretty well then. This weekend's 8K will primarily serve as a cross country rust buster of sorts, so I'm not gonna put much pressure on myself to hit certain splits or outkick a certain dude. I'll just race hard from gun to tape and let the cards fall where they may. Come to think of it, that's how a cross country race should be run anyway. Forgive me, it's been a while.

Quote of the Day

"I think you've got to have the genetic potential first...then you have to have a great spirit...lastly, you need mental toughness."
- Mickey Hall on what it takes to be a great runner. His son Ryan seems to have all three going for him.

Out of the rough

7:30 AM - 6 miles, 42:15 - Industrial Park.
Same loop as last Monday but about 5 minutes faster, which goes to show just how roughed up I was this time last week. 6 x 20-second strides mid-run to stretch the legs out a bit.

Sox went big, Indians went home. And I went to bed happy.

Bring on the Rockies.

Quote of the Day

"Everyone seemed to think that if I had that clock there, I would have got that one second. But I just ran as hard as I could for as long as I could."
- Steve Jones on just missing the marathon world record in 1985 after going through halfway in an absurd 1:01:43.

Good or bad?

8:35 AM - 18 miles, 2:00:00 - Carrara's Trails.

Relaxed romp through the pristine pine needle paths of the Memorial Forest and Assabet River Wildlife Refuge with Ryan and Christy Mae. Legs bounced back pretty well from yesterday's workout. Same old story with the groin.

Game 7.

Dice-K on the mound, World Series berth on the line.

Go big or go home.

Quote of the Day

"Good or bad?"
- Fasil Bizuneh

Saturday Summation

9:20 AM - 10 miles - Lincoln.
24:30 up, 4.6-mile tempo in 23:44 (4:59, 5:17, 5:16, 3:12 (0.6), 5:00), 15:35 down. Worked out with Fenton and Roland - well, ran with them for the first 2-1/2 miles, fell off the back of the float for a mile or so and then rejoined the parade for the final mile. Solid workout - out way too fast but adjusted accordingly and avoided falling apart.

Weekly Summary: October 14-20
Sunday - AM: 18 miles. Bay State 1/2 Marathon (5th, 1:09:48 - PR)
Monday - AM: 6 miles, 47:00.
Tuesday - AM: 6 miles, 43:30. PM: 4 miles, 30:00.
Wednesday - AM: 8 miles, 57:10. 4 x 200m strides in 35.16, 35.55, 34.59, 34.58.
Thursday - AM: 12 miles, 1:21:45. Light fartlek.
Friday - AM: 8 miles, 54:05. PM: 4 miles, 30:00. 6 x 20-second strides.
Saturday - AM: 10 miles. 4.6-mile tempo in 23:44.

Totals - 76 miles, 9 runs. Good week - started with a solid race, ended with a solid workout. Groin issue is still an issue but hasn't forced me to scale anything back. As long as that remains the case, it's full steam ahead.

Quote of the Day

"Every runner needs to be a little bit vain. They need to think more of themselves than they are. They need to think more of themselves than anybody else does. Or else you just aren’t going to get to that next level...The time to be in awe of (other runners) is after the race. Until then, everyone’s equal and you go for it."
- Nate Jenkins

Healthcare hassles

10:00 AM - 8 miles, 54:05 - Rail Trail.
Out-n-back 6 on the trail, followed by a train track add-on and another out-n-back mile on the trail. Best run in a week, which isn't saying much.

4:00 PM - 4 miles, 30:00 - Pakachoag.
Afternoon stroll past my new place, down Hampton Street and back home the short way. 6 x 20-second strides on the way in. Hip seems to have loosened up a bit.

I should be laid out horizontally in an MRI machine at the Worcester Medical Center right now but a bunch of bureaucratic bullshit on the insurance side of things has me sitting vertically in front of the computer instead, all the while hoping Dr. Davis can successfully appeal on my behalf Monday morning.

Pissed off would be a severe understatement. Fuck the healthcare system.

Quote of the Day

"I have such a passion for competing, and I hate to lose. I suppose this gets me into trouble sometimes. Mostly I think it helps. I mean, you have to push really hard in running. That's where our greatest moments come from. And the worst. They both spring from the same place."
- Dathan Ritzenhein

What's next?

9:20 AM - 12 miles, 1:21:45 - West Hill.

Canal path, two loops at West Hill and back. Threw in a handful of random pickups ranging from roughly a minute to 3-4 minutes in duration to stretch the legs out a bit. Left calf is almost back in good working order, groin discomfort held steady at Level 6 but left hip is now annoyingly tight. If it ain't one thing, it's two or three others as well.

So who wants to place a bet on what part of my anatomy will fail on me next? In addition to my midsection malady, tight calf and persistent plantar pain, my left hip has been locked up for two days now. Keeping the aforementioned information in mind, the entire right side of my body and all areas above the waist on my left side are still fair game. I'd go in big before the flop because chances are something else is gonna go before any of the above get much better.

Anyway, I've got the MRI tomorrow night which should shed some light on the gray area around my groin. The other stupid shit seems to come and go and I'll deal with those annoyances accordingly. My midsection is the main concern right now. I'm sick of rolling up in a ball to get in and out of bed, writhing in pain when someone tries to make me laugh, putting ice that close to my (ahem) and running around with a persistent ache in my midsection.

I'm not sure what's left of my fall season but I'm gonna do what I can with it for as long as I'm able to. In the meantime, let's hope nothing else shits out on me.

Quote of the Day

"You know, when Rolling Stone called I said I'd do it. It's a great opportunity, you know, and then I get to the shoot and they want me to do the cover photo topless, and you know, that's not something I normally do but the agent I was with at the time said this is how everyone gets into the business - you gotta do Rolling Stone with no shirt on, so I did it."

- Mike Smith, Central Mass. native and Olympic Trials marathon qualifier, "telling it all" from Flagstaff. Hilarious.

Biding my time

7:15 AM - 8 miles, 57:10 - Rockland 7.

Took a mid-run detour at the AHS track for 4 x 200m strides w/200m jog recovery, hitting 35.16, 35.55, 34.59, 34.58. Left calf has loosened up a bit, but groin noticeably tight and uncomfortable throughout.

Quote of the Day

"Just bide your time. People who are beating you now may not be beating you a year from now - or five years from now, or maybe ten years from now. If you enjoy your running and go at it patiently, you'll be around ten years from now and you'll be the one who is up there...Running is never a waste. Everything you are doing now is part of the grand plan."
- Bill Rodgers, Marathoning, p. 115

Money well spent

10:55 AM - 6 miles, 43:30 - Rail Trail.
Out-n-back from the parking lot. Left calf still pretty tight but seems to slowly be loosening up, groin no better or worse than it was yesterday.

6:05 PM - 4 miles, 30:00 - Lake Park.
Twilight trot on the dirt. The 'ol legs are starting to show some signs of life again.

I forgot to cancel today's appointment with the orthopedist that I begrudgingly scheduled 12 days ago, so instead of being slapped with a $25 cancellation fee for bailing the day of, I kept the appointment, paid my $20 co-pay and saved myself $5 and a shitload of bureaucratic hassle. I also figured a second opinion probably wouldn't hurt, so in the end everyone except my wallet benefits in some way.

Not gonna lie, I thought this would be one of those appointments where I walked into the exam room, told the doctor what was wrong, confused him with my symptoms and went home $20 poorer than I walked in with only a vague diagnosis of a groin strain and a prescription to "stop running, put some ice on it and schedule an appointment with the PT office on Goldstar Boulevard" to show for it.

I'm happy to report that I was wrong. Still $20 poorer, but very wrong.

After checking in with the receptionist, I was immediately shuttled away to X-ray and had my midsection zapped before being hustled into the exam room where I met with my assigned orthopedist, Dr. Susan Davis. And no, Susan is not a dude, but she is a damn good doctor.

Dr. Davis' own thorough evaluation of the circumstantial evidence confirmed what James told me last week, which is that my persistent lower abdominal discomfort is likely being caused by a sports hernia. To be sure, however, she has me scheduled me for an MRI this Friday and a follow-up appointment a week from today because "we don't want to be guessing with one of these things." In the meantime, she told me to keep with the exercises James gave me and "not to stop running, although that may change a week from now."

Not exactly what I wanted to hear, but on the flip side of things this is the kind of pull-no-punches, up-front approach I've been looking for from a medical professional. Unlike when I suspected a stress fracture in my pelvis 16 months ago and had to fight for a CT scan to confirm it, I didn't so much as have to even mention my own suspicions to either James or Susan this time around because both of them appreciated the ferociousness with which I thrash my body on a daily basis. And while I'd rather not be in this position to begin with, I feel confident for once that I'm in good hands and taking the right steps to getting this newest problem fixed.

Now, if I could only eliminate them altogether.

Quote of the Day

"There is nothing like the feeling of standing on a wind-blown, dew slicked, intramural field awaiting the sound of a gun to send you hurtling forward through a mass of sharp elbows and knobby knees toward your own threshold of pain."
- Brendan O'Keefe on the beauty of cross country.

The Aftermath

7:50 AM - 6 miles, 47:00 - Industrial Park.
Short-n-slow slog before work. Lower left leg a tight and mangled mess, felt like it was just being dragged along for the ride. Groin discomfort also made an unwelcome return to Level 6. Hopefully a few easy runs and lots of ice will help solve the first problem and keep the second one at bay.

Quote of the Day

“I’m not too high on expectations, but I’m not intimidated either. I’ll stick my nose in there. And if I blow up, I blow up.”
- James Carney

Run of the Mill

8:30 AM - 18 miles - Bay State 1/2 Marathon.
15 minutes up, strides, Bay State 1/2 Marathon (5th - 1:09:48), 22 minutes down with Jeff and Paul Ryan.

5th place and a 5-second PR for 13.1 miles this morning in the scenic Mill City better known as Lowell, Massachusetts. I was pretty pumped with the end result until I got home and read that Deena spun a 1:09:38 in Udine at the IAAF World Road Running Champions. Bitch.

I'm kidding, of course.

I have plenty more to write about the race and will do so sometime later this week, but for now I've gotta get my tired ass to bed. A quick congrats to Casey on the impressive win today, Keith on a sly second-place showing, Paul on a great debut, Matt Pimental on a solid run in fourth and Kerry on a kickass second-place finish in the women's race. And a BIG thanks to Kevin and Jeff for keeping me going out there when the going itself was getting tough. Much appreciated.

And for all the number dorks out there, here are those mundane mile splits for you to salivate over. Enjoy.

1. 5:12
2. 5:15
3. 5:27
4. 5:17
5. 5:15 (26:26)
6. 5:14
7. 5:20
8. 5:26
9. 5:34
10. 5:32 (53:32)
11. 5:18
12. 5:12
13.1. 5:46 (1:09:48)

Quote of the Day

"Ryan, I know she has pneumonia but go upstairs and pound your wife."
- Uncle Fire to Ryan after the Patriots' first touchdown this afternoon. And for the record, he's referring to a fist pound. No, one of these, you sick bastards.