Treats Are For Winners

Today Bosco Gibson showed the rest of those "loooser dogs" how it's supposed to be done. Bosco was 1st dog to cross the finish line today in the 13th Annual Bark in the Park 5K. You can see just how exhausted he is from the whole ordeal.

Fine, it might not have been a race per se. There were no official times, and technically you're supposed to walk it. But c'mon people! B-Dog don't roll like 'dat. Only 3-5 people actually ran the race, but it's not B's fault if the slacker dogs in the back didn't bring their "A-game". BTW, the grand prize for taking 1st was a 20lb bag of dog food from PetsMart. Sweet!! Mmmm, kibble.

Tues LT Report: 5 Miles @ 6:54

Good LT on Tuesday. 3 Miles were into the wind.

Feeling good. Must disclose that I took 3 days off running this weekend to go to Jazz Fest in New Orleans. My training took a hit, but it was worth it.

1,2,3,4,PAW;1,2,3,4,PAW...

So, that was my workout for the day. About three miles total with lots of repeat 100s focusing on gait. Bill has a new 1,2,3,4,PAW drill. Good stuff. I'm worn out.

Gibson, sharpen the claws. I took little Gretchen on her first run this evening. Well, Rick and I did for about 1.5 miles. Of note, she took a healthy dump only a 1/4 mile into the run. She's going to be a good dog on the path. Probably not a Bosco.

More good stuff tomorrow.

Reporting on a Hilly 10K

Did a 10k at groton Mass, a lovely community famous for its 10k. A difficult course, lots of ups and downs, including a lengthy hill at the last mile...
The good runners were there, and I barely got 78th place. Note our fastest runner (Hank) who could give all of us a serious thrashing and routinely nails the masters division. He was not "racing" this, usually he runs about 5:15 - 5:20 per mile. I quote the "copy" from our club email:

Race #2 in the Grand Prix series was yesterday in Groton , a 35 mile trek from Cambridge . While, part of our crew inadvertently took a scenic tour of town (and got a sneak peek of the 10k course) due to road closures during the earlier 5k race, we did arrive in time to take part in the race with over 900 other runners.

The 10k race substituted a musket fire over the routine gun to start the race – coursewise, nothing too challenging. A series of rolling hills throughout and a 200m sprint on the high school track to the finish line.

Overall, our mens team finished 13^th in the team competition. Jay, Daniel and Eileen all recorded PRs. And then we crashed the famed Blue Ribbon BBQ in Arlington for a post race meal.

Groton 10k Results:

Place No. Name Ag S Div/Tot Div Town StTeam Name Time10k Pace

44 844 HENRY SCOLLARD 43 M 10/198 M4049 CAMBRIDGE MA CAMBRIDGE RUNNING CLUB - 067 34:37 5:35

78 2030 EDUARDO LEDESMA 34 M 19/129 M3039 CAMBRIDGE MA CAMBRIDGE RUNNING CLUB - 067 36:47 5:56

Normally, a recovery run

I didn't run yesterday. I intended to, but woke up too late. Shame.

Today, however, was 3.4 miles. The Garmin says a just under 8:00 pace. That included street crossing stops. The one uninterrupted mile on the lake front was a 7:33 pace. The heart rate hovered between 80-84% which is high, and much higher than it felt.

I'll be a speed training tomorrow night. 6:30. CARA Board.

Workout: 3 Easy // Total Mileage: 3.4 // Avg Pace: 7:53 // Avg HR: 80-84%

My first day back

I'll give a post-run report, but this is my first weekend back running. I feel good. I weigh in at 127-128 lbs this morning. That's about 10-15 lbs lighter than this time last year.

Update:

I have a long way to go.

Workout: 3 Easy // Total Mileage: 3 // Avg Pace: 7:30 // Avg HR: 78-82%

I will do another 2 miles tonight and will see whoever tomorrow morning at 7:30. I will be doing a run/walk thing for an hour or so.

Atta boy rick

I have not run in 3 days and I am starting to feel plump already... I shall be transitioning to a full muffin top if I'm not careful (or was that a pack of hot dogs on my neck?)

Rick I'm glad you were finally able to break the 7 minute barrier even if for just a few miles. Your former self (and even an improved one) is just around the corner...

Now lets see how low i can go in the next 2.5 months!

Ed

Still a long way to go...

Today was my first real LT of 2007. The result was 4 miles @ 6:58. I had ambitions of running 6:30's since it was just 4 miles. In the end, it was a struggle just to squeak under 7's. This run was a good reality check on my current fitness level. Probably need to revise my goal pace for the Lakefront 10 miler this weekend.

Good, better and ugly

Well, guys, I have "recovered" from the debacle that we'll call the Boston Marathon on Monday. Humbled am I after enduring 26.2 miles of plodding along in the Nor-easter that rolled in over the weekend. I have learned a few things over the last several days that I'll take with me (seems to be a recurring theme here). First, the good, better and ugly from this blog.

Good:

Rick is back in the "running" classification. After a 3:20 in Paris and dogging me on the lake shore yesterday, it is obvious that he's going to be in form here soon. Next job will be getting Chris back in form as well.

Better:

Ed's performance in Boston. Nothing short of amazing. Edumacated and fast.... how does he do it? Was the weather significantly different for Ed and did they take the hills out? Ed, I think you've got the equation down on how to maximize your training time for marathon benefit. Just note pictures below for drastic differences.

Ugly:

Matt.... How did I let my Arizona form go down the drain? I believe the lack of volume three weeks out along with the inability to get 2-a-days in during the last month sunk me. I pulled up to the start line in poorer shape than I should have an attempted to run the course at a sub-three pace. Fell apart after about 11 and then just plain embarrassed myself by grinding along above 730 to finish at 310. Score one for the Boston course, but paybacks are hell.

Ed Cruising in Boston

Where the "F" is that finish line?

A few lessons learned here in the last few weeks:

1. Diet matters, it really does. No more cookie, donut and sugar-loaded days for this cowboy. Lean meats, vegetables and fruit. Love Solomon's, but that's a carb load item. No cheating....

2. Know the course and make adjustments early, not late. Has been said thousands of times, but go slow at Boston early. I was on pace until about 11, which might have been too fast to begin. This mistake will not be repeated again.

3. Two a days are king. I need mileage upwards of 65-70 every week leading up to Boston until the taper.

4. Don't forget the core. It has been weeks since my last core training session and I'm certain that this affected my Boston performance. Strong core, strong body. Neither of which I have at this point.

I'm finding solace in the fact that others had subpar performances in Boston and that I'm going to be able to redoux this next year. In the meantime, I'm going to start racing again soon, Ravenswood here in 8 days, and we'll soon forget this 2007 Boston episode. For those that missed 2007, your timing was impeccible!

Summer Race Schedule

It is unbelievable how quickly these races are filling up. Chicago is already closed, and the Chicago Half will be full soon. Given that, I've been putting together my summer race schedule and making sure to sign up for the races I want. Others are just "maybe's", if the timing works out and if you dudes want to join in. Hopefully, we can run a lot of the same races this summer.