May was a pretty solid month for me this year, with over 250 miles. June is turning out well so far too, with decent mileage, a few good races, and some solid workouts.
Best workout so far this season -- early June 3x mile at 5:28 5:24 5:23. Best Whitaker Woods time 19:17, a cross country 5k summer series where my PR is 19:00, so it's not the fastest of courses. I ran a 10k (6.4 mile) hilly loop in my second fastest all-time on June 6, and came back on June 13 with a solid 37:48 at Market Square 10k, which was only 18 seconds off my best there.
For some silly reason I decided to run Mt. Washington, 7.6 miles all up... not my specialty, but I ran the whole way and finished in 1:32, which goes down as a PR because it's my first time.
This week, the same concepts so far, 10mile easy runs on the off days, and workout or race twice a week. This week is 6x400 in 72 on the track (my first intervals shorter than 1 mile), and then MECTA track meet this weekend, while Nick goes to the Granite State Games and tries to set a record with his 4x800m squad, which includes several top names from the area. They hope to go under 8:00, and they have a very good shot as all the guys are sub-2 800m runners.
--
Darin
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Thursday, May 28, 2015
Back to it
Between finding a new job, injury, and actual running, the time to update my blog has been minimal for the last year or so, but some cool things are happening so I decided to figure out my user name and password and update the old blog.
The most important change since last January is a new master's PR in the Half Marathon, set last October. That was the beginning of the end, at least for the next few months. I finished the race in 1:21:07, then hobbled back to my hotel room, barely able to walk. It was a great race, and I was very happy to bang a series of miles just over 6:10, with one or two under that. I took nearly 2 minutes off my prior best from 2010.
Then I switched game plans and got ready for indoor track, running off the Jack Daniels 800m plan. I was going fast -- following the plan's workouts pretty much to the letter, until the weather turned cold and I was forced to go indoor. A few weeks of sprint type workouts on the treadmill did my knee in, and my entire indoor season was out the window.
Naturally I gained 10 pounds, lost most of my conditioning, despite trying to use the bike or elliptical, and completely lost any chance of running well this spring.
Then I got the flu. I coughed for 4 weeks, and was not feeling well for 6. However, I was so sick that I lost the 10 lbs. I started running with Jim Johnson, who was kind enough to let me run 8:00 pace for the long runs because that was all I could do.
As the weeks went on, the 40-50 mile weeks got easier, and the workouts started. I raced a couple of 5k's, hitting my all time worst times for road races, but persevered. The long easy distance got a little easier, and the mile repeats went from 6:07 pace (still in the snow) to 5:40 pace. The 19:04 5k went to an 18:01 track 5k tempo run, and the 45-55 mile weeks were now supported by 2 hard runs per week, including either a race, a tempo, or a track workout.
And today, I did my first 4 x mile workout of the year, 5:40, 5:43, 5:34, 5:29 with a couple miles WU and WD and 400m jog/walk between each.
So now I feel I am getting somewhere.
It helps that Melissa placed second at the Wilderness League Championship meet with a 5:42.5 mile, a good time for a freshman, and then came back for fourth in the 2 mile. She is competing in the division championship this weekend. Also, Nick won his first Wilderness title in the 2 mile, after running a second place 4:29.8 mile, then throwing down a 54 second 400m in the very next race. He will be racing the 800m at the D2 meet on Saturday, along with the 4x400m relay.
If I can stay healthy, I may start getting some solid times again. Until them, having experienced many injuries and watched others suffer through them, I must remind myself to be thankful that I am at least out there running every day!
Darin
Thursday, January 30, 2014
January update
Training buddy Jim Johnson called me out for letting my blog go stale, right after I had a very good workout worth blogging about, so here I am again with an update.
Last weekend at Providence, my team Mass Velocity won the New England Master's championship title, and I added 30 points to the team's total, with 1st place finishes in the 3000m (10:18.15) 800m (2:20.04) and 4x800m relay. I met David Principe who paced me in the 3k, and teammate Ian Smith and I ran 1-2 in the 800m heat. Shag Makino got a nice photo of that race and posted on Facebook.
Training has been 35-40 miles a week with 2 hard runs and 1-2 days in the weight room per week, and races on the weekends in December and early January. I hit the All-American age division standard at the mile (4:59.01) and 3000m (10:04.04) at the BU mini meets, but no speed work yet, so my 800m times are still very slow. Still working on strength, but the speed work will hopefully come together in February.
Today's workout was either a 3 or 4 x mile workout on the treadmill, similar to my usual hard workouts. Target time is 6:00 pace. I have been alternating with intervals and steady state runs for hard workouts (all on the treadmill, given the road conditions here), and today I wasn't sure which way I would go, so after the warm up I started the first mile at 6:00. By the half I knew I was going to try to steady-state it, and try to hit all three miles at once. I had the tunes playing and I was in the zone, and I made it to 2.75 miles comfortably. I decided to go for 4. I watched 18:36 go by for the 5k, a decent workout in itself, and still felt great. At 3.5 miles, I realized I had it for sure, so I picked it up. I managed a 2:51 for the last 800m, and I could have gone further or faster, but that was, it turns out, a 4 mile time that beat my master's PR. 23:51 for 4 miles, my fastest timed four miles in 17 years! It goes up on the wall to the right; and it was on a treadmill workout.... very exciting!
This does bode well for some more good races to come!!
Darin
Last weekend at Providence, my team Mass Velocity won the New England Master's championship title, and I added 30 points to the team's total, with 1st place finishes in the 3000m (10:18.15) 800m (2:20.04) and 4x800m relay. I met David Principe who paced me in the 3k, and teammate Ian Smith and I ran 1-2 in the 800m heat. Shag Makino got a nice photo of that race and posted on Facebook.
Training has been 35-40 miles a week with 2 hard runs and 1-2 days in the weight room per week, and races on the weekends in December and early January. I hit the All-American age division standard at the mile (4:59.01) and 3000m (10:04.04) at the BU mini meets, but no speed work yet, so my 800m times are still very slow. Still working on strength, but the speed work will hopefully come together in February.
Today's workout was either a 3 or 4 x mile workout on the treadmill, similar to my usual hard workouts. Target time is 6:00 pace. I have been alternating with intervals and steady state runs for hard workouts (all on the treadmill, given the road conditions here), and today I wasn't sure which way I would go, so after the warm up I started the first mile at 6:00. By the half I knew I was going to try to steady-state it, and try to hit all three miles at once. I had the tunes playing and I was in the zone, and I made it to 2.75 miles comfortably. I decided to go for 4. I watched 18:36 go by for the 5k, a decent workout in itself, and still felt great. At 3.5 miles, I realized I had it for sure, so I picked it up. I managed a 2:51 for the last 800m, and I could have gone further or faster, but that was, it turns out, a 4 mile time that beat my master's PR. 23:51 for 4 miles, my fastest timed four miles in 17 years! It goes up on the wall to the right; and it was on a treadmill workout.... very exciting!
This does bode well for some more good races to come!!
Darin
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Fall Races
The last weeks of summer and the early part of fall are the best time for long distance races. For me, I get the summer to work off the few extra pounds that I inevitably gain back in the winter, and I have a little extra daylight to run longer distance runs, so I am often in better condition.
Since the last update, I have competed in several races, two of which are in the Seacoast Series, which is a lot of fun. The first was Saunders at Rye Harbor, a 10k race named after a place that no longer exists. I had a big training week, and when the race started, I avoided a mistake I frequently make (starting out too fast) by simple exhaustion. Instead, I ran very nearly even splits, right at 6:00 pace for the first 4-5 miles, and I ended up with a solid 37:46, which was 8 seconds off my course PR set 2 years ago. For my efforts, which landed me a second place in my age division, I won a singlet and shorts, a novel, and $25 in cash. Add it to the T-shirt and that was a pretty nice haul for one night!
Nick and I ran a race called the "You and Me" (ME being a play on the state of Maine). This was the first race of its kind that I have seen -- it was a true relay. The first runner races a 5k, then hands a baton to the second runner, who does virtually the same course. The most difficult part of the event was finding the starting line, as my GPS magically disappeared from my vehicle and did not return (oldest son driving now... hmm). We drove around lost for about 45 minutes before my uncle, who lives right near there, saved us by giving us very good directions. Because I didn't have enough time to warm up, we swapped order and Nick ran first, hitting a solid 18:17. I finished up in 18:25, and we placed 3rd in the 40-59 (combined) age division.
The Kennett Challenge marked the start of the cross country season, and the Kennett high school team and the local White Mt. Milers club raced against the Fryeburg Academy XC squad. Usually the milers run away with the team score, but this year we missed Jim Johnson, Kevin Tilton, and Leslie Beckwith (who ran with her young son), and we were defeated by FA. Silas Eastman won the race with a time that tied his own course record (10:07), and our own Tim Livingston, ran a very solid race for second. Tim Even, USM all-star and former FA runner and now coach, backed off a bit at the finish and came in 3rd. Nick was fourth, squeaking past a FA runner at the finish, in a PR of 11:17. I held off a FA runner for 6th (11:41). Alex had a decent run at 13:36, and Melissa was the number three scholastic runner behind Sarah Hernandez (KHS) and one FA runner with 14:16. She counted for the milers, though, because she is only in 7th grade and not on the HS team.
The next race was the Millen Mile, a one mile track race in honor of a great community member, Gary Millen. This was an evening event, and some of the big guns came out to race. Tim Even won the overall race in 4:29, Tim Livingston would have broken the race record with a 4:36, and Kevin Tilton, last years winner, ran the same time as last year for third. I managed a fourth place finish with 5:00.3, a fairly good time for me in a race like this. Steve Piotrow hit 5:14, and Gabe Flanders, after eating French Fries, decided at the last minute to join the field and ran a very strong 5:22. Allan Whitley completed the men's field with a 6:07. The women's field only had three runners, but they were all very strong, led by repeating champion Leslie Beckwith, in 5:44. Meredith Piotrow broke 6:00, and Cathy Livingston managed a 6:06, a very solid race.
The latest Seacoast race was the Fox Point Sunset 5 miler, my favorite race of the year. It's not about the course, the distance, or the level of competition. It's about the FOOD! They have a cookout with burgers and dogs, pizza, cookies, brownies, bagels, etc. It's the best spread of any race I have been to. Having just raced the mile the night before, I was not expecting much. Again, I avoided going out to hard because I simply couldn't go out hard. However, I was quite surprised that I ran 5:51, 6:00, and 6:05 for the first three miles. I was 18:31 at 5k, which made me smile because Nick's X-C time from earlier in the day (on a hilly terrain course) was 18:33. Around the fourth mile, the runner who was in 4th place stopped by the side of the road to throw up. I felt a moment of sympathy before thinking... well, that moves us up a place! I chased a fellow named Tyler Doyle for the last mile (which turned out to be uphill, and explains the solid start) and ended up at 30:28, which was about 30 seconds off my best. That made sense given the way I felt after the night before's full out effort, plus the running around at Alex and Nick's X-C race in the AM. I think at full speed I might have been able to take 3rd place, but I was still happy with 5th. Chris Ritchie took the win, and we all enjoyed a nice cookout (once the nausea from racing full out abated).
Next up in the Seacoast Series is Great Island, and then Great Bay, both 5k's. Meanwhile, I am changing my training to get ready for indoor track, under the guidance of Roger Pierce, a many time American and World Champion Master's runner, who has agreed to coach me. The goal is a fast 400m time; from that, all else will come!
==
Darin
Since the last update, I have competed in several races, two of which are in the Seacoast Series, which is a lot of fun. The first was Saunders at Rye Harbor, a 10k race named after a place that no longer exists. I had a big training week, and when the race started, I avoided a mistake I frequently make (starting out too fast) by simple exhaustion. Instead, I ran very nearly even splits, right at 6:00 pace for the first 4-5 miles, and I ended up with a solid 37:46, which was 8 seconds off my course PR set 2 years ago. For my efforts, which landed me a second place in my age division, I won a singlet and shorts, a novel, and $25 in cash. Add it to the T-shirt and that was a pretty nice haul for one night!
Nick and I ran a race called the "You and Me" (ME being a play on the state of Maine). This was the first race of its kind that I have seen -- it was a true relay. The first runner races a 5k, then hands a baton to the second runner, who does virtually the same course. The most difficult part of the event was finding the starting line, as my GPS magically disappeared from my vehicle and did not return (oldest son driving now... hmm). We drove around lost for about 45 minutes before my uncle, who lives right near there, saved us by giving us very good directions. Because I didn't have enough time to warm up, we swapped order and Nick ran first, hitting a solid 18:17. I finished up in 18:25, and we placed 3rd in the 40-59 (combined) age division.
The Kennett Challenge marked the start of the cross country season, and the Kennett high school team and the local White Mt. Milers club raced against the Fryeburg Academy XC squad. Usually the milers run away with the team score, but this year we missed Jim Johnson, Kevin Tilton, and Leslie Beckwith (who ran with her young son), and we were defeated by FA. Silas Eastman won the race with a time that tied his own course record (10:07), and our own Tim Livingston, ran a very solid race for second. Tim Even, USM all-star and former FA runner and now coach, backed off a bit at the finish and came in 3rd. Nick was fourth, squeaking past a FA runner at the finish, in a PR of 11:17. I held off a FA runner for 6th (11:41). Alex had a decent run at 13:36, and Melissa was the number three scholastic runner behind Sarah Hernandez (KHS) and one FA runner with 14:16. She counted for the milers, though, because she is only in 7th grade and not on the HS team.
The next race was the Millen Mile, a one mile track race in honor of a great community member, Gary Millen. This was an evening event, and some of the big guns came out to race. Tim Even won the overall race in 4:29, Tim Livingston would have broken the race record with a 4:36, and Kevin Tilton, last years winner, ran the same time as last year for third. I managed a fourth place finish with 5:00.3, a fairly good time for me in a race like this. Steve Piotrow hit 5:14, and Gabe Flanders, after eating French Fries, decided at the last minute to join the field and ran a very strong 5:22. Allan Whitley completed the men's field with a 6:07. The women's field only had three runners, but they were all very strong, led by repeating champion Leslie Beckwith, in 5:44. Meredith Piotrow broke 6:00, and Cathy Livingston managed a 6:06, a very solid race.
The latest Seacoast race was the Fox Point Sunset 5 miler, my favorite race of the year. It's not about the course, the distance, or the level of competition. It's about the FOOD! They have a cookout with burgers and dogs, pizza, cookies, brownies, bagels, etc. It's the best spread of any race I have been to. Having just raced the mile the night before, I was not expecting much. Again, I avoided going out to hard because I simply couldn't go out hard. However, I was quite surprised that I ran 5:51, 6:00, and 6:05 for the first three miles. I was 18:31 at 5k, which made me smile because Nick's X-C time from earlier in the day (on a hilly terrain course) was 18:33. Around the fourth mile, the runner who was in 4th place stopped by the side of the road to throw up. I felt a moment of sympathy before thinking... well, that moves us up a place! I chased a fellow named Tyler Doyle for the last mile (which turned out to be uphill, and explains the solid start) and ended up at 30:28, which was about 30 seconds off my best. That made sense given the way I felt after the night before's full out effort, plus the running around at Alex and Nick's X-C race in the AM. I think at full speed I might have been able to take 3rd place, but I was still happy with 5th. Chris Ritchie took the win, and we all enjoyed a nice cookout (once the nausea from racing full out abated).
Next up in the Seacoast Series is Great Island, and then Great Bay, both 5k's. Meanwhile, I am changing my training to get ready for indoor track, under the guidance of Roger Pierce, a many time American and World Champion Master's runner, who has agreed to coach me. The goal is a fast 400m time; from that, all else will come!
==
Darin
Friday, August 10, 2012
Nationals and Cigna
I competed in the USATF Master's National Track and Field meet last weekend. My goal was to get to the finals at the 800m, and hopefully acheive All-American status. I had a good race in the 800m trials, and moved up substantially from my seed, running very even splits and hitting 2:11.93, for the 6th fastest time and qualifying me for the finals. At the final, it was 94 degrees and humid, and except for the two guys who won the sections (Landen Summay and Kevin Forde) the rest of the group all ran slower in the finals. I ended up 7th at 2:12.98, and I missed A-A status by 0.93 seconds.
In the 1500m, I was dead legged, and the race was early in the AM after racing the afternoon before. I went out perfectly at 2:25, but then I couldn't hold the pace and fell off, finishing at a rather disappointing 4:42. However, my final race of the meet, the 4x800m relay, was a bright spot. I anchored the Mass Velocity team, and I got the baton in second place in the race, but the racers in front and right behind me both were submaster teams (they had 30 year olds on them) and therefore we were not technically racing them. I gave chase to the leader and ran a quick first lap, but made up no ground on the younger runner and cruised in for a 2:19, locking in the gold medal!
After a couple of days of easy running, Nick and I raced Cigna, the largest 5k race in NH. We planned to run together, and I talked Nick into starting out "easy" around 5:40. We passed the race clock at 1 mile at 5:37 (although my GPS watch clocked the mile at 5:47) and I came through the second mile at 5:50, which was perfect for me. Nick and I finished 18:03 and 18:04, which was my best time for the season. Nick was 3rd in his age division and I was 7th; in a race with 5000 runners, this is a pretty solid accomplishment!
Next up, Fox Point 5 miler, and then X-C season starts.
--
Darin
In the 1500m, I was dead legged, and the race was early in the AM after racing the afternoon before. I went out perfectly at 2:25, but then I couldn't hold the pace and fell off, finishing at a rather disappointing 4:42. However, my final race of the meet, the 4x800m relay, was a bright spot. I anchored the Mass Velocity team, and I got the baton in second place in the race, but the racers in front and right behind me both were submaster teams (they had 30 year olds on them) and therefore we were not technically racing them. I gave chase to the leader and ran a quick first lap, but made up no ground on the younger runner and cruised in for a 2:19, locking in the gold medal!
After a couple of days of easy running, Nick and I raced Cigna, the largest 5k race in NH. We planned to run together, and I talked Nick into starting out "easy" around 5:40. We passed the race clock at 1 mile at 5:37 (although my GPS watch clocked the mile at 5:47) and I came through the second mile at 5:50, which was perfect for me. Nick and I finished 18:03 and 18:04, which was my best time for the season. Nick was 3rd in his age division and I was 7th; in a race with 5000 runners, this is a pretty solid accomplishment!
Next up, Fox Point 5 miler, and then X-C season starts.
--
Darin
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Nationals coming up; achilles battle
After nearly three weeks of backing off training (mostly to heal up the achilles injury from July 4th) I gave another shot at a 5k race today at Lancaster, to make sure the PT has taken and my achilles is up to speed.
Much like Lovell last weekend, I felt terrible right from the start, and my time was a very similar 18:22. The only things I can say that are positive are that I wasn't tired after the race, and I don't have a lot of pain. I took 5th overall, and managed a mug for the age division award.
Nick had a terrible race, finishing slightly behind me after taking off to the lead and then feeling like his arms were made of lead. He still won his age division by over six minutes, and he gets a week off now before X-C season training starts for real.
Melissa ran OK with a 24:17 time and an age division victory (by a few seconds). Her training is "run a few miles every other day" as she is still too young in my opinion to start serious training. She will have plenty of time for that later!
I leave for nationals next week, and hopefully I can make it out of the trials at 800m, but my focus is to just do the best that I can, given the injury which has hampered my last 3 weeks of training. I had high hopes going into the season, but after missing all three of the practice meets due to injury, I have resigned myself to looking forward to next season to set my personal bests.
==
Darin
Much like Lovell last weekend, I felt terrible right from the start, and my time was a very similar 18:22. The only things I can say that are positive are that I wasn't tired after the race, and I don't have a lot of pain. I took 5th overall, and managed a mug for the age division award.
Nick had a terrible race, finishing slightly behind me after taking off to the lead and then feeling like his arms were made of lead. He still won his age division by over six minutes, and he gets a week off now before X-C season training starts for real.
Melissa ran OK with a 24:17 time and an age division victory (by a few seconds). Her training is "run a few miles every other day" as she is still too young in my opinion to start serious training. She will have plenty of time for that later!
I leave for nationals next week, and hopefully I can make it out of the trials at 800m, but my focus is to just do the best that I can, given the injury which has hampered my last 3 weeks of training. I had high hopes going into the season, but after missing all three of the practice meets due to injury, I have resigned myself to looking forward to next season to set my personal bests.
==
Darin
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Races!
After another weak performance at the Tuesday Whitaker Woods races (probably because it was so hot and muggy) Nick, Melissa and I took to the track Thursday for a 200m interval workout. Nick and I hit 29-31 and Melissa was solid in the high 30-low 40 range.
We started July with the MIT track meet, where Nick hit 4:43, I ran 4:44, and Melissa 6:08 for 1500m. Nick jogged the 3k to a victory with 11:18, and Melissa and I ran a very hot and windy 800m in 2:17 and 3:18, respectively. The times for most everyone were poor because of the heat.
July 3rd was my big race of the week; the Manchester Mile. I ran 4:34.8 with Nick closing at the finish at 4:39.9. Sure it was downhill, but those are good times regardless. I thought the finish was slightly more downhill, but it was rather flat, so I didn't have quite enough left for a strong finish. I was hoping to break 4:30, but maybe next year! We both won our respective age divisions, and we were both in the top 10 overall (although not even close to the top 4, 3 of whom ran sub 4!)
We all did Bridgton's Four on the Fourth. Nick and I had dead legs, after the mile race the night before. Nick still pulled off a 23:25; his age division was stacked, with race winner Silas Eastman, and another younster in the top 5 in the mid 22's (which Nick could probably do with a day of rest in between races). Melissa ran a PR 31:34 for 3rd in her division (she got heavily boxed in at the start, but still did well), and Alex ran a PR at 34:04, after 6 weeks of not running. My time was 24:50, but somehow I managed to win my age division anyway. Unfortunately, I may have tweaked my achilles, which started bothering me after a 10.6 mile run over this weekend. That will be inconvenient, as I was hoping to bump up the mileage and do more track work to get ready for Masters Nationals in August; instead I will be babying the injury and trying to maintain fitness.
==
Darin
We started July with the MIT track meet, where Nick hit 4:43, I ran 4:44, and Melissa 6:08 for 1500m. Nick jogged the 3k to a victory with 11:18, and Melissa and I ran a very hot and windy 800m in 2:17 and 3:18, respectively. The times for most everyone were poor because of the heat.
July 3rd was my big race of the week; the Manchester Mile. I ran 4:34.8 with Nick closing at the finish at 4:39.9. Sure it was downhill, but those are good times regardless. I thought the finish was slightly more downhill, but it was rather flat, so I didn't have quite enough left for a strong finish. I was hoping to break 4:30, but maybe next year! We both won our respective age divisions, and we were both in the top 10 overall (although not even close to the top 4, 3 of whom ran sub 4!)
We all did Bridgton's Four on the Fourth. Nick and I had dead legs, after the mile race the night before. Nick still pulled off a 23:25; his age division was stacked, with race winner Silas Eastman, and another younster in the top 5 in the mid 22's (which Nick could probably do with a day of rest in between races). Melissa ran a PR 31:34 for 3rd in her division (she got heavily boxed in at the start, but still did well), and Alex ran a PR at 34:04, after 6 weeks of not running. My time was 24:50, but somehow I managed to win my age division anyway. Unfortunately, I may have tweaked my achilles, which started bothering me after a 10.6 mile run over this weekend. That will be inconvenient, as I was hoping to bump up the mileage and do more track work to get ready for Masters Nationals in August; instead I will be babying the injury and trying to maintain fitness.
==
Darin
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