On Monday, I woke up and ran a solo 8.5 miles out and around
the Rock Creek Trail. I remember nothing from that run.
On Tuesday, I met Scott Koonce and got in another 8.5 miles
in the morning. Later that day I drove to Massachusetts for Thanksgiving. The
drive took 12.5 hours – one of my longest commutes “home” in the 15 or so years
I have been making the drive. Lame.
I didn’t run on Wednesday. I didn’t get much sleep (went to
bed after 1am and had to wake early) and it was pouring rain (sideways at times)
all day. Yes, these are excuses, but these factors validated my decision to
take a day off.
On Thursday, I drove with my mother and sister to the WE
GATHER TOGETHER 5k in Sandwich. I’ve run (and won) this race 3 times before.
It’s a great race with a very local feel. The entry fee is $10 plus a bag of
canned goods. Thousands show up. After a 3.5 mile warm-up, I slinked over to
the starting line and prepared to do battle. It was cold – mid or low 20s with
the wind-chill – and at 8am the sun was hardly above the horizon. The race got
a late start so I spent 10-15 minutes hopping up and down - clad in singlet,
shorts, gloves and snow hat – in an effort to ward off the omnipresent chill.
We finally got under way. I took off fast, simply to get warm, but then settled
in behind a handful of runners, some of which had gone out too fast. By the
time I hit the half-mile I was in the lead and feeling good. I had someone
right on my shoulder, even running abreast of me at times, so I was constantly
pushing that first mile…or so I thought. 5:07. Geez. I surged ahead and pressed
hard up the only real hill in the race – a steep incline just after the first
mile marker. At the top, I collected myself then tried like hell to hammer the
long downhill towards mile 2. But alas, mile 2 was even slower – 5:23. By now I
had secured the W, number 2 having blown up at the hill, but I did my best to
press it in. My last mile was 5:08. I won (3-peat) in a personal worst time of
16:0something. I cooled down for 4 miles then went home to drink martinis and
devour turkey.
On Friday, I met my old high school teammate, Mike Merrill,
at the old high school. Mike was a year older than me and was Barnstable’s top
runner from the time I was a freshman to when I was a junior. He wasn’t a great
track runner (9:55 I think), but the guy was tough as nails and could really
run well in cross country. He was injured during the beginning of his senior
year (my junior year) so I became the team’s top runner. When he returned to
racing, I was beating him…ever so slightly. We were rivals, to a degree, but we
also wanted each other (and the rest of the team) to run well. Granted, we both
wanted to be the top dog. By the time the State Class Meet came around,
Barnstable High School was poised to go where we had never gone before – the
All State Meet. Top 5 was the goal. A pouring deluge of rain turned the course
into a cranberry bog, but remarkably, our scrappy team placed 2nd.
For the first time ever, Barnstable, as a team, would be going to the state meet.
The next week, Mike ran like the wind and placed 5th at States –
still one of the most impressive feats I’ve ever witnessed (on tape afterwards,
since I was racing). Fast-forward 37 years --- Mike and I were back at it;
pounding the pavement around the village of Hyannis. After finishing the
10-mile loop (in 64-minutes), Mike, who now coaches is alma mater as a side job,
showed me the new cross country course I would have to contest the next day
during our alumni race. I got in 12.
On Saturday, I begrudgingly (I was tired from revelry,
racing and it was ice cold – again) ran the alumni race. I took off
conservatively, hitting the first mile in 5:12, then proceeded to cut the pace
down to 5:08, then 5:05. I ended up running 16:09 for the slightly long (by my
GPS) 5k course. It was a good workout for sure and arguably a better effort
than my Turkey Trot result two days earlier. I got in 7 miles. That afternoon I
drove to the home of the great Sam Luff, somewhere in the middle of
Pennsylvania.
On Sunday, I ran with Sam from his home up and down through
rolling hills surrounded by cornfields. The hills were huge, mountains one
might say – but it was a pleasant run all the same. My body was beat after the
run (14 miles) – the toll of driving + racing or running hard 4 out of the last
4 days had damn near crippled me. After the run, we dined at the local diner
and washed down French toast and eggs with 3 gallons of coffee. Then, once
again, I got in my car and drove – 3.5 hours back to DC.
By my calculations, that’s 60 miles for the week. Not great,
not terrible. My knee, however, is still not doing well and seemed to have
taken a turn for the worse. I will take Monday off, regroup and weigh my
options.
Stat of the day – Sam Luff ran 9:10 for two miles (or 3200)
in high school --- as a junior! I never knew…
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