February....

I'm ready to throw in the towel for Feb. Been plodding around the golf course aimlessly in 3 feet of snow. Friday I got my daughters cold, fever on Saturday, conjunctivitis monday-tues...squinting while I type this. Mix in the rounds of shoveling, 6 snow-days keeping the kids busy, well I'm sure I'm not the only one out there dealing with it. Anyhow...

More snowshoe?

7 Days straight cutting tracks around the golfcourse in Nahant. Linked together the golf course and a heritage trail for a decent 3 mile loop. Mother nature seems intent on making my efforts disappear and having me power walk thru knee deep powder-looks like more snow forecast soon. Did manage a run on the roads today, but a bit sketchy w/ nowhere to go with on coming traffic. I don't think I've seen this much snow accumulation in MA before.

10,000 mile

This is chump change compared to what real runners do but hey, I'm not a runner and I started this whole "yogging" (to quote R. Burgundy) thing 5 years ago.  On October 25th I ran my 10,000 mile, with the GPS watch I could watch it tick down-happened right at the top of Furbush Hill overlooking Boston in Nahant.

Back the Track 5k

Ran a pretty large 5k in Marblehead on Saturday, over 800 people toed the line. Shalane Flanagan was there to help raise money for a new track. Got a great picture with her and the kids. The kids competed in the 1 mile race and did great. It was brutally cold out, in the high teens when we left the house. I went to the line with basically no warm-up, which is never a good thing for me. I think I ran pretty well, within a few seconds of my best to date-but not a ground breaker-which I think I'm do for given my volume and consistency recently. I suffered on the middle mile (there was a decent hill), but if I can iron that out and have a decent day I think I can get down into the mid 18's. Good enough for 31st place in a pretty big field. results

Splits:

1-5:55

2-12:14/6:20

3-18:20/6:05

5k-18:58/6:07

Miles for smiles 5k

Had a pretty good run in Swampscott, I think the intervals are making me a bit better at the 5k. Took the lead in the last uphill 1/4 mile but got nipped at the end-oh well. Happy with the results.
splits
1-5:58
2-12:14/ 6:17
3-18:20/ 6:07
5k-18:56/ 6:05

Miles 4 Kyle 5k

Ran a flat 5k in swampscott today. Managed 4th place at 6:14 pace. Got "chicked" in the last 100 yds for 3rd place with the family watching. Just nothing in my legs today. I think I am going to start taking the 5k more seriously- I have been getting consistent mileage but have lacked  any speed work or other specific workouts that would get me in the low18 min range, which I think I am capable of running. I was pleased to see consistency in these splits  and to see that I didn't fade like I had felt I was doing in the last 1/2 mile. Results
1- 6:09
2-12:24/6:17
3-18:28/6:04
.1-:50/5:38
Total: 19:20/6:14

Big Bad Wolf 5 Miler

Pretty big field for this trail race in Ipswich, but not a very fast crowd. For me to finish 10th in a field of over 400 results  means it was a slow field. Regardless, I ran a pretty consistent run through a bunch of cornfields and polo fields near Wolf Hollow in Ipswich. Actually was pretty good competition around me and pushed me the whole way.
Splits:
1-6:07
2-6:16.29 /12:22
3-6:20.36 /18:43
4-6:18.63 /25:01
5-6:39.16 /31:41
Total: 33:07  6:36 pace
My garmin had this race about .3 more than 5 which would have put my pace under 6:30, which I am really pleased about.
The kids were there to cheer me on. Afterwards we went apple picking at Russel Orchards and Rock Climbing at Agassiz rock. A great day-the beginning of fall.