Jennifer Tinney Memorial Race - 5 Miler

Official Results:  5th OA, 1st AG M30-39, Time: 30:28 (6:06/mile)

I first have to start off saying that I am not that surprised that I was slower than last years time.  I haven't been putting in the training miles to run a race of this distance competitively.  I would have liked to have beat last years time, but it just was not attainable.  The good thing is that it gives me a good idea of how much work I need to get ready for the Falmouth Road Race next month in order to post a great time. 

Jess and I arrived at the race site at 7:15am and after getting home last night from our 3rd of July party around 11pm, we were tired this morning.  Since it was still raining when we got there I ran out to pick up our t-shirts and my race number.  Jess ended up waiting in the car to avoid the rain since she was doing the 2.5 mile walk.  The good thing was that the rain ended about 15 min before the start.  While Jess waited I was able to find an overhang at the Boxford Community Center to stretch out and do my normal pre-race warm ups. 

We lined up right on time and after the gun went off, we weren't out to a fast start, which was nice even though my first mile was way to fast for where I wanted to be.  I hung with the starting group and ended up taking the lead just after the first mile and by the second mile I couldn't keep the pace.  I should have run with a better strategy, instead of just running that hard for the first 2 miles.  By mile 3 to 3.5 I was done!  I had hit my wall since my longest runs so far have only been 3 to 4 miles.  With a little more than a mile to go the two runners behind me had caught up with me and I had dropped from 3rd to 5th.  After that I felt like I had to just do what I could to get to the finish and keep this at my training pace and dropped to a 6:15 to 6:20 pace. 

Overall I was a little bummed out with the performance, but the good thing is that I have my health and Jess there to support me.  I am just hoping that I can get more training and miles in to really get prepped for Falmouth and the Call to Honor Triathlon in September.

Dan Ford Road Race 5K

Official Results: 2nd OA, 1st AG M30-39, Time: 17:41.8 (5:42/mile)

This was the first time I had ever entered this race and after the 5k I did a couple of weeks ago I figured I would try and do another one. I enjoy 5k distance right now since it helps as speedwork, but also because I haven't had the time to really train for any long distances since my training has been very spotty.

I had found out about this race from the 5k I did a few weeks ago and ended up signing up for it a few days before. Although, after I signed up my groin injury from previous years started acting up since it was very tight. After a rigorous strecthing routine for the week I was finally able to run.

Race morning my parents had ended up coming up for the day to watch the race but also because they wanted to come up for lunch with Jess and I. The start of the race was a little confusing because they didnt mention that the 5 Mile would start first and the 5k was to start a few minutes after the 5 mile start. Needless to say they should have started them both at the same time since it added to the confusion and mess at the end since there were people that entered the 5k but started when the 5 mile started.

The race went well for me since it wasn't a hard effort race because I hadn't run all week and I only had one 4 mile run after the previous 5k a few weeks ago. I was more than happy with the final results since I hadn't planned on taking 2nd overall. However, an hour and half after the race was over the results still were being sorted because while I was out on the 5k course there were people that had started with the 5 mile start so when they crossed as part of the 5k it screwed up the results. The good thing was that after many complaints from people they finally got it right. Overall I ended up with $150 in prize money, but the overall experience leaves a bad taste in my mouth because of all the disorganization. The awards portion was even worse because it ended up being a free for all and they should have annouced them all individually. The race could be better run, but I think since the race is still young they are still working through the kinks. It is only the 4th time they've done this race. The good thing is that the money raised from everyone that did the race helps cancer patients and families.

Subase New London Sprint Triathlon

Official Results: 4th OA, 1st AG M30-39, Time: 40:00
Swim - 1/4 mile, Bike - 6.2 miles, Run 1.5 miles

This race was an unscheduled race and had found out about it from my dad literally about 4 days prior to it being held and since it was the first year that they were doing it, the race entry was free! That's right, free! How could I pass up a race that was free to enter and all I had to do was show up. I was little skeptical about the race being free since it was being held on the subase and the possible disorganization that could come along with this, but since it was free, I thought what the hell, why not?

With the race being so last minute and early in the morning, I ended up driving to CT by myself since Jess had plans that Saturday night. I drove down on Friday night so that I wasn't getting up at 3am and then making the long drive down to CT that morning. That would have been crazy!

The race course was as follows. The swim started at the Subase Marina and was a one mass wave start swim from the water in the Thames River. I was little worried about a single wave swim start since it was a sprint. The good thing was that there wasn't too many people in the race, about 100 or so, so it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. The bike was an out and back 3 loop course which was tough because the turn around got pretty jammed up with people making the turn around. The run was all flat since and was an easy out and back course.

Swim 1/4 Mile: 10th OA; 10:41 (2:39/100m)
I knew that going into the swim it was going to be rough. I haven't done any swimming what so ever this year. This was the first time I had done any swimming at all and let me tell you, I was a little tired at the end of only a .25 mile swim. The tough part about the swim was that as you neared the first buoy there was some serious current that was pulling you once you made the turn and you really had to fight it to stay on course. I was literally swimming sideways to stay straight. Once you made it closer to shore after that buoy the current helped bring you back in, which was great. Once I got back to the dock you had to pull yourself out of the water and run back up to the transition area. The transition area was nice and spread out, but the only down side was not having proper bike racks. As I made my way into transition I knew I would make a quick change to the bike since I swam without my wetsuit and I had my quickest T1 ever! 31 seconds, good enough to have the fastest T1 for the race. I was psyched when I found that out after the race!

Bike 6.2 Miles: 3rd OA; 17:55 (20.7 mph)
Once I exited T1 and headed out on the bike, I was hoping to really hammer down and put it all out there. It was a rolling hill course, but the downhills I was able to hit like 35 mph. It was really the turn arounds that slowed this course down, otherwise I definitely would have averaged 21 to 22mph overall. I felt pretty solid on the bike with my Zipp 404's on humming away. Towards the end of the bike leg my left calf was starting to cramp up, but quickly went away as I stretched it coming into T2. As I came into T2, I ended up running into a race official that wasn't paying attention and was in the way of me coming into the transition area...pay attention people. That was pretty annoying and it ended up costing me my a place. Not that it mattered though, because I gave up 2 or 3 spots trying to get my shoes laced up to run and pull my shoes on. I think if I continue to race next year, I might invest in a pair of triathlon shoes so I can easily slip them on and off. Once I exited T2 I quickly caught the 2 people that passed in T2. I also was surprised at how many people I picked off on the bike, I was in 5th or 6th when I exited.

Run 1.5 Miles: 1st OA; 9:12 (6:08/mile)
I was hoping that I would have the fastest run as this is where I excel about 90 to 99% of the time. It's just a shame the run leg wasn't longer as I probably would have picked up another place. As I came to the finish I was within 5 seconds of catching the next person in front of me. The difference was that he had a kick, and I didn't as I was already maxed out. I believe this is also because of my lack of training this year.

Post Race:
All and all this was a very well run race for the first year and would recommend doing it again. Not only was it well run, but the prizes were awesome as well considering that the race was free! I have been to many other races that have been run for years that have been run a lot worse than this. So hats off to all of the volunteers and race officials that made this race possible. They did an unbelievable job. Hopefully I can do this one again.

Next report, Call to Honor. Check back soon, but it might be awhile though as I'm getting married in a few weeks and finding time to do blog posts, has been next to impossible. As you can tell since this race was 2 months ago!

Jennifer Tinney 5 Mile Road Race - July 4th

Official Results: 2nd OA, 1st AG M30-39, Time:29:21 (5:43/mile)

It's been awhile since I've posted to my blog, about 8 months to be exact. The truth is I haven't had the time to post and with our wedding coming up in a couple of months my training and racing this year has taken a back seat and to be honest it has been great not being tied into a regimented training/racing schedule and stressing myself out on not meeting my training goals. However, I do miss the competitiveness of racing!

Well, despite my lack of training I have decided to do a least a few races this year and one of them was the Jennifer Tinney 5 Miler in Boxford, MA. I found out about it searching on coolrunning.com for a race to do on the 4th of July that was close enough to home. I also thought that it was a great cause since the money from the race went towards a scholarship setup at one of the local high schools in Jennifer Tinney's name. This race was perfect! Needless to say I looked at the previous years results to see how I might far against my possible competition and it looked like I had a shot at the top 10.

Race day was warm and humid! Jess and I got there early so I could check in and warm up. After a descent warm up and stretching session it was time to line up! Once the gun was off the adrenaline was pumping, but I thought to myself I know I won't have much left a the end so I shouldn't go out to hard...I tried to back off a little, but I still came through Mile 1 at 5:34..too fast! I was in second place the entire race and I ended up losing sight of the race leader after the 2nd mile, so I mostly on my own for rest of the race. The good thing was that a few weeks prior to the race I ran the course so that I knew where it went in case this happened.

Overall the race went well! I was surely surprised to take 2nd place overall and win my new Age group M 30-39! It was awesome! After I came through the finish line I ended up being interviewed by the local newspaper, The Eagle Tribune and come to find out I ended up in there with 2 photos, 1 of everyone lined up at the start and 1 of me coming down to the finish line. Here is a link to the article.
http://www.eagletribune.com/sports/x1435411517/North-Andover-10-year-old-dazzles-at-Tinney-5-mile-race/print

Up next Call to Honor Triathlon on September 11th. Hopefully, I can make a descent showing again at this race! Wish me luck!

2010 Feaster 5 Miler - Andover, MA

Official Results: 32nd OA, 13th AG M20-29, Time: 30:34 (6:06/mile)

This is such a great race that is so close to home that it's hard for me to turn this one down. It's amazing that year after year they still get over 8,000 runners between the 5 Miler and the 5k. Even though I had sprained my ankle over a month ago I decided to sign up for it about a week before the race. After I spoke with my physical therapist she said that it would okay if I ran it. The good thing was that she taped it up for me 2 days prior and said go test it out with a walk/job/walk/jog and see how it feels and then ice it down after. After I did that the day before the race, it felt great and I didn't have any pain so I went back to the PT's office and had them re-tape it so that it would be nice and tight on Turkey Day.

This year I went to this race solo since we were driving down to CT for Thanksgiving this year, but also so Jess could go for a walk since trying to go for a walk in a sea of 8,000 + people is next to impossibly if you really want to get a good walk in. I don't blame her for that! I got to the race about an hour before hand so that I could go through the normal stretching and warm up routine. I also ran into some of my ex co-workers Tracy and Jason and it was great to see them for a short while.

Race morning was pretty chilly with the temperature around 28, but with the wind it felt like 20! I was cold most of the morning trying to warm up before the race and right up until 5 minutes before the start I was still contemplating whether to run with my jacket or without. I ended up running without it and I was perfect temperature wise once the race started considering I had my under armour top on and a long sleeve shirt on top of that. The goal of this race was to finish and not to hurt my ankle considering if I did roll it I could possibly break it and/or tear all the ligaments in it. I started towards the front to avoid any chances of tripping over people. Overall the race went okay considering my ankle issue and the fact that I just ran out of gas at about mile 3 and I think that's because I haven't been running or working out as much do to my ankle.

Here are my mile splits below from my Garmin Forerunnere 405CX:
Mile 1 - 5:52
Mile 2 - 6:13
Mile 3 - 6:21
Mile 4 - 5:55
Mile 5 - 6:18

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Shawn M. Nassaney 5K - Bryant University, Smithfield, RI

Official Results: 5th OA, Time: 18:25 (5:57/mile)

It's been awhile since I've done a blog post about this race considering it was over a month ago! The good thing about this race is that it doesn't start until 12:45pm so it isn't an early morning for Jess and I to get down there. We got there about an hour before the race started so that I could meet up with my parents, grandparents and get my race number. Once we meet up with them I started to get warmed up and stretched out.

The gun was off and the race was off. Like usual a bunch of college kids sprinted across the field like idiots and then backed off. I was in 3rd or 4th place once we got around the fields and into the woods. It was then about a mile in I rolled my ankle as I lost my footing. I heard it pop as I rolled it and I quickly backed off my run to a jog to shake it out to make sure nothing was seriously wrong with it. It took some time, but I finally started running again and took the rest of the trail run very easy as I didn't want to roll the ankle again. (As a side note I had a premonition that I was going to roll my ankle during this race this year, it was so weird considering I've never ever sprained my ankle over all my years of running and doing cross country.) Once I finished up the race I grabbed some ice and iced it down while I grabbed some lunch. The ankle was definitely swollen and it looked like I had a baseball in my ankle.

After the race I took the following week off from working out all together and picked up an ankle brace from CVS. After I took the week off my ankle was still swollen, but I wasn't able to get it looked at it for another week or so. The diagnosis was that I had a Grade 2 strain, which is pretty good. I'm in my second week of PT and I've already noticed a difference with only 3 visits, which is great and as of this post I ran the Feaster Five on Thanksgiving. Stay tuned on my results from that race.

Call to Honor Triathlon: A Triathlon in Memory of Captain Rick Cashin

Official Results: 2nd OA out of 180 / 1st AG M1-29; 47:06

This race is always a great race to do since it's so close to where we live so we don't have to get up that early for it. It ended up being great weather for the race, a little cool, but once the sun was out it was warm. We got there about an hour early to setup and warm up. I knew that going into this race that I would have a real good shot at winning it this year because Kevin Reen wasn't doing the race this year since he went to RI to do Firmman half.

Swim 1/4 Mile: 6th OA; 5:56 (1:28/100m)
The swim went really well for me this year even thought I was 3 seconds slower this year than last year, but that's because I haven't swam since I did Timberman. I thought I would have been much slower than this. I was in the second wave since the first wave was teams. Since the swim course was so short I ended up catching a lot of people from the first swim wave. For my swim wave I was 2nd out of the water and I was off to a good start.

Bike 10.5 Miles: 3rd OA; 29:20 (21.4mph)
I was really hoping to beat my bike time from last year, but I wasn't able to. The bike course is mostly flat with some turns and rolling hills, but its a great out and back. I know most of the course since my Saturday rides go through Boxford, but when I got out there, like last year I was worried that I would take the wrong turn and go off course so I ended up slowing at some of th turns to make sure I was going the right way. I ended up catching the guy that beat me in the swim about 3 miles into the bike and held him off until the end. I knew that once I caught him I was in 1st if I could hold of the other age groupers that were behind me since the other bikers that were ahead of me were part of teams.

Run 1.5 Miles: 2nd OA; 8:46 (5:50/mile)
Coming into T-2 I knew I was still in first, but I took me some time to get my shoes and socks on so I lost some time there. I was still able to get out in time before some other guys got out there, but it wasn't enough to hold them off since one of them had crushed me on the bike the 1.5 mile run wasn't enough time for me to get the time back. This was the only area I had improved in time this year and I was still able to take 2nd yet again, haha. Oh well!

Post-Race:
This was a well run race this year and as always the pre-race ceremony is great since the state police color guard is always there. The race director does a great job as well and I love how it's such a small race so close to home. Looks like next year I'll have to see if I can improve on my time from 2009 since I wasn't able to beat it this year.