2010 Hollis Applefest half-marathon

Congratulations to all finishers (results)of the very hot Hollis Applefest half-marathon. Here are some videos of the brutal day.



Mile 1.2 race winner Pat Moutlon in lead with 3re place finisher Andy McCarron in tow



2nd group at mile 1.2



6th place at mile 1.2



The next group of runners. I am talking to Kevin MacIntyre, Tyler Brannen, and Mike Wright.


Just about everyone else at 1.2 miles.



2nd and 3rd place at about 1/2 way into the half!

4th place



55 year old Dave Parsel in 5th place and the 6-8 places. I found Ron Kita biking out on the course and we were comparing running injuries!



9-11th place. Kevin MacIntrye



First woman and eventual winner Eileen Combs.



The next group of runners. Ron got hit by a car a few years ago at Applefest and still won his age group!



the next runner



Way to go Tyler Brannen!



Eventual 2nd place finisher Bonnie Ritchotte and the only person I could find smiling in the heat!



Go Mike Ward! Eventual winner of my age group 50-54.



Ray Brown 2nd in my age group-you get a Mile High Apple Pie!



Pat Moulton closing in on the finish and a repeat win.

I would much rather have run the race and been in the hunt for another Mile High Apple Pie, but I am going in for an MRI on my hip on Monday. At least I can bike with my hip, so I took out my old 1984 Centurion Cinelli Bike (took me through a few Ironman distance triathlon in the 1980's) and my old Nashua Velo Club shirt from the early 1990's and rode just like in the old days. It was brutal conditions out there today, so if I was going to miss a year this was a good one to miss.

Steve Wolfe has photos of the race here. When I saw him at the 12 mile mark I came over to visit and he caught me in my old cycling gear crossing the road in back of Ken Goodwin, 2nd place in the 55-59 age group, and a guy I ran with all summer at the Lowell Good Times series.

A few photos I took on the course

Tyler Brannen

Mike Ward and Brendan Loehr

Ray Brown and Benjamin Quick

Kevin MacIntyre and Eileen Combs

2nd place finisher Matthew Terrasi

 3rd place finisher Andy McCarron

5th place finisher 55 year old Dave Parsel

Frank Row relay 

 7th place overall Joe Mulligan leading 6th place overall Mark Odell

 7th place Joe Mulligan

9th place Adam Evans

 10th place Kevin McIntyre and 11th place-first female Eileen Combs

2nd female Bonnie Ritchotte

3rd female  Ann MacDonald  

Tyler Brannen

Mike Ward

Applefest Half Marathon

The Applefest Half Marathon in Hollis is my favorite New Hampshire race and the Falmouth Road Race is my favorite Massachusetts race. I don't know which I like more, but they are always on my calendar unless I am injured. Yesterday was a glorious day for running the Applefest, unfortunately I wasn't feeling my best. After the 21 mile training run last Saturday, I felt great. The next day I spent 6 1/2 hours in my car getting to and from a U2 concert (mini-review) and didn't get home until 2 am. The good news was that with all that driving and sitting my back did not hurt at all (usually an hour in a car does me in). I was ready for a good week of running and looking forward to Applefest. Then everyone in my family got some type of the cold. I did the best with it and it only slowed me down a bit, but it still lingered. I tried to run it off during the track workout on Wednesday (8 X 600 done between 2:03 and 2:11). I ran them mostly on my own as Dan and Joe were faster, but they didn't finish the workout and I was happiest with my final 2:05 run all by myself.

I was still battling aspect of the cold before race time. I took my first medicine early race morning as I couldn't sleep. If I went by how I felt I ran during the race, I would say I was running well and hard. Unfortunately, the clock said otherwise. I was the first to finish over an hour and 1/2 with a time of 1:30:16. It was my slowest Applefest race ever (results). I did finish second in my age group. I ran much slower than I anticipated and I would attribute that to whatever effect running while not feeling 100% would have on a performance. I still loved being part of the race. There is no better race in all of New Hampshire and the Gate City Striders put on one of the best races in all of New England!

I am seriously thinking about running the Cape Cod Marathon in October. It will be almost 30 years since I first ran the race. Back in 1980 it was held on Otis Air Force Base rather than the roads of Falmouth so it was not as hilly. Here is a certificate I have from the 1980 race, I finished 44th out of 241 with a time of 2:51:48 (the website says there were 311 finishers and that 37 were under 2:50) . Marathons were a bit more competitive back then as you had to run under 2:50 to qualify for Boston. Of course, I did not qualify in this race. I don't remember much about the race, except that there were large packs of runners to run with and I had an awful cough and was hacking away all race! Looking at last year's results, there were 896 finishers with only 7 runners under 2:50.

If I do run the race, I might have a chance to place in the 50-year old division. Last year's top three finished  like this:

1 Christopher Rife 50 Tucson AZ 3:07:56
2 John Shepherd 52 Essex CT 3:11:32
3 Marty Ellowitz 54 Hubbardston MA 3:13:02

I last ran the Cape Cod Marathon in 2006 in 3:09:42 in 50 mph wind gusts and two weeks after running the Bay State Marathon (I was 12 seconds faster at Bay State). In 2005, I ran  3:10:27. Hopefully I can get some more long runs in and stay healthy as I didn't do long runs before either of those two races (except for the marathon 2 weeks before in 2006). The one thing I have learned about running the Cod Cod Marathon (and all marathons) is that you have to take the first miles easy. Don't even get sucked into running fast at the gun. It is a fast first 9 miles. Then when you are going well through the hills, don't give in and "go for it". If you save yourself for the last few miles (after Woods Hole) you will fly by tons of beat up runners as you finish strong!

Applefest Half Marathon: Racing for the Pie

Here I am with a slight lead at the start of the Applefest 1/2 Marathon. Photo by
Dave Delay for the Gate City Striders.

Saturday I competed in the Applefest 1/2 Marathon in Hollis, NH. It is one of my favorite races. I was hoping that it would be my first decent race of the year. My running has been coming along since I started working on resistance stretching the past month. I have been feeling looser and having better workouts but every few days my left sacrum has been jamming up. It forces me to run all wrong and I haven't figured out how to fix it. Unfortunately it jammed up on Thursday of last week. I didn't run on it Thursday or Friday hoping I wouldn't make it worse, but Saturday on race morning it was still tight and hopelessly stuck.

It was a beautiful day for running, however and I hoped it might loosen up in the race. I was in the port-a-john downhill from the start when I heard the National Anthem being played and I had to sprint up the hill to get to the start on time. I did not heed my plan to start slow and when the gun went off I started gliding down the hill and into the lead and had to slow down because I would have passed the lead truck. By the end of the hill the adrenaline wore off and I got into pace and watched the lead runners go by. My hips remained horribly tight and I could not get settled. My muscles were loose however. I ran the first mile in about 5:50, but could not find form going up Wheeler Hill. I almost stopped realising that it was going to be a long day ( a mental challenge of constantly finding a balanced running form rather than a physical day of pushing my body). I hit 3 miles in about 19:00 which was probably faster than my only road 5k of the year at Cigna where I ran a very slow 20:10. I hit 5 miles in about 32:00 which was better than my 5 mile race at Bill Luti where I ran a horrible 34:28, and I hit 7 miles just at 45:00 which was faster than I did for the same distance in Falmouth this year at 48:52. So I ran faster in Hollis than the 3 other road races I have done this year. Granted the weather was perfect in Hollis and I had some downhills in my favor but despite feeling out of alignment I was running better than I had earlier in the year. I kept waiting to die out there and although I slowed down in the hills I ran at the same effort. I finished in 1:28:41 good for 36th place and 2nd in my age group which got me another Mile-High Apple Pie. I had improved slightly from last years time of 1:28:56 but last year was a very hot day.

Overall I am happy with the time and the effort I put into the race. I wish I had been feeling smooth like I have for some workouts lately. The race would have been much more pleasant and a bit faster I am sure!

Here is a photo by Dave Dunham with less than a half-mile to go. Look how twisted my legs are. That is how I felt for most of the race!

In checking out Dave Dunham's site I noticed that he is a fan of The Alarm. Mike Peters and The Alarm are my favorite band so not only is Dunham fast. He knows his music!

Here is Mike Peters of the Alarm singing about overcoming cancer for the second time. If you listen too much to songs like this then you might have a problem at the start of races being too pumped up and taking off way too fast at the gun!

Running is for the Birds

I was leaving the track workout Wednesday night, riding my mountain bike through Mine Falls as it was getting dark and crossing over one of the small walking bridges, when I suddenly saw one of these blue herons perched on the side of the bridge at my eye level and just a couple of feet from my face. I was as startled as it and when it started to lift its big wings to fly I wondered if it would crash right into my head. He veered to the left however and back out of sight behind me.

I continue to do the resistance stretching before each run. I usually just use the Dara Torres 20 minute workout from the DVD and add a few other stretches. Tuesday I had too much energy to burn and then just a couple of minutes into my run I saw a guy on a mountain bike with a car riding the same speed behind him up ahead going up a small 200 yard incline. I decided to chase and see if I could catch the bike and car. Just at the crest of the hill I did and then they pulled away on the descent. I don't think they noticed me, but it has been awhile since I tried to race after a bike, so that was an interesting feeling. That set the tone for the workout and I kept trying to force myself to slow down (when was the last time I had to worry about that?) but still ran a fast workout. I was about 30 seconds off my best time on that route this year. Wednesday night my legs were not as fresh, but still OK. I ran 5 miles on the track in 31:45 which is 1:15 faster than the same workout just a month ago. Running that distance on the track is mind numbing, but afterwards it feels good to have done the workout. Our workouts come from the mind of coach Dave Dunham. I have never had a coach ask us to do that much distance for a track workout, but Dunham knows his stuff so if he is bold enough to have us try it, we can be bold enough to do it. Even though it was not a race it probably was a better run and time than any race I have done this year, but it has been a pretty bad racing year!

Yesterday I did my 8 miler again, but I needed more loosening up before the run. My left quad was really tight and it was jamming up my hip. I stumbled a few times when it caused my hip to give way. I kept it at a light pace but ran 13 minutes slower than Tuesday for one of my slowest times of the year! I expected to see some of these Turkey Buzzards that have been out and around recently taking an interest in my slow pace.



Next Saturday, I have the Applefest Half-Marathon in neighboring Hollis. The Applefest and the Falmouth Road Race are the two races I enjoy doing the most. Because I am not it the shape I expected to be in this year I am trying to tell myself not to start the race like I usually do. I like to start the race fast and go hard for the first half where it is mostly downhill and then try to hang on to my position once the race hits the hills. I have had some great races at Applefest with this strategy in the past, even though some teammates get on my case about it! Here is a picture of the start in 1999 (see I think I am running a 5k!). I am #519 next to eventual race winner Dave Parsel(in black). He runs the race every year and next year I am back in his age group which is not a good thing if you want to win the age group and get a big basket of fruit. If you don't mind finishing 2nd or 3rd in your age group you get a Mile High Apple Pie. I like the pies!


I basically treat the race as a 3 miler, then a 5 miler, then a 7 miler, then just try to hang on as best as I can. I don't think I am even in shape enough to try that tactic this year and may try an even paced race. But which pace to try? Up until recently I would have been happy to just break 1:30 for the race. Now, if I continue to feel good, I may be able to go faster than that. I wish I had a few more weeks to prepare, but at least I am more optimistic about the race than when I was completely dreading running it just a few weeks ago!

Running Form Dissection

O.K. I found some pictures (although from a race in 2005). This is the Applefest Half-Marathon in Hollis, NH (one of my favorite races). I finished in 11th place overall (out of 905) in 1:25:00 but look at the pictures and see what, on a good day, my body does as it tries to run efficiently. The legs look O.K. , but there is a lot going on in the upper body that is not good!

Here I am in the opening miles. Does it look like the upper body is balanced over the legs? There is a lot of twisting and a slew of compensations going on! At least for the moment I am ahead of Joe Rogers.

Here in the middle of the race you can see what my left hip, knee, and ankle do on each stride I take. The left femur rotates in and drops down at the hip, the knee does a knock-knee action, and the left foot splays out causing a rolling-in pronation as the foot hits the ground.

Look at the finish line picture. Here you see my knee knocking in and the foot turning out. Not a pleasant way to run , but I have made it work. Even the race singlet can't fit correctly as one shoulder is higher than the other. How do I undo all those
motions and get to an efficient stride? Can it be done? I haven't given up yet! My wife says it is all in my brain. According to Z-Health, maybe it is, as I have to retrain the movements of my joints. I have a lot of places where my joints get "stuck" particularly with the left hip and ankle. I already feel freer in the places, particularly the left hip, as I continue to do my Z-Health exercises.