Running and Racing: A Musical Review

The Start PhotoRun.com

Everyone has to do Falmouth at least once. If you haven't run this classic race yet and you live in New England you should give it a try. Many years ago, Runner's World Magazine did an article on the Falmouth Road Race and they refererred to the "Winding roads that seem to beckon" from an old Patti Page song called "Old Cape Cod". Falmouth is a magical race. I love the history of the race, as well as it being the race that follows the roads of the town where I grew up. I have great memories on these winding roads! Unfortunately, many competitive runners now pass it by. But really, it should be on your list of must do races.



This year I went down Friday night and picked up my race number at Falmouth High School. I was there when autographs were about to start, so I got in the short line because I wanted to meet Meb Keflezighi. Meb decided not to run Falmouth the day before, but as soon as I finished he was the first one shaking hands of us runners after we crossed the finish line.

He was there with his Olympic marathon silver medal and the New York City Marathon gold medal. What was neat was that he let me and others hold the medals. The Olympic medal in particular is getting worn out! I really appreciate that Meb "shares" these medals rather than lock them away for safe-keeping.

 I also got to say hello to Catherine Ndereba. Frank Shorter, Bill Rodgers, Joan Benoit-Samuelson, and wheelchair competitor Craig Blanchette. Frank and Bill were there regular friendly selves and we talked a bit about running Famouth back in the 1970's. I asked Joan when she would run her next marathon. She said Chicago this year. I asked her about running sub 3 and making it into the sub 3 hour marathon in five decades club. She remarked about it a bit, then her whole demeaner changed, she said what she really wanted was to be in the sub 2:50 marathons in 5 decades club. There was a huge competitive fire and drive in how she said this. I would put my money on her easily going sub 2:50 in Chicago.

I went back to the high school to watch the Falmouth Miles. This year they had high school miles for the first time. Unfortunately only two women were in the elite mile, but it was still a good race. The men's race had Olympic 1500 meters silver medalist Nick Willis making a comeback from injury race. He was outsprinted at the finish line as the first two runners broke a 4 minute mile. When you go to Falmouth, you have to watch the miles, they are a lot of fun.It is also run on the track where I started my cross-country  running career back in 1973.  Here is the video I took of Russell Brown outsprinting Nick Willis in the mile.

I guess the best word to describe the  Falmouth Road Race is "efficient". From the buses taking you to the start to all parts of the race, it seems the race organizers have it down to an efficient process. This is good as the race works year after year. It also means it lacks a litte pizzazz as you get used to things always being the same. The t-shirts always have the same design, you get a coffee cup at number pick-up, and everything seems the same. Interchange a few Kenyan (and now Ethiopian) runners with a few top-Americans and the race always seems to turn out in a similar fashion. I would love to see more of the very top American runners show up for the race. I would love to see a little less effeciancy and a more go-for broke effort to bring back the competitiveness of the 70's and 80's back into the race. It would be great to get the top New England runners back to Falmouth. As I line up at the start there are the top runners and a bunch of familiar faces of people I see back at Falmouth every year. I don't see the local road racing crowd. What goes on behind the elite corral, where I am situated is unclear to me. I know there are some runners looking to do well, but there are mostly running tourists. Runners who do Falmouth and it might be there only race of the year and quite possibly there longest run of the year. This is great, but in the end, I just wish more of the "running club" runners would get a taste of Falmouth.

This year's race saw me feeling pretty good at the start. I was able to do strides and a warm up without feeling so stiff like I have been recently and it was an incredibly gorgeous and cool summer day for the race. When the gun went off it was a bit crowded until the first corner and then I started getting more room. I hit the mile at Nobska Lighthouse slower than I wanted, but from then on I think I pretty much kept the same pace throughout the race, which meant I was slowly passing runners the whole race, and was rarely passed at all. I never really sightsee as I run Falmouth, but I got that sense of blue ocean over to my right side as well as that salty air smell and I felt right at home. I ran at a good pace and effort, but didn't really push things.

Here is a video someone posted (there is not much online that I can find) of the lead runners running up Shore Road (right in front of a house one of my good friends used to live in). It is about 4 3/4 miles into the race.



At the 6 mile point, I noticed an old friend named Stewart Johnston at the side of the road and called out to him. His brother was the 8th place finisher at the first Falmouth Road Race. We both went out for cross-country together in 9th grade two weeks after that race and traded last place finishes at races throughout that season. Stu never ran again after that year. I haven't stopped.

I finished the race this year in 301st place in 47:12. Pretty much where I finished in 2009. The Wall Street Journal had an article after the race by Cameron Stracher called Slow and Steady Loses the Race. I don't think it is entirely accurate. He states that, "the increasing popularity of running coincides with the decreasing competitiveness of the U.S. runner." I actually started Falmouth this year standing next to the aurthor. In the article he mentions the Falmouth Road Race, "At the seven-mile Falmouth Road Race, in 1979, a finishing time of 36 minutes was good enough only for 84th place. But in 2009, the same time would have earned 34th place." I don't know how everyone else is doing, but I ran the 1979 Falmouth Road Race in 46:10 and this year I ran 47:12. It looks like I only lost a minute in 31 years, which is part of what is wrong with the article because it is hard to compare years. I did only run 38 miles in July and August 1979 before running Falmouth as I was traveling overseas.

If Falmouth is too busy for you, you can always run the same course at the Falmouth in the Fall road race.

Sunday I ran the Moose on the Loose 10 mile trail race back in Mines Falls inNashua. I finished in 8th place with a time of 1:07:59. My hips were not working in coordination so I had a hard time getting comfortable, which was too bad because I was feeling good energy-wise. Halfway through the race, I noticed two runners ahead of me who looked like they could be in my age division. I picked off one of them but the other guy had over a 30 second lead by the high school bridge (less than a mile before the last of four laps). I put my head down a bit more and started passing a few people then I noticed I was catching the guy in front of me. I caught him at the bridge and ended up winning my age division by 16 seconds. That means I was given an award for being the RRCA state champion in my age group (50+) which on the plaque is called the "Grandmaster" division. So I guess now I can become a rapper.

Monday night I showed up for the last of the Gate City Striders Mine Falls trail races. I didn't feel like racing so jogged it and finished in dead last place. OK it was  handicap race and only a couple of runners started behind me and they passed quickly so I basically ran by myself and did so at an enjoyable pace, and you know what? I had a fun time! I think it is called a "training run" and I have been doing so much racing lately that I haven't had many of those! I ran about 4 minutes slower than last week and finished 59 out of 59. Sometimes you just want to finish last.



I did win my age group in the 2nd half of the race series. I think I ran all of the races in both series except for one week in the first half. What a great series it is to run and much thanks to Mike Wade, the volunteers, and the Gate City Striders for putting on this fun series of low-key races. This is the water bottle you get for winning your age group.

photo Ted Tyler

Tuesday night I had another last race in a race series. This is the first year I have done the Good Times series of races down in Lowell. I had a good time with these too. I ran my course PR with a 19:13. That means I got three awards at the award ceremony. A mylie for setting a PR, a Golden Mylie for running all 8 races in the summer series, and a first place plaque for winning the 50-59 age group.

Not feeling old when you are having fun!

I recently completed 6 races in 9 days, which is a little bit unorthodox in training and racing circles, but I had fun. At the completion of the final 3 consecutive days of  racing, I did a track workout of 4 X 1 mile. I wasn't even sure what would happen at the start of the workout, but I kept feeling better as it progressed. Then I realized that this was just a bit more running  (0.3 miles) than a full marathon, so I decided to add up the times.

8/9 Mon 5k 20:08 "Mine Falls"
8/10Tues 5k 19:32 "Dynamic Duo" Lowell
8/12Thurs 5k 19:37 "Cigna-Elliot"
8/15 Sun 7 miles 47:12 "Falmouth Road Race"
8/16 Mon 5k 19:56 "Mine Falls"
8/17 Tues 5k 19:48 "Coaster Toss" Lowell
8/18 Wed Track 4X 1 mile Track 6:20/6:15/6:10/6:05

I did 26.5 miles of racing and track work over 10 days for a time of 2:51:07. I have run marathons faster than that (not recently, though). I guess I used to be able to do in one day, what now takes me 10 days to accomplish! That must be a true sign of the aging (and slowing down) process.

There was an interesting thread on Letsrun last week titled "Older runners: When did you start feeling old?" I didn't answer, but barring discussion of injuries and imbalances and their effect on performance, the last two years have been eye-opening. It is a lot harder to move like I expect to be able to move and I am not just referring to running. I do hope to start feeling younger again and am making progress, but it does take a lot of work.

The good news is that you can still have a great time running and racing, even if it never looks or sounds that way. This week's Tuesday night 5k race in Lowell was called the "Coaster Toss." Ted Tyler took a huge amount of pictures at the one mile point of the race. If you look, everyone is smiling and having a good time. Why? For the simple reason that everyone was carrying a coaster. At this point in the race you had to throw it into one of three buckets. If you got it in you would get a prize at the awards ceremony. Give a runner something different and fun to do and everyone has a good time. Maybe that is why it is called the "Good Times" series. I was holding mine in my left hand and went to toss it about 10 feet to the barrel. It went about 10 inches and crashed to the ground. I ended up laughing, just like everyone else who missed and a lot missed. Only 8 runners out of 261 were "athletic" enough to get the coaster in the barrel. And I guess that is why we are all runners!

Post throw- I think that is mine on the ground next to the path.

Trying not to get hit- well maybe mine is the one a little further along on the ground. Still, it was an embarrassing throw.

But, at least I got a chuckle out of it!

The end of the race and back to a runner's grimace. But really, racing is fun, even if it doesn't always show on our faces!

Running and Racing

Training for the last two weeks (after doing an 85 mile week) includes lots of races and getting back to track workouts.
Week ending August 9:
Mon- 5 miles (including 5k trails race) in 20:20

Tue 4 miles (including 5k road race) Bikini Run in Lowell 20:11:1 -won age division by 3/10 of a second after a decent last 1/2 mile getting ahead of the first "bikini"and a few others
Wed. 5 miles (including 6 X 800m on track)
Thurs. off
Fri. 15 miles
Sat. 16 miles
Sun. off
Total 45 miles

Ken Goodin is on my shoulder (barely visible) That is how close the finish was. First bikini is in the distance.

photo Ted Tyler

Week ending August 15:
Mon. 5 miles including 5k trail race in 20:08

Tues 5k race in Lowell 19:32:3 PR for course by .7 seconds beating the 19:33.0 I ran  on June 22. Finally got under 20:00 since wearing these insoles which seems to slow me down 10 seconds a mile since getting them -based on track and race times.
Wed. off
Thurs 5 miles 5k race Cigna Elliot 19:37 201st place 12th age group- felt very tight and slow-probably due to getting ART treatment  a couple of hours before running. Don McCarty caught up on the final hill, but I stayed ahead to beat him by two seconds, Didn't see Fil Faria go by at the same time. He beat me again.
Fri 8 miles
Sat off watched the Falmouth Mile (didn't take much video as it seemed everyone had a camera there, but no one posted videos so I threw mine up on Youtube showing the finish of the men's mile. Letsrun embedded it on their report of the race-(wish someone had a better video)



Sun 7 miles Falmouth Road Race gorgeous weather and felt great- results (unofficial) 00:47:12 time  259 place male 17 age group  302 overall (I'll have to report on the race weekend later) Out of almost 10,000 runners only 12 runners finished ahead of me that were older (this is a new way to check results as you get older!!)
Total 28 miles

Here are the top 20 in the 50-59 age group (Joan Benoit Samuelson finished in 41:36 good enough to beat all but the top two men in the age group)

117 David Oliver 54 M Westborough MA 00:41:00 66 4 82

113 Kenneth Gartner 50 M Falmouth MA 00:41:28 79 5 95
123 Bill Solimine 50 M West Newbury MA 00:41:43 85 6 103
194 Charles Muse 53 M Wilbraham MA 00:42:23 97 7 116
219 John Goodwin 55 M North Andover MA 00:43:53 139 8 163
250 Brian Hennessey 50 M Middletown RI 00:44:17 151 9 177
4526 James Coughlin 55 M Easthampton MA 00:44:50 167 10 194
270 Donald Palladini 53 M Franklin MA 00:45:38 192 11 224
3413 David Renneisen 54 M Goose Creek SC 00:45:48 198 12 230
267 Tor Clark 57 M Falmouth MA 00:45:57 204 13 237
264 Mark Uliasz 59 M Oxford CT 00:46:13 214 14 248
363 John Verrengia 52 M Simsbury CT 00:46:20 222 15 257
265 Jonathan Silver 51 M Bedford MA 00:46:39 235 16 273
238 Gene Hull 53 M Radnor PA 00:46:40 236 17 274
263 Denis McDonald 55 M Woodbine MD 00:47:09 255 18 297
295 Jim Hansen 51 M Nashua NH 00:47:12 259 19 302
228 Rick Breckenridge 50 M North Stonington CT 00:47:44 278 20 329
1591 Bruce Campbell 52 M Portland OR 00:47:44 279 21 331
1449 Marc Trotz 50 M Berkeley CA 00:47:46 283 22 335

I don't get the chip timing. When I crossed the line the clock said 47:03 and that would be before chip times are deducted. There were two mats at the finish line, maybe the second mat got the times. The results show I was 3 seconds behind the 50+ guy in front of me, but it was much closer. Anyhow it turns out that he is from Maryland and knows my college cross-country coach who helps coach the track club he is from now.

Vintage Running T-Shirts

I missed wearing a classic T-shirt last month at the Classic T-Shirt race in Lowell a few weeks back. Last week, my wife took a box out of the garage and said, "Let's throw away some shirts!" So I tossed a bunch of shirts from the 1990's that had been sitting there useless from the last time I had seen them (a few Mt. Washingtons, Pack Monadnocks, a 1996 Hawaian Ironman shirt (where did that come from?) and a bunch of others from various races, but I still hung on to a few shirts from the 1970's and 1980's (some have shrunk to ridiculous proportions) for future classic T-shirt nights. Then I saw a Vintage runnning t-shirt contest on Competitor.com and decided that I should enter a shirt.

First off all my most memorable race t-shirts were made into a hanging quilt by my wife many years ago, so I can't enter those. It hangs in my basement behind my computer reminding me of the best of my competitions and that way no one has to see it but me.

Top to bottom left to right:
1980 Falmouth Road Race -my hometown and favorite race- also my first ever road race in 1975
New England Triathlon Series- Fairlee Vt. 1987 -I did all the New England Triathlon series races the first few years it was held. There was a race in every state. In 1987 my car died on the way home. One year one of the Triathlon magazines did a cover story on this race and the cover was a picture of the start. My wife and friends who came to cheer me on were seen in the photo. I was just one of the masses with an orange swim cap on. 
1976 New York State Section 11 Cross Country State Championships. I worked hard to make varisty my senior year at the Stony Brook School. We finished 3rd in the state in our division at the Bear Mountain race and I was the 4th guy in on our team. This is probably the shirt I am most proud of because you had to earn it and it wasn't easy for me.
Bud Light U.S. Triathlon Series Boston 1986. I qualified to compete at the National Championships to be held at Hilton Head at this race. Too bad no one told me until I got the results booklet (after the National Championships had already been held- no internt in those days!).
1985 Lakeville Triathlon. I won this thing and beat a couple of guys who were sponsored triathletes.
1980 Gil Dodds Marathon. Held for only one year at Wheaton College. I finished in 2:50:07 (7 seconds short of qualifying for Boston). This was the most comfortable shirt ever given at a race. It was a football style jersey.
1985 Bay State Triathlon  Used to love this race. One year I ran with Dave Scott for about 1/8 mile-he was lapping me however!
1981 Lake County Heart Fund Marathon 19th place 2:48:36 finally qualified for Boston.
86th Boston Marathon 1982 My first Boston and the most painful race I ever finished.
1986 Cape Cod Endurance Triathlon I did this race the first 5 years they had it (1983-1987) and absolutely loved it!
1985 New England Triathlon Series Sharon, Ma. I loved this race series. One year that I did this race a competitor drowned.
1985 Green Mountain Steel-Man Triathlon. was a 1/2 Ironman distance race in the mountains of Vermont. My bike computer showed that I hit a maximum speed of 62 mph going down the mountain roads (that will happen when you copy pictures you had seen of Tour de France riders and put your chest on the handlebar and nose down by the front wheel-butt in the air). I liked the cow shirt!

The quilt is also good for sticking pins onto and the dowels make a great place to throw those medals you get at various races.

So I had to decide what shirt to enter into the contest. I had some older shirts, but decided to enter the 1982 Gurnet Classic Beach Run shirt beacuse it was such a classic New England race. The race was held in Duxbury, Ma. between 1975 -1988 and went out and back on the beach. It wasn't a race I did anything special at in fact it was the first race I did after recovering from broken and cracked bones in my ankle and heel. I ran my first Boston Marathon in 1982 and severely dehydrated in the heat. Six days later I ran my fastest 5 miler 26:36 and the next week broke the bones sliding into a base during a softball game. How was I to know the base was a sack of sand? The Gurnet Classic Beach Run was a race that would see the greatest road runners in the world show up to run (most of them were from New England): Bill Rodgers, Alberto Salazar, Bobby Hodge and others. I believe Bob Hodge won the year that I ran it.

photo from 1975 race: Al Salazar, Mark Duggin, Vin Fleming, Bill Rodgers, Bob Hodge

Article on 1978 version of the race (photo above)

Another article and iterview with Bob Hodge.

So here is my shirt and the finisher card I got that said I finished in 74th place. I am going to send it to the contest. It says you can also vote on your favorite shirt, but I don't see how. There are only two shirts pictured on the site now. Once I get mine up, you can vote if you like, but even better, enter your own vintage t-shirt. The winner gets a pair of Saucony shoes, so the odds right now are pretty good. The contest ends of July 31 Go here.

Trying to sneak the Gurnet Classic Beach Run hat on
during a family picture.

Running With Style

Total mileage for this week was 43 miles. I did five 8 mile workouts and a 5k race. The previous two weeks I did between 30-40 miles. I won't call many of the workouts runs, rather let's just say that I "moved" that many miles. I have lost the improvements I had been making and my left hip is not working correctly. If I do get it working right then the next day or two it is vey sore and unstable and I can't make it move properly.

I did show up for the Tuesday night race down in Lowell. I got lost and arrived 15 minutes before the start so there was little warmup. The results show this top 3 finish in the 50-60 age group.

 

18 BRIAN BIGELOW 50 MANCHESTER NH 19:30
19 JIM HANSEN 51 NASHUA NH 19:38
20 MIKE MERRA 51 AMHERST NH 19:43

Since we are all friends and teammates and in the same age group, it looks like we had a nice group run together. Don't let the results fool you. This is how it really happened. I took off at the start (with just a few strides as a warm-up) and my hips were already not functioning right, but I figured I'd run hard anyway. I had a difficult time controling my stride, both legs were moving differentlly and at different angles, but my breathing and pace felt OK. For most of the first mile (I don't know where the markers are) I was in 7th place. It was getting harder and harder to control my form and I was getting very frustrated. Then all of a sudden I completely lost the plot on how to move and I quickly slowed and about 10 people swiftly went by. I was having a hard time running at all and was ready to stop and walk back to the start, but Brian had not passed me yet, so I figured I'd keep going. I felt like I was running at about a 22 minute 5K pace. After about a mile I started getting a little bit of control of my hips and for some reason Brian still had not passed me. I still felt awful but the finish was approaching and with about 1/4 mile to go Brian caught up and ran behind me a bit. I wasn't sure where the finish was and at one point Brian said it was about 100 yards away. I know 99 times out of 100 I could never outsprint the chiropractor, but I gave it a shot and took off for 15 yards but I had no speed and it was more than 100 yards to the finish. Brian just picked up the pace and easily put 8 seconds on me. I finished and then saw Mike, who I didn't even see before the start. I think Mike was just out of an easy run and ended up almost catching me. Anyhow, even though it was my best 5k of the year, it felt like the worst. The good news is, I have some speed and conditioning in my legs, if I can only get them working properly again, I should be running well. I think I did my first mile in sub 6 minutes. I just need to get the next two miles going at that pace.

I am not sure what I am going to to about my hips. I feel like stopping and walking home at various times on my recent runs. I think I am trying too many things to keep them working right. It is getting a bit frustrating. I need to get them fixed so I can train at a higher level and get the mileage in so I can start training for my marathon goal. I won't be able to do that until I get them working smoothly and without pain and imbalance. But that has been my story for a few years now!

Here is a list that has been generated by the Association of Road Racing Statisticians (I am sure it is far from complete) of runners with the longest time spans between sub 3 hour marathons.

Longest Time Spans Between First and Last Sub-X Marathons
Men
Sub-3:00

36y 4d 15 Apr 1974 => 19 Apr 2010 Doug Kurtis (12 Mar 1952, USA)

35y175d 26 Oct 1974 => 19 Apr 2010 Kerry Green (05 Apr 1954, USA)

33y184d 23 Oct 1976 => 25 Apr 2010 Steve Smythe (18 Mar 1958, GBR)
33y162d 07 Nov 1976 => 19 Apr 2010 Reno Stirrat (19 Apr 1954, USA)
32y373d 19 Apr 1967 => 17 Apr 2000 Laurence Olsen (14 Nov 1946, USA)

32y143d 10 Sep 1977 => 31 Jan 2010 Terrence Stanley (05 Sep 1952, USA)

32y 92d 06 Dec 1959 => 07 Mar 1992 Barry Magee (06 Feb 1934, NZL)
31y278d 15 Jul 1978 => 19 Apr 2010 Gary Allen (29 Jan 1957, USA)
31y180d 21 Oct 1978 => 19 Apr 2010 Dennis Kurtis (01 Nov 1953, USA)

30y355d 05 May 1979 => 25 Apr 2010 Chris Finill (31 Dec 1958, ENG)

30y220d 29 Jul 1979 => 06 Mar 2010 Vladimir Kotov (21 Feb 1958,BLR)

That is a list of some quite accomplished runners (most are on the sub 3 hour marathon in 5 decades list). My first sub 3 hour marathon was on April 13, 1980 so if I can do another, I would be close to being on this list. I know I can do it if I can get my hips working properly, that is what is holding me back on my running, but it is also a very big problem. Of course, the longer I wait, the higher up on that list I can go! I am sure that there are hundreds of other people that have accomplished such a large time span between sub 3 hour marathons, but they are probably more ordinary runners like me, and haven't been found by the listmakers yet.

Here are some photos from an old Runner's World booklet (booklet 46- 1975)that I have called "Running With Style". These are examples of wonderful running form (which is why these were such great runners). See, the title of this post has nothing to do with me!

Frank Shorter

                   Kenny Moore (notice the barefeet)                   

Rick Wohlhuter

                                                            Pekka Vasale and Kip Keino

Bad form on these two Olympic Pentathletes

Two 5K's: One Thumbs Up and One Thumbs Down

After having a really poor race at the Red's Shoe Barn 5 miler on Sunday, I ended up with at Tuesday night 5k in Lowell to try to redeem myself. Brain Bigelow invited me to head down and work on our 5k times in the Good Times Spring Series. I haven't done much racing in Lowell unless it involved a marathon (a few Bay State Marathons and the 1981 Lowell Oktoberfest Marathon) or the Mill City Relays. Even though I was just on a class field trip earlier in the week to the Lowell Mills, I still got lost on the way to the race and had no time to really warm up on a cold damp night.

Before the start of the race, it was announced that this week's version would be the Jack and Phil Remembrance Run in honor of Jack Kelleher and Phil Riley, two Good Times Series' regulars who passed away recently. Whovever finished in 160 something place would get an award in memory of Jack and the first senior runner would get an award on honor of Phil. Brian and I looked at each other and tried to figure out if we were seniors. It sounds so much older than just saying the 50 year old age group. Brian had been the first runner in this age group the previous week.

At the gun, I felt really good for a change and went out hard at the tail of the lead pack. I found it disconcerting to follow the course through the twists and turns and didn't want to trip or stumble over something in the road, but I remained upright. After about a 1/2 mile, I fell behind a group of about 4 runners, but after awhile I got ahead of them as I felt feisty and loose. I have no idea what the splits were or where the course went. I found it confusing, but after awhile it straightened out (around 2 miles) and I slowed a bit. The twists had knocked my hips around and I started losing my stride. I got it back the last mile and felt that I ran a strong race. The finish time was 19:46 and I finished 13th overall (results). I found out that I won my age group and won a 2009 yellow Boston Marathon jacket and a case of beer. I gave the beer to Brian since he would have won if I didn't show up and I don't drink. I enjoyed the race and will probably show up again to try to better my time. I left the race feeling pumped as I felt my running was strong and I could see lots of improvement coming.

Saturday, I showed up just in time again for another 5k. This time it was the 19th annual Derry Foothealth 5k, the third race in the New Hampshire Grand Prix. Just like the previous two GP races, my hips were off again. It was a pathetic struggle of a race and I couldn't move my legs properly (results). Maybe I should stop doing the Grand Prix races as my hips never want to cooperate. I ended up a minute slower than Tuesday and it felt 10 times as worse. I feel like quitting running when I can't get the hip muscles working right as it is uncomfortable to run and move. Fortunately, I can remember how good it felt to run the previous race and I have to just make sure to get more good days going and to find out what is triggering my hips to get so out of alignment (it may have been the many hours driving a car the previous three days).

Congratulations to Carl Hefflefinger, running his first time as a "senior" and finishing in 19:49. This was after a 30 mile bike ride to the race and then a ride back to his home! Tom Kolb also gets a nod for finishing the race and then jumping into the lake. I guess he does this every year for some strange reason that sounds both crazy and admirable.

I stayed up that night to watch the track meet in Stanford hoping to see Galen Rupp set an American record in the 10,000 meters. I watched a great race and an American record, but it was Chris Solinsky, in his debut 10,000m who set the record with a blazing last 800m and a time of 26:59.60. Simply Amazing!

See the race here:


More video here.

My race times are really making me feel old and it is not just that they call my age group the "seniors". This week I found a long lost log book of most of my runs from 1978-1980 (probably the best log book I have kept as I am not that good at keeping track of my running). The back cover had my first five marathons listed, so now I can start making a list and doing the detective work to find out how many marathons I have run. My first marathons were:

Dec. 3 1977 Dallas White Rock Marathon, Dallas, Texas 3:25:44
Nov. 25 1979 Philadelphia Marathon 3:03:57
April 13, 1980 Fox Valley Marathon Aurora, Illinois 2:54:38
May 17, 1980 Gill Dodds Marathon Wheaton, Illinois 2:50:07
Nov. 23 1980 Cape Cod Marathon 2:51:57

What I found interesting was how little running I did for some of those races. I run so much more now, but boy those times and my track times were so much faster for the little bit of effort I put in. For example, I ran that third marathon in the middle of April and had only done 264 miles from January up to the race. My long runs were two 10 milers and one 11 miler. Imagine getting away with that today! Of course that was 30 years ago and sadly deterioation certainly has set in!