2010 Year End Numbers

Year Total, Month (avg.), Day (avg.)

Swimming: 237652, 19804, 668 Yards

Biking: 4416, 368, 12.4 Miles

Running: 2111, 176, 5.93 Miles

Almost 6 miles per day average running for the whole year! not bad.

Biggest Month Swimming: June, 34200 yards

Biggest Month Biking: May, 708 miles

Biggest Month Running: March, 335 miles (10.8 miles per day average for the month)

Conclusion: Need to bike more in 2011!

Getting Back Into A Rhythm

A few weeks since my last post ... Just want to let everyone know everything is good. The achilles thing is behind me and I am slowly ramping things back up. I am already scheduling 2011 and not looking back. I have already shot my mouth off about running 2:45 at Boston in April. That's 6:18 per mile! Yikes!!! This probably means that I will need to run close to 6:10 per mile and give up the rest in the hills! At age 45, it is going to take some discipline, but I will give it a shot. No sense in backing down now. Focus will need to be on speed; intervals and tempo. Anyway, I have kept my promise and I have logged every single mile biked and run, and every yard swum in 2010. I will post these around the end of the month or after the new year. Then everyone can look at the numbers and tell me if I'm nuts or not. It has been a very cold New England December, but we are lucky that there has been no snow and trails are still open. I can't remember a year that we didn't already have snow on the ground a month ago. I'm sure it won't last much longer, so I will enjoy trails as long as possible and then get forced back out onto the streets. I am looking forward to some XC skiing though. Okay, so I am looking for suggestions for next year. Other than Boston and IMLP, I have no definite plans yet, but I am starting to look at races. I am also thinking about getting a coach again for bike training. It has been a few years since I had my beloved coach, but he has moved to AZ and I really could use someone like him again (bike times need to get faster, not slower). Please post race suggestions and let me know what folks have on the radar screen for 2011.

-Kyle

Off-Season Continues, But Starting Up Again

Some heel soreness after the Groton trail race led to some stiffness in the Achilles. Starting to run again slowly, back on the bike and swimming in the pool regularly again. It feels good to be going again. My body and brain is wired to be going aerobically all the time. I sleep better and seem to behave better with the eating, etc. I'm already looking at races next year. Of course the two big races in the first half will be the 115th running of the Boston Marathon, my 15th Boston in a row and LP2011. As of now it looks like I am out for the Half Marathon Championships in February. I may pick another local half or ten miler and do New Bedford again or maybe not. This has been the ritual for a number of years now and it may be time to do something different. As far as half irons ... I don't know. I just need to pick one - there are a number of them at the right time for IM prep and or maybe pick some different races and distances for that matter.

Anyway, I am telling a lot of different people to do the same thing here in off-season; do something different. I am hoping to get some cross-country skiing here when we get some snow; it won't be long.

-Kyle

Enjoying The Off-Season

Well, it has been three weeks ... I know it is completely inappropriate for this blog and some folks will be shocked, but ... I am really enjoying the off-season (scream, horror). It is a strange and new sensation to me ... the one who can not stop and will train through wind, rain, snow and Armageddon. I will admit that I have done some running and swimming, but very little. I am now starting to ramp back-up and I think it has come very easy to me, as I have had no recovery from any big races or a marathon or anything like that. January 1 will roll around soon enough and I will be back trying to one-up on last year's Boston. The bike ... there has been no biking, bike-commuting, cross, mtb or anything (boo, throwing objects). I cycled more today with MRC folks than I have cycled in the last two months! only 35 miles. I am enjoying my return and maybe a little time away from the sport has been good. Last year was maybe a little too extreme. The good news is I haven't ballooned into the fat B@st@rd like last year after Clearwater. Anyway, I am moving on ... there really aren't any races this time of year locally, so I will return with fresh spirit and enjoy this time, not worrying about training, times, mileage, etc.

Please comment if you actually think I can be succesful at this.

Groton 10 Mile Trail Race Report

My return to the Groton Trail Race ... I checked coolrunning and it was indeed 6 years ago when I last ran this race. The race has really grown in size and to no surprise; the same trail gurus that were there 6 years ago and at all the other trail races I have run, were there. To say the least, it was pretty well stacked with some fast guys and is part of the big trail race series. Here's the report; not much running the two weeks before, I decided to race as it was almost like a taper into a race. Absolutely zero speed work over the last month. Weather cool with rain threatening through-out the morning. After a delay of 20 minutes, they finally got the race off. Out to a VERY fast start, these two guys went off at an unbelievably fast pace. It's hard to pass on these trails, so I got out fast and tried to settle-in at a good pace; one that would be sustainable over this distance and terrain. For those who have not run this race; it's HARD. Up and down with some steep climbing and descents. Nothing like Wapak, but never-less some steep cross-country-esque hills with tough footing especially on some of the downhills. I did absolutely no preparation for these and I don't have any trails like that locally, so it was a stretch for me. Also, as I have said before, I do not do well on the fast downhills. I was just out of control most of the time and I just do not have the balance and/or coordination for that, so I lose time to these guys. On a positive note, this has been my first trail race in three years!! Wapack 07 was my last. Talk about a long stretch, I need to target at least one trail race a year.

Results: 14th Overall 1:09:25 A new PR!!!

I will take sub-1:10 any day and I smashed my PR by four minutes. I know I had run Baystate a couple weeks earlier in 04, so my legs were a bit on the recovery. Anyway, I am glad I ran this race and I had a really good race too! I like the low-key feeling of the trail races. No big award ceremonies or any of that stuff - just bragging rights. I really needed something like that this fall. Anyway, I have gone into off-season and will be taking some time off the next few weeks. I may do some easy running, but for now I just want the body to recover from all the endurance training this year. I did not want to repeat last year; crazy training and racing, way to much.

Looking for another form of exercise that doesn't involve the usual three - anyone have some suggestions? Also, I want to do some XC ski races this year. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know. I will probably try Great Brook or Weston. I hope everyone had a great year and is winding down for the year. I will probably start running again around Thanksgiving and then start training for Boston on Jan 1st.

Cheers! -Kyle

MRC Cyclocross

I can spell the MRC Cyclocross race: F-U-N!!! That race was a blast and that was the most fun I have had in a long time. I am going to be surprised if this race doesn't become one of the biggest cross races in New England. I loved the new venue; the Lancaster Fairgrounds. I can go on and on; the beer, the chili, hanging out with team-mates and friends on a gorgeous fall day. I loved the course also, not easy and the club featured a "fly over" which means you pick-up your bike and climb stairs, mount quickly and fly down a steep ramp. This pick is me going back under the fly over (thanks for the pic Russ!!!) - big smile on my face. I hadn't honestly touched a bike in three-weeks (thumbs down, boo, unhappy face), so I just jumped in and raced with no expectations, goals or even caring about racing; which is probably what made it so much fun. I had only one crash; sprinting against Mark from Landrys, I passed him and said "you aren't going to let me pass you are you?" We proceded to sprint down a straight away, of course I passed him only to be going way too fast into the turn and did a complete 180 only to be facing Mark coming at me. He spared riding me over though and I paid him back when he WIPED OUT going down the flyover and I held this young guy from mounting and riding over him as he was laying on his back at the bottom of the ramp! I put my CX tires on the night before only to see that the tread is worn on both tires; they need to be chucked. Anyway, I really enjoyed that race and raced well. I was definitely in a groove 2/3 of the way through (also, not one CX practice this fall and I still raced).

Back to running. I am racing the Groton 10mile trail race this weekend(cheers! hooray! clapping!). I have mostly been running trails, so I think it makes sense for me to race now and maybe do an early off-season or some other low-key races. My numbers have decreased over the last week in a half, so it has almost been like a taper. I look forward to returning to Groton. I think it has been 5 or 6 years sense I last raced there.

I hope everyone is enjoying fall. It has been a cool fall for us New Englanders. Let me know what everyone else is doing! I may jump into another cross or trail race in the near future.

Tornados, The Jellies and The Fall Season

Okay, so it wasn't a tornado (I just like to get people's attention), but was an incredible force exhibited by mother nature flexing her muscle. Okay, I don't know what the correct term is; microburst, downburst or windshear. I think they are relative terms (if anyone skilled in weather is reading this please comment below). Anyone who knows this blog always knows there is a story.

Date: October 1st
Time: approximately 10:am
Location: Boxborough, MA

No fancy doppler on wheels or TIV (tornado intercept vehicle) like you see on those shows on TV. Just a couple of guys out for a run on a fall morning. Instead of chasing storms, the storm chased us. Here is the story ...

I arrive at friend Bill's house late again for the run. He is pointing to the weather channel saying that the squall line is coming our way and that we should get going. I had seen the report on NECN, which was wrong again! That we would see the heavy rain until afternoon. Looked to be pretty good conditions for a run, except that it was extremely humid. We did the usual 8 mile out and back. At the 4 mile turn around, I noticed the oncoming weather, as I could see what looked like a black curtain in the distance and I point and say, "I think that is the squall line." I get an atta boy for that one, as we now have the wind picking up and blowing acorns and stuff on us. I comment; don't worry about the acorns, I just don't want a tree limb or something to fall. No more than 60 seconds later would we experience something I had never before. It was like the wind picked-up, but never stopped picking up. It was so extreme that I am watching the trees blowing over and it just keeps getting more intense. Now debris is flying everywhere! The trees are now bent over like an upside down J. A big tree right in front of us, big - bigger that I could wrap my arms around - it just could not withstand the force, snaps off at the base. That was okay until another tree on the other side of the road snaps and falls across the road in front of us into the power lines. When it hit the power lines every thing lights-up like a lightning strike. I was pretty well convinced at that point that our lives were in danger. I see the look of horror on Bill's face. His hair is being blown horizontally to one side. I look for some open sky, as the next tree to come down would probably be on us. I signal over here and we jump a wall into some one's yard and run over to their house and end up pinned up against the backside of their chimney. If the house goes over we would be dead anyway, so it was a pretty good option. I joke that I think I will stop my watch and maybe we should stay here for a minute. The debris is still flying over the house, but we for the moment are safe. Then it is over ... we walk across lawns to avoid the downed power lines and run home in torrential rain with lots of adrenaline. This week I run trails and discover trees down along the same line (I think it is called a yaw line), with another big tree that had fallen across the train tracks (and was then cut-up). Any weak trees are down along this line. I've been running competitively now for 35 years and I've seen a lot; had to ditch many a time with strong thunderstorm cells, but I have never experience something like that!!! I estimate the wind speed was around 100mph, which would make it hurricane force.

Moving on to the Jellies.... I would swim later that day and I know everyone has heard - I see jelly fish in Walden. I thought they were air bubbles at first, but then I see one very clearly. Hyperspace to 10/8 - my last open water swim of the year (I think!?). The water was unusually clear and I see thousands, probably tens of thousands of jelly fish. They are indeed fresh water jelly fish from Asia. Scientists aren't sure if they will or will not be back next year. I've been swimming in Walden since I was a kid and again, have never seen anything like that!

Weekly running numbers:

9/20 - 58
9/27 - 51
10/4 - 48mi

I will summarize the last three weeks; I am unable to put in the necessary training in for a marathon, too busy and the time has just slipped away. I am planning to run Manchester half marathon instead or maybe just call it a year and look towards 2011. It's kind of a bummer, but now is just a bad time for me. Next weekend I will do the MRC cross race and have some fun!!

Hope everyone is doing well. Lot's of MRC folks CX racing every weekend. I just saw Macca won Kona. Also, lot's of other big races last weekend BAA half, which I want to do some year and Hartford, also on my radar screen.

-Kyle