2014 westport summer series 10 miler: race photos & results

in what must be deja vu - i finished the westport summer series 10 miler in 1:18:21 this morning - it was the same time that i ran last year.  and, to make it even more of a instant replay - i won a shirt in the post-race raffle, just like i did last summer!

but where the weather was insufferably humid last year, this time around we had great running conditions.  hopefully, the humidity stay low for the new haven 20k on monday - yet another repeat of the 2013 labor day weekend schedule. 

her are the race results from the westport road runners .

the rest of my photos are up on facebook.

greetings from ann arbor - sophomore year :D

greetings from ann arbor!  after i ran the summer series 11 miler yesterday, we finished packing the car and drove - with a 45+ minute traffic jam inching through the delaware water gap and getting pulled over in ohio for speeding (but the officer let us off w/just a warning) - katie to ann arbor for the start of her sophomore year at michigan!  the big difference this time around is moving into her sorority house instead of the freshman dorm last year.

not sure how much sightseeing i'll get in this time around - but hopefully at least on visit to a brewpub :D

stay tuned!

2014 norwalk summer series 11 miler: race photos & results

didn't get a chance to take too many photos at the 11 miler this morning.  in fact, wasn't sure i'd even be able to run it because katie is headed back to ann arbor for sophomore year this weekend!

i managed to squeak in with a sub-8 minute pace w/a 1:27:10, 7:55 pace.  i was more than pleased with that given the hilly bristol half last weekend.  my legs are still a little dead from that race!  it was my 4th of the 5 summer season races this year - my best participation since 2011 or so.

i'll add a link to the results once they're posted.

2014 bristol half marathon: race photos & results

the bristol half marathon seemed to redefine the meaning of a hilly course with the climb from mile 7 through mile 10.5!  in what would mostly be viewed as a downhill(!) course, the one major extended climb in the middle of the race made for one tough run.

my time goal going into the race was a relatively "easy" 1:50 - and because i walked some of mile 10, missed that target by 20 seconds!  despite coming in as one of my slowest half marathons, i still had a great time running it - and definitely plan on coming back!

i'll post a race report in a couple of days :D

here are the race results via coolrunning.

 

the rest of my photos are up on facebook.

2014 westport summer series 8.4 miler: race photos & results

the westport summer series 8.4 miler was the only race i had planned on running this weekend - until tuesday, when i had the chance to run the bristol half marathon tomorrow.  so it turned into a back to back race weekend!

the 8.4 miler is the only summer series race that starts and finishes at burying hill beach.  given the half marathon tomorrow, i ran it pretty much as a training run.  i wanted to average an 8 minute pace over the hilly course.  my 1:06:10 came in just under 8 minutes, with a 7:53 pace.

hopefully i won't pay to heavy a price tomorrow - stay tuned!

i'll add a link to the results once they're posted.   

 

here are the rest of my photos up on facebook.

r.i.p. robin williams

when i heard last night that robin williams was dead, at the age of 63 - and that he took his own life, it was tragic news indeed.  what went through my mind was how difficult it was to reconcile the image of the legendary comic and actor and the inner demons that tormented him so much that he felt suicide was the only way out.  the image of him intoning "carpe diem" to his students as they looked at the sepia prints of students then long gone played in mind.

two of my all-time favorite films, "the world according to garp" and "dead poets society" are robin william classics.  given my age, i'll always view him from the perspective of the 1980's - but his work spanned more than 3 decades - from "mork and mindy" to the small role he played in "the face of love" (which i watched on the way home from kuala lumpur on saturday).

the world lost a beautiful soul yesterday.

rest in peace robin williams.

2014 join the voices 5 miler: race photos & results

after the long flight back from kuala lumpur yesterday, i was more than surprised to be lining up for the join the voices 5 miler this morning!  but since i was still on kl time, it seemed like the race kicked off at 8:30 pm instead of am!

i would have been happy with 8 minute miles, finishing in 40 minutes.  but i was pleasantly shocked to run a 38:03, 7:37 pace.  if i hadn't dawdled at the finish, i would have snuck in under 38 minutes (for some strange reason i forgot the race ended on the transverse - i had though we finished on west drive, in front of tavern on the green).

the most surprising moment of the morning was 6:58 first mile - something clearly unplanned.  but that was balanced out by an 8+ minute mile 4 (and dropping back to 7:40 for the last mile)!  it was an eclectic bunch of miles, given the circumstances :O

here are the race results from nyrr.

kuala lumpur outings - 2014

i only managed a couple of nights out on this trip to kuala lumpur - no real sightseeing as in my prior visits here in 2013 and 2011.  but i did manage to get in some single malt scotch tasting at the whiskey bar, craft beers at taps beer bar, and some dining along jalan alor - spicy frog & ginger (not quite frog porridge, but very good) and bbq stingray :D

here are a few photos:

2014 nyrr join the voices 5 miler packet pick-up

 

despite being half a world away in kuala lumpur, i managed to pick up my bib and shirt for the join the voices 5 miler on sunday.  actually, pat picked up my stuff for me on her way home from work yesterday.  it's been a long time since she collected race stuff for me (going back all the way to the chicago marathon in 2007) - bur since i won't get back until saturday night, she took care of it :D

assuming the jet lag doesn't do me in, this will be my 7th nyrr race of 2014 (6th on the road to 9+1 for the 2015 nycm).  i ran this race back in 2012 - but that year it was held in december (and featured a long sleeved version of the shirt)!

as always, if you're at this one - say hello :D

greetings from kuala lumpur - take 3 :D

i arrived in kuala lumpur sunday afternoon - my third time here in the last 4 years.  it's a long trip - 15 hours to hong kong from jfk, then another 4 hours on the 2nd leg on to kuala lumpur.  no matter how many trips i take to southeast asia, the long hours traveling never get easier.  although getting from the airport to my hotel went much smoother this year.  the only twist was the arrival weather - sunny at the airport and 40 minutes later, just outside the city, the skies darkened and it began to pour!

in a break from my normal routine (spending a few hours walking around the city), after i checked in a barely unpacked before i fell asleep and took what amounted to a 5 hour nap!  i needed to catch up on my sleep after being on the road for 24+ hours - and because it was raining outside, sleep was the perfect solution :D

not sure how much "sightseeing" i'll get in this trip - but stay tuned.  looking forward to visiting taps beer bar again, finally getting over to the whiskey bar - and, hopefully, another fantastic dining experience at the frog porridge stall on jalan alor!

august 2014 race schedule

i'm going to miss the running the nyrr club team 5 miler this weekend because of travel.  but i'll be back in time to run the nyrr join the voices 5 miler next sunday.  it'll be my 6th qualifying race on the road to my 9+1 for the 2014 nyc marathon.  in something of a stretch, i'll head up to the peekskill brewery that afternoon for the 1 miler. it's the only "new" race on the august calendar (and the incentive is clearly the post-race beer) :D

the rest of the month is filled with summer series races - the westport 8.4 miler on the 16th and the norwalk summer series 11 miler on the 23rd.  the 11 miler is technically the last race of the norwalk summer series (because results from next month's half marathon can be factored in to compute the final standings).  the last race of the westport summer series is the 10 miler that kicks off labor day weekend.  the hilly loop course is one of my all time favorite races!

here's how it looks so far:

8/10 - join the voices, 5m
8/10 - peekskill brewery 1 miler
8/16 - westport summer series, 8.4m
8/23 - norwalk summer series, 11m
8/30 - westport summer series, 10m

as always, if you're at any of them - say hello!