2013 westport minuteman 5k & 10k: race photos and results

it's been about 10 years since i last ran the minute man in westport.  back then it was a 5 miler.  then it became a 5k.  a 10k - double loop of the 5k - was added.  now the 10k course is a separate loop from the 5k.  phew!  regardless of the layout - i ran the 10k this morning - i love heading over to compo beach for road races.

my only time goal was a sub-50 minute finish, basically an easy tempo run.  i also wanted to run sub-8 minute miles.  despite a crowded - slow - first mile (8:16), the rest were all 7:50 or better.  i finished with a 48:22, 7:47 pace - more than pleased with that result :D

this was my 4th 10k of the month, which kicked off with the scotland run in central park followed by a pair of trail races - the urban environmental challenge and the leatherman's loop.

here are the results for both the 5k & 10k races

here are the rest of my photos on facebook.

2013 leatherman's loop: race photos and results

this morning was the 27th edition of the leatherman's loop at ward pound's ridge reservation.  it was, in a word, a great time.  this was my second official loop - the first back in 2011.  i've also done the course many times on informal group runs.  it never loses its attraction as a fantastic stretch of trail to run on.

once again my only time objective was to finish in under an hour.  my 1:05:54 was well off that target - and 3 minutes slower than my 2011 finish (1:02:33).  but i still had a great time out there.  it does mean more loops in the future to nab that sub-1 hour finish :D

i'll post a short race report in a couple of days.

here are the race results.

here are the rest of my photos on facebook.

2013 "poem in your pocket day"

in keeping w/my annual "poem in your pocket" tradition, i went w/a different poet this year - charles bukowski.  he is someone i typically associate w/fiction, not poetry.  but, like kerouac, never underestimate the poems that a novelist can create.  i like this one - not just because it was created in the early days of the personal computer revolution (1985/86), but if you were to update the technology allusion, it would still resonate today :D


16-bit Intel 8088 chip

with an Apple Macintosh
you can't run Radio Shack programs
in its disc drive.
nor can a Commodore 64
drive read a file
you have created on an
IBM Personal Computer.
both Kaypro and Osborne computers use
the CP/M operating system
but can't read each other's
handwriting
for they format (write
on) discs in different
ways.
the Tandy 2000 runs MS-DOS but
can't use most programs produced for
the IBM Personal Computer
unless certain
bits and bytes are
altered
but the wind still blows over
Savannah
and in the Spring
the turkey buzzard struts and
flounces before his
hens.

thoughts on the terrorism at the boston marathon

i wasn't at the boston marathon this year, but many of my friends were there, running, spectating, or volunteering.  it's one of my favorite events, and i've run it 7 times over the last 10 years (as recently as 2011).  it took a call from my wife (who was visiting colgate university w/katie), for me to turn on the t.v. and watch the unfolding coverage.  pat learned about the explosions from my mom - who mistakenly thought i had go to boston again this year and called pat when she couldn't reach me.

i was shocked and saddened to see the carnage wrought by the two bombs.  since the dark days of 9/11 i thought something similar would happen at the nyc marathon - but not boston.  maybe it was a sense of parochialism that made me think nyc - and not some other marathon.  we still have no idea who did this horrible thing - or why.  regardless of the eventual outcome (and the perpetrators will ultimately be held to account), the ugly and deadly consequences of terrorism have finally reached into our sport.

i doubt the terrorists have succeeded in instilling fear and terror - especially in the running community.  no matter what pain we've suffered in the immediate moment (and the pain that will be always be associated with the memories), no matter how difficult it is to come to grips with the utter senselessness of the violence, we will move forward.  people will continue to run races, people will continue to volunteer at races and, just as significantly, people will continue to come out and spectate.

there will be plenty of memories associated with that stretch of boylston street as runners finish future boston marthons.  and that's the point, no act of terror will derail the boston marathon, the nyc marathon, or any marathon or race.  however difficult future races become as a result of tighter security, they will - thankfully - continue.  if we don't continue running - then the terrorists have achieved their evil objectives.  that won't happen.

green day concert at the barclays center

katie and i went to see green day at the barclays center in brooklyn sunday night.  it was our first trip to the barclay's center (pat had gone there to see barbra streisand last year) and katie's first green day concert.  in a word - the show was terrific.  billie joe seemed no worse for the wear from his sting in rehab (which forced a major cut back for the group's promotional effort for uno! dos! tre! trio of albums).  he poured out almost 2 and a half hours of non-stop energy - and had a crowd that was as equally animated. 

i had seen green day perform in central park in 2009 as part of the good morning america summer concert series.  they put on a great show there, in somewhat cramped quarters (rumsey playfield) and given the constraints of fitting the performance into a morning t.v. show format.  in that brief performance they managed to pull a spectator out of the audience and up on stage.  at barclays, billie joe had three fans up on stage over the course of the show.

the first, a kid who came up during the second song - "know your enemy" - and, after a few lines made a successful jump back into the audience!  the second, brought up and handed a guitar to strum the 3 chords for "knowledge," exited stage left after the song.  the third and final one came up to sing the 3rd verse of "longview."  she really took over the stage - to the astonishment of all!  but her jump back into the arms of the audience was less successful... oops!

in what could only be viewed as camping it up, billie joe sprayed water on the audience, fired tee shirts into the crowd and even wielded a toilet paper gun to boot.  the slowest moment of the night came when the band took down the volume for "shout" - and morphed into some stone and beatles - before bringing it back to life.  earlier they had teased out the intro to "highway the hell," before going into "brain stew."

they saved "american idiot" and jesus of suburbia" for the encore.

here is the setlist:

99 revolutions
know your enemy
stay the night
stop when the red lights flash
letterbomb
oh love
holiday
boulevard of broken dreams
burnout
welcome to paradise
geek stink breath
knowledge (operation ivy cover)
when i come around
going to pasalacqua
highway to hell > brain stew
st. jimmy
longview
basket case
she
king for a day
shout > (i can't get no) satisfaction > hey jude > shout
x-kid
minority

encore:

american idiot
jesus of suburbia
brutal love

2013 urban environmental challenge 10k: race photos and results

it was windy at van cortlandt park this morning!  i had planned to run the urban environmental challenge in just a tee shirt, but at the last minute added a long sleeve tech shirt under my tee shirt.  but the sun - and the trails - more than made up for the windy conditions.  i ran this race for the first time in 2011 - the same year that i also ran both mudders & grunters and the leatherman's loop for the first time.  I hope to repeat that trio of trail races again this year (ran mudders two weeks ago and leatherman's is in two weeks)!

my goal this morning was to run 9 minute miles.  last time i ran a 55:20 for the two loops.  i just managed to squeeze under my 9 minute target with a 55:42, 8:58 pace.  and, as a bonus, that was good enough to take 3rd in my age group - so i won a llyod's carrot cake muffin!  now that was a happy surprise :D

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

2013 scotland run 10k: race photos and results

it was chilly for the scotland run this morning - the wool caps handed out at packet pick-up came in handy! a lot of the runners wore them.  but, on the positive side, it was sunny and a great day to be outside.  there was a pretty big field - over 7,700 finishers!

time wise, all i wanted was to run a solid 8 minute pace and finish under 50 minutes.  i was pleasantly surprised with my 48:48, 7:53 pace (but well off last year's 46:34, 7:30 pace).  i was even happier with the run itself because i managed cut down the pace of each successive mile: from just over 8 minutes for the first to just under 7:30 for the last one!

this was my 4th nyrr race of 2013.  tomorrow, hopefully, i'll line up for the vctc urban environmental challenge 10k in van cortlandt park :D

here are the race results from nyrr/

2013 scotland run packet pick-up at nyrr club

picked up my bid and shirt for the scotland run from the nyrr club this afternoon.  in addition to the shirt, they gave out a lightweight cloth tote bag that had a scotland run wool cap inside (same cap they gave out last year).  given the chilly weather we've had over the last few days, it seemed like it would come in handy tomorrow!  but, hopefully, some of this afternoon's great weather will carryover for another day :D

I ran the scotland run last year (and volunteered at it the year before).  this one will be race #4 on my road to 9 + 1 for the 2014 nyc marathon.

as always, if you're at this one, say hello!

r.i.p. roger ebert :(

roger ebert passed away this morning.  he was 70 years old and had been battling cancer and related health problems since 2002.  just two days ago ebert announced that he would only review films that he wanted - leaving the rest to be reviewed by others.  instead of a leave of absence, he called it a "leave of presence."  was that merely prescient, or a coincident?

i've been a fan of ebert's for more than 25 years.  since the days of siskel & ebert.  in fact, it was more fun watching the two of them disagree over a film than when it got a pair of thumbs up.  i remember one memorable episode where siskel announce that he had purchase john travolta's white suit from "saturday night fever" - which ebert ridiculed as a lapse in judgement.  i think he got it for $18,000 - or some similar figure.  years later, when it was sold for multiple times that figure, ebert - true to form - admitted that he had been wrong and that his partner knew what he had been doing!

siskel died of brain cancer at the tragically young age of 53, in 1999.  ebert continued the program, renamed "ebert & roper" until 2006.  the battles with cancer lead to the removal of his lower jaw - replaced, partially be a prosthesis.  despite the health problems, ebert continued to review films and participate in public life - an active blogger and addicted to twitter as well.  ebert was the first film critic to be awarded a star on the hollywood walk of fame.  he was the only film critic to win the pulitzer prize!

your classic thumbs up/down take on films will be missed.

rest in peace roger ebert.

april 2013 race schedule

it hardly seems like april (a/k/a) spring is here.  the winter just doesn't want to give up it's grip and let us experience some sunny, warm days.  be that as it may, i've put away the tights and have been running in shorts for the last week or so :D

the first april race will be a return to central park for the scotland run (#4 on my road to 9+1 for the 2014 nyc marathon).  and, i head back into the city the next day for the vctc urban environmental challenge at van cortlandt park.  it's been a while since i did a pair of back to back 10k (here, one on the roads, the other on the trails).

i really haven't found a race for the following weekend (w/the more half marathon that sunday in central park).  there are a couple of local 5k races nearby, but i may skip racing and do a long run instead).

the following weekend is the leatherman's loop!  that's one of my favorite races - and i'm really looking forward to it.  the day before is the sybil Ludington 50k - one of my all time favorite ultras.  i would normally run that race.  but i'm hesitant to jump into a 50k, since i haven't even run a marathon so far this year.  instead, i may try to line up a partner for the relay :D

the last weekend of the month will be a return to a race i haven't run in a decade - the westport minute man.  when i ran it the race was a 5 miler.  shortly thereafter the distance was dropped down to a 5k. then a few years later they added the 10k distance.  i'm opting for the 10k - in what seems to be turning into a month of 10ks :D

here's how it looks so far:

4/7 - nyrr scotland run 10k
4/8 - urban environmental challenge 10k
4/20 - sybil ludington 50k - relay?
4/21 - leatherman's loop 10k
4/28 - westport minute man 10k

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