Sidehiller Snowshoe (Sandwich, NH) 5.2 miles

Double J graciously picked me up at my house and we headed up to Sandwich, NH for the 6th annual Sidehiller Snowshoe race. Paul Kirsch, race founder and director, hosts the event and does a wonderful job as the race is one of three East region National qualifiers for the March snowshoe Nationals. This would be my first race of 2010 and only my 2nd snowshoe race ever, so anything, short of not finishing, was my goal. We arrived in the parking lot around 9:50 AM which gave us ample time to sign up and get prepared for a 3 mile warmup on the roads with Double D (who lent me some Atlas dual-trac SS's), Eric Morse, Jim Pawlicki, Scott Mason and several Tuesday Night Turtles. I felt good and after another warmup on SS's (after Dave helped me get them on properly) the race started promptly at 11 AM. Due to rain earlier in the week the course was modified into a 3 lap (1.73 mile per lap) around the relatively flat fairgrounds.

After Paul gave the race commands, 91 hearty souls took off. I put myself up front and soon found myself in about 20th place. There were many fast and talented runners in attendance so I just tried to hang as close to Double D, Eric M and Steve Wolfe and other 40+ racers. Having limited experience on snowshoes makes it very strange and awkward but soon I was getting the hang of it and I just tried to relax and

not lose too much contact with the guys I wanted to race with. The flat to downhill sections gave me the least amount of trouble but once we go to the single track section, I felt like the trail was boxing me around. The only climb was minimal and on the first go around I went up without any problem. As we approached the 1st circuit I was about 15 seconds behind Double D (11:22). By this time, I had other racers to concern myself with and both were 40+. They were Dave Principie (TNT) and Stan Snow (VT).

I knew I wasn't going to be able to hang with the top 3 masters (DD, Wolfie and Eric Morse) after the 1st lap but I had company the next two go arounds.

I hit the 2nd lap in about 23:30 (12:08) and finished 16th in 35:33 (12:03). I qualified for the nationals.

Up front, Kevin Tilton (CMS/Innov8) took the win with Josh Ferenc 2nd and Jim "Double J" Johnson (CMS/Innov8) 3rd.

Last 2 weeks (weeks ending 1/17/10 & 1/24/10)

I have not written a blog entry in awhile and feel that I should briefly recap my training for the last two weeks. No races run so no race reports. No significant difference from prior weeks but I am attempting to build up my mileage while being cautious not to overdo it.

Week Ending 1/17/10

Monday 1/11/10 AM 6 miles 44;23

PM 4.5 miles 33:04

Tuesday 1/12/10 6 miles 43;30

Wednesday 1/13/10 9 miles 1:03:45 out and back to Drew Rd (Derry prep course)

turned around midway up hill

Thursday 1/14/10 4.5 miles easy jog

Friday 1/15/10 9+ miles 1:05:46 same course a s Wed but ran all the way up

Drew Rd (ran to Weber Forest entrance)

Saturday 1/16/10 10 miles in 1:09:54 with Paul Young and Michael Q in NA

Sunday 1/17/10 0

Totals 7 runs in 6 days 49.0 miles 5:55:32

Week ending 1/24/10

Monday 1/18/10 10 miles 1:15:50 used Yaktracks

Tuesday 1/19/10 8.5 miles 1:04:14 (Yaktracks)

Wednesday 1/20/10 8 miles 58:00 (Yaktracks)

Thursday 1/21/10 10 miles 1:13:15 out and back to Weber Forest (ran on some

snowmobile trails)

Friday 1/22/10 AM 5.4 miles 38:00

PM 4 miles 29:00

Saturday 1/23/10 0

Sunday 1/24/10 11.25 miles 1:22:40 ran to 4 mile of Prep 16 course and ran w/ J

Gorman for 3.5 miles

Totals 7 runs in 6 days 57.2 miles 7:00:59

Week ending 1/10/09

Another decent week but the total mileage is still lower than my expectations. The quality is good and I feel pretty good and I am pleased with the progress thus far. I hope the weather warms up a bit to make things a bit easier soon. I ran 6 days this week and ran a total of 48.1 miles with 7 total runs which took a total time of 5:59:00.

Monday 1/4/10 5 miles easy in 34:00

Tuesday 1/5/10 8 miles in 1:02 -Hot Dog hill short version

Wednesday 1/6/10 AM 43:00 5.5 miles PM 46:21 6 miles

Thursday 1/7/10 off

Friday 1/8/10 8.5 miles in 1:00:54

Saturday 1/9/10 7.65 total miles 20 warmup/2.65 in 15:34/20 min cooldown "dd"

Sunday 1/10/10 7.5 miles in PM after Pats loss in 55:39

More of the same next week with an effort to increase mileage and incorporate some snowshoeing. Possibly a 5k tempo effort at the Fudgicle on Saturday.

Time trial

During my run tonight, I decided to do a time trial over my old HS XC course in North Andover, MA. After a 20 minute warmup, I got to the start of the course and went out conservatively and hit the rolling mile in 6:20. During my HS days (77-80), I would generally hit this mile in an easy sub 5 and I believe I hit in 4:48 when I set the course record my senior year (12:45 for 2.65 miles all roads with one significant hill at the mile). After the mile tonight, I began to work the hill and made a serious effort on the downhills and hit two miles in 11:40. It should be noted that there is a lot of downhill at 1.25 miles. I was really just holding pace and not over doing it (on top of dodging the night traffic). I finished strong and was not winded at all. I hit the Mill Pond bridge in 14 minutes and finished the course in 15:19. I have to add a bit of time to that due to the new HS entrance which has erased the old XC course finish. I would say about 15 seconds. So my time would be about 15:34 (5:53 pace).

Finished up with a 20 minute cooldown..

Week ending 1/3/10

5 Days of running amounted to 45 miles for the week. Here is a day to day recap.

Mon 12/28 8.0 miles in 57:20 in snow and rain

Tue 12/29 0 No run

Wed 12/30 8.0 miles from DD's house w/ MQ, JJ and CM 58:37

Thur 12/31 8.0 in 1:00:10 in snow

Fri 1/1/10 10 miles in 1:10:01

Sat 1 2/0 0 No run

Sun 1/3/10 11 slow miles in snow 23 minute on bike

2009 Summary

I was planning on racing this morning in Salem, MA w/ MQ and DD but could not due to more important matters so I took some time to gather 2009 race info and decided to summarize my year.

Yearly mileage: 2,300 miles which averages 6.3/day

# Days off: 58

Days off by month: Jan (5), Feb (2), Mar (0), Apr (7), May (11), June (6)

July (6), Aug (9), Sept (5), Oct (2), Nov (5), Dec (6)

# Days Biked (no run): 24

Total days off running: 82

Avg/day excluding days off and days biked: 8.1/day

# races: 23

# miles raced: 98 (including 17.5 of DNF at BayState Marathon)

Avg race length : 4.25 miles

Shortest race: 3.1 miles

Longest race: 26.2 (DNF at 17.5 miles)

Longest race finished: New Bedford Half 13.16 miles

# wins: 3 (Fudgicle 5k, GoodTimes 5k, TIP 4 Miler)

# PR's (over 40): 6

4 miles TIP 22:29

5 miles BobbyBell 28:16

10k Gull 35:13

15k Stew 55:20

10 miles Amherst 58:17

half mar NB 1:15:57

Best of luck to everyone in 2010. Stay injury free and enjoy!