Easy Gait

The silly season is officially underway. Nothing says silly quite like the Chase Corporate Challenge. The Boston Sports Clubs warm-up 2 minutes before the race was invaluable! There was some fitness expert trying to lead 13,000 runners, packed in like sardines, in squats and arm circles on the starting line. High comedy. I kept trying to find someone who would run up there, try an exercise, and ask “Am I doing this right?”

I actually love the summer road races. Just show up as you are with the fitness you have and go after it. Unfortunately, at this point, I have none and can not get after much. My fitness is . . . how should I put it . . . CRAP!

The Chase Corporate Challenge was the event of the evening last night in hot, humid, conditions which made the warm-up really easy. John Mortimer won, again, in 17:16, which shows how tough the conditions were. Jeff Caron of New Balance Boston came in a strong and close 2nd in 17:22 representing CBM while wearing NB Boston colors.

Team Raytheon had a strong team showing again and I am convinced we took the team title. We also had a strong showing at the BHP afterwards with over half the team coming out to socialize and celebrate.

Christy Mae ran another great race, coming in 4th but unfortunately following my lead in getting out kicked by a sly Carly Graytock and a quick Katie Richards. Molly Taber, surprise surprise, won convincingly for Pioneer Investments in 19:52, 40 seconds clear of the field.

Yours truly came in a hard 5th. Not only was it my worst time in 9 tries at the Boston Corporate Challenge, but I was just smoked on the final straight away which rarely happens to me in this race. Historically, I have a strong kick on Charles St. To pour salt in the wound, it was by two people I rarely see during a race by 3 and 1 seconds respectively. As I write this, a modified quote from Rounders I would use all the time during college comes to mind. “If you can’t spot the sucker in your pack after the first quarter mile, you’re the sucker.” I played the sucker to perfection last night. Took 3rd place going up the first mass ave dip at about 1.6 miles, and proceeded to lead 4, 5, 6, 7, & 8 straight to the finish line. Not strong enough to break away, not fast enough to kick effectively. I guess weeks of 0, 0, 36, & 56 with two small track workouts is not the best formula for a good corporate challenge.

Conclusion, I need to start training.

That’s all I got.

Posted by Ryan at 1:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Track workout at Bentley College.

400m 66.27 (1.59)
400m 66.88 (2.02)
200m 31.03 (59.82)
200m 31.62 (1.03)
200m 32.69 (56.38)
200m 31.27

Nice little shake out to get the wheels spinning for tomorrow's 3.5 mile corporate challenge. 3.5 mile warm-up and cool down in the woods. I hope it is really hot tomorrow. Seems to even things out a little bit.

That's all I got.

Posted by Ryan at 7:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Summer has finally arrived here in Eastern MA.

Yesterday I did a Nobscott Loop at high noon and it was not the most comfortable running conditions. Let's go down to Stu for a report on the field. It's hot, it's damn hot. It's so hot I think the players are cooking in their helmets.

Not too much action on the Easy Gait front as of late. Just cruising around the local trails building the fitness. 56.9 miles last week and one workout. Friday night was 3 sets of 400 400 800 with Justin M. while helping Jeff C with his 6 x 1200. The efforts were all between 69 and 71 pace. The last 800 did not feel too good at all. The first workout back to the track never feels too good for me though so that is not a surprise. At least a touch of fitness was salvaged from the wreckage of VCM. It's on life support in the ICU but I think it can be nursed back to life.

In other news, the back deck is 95% finished except for the spindles in the railings and stringer covers for the stairs. It is nice to have a place to sit by the pool that isn't grass. We had our first meal out there last night and is was great to eat outside again. We used to eat on the deck every night in Clinton and now we can continue our outdoor eating habit. The farmers porch is about 80% of the way with about 4 more full days of work left to go. The decking is done and the posts and roof joists are raised. Next is the roof ledger, roof rafters, and the roof itself. Then some lights and a ceiling and it is done.

I also think I am going to enter the tour de france this year. I have been really enjoying my road bike as of late and think I am a shoe in for the Saeco Cannondale team. My longest ride so far has been 26 miles and I ride a 6 mile loop pretty quick so I am pretty much a certified professional.

That's all I got.

Posted by Ryan at 9:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My two week sabbatical from running has come to a close. A little biking but no swimming because the pool was a little green when we opened it last tuesday and it just cleared up this weekend. Besides, it was a poor week for swimming.

7.2 mile nobscott loop today at lunch solo. 48:50 feeling pretty easy. I tried to focus on running tall and strong to try and get back some mojo for the shorter stuff.

My first competition will be the Chase corporate challenge on June 28th in Boston. It is more a celebration of sedentary habits most corporate workers have. It takes some people over an hour to finish. I have seen people smoking, drinking a beer, and wearing a number, before the race!!! The term race is used very loosely here. I am putting my money on New Balance Bostons own Jeff Caron who ripped a 3:54 1500 for a big PR at the last Boston High Performance meet of the season. I wouldn't put a penny on myself this year. Usually I am pretty fired up for this race because Mortimer and Justin usually run. I am also typically in decent shape. I am not concerned with this crowd though, I would never race if there was going to be more than 20 actually runners in the field.

That's all I got.

Posted by Ryan at 7:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, I am about 10 days removed from any running or any serious form of exercise. I am starting to feel a little bit better and thinking about running again. This probably means I am coming around and getting to be recovered. I don't know what the next thing I try to do with my running is going to be but it will be something. The "I suck, I quit" text message I sent after I finished VCM wasn't quite true. I am not quiting ... quite yet.

So, what do I do when I am not training to pass the time. Well, on sunday I went tearing around on my new to me but old to everyone else road bike I built up in my garage with spare parts from a road bike, spare parts from my brother, spare parts from a friend at work, and spare parts from a friend of my brother. Thanks to all the parts wealthy people who donated to the cause of getting me out of my running shoes into funny looking shorts, stiff shoes, and a plastic piece of head armor. Here is a picture of my new baby.

She is old but she has a young soul.
I took her out for her maiden group ride with Mario, Dan, and Christy Mae for a nice summer cruise. I hope to go for another one this weekend if we can get a crew.

The other hobby I took to quite well was concrete breaking and porch building. I always wanted a farmers porch, so I am building one. First I had to break up the old concrete portico we had on half the front of the house. It was a pain in the butt. Almost 8 cubic yards of poured concrete and cement block. I have done things that are more fun.

That's all I got.

Posted by Ryan at 7:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (35)