I’m finally back racing!! After a long break from racing, it’s great to be back.  Today I competed in the Perkinstown Snowshoe Race and finished 2nd overall.  It felt good to push myself and find out what kind of shape I’m in.  The conditions are so different from last year that it’s hard to compare time, but I was about 5 minutes faster finishing in 46:32.  The winner was about 2 minutes in front of me and 3rd place was 1 min. behind.  I felt like I could run steady, but didn’t have the ability to change pace when needed, or go with the leader.  I’m definitely happy with where I’m at right now and my chances of getting back into good racing shape.

After a very successful 2011 WDP, the fall seasons have begun.  Our athletes are in shape and ready to compete for their teams.  Thanks to everyone who participated in the program.

We had cool temps today which lead to a great tempo run for the kids.  They got off to a great start and maintained a steady pace throughout today.  I was a little concerned with the pace most of the kids started off at thinking it was too fast, but they showed a lot of mental toughness maintaining where they started.  These tempo paces are now very realistic for where we should be in mid July and will have the kids right on track for the fall season.  Our top pace was just under 6:00 per mile for 3 miles for the boys.  Our top girl was at 6:45 pace, heading into 8th grade.  I’ll look for these kids to maintain their paces now next week as we go .5 miles longer than today.

The 2011 WDP is well underway and we have 43 runners this year.  There’s a great mix of age and talent, so the kids will always have someone to run with.  This will especially help the less experienced runners push harder than they normally would on their own.  Last Wed. we had our first tempo run as the kids learn about a sustained pace and pushing themselves when they start to hurt.  This Wed. we’ll be running 2-3 miles of tempo on a tough course that will challenge the kids to maintain their composure and learn to work hard with hills.  Fridays continue to be our Fartlek/Hill day, so last Friday we got started with our hill on Butternut Rd.  The kids did a great job of pushing themselves on the up-hill portions.  This Friday they’ll do a Fartlek on the roads and trail which will give them a chance to work on changing their pace while running. 

T-shirts are in, so we’ll hand those out on Wed. and take a group picture.

Saturday was the Aspirus YMCA Duathlon, a rough day of racing for me.  I have trained very little this past year opting to spend my time with family, and it’s starting to catch-up with me.  My run splits are fine for now, but my bike split was 2mph slower than last year.  I was caught during the bike and pushed very hard to stay close, falling 25 seconds behind at T2.  Both my calves cramped coming off the bike and while putting my running shoes on.  I was able to loosen up, and luckily the guy in the lead was more of a biker than runner which allowed me to catch him early during the 2nd run.  My quads were starting to cramp over the last half mile and I was just hoping to get to the finish before they ceased up.  In the end, everything worked out and I won.  Pretty sore today though!