August 10th, 2006

A Ton of Stuff - Mostly Good; some not.

To this point, the summer has been a dream come true. In June I ran the Lake Placid Marathon in 4:03 - 30 minutes off my PB. 2 weeks ago John and I ran our first Ultra - The Damn, Wakely Dam (My time - 8:12:04). Then last week, the girls and I were in Maine. There... Sarah, Aunt Mona and I ran the Beach to Beacon 10K on Saturday 8/5, and then on Sunday, Abbe and I arrived at Baxter State Park for 3 days of backpacking - we rocked on Knife Edge! I didn't get into this year's NYC Marathon, so I quickly registered for the JFK 50M (Hagertown, MD - 11/18/06).

Our Reach the Beach 12 person relay team has had some upsets. 3 teammates dropped out due to injury. Warren replaced Tony, Tim replaced Steph, and Gove is yet to have a stand-in.

Today, I went for an ultrasound at Saratoga Hospital, and tomorrow I will learn if a mass on the right side of my groin is a cyst or inflamed lymph node. I have no pain. I felt great in the Wakely and while hiking. If surgery is indicated, I'm out of the RTB in Sept. and the JFK 50M in Nov. One day at a time...

October 14th , 2006

The Focus: JFK 50M (MD)

OK. A lot has happened (again). Updates:

1) The Mass: Fortunately, the mass in my groin was simply an enlarged lymph node at a drainage area in my groin. The swelling was caused by my body (probably) working off an infection caused by a huge bug bite on my calf.

2) 2006 Reach the Beach 210 Mile Relay Race (NH): Manoman! What a cool adventure. Elaine stepped in for Gove, everyone bested their running times, and we slugged into Hampton Beach in 32:02 (230/300 teams).

3) JFK 50M: Immediately upon finishing RTB, I continued to maintain my super long runs on the weekend as I continue to train for the JFK 50M in MD (11/18/06). Fast John and I are tackling our 2nd ultra together. We're both pretty psyched. I've already got my plane reservation. We switched our start time from 5AM to 7AM because we don't (think we) need the extra 2 hours to complete the race. And... we get to sleep in an additional 2 hrs. Tomorrow I run my longest run yet - 37 miles!

October 16th , 2006

37 Miles:

Yesterday I ran my furthest distance - 37 miles. To avoid finishing at 5PM, I ran my first 9 mi. leg beginning at 5:15 AM, my second at 8:30 AM (with Kayak Brian), and then the remaining 19 miles around Saratoga Lake with Boston Jim. My average pace was 11:10. My overall time was 7:35. I think I can (I KNOW I CAN) do the JFK 50M... in 10 hrs? In 11 hrs?

November 11th , 2006

Two weeks from today I run the JFK 50M. Last Sunday I ran the most intense 12 miles of nothing-but-hills to the start line of the second annual, Hairy Gorilla Half Marathon (Thatcher Park, NY) - all mud trails, ice cold puddles calf deep... and hills! Man was I spent ... at the beginning of the race! But, again... I recovered well and I'm on my way to running another 40 mi. week.