Run Tracker Week 7

7 weeks down of the group's first run tracker, and as we come into the holiday season its time to start thinking about 2012 and our New Year's resolution. Whether it's to finish a specific race or distance, or to just get into a consistent rhythm of your training/exercising, this group is here to help you to reach it!

Also, another great update: The new Nike Running store that opened up about 4 weeks ago right on Main St is beginning to have it's own run club! They have started to have group runs on Wednesdays(5:30pm) and Saturdays(7:30am). Meeting spot is the store: 69 Main St, Westport, CT, which is right over the bridge off post road. I attended their 2nd group run this past week and although it was pouring, there was still a decent showing! The Nike run club breaks the runs into 3 distances: 3mi, 5mi, & 7mi, all with pacers to follow. All the paths are pretty much well lit and they wind around the surrounding area of our office. I think its a great chance to be a part of a "sponsored" run club and Nike keeps it organized. AND ITS FREE!

As for our runners this week...

This past week, Joe led group A with 18 miles as he gets back into the swing of things after an ailing knee. This brought him to 16.5% of his goal and a total of 66 miles. Next was Josh who ran 3.1 miles last week to bring him up to 30% of his 100 miles goal. MC put in a late 35 minutes on Sunday after coming off her first slug week. Lastly, Betsy had her first slug week with zero miles. She was the last runner in group A that has avoided the dreaded slug of the week award so far. It was a good run (PUN INTENDED). The last 2 runners in group A are Jeff and Kelly. Jeff gets another bye week since due to his performance thus far but it wouldn't hurt for him to get to 100%. It would be a first in the group and there could be a special prize from the running gods waiting for him there. Kelly has gone on the injured reserve list until next spring. We wish her a fast recovery as always and she can now be our #1 FAN!!

 In group B, there were only 2 people who ran. This is sad :-(.  Backman ran 11 miles last week to bring him to 63% of his goal of 100 miles. The other runner was Pritch who logged 5 miles last week to put him at 41% of his 75mi goal. The others were all slugs: Cheeks, Huff, Salvioli.

**As of right now, a vote will be initiated to kick Cheeks the super-Slug off our running island unless he petitions the idea. Please send Joe an email with a yay or nay to keep him in the group going forward.**

Week 6 Run Tracker

Week 6 is complete and there are only 4 weeks left to reach your goals!! (hint: should be at 60% of goal)

 In group A there was some good and some bad. Leading the week was Josh who was one of our slugs last week. He ran 12 miles to bring him up to 27% of his goal. Next was Joe who picked up his mileage from the past week weeks logging 8 miles. Kelly came right after him putting in her last 6 miles for a while since she had her foot surgery last week. We all wish you the best of luck and a speedy recovery!! Then there was Betsy who ran 3 miles last week to leave her at 31% of her goal. Jeff still stands the closest to his goal with the club but did not run last week as he planned. For this he gets a slug pass. However, MC is not so lucky and for the first time joins our 2 other slugs this week.

In Group B, believe it not not, Pritch had the highest mileage! He ran 5 miles to bring him to 35% of his goal. Close behind him was Huff with 4 miles last week putting him at 18% of his 120 mile goal. Backman was right behind him with 3.7 miles logged. Up until this point he was on track to finish his goal but I have a feeling he can get right back next week. Mike and Cheeks both logged zero miles to join MC as slugs.

**There will be a vote next week to kick Cheeks off our running island if he decides to continue this trend.

Week 5 Run Tracker

So we are half-way through the first group run tracker and we have mixed results.

In group A we had a great surge or progress from Jeff who completed 22 miles last week to complete his annual goal of 350 miles!!! Awesome job Postman! Next we have KElly who ran 21 miles last week and that should be her last miles for a while due to her surgery she had on her foot Tuesday. She will be returning next week and we can all comment on how fashionable her boot and crutches are. Close behind her is MC who completed 136 minutes of running last week to put her at 37% of her goal. Betsy logged 4 miles last week despite a bad cold. :-(  Joe finished 5 miles last week which puts him at 10% of his goal as he tries to heal up for the final Tough Mudder of the year, a 24hr battle in the cold & wet Englishtown, NJ. Any support on Dec17th-18th is welcome. See him for details. Lastly, Josh finished with zero miles last week to be one of our 3 slugs this week.

In group B, Backman continues to be the leader after running 6 miles last week leaving him at 48% of his 100mi goal. Huff ran 5 miles after a no report week to leave him at 14% of his goal. Then we have our 4-time slug, Cheeks, who ran a 5k on Thanksgiving morning(32min)!! See him in the green shirt! I wouldnt have believed it without the picture. Great job and keep it up.

Next we have Pritch and Salvioli(2-week slug) who are our other 2 slugs of the week. Lets go boys dont let the 4-time slug show you up!!

Week 4-Run Tracker

Week 4 has come to a close and we have some decent numbers to put up. In Group A, Jeff had a great week of running with 10 miles putting him at 38% of his goal. Here is a message from him: 

I’m at 329 miles for the year.  Goal is 350 and then turn the jets off for the winter months.

I’m going to do my best to hit 350 this week and be done with 2011 Running.

Also started doing P90X for the second time to keep me in shape over the cold winter months. 

Jeff

Next is Kelly who logged 20miles last week to put her at 33% of her goal. Next is MC who ran for 107 minutes last week which puts her at 25% of her goal. Close behind her is Betsy who ran 9 miles last week leaving her at 30miles of her 120mi goal. Josh ran 3 miles last week to bring him to 15% of his goal. Finally, Joe ran zero miles last week and proudly takes his slug award with his bum knee. Next week we will see something from him.

In group B, Backman is still the ultimate leader completing 12 miles of his 100 mile goal last week leaving him at 42% of his goal. He is still the only one above his target goal. Next is Pritch who ran 5 miles last week to put him at 28% of his 75mi goal. Salvioli, Cheeks, and Huff(no report) join Joe as slugs this week. Cheeks is a 4-timer despite his upcoming turkey trot 5k on Thursday. Let us know how it goes!

 

Week 3 Run Tracker 11/14/11

Week 3 is done and we have progress from almost everyone! Well done this week!

 In group A we have Kelly leading the pack with 25.5% of her goal of 270mi complete running 27mi last week. Next is Jeff who ran 6 miles on Sunday to bring him up to 18% of his 50 mile goal. Betsy is close behind him with 17.5& of her 120mi goal complete after logging 5 miles this past week. MC also isn't far back after completing 75 minutes of running last week to put her at 16.7% of her goal. Josh bounces back from a slow week with 5 miles completed which puts him at 12% of his 100mi goal. Lastly is Joe who ran 16 miles last week, 12 of those in a Tough Mudder, leaving him at just under 9% of his goal.

In group B, Backman is still the overall leader between the groups with 30% of his goal completed after running 10 miles last week. Behind him is Pritch who had a great week of 7 miles setting him at 21% of his 75 miles goal. Next comes Megan who ran 12 miles(in the Bahamas), to put her at 18% of her goal. Yes we are all jealous of you. Then there is Salvioli-Ravioli who finally woke up after 2 weeks of slugging it up. He completed 13 miles out of his 100 mile goal which gives him the GOLD STAR AWARD!. Keep it up Mike! Next is Huff who was also coming off a slug week and ran 8 miles to put him at 10% of his 120mi goal. Lastly is our featured slug, Cheeks. He has yet to join the bandwagon and has finished this past week with NO MILES LOGGED. I think three weeks in a row deserves something special. 

Week 2 Run Tracker

Week 2 is complete and the numbers are in! For Group A Kelly is leading the pack with 21 miles completed leaving her at 15.5% of her goal. Right behind her is Betsy at 13% of her 120mi goal after doing 6 miles this past week. Next is MC who completed 95min this week towards her 1200min(20hr) goal leaving her at 10.5% of her goal. Next is Jeff. who was coming off a SLUG week, who ran 3 miles to put him at 6% of his goal of 50 miles. Joe(injured) ran 4 miles leaving him at just under 5% of his 400mi goal. Lastly is Josh, one of our slugs of the week for logging zero miles. Pick it up!!

In Group B we have David still leading the pack at 20% of his goal completed after 4 miles this week. He is the only one on track to finish his running goal of 100miles. Megan comes after him at 8.5% of her 125mi goal logging 5 miles this past week. Next is Pritch who ran 3 miles this week leaving him at 8% of his 75 mile goal. Lastly, Group B has 3 SLUGS, Salvioli and Cheeks. Thats 2 weeks in a row of zero miles for Cheeks and Salvioli!!! And I dont care if you hate the Jets & Giants, its great stress relief Mike. 

 

Week 1 Run Tracker

The results are in for week 1 of the club run tracker. Members have been broken down into 2 groups and then the groups are compared in a 3rd graph which puts the 2 groups up against each other in terms of percentage of their goals complete.

In Group A, Betsy is in the lead with just over 8% of her goal of 120mi completed. Kelly is in a close 2nd with just under 8% completed of her 270mi goal finishing the week with 21 miles. Josh completed 7 miles of his 100mi goal and Joe finished with 15 miles, who is now injured hoping to heal before some upcoming races. MC ran for a 1/2hour to complete 2.5% of her 20hr goal and Jeff has jointly won the slug of the week award after logging zero runs.

In group B, David had a great week logging 16 miles putting him at the top spot this week at 16% completed. Pritch is at 8% of his 75mi goal running 6 miles this week followed by Megan, who ran 5.5 miles putting her at 4% of her 125mi goal. Huff ran 4 miles last week leaving him at 3% of his 120mi goal for the week. And lastly, Cheeks and Ravioli tie Jeff for the slugs of the week award with zero runs as well.

 Group A is slightly ahead this week even though Group B has the top runner of the week. The 2 slugs from Group B hurt them.

Bimblers Bluff 50k race report (Joe)

It's over. And it hurts....

My first ultramarathon is complete and all the training and preparation paid off. The day before the race i did everything to keep my mind off the race so as to not psych myself out: worked on the car for a few hrs, mass amounts of laundry, etc...). Thankfully it worked and i went on to prepare my list of medical supplies, food and gear for the race.  Once that was done i felt much better about toeing the line the next day.I also woke up with a pinched nerve in my neck and i couldn't look left which put me in the dumps a bit about my condition for the race.

5am arrived and I popped out of bed like a kid on caffeine. Coffee brewing, eggs boiling, got showered, packed the car and was off! After about an hour drive up to Guilford in the dark, we got to the school where the start/finish area was. I checked in and began with my pre-race preparations which included gobs of vaseline, stuffing my packs with Gu's and fighting with my bib number to put it on my shorts straight. 

An hour later, everyone(about 125 people) was corralled into the start area where we all join in on singing the national anthem together, and then with a very nonchalantly :"on your mark, get set, go" we were off. One guy was singing away some classic rock song (I think) while we looped the field to break up the runners before hitting the single-track trails.

start

crossing street to aid 1/5

 I was pretty familiar with the 1st part of the race (the stick) as i had ran it a few times in sections. The course is in a lollipop shape. We race north up "the stick" to the single loop and then back south down the "stick." As the field spreads out a bit and we pass by the first aid station 2.5 miles in, I try to tell myself to slow down so as to not kill myself in the first parts of the race. My ego was fighting me as I let runners pass me but i swallowed my pride and knew i could pass them later on. It was going to be a long day.

powering up Bluff head

The single track turned into a dirt road for about 5-7 miles until we reached the 2nd aid station at Bluff head. I had Bridget and my sis, Julia as my crew with my bags of stuff and i saw them at the first station cheering me on but didnt see them at #2. I shrugged it off, filled up my bottle and continued on. I made the turn back onto the course and all i saw was a 45 degree climb up the side of the mountain. I got halfway up and to my surprise was the crew girls waiting for me! I waved them off (as i did a few more times during the race) and continued the climb up Bluff head.

aid 3

This part of the race was much more technical that the rest of the course. Walking was a necessity in many parts just so i didnt take a dive onto a bed of sharp rocks. At this point i met up with a guy from Rhode Island, Kenny, who was doing his 2nd 50k. From that point on we ran together until the last aid station. The 3rd aid station(1/2way point) showed up after a short bit that passed through some horse farms and a quick road section. A small bichon dog actually followed us at this point for about a quarter mile. About 2 minutes after i left the 3rd aid station i realized i had lost my ipod which was tracking my mileage. I didnt have the energy to turn around and thankfully it was returned to me by a fellow runner!!!

aid 4

8miles to next aid

After some more rocky sections and winding through more thick woods aid station 4 appeared out of nowhere and my crew had literally just gotten there with my gear. I took another Gu and advil from them as my left knee had begun to bother me. At this point my legs were beginning to cramp intermittently and i needed to keep moving. Kenny took almost no time here and gained about 100 yards on me. I kept him within view until we reached the stick again and i caught back up. From aid station 4 to 5 was 8 miles and it seemed like an eternity. The company of another runner really helped and as we approached the last station, i had a bit of adrenaline kick in and i created a cushion between Kenny and I

2.5mi to go!!

I arrived at aid 5 with the crowd cheering, cowbells ringing, and signs telling us that there were only 2.5 miles left. LONGEST 2.5miles of my life. I powered through the parking lot, crossed the street and back into the single track. By this point my right leg was stiffening up and i was praying i wouldn't trip in this last section. I did have a slight trip but didnt quite fall, thanks to a very sturdy tree that caught me halfway to the dirt.

finish

As i neared the finish line, i could hear cars passing by on the parallel road and i saw several hikers on their way out. As i came into the finish i took a last look at my watch and realized that i had accomplished my goal of racing under 6 hours with a time of 5hrs 42min. I felt beat up but accomplished. I got 19th place overall and 2nd in my age division!! I was being fed pretzels, candy corn, apple cider and an assortment of other great foods, however, my stomach was not up for a feast at that moment. Not until later that day was i able to put down some solids without upsetting my stomach.

My first ultra was a great adventure and i hope to do more in the future. My appreciation for those who do 50mi and even 100mi races has increased 10 fold and i aspire to be at that level one day.

 

crew gals!

I thank the race director Jerry, and my crew, Bridget and Julia for supporting me and cheering me on the whole race. It really meant a lot that they came to keep my spirits up.

Monday Update 10/24/11 (Pilot)

The pilot run tracking program is complete and here are the results:

          Marycatherine came on top finishing with 113% of her 2 week goal of 4hrs completed. In second was Joe with 97% of his 72 mile goal after a LONG Sunday on the trails for his 50k. Betsy was next with 17/20 miles completed after a great week with 10.9miles completed. Pritchard was right behind her with 61% of his goal of 20 miles completed. And lastly, Jeff finished the 2 weeks with 9 miles after a trip to Chicago last week.