Road Trip/Last Of The Pagan Trilogy

If it,s the second weekend of October it,s Masters XC 5K C,ship.....road trip!
Last year I finally made it up to Saratoga upstate New York to run my first Masters XC Nationals{in 06 I had ran my first ever XC Nationals in Van Cortlandt Park}but untill 2 weeks ago hadn,t planned to trek down to Greensboro N.Carolina for the 08 chapter,however in lite of my victory at 5th Avenue Mile and 20.12 xc 6k at Osprey I felt ditching Radnor Steplechase 5k xc in favour of the big dance was fitting,ergo meeting up w/ Chuck,Joan H,Bryant and Chantel at 39th and Spruce at 10.10am b4 meeting up w/ car#2 in Deleware where Bill,Bob,Andy and Joan A Joined us,next stop Greensboro!!,Chuck,s not much for stopping on route,we made excellent time just like we did in 06 on the way to Charlotte,one rest room stop 5 hours into the trip and a stop for gas....and a book....and a heating pad.....and Advil for Joan H and b4 6pm we were in Greensboro.
After check in and in my case a shower and shave it was off to dinner at a nearby Italian eatery,it,s a sad reflection on my life..........or lack there of that on this the 41st Saturday of the year this was only my 6th one out,three of which were running related,I,m not a role model,nor a social animal...anti social maybe!!!
Irrigardless of my lack of Saturday nites out it,s always fun to sit and break bread w/ my team mates,most of whom I don,t see too often,aside from Chuck whom I see on a near weekly basis the rest of the gang had been MIA for a while since I tend to swim in track and xc circles only these days.
Post meal it was back to the room to catch the Dawson Tarver fight on Showtime,the top of the 7th innings between the Devil Rays and my beloved Red Sox b4 lights out.
W/ my inner clock going off half an hour b4 the alarm at 7am I was up showered and dressed and over to the lobby for breakfast w/ Chuck,Bob and Bill,race time wasn,t for another 3 and a 1/2 hours yet so given last nites dinner had left me still hungry I made sure sure to tuck into a hearty breakfast,though I nearly came to regret a second sausage biscuit at mile 2 of the race....
Over to nearby Hagen Stone Park by 9.15am which allowed for ample time to get our race # and tshirts and jog the course,a 2 and a 1/2 mile romp through the woods at a predominatly down hill rate,I think the first uphill wasn,t till 1 and 3/4 miles,I was fairly sure this was going to be a fast course.
As we made our way to the start Chuck and I shook hands and wished each other luck,Chuck thanked me for coming down to race this,as I told him I wouldn,t have missed this for the world dispite a year long leaning towards the Radnor race I wanted to be here,w/ the 09 race further south in Petersburg Florida who knows maybe next year I,ll get to do the Radnor Steplechase XC 5K race afterall these years!!
My game plan was simple in order to go sub 17 min and hopefully crack the top 10 I,d have to go out fast w/ the lead pack from the gun,w/ hindsight maybe I went out too fast,these days I,m conditioned to an all out mile and that,s it,none of this 5k lark,heading into the woods I was third behind the eventual runner up Birger Ohlsson and 4th place finisher Francis Burdett,eventual winner John Hinton and third place finisher Armando Oliveira passed me not long after,knowing that three of those four were in the 40-44 age group I knew an overall age group award was shot but frankly looking at the entry list coming into this meet my honest beliefe was a top 10 finish would be to my credit.
5.08 at the mile,having not ran any road races as such in the past two years{I did a marathon relay last Sept and lead off the 10k portion b4 a 5k post Saratoga last Oct}I had to recondition myself to "let out the clutch" on the down hills,when I did I felt I ate up the ground.
After John and Armando had passed me I stopped counting where I was,a handful of runners passed me as I reached mile 2 in 10.51,a 5.43 mile,the brisk early pace had caught up w/ me but the strenght from my mile repeats and speed from my 600m and 1,000m was going to carry through the final 1.1 mile.
Thanks to some cat like reflexes just after 2 miles I managed to get myself upright after clipping a tree root,I managed to throw out my right had to spare me a face plant,I lost maybe 15 strides as I had to adjust to the stumble but knowing I was less than a mile from home found it easy to dig deep.
Making the turn along the road out of the woods I was reminded it was now 900m to the finish,just as Chuck came up along side me on the inside,given there were questions re the validity of the lenght of the course was I now about to lose my shot at the course record and another notch in the GPTC record book?....!@#* NO!!!,I charged up the second to last uphill putting not only daylite between Chuck and I but also passing another runner,along that straight away I wondered if I,d gone too early?,was my move made w/ enough conviction?did I have it in me to go again if Chuck came back at me?
Up the second to last hill,tight left hand turn,3/4s up the last incline,tight right hand turn,and the straight away to the finish.....here,s where it got interesting,Conor O Driscoll was making his move on Chuck,yelling to his team mate John Cummings ahead of me to go....Chuck then yelled at me to get going after John,in the final 50 meters I passed John,Conor passed Chuck as we formed a nice GPTC/Westchester Track Club sandwich!!!,me 13th in 16.49,John 14th in 16.50,Conor 15th in 16.54,Chuck 16th in 16.55,a track race broke out at he finish of a XC meet!!!
Yep 16.49.4,it,s at the very least a course record,it remains to be seen if it,ll count as a 5k pr/club record,I,m hoping so,I have other XC 5Ks on tap but not on a course as fast or as flat as this.
For GPTC we had to settle for 5th overall,I thought we had a shot a third at least but mad props to Westchester TC for winning the whole fecking thing,I say that w/ mad props and much respect as I know three of their five runners John Cummings,Pat McCarthy and Conor O Driscoll are Irish and frankly so might be their other two guys Rob Sweeney and Jay Duggan,I guess if you,re not Irish you must at least have an Irish name to run w/ these boyos...........I,d be in on both counts then wouldn,t I!!!!
I hung w/ the Westchester team post race,as we say back home "the craic was good"....Francis may not agree since he bore the brunt of most of our piss taking but he,s a big lad and he can take it,besides he had a 4th place overall finish and 3rd in the 40-44 age group to cheer about.
When I took my third run of the course this time as my cool down I was able to get my head around the fact I,d ran a 16.49,finished 13th overall and 9th in my the 40-44 age group,all 8 guys ahead of me were younger and my time would,ve gotten me 4th in the 45-49 group,I set out to run sub 17 and finish top 10,I,d almost pulled it off,not bad for a non 5k guy be it track or xc,I,d left some good 5k guys in my wake.
It was a long ride home but the mood was light hearted, we offered Birger a ride to Philly on his way to New York,we at GPTC have a great rapport w/ the guys at CPTC and I,d like to think if one of us needed a ride they,d hook us up.
After today I hope the bond between us and Westchester will be as good as the one we share w/ CPTC and Shore AC,I,ve known Conor for years and post race John Cummings told me he reads my blog.............fair play,he also said he was putting my photo on his dart board to remind him of the day I "ran be him like a feckin Gazelle" to the finish,good on ya my celtic brother,I look forward to hearing from you soon.
That,s it for the road trip,my final thought comes from Snorri Sturluson,s ''Prose Edda' it reads
"Those who do not belong to it,and whose native land it is not,cannot endure it.
The one who sits there at the Lands End to guard the gates is called Dark Surt.
He has a flaming sword,and at the end of the world he will come,he will harry,and he will vanquish all the Gods and burn the whole world w/ fire"
Yes he,s talking about 13th century Pagan Iceland,but frankly it could be Ireland as far as I,m concerned,if you,re not from it,and it,s not your native land you cannot endure it.......
Erin Go Bragh
Slainte

Road Trip Alert

Well it,s late but I,m back from Greensboro w/ tales to tell of an amazing weekend, however such tales will have to keep till tomorrow when I can do them justice but rest assured it,ll be worth it.
It,s been a long day but a fruitful one and tomorrow I,ll be happy to fill in all the details but for now this tired savage celtic black hearted pagan is off to bed,5am is gonna come around a tad too quick for my liking.....and I don,t have Columbus Day off either....

Music Soothes The Savage Beast/Road To Valhala

Just a few {hopefully}well chosen words b4 I depart for Greensboro in the next hour and a quarter,since I,m sans laptop till years end no chance to write this on the road which would,ve been very Jack Kerouac of me don,t you think.....
After several weeks where my running and life had been enjoying an almost aerodynamic smooth sailing ride I hit some turbulance this week...........maybe that,s why life and automobiles should come fully loaded w/ airbags and one should always wear ones seat belt!,that said as I,m oft prone to say !@#$ .......sorry,once a Savage Celtic Black Hearted Pagan,always a Savage Celtic Black Hearted Pagan!!!,in running as is in life you must face your adversities head on and deal w/ them,no ducking the issues.
Music plays a major role in my life,I,d put it right next to my running so that,s why last nites Grace Potter & The Nocturnals show was SO right on time,I have to give mad props and much pagan respect to the opening act Cornmeal who were...........frankly freakin awesome!seriously peeps when did you last see a band comprized of a drummer,guitar,banjo,upright bass and fiddle,and boy could that girl play a mean fiddle.....phew,I,ll check Cornmeal out again,prehaps you should too.
As for Grace & The Nocturnals...........there,s a reason why"Somewhere In Time"is one of the few whole cds on my ipod but as great as they sound on cd you have to see/hear them live,their rousing cover of''Paint It Black"to end their set will resonate w/ me foreverI,ve caught them three time in the past eigthteen months and each time I feel I,ve left the show feeling I,ve cheated the venue cos they were way more value for money than I paid for my ticket,again don,t take my word for it check them out,here,s hoping a live cd/dvd is in the works soon.
And so to XC Masters Nationals,yeah it,s a gamble on my part to test the waters at a distance and forum outside of my comfort level,but what,s life w/out taking the odd risk or two?in some respects I feel I,ve nothing to lose,I,m not expected to be right up there at the finish but hell if I aint gonna do my damnedest to make sure I am,yeah I,m willing to put my growing reputation on the line tomorrow,playing safe is not my forte,granted to bet the house would be foolish but since I am playing w/ house money why not have at it and see where the chips may fall??
When I return from Greensboro I will of course write an honest account of the race,clearly I,m not coming out and saying where I think I,ll finish and or what time I,ll run but I will report back on how I did and if I reached my own expectation level or fell short and since like all races I feel I,m marching into battle here,s a little battle anthem to stir the ole Savage Celtic Pagan blood...................
"March or croak,flame and smoke,burn forever in eternal pain,charge and fall,bugal call,bone splinter in the driving rain.
Horses scream,Viking dream,drowned heroes in a lake of blood,armoured fist,severed wrist,broken spears in a sea of mud.
Sword and shield,bone and steel,rictus grin,deaf forever till the battles din"
Motorhead
Deaf Forever

Heavy Words So Lightly Thrown

You can thank or blame Morrissey for that line,it,s from The Smiths song "What Difference Does It Make",ironic really given that it,s"GFO"time{game face on}ergo a healthy/unhealthy dose of the 3 Ms,Motorhead,Maiden,Metallica.........I also crank up some Zakk Wylde/Black Label Society but I couldn,t work an M into that...............well I could............but my mother reads this blog so let,s not go there shall we.............
All quiet all the western front today,can probably thank Yom Kippur for that,having put in all the hard work this week w/ training it,s also important that the "outside the lines" stuff,relaxation,nutrition,hydration,relaxation are also taken care of in a week that saw my heckles raised both personally and professionally it,s important to put all that behind me now and focus on Sundays race.
A nice easy 5 miler this evening,followed by dinner and an evening at the TLA to check out Grace Potter And The Nocturnals,I saw them twice last year and they rocked so I,m confident of more of the same this evening as I look to get my weekend off to a rip roaring start.
So I,ve opened w/ The Smiths and Closed w/ Grace Potter,the calm music has taken the edge off but just like I proved yesterday when the dock plate went into orbit,I haven,t gone 100% soft as the "Dark Surt" "Savage Celtic Black Hearted Pagan'' in me slowly starts revving up,as is my won,t a little 13th century "Prose Edda" to keep things ticking over.............
Surtur from the south wielding fire,the gods sword shine in the darkness,like stars in the night.
Mountains collapse into rubble and fiends shall fall.
Man walks the road to ruin as the sky splits in two"
Snorri Sturluson

Old Pagans Never Mellow

When I began spouting Paganisms at the end of the end of yesterdays blog I was refereing to my running..............or so I thought,the savage in savage celtic black hearted pagan rose to the fore today,maybe some residual anger from the other day,maybe smarting from the difference of opinions GP and I shared from last nites repeats,either way,I was way more vocal in my displeasure of things today than I have been for a while....and it,s also been a while since I,ve thrown anything at work,today the dock plate got thrown off the dock following an hour of biblical meyhem that had me bewitched,bothered and bewildered.
As for my run,an easy 5 mile recovery run the tonic after a day from hell plus an easy run after last nites hard work 4/4 sub 5 min mile repeats.
As for GP and I, we saw things differently after last nite and that,s ok,we don,t have to agree on everything we shared a healthy exchange of opinions and moved on,I,m still his athlete,he,s still my coach,life goes on.
An easy 5 mile run manana,hopefully a quieter day at work.....and no thrown dock plates

Unconventional....Moi?

Following a purging of my soul yesterday it was back to business today,effectivly doing what I do best,run and running what I consider to be my best repeat, 4x1 mile repeats.
Saturdays performance was always going to be a hard act to follow,much like snowflakes no two repeats are every alike but I was hell bent on putting my best foot forward and going for it.
Conditions were once again close to picture perfect right down to virtually having the track to myself which always aids and abets any repeat workout.
Repeat#1,72,78,77,68-4.55.05,an impressive start if I say so myself,although the 68 second final lap and subsequent 4.55.05,were going to make a compleat carbon copy repeat in desending order a hard act to follow.
Repeat#2,77,78,78,65-4.58.89,my streak of 72 second opening laps had come to an end{like all good thing must}and I wondered if I was guilty of thinking it was all becoming too easy to step out onto the track and crank out a sub 5 min mile,the moment you begin to think that is the moment you have to work for it,ergo the closing lap of 65 seconds.
Repeat#3,77,78,80,65-4.59.55,phew skin of my teeth time!!realized it wasn,t a mental lapse on the previous opening lap and prehaps fatigue was becoming a factor,I,d said to GP over the phone yesterday that mile repeats on a work day evening over mile repeats first thing on a weekend throw up all sorts of different propersitions,it,s been a while since a 80 second lap graced my mile repeats..........it,s also been a while since I closed in 65 seconds on anything other than a closing lap of a closing mile
Repeat#4,76,78,78,64-4.56.49,another 4/4 sub 5 min mile repeat session albeit the hard way but the end result is more often than not the thing we remember rather than how it was gained.
Granted tonite was a tad rollercoasterish for my taste and dare I say it GP,s but the fact my closing laps of 68,65,64,64 were something to behold,I,ll have to see if "Dibble"sees it that way!
The hard part of my training week is done,recovery and easy 5 milers the next to days b4 a travel day to Greensboro and Masters National XC 5K,I ,m fairly sure that the old ipod and discman wil be getting loaded up w/ Motorhead,Mettalica,Maiden and Black Label and I,ll be reading from "The Prose Edda" over the next few days,yes folks I,m preparing to march into battle onto the killing fields of North Carolina.

Tales From The Cryptic One

Other titles I considered were "Doh","All That Gliters Is Not Gold","What Were You Thinking" and "When Are You Going To Ever Learn'' now b4 anybody jumps down my throat and says this is meant to be a running blog not a psudo "Dear Abby" blog I,m getting to the running it just that YET again life proved today like it often does that when you drop your guard for a split second you,re likely to get sucker punched.
My non running friends often ask how I do what what I do,the answer is simple,running for me is the easy part it,s all the other stuff,life on life,s terms that what I find hard,I thought it was meant to get easier as you got older,I guess not.
For a few day it felt like life was immitating art for me,suddenly life got a little too real and as is often the case reality set in,see that,s my problem,in running when I have a good day I enjoy it for that day and the next day it,s back to the start,in life I had a couple of good,dare I say exceptional days and suddenly I lost sight of things,I don,t allow that to happen w/ my running,I,ve often said in running I,m fortunate enough to have a coach,prehaps in life I need a life coach cos clearly left to my own devices I,m my own worst enemy,prior today I,d have felt compelled to make some pithy comment about pleases feel free to email me your resume so I can pick the best applicant for the job,however in lite of events over the past few days clearly I attract your average rent a loony/scam artist like a lite attracts a moth.
In closing I,ll say this much,my 5 mile recovery run this evening felt right on time,the sun is going to come up again tomorrow and hopefully the "karma police" are only going to issue me w/ a stern warning.
Life can beautiful,it can be a bitch,it can be easy ,it can be hard,is it too much to want the beautiful easy life......

I,ve got my feet on the street but I can,t stop flying,my head,s in the cloud but at least I,m trying"
"Shock Of The Lightning"
Oasis