Good week overall. Managed to get the mileage total (55) pretty close to past weeks. Mostly road runs, some of which were pretty fast. The jewel of the week was an 8.7 miler on Friday at 6:17 pace. Also, great trail run today. Sunday marked the 40th day of my running streak.

2.1.10

It’s nice to start the week with only two hours of classes, as it means you can get in a decent amount of miles to kickstart the week. Runs were at 7:30 am and 12:30 pm. As a general rule, morning runs are at whatever pace feels comfortable. The legs are usually much more warmed up late morning or early afternoon.

Morning: Ran 4.3 @ 7:14/mile (31:08)

AHR/MHR- 152/166

Afternoon: Ran 7.03 @ 6:47/mile (47:45)

AHR/MHR- 155/174

Cooldown: 0.44 miles

Total for day: 11.77 miles

2.2.10

Tuesdays/Thursdays I have 4.5 hours of classes. The first isn’t until 9:40, so I can usually convince myself to do a few miles before breakfast. I have a three hour break in the day, but I”m often doing work/writing during that time, so second run is less likely. Just a morning run here.

Ran 4.16 @ 7:24/mile (30:52)

AHR/MHR- 144/169

Total for day: 4.16

2.3.10

No class till 11, so no excuse really to not do a morning run. That said, some days you just don’t feel it. And when you run a pretty sweet 10 miler at 2:30 in the afternoon, you’re not inclined to argue with yourself.

Ran 10.15 @ 6:47/mile (1:08:56)

AHR/MHR- 158/184

Total for day: 10.15

2.4.10

Just a morning run again. They may not be glamorous, but they keep the streak going.

Ran 5.10 @ 7:18/mile (37:19)

AHR/MHR- 154/183

Total for day: 5.10

2.5.10

11 am seems to be a bit of a sweet spot for running, at least this day. Really proud of this run, pretty much hauled the entire time. Like that heartrate too. Originally this was just going to be another 10 miler, but when it turned into a something of a tempo run I pulled up a bit before the nine mile mark. Man, this run felt good.

Ran 8.70 @ 6:18/mile (54:50)

AHR/MHR- 173/198

Cooldown: 0.90

Total for day: 9.60 miles

2.6.10

Spent the day at Walden Pond, so got in a few miles before meeting for breakfast. Was dark by the time we got back, returned the rental cars, etc, so opted out of a second run. So just the usual morning slog. 

Ran 4.32 @ 7:34/pace (32:44)

AHR/MHR- 144/166

Total for day: 4.32 miles

2.7.10

The sole trail run of the week. The trails were icier than last week, so the run was slow. But very fun. Checked out my friend Spruce Hole Bog again, and just wandered around. Had to go off-trail a lot because of icy patches, so the run had some nice bushwhack moments. Wanted 10 miles, ran 10 miles. Almost all trail, except for first half mile and the final mile or so.

Ran 10.01 @ 9:12/mile (1:32:17)

AHR/MHR- 146/170

Total for day: 10.01 miles

Total for week: 55.11 miles

Average per day: 7.87 miles

Average per run: (8 runs) 6.89 miles

Total for February: 55.11 miles

Total for year: 309.06 miles

Today I led an outing club trip to Walden Pond in Concord, MA. This was the second time I visited. The first was back in May, which I wrote about here. That too was an outing club trip. One of the freshmen in the club knew I had gone to Walden Pond and wanted to go, so I agreed to lead it with him.

That trip was, as stated, in May, wheras this was the first weekend in February. Big difference. But not necessarily a bad thing. The trip in May worked out even better than I had hoped. We had a great group, people really content to just wonder around the site where Thoreau lived for two years and two months.

That trip was in the middle of spring. We walked around the pond, had a vegan, primary locally-produced picnic lunch (Thoreau supported vegetarianism…) at the end of Emerson Cliff Trail, got our feet wet in the pond, then checked out Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, which contains the famed “Author’s Ridge” containing the graves of Thoreau, Emerson, Alcott, and Hawthorne (Concord was quite the intellectual center back in the early and mid 1800s).

But winter brings a different tale. It was 22 degrees while we were there. The pond was completely frozen over, so instead of being confined to the perimeter of it, we were free to wonder around on top of it. It really brought a whole new perspective to the place. Slipping and sliding around on the pond, then once again took the trail around the pond (which was actually icier than the pond itself, as strange as that sound). We saw the replica cabin, we saw the site of the original set back in the woods.

It was a shorter visit. 22 degrees means cold toes and fingers, even when they’re protected. We returned to the car, and stood with the trunk of the car open, sandwich fixings spread out, scarfing down pb&j and (for some) ham sandwiches. Maybe not as environmentally friendly and “nature-y,” but I like to think Thoreau could have appreciated the moment too.

We went back to the cemetery again. I like old cemeteries. Back then, they laid them out on the hilliest section of town, so you’d have ridges of valleys and graves, interspersed with trees and pathways. They’re quite scenic. Now, they plan them so they’re as easy to mow and maintain as possible. They don’t have trees. I think Thoreau would probably be glad he’s in the former. 

The other post has the pictures of the replica, the grave markers, etc. I found what really attracted me this time was the ice, the overcast “february morning” feel of the sky, and the presence of people in an absolutely beautiful spot. 

Walking the trail around the pond.

Not sure exactly how the cleared line formed. I like that it wavers at the end and directs your eyes to the opposite shore.

Stone marking the spot of the foundation for the chimney at the original site of Thoreau’s cabin.

Walking on the pond.

Someone had cut out a section of the ice on the pond. It’s sideways, so the depth of the ice is the width of the piece in the picture. That said, we still found it pretty impressive.

Walking out onto the ice. I like the affect of primarily people in the foreground, and ice in the background.

Update (2/6): List has been removed. NFI Research says they’re working on updating the list to include list from other colleges within UNH, and presumably remove some of those below. 

Note: This blog post is an open letter to NFI Research. For background, according to NFI’s website, “NFI Research is a U.S.-based research firm that identifies and analyzes trends and attitudes in business, organizational management, information technology and organizational behavior.” The CEO of NFI Research is a professor in UNH’s Whittemore School of Business and Economics (WSBE).

Dear NFI research,

On Friday, I became aware of a new list posted on your website entitled “Top UNH Students on Twitter.” I became aware of the article when it was tweeted by some of the people I follow. I am an avid user of Twitter, and also a student at the University of New Hampshire, so I clicked the link with interest.

I did this because, despite Twitter’s search function, it is often hard to find people on twitter, especially when you don’t have specific names but are just looking for people and/or organizations at or associated with UNH. I welcomed the possibility of finding a comprehensive list of UNH students who were on the popular social media site. And yes, I also wondered if I was on it.

I particularly liked the fact that the criteria for getting onto the “Top UNH Students on Twitter” list were listed at the top. The criteria listed were: 1) full time students at UNH, 2) use Twitter to advance/promote communication with their community and 3) have a proportionate number of followers to following. I was glad to see these criteria, which confirmed my belief that there is more to being successful on twitter than just amassing a large number of followers in whatever way possible.

However, when I looked over the list, one thing was obvious. Of the 35 students listed, 34 were WSBE students (the other belong to UNH’s College of Health and Human Services). It was impossible not to note that the CEO of NFI research was a professor in WSBE.

It was at this point that I feared that this was not the comprehensive list that I was hoping for. I follow a few UNH students and none were on the list, though I believe they meet the criteria presented.

I, myself, am a full-time student at UNH, majoring in Environmental Conservation Studies with a planned double major in English/Journalism (I’ve got to wait a few weeks until I can officially declare that second one). I believe I use twitter to advance/promote communication with their community. As a staff writer for The New Hampshire, UNH’s student newspaper, I use my twitter account to post details about things I’ve learned in the midst of my reporting, as well as links to the ultimate articles themselves. I do the same for the articles I have written freelance. Additionally, I use my account as one might expect, to converse with friends and keep updated on the news of the day. Finally, I currently have 85 (as of 8 pm Feb. 5th) followers and follow 136 people, which I believe is more than reasonable enough to satisfy the third criteria.

The list, to its credit, also included the note: “This list is updated regularly so if any students would like to be added, please send information to [email address deleted]. I began to seriously contemplate doing so, as my numbers would have placed me at #8 on the list.

Before I did so, I decided to go through the list and see who had been included. In doing so, I found some glaring statistics that make me question the “Top UNH Students on Twitter” designation.

My questions started with #1 on the list, who, although managing to gain 1284 followers, had not tweeted since June 12th, 2009 (All of the following dates and numbers are as of 8 pm Feb 5th). I would suggest that a person who has not tweeted in over six months should not be included in such a list, as they are not currently using Twitter to advance/promote communication with their community, which was presented as the second criteria for making the list.

Unfortunately this was not the only questionable inclusion, in my opinion. I have included others below. I have referred to them simply by their ranking on the list, as I felt that was the best method.

6) Has not tweeted since December 15th, 2009 (a period of more than 1.5 months)

9) The link for this person does not work

13) Only tweeted once, on Sept 14^th 2009 (all further dates below refer to 2009)

16) Has not tweeted since Oct 22^nd

19) Has not tweeted since Dec 11th

22) Has not tweeted since Dec 10^th

24) Has not tweeted since August 18^th

25) Has only ever tweeted three times, last tweet was Sept 21^st

26) 10 Tweets, last April 7^th

27) 8 Tweets, last Dec 22^nd

28) Click on the link and it brings you to person #27

29) 5 Total Tweets, last Aug 29^th

31) 7 Tweets in 3 months, last Dec 7^th

32) Has only tweeted 8 times, recently restarted after a 5 month gap

34) 2 Tweets total, both in Sept 2009

35) 5 Tweets, last on Nov 20^th

As I have noted above, I have two objections to this. First, I believe the list fails to represent the UNH population as a whole, as I know people who should qualify outside of WSBE. Additionally, a vast number of the included people seem to fail the second criteria.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter.

TMG

I’ve had four front page articles in the first three issues of The New Hampshire (TNH) this semester. Not sure if I can necessarily keep that up…

For the first one, published Friday Jan 29th, I found a local and scientific angle to the tragedy and haiti and talked to UNH professors and New Hampshire’s state geologist to see if a major earthquake could happen in New England.

Thanks to a drought of articles (okay fine, my excellent writing…), I had two articles on the front page of this past Tuesday’s issue (Feb 2nd). For the lead one, I did a Q&A piece with Kathleen Merrigan, the US Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, following a presentation she gave on UNH’s campus concerning the USDA’s “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” program. I also interviewed Harlan Spence, the new director of UNH’s Institute for Earth, Oceans, and Space, and wrote up a profile on him and his vision for EOS. 

And finally, for today’s issue, I wrote about the conversion of the New England Center Hotel and Conference Center, which is closing June 30th for financial reasons, to student housing for the upcoming fall semester, which will add some much needed beds to the on-campus housing crunch.

Whew…four front page articles in three issues. I think I’ll…start working on my piece for Tuesday’s issue.

1.25.10

Got into Durham at 12:30 am, managed to be up and out for a run around 8:30 am or so. Surprisingly warm, probably upper 30s at time of run, got close to 50 for the day’s high. Road run.

Ran 7.00 @ 7:18/mile (51:06)

AHR/MHR- 155/174

Total for day: 7.00

1.26.10

First day of classes. Ran once around 8 am and once around 1 pm. Both road runs. Upper 30s/mid 40s again. Added together, got in some nice miles for the day.

Morning: Ran 4.47 @ 7:35/mile (33:58)

AHR/MHR- 147/160

Afternoon: Ran 8.22 @ 6:56/mile (57:03)

AHR/MHR- 155/167

Cooldown: 0.51 miles

Today for day: 13.20

1.27.10

Morning road run. Still not too cold.

Ran 5.57 miles @ 7:31/mile (41:53)

AHR/MHR- 144/160

Cooldown: 0.56 miles

Total for day: 6.13

1.28.10

Fairly busy day, only time for morning road run once again.

Ran 4.07 @ 7:05/mile (28:52)

AHR/MHR- 150/166

Total for day: 4.07

1.29.10

Cold. Temps in the mid teens, windchill below zero (and this was in the afternoon). Road run. Surprisingly fast pace despite, or perhaps because of, the cold. Quite pleased.

Ran 10.07 @ 6:46 pace  (1:08:14)

AHR/MHR- 160/177

Total for day: 10.07

1.30.10

Late morning trail run. Pace slow b/c of ice and terrain, but wasn’t looking to hit any certain pace. Trail conditions not too bad. Ran out to Spruce Hole bog and back, putzed around a bit at the end to get over ten miles for the run. Cold again, 6 degrees at start and 14 at end, but wasn’t an issue.

Ran 10.01 @ 8:54 pace (1:29:09)

AHR/MHR- 146/167

Total for day: 10.01

1.31.10

Morning run, 7 degrees at start. Still have yet to give in to wearing anything other than shorts. Not sure if that’s a good thing… Looking to do close to 10, ended up with 9.4, pleased with that. Road run once again on the usual out-and-back route.

Ran 9.43 @ 7:01/mile (1:06:11)

AHR/MHR- 161/179

Total for day: 9.43

Total for week: 59.91 miles

Total for January: 253.95 miles

January Average: 8.19 miles/day

I’ve added another race to the plan for the coming months. The Half at the Hamptons is a half marathon (13.1 miles) that will be held in Hampton, NH on Sunday, February 21st, 2010. The race will be a month out out from the Shamrock Marathon, which I’ll be running March 21st, so it should be a good tune up race.

My twitter account actually saved me on this one. I was going to decide whether to run the half closer to the event, but then ClubLoco, who hosts the event, tweeted the other day that registration would be closing today, Jan 3oth, at 9 pm. So suddenly, I was forced to make up my mind and I’m not officially registered. But if I wasn’t on Twitter, there’s no way I would have heard about it…

According to the race site, the average temperature on a February day is 35 degrees with an 8-10 mph wind. When I started running this morning, the temperature was six degrees, so 35 sounds absolutely amazing.

The plan is to try to beat my half marathon PR (1:26:25) I set at my first (and only) attempt at the distance, in November. Although I was definitely doing some running, training before that wasn’t nearly as regimented as it has been recently (I’ve run every day since December 30th…think I’m going to end up averaging about eight miles a day in January…).

Which brings me to a thought. My training now is actually more than I did in high school, when running pretty much consumed me. And I really don’t want to be quoting PRs (that personal record, if anyone’s wondering) that are from back when I was 16 (like my current 5k PR). I also want to get into the longer races, which is why I’m doing the marathon and why I’m mildly obsessed with the thought ultramarathons.

So a thought…would it be possible to break or set a new PR for every distance I’ve ever run or want to (say 800 meters to a 50 miler), say, by the time I turn 21 (19 months away…End of August 2011)? I’m wondering. That’d be:

-sub 2:26 for 800 meters (if you’ve ever run track, even mediocrely, you know that is horrible)

-sub 5:00 1600 meters (1 mile)

-sub 10:24 3200 meters (2 miles)

-sub 16:35 5K (3.1 miles…about 5:20/mile)

-sub 36:30 10K (only 8 seconds off this last week)

-sub 1:26:25 13.1 miles

-a completed marathon (26.2 miles)

-a completed 50K (31 miles)

-a completed 50 miler (ummm…50 miles…duh)

Possible? I wonder.

P.S. If I did commit to a challenge like that, I think I’d have to call it “Project 21.” Even if that is also the name of the National Leadership Network of Black Conservatives.

Tentative title for above photo: ‘Chilling’ with the Spruce Hole Bog. It went up 8 degrees on the run…from 6 F to 14 F… 

Back in early December, I was out for a run (as I often am) on some of the trails that connect up with the network in College Woods. Suddenly I came across this sign, which I had never seen before:

I was somewhat taken aback. To my knowledge, signs do not just pop up in the middle of the woods. Yet here this one was, despite the fact that on my fairly frequent patrols of the area, I had never seen it before. Also, while I would be the first one to gush about the opportunities afforded by that stretch of land, there really wasn’t anything that I would have thought worthy of a sign. And finally, it hardly seemed like the area where many people would come across the sign. Although I know the area gets use because the trails are broken out, I have seen someone else in the area exactly once, and it’s not like I go out there in the middle of the night or anything.

Nevertheless, I was intrigued, and followed the arrow as the sign bid me to do.

I next came upon these fences.

After a quick thought to myself that these seemed to possibly qualify for the most ridiculous fence placement of all time award, I went between them. 

I then came upon a rock.

And suddenly it all made sense.

Yes, it seems I had come across a National Natural Landmark. Here, in humble Durham, New Hampshire. A spruce hole bog! How…um…spruce hole bog?

As earlier stated, this was back in early December. My find left me with several questions, but unfortunately I was unable to get back out to the site before winter break. I put a return trip on my agenda for when classes started once again, and today the opportunity came for that return trip.

But first, as I am wont to do, I googled my find. And things became a bit clearer.

First of all, the sign had the date 1972 on it. Yet I had passed that way many a time before, and the rock clearly was not there. Then I came across this article.

A bronze plaque was presented to the Town of Durham, New Hampshire during the re-dedication ceremony held at Spruce Hole Bog National Natural Landmark on November 17, 2009. 

Aha! So the plaque and the rock had not existed before! I called and canceled my previously scheduled psychiatric analysis.

The article went on to note that the spot had indeed been designated a National Natural Landmark in 1972, but that because it was on private land at the time, it was not registered, and thus did not receive a plaque.

However, the Town of Durham eventually acquired the land, and our little spruce hole bog finally acquired its well-deserved plaque. Score one for happy endings…

Anyway, today I went back. Originally the plan was to snowshoe out, but then rain decimated the region’s snow cover earlier this week. So instead I decided to run out. Last year, I didn’t run trails at all during Jan/Feb/early March, but it actually seemed doable. And indeed, it wasn’t too bad. A bit icy, but as long as you weren’t concerned about time (which I was not), it wasn’t bad at all.

This time I took the liberty of descending down into the spruce hole bog. (Note: All photos– including earlier ones– from today, as I didn’t have a camera back in March).

For the record, the National Natural Landmark program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the United State’s natural history. There are 11 of them in New Hampshire, and it turns out our little Spruce Hole Bog has its own wikipedia page. From which I learned:

It is the last known kettle hole to exist in southern New Hampshire; there were five similar sites in the region, but they have been destroyed. According to the National Register of Natural Landmarks: “It illustrates characteristics of a typical sphagnum-heath bog, localized in a specialized geologic setting.”

(Note: A kettle hole is is a shallow, sediment-filled body of water formed by retreating glaciers or draining floodwaters)

Well will you look at that! You go, little spruce hole bog!

Photo taken during my freshman trip with the New Hampshire Outing Club (NHOC), August 2008.

It’s a tough day for New Hampshire. We learned today that Mt. Washington’s record for the fastest wind speed on earth, the 231 mph gust atop the summit in 1934, actually hasn’t been the record for the past 14 years. The World Meteorological Organization confirmed today that a 253 mph gust during an Australian cyclone on April 10, 1996 now holds the record.

This is not a news story, you can get that here in the Nashua Telegraph or here from the NECN weather team.

I have been to the summit of Mt. Washington several times, and have spent a fair deal of time in the state by now. Thus, I am going to appoint myself an expert and reflect, perhaps incorrectly, on the great significance of this moment. New Hampshire, from the start, had two things going for it (aka: two things that drove the tourists wild). The first was the Old Man of the Mountain (which I apparently saw when we visited New England when I was 6 before not returning to the state until I came to UNH). The Old Man was huge in New Hampshire. Come on, they put it on their state quarter.

Then it collapsed in May 2003. I happened to be doing the tourist thing in Franconia Notch (the former site of the Old Man of the Mountain) this summer with some relatives on my days off from caretaking. We visited the Flume, which had a little movie about the history of Franconia Notch. They sped through the first few hundred million years and then spent the time rhapsodizing about how much the Old Man of the Mountain meant to them. It was very sad. I might have cried, but the people on screen were already doing that, so I thought it might have been overkill and refrained.

The other thing that New Hampshire had going for it was “The Worst Weather in the World,” as signs advertised the conditions at the top of Mt. Washington. This basically hinged on the fact that they had the world’s highest wind speed, the astonishing figure of 231 mph that made hurricanes look like small potatoes. That wind speed was everything. It was reason enough to put up a plaque with the names of all the people who had died on the peak. When the others mountains looked down (literally) on us, we could say, “Sure, we’re only 6228 feet, but how many casualities do you have?” That’s right, second to Everest baby!

To some degree, my fellow caretakers and I enjoyed mocking the “Worst Weather in the World” bit, in most part because we liked mocking most of the Mt. Washington stuff. I mean, come on. You can drive up the dang thing. Or take the train. My, aren’t you tough. Here, have a cookie (or, more accurately, pay $3 for a tiny freakin’ cookie). Meanwhile, we concerned ourselves with hiking trails and living in tents, and actually roughing it.

As part of this, I mentioned that if Mt. Washington lost the wind speed record, they really wouldn’t have anything going for them left. No reason to keep living, quite frankly, if the two things you are most proud of fall (literally and figuratively, respectively) before your eyes.

Let me say that I’m sorry, New Hampshire. Of course, I didn’t expect such a thing to actually happen, and I didn’t realize that I was both remarking on a event that happened 13 years prior and predicting the future at the same time.

But now the wind speed is toppled. Gone. By little old Australia, which, I should note, is far less convenient to the millions of people living in the eastern United States who might go there to eat a sandwich, and thus less likely to achieve the touristic heights that our Mt. Washington has.

I would like to conclude by putting out, New Hampshire, that you do have something worth living for. Notably, you have a great many more mountains that are simply a delight to visit, principally because they didn’t have the wind speed record and thus don’t have tourists showing up on them to eat a sandwich. I’m sure there are more reasons, but….um….none come to mind. Please don’t kill yourself. 

Finally, I am not sure why it took 14 years to declare 253 mph faster than 231 mph, but I would like to say thanks for 14 more years of being on top of the world.

A view of the summit of  Mt Washington taken during October’s Death March.

Well, there was a definite mileage slump this week, but it was still a nice one overall. Saturday I raced for the first time this year, and things actually went exactly as hoped for, with sub-6 minute miles for the 10K. It also became apparent this week that I am going for a running streak, which means running at least one mile every day. I invoked that one mile limit twice this week, once when I was doing some landscaping work all day (and ran my one mile at 9:30 at night in the rain) and once today (Sunday), which has been spent nearly entirely on Amtrak. Unfortunately, those two days, combined with a rather blah Monday, meant I only did low 40s this week. Nevertheless, besides those three days, my runs were at a faster average pace than previous weeks, so there’s some upside to the decrease.

1.18.10

Ran 3.2 @ 7:40/mile (24:34)

Cooldown: 1.09 miles

Total for day: 4.29

1.19.10

Morning: Ran 6.50 @ 6:54/mile (44:55)

AHR/MHR- 161/174

Cooldown: 0.71 miles

Afternoon: Ran 4.59 @ 6:38/mile (30:27)

Cooldown: 0.68 miles

Total for day: 12.48

 1.20.10

Ran 1.1 miles

 1.21.10

Ran 5.66 @ 7:12/mile

AHR/MHR- 164/179

Cooldown: 0.77

Total for day: 6.43

 1.22.10

Morning: Ran 5.00 @ 7:03/mile (35:15)

AHR/MHR- 163/174

Cooldown: 0.66 miles

Afternoon: Ran (estimated) 3 miles

Total for day: 8.66

 1.23.10

Ran 6.2 miles @ 5:55/mile (36:38)

Warm-up/Cooldown (estimated): 3 miles

Total for day: 9.2 miles

1.24.10

Ran 1 mile

 Weekly Total: 43.16 miles

Month so far: 194.04 miles

On Saturday I had the privilege of running in the Big Daddy 10K, a race held on the muddy trails of Newport News Park (which happens to be the largest city park east of the Mississippi, if you were wondering) in honor of a serviceman who died in Iraq.

It was a fairly typical January day. The temperature hovered around 40 at race time, so a bit chilly for Virginia runners but less so for someone who realizes that will be the highest temperature he sees in the next two months (that’s me, if you weren’t sure). We’d had two days of on-and-off rain, so things were muddy, considering trails accounted for most of the race’s 6.2 miles.

Race Results are here.

In 2009, the race’s first year, it was pretty sparsely attended from viewing the results (I wasn’t there). The winning time that year was over 40 minutes, which I knew I could beat on a lousy day, so I figured I should take advantage of a lack of competition whenever possible.

Nevertheless, there were more runners lining up at the start line when the gun (aka- siren) when off at 10 am. Some people looked fairly fast, so my original plan was to hang back for a bit and run with some others for a while. One guy dashed to the front and he looked pretty strong, so I hung with the people behind him. Unfortunately, this amounted to a boy who looked to be about 12 and clearly didn’t have the pace thing down yet, along with a 53 year old guy who I knew was pretty good (accounting for age, I’m sure his performance was far impressive than men) but wouldn’t be going what I was hoping to go.

So after a quarter mile, I left them to move into second behind the fast guy.

To make a long story short, I remained there the rest of the race. The guy in first never got completely out of sight. He finished about 45 seconds ahead of me. I never saw anyone behind me for the whole race. The 53 year old guy ended up coming in around two minutes later.

 The race started on a road, but we quickly turned on to trails which, as previously mentioned, were pretty muddy. The shoes got quite wet quite fast. I ended up coming in at 36:38, which I was quite happy with. For one, I had placed second, which was nice. Secondly, I was only 8 seconds off my 10K PR (granted, this was just my third one), which had been set on the same course in June 2007 (after my junior year in high school), when I won the 10K Run for the Heart in 36:30.

 For getting second, I got the usual little medal. I also got a very nice brown towel, which the race organizers gave out at the finish line when they realized we would all be coming in pretty muddy.

 The race was a nice way to end Winter Break, with a further boost to marathon training and some added motivation to run in the great frozen north.