Colchester 1/2 marathon, Caumsett 50K, and cold!!

Ritchie, me and Frank deleo

Susan (National 50K 50-54 female champ!) and Glen

Phil and I after Caumsett 50K --Phil finished 6th overall and set a PR!

Bekkie and I (Bekkie and Joe are runners extraordinaire -the were volunteering)

Frank enjoying a Rootbeer after Colchester 1/2
Just a brief report --will finish this tommorrow. After the boston build up was postponed, Frank and I decided to run the Feb. 28 (Sat) hilly Colchester half marathon. It was a longish drive but we rationalized that Sunday may be nasty, with blinding snow and sleet and rain so we might as well take advantage of the sun...plus, neither one of us had run this course before and it was the perfect training run for Umstead with undulating dirt roads --actually those roads turned out to be mountainous.. I am so glad that we went --I loved the course, loved the ups and downs (hamstring started to twinge though) and more importantly, felt so much better than at Albany. I ran 7:30 pace for 11 miles and then as hard as I would work, could not break 1:40 as the last 2 miles were uphill into the wind...Frank ran the first 11 at a 7:15 pace and then his calves cramped --but he finished in 1:37! We saw bekkie and joe, andrea and Luann -and it was good to see some familiar faces in this Hartford track Club race....
Fast forward to Sunday --Frank and I had planned to drive to Sunday's Caumsett Park 50K (no Rob)but at 6 a.m. it was snowing and sleeting and he wisely elected to cancel (because we both would have gotton sick if it had been sleeting and raining for 5 hours). I ended up going as had gotton up, gotton myself mentally up for the race, and had 2 cups of Starbucks:) When I got to the parking lot at 8, the sun was peeking out. But the day still seemed like january. It was great to go into registration (the other side of the park, so we were bussed there) and see so many familiar faces--Barbara, Nick, Ritchie, Phil, Byron, Al, Andy Cable, and all the BUS people. and Susan W.! with photographer Glen. At 8:30, they made us walk almost a mile to the start! I started slowly, running with Anthony and Kristen --(Wayne had had nose surgery and couldn't run in the cold, but he came and cheered everyone on)--our first couple loops were a 10 minute pace. I felt pretty good and slowly picked up the pace to 9s. This was a 2.3 mile loop --one side had no wind, and one side had a stiff headwind -ugh. The leaders blew by, even kami Semick, the womens' leader...I felt slow but reminded myself that this was a back-to-back training weekend for Umstead, only 5 weeks away...and that time didn't matter. (and as it turns out I would've had to run @4:10 to get prize money!!!)..I made it through the marathon in 4:05? and cranked out the last 5 miles in 45 minutes --pacing off Jody, who was finishing in 4:34...I was determined to break 5 hours after such a slow start, and came in in 4:54...it tuns out that I was 3rd in the 50-54 division (susan finished in 4:47, and another woman in 4:48) but hey, I 2 beautiful usatf medals! It felt so cold at the finish --like a raw january day --and to add insult to injury, the leaders had finished and gone home. But still on the course and to finish right near me were Barbara, Tony,Noonie and Frank Deleo and Al...we were lucky with the weather --had it been raining I would have stopped at 25K or sooner:)