Niantic Bay 1/2 Marathon

Today was the Niantic Bay 1/2 Marathon and 5K - what a splendid day for a race. The entire TL family drove up to Niantic where my sister has a beach house. Both of my sisters ran in the 5K, as did Mrs. Torn Ligaments, and yes my little hombre ran his second official road race in as many weeks.

It has just over 1,000 runners combined for both events - last year I did the 5K, my first, which sparked a fire within me - and it's been burning ever since. I set a pre-race goal of 1:40, which as I mentioned, was extremely aggressive - 7:40 min miles - but I wanted to push and see if I could do it. The course was essentially two big loops that begin in Rocky Neck State Park and then go through a seaside residential neighborhood, that reminds me a little bit of Marblehead.

I wore my Ironman watch which does track mile splits, though in the heat of the race I missed a few mile markers. I need a Garmin so it tracks automatically, but I digress.

Mile 1 I cranked in 6:47, felt light and balanced, but knew I had to dial it back a bit. Mile 2, my split was 9:00 exactly. Just awful. So I picked it up again, and Mile 3 split was 7:46 - more like it. Mile 4 7:53, Mile 5 7:54, Mile 6 6:29 (my fastest of the race). Apparently in my euphoria/delirium after turning out a scorcher I missed the next mile marker, and didn't get back on track until I saw the Mile 8 sign and staring keeping tabs again:
Mile 9 7:41
Mile 10 8:33
Mile 11 7:23
Mile 12 7:56
Mile 13 ? (I didn't press the button) to finish in 1:44:00.

My last mile I pushed hard, and after realizing 1:40 wouldn't happen, then besting 1:45 became the goal, and beat that by a minute.

144 35/75 M3039 1:44:14 David Costantini 39 M 375 Kittery ME 1:44:00 7:56

So 7:56 min miles, not bad. The real test will be if I can run 8:00 min miles next Sunday for the Maine Marathon in Portland, which includes a fair amount of hills.

I want to beat my Sugarloaf time of 3:39:19, and the rest is gravy.

12 Marathons in 12 Months

I've been inspired.

I am going to run 12 marathons in 12 months, and video record document my training and each race.

This is my tentative race schedule for my 12 month marathon challenge:

10/3/10 Maine Marathon, Portland ME
11/7/10 ING New York City Marathon
12/11/10 Roxbury Marathon, Roxbury CT
01/30/11 ING Miami Marathon, Miami FL
02/27/11 Hyannis Marathon, Hyannis MA
03/06/11 Napa Valley Marathon, Napa CA
04/18/11 *I didn't get into Virgin London Marathon so we'll see - Boston???????
05/22/11 Scotiabank Blue Nose Marathon, Halifax NS
6/11 NipMuck Trail Marathon, Ashford CT
7/11 Around the Lake 12 Hour Ultra, Wakefield MA
8/11 *Going to Italy so not sure yet
9/11 Vermont 50 Ultra, Brownsville VT

I couldn't be more excited. I have to be pragmatic about which races to run (there are so many incredible ones to choose from) and have a tremendous amount of variables to consider, but I am committed to making this happen. Miami and Napa are the only ones that require flights. I still hope to squeeze a 70.3 triathlon in next year as well.

Needless to say, if there is anyone out there who wants to join me in a race, I would LOVE the company!!!!

Tuesday's run

Did a 12.5 mile run on this wonderful September day. I wore my North Face fleece pants for the first time since April and again wore a long sleeve HH performance shirt.

It was warm in the sun but most of my route was shaded and I felt pretty good. I had TKD last night and did a lot of sparring which takes more out of me than a usual class. At one point I backed my opponent into a corner and unleashed a fusillade of roundhouse kicks, one after another after another, maybe 8 or 9 in rapid succession, something I've never done before. So my legs were feeling it this morning.

Anyway, I didn't run a traditional route, just re-ran several hilly roads to the tune of 12.5 miles according to mapmyrun. Time was 1:48 and change.

I need to commit to a goal for the Niantic 1/2 marathon this Sunday. I will shoot for 1:40 - that is an extremely aggressive time for me, but it is flat and I will attempt to use the race day intensity to my benefit. To quote Bruce Lee, “A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at.”

So 1:40 it is.

Kittery PTA Seaside 4 Miler

OK, this is amusing. My 6 yr old son insisted on running the actual 4 mile race, not the kids fun run. "Those are for babies," he said. He had a meltdown of epic proportions back in May when we didn't sign him up for the Fire Station 5k, so I wasn't sure how he would do running 4 miles but figured he'd probably go out strong, run out of gas, and walk the rest of it.

He crushed it! He ran most of it, took a few walking breaks here and there but for the most part was on the move running hard. I was side-by-side with him the entire way and he did great. Mile 1 was 11:01 and finished up 48:35 I believe. 12:09 avg min/mile for a 6 year old?

Great stuff, and he loved every minute of it.

20 Miler

I didn't run all week long but managed to get in my much needed 20 miler this afternoon. I ran to the York Golf & Tennis Club (waved to the bridal party) and continued along through York Village and York Harbor, before turning around. Very nice run.

Time was 2:56:28. Mile 1 was 8:24 and was doing 9:00 min miles for most of it, but the last few I was running out of gas. Could've used GU/Gatorade.

I can run a 12 and feel fine, but tack on another 8 and my body feels it.

I am craving a big giant porterhouse medium rare right now.

Long run

My Saturday was very hectic and I only had a small window in which to run so I left the house at 6:30am and ran for 2 hrs. I returned at 8:30am, and not sure of pacing or exact distance but best guess would be 14.5 miles.

I ran the hilliest roads I could find. Today is a rest day.

Thursday 12

Another 12 miler to York Golf & Tennis this morning. Mile 1 was 8:00 on the screws and wound up finishing up in 1:43:23, :11 seconds off my Saturday run of the same length.

It was also about :10 seconds slower per mile than yesterday's 13 which is interesting because it is a flatter course. I pushed, but seems I have hit a temporary plateau in terms of time. Need to improve.

I will run a 20 on Saturday, then run this again next week.

I've run 41 miles the past 7 days, 53 if you include last Thursday's sweltering 12.

Wednesday 13

I am back to my 12.99 Wednesday routine of my 4.33 loop x 3 and today I set a goal of 1:45, or three consecutive 35:00 loops.

1st loop was 35:47, and I pushed hard. Second loop was 36:11. Last loop 37:22. Final time 1:49:20. So I'm still averaging 8:20 min/mile for 13, but I want to shave :20 per mile and get down to 8:00/mile.

A lot of hard work ahead.

57:49

Did an out-and-back 7 mile run on this spectacular Labor Day morning. Wore a long sleeve Helly Hansen performance tee, first time since April? Just perfect running weather.

Mile 1 7:45 and at the 3.5 mile split I was exactly 29:00. My goal was to crack 29:00 on the way back, and did the back half in 28:49 for a total time of 57:49. Good run.

8 miler

Did an eight mile run this morning. Perfect weather. Didn't wear a watch but best guess would be around 8:30 min/mile, roughly same pace as yesterday's 12.

Incidentally, I am looking for a good road bike. I've decided to get into the triathlon game. My goal is to finish the Timberman 70.3 next Aug as well as the Pumpkinman 70.3 next Sept, which is right next door to us in South Berwick, ME.

Saturday's 12

Did another 12 today, once again to the York Golf & Tennis Club and back. Soon I they will start charging me membership dues...

Wore my brand new Brooks Adrenalines size 10.5EE and they felt very comfortable. Had them shipped from Bozeman, MT - when I was out West I walked into the Bozeman Running Company and struck up a nice conversation with the owner. He's a former collegiate runner, and we talked for a 1/2 hour about marathons, trail ultras, and as a former sales rep for Brooks recommended these shoes. He ordered them and shipped them to Kittery. Perfect fit.

Anyway, Mile 1 in 8:13 and finished up in 1:43:12 but had to stop to take a leak, maybe 30 seconds lost. I pushed hard on the back half and gave it a strong effort.

September training

Started off September with a 4.3 mi run in 36:19 yesterday and then another 12 miler this morning. It was the same 12 mile out and back to the York Golf & Tennis Club that I did the other morning in 1:39 - in today's outrageous heat I did it in 1:50:29, a full minute slower per mile.