DH Jones 10 Miler...

There really is not much to say following the DH Jones 10 miler yesterday in Amherst. I was having a great morning heading into the race with a solid warm up and exceedingly high confidence. The early miles of the race were fantastic and the course seemed much easier than last year. As we crested the challenging early hills I could not have been more pleased with my position and how I was feeling. As Justin, Brendan and I approached the five mile mark my right oblique grabbed and a serious stitch set in. I figured that it would pass and was confident that I would be able to close the gap up to Justin, and Brendan. Unfortunately my stitch only worsened over the final three miles. Despite my best and most creative efforts to ease my suffering the tightness continued. Around seven miles I started to hear the very distressing sound of Patrick Moulton's foot strike approaching. In my current state the last thing I needed was a 2:15 marathoner trying to drop me for three miles. Around the eight mile mark Pat put a quick few seconds on me and reality started to set in. I was now poised to run slower for a worse place than last year despite being in superior shape. As Pat and I approached the last hills I figured that my best attempt to salvage the race would be an all out attack on the hills. Despite incredible pain in my flank I managed to put some serious time into Pat on the climb. Even with my big move Justin and Brendan did not get any closer and they were crossing the line as I made my way into the final parking lot. Once in the chute I had a short bout of dry heaving followed by some more serious cramping but after ten minutes of chatting I was ready to cool down.

I was beyond excited for Justin's race. Once I was clear of Pat and knew I was out of the hunt I was in full fan mode for Justin. All of our hard work in clearly paying off and our marathon training seems to be on track. Even more surprising was Greg's 54:09 clocking! Greg has had such a breakout winter and is set to do some great things this spring. With our success and Pete Najam's USATF 800 it has become clear that the Keene training group is clearly one of the best groups in New England!