Tonight I’ll be meeting with my 5K group for the fifth time. Our workout will be 4-minute intervals with 90-second walk breaks. Last week the group did well with the 3-minute intervals but I could tell the one-minute walk break wasn’t enough (their groans gave it away).  So far the core group has been Lisa, Meg, Karen, Heidi and Rita. Sometimes my co-worker Dhyana joins us, and occasionally Lori and Diane. Rita joined the group last spring and is the 71-year-old neighbor of my coach, Bill. She walks every day and throws in some jogging here and there. She does what she can with the group and we always loop back for her. Lisa, the winner of the 5k training, is still wearing the shoes I told her to get rid of last year – but she’s doing well and putting in a lot of effort. Heidi was dealing with a tightness near her shin area last week, which may be due to her new running shoes. She’s planning to get re-evaluated. Meg, another co-worker of mine, is also doing well even though she’s a little nervous about the 4-minute intervals. I’m hoping the track will be clear for us tonight since last week there was a track meet – imagine that? We instead ran around the perimeter of the parking lot.

My next road race is the Piggy Trot 3.7-miler this weekend. I was torn between that and the YPD Blue 5K and wish I could do both. They’re an hour apart and I’m just not that fast. This Wednesday the classes at the track start up again. I’ll be helping Coach Bill, and running with his class. I may also hop in for some intervals afterward with the Runners & Racers. Just hope it doesn’t rain.

Track classes info:  Hanlon’s, 508-775-7877

The full Heavy Weather team at the finish line in Provincetown 25 hours plus after starting. Photo by Merrily Cassidy

The results are in! Heavy Weather finished well at 25:01:22 or No. 22 out of 369 teams overall and No. 15 out of 223 in the  Regular Mixed Open division. Not bad considering we were physically at the end of the line for the first half day of running. This is about where we finished last year when we were No. 19 out of 365 teams.

Our pace was slightly less than 8 minute miles over 191 miles. The winner – Fat Ben – came in about three hours ahead of us running almost a full minute per mile faster. Congrats to them and to all the finishers. Our pace last year was slightly faster at about 7:45 minute miles but I guess that’s what happens when you’re a year older. As is the case each year everyone on the team is already thinking about next year. I took my first post relay run this morning and, other than being a bit sore, felt OK. Not quite ready for another relay yet but I’ve got some time before I have to worry about ramping up.

So, for now, it’s time to say goodbye and thanks. Thank you to Ragnar, volunteers, staff (get some sleep safety girl) and police for another great relay. Thanks to our families and other supporters for beds, food, cheers and beers. And thanks, as always, to Susan Eastman for letting us tell our tale on FITchat. Until next year: run till you puke!

PC

Celebrating the end of Ragnar Cape Cod 2013 at the Pilgrim Monument in Provincetown.

We are back and this post will be short. Heavy Weather finished in 25:02 unofficially. We are happy to say we were sub eights as a team. Everyone survived and we’re now in the beer/burger stage of the night. We’ll follow up with results as they become available. Again our thanks to Ragnar, law enforcement, volunteers and most importantly our families for supporting us on our run. Thanks also to all the other runners and have a good night. Just another reminder of what we learned today: You aren’t running hard enough if you’re not puking.

Team Heavy Weather finishes Ragnar Cape Cod 2013.

It was only a matter of time. We’re starting to catch up to the crowds and everyone is feeling good about their runs. The two vans have sacked out in fields, parking lots and couches. We’ve done everything on the run and we are now running down teams that started at 1 p.m., noon and earlier on Friday. On the past two runs we took down about 20 teams and that number is only expected to keep rising. Van 2 is in position to make things happen on the final leg. Update: Sean Corcoran just left everything on the course, literally. We’ll spare our readers the details but he has officially taken the hardest working runner award. Now it’s on to the big exchange and van 2. Here we come. Total: 29 kills and a barf in last five runs.

Sean Corcoran takes off after exchanging the baton with Kevin Cassidy as Heavy Weather starts to knock off the teams that started earlier.

We’ve been on the course 12 hours. It’s early Saturday morning and as good a time as any to give a shout out to the police, staff and volunteers who make Ragnar happen. In particular thanks to the cop who slowed down to offer some words of encouragement as I finished off the last mile of my second leg and to race coordinator Johanna Bauswein, who gave us our safety lecture at the start after doing the same hundreds of times and still laughed at our hysterical jokes. Bauswein, aka “safety girl,” and others I’m sure are staying up all night to make sure everything goes well. Thanks to everyone.

Ragnar race coordinator Johanna Bauswein makes sure Heavy Weather keeps things safe.

As for Heavy Weather we are at exchange 17 and still bringing up the rear but closing. Van 1′s last runner gets on the road in about 5 minutes. See you in Provincetown!

PC

Jan Pieschel waves to her fans as the big exchange takes place nearby

Friday May 3 11:20 p.m.

Van 2 has turned the relay over to van 1 for the post midnight work after a commendable job closing the gap on the other teams, including a late pass by James Pieschel of a noon departure team. The truth is there’s an additional 380-some-teams out there ahead of us but that’s the deal when you are last to go in a staggered start. We’re expecting to start passing some teams overnight and by daylight be more or less in full take down mode. Here Jan Pieschel waves to her fans as Cheryl Reed and Vanessa huddle in the van behind her and James hands off to Rob and van 1 somewhere nearby. “The bull” is checking his map as I write this to make sure he can escape the immediate area once Rob emerges from the darkness.

PC

Update from van 2: In a nutshell, van 2 is feeling strong and energized. Both Kate and Sarah felt like they crushed their runs and Vanessa is ready for her first kill. Let’s send positive energy to Cheryl, our newest team member!

Our driver Shiv is keeping us on course (literally!) and Jim (aka our Safety Officer) is slowly getting on our nerves. (This is meant in fun we’re sure since this update is coming from Jim’s wife, Jan…)

Van 1 meanwhile enjoyed a civilized meal at Meza Luna and is now contemplating the first nap of the relay.

Rob and Jim cheer the end of the first leg and the continuation of a long and beautiful relationship.

The hand over is official. Van 2 took over at about 7:30 p.m. Jim Stutz finished strong for van 1 and handed off to Kate Heaslip who is bound to make a big start for van 2. We’re now off to dinner and maybe a nap. The sun is setting on the first day of Ragnar Cape Cod 2013 and the night is upon us. Good night and good luck to all the runners out there especially Heavy Weather van 2.

Jim Stutz hands off to Kate Heaslip at first big exchange. Van 2 takes over.

PC

Jim Stutz struts his stuff as the first member of the team to don night gear.

Jim Stutz is about to take the baton from Sean Corcoran and is the first on the team to don the night safety gear. Can you spot him?

Hand-off at exchange 4 between the brothers Cassidy. Photo by Sean Corcoran

We’re on our fourth leg and everyone is running strong. Leg 3 (mine) included some solid inclines – I can’t claim my pace was very fast but I’ll blame it on the hills. We’ve also noticed some signage that could be better placed. Kevin Cassidy just had to stop and call us to figure out what to do at a particularly perplexing intersection and we’ve seen several runners take wrong turns already. The day is also hotter than expected but with the evening it’s cooling down a bit. Overall life is good.

PC