I only need to about $40 a day from now till then to reach my goal.

Donations to MDA provide help and hope in many ways:

• Clinics - expert specialized medical care
• Research - cutting-edge investigation into treatments and cures
• Support - help obtaining equipment and coping with challenges
• Camp - a barrier-free week of fun, friendship and laughter for kids

This years ride is dedicated to Anthony Jennings, an 18 year old Londonderry high school senior living with Muscular Dystrophy. Anthony is 18 years old and has been living with Becker Muscular Dystrophy, he was diagnosed 9 years ago. As a senior at Londonderry High school where he’s a member of the PVC Pirates FIRST Robotics team, a recent inductee into the National Honor Society, Manager of the LHS Varsity Baseball team, and the radio voice of Lancer football. Anthony lives with his mother – Lisa, father – Warren, and 15 year old brother, Tim. Next fall he plans to go to college for Engineering at either UNH, Northeastern, or UMass Lowell.

Can’t is not in Anthony’s vocabulary, but rather “We’ll find a way”.

For the fifth year I am riding the 250 miles from the Canadian Border friday to the Redhook Brewery sunday.The route is a hard three days up and over the white mountains to the coast. We travel up to the Canadian border in Colebrook NH and the first day is a 100 mile ride to Littleton NH. Day two we ride from Littleton down to Laconia. Day three is a high speed burn into Portsmouth NH where we are going to end at the Redhook Brewery.

Please donate and help us out!

I rode from Lowell to Groton in the morning (about 20 miles into a headwind) and get there early enough to see my nephew Spencer run in the Tot Trot, where he took 2nd place! That was definitely the best part of the day. There’s nothing like seeing a pack of 3 year old kids ‘racing’ and the parents wrangling them down the course.

5k Race times for the past 5 races.

I started this race season with the goal of breaking the sub-20 minute 5k time. I’d been running a consistent 21:00ish 5k for all of last season. My “PR” at the Hollis Fast 5k was a 20:03, but i don’ really count that since the course is entirely downhill and will easily cut a minute off your time.

I broke 20 minutes this year at the second Good Times Run with a time of 19:56. It was really awesome to hit my goal early in the season, but that just means that my goal resets to running a sub 19 minute mile! The last few races I’ve been able to shave time off every race, even the nights that I wasn’t feeling 100%.

1. Keep my fingers loose
2. Look down, not forward
3. Don’t forget to kick
4. Keep my elbow at 90°
5. Keep the arms relaxed on the recovery
6. Breath
7. Still kicking?
8. Pull with my traps not shoulders
9. Glide!
10. Relax
11. Still looking down, not forward?
12. Why are my google fogging up?
13. Glide!
14. Breath, don’t swallow the water.
15. Don’t let my hand enter the water so far ahead of my head
16. Elbows still at 90º?
17. There’s the wall, time to turn around
18. What’s that on the bottom of the pool?
19. Wish I could do a flip turn
20. Look down, not forward…

With all this going on in my head it’s no wonder that the simple act of counting the number of laps I’ve completed is beyond me. This led me to purchase a Combination Sportcount and timer.

It’s a very simple device that I wear on my right index finger that counts laps when you press the only button on it. Before jumping in the pool it’s a simple matter of pressing and holding the button to reset the timer to zero. Then you begin to swim and you just thumb the button to start the timer and on every lap to keep track of how many laps you’ve completed. When you trigger a new lap the display shows you the number of laps you’ve completed for about 2 seconds, then returns to the chronograph so you know how long you’ve been swimming. This free’s up my mind to think through the above list as I’m fumbling my way through a swim work out. I’ve also found that putting the lap count next to my workout helps me gauge where I am during the work out and not have to do the math to figure out what set up in, what laps I’ve completed and what I have left to finish.

At the end of my swim I simply hold the button for a few seconds and the timer stops running and displays the total time that I’ve been swimming. Once it’s in that mode you can scroll through the total number of laps & average time per lap with short pushes of the button.

I know that some people use these for track workout while running as well and I would recommend one to just about anyone. You can pick one up from $25 to $30 from a number of places like Amazon, Swim Outlet or directly from Sportcount.

This just about sums up how I am most of the time.

I ran in the Good Times 5k opener on Tuesday. I’d run a few of the races in the series last year and had a decent time for them. This year they’ve changed around the course to accommodate having having timing chips for the start/finish. The course is pretty much the same, the biggest change is that instead of a straight flat end to race there’s a winding uphill right before a hard left to get over the timing mat.

I almost didn’t make the starting gun since parking was a lot tighter then I had expected, and I had to stop by the ATM in order to get cash (who uses cash?). I wasn’t the only one that had issues with parking, so there was a line for registration when I got to Hookslide’s. I filled out the registration form and got bib number 320. I jogged over to the start to stretch out and warm up for the run. At that point I realized that my calves were a bit tight and I wasn’t feeling 100% awake. That could be due to the 17 hour day I had pulled the day before and the 2500 yrds in the pool that morning.

I turned the first mile in 6:24 and looked down at my Garmin when it beeped. “I can’t hold this” went through my head and I let up a little but didn’t get passed. Some where between mile 1 and 2 I became aware that someone was right on my heels and I just kept running fast enough to keep them at bay. Right before mile 2 the person behind me had more kick then I did and I got passed! At this point I just started thinking “it’ll stop hurting soon” and I just maintained all that I could for the last miles. The twisty up hill finish sucks in comparison to last years straight shot to the finish. The incline isn’t anything major, it’s just enough to be annoying. I still haven’t gotten used to the way the Newtons feel on tight turns, but they’re still awesome and my favorite shoes ever.

My official time for the run was 20:23.9 for the course (a PR on the course). I was 31st overall and 13/49 for my age group. I was feeling pretty good until I looked at the #13 finisher! Rylee Gilllen, a 13 year old girl finished in 18:57.9! To my defense if you google her you find out she’s top 10 USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country!

Next week’s Good Times 5k is a BYOB (Bring Your Own Buddy) I’m looking forward to it, hoping that I’ll be better rested and able to shave a couple seconds off my time!

If you’re in the area, come on by at 7pm and run!

I picked up “The Feed Zone” cookbook at Christmas for Katie since she’s the chef in the family. The book is written by Chef Biju and Dr. Allen Lim, both of whom have worked extensively with Team Garmin during the Tour de France. Both Levi Leipheimer and Timmy Duggan wrote forewards for the book. The book is broken up into 6 sections for meals.
Breakfast, Portables,  Après, Dinner, Desserts and Basics. The Portables are great for throwing in a jersey pocket or bag for a mid day snack. There’s a slew of gluten free and vegetarian recipes in the book since some of the riders had dietary restriction. There’s full color photos of all the recipes in the book,  so you can make sure that what you’ve created matches the recipe.

My favorite recipe in the book is the simple biryani. Another staple is the rice cakes that I first learned a few years ago with this youtube video from the Tour.

Buy The Feed Zone Cookbook from your local bike, tri, or running shop or from these booksellers:

• Amazon.com: The Feed Zone Cookbook
• BarnesandNoble.com: The Feed Zone Cookbook
• Chapters/Indigo.com: The Feed Zone Cookbook
• VeloGear.com: The Feed Zone Cookbook
• TriSports.com: The Feed Zone Cookbook
• SkratchLabs.com: The Feed Zone Cookbook
• Your local independent bookseller: The Feed Zone Cookbook

We got to Runners Alley and it was the usual weekend busy. I walked over to the wall of shoes and picked up the display DISTANCIA = DISTANCE shoe. The first thing I noticed is how light the shoe was. Okay, confession it was the second thing I noticed, the first thing was the colors. I got a pair of 11.5s brought out for me, and slipped them on. My first impression was that they were comfortable. I emptied my jean pockets and headed over to the treadmill to give them a quick speed test. The patented lugs on the forefoot give you a real kick when you wear these, it’s even noticeable when you’re just walking. I got on the treadmill and then “saw the light” as I upped the speed to 7:05/mile. The feel of the shoe is close to running barefoot, but with springs on your feet. I got off the treadmill and gave Katie, who was patiently waiting for me, the “I need to buy these shoes” look.

We got home from running errands and I immediately switched into running gear and threw on my new kicks. I decided I was going to do an easy 5 to feel out the shoes. Newton recommends starting out with much less mileage (1-2 miles for your first run in Newtons). Having experience in Vibram Five Fingers and very little common sense I headed out for my 5 mile loop along the mighty Merrimack.

My first mile felt fast and not just new shoe fast. One thing that I noticed right off is that the Newtons feel different when you take a sharp corner. I couldn’t nail down why they felt different I assume it’s due to the “land-lever-lift” technology working it’s magic on me. The other major “seen the light” moment for me was descending on hills. The shoes keep you honest with your foot strike, so while you descend you’re kept in a midfoot strike, something that’s a little strange at first.

4 miles into my run is a decision point. I can run over one bridge and home and it’s about 5 miles running to the next bridge adds on another 2 and a half miles. I decided to push it and add in the extra distance since I was feeling so great in my new kicks.

The truth of these shoes is in my splits for the run. I kept pretty consistent splits the entire way and never felt overly tired. Around the 6 mile mark my legs started to feel a little tired and this is where I normally would begin my heel strike death march back home. The Newton DISTANCIA = DISTANCE shoes kept me honest forcing me to have better form and a better time.

Inaugural Newton run, 1 mi splits

I got home and stretched, showered and threw on compression sleeves for the remainder of the day. My calves felt a little tight, like I’d been barefoot running, which is expected with a change in gait. The toebox on the shoes are a little narrower then my other shoes, which developed a slight chafe in my little toes, it was only chafe and no bleeding.

I can’t wait to get more miles in these shoes! I’m a convert!

How can you go wrong with a Chewbacca Hoodie?