May 18 - Shea's Sleepover Party - A Marathon of a Different Kind

It's hard for me to call yesterday (Sat.) a "Rest Day", though it was a day off from running.  Shea hosted a sleepover party for her 12th birthday, and the Bresnahan grounds required extensive spring cleaning.  I managed to get a 5 mile run in on Fri., but used the rest of the day on yard work.  I was out in the yard at 6am on Sat., but after weeding, digging, mulching and pressure washing, I was still in yard work mode when her friends began arriving at 2pm.   I then moved into event coordinator mode, picking up balloons, candles, a new microwave over (don't ask, it's complicated) and other party-related items.  I caught my first breath about 6pm after a 12-hour scramble.  I actually wondered at one point who had the more grueling 12 hour stretch, me or Jason Lester (www.r-u-n.us)!

The girls conked out around midnight (watching Back to the Future, interesting), which was actually a little earlier than anticipated.  I got to sleep around 1am, and woke up today all kinds of stiff (the lightly-used yard work muscle group was on fire).  I hoped to get a 14-mile run in this weekend, but that looks dubious at the moment (noon on Sun.).  I need to get some miles in, however, or I will have had 3 out of the last 4 days off.  Will post the outcome later today.  Meanwhile, here are some pics of the party for your viewing pleasure:

May 16 - Rest Day; May 17 - 5 Miles Ran, 2.5 Miles Sponsored

I took Thursday off but just finished a nice 5 mile run on the Pinebrook Loop today (Fri).  The weather is perfect, mid 60's with light winds.  My sister Beth McGuire chimed in with sponsorship of 2.5 miles--thanks Beth!.  I'll give you miles 525, 526 and half of 527 which I should get to tomorrow if I can squeeze in a run before Shea's 12th Birthday Sleepover Extravaganza.  I want to do a long run but I am worried that will result in late day nap which will result in me covered in silly string or worse.  We'll see.

I completed miles 520-524 today.  For those following Jason Lester's run across America for Chase and other causes (www.r-u-n.us), he just pulled ahead of me today.  Jason's covered 545 miles in 12 days whereas I've been at this since Jan. 1 (137 days)!  Pretty safe bet that it won't be much of a race from here (Jason's doing about 43 miles/day v. my 3.8).  It will be amazing to meet him when he arrives in Sandy Hook, probably sometime in mid to late July.

Today's Line:

Date

DoW

ToD

Distance

Time

Min/Mile

Notes

Effort

Total Miles

5/17

F

1:00p

5.0

38:56:00

7:47:12

65f

5

524.3

May 15 - 5 Miles Ran at the Track

Got to the track this morning and put in 5 miles as follows:

1 mile warm up (7:39/mi)

3 x 1600m (with 400m jog in between)
6:15/mi
6:17/mi
6:22/mi

800m cool down

Ridiculously cold for May but it felt nice after I warmed up.  Sometimes I wish I was part of a running group to get through low motivation days, but most of the time I prefer to run on my own schedule according to how I feel that particular day.  I think I just need to do a race; it's much easier to put in some hard running in the race environment.

I completed miles 515-519 (unsponsored) today.

Today's Line:

Date

DoW

ToD

Distance

Time

Min/Mile

Notes

Effort

Total Miles

5/15

W

7:00a

5.0

n/a

n/a

45f

9

519.3

May 14 - 6.2 Miles Ran, Happy Birthday Shea!

Quick post before heading off to work.  Ran 6.2 via Day Pond and Pinebrook loops.  Felt great, actually enjoyed 40 degrees (sorry beachcombers).  Great family morning--Shea is excited about turning 12 today.  "I'm officially a tween" she proudly declared.

I completed miles 509-514.  Miles 509-511 were sponsored by Len Gutman, who is prepping for a 32 mile non-stop walk around Manhattan later this year.  Len has been a great supporter of the Race4Chase cause--many thanks for his commitment.

Today's Line:

Date

DoW

ToD

Distance

Time

Min/Mile

Notes

Effort

Total Miles

5/14

Tu

6:55a

6.2

47:17:00

7:37:35

42f

8

514.3

May 12 - Rest Day; May 13 - 4.1 Miles Ran, About 36 less than Jason Lester

I took Sunday off, though I feel like I did about 10 miles worth of yard work!  (No, I'm not counting that towards the total).  My sore and stiff yard work muscle group be damned, I ran 4.1 miles around Day Pond this morning, covering miles 505-508.

While 500 miles ain't bad, do you know who the the real long-distance champ is on the Race4Chase team?  Check out Jason Lester, a Nike-sponsored ultra runner who has covered over 350 miles in 7 days!  SEVEN DAYS!  He's trekking the country, 3,100 miles over the next couple of months, raising money for a number of causes, including the Chase Fund.  More later, but for now, check out Jason's progress at:

http://www.r-u-n.us

Today's Line:

Date

DoW

ToD

Distance

Time

Min/Mile

Notes

Effort

Total Miles

5/13

M

6:45a

4.1

33:55:00

8:16:20

48f

5

508.1

May 11 - 10.3 Miles Ran, Halfway Home!

Ran 10.3 this morning in the light rain.  A lot to blog about but not much time right now.  I'll add to this post a little later.

OK, I'm the first one up on Mother's Day and have a little time to update the blog.  The weather folks predicted that yesterday (Sat) was going to be a complete washout so I was unsure of whether I would be able to get a long run in.  At about 10am, after some hydrating and procrastinating, I decided to go for it as the rain had mostly held off.  I really hoped to complete the run by noon because thundershowers were predicted for the afternoon and I didn't want to finish my run doing the Electric Slide.

After a little more procrastinating, I headed out to Bacon Academy (Colchester's public high school) where my 10 mile course starts.  As I stretched in the parking lot, the rains came.  I thought I might be in for another epic battle against the elements (see Feb. 9 post-the "Nemo Run"), but the rain was pretty light and actually stopped about halfway through the run.

Going in to the run, I was 6.3 miles from the 500 mile mark.  As I approached the 6-mile mark, I started looking for a landmark to help me remember the moment.  I was starting to trudge up a hill on Levita Road and there isn't much in that stretch other than trees, rocks and telephone poles.  However, right when my watch hit 6.3 miles I looked to my right and saw three trees close together; two large trunks on the outside and one small trunk in the middle.  All I could think of was Steve-Chase-Becky.

As many of you probably know, I invited my Facebook friends and the Race4Chase team to join me for a virtual run on Sat to celebrate reaching the halfway mark.  I also offered today as a rain date, so we may have more participants, but at the moment the following people have either ran or pledged to run a mile for Chase this weekend:

Juli Giampoalo--4 miles
Paul McCormack (brother-in-law)
Vicki Pernek-3.25 miles
Kim Snipes-Westfall
Bill Gergely
Robert Jen-1.7 miles--at 1 a.m.!
Beth (Bresnahan) McGuire (sister)
Ellie Bresnahan (the Mrs.)
Len Gutman-1 mile
Julie Sczesniak and her niece-3.1 miles
Bridget Garrity-1.5 miles

If I've missed anyone, please let me know.

I completed miles 494-504 on the run.  Miles 498-500 were sponsored by Vin Callo-Lyon and his children Tobias and Bella, and mile 501 was sponsored by Kevin Farkas.  Thanks Vin, Tobias, Bella and Kevin for being with me while I reached the halfway mark.

One last note:  Len Gutman from NYC sent me an email thanking me for helping him get his "rear end off the couch" and is now regularly walking 6 miles around Central Park.  He is looking for a greater challenge and is considering doing a 32-mile, non-stop walk around Manhattan.  He is also hoping to join the Race4Chase team for the Fairfield Half-Marathon on June 23.  What a great commitment to a healthy life style, all in honor of Chase.  This is exactly what Steve and Becky were hoping for when they reached out to people to honor their son's spirit.  Thanks Len!

Today's Line:

Date

DoW

ToD

Distance

Time

Min/Mile

Notes

Effort

Total Miles

5/11

Sa

10:45a

10.3

1:18:53

7:39:31

60f

7

504.0

Hitting the 500 Mile Mark

May 10 - 4.5 Miles at the Track

Got out to the track for 4.5 miles this morning.  What a beautiful morning!  Bright blue skies, temps in the 60's.  It was great to get the track after a feeling in the doldrums the day before.  I didn't feel very strong but I really enjoyed being out there today.  I ran 2x200m, 2x400m, 1x800m and 1x 1600m.  I was pretty shocked at how slow I am now, with a pretty much full out 200m clocking in at 34 seconds. As a reference, I ran 2:01 in the 800m in high school, which is four 30 sec. 200m's in a row!  So the 16 year old Bresna would be 4 seconds ahead of the 47 year old Bresna after 200m, and the younger Bresna would have another 600m's in him!  Yikes!  Maybe parting my hair in the middle and feathering it back will buy me a few seconds back!

I completed miles 490-493 today.  Tom Smith sponsored 2 miles today, and I assigned him miles 492 and 493.  Thanks Tom, glad to get your miles in on the track today!

Today's Line:

Date

DoW

ToD

Distance

Time

Min/Mile

Notes

Effort

Total Miles

5/10

F

6:45a

4.5

n/a

n/a

60f

9

493.7

When did they increase the distance of tracks?  It sure takes me a lot longer to get around them!

Beautiful morning at East Hampton High