Good luck racers!

followed by 2 disappointing pieces of fruit, cut into a plum and a nectarine that weren't ripe. But the ride was good, went out to my godparents' camp and back.

Select results from Bangor:

JC won in 26:50
Erik McC 2nd 27:10
4: Austin 29:55
6: Adam G 30:00 (jogged!)
9: Mark W 31:09
13: Brian 32:17
16: RK 32:15
1st Female Oriana Farley in 33:01
2nd female Eliz. Brunton 33:05
22: SPot 33:45
27: Doug Hinerfeld 34:28
58: Tom K 40:01
59: Ginger 40:07 (PR!!)
105: Robin Emery 45:41

They had good weather, but windy. 135 finishers!

I rode long (3hrs) and easy yesterday and did an interval workout today. The wind kept things interesting today. Even with weekend traffic and big gusts it was beautiful out on the loop road. Had a good banana beforehand and a pretty good apple after.

Got to see Matt F, Joyce, Anna, & Mike B along the way. Plenty of wind but what a beautiful morning. Good job at the race Eden! Life is good in the woods.

great turnout for the 46th Annual Labor Day Road Race. Thank you to the volunteers, sponsors and of course the runners for continuing to make this event so successful. I was thankful to be able to run. Finished 16th Overall. 1 Mile Warm Up, 5 Mile Race.

• September 1. Labor Day 5-miler, Bangor

Thanks, RK (and Skip)!

Three loops for 20.2 miles. One more long run to go before Portland. Today's run went really well as I averaged only 11 sec per mile slower then my BQ pace.

Eden Fallout Shelter is being used? Just got a call from Gov. Palin. The line was scratchy, but it sounded urgent. Something about she and Senator McCain taking in-coming from both the left and right. Maybe she'll call back.

Nice running at Bangor, Team Eden!

AM:
2mi. w/u
Labor Day 5: 32:17
2mi. c/d

PM:
Eagle Lake loop with a great group of Emerson XC runners as a cap to their pre-season training. First day of school for them tomorrow!

Second-hand report has it that First Strides alumna Amanda did her first double today at Eagle Lake. Nice running Amanda!

I'm trying to find my time from 2007 Garland 5 miler? Any suggestions? I'd like to know for sure if I had a pr today.

More later on today's race.

EL/BP/JP loop with the whole family. Not too often that we all have a day off together so we took advantage of it. Watched a heron catch a big fish and swallow it on EL!

I just saw this race listed. I'm considering doing it as a team with my wife. Me:run, Her:Bike. We would have childcare covered that way too, swap the baton for the kids in the transition area:) Anybody else thinking of heading over there?

It was a fun morning in Bangor. I drove up with Doug H. and Ginger K., with a brief consult with Tom K. and Robin E. along the way, then saw Judson, Autumn, Brian, Ryan, Scott and Austin while there.

I didn't run particularly well, but I like the race a lot. Course knowledge is important I think, and I'll run it better when I return. I got discouraged by a slow 2nd mile split into the wind when I felt like I was running well and ran a mentally weak 3rd mile. But I relaxed and finished pretty well, so it worked out OK in the end. BTW, I passed Adam Goode around 3 miles (and wondered what the heck he was doing) but he ran sub-11 for the last 2 miles and put things right again.

My splits were 6:05, 6:13, 7:00, 6:02, 5:48 total 31:09. I'll keep working on 6:0x average pacing I guess. Other Edenistas ran well, and I really enjoyed running the last ~1/3 of a mile with Ginger and seeing her finish her wonderful race.

Yes, indeed it was a good time. I enjoyed the company and the race. Mark took Doug and I out on his specialized warm up. We ran easy for a mile, (of course I was with Mark and Doug AND uphill) so it wasn't so easy for me. Then we proceeded to run 2.5 min.'s at race pace. I like this better than strides because it's more realistic to what you'll be feeling in the race. Then we finished up by jogging to the start, with a few min. to relax before the race.

My splits were 7:45, 8:15, 8:45, 8:01, then lightening speed for the last mile:) The last mile must have been fairly decent to avg. 8:02's. I really love this race; the first mile is scary fast, second mile pretty fast, mile 3 a bit hilly, and the rest super fast. I was able to keep the same effort on the hill, hence the slower mile. The wind really helped me stay cool too. Tom, stayed with me the entire time and actually stopped 1/8 of a mile from the finish to lead me towards a strong finish. That was so nice, and he didn't need to do that. I was also thrilled to see Mark's enthusiastic face in the final stretch. He ran with me too and pushed me to pass people in the very end. Yup, I admit it, I like the support. 7ish miles total.

Splits:
5:50
6:27
7:36
7:15
6:37

My legs burned badly in mile 2 and started hurting on mile 4. I chalked it up to dehydration at race's end, but I'm not 100% sure that's the case. I might be hitting a rough patch with my running right now. I know the mile 3 hills were brutal but I'm run them so many times before as practice.

I feel better about this than I did this morning and honestly I should be good about how I'm doing now compared to last year (9:33 pace in 2007, 6:45 pace in 2008). I just didn't think I'd crash so hard in the race.

It's onward to the Bar Harbor Half, though! Now I've gotta shift my sights to the big picture and keep grinding it out.

1mi warmup, no cooldown - 6 on the day.

You've had so many incredible races, we would all wonder if you were human if you didn't have a bad race once in a while. You finished the race and that shows great sportsmanship. Even Judson has horrible races. He was passed by a 75 year old in Polka Dot shorts at The Gate River Run. Forget about Labor Day and keep your focus forward, like you said. Believe me, I need to practice what I preach, I think I'm getting better though:)

Well I guess I should report.

Ginger ran awesome especially with the wind which was a big factor the first 2 1/2 miles.

For weeks now I'd been playing with the idea of either going for a fast time like I've been doing all summer or putting myself into a different situation. Well after warming up and doing some strides I noticed the wind was going to be in our face the first half of the race, so I decided to go out with whoever wanted to lead. Adam Goode after taking a couple of weeks off ran the race easy, so he was never up with us. Erik and Joe were up with me through the mile which we got to in 5:29. I kept going all over the road not only to try and let someone else take the lead, but to make sure no one gained too much of an advantage by drafting behind me in that wind. Second mile I slowed down to 5:41 and still no one wanted to go by. Erik and Joe were still there. Guess I could have stopped, I'll try that next time. Third mile I ran 5:34. Normally that wouldn't hurt anyone, but it's the uphill mile here and it wasn't long before I was by myself. Erik was chasing. 4th mile in about 5:11 with a water stop in there to practice for the marathon. I think I waved to a few people as well. Without that wind in our faces for the last 2 miles it actually got really hot, so why not take water. 5th mile I ran 30 seconds hard/ 30 seconds easy and ended up running 4:52.

It was a nice way to finish off the four 5 milers in 4 weeks. Now 3 weeks of no racing and I'll gear up for the 1/2 marathon. Too bad I'm 43rd on the waiting list. Actually someone else put me on it but now it's a waiting game to see if I get in.

As one of my best buds always says, when the shit goes down, you'd better be ready.

I just love that.

my favorite is "shit or get off the pot". I was well into my 30's before I found the more socially appropriate, but far less "colorful" alternative, "fish or cut bait."
Ran EL yesterday, seem to have a problem with the arch of my right foot. Bought some impressive orthotics today, expecting a miraculous recovery when I run tomorrow.