Run Your Hangover Off 5 Miler, Woburn MA (Read 722 times)

I qualified for the run by having a hangover, but thankfully my stomach was fine it was just my head that was hurtin'. As I was picking up my number I recognized Eric (Mile Collector) from his profile pic and took the opportunity to introduce myself. My arrival didn't give me much time before the start, so I headed out to warm up a bit and found it had started snowing as predicted. It still hasn't stopped, and it looks like I might be making a cross-training entry for shoveling later. The Irish Americans Club is on Main Street, so we had a flat segment at the start which allowed for an easy warmup. After that we ran a series of "New England Rollers", hills that are typical of almost any course around here. The club had people giving directions at every turn, and there were two water stations which was really nice (my overindulgence had left me more than a little dehydrated). The footing was pretty good across the course, with the exception of one fairly steep downhill that had started to ice over. I use Galloway's run/walk method, but on a couple of recent runs I had reduced or eliminated the walk breaks. I've never run a race without walking, but decided to try today and succeeded. I'm pretty sure the guy at the finish called out 36:14 when I crossed the line, but I neglected to check my watch because I'd killed too many brain cells the night before. I didn't have the capacity to think about two things at the same time, so I was only thinking about water. I saw Eric cross the line, and we chatted for a little bit before he headed for the club. The running jacket I was wearing is water-resistant rather than waterproof, so I was pretty soggy and cold. I really hated to pass up the potluck luncheon, but I hadn't brought a change of clothes so I climbed into the Jeep and headed home. I felt like a new man after changing and woofing down a meatball sangwich and some Congo bars, nothing like a little comfort food on a snowy afternoon. I love RA meetups, it was a great way to start 2008. Hope to see you again soon Eric, thanks for posting the race in Zoomie's thread!

Nice job, dawg. I was this close to getting over there this morning but it didn't work out with the family etc. Ran a solo 7 miler in the wet snow and wished I was racinig in Woburn the whole time...alas.

Well I'm glad to hear the family illness hasn't kept you off the road Mike. If Stu's 30K is on for this year (I can't find anything online for it?) maybe I'll get the chance to say hello at that one.

Wow Ed! That's a fast post. I didn't leave the IA club until 3:30. There was a still sizable crowd there when I left. I'm glad you picked me out of the crowd because I could have never found you. I'm not even going to give an account of how I did. I'm just happy that I finished without giving up my breakfast. You should have stayed for the pot luck. We even got pizzas delivered! The Stu's 30k is never well advertised. I'm not sure why. You should head over to cmsrun.org and click on the race calendar link. I include it here, but they use frames and some funky programming. It's on March 2 this year. Eric

I'm trying to get the results from the RD but she hasn't replied to my request. Grr!!!

A coworker just sent an email after reading the Woburn paper, he said "nice job running 5 miles in 38 minutes". Bummer. I knew 36 seemed too fast for my pace (and hung-overness). I've gotten spoiled with digital displays at the finish, I'm not in the habit of looking at or stopping my chrono. Eric, any chance the official results will eventually hit coolrunning or shamrockrunningclub.com ?

I've been trying to contact the RD to get the results. As soon as I get it, I'll put them up.