This one went out on the Finger Lakes Runners Club listserve. I think most of us can relate. Enjoy.

The Title is "The day after the Marathon"

The Groton Gophers had three well trained people represent them in the 2007 Cortland Leaf Peeper 1/2 marathon. The YMCA supplied a great day for a fantastic run. The temperature was perfect. The sunshine bright, and the leafs were in peak color. The Gophers responded well to the conditions.

Nancy Jacoby came in first of the Gophers. Her training strategy was to become sick the week before the race. It seemed to work well for Nancy and she ran a strong race. The second Gopher to cross the finish line has a very unique method. Ray Wagner utilized the extended taper method. He tapered all summer, and ran just 14 seconds shy of his own PR. Way to go Ray, keep tapering and you'll qualify for Boston. The final Gopher to finish was Steve Gallow who choose the sprain your ankle, take 4 weeks off, don't do a lot of long distance runs. This worked somewhat for Steve and he arrived with a fairly good time.

Keep up the good work Gophers.

2007 Wineglass Marathon a Humbling Event.


The 2007 Wineglass Marathon started out as a great event for the Gophers. Ron Moore and Stephen Codner had worked on a summer full of training. (Mostly by themselves.) Would it pay off?




We also had a relay team made up of a new Gopher-want-to-be Hal Coghill, and long time Gophers Ray Wagner, and Steve Gallow. All three of the relay team didn't have the training to run the whole marathon this year. Hal suffered from a broken ankle in July, and Steve a sprained ankle in August. Both are recovering nicely. Ray suffered from overrunning during his training for the Green Mountain Relay. He deserved a rest for this year.



The morning started out very cool, and clear with some fog around the hills. A perfect morning to start a marathon. Ray was running the first leg of the relay. Steve Codner's plan was to start out slow with Ray for the first five miles, and then start to pick up the pace. Ron's plan was to run how he felt. The gun went off. Ray, Ron, and Steve all looked great at the start. Hal and Steve G. got on the buses to be at the hand off points.
Ron was in the lead at first. Steve C picked up his pace after mile 5. Ray who had hoped to run around an 8:30 pace for the first leg of the relay came in after 9 miles beating his predicted time. Now it was Hal's turn. Meanwhile Steve C caught up to Ron at about mile 14. Ron was beginning to have blister problems. Steve C told him he was still on schedule to do well, and continued past. Hal then caught up to Ron and ran along side to make sure he was ok. Steve G was at the second relay stop ~mile 18 where he was able to see the leaders come through. He was also looking for Steve C, Ron, and Hal. Steve C came through and stated that he was ahead of schedule by 4 seconds, but wasn't going to be able to maintain the pace. A few minutes later Hal arrived at the second relay ahead of our predicted schedule. Steve G took off. All along the route he began to hear people cheer for him, "You look Great!!" He would respond with "I just started." To which one person responded, "That's the attitude." After that Steve G just said thank you to the people who cheered. Around mile 22 Steve G caught up to Steve C and ran with him about a 1/4 mile. Steve C was beginning to struggle but felt he was still on his way to a PR. Steve C told Steve G to go ahead. As the race progressed so did the heat. Steve G struggled the last mile, and was glad he wasn't running the full marathon. The relay team came in with a 3:35 which was better then their prediction. Meanwhile Steve C's quads began to cramp on him. He arrived at a 3:50 minute marathon struggling to finish.
Further back while Steve C struggled with cramped quads, Ron calf had locked up with cramps of his own. Ron stuggled to finish the race. Ray said it best, "The Marathon is a humbling experience." Now comes the time of rethinking our training and how will do it differently.
Ron's going on to run another marathon in Philly in November. Go get them Ron!!!

2007 Utica Boiler Maker

The Groton Gophers had a large showing at this years Boiler Maker. The veterans Steve Codner, Ray Wagner, Ron Moore, Audrey Moore, Kyle Gallow, Kari Gallow, and Steve Gallow showed the rookies Allen Gallow and Derek Wright how to run a race. A good time was had by all. Way to go Gophers!!

Mountain Goat 2007

The weather was perfect. The Gophers were ready. The gun went off. Immediately Ron Moore and Stephen Codner took off. Stephen thought he might be able to take it easy this race, but Ron wouldn't let him. "Everytime I thought that I had passed Ron, I would look up and he was ahead of me." Codner commented. After the first 4 miles Stephen Codner overtook Ron to stay ahead of him. Meanwhile further back Wagner and Gallow battled. For a long time it was back and forth. Wagner would charge up the hills and get in front of Gallow. Gallow would use his long lags and overtake Wagner on the downhills. Finally Wagner overtook Gallow on Colvin Hill, Gallow caught up to him after that hill, but couldn't keep up with him on the final hills. Gallow had Wagner in his eyesight waiting for Wagner to slow down, but it never happened. All the gophers went on to preform their own Personal Records in the grueling 10 mile hilly race. Codner finished with a (1:15:30, 7:33 min/mile). Despite vomiting at the top of one of the hills Moore had a (1:16:52, 7:41 min/mile), Wagner had a strong showing with a (1:20:19, 8:02 min/mile), and Gallow finished with a (1:20:46, 8:05 min/mile). A Good time was had by all.

Skunk Cabbage 1/2 Marathon and 10K, April 1, 2007

Several of the Gophers ran the annual Skunk Cabbage Race this year. Steve Codner, Steve Gallow, Nancy Jacoby, and Ray Wagner all ran the 1/2 marathon. Gideon Gal and David Jung ran the 10k.

As was typical fashion for the Skunk Cabbage, the weather was quite cold and windy. The good news was the wind was coming out of the South East, which put it at the runners backs when on the second part of the course.

Steve Codner wanted to take it easy on the 1/2 , and he still finished several minutes before any of the other gophers. He's in great shape! Codner finished with a 1:43:52. Steve Gallow has been having some problems with his right hamstring, and he started conservatively. He was feeling very good and picked it up at the 10 mile mark to finish strong with his own personal PR for the course a 1:49:01. Ray Wagner is also viewed the race as a training run for the Green Mountain Relay. He still finished very strong with a 1:55:58.

Nancy Jacoby has he own story to tell. She met the Gophers recently. One day she hopes to
join us for some runs. She did very well and here is her story:

"My goal was to finish in 2 hours, and I did: 1:59:48! Considering that
I've only done two 10-mile runs since I started getting back into shape
after an injury (slipped on ice, fell onto a bent knee, and suffered a
concussion during a marathon training run in Feb 2005 and it ended up
knocking me out of any real training for almost a year), I was very
pleased.

I started out very conservatively and then made a conscious shift to pick
up the pace about mile 7. My last 2-3 miles were clipping right a long. I
love that feeling of a negative split!"

Congratulations Nancy on a fantastic job.

In the 10k David Jung and Gideon Gal battled it out. Part way into the race Gideon lost his timing chip, and had to stop and pick it up. David used this advantage to come in 8 seconds before Gideon. The both broke the 7 min/mile average. David had a 42:44 and Gideon had a 42:52. They both did very well.

Great Job to all the gophers. The next big race for many of us will be the Mountain Goat 10 mile race in Syracuse in May. We should be in great shape for that race for some more PR's.

Two Gophers do well in the Run for Pete's Sake 5k on February 17, 2007

Gideon Gal (the international Gopher), and Steve Gallow both participated in the 1st annual Run for Pete's Sake 5k on February 17, 2007. It was a cold morning, but most of the roads were clear for this event. We were told that Pete Wadach was a man about relationships, and participants were asked to give each other a hug before the race. Gideon's response was, "Only in Ithaca would this happen." Neither one of use knew Pete, but from the sounds of it he was a great guy very dedicated to community.

After the gun went off Gideon and Steve took off. It was a flat course, so Steve thought he could run his PR for the 5k. The first mile Gideon and Steve were side by side at 7 minutes. The next mile had a little hill, and some slippery roads with snow and slush for about a 1/4 mile. They came in with a 7:05 for the second mile. Shortly after the 2nd mile, Steve started to fall behind Gideon. Gideon encouraged Steve to keep it up, but he couldn't hold the pace. Gideon continued on and passed more people and finished in 19th pace with a time of 21:44. Meanwhile Steve passed a couple of people. Then a battle emerged between Steve and one of the runners. Steve passed the other runner, and the other runner passed Steve almost immediately. Steve continued behind this runner, until the slight hill going over a bridge on Cayuga Street. Steve passed the runner for the last time and had a 5 second lead at the end. Steve finished in 22nd place with a PR, 22:08.

After waiting around for the results, there was some good news and some bad news for Steve. The good news was, he won his age group. The bad news was, they had entered Steve into the wrong age group.

It was a great event, and Gideon and Steve and their families went on to the Chili fest being held on the commons for a celebration.

Photos of the event can be seen at http://www.deweyneild.com/index.html

The Groton Gophers push the snow in the 3rd annual Cazenovia Chilly Chili 5k

Three of Groton Gophers attended a very cold 5k race in Cazenovia called the Chilly Chili, while two of the walking Gophers elected to stay home. The temperatures were in the high teens to low twenties. You decide who were the more intelligent gophers.

The three running Gophers Ray Wagner, Ron Moore, and Steve Gallow all knew that with all the snow and slush on the roads, there would be no records set today. All in all the Gophers did quite well. Out of the 573 people participating Steve Gallow came in 91st place with a time of 24:12. He placed 10th out of 36 in his age group. Ron Moore was next with a 107th pace with a time of 24:42 and was 11th in the age group. Ray Wagner came in with a 172nd place with a time of 26:36, 17th in the same age group.

Now that the running was out of the way, it was on to Cazenovia College for some Chili and Beer. Both were consumed with great vigor as we told of our war stories of the race.

The Chilly Chili has become a favorite of the Gophers and it seems that others agree. Each year the number of runners has increased greatly.

Gallow Set's a new Gopher Record in the Hartshorne Master's Mile

Gopher Steve Gallow was becoming disappointed that Stephen Codner and Ron Moore were running away with all the Gopher records. So, in an attempt to rectify this situation Gallow decided to run a 1 mile race. (None of the other Gophers have ever run a 1 mile race before, so he figured he was in line for a record.) Coached for 2 weeks by Herb Engman, Gallow participated in the prestigious Hartshorne Memorial Masters Mile. Gallow started out on pace with a 1:30 for the first 400 meters. The next 1000 meters were difficult for Gallow, and he remembers very little of it. The last 200 meters Gallow kicked it in to pass one other runner and finish with a 6:11 mile. He hopes to train more, and break 6:00 next year.

(Photo by Laura Voorhees, from Finger Lakes Runners Club Web site)

The rest of the story

John Saylor asked for an account of us normal people on the Hartshorne Mile. Here was my response.

I arrived at the track early. I was nervous, and excited about the thoughts of participating in my first Hartshorne Memorial Masters Mile. I realized that I hadn't trained enough, but I figured 2 weeks of training with Herb Engman was about the equivalent of training for a month on my own.

Training

When I had decided to run the mile, I had to find somebody who knew what they were doing. I certainly had no idea. I went to Herb, and asked for some help. He suggested that I try running one mile fast to see how I could do. I did as he had suggested, but had forgotten to wear my watch. It felt like a 5:30 mile, but in all reality it was probably closer to a 7:30. The next week Herb was taking it easy with 6-200 meters intervals at a slightly faster then race pace. He was getting ready for the Finger Lakes Track Meet 1500 and 3000, so he didn't want to over do it. This was a good start for me. I found that my legs felt fine, but my breathing was very difficult. The following Tuesday Herb was going to do 10-400 meter intervals at near race pace. I couldn't join him that day, so I attempted the workout on Monday. I estimated my race pace for 400 meters to be about 90 sec. I did the first one in 85. The rest went downhill from there ranging from 93-95, with the final one being a 92. I almost stopped several times, but finally did all 10 of the intervals. I had started out too fast on the first one, and paid for it on the rest. This was a good time to do this, because it helped prepare me not to go out to fast in the beginning of the race. (Although Ken Zeserson advised me was to go out as fast as I could the first 200 meters of the race. He later told me that this was a joke.) The following Friday I joined Herb for several 200 meters intervals at slightly faster then race pace. It helped a lot to have someone to train with. The intervals went by much more quickly, perhaps because they were only 200 meters instead of 400. The Tuesday before the Hartshorne was our final speed workout. We did 3 400s and a few 200s. I felt much better this day then the week before. I was as ready as I would be for this year's Hartshorne.

Pre Race

A few days before the race, I received a list of who would be in the heat that I was to run. I quickly attempted to find out the times of the other runners in the heat. I saw that Bob Talda was going to be in the same heat as I was. I had finally beaten him in a race this previous summer, The Recway 10k. Of course he was pushing a baby carriage the whole race, and I wasn't. But a win is a win. I saw my target. I was going to have to try and stay with Bob, who had broken 6 minutes the previous year. Herb was also in my heat, but I knew he was out of my range. Ken Zeserson had be training with us, and had a slight injury. I figured that would work to my advantage. The others I didn't know as well. Steve Halebsky had joined us for some of the workouts. I wasn't sure how I would do against him.

Race Day

As I said in the beginning, I had arrived early. It was about 9:45 AM. Tom Hartshorne and Pete Taylor came into the meet. Pete introduced himself, and asked me my name. I told him, and Tom and I could tell he was checking his internal database to see if he had heard of me as an elite runner. Tom and I said at the same time, that I was not one of the elites, and he wouldn't know me. I told him, I was more in the 6 min/mile range. He responded with a very gracious comment about how most people cannot run a 6 min/mile. I went over and helped Tom set up the PA system.

Now it was around 10:00, and I still hadn't seen Herb. Would I have to do a warm up myself? How should I warm up? What if I do it wrong? Will I crash in the mile? My mind was asking stupid questions a mile a minute. (I guess my mind could run the race much faster then my body.) Finally Herb arrived looking very relaxed. I guess 20 Hartshorne's does that to you. He said that he'd start stretching around 11:00, and then warming up for the 11:45 start. Bob Talda arrived a few minutes after Herb, pushing a baby stroller. I was hoping that he would push this during the race. I might have a chance of beating him if he did. I asked Bob what he was expecting to run. He said anywhere from a 6:00 - 6:30 mile. I was estimating around a 6:15 pace for me, but was hoping to do a sub 6:00.

Herb, Ken, Bob, Steve, Steve, and Steve all warmed up together. The runners in our heat all introduced ourselves to each other. The race was approaching....

As we lined up for the race Pete Taylor called out each of our names and had us step forward like elite runners. It was quite a thrill. Coach Herb Engman received the most cheers in our heat. It must be his smile.

With that the runners all approached the start line, and the gun went off. Having never started a race like this before, I was quickly in the back of the pack on the first turn. I then moved to then second lane and passed a few people to enter somewhere closer to the middle of the pack. All the way around the track I could hear shouts, "Go Steve". I'm not sure which Steve they were all shouting for, so I just assumed it was me. Early in the first couple of laps I passed one of the other Steve's, and was on target for a 6 minute pace after the first 400 meters. (90 seconds). After that it became much more difficult. I could no longer calculate in my mind what the splits would need to be for the next several laps. All I knew was that I was falling behind, and was being told to run faster.

Somewhere in the middle of the race Ken Zeserson passed me, and I couldn’t maintain his pace. I thought maybe he was playing mind games with me. Due to oxygen deprivation, there wasn’t much of my mind left, so it didn’t work. Lap 7 Bob Talda passed me. All I could think was “Where is his Baby Stroller?” The only thing left in my mind was lap 8. Coach Herb told me to sprint the last lap. He told me that I would use different muscles that would still have energy. I came out of the first corner of lap 8, and there was Bob. I passed him on the straight away, and rounded the last corner. There was Ken Zeserson. I thought to myself I could catch him, and then Ken took off. I ran as fast as I could to come in just after Ken, with Bob breathing down my neck. I had completed my first mile race.

I remember talking to my Dad this past year about my marathon training, and how I was going to approach the marathon. He was never a runner, and was amazed at how complex running is. He stated that he thought people just got out there and ran. I now realize that the mile is just as complex as a marathon. There’s a lot to it. I’ve got a lot to learn. The challenge makes it very interesting to me.

I also received advice from Bruce Roebal told me that I need shorter shorts, and I need to run faster. Don Farley told me that I needed running flats. Good advice from both of you. I hope to take up those suggestions on my next mile race.

I want to thank Rick and Tom, and everybody else that worked so hard to put on this event. I cannot begin to imagine all of the work involved. It is much appreciated. I also want to thank Coach Herb, and everybody for their advice. I tried to follow most of it. (I’m still looking for the right shorts Bruce.) I also want to thank everybody who encouraged a back of the packer like myself. I’m beginning to think that someday I may actually become a runner. I do feel like I am surrounded by Giants, and have a long way to go.

Groton Gopher Steve Gallow

Today we have a guest column from one of the Gophers about his 1/2 marathon experience in Arizona. It's an inspirational story. Great Job Gopher Stephen Codner!! He'll be qualifying for Boston this year!!!


On The Edge

Today I ran the Arizona Rock & Roll half marathon. I have been training for this race since the Wine Glass Marathon back in September and I had a specific goal; to come in under a 7.30 min/mile pace which would bring me in at no longer than 1.38.19. I did it in 1.38.08!

I had been waiting at the starting village for over an hour before the race in 31 degree temperatures. By the time the race was ready to start, my body was shaking from the cold and I was concerned that I was losing valuable energy before the race. However, when the gun went off I felt great. So great that I punched out 7.15 min/miles for the first two miles. At mile three I decided to fall back to 7.30's and begin pacing for the long haul. By mile 6 I had banked 45 seconds towards my goal and was feeling pretty good about it. This meant that I could maintain pace throughout the race and go in easy. By the time I was at mile 8 I had lost 15 seconds. By mile 10 I had lost another 15 seconds and I was beginning to fight the fatigue. At mile 12 I was 7 seconds behind and started experiencing muscle cramps in my calves. I didn't want to be in this situation - I had it easy back at mile 6 with my banked time and now I was behind. I had to make tough, painful decisions right at that moment. If I wanted it, I was going to have to work for it and experience some pain. Incredible pain. I was so close and I was staring at failure. To be that close to my goal and not achieve it - to me - was not an option. I took off and experienced one of the most painful but incredible moments in my running career. I pushed beyond any threshold I ever experienced before and took my PR out of failure's hands. I will never forget this experience and I will never forget the lesson.
Sometimes it will get tough. Sometimes I will be on the sharp edge of failure and success. I will have to make split timing decisions when that happens. I will have to experience incredible pain to succeed. First I have to have the will power. After that, the rest has already been decided.

A quote I have been thinking about lately: In order to discover new lands, one must be willing to lose sight of the shore for a very long time. - Anonymous

The time has come. I have the willpower.

See the Pictures Here

Groton Gophers off to a good start for 2007

The Groton Gophers began their year by joining the Syracuse Track Club. We'll see how many track Clubs we can get kicked out of this year. :-)

Five of the Gophers ran the Syracuse Track Club's Resolution run. (I wonder if they'll change the name next year?) Ray Wagner and Gary Rightmire in their cunning pursuit of finishing first proceeded to run a different route then the rest of the Gophers. They figured that extra mile wasn't really necessary. Ray used this route to lead the Gopher Pack with a 42 min ?? sec finish. Stephen Codner in his "I don't want to run this race." mode came in second, followed by Steve Gallow, and Ron Moore. Gary made sure to bring up the rear in case any gophers were injured, and needed assistance.

Champagne at the water stop, and Chili, Ziti, Bread, and Soda at the finish helped to make sure that a Good Time was had by all.

Looking forward Stephen Codner will be traveling the week after next to Arizona to do the Rock and Roll Half Marathon. The Cazanovia Chilly Chili will be taking place in February. And look for Ron Moore, Ray Wagner, Gideon Gal, John Daileyand Steve Gallow to run as the Dirty Half Dozen in the Green Mountain Relay in June (200 miles.)