Route88....I did the Sugarloaf race in 2005 and it was rainy and cold. Def no black flies....this year I watched from the sidelines and the weather was perfect for a race. Overcast and mild. I thought there was a lot of local support...I think its a great setting for a race.

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-Michelle

Okay, I'll go first. I use an mp3 player that was a gift. I think it is an RCA Lyra(?). It's pretty basic but I have about 15 favorite rock tunes including AC/DC's Thunderstruck of course. This is a great tune to begin and end a long distance run with. I know the player can hold many more tunes, I have to get my kids to download more songs sometime when their not busy with homework, IM, computer games, etc. I am pretty lost when it comes to a lot of techno stuff.

The only complaint I have with the player is the ear pieces. A rather essential part, I have the worst time keeping those little ear pieces in while I am running, too much sweat I guess. They work great in the winter with a hat. I have tried the regular over the head earphones system and they seem to work best for me.

Sometimes, I just like to run with no music and take in the sights and sounds of town. Unfortunately that usually means traffic noise, but at least I can hear that truck coming.

Plans for the fall and winter are kind of low key. I am working on keeping up the base miles at a minimum of 20 mpw. I am going to try and run in the Thanksgiving Day 4 miler in Portland and I would really like to finally get a chance to run the Mid-Winter 10-mile classic in Cape Elizabeth. We'll see how the training goes first.

Enough for now,

Chris

I don't run with an I Pod or CD player. I tried for a short time, but I enjoy running without the distraction. I also wonder about the safety of running with music, particularly when played at high volume. I recently approached another runner and scared the **** out of her as I passed. I tried to let her know I was coming from behind, but she didn't hear me and once she caught sight of me as I ran along side her she jumped and let out a gasp. I hollered that I was sorry and waved, but I still don't think I was heard. The incident still bugs me as she had no idea anyone was around her and it really is an awareness/safety issue.

Is anyone running the 4 miler Thanksgiving Day in Portland? Barring any scheduling conflicts I will be there.

Only seven weeks until my marathon. What will I do with all my free time once it is over??!! I've been running between 58-70 miles per week. Its a lot of hours on the road.

Brian

Hi all,

I am planning on running the Thanksgiving Day race in Portland, but it will be a race day decision depending on weather and such.

Brian, I agree with you on the awareness/safety issue with headphones on. I have also scared other runners before when I have passed them. That's why I don't always use mine. I was running in Holyoke, MA this weekend, and if I had my mp3 player blasting away I would have missed the 2 hawks flying over me and the sounds they were making inflight. It was pretty impressive.

Chris

Hey guys,
I just signed on to this forum yesterday and thought it was awesome that it had a Maine thread. I'm an 8th grade runner for my middle school X-C, and Track teams. This year we were league champs, and went undefeated all season. We had the same five 8th graders score for each meet. I ran a 12:47 on a 2 mile course where I ran a 15 min last season.
I run a 6:20 mile, and want to get it to 5:50 before track this spring. This year I ran my first road-races, the Bangor Race for the Cure, and the Brewer Turkey Trot. I ran these in a 26:26 at the beginning of the season, and a 23:38 after. I don't know what to run next, but enjoy road races.
As for using an iPod, I do sometimes, but it only has 20 minutes of skip protection so after that it freezes. Its good though.
Any advice on a good 5k to run, or training for the 1600m this spring would be appreciated, I posted under track. Something like "Mile Training"
Stephen

Hi all-

I ran the Thanksgiving Day 4miler in Portland and had a lot of fun. I've never run that particular race before and really enjoyed the tour of Portland and running loops allowed my dh and three kids see me a run by a couple of times - the kids love that! It was my first 4mi race so I guess I now have a 4mi PR time - 30:12. I'd hoped to run it a bit faster but I'm happy with that. I will definitely run it again next year! I also ran the Turkey Trot in Cape E on the Sunday before ane that was a nice race, too. I got a PR at that race of 23:12 and my goal next year is to run my 5ks in the 22min range.

Is anyone locally going to be training for the Vermont City Marathon on 5/27/07? This will be my first marathon and I'm curious if others locally run this race. If so, any thoughts on the course? thanks

Hello Out There Mainers, and Season's Greetings to All!
Brian, congrats on training 4 months for Disneyworld in January. If you have done the work, as it sounds like you have, you'll do just fine. Tons of good luck to you.
Just got done training for 6 months myself. Tried to qualify for Boston, by doing the Clarence Demar in New Hampshire on Sept 24th, and missed my time by 9 minutes. Was so dissappointed, I decided to slowly get back into training, and try and run Philly Marathon 7 weeks later. I pay VERY much attention to my body, and if I felt I couldn't do it, I was going to bail out. Training went perfect, went down and ran Philly, and beat my qualifing time by 11 mins.
The BIG reason I'm sharing this with you is this: I felt that I had my hydration down good for the first one, and I didn't, and paid the price. I drank twice as much at Philly, and it was like nite and day. So from now on when I talk with fellow runners about the marathon, trying to help them, I feel you can NEVER overstate how important HYDRATION is. Even if you are not trying for a fast time, if you hydrate enough, you will feel much better after the race.
Also, if you have not found out about soaking, and massaging your legs in a cold water bathtub for about 20 minutes after long runs, you should try it, as it made all the difference to me. It really aids in Recovery.
Please don't feel like I think I know everything, as I don't. I just want to help people, so they don't have to go through it the hard way, as so often alot of us do.
Once again, Best of Luck to you in Florida.

Good Running, and Health to everyone this winter, and be careful out there!

Mike, in Tenants Harbor { near Rockland }