Friday's Quick Intervals over Coffee

Friday, October 31, 2014 · Mike Davis

Good morning! Time to grab that favorite mug, fill it up and hit those Friday Quick Intervals. Last day of October (happy birthday dad) and in a span of 2 weeks there are something like 6 half marathons within a 50 mile radius. Not difficult to deduce what race distance is the most popular. From a market view, I have to wonder though; how many clumped together is an overall good thing? The Seacoast Half Marathon got it all started 9 years ago and while that race is traditionally filled up, the other half's have not had the same success. Not that selling out is the measure of success, but competing against each other for your entry fees certainly hurts the charitable races. Speaking of the Seacoast Half Marathon, the defending champion, Andrew Huebner will not be repeating as he is on the sidelines recovering from an injury. Most the readers know and love Andrew as he is great guy as well as a fantastic runner. Let's hope he can get healthy and get back out on the road soon. Staying with the Seacoast Half FYI, this year the course is quite different because of the construction on the Sagamore bridge. Instead of the normal start/finish at Portsmouth high school. they will shuttle runners from PHS to Wallis Sands where the race will start and then finish at PHS. The shuttles will begin at 6:45 and run until 7:45, so plan accordingly. Definitely tough circumstances to adjust to, but should be a great race regardless. Had a great post-marathon hot wash with one of my favorite runners (Sarah) and the one comment that stood out and even surprised me was her thoughts on the Maine Marathon. "I wouldn't recommend this particular marathon for those planning to only ever run in one marathon." Sarah explained that after the half marathon portion was over things got pretty quiet and at times it even felt like one of her early morning solo runs. That dynamic seemed to be quite disappointing for Sarah as she looked forward to the excitement of running along side others and having people supporting from the sidelines. I totally agree and would certainly not suggest this race for a first timer, but more for someone who has more experience. Sarah is going to share her training experience as well as the race itself on paper for me to share with the No Finish Line Running readers. Sarah is now going to focus on preparing for a 2015 wedding and running will be just a part of taking care of herself physical and mentally. She truly gets it. Thanks for letting me help you Sarah! NFLR continues to be all over the place these days. From coaching a training group over in York Maine for Stonewall Kitchen to helping runners on the Seacoast and beyond. My dream has always been to develop a running resource business that provides for all types of runners and that dream continues to evolve into a reality. The Stonewall training group has been a great experience for Lew Ricker as he continues to develop as a running coach. The runners in the Stonewall group have all improved tremendously and more importantly, they are enjoying the experience. We are also super excited about our NFLR Winter Running Group, that will be starting up around mid November. This will be another great opportunity for runners to hook up in Dover during the winter and find the joy of "winter running". Our individual clients continue to grow in number and while we have to deal with the ups and downs of running with them, we continue to help all of our runners become stronger while developing a great joy for running. It is so exciting to help people grow and develop as runners. Time to move along. Hope you have a great day and an even better weekend! See you on the roads! Mike