Motivated to Succeed

Week starting Jan 02, 2011

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Location:

Pittsfield,MA,

Member Since:

Jul 02, 2008

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Boston Qualifier

Running Accomplishments:

 

 

  •  2006 Mohawk Hudson River Marathon (NY)
  • 2007 Vermont City Marathon (VT)
  • 2011 BPAC 6 Hour Run (NY)
  • 2011 Mind the Ducks 12 Hour (NY)
  • 2012 Maple Leaf Indoor Marathon #1 (IN)
  • 2012 Maple Leaf Indoor Marathon #2 (IN)
  • 2012 BPAC 6 Hour Run (NY)
  • 2012 Mind the Ducks 12 Hour (NY)
  • 2012 Memorial Day Marathon (MA)
  • 2012 Around the Lake 12 Hour (MA)
  • 2012 Hancock Shaker Village 50 (MA) 
  • 2012 Bay State Marathon (MA)
  • 2012 First Descents Marathon (DE) 
  • 2013 Maple Leaf Indoor Marathon #1 (IN)
  • 2013 Maple Leaf Indoor Marathon #2 (IN) 
  • 2013 Circular Logic Marathon (IN)
  • 2013 Lake Waramaug 50M (CT)
  • 2013 BPAC 6 Hour Run (NY)
  • 2013 Ragnar Cape Cod Ultra Team (MA) 
  • 2013 Memorial Day Marathon (MA)
  • 2013 Relay For Life No. Berkshire (MA)
  • 2013 Ragnar Adirondack Ultra Team (MA)
  • 2013 BayState Marathon (MA)
  • 2013 One Day At the Fair Marathon (NJ)
  • 2013 West Palm Beaches Marathon (FL)
  • 2014 Arena Attack XL Center Marathon (CT)
  • 2014 Maple City 6-Pack Marathon #1 (IN)
  • 2014 Maple City 6-Pack Marathon #2 (IN)
  • 2014 Maple City 6-Pack Marathon #3 (IN)
  • 2014 Maple City 6-Pack Marathon #4 (IN)
  • 2014 Maple City 6-Pack Marathon #5 (IN)
  • 2014 Maple City 6-Pack Marathon #6 (IN)
  • 2014 Circular Logic Marathon (IN)

 Personal Bests:

  • 400 - 1:01 (2004)
  • 800 - 2:16 (2004)
  • Mile - 5:12 (2004)
  • 2Mile - 11:27 (2004)
  • 5k - 19:44 (2005)
  • 10k 40:46 (11/22/07)
  • 15k - 1:07:40 (11/11/07)
  • 13.11 Half - 1:38:31 (12/9/07)
  • Marathon 3:59:18 (1/25/14)
  • 50 miles 11:44 (5/14/11)

Eagle Scout with Bronze and Gold Palms (2002)

Biked from Ticonderoga, New York to Old Orchard Beach, Maine in August of 2005 (Total of about 290 miles

Short-Term Running Goals:

200 miles @ 72 Hour Race in May

Under 200 #

Sub 4:00 Marathon

 

 

Long-Term Running Goals:

QUALIFY AND RUN IN THE BOSTON MARATHON.

Personal:

I am 27.  Have done 33 marathons and ultras. Really trying to get in shape to get back to running the miles I want to. I love to read and worked for four years in a bookstore. I like to keep track of the books I read. Currently I work as a 6th & 7th grade history teacher at the only charter school in Berkshire County, as well as serve as the coach for the cross country team! Been experimenting as a pescatarian (eating only fish) since August 10, 2011. 

 

Just earned my Master's Degree in Adolescent Education for Social Studies. I have the most wonderful WIFE in the entire world.. EMMA! October 16, 2010

Run when you can, walk when you have to, crawl if you must. Just never give up! - Dean Karnazes -

We are all teachers and we are all students in this sport. - Dean Karnazes -

The simple act of putting one foot in front of the other and moving forward at an accelerated rate can be one of life's greatest - and simplest - pleasures. ~Dean Karnazes 

"Your beliefs become your thoughts, your thoughts become your words, your words become your actions, your actions become your habits, your habits become your values, your values become your destiny." - MK Gandhi 

"The marathon mercilessly rips off the outer layers of our defenses and leaves the raw human, vulnerable and naked. It is here you get an honest glimpse into the soul of an individual. Every insecurity and character flaw is open and on display for all the world to see. No communication is ever more real, no expression ever more honest. There is nothing left to hide behind. The marathon is the great equalizer. Ever movement, every word spoken and unspoken, is radiant truth. The veil has been obliterated. These are the profound moments of human interaction that I live for." - Dean Karnazes 

 

Benn Griffin


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2014 Books I've Read: 

 

 

 

 

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Vibram Five Fingers KSO Lifetime Miles: 367.52
Vibram Komodo Sports (yellow) Lifetime Miles: 570.38
Vibram Bikilas (red) Lifetime Miles: 655.87
Vibram Bikilas (blue) Lifetime Miles: 414.89
Altra Lone Peak Lifetime Miles: 155.19
Lizzy Miles 2012 Lifetime Miles: 58.60
Vibram Komodo Sport (black) Lifetime Miles: 195.60
NB Trail Minimus (orange) Lifetime Miles: 101.74
Altra Instinct (grey) Lifetime Miles: 389.78
Vibram Bikilas (red #2) Lifetime Miles: 10.60
Vibram Bikilas (green) Lifetime Miles: 230.05
Altra Adams Lifetime Miles: 2.00
Merrell Road Glove Lifetime Miles: 46.11
Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
21.260.009.00
Brooks Addictions 8 - #4 Miles: 20.91
Night Sleep Time: 15.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 15.00Weight: 212.60
Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
3.500.000.00

7:00 PM - Went in to school today to try to get things Xeroxed before Monday's back to school. Went in last week but couldn't get in because of renovations. Got there today and none of the printers were working, the wireless was out, and the xerox machine was unplugged. I got it working, albeit with several paper jams, but got enough things Xeroxed to be in okay shape for tomorrow. Then went grocery shopping for us. Came home around 5pm, and Emm was sleeping in her Snuggie-style blanket on the bed. She said she just lay down listening to her audio book and conked out. I woke her up at 5ish just because I wanted to make sure she was okay. She went right back to sleep and is still sleeping at 8:30 as I write this entry. I may go wake her up so that she isn't up all night!

Hopped on the treadmill to work out some kinks in my legs. Quads were pretty sore this a.m. when I woke up. First mile was rough, but after that things were fine. Went nice and slow. After doing 3.5 miles, I stretched, something I didn't do enough of yesterday. Then I wanted to see what the straight arm plank was all about. I managed 1:00. Oh well. A place to start. I will go for 1:10 or 1:15 next time. Then I did a 1:00 wall sit. Quads were really burning, and last 20 seconds I was near tears. Phew! Tired!

Total Time: 33:47 Total Distance: 3.5 miles Average Pace:  9:39/ mile

 

2010 Reflections: This past year I ran the most miles I have ever run in a year, 1160. It is not much, but considering the setbacks I've had and basically starting over post-injury it is just that, a place to start from. I had a lot of great races, though no PR's. I even won two races (BArT's Field Day Mile, and the Alumni 5k Race this past fall). I was happy with my performances. If I had to pick a race for most fun, it would be the Highland Forest 1-2-3 20miler where I had a blast and finished a 20 mile trail run feeling great!

2010 RACES:

  • 5/29/10 Highland Forest 1-2-3 - 20 mile; 4:09:05, 15th place
  • 6/20/10 Mt. Greylock 13.5 mi; 3:01:09
  • 6/23/10 BArT Field Day Mile (1.06 mi); 6:26, 1st Place!
  • 7/12/10 Saratoga Stryders' Annual 5K Trail Series #2; 23:21, 14th place
  • 7/26/10 Saratoga Stryders'  Annual 5K Trail Series #3; 24:34, 27th place
  • 8/1/10 5K Time Trial - Treadmill; 21:45
  • 9/6/10 35th Annual Greylock Road Race (8 mile uphill); 1:34:21, 42nd place (1st in Age Group)
  • 9/12/10 Curly's Trail Half-Marathon (14.5 miler); 3:03:58, 52nd place
  • 10/3/10 Greylock Federal 5K Fall Classic; 22:44, 37th place
  • 10/9/10 1st Annual Hoosac Valley High School Alumni 5K Race; 24:54 1st PLACE OVERALL!
  • 10/10/10 Monroe-Dunbar Brook Trail Run (10.5 miles); 2:02:50, 68th place, 6th in age division
  • 10/31/10 Hairy Gorilla Half-Marathon (13.11 miles); 2:16:19, 169th place overall
  • 11/7/10 Stockade-athon 15K; 1:15:42,493rd place overall8th overall in Clydesdale Division
  • 11/25/10 Troy Turkey Trot 5k & 10k;29:44 (5k), 1581st of  4864 finishers,50:42 (10k), 345th of 752 finishers
  • 12/5/10 Hot Chocolate Run 5k22:39,308th of 2731 total finishers.
  •  

    2011 Goals:

  • Finish the year <200 lbs.
  • Set at least one PR in a distance.
  • Finish another marathon
  • Complete my first ultra (Mind the Ducks 12 hour)
  • Have fun each and every run!
  • 1500 miles for the year

 

Anticipated 2011 racing schedule through early June:

1/1/11 - Hangover Half 1:58:31, good for 194th place of 289 finishers.


1/9/11 - Winter Series #3 - 10k or 25k


1/23 - Winter Series #4 - 15k or 30k


2/06 - Winter Series #5 - 10m or 20m


**2/20 - 38th HMRRC Winter Marathon


3/12 - Runnin' of the Green 4 miler


4/10 - Delmar Dash 5M


5/14 - Mind the Ducks 12 hour


6/12 - Distinguished Service 8 miler 

 

 

 

Brooks Addictions 8 - #4 Miles: 3.50
Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.00Weight: 0.00
Comments(3)
Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
0.350.009.00

Breakfast: 2 cups decaf coffee w/ skim milk, 2 pieces of raisin toast with spray butter.

Lunch: Light 'n Fit yogurt, Choibani yogurt, carrot sticks, celery, Triscuits, banana, bosc pear

Dinner: homemade soup that Emmy made followed by a Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich

Hopped on the treadmill and ran only .35 miles. The treadmill started to shift under me. i.e. when my foot came down instead of hitting and sliding back, it would either stay in place or appear to slide forward. I didn't like this feeling so I ended up jumping off and biked for 33 minutes (9 miles total). Got up a good sweat. Then tried 2 minutes on the elliptical, but that machine is not for me. I don't like it. Afterwards I did free weight lifting with Emmy. I did 3 sets of curls, bench press and triceps. Nothing major as I only have 12 lb dumbbells. All in all a good first day back to school. It is going to be hard to get in workouts now that school is back in session. Urgh!

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Add Comment
Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
5.310.000.00

7:30 PM - Got home early for once. I was beat after teaching my second half of the day from 11-3:35. I gathered up my things, drove home and crashed. Then I went to get Emmy from work before coming home for dinner. One problem though. I found that I forgot my laptop charger cord at work! Doh! Guess it will be an early morning for me!

Breakfast I had 2 slices of raisin toast with fat free squirt butter and 2 cups decaf coffee with skim milk. Lunch consisted of a granny smith apple, banana, fat free yogurt, and a ziploc bag of cinnamon life cereal. Dinner was not good for me - Emm's dinner was fantastic. I had a bowl of soup, grilled green beans and 2 low fat turkey sausages. However before that I polished off a couple servings of baked lays, ate about 20 ritz crackers (angry at myself for this), and had a skinny cow ice cream.

Went running on the treadmill. Read two issues of Running Times while I ran. Felt pretty good. Treadmill slipped like yesterday during the first mile, but then was fine. I was tentative though as my orthotics broke this morning. My old ones were the 3/4 kind that stopped at the ball of your foot. This "new" pair that I've had since 2008 was a full orthotic, but the left one busted at the 3/4 mark. It had always been flimsy and considering how many trail races, pairs of shoes, and streams, rocks, mud, etc. these things have been through I'm surprised they didn't bust sooner. Will take a couple days to get used to not having any padding under the balls of my feet. Maybe I can jerryrig something else to fix it?

Total Time: 47:30 Total Distance: 5.31 Average Pace: 8:57

Brooks Addictions 8 - #4 Miles: 5.31
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Comments(1)
Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
5.100.000.00

7:00 PM - Long day at work. Had horizontal team meetings after school. I really liked sitting in on the English meeting. I really got a lot out of it! Headed home and had just got in the door when Emmy called to get a ride home from work. I drove over there and picked her up, though she didn't know I was coming the back way and had started to walk home the other way! Don't worry. I found her :D.

After dinner I hopped on the treadmill, though it didn't sound right. I started to run and the tread was slipping all over the place and it was making a really ugly noise. I decided no time like the present to get in some miles outside. I suited up and headed out to Taconic High School to test out the loop I have mapped out (.55 miles) to train for the Mind the Ducks 12 hour. When I got there the parking lot was entirely full.  Must have been a couple sports matches tonight. I opted for a safer decision and came back home and ran the loop around the block. Added on an extra .5 miles at the end. Felt really good. Ran 8:41, 8:38, and 9:30ish. Last mile was slow because I had to walk past a dog in a driveway that was barking at me and then my sister Su called so I was talking while running! (Luckily, no cops saw me!)

Total Time: 46:00 Total Distance: 5.1 miles Average Pace: 9:01

 

Breakfast: 2 slices cinnamon raisin toast, 2 cups decaf w/ skim milk

Lunch: 2 x Light 'n Fit yogurts, apple, 2 x low fat chewy granola bars, apple sauce w/out sugar 

Dinner: Macaroni and cheese with spray butter (non fat), 1 Guinness extra stout

Night: cup of camomile tea

Weight at bedtime: 212.6 (possibly losing weight?) 

Brooks Addictions 8 - #4 Miles: 5.10
Night Sleep Time: 7.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.00Weight: 212.60
Comments(1)
Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
0.000.000.00

Breakfast: 2 slices raisin bread with peanut butter, 2 cups decaf coffee w/ skim milk

 Lunch: whole wheat pita with white albacore tuns (mustard and FF ranch dressing), 2 x light n' fit yogurts, low fat chewy granola bar, apple.

Snack: Wheat thins with extra sharp cheddar cheese

Dinner: whole wheat tortilla, FF refried beans, lettuce, tomato, FF sour cream x 3, 1 Guinness extra stout

 

No chance to exercise today. Today was my long day with teaching from 8-930 and 11-5. Absolutely exhausted. And since the treadmill was broken it is going to be increasingly harder to get in exercise dates. Agh! We need a new one, but the cheapest treadmill big enough to support my weight effectively looks to be $799.  

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Add Comment
Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
7.000.000.00

9:20 AM - Got another few inches of snow last night. I fell asleep at 7pm last night and got up at 7am this morning, 12 hours of sleep! I shoveled out the driveway and cars and drove Emmy to work. Then I drove home and got changed into running clothes (treadmill still broken). I drove to a 3 street triangle loop I mapped out last night and parked the car. I hopped out and stretched, and turned on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on my iPod. Saw a set of tracks in the snow as I was going around the first loop and came up on a lady who had just started walking. Looks like I am not the only one that realizes the seclusion of this culdesac area. I said "Good morning!" and she smiled back at me. The second loop around she stopped and turned and said, "Are you Dr. Snow Eyes?" And I was like "Excuse me??" She said again, "Are you Dr. Snow Eyes, because if not you look just like him!" I said, "No, but I AM a Gemini!" Maybe my long lost twin is Dr. Snow Eyes. 

Splits I took every 2nd lap. Was really happy with this. I ran it much harder than I should have, but I had Harry Potter, Dr. Snow Eyes, and work on the brain. Next time I will try to tone it down and shoot for slower times, somewhere in the 6:00-7:00 range.

  • Lap 1/2 - 5:36
  • Lap 3/4 - 5:33
  • Lap 5/6 - 5:30
  • Lap 7/8 - 5:30
  • Lap 9/10 - 5:30
  • Lap 11/12 - 5:26
  • Lap 13/14 - 5:26
  • Lap 15/16 - 5:22
  • Lap 17/18 - 5:15
  • Lap 19/20 - 5:07
  • Lap 21 CD - 2:43 
Total Time: 57:02 Total Distance: 7 miles Average Pace: 8:09

Brooks Addictions 8 - #4 Miles: 7.00
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Add Comment
Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
21.260.009.00
Brooks Addictions 8 - #4 Miles: 20.91
Night Sleep Time: 15.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 15.00Weight: 212.60
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