Are we even close? How much longer? Questions I'm sure every parent has heard on more occasions than they can remember. Well, I'm starting to get that feeling. But in this case, it's not because I'm tired of the training or ready to be there, but because I'm just ready.
Last week's race brought a good scare to me as I've endured a very tender hip all week. Constant icing and ibuprofen has done not much more than mask the pain. All sorts of crazy thoughts going through my head this week about what could possibly be the problem. The worst being stress fracture and no running for several weeks. No way, this is not happening, or is it?
I took Monday off from running and then an easy 6 mile run on Tuesday to test it out. Pretty much discomfort the whole run and even more afterwards. Ugh. My stubbornness took me to the streets on Wednesday and Thursday for 10 mile runs on each day only to encounter more of the same. An early call Friday morning to my physical therapist was too late to get me in that day so I would have to wait until Monday morning. What to do in the meantime? Run, don't run, ice it, apply heat, cut it off? Well run it was so Friday and Saturday were easy runs of 6 miles each. Sunday I decided I would go forward with my planned long run and give it a shot.
It wasn't long into it and the discomfort kicked in pretty good in the hip/gluteus area on the left side. Not exactly sure why I continued other than I hate to quit so it was 20.5 miles at an overall 7:09 pace with miles 10-17 averaging 6:16. I was trying to hit goal marathon pace of about 6:20 but had a difficult time with the wind working against me, with me, and across me at times. By the time the run was over I couldn't decide if I was happy, hacked off or just indifferent about the whole run. After a little consideration, it was the later.
While I hit the goal miles pretty good and felt comfortable while running them, the wind and even more so, my hip were about to drive me to drinking........heavily. Why now, why does the wind blow and why was this hip acting up one month out from the biggest race of my life? The good thing was that I made it, I was still walking, albeit with a horrible pain and I was now pretty certain that it was a muscular injury and not a stress fracture.
Well, I didn't get an answer to the wind question and I really don't care since it's out of my control anyway, but this morning my PT gave me great news on the hip injury. Extreme tightness in my gluteus. The pain has been right at the top of my hip, but when he worked on it I could feel the tightness in my glute. After about 15 minutes of stretching and rubbing it out he gave me some stretching exercises to do multiple times a day. Key words.....foam roller. Let's just say my butt and my foam roller are about to get pretty acquainted with each other if they weren't already. He didn't seem the least bit concerned that we couldn't get this cleared up soon. To be on the safe side, I will most likely use him regularly through the remainder of my training to keep everything loose. Too much has gone into this to have something go wrong now.
Well back to the original question, are we there yet? No we're not, but very close. And with today's good news I'm starting to lick my chops. Two more weeks of hard training and then a two week taper and I should be ready to go for first of two big days.
This past weeks training was as follows:
2/15 - Rest
2/16 - 6 mile recovery run
2/17 - 10.2 mile medium long run
2/18 - 10 mile medium long run
2/19 - 6.2 mile recovery run
2/20 - 6 mile recovery run
2/21 - 20.49 mile long run
Total - 58.9 miles
Before checking out today, I want to thank those that have contributed to MCRC. The contributions as well as the moral support that I have received from friends is great. It certainly keeps me motivated to stay involved and make a difference in our community. I appreciate you guys! Also, I posted links to videos of both the Boston and Big Sur courses. Boston is a homemade You Tube video, but the Big Sur clip is a nicely narrated video. Really cool if you have any interest. Take care!
Monday, March 22, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Rock 'N' Roll Dallas Tune-up Race
I want to lead off by once again thanking those that have contributed to Midland Children's Rehabilitation Center on behalf of me and the Boston 2 BigSur Challenge. You guys are great!!! Check out the website for MCRC to see what they are all about.
This weekend I had the pleasure of staying with a running buddy and his family in Dallas for the weekend's race. By pure coincidence in relation to my fundraiser, he and his wife have 4 year old twins with autism. Absolutely wonderful boys. Saturday evening while dinner was being prepared we discussed several issues related to autism including the enormous cost that families of special needs children face. While we didn't discuss their needs specifically, it was obvious that it could be a huge burden on families of less means. Fortunately their boys are doing great for various reasons including the therapy that they have received, but I couldn't help but think that there must be numerous children that do not have the same success. Many families just simply can't afford the therapy services that those young boys have had the benefit of receiving. MCRC is there to serve exactly those families. They provide rehabilitation services to children in the Permian Basin with a neurological or orthopedic needs and to date the Center has never billed a child's family for services they have received.
On to the week of training. Being a racing week, there was a fair cutback in mileage to get ready for Sunday's 1/2 marathon in Dallas. Only about 35 miles total from Monday thru Saturday and I bunched up my two quality workouts on Monday and Tuesday to allow for some recovery days afterwards. Easy mileage.
The goal for Dallas Rock 'N' Roll 1/2 was to hit about 6:10 per mile up until through mile 8 which was a steady slight incline and then the course would begin its descent and I hoped to hit about 5:55 per mile the rest of the way in to the finish.
Nice size race, a lot of hoopla at the beginning, Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders, loud music and a few elite runners in the field. Pretty exciting and especially since I was starting from the front row of about 10,000 runners. A quick prayer and moment of silence to myself to think of my Grandfather that was buried on Friday. I asked that his strength be with me and that I make him proud.
Well the gun sounds and the 6:10 pace quickly goes out the window. While I tried to stay calm, the adrenaline was flowing and I hit mile marker 1 at 5:54. This pace if continued could be disastrous. Miles 2 and 3 came in at 6:07 and 6:14 respectively. Oh no, now I've slowed down too much. In actuality, mile 3 seemed to have a fairly good hill so that was okay.
I then got into a groove and hit 6:02, 6:06, 6:06, 6:07 and 6:07 for the next 5 miles and that got me right at the turning point where I knew it would be all downhill. Maybe a 1% decline or less, but nevertheless, downhill. At that point I was trying to calculate in my head where I stood and thought maybe about 30 seconds ahead of goal pace.
Once I got headed south and with a runner on my heels, I was able to press the pace and finished up with 5:49, 5:48, 5:46, 5:49, 5:46 and :51 for the last .16 miles for an official final time of 1:18:39. Good enough for 2nd in my age group (40-44) out of 537 and 21st overall out of 9,228 finishers.
The whole race was a picture perfect as I could have hoped for. No issues during the race, some strong competitors to push the pace, great weather with temperature at about 47 to start and not too much wind. I really don't know that I could have squeezed much more out of myself on that day. It was a huge confidence boost 5 weeks out from Boston. While I had previously set my goal at 2:49:59 for Boston, this race gives me hope that I may be able to go as low as 2:46:00 on a perfect day if the next 3 weeks of training and the 2 week taper go well. Feeling really optimistic right now.
I'll ramp the mileage back up for the next two weeks into the 60's and work on endurance while trying to keep the speed sharpened. Hoping to find just the right balance of training so as not to peak too early.
A special thanks to Nick, Sunny and the boys for having me in their home this weekend. I originally had reservations at the Adolphus and I can tell you that their home was every bit as much and more than what I would have expected from a 5 star hotel. Thanks guys! Congrats as well to Nick and my local running partner/coach Popcorn who had great days as well. You guys did awesome!
Finally, a fellow runner died Sunday just after crossing the finish line. 32yr old husband and father of two young girls, Mark Austry. My thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family and I ask that you take a moment to think of him as well. While I didn't know him, it certainly hits close to home with him being a friend of friends. Truly a sad note to an otherwise fine day.
This weekend I had the pleasure of staying with a running buddy and his family in Dallas for the weekend's race. By pure coincidence in relation to my fundraiser, he and his wife have 4 year old twins with autism. Absolutely wonderful boys. Saturday evening while dinner was being prepared we discussed several issues related to autism including the enormous cost that families of special needs children face. While we didn't discuss their needs specifically, it was obvious that it could be a huge burden on families of less means. Fortunately their boys are doing great for various reasons including the therapy that they have received, but I couldn't help but think that there must be numerous children that do not have the same success. Many families just simply can't afford the therapy services that those young boys have had the benefit of receiving. MCRC is there to serve exactly those families. They provide rehabilitation services to children in the Permian Basin with a neurological or orthopedic needs and to date the Center has never billed a child's family for services they have received.
On to the week of training. Being a racing week, there was a fair cutback in mileage to get ready for Sunday's 1/2 marathon in Dallas. Only about 35 miles total from Monday thru Saturday and I bunched up my two quality workouts on Monday and Tuesday to allow for some recovery days afterwards. Easy mileage.
The goal for Dallas Rock 'N' Roll 1/2 was to hit about 6:10 per mile up until through mile 8 which was a steady slight incline and then the course would begin its descent and I hoped to hit about 5:55 per mile the rest of the way in to the finish.
Nice size race, a lot of hoopla at the beginning, Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders, loud music and a few elite runners in the field. Pretty exciting and especially since I was starting from the front row of about 10,000 runners. A quick prayer and moment of silence to myself to think of my Grandfather that was buried on Friday. I asked that his strength be with me and that I make him proud.
Well the gun sounds and the 6:10 pace quickly goes out the window. While I tried to stay calm, the adrenaline was flowing and I hit mile marker 1 at 5:54. This pace if continued could be disastrous. Miles 2 and 3 came in at 6:07 and 6:14 respectively. Oh no, now I've slowed down too much. In actuality, mile 3 seemed to have a fairly good hill so that was okay.
I then got into a groove and hit 6:02, 6:06, 6:06, 6:07 and 6:07 for the next 5 miles and that got me right at the turning point where I knew it would be all downhill. Maybe a 1% decline or less, but nevertheless, downhill. At that point I was trying to calculate in my head where I stood and thought maybe about 30 seconds ahead of goal pace.
Once I got headed south and with a runner on my heels, I was able to press the pace and finished up with 5:49, 5:48, 5:46, 5:49, 5:46 and :51 for the last .16 miles for an official final time of 1:18:39. Good enough for 2nd in my age group (40-44) out of 537 and 21st overall out of 9,228 finishers.
The whole race was a picture perfect as I could have hoped for. No issues during the race, some strong competitors to push the pace, great weather with temperature at about 47 to start and not too much wind. I really don't know that I could have squeezed much more out of myself on that day. It was a huge confidence boost 5 weeks out from Boston. While I had previously set my goal at 2:49:59 for Boston, this race gives me hope that I may be able to go as low as 2:46:00 on a perfect day if the next 3 weeks of training and the 2 week taper go well. Feeling really optimistic right now.
I'll ramp the mileage back up for the next two weeks into the 60's and work on endurance while trying to keep the speed sharpened. Hoping to find just the right balance of training so as not to peak too early.
A special thanks to Nick, Sunny and the boys for having me in their home this weekend. I originally had reservations at the Adolphus and I can tell you that their home was every bit as much and more than what I would have expected from a 5 star hotel. Thanks guys! Congrats as well to Nick and my local running partner/coach Popcorn who had great days as well. You guys did awesome!
Finally, a fellow runner died Sunday just after crossing the finish line. 32yr old husband and father of two young girls, Mark Austry. My thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family and I ask that you take a moment to think of him as well. While I didn't know him, it certainly hits close to home with him being a friend of friends. Truly a sad note to an otherwise fine day.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
The Skinny on "Skinny".
I'm not sure if there's something in the air or what, but I can't tell you how many times this past week I've got to hear about how skinny I am or how much weight I've lost. And all without asking for any one's opinion. I guess it's fine to point out someones change in weight with somewhat of a look of concern, maybe even disgust on your face when the lb's are going down. Just don't mention it to someone with an expanding waistline in the same manner or you may end up getting hurt.
Actually, it doesn't really bother me as this is just one of many choices I have made in attempt to be more competitive in my racing. As my wife Gina explains it, I have brainwashed myself. No desserts, no fried food, no fast food, not drinks other than water, tea, coffee, skim milk, V8's and sports drinks. To be honest, the less "bad" food I eat, the more I thrive on it. This is my 3rd week of no Diet Coke. I quit cold turkey on 2/18 and haven't had a sip since. Before that I was drinking 6-7 cans a day.
It's rather crazy as I think about it as most of my life I have struggled to gain weight. Hours in the gym lifting weights, eating until I literally puked and then eating again. Protein powders, weight gainers, I've done it all. Not anymore. I religiously stand on the scale every morning to monitor my weight. Any fluctuation in the wrong direction gets me to think about what I ate the day before and how I will address my meal plan for the day. As of today I was 159lbs. About 16lbs down from where I was when I started my quest for Boston 2 years ago, but I've been in the 160-165 range the last year and just recently went under 160lbs. The scary thing is that I'm starting to look like a runner.
So what is the skinny on skinny and just how will it affect me? My goal time is 2:49:55 or better for Boston. Based on calculators I use from http://www.runningforfitness.com/, the following shows how a few pounds can affect my overall time. Getting down to 155 on race day without sacrificing strength could gain me 3:39, a huge difference in time.
Weight (lbs) Predicted time Time difference
155 lbs....2:46:16.....-3:39
156 lbs....2:47:11.....-2:44
157 lbs....2:48:06.....-1:49
158 lbs....2:49:00....-0:55
159 lbs....2:49:55.....0:00
160 lbs....2:50:49....0:54
161 lbs....2:51:44.....1:49
162 lbs....2:52:38....2:43
163 lbs....2:53:32....3:37
And by the way, where did "the skinny on" originate? Well a quick Google told me it means news, information, gossip. This use of the word is said to have originated in the armed forces in the 1940s and might be jocularly based on 'the naked truth' as in "getting down to the skin" of a story, beneath the flourishes and frippery. Now I know.
So there you have the skinny on "skinny". If you want to get me riled up, tell me I look like I've gained a few pounds the next time you see me.
On a personal note, my last living grandparent passed away this last Saturday. My grandfather on my Dad's side lived to be 100yrs old. His life was an ultramarathon and he ran it as well as anyone could. I'll be running the Dallas Rock 'N' Roll 1/2 Marathon this coming Sunday and I will dedicate this race to him and hope that the strength that carried him through life will be with me for 13.1 miles. This will be a cutback week in terms of mileage to taper for the race. Sunday's performance should give me a good idea of where I stand as far as fitness for Boston.
Last weeks workout:
2/1 - Rest
2/2 - 12.1 Miles MLR
2/3 - 12.4 Mile MLR
2/4 - 9 Mile tempo run on treadmill with 3-8 @ 6:04 pace, 3% decline
2/5 - 6.3 mile Recovery run
2/6 - 16.2 mile LR
2/7 - 6 mile Recovery run
62 Miles Total
Thanks for contributions this week for MCRC! Really appreciate all of you. Take care and have a great week!
Actually, it doesn't really bother me as this is just one of many choices I have made in attempt to be more competitive in my racing. As my wife Gina explains it, I have brainwashed myself. No desserts, no fried food, no fast food, not drinks other than water, tea, coffee, skim milk, V8's and sports drinks. To be honest, the less "bad" food I eat, the more I thrive on it. This is my 3rd week of no Diet Coke. I quit cold turkey on 2/18 and haven't had a sip since. Before that I was drinking 6-7 cans a day.
It's rather crazy as I think about it as most of my life I have struggled to gain weight. Hours in the gym lifting weights, eating until I literally puked and then eating again. Protein powders, weight gainers, I've done it all. Not anymore. I religiously stand on the scale every morning to monitor my weight. Any fluctuation in the wrong direction gets me to think about what I ate the day before and how I will address my meal plan for the day. As of today I was 159lbs. About 16lbs down from where I was when I started my quest for Boston 2 years ago, but I've been in the 160-165 range the last year and just recently went under 160lbs. The scary thing is that I'm starting to look like a runner.
So what is the skinny on skinny and just how will it affect me? My goal time is 2:49:55 or better for Boston. Based on calculators I use from http://www.runningforfitness.com/, the following shows how a few pounds can affect my overall time. Getting down to 155 on race day without sacrificing strength could gain me 3:39, a huge difference in time.
Weight (lbs) Predicted time Time difference
155 lbs....2:46:16.....-3:39
156 lbs....2:47:11.....-2:44
157 lbs....2:48:06.....-1:49
158 lbs....2:49:00....-0:55
159 lbs....2:49:55.....0:00
160 lbs....2:50:49....0:54
161 lbs....2:51:44.....1:49
162 lbs....2:52:38....2:43
163 lbs....2:53:32....3:37
And by the way, where did "the skinny on" originate? Well a quick Google told me it means news, information, gossip. This use of the word is said to have originated in the armed forces in the 1940s and might be jocularly based on 'the naked truth' as in "getting down to the skin" of a story, beneath the flourishes and frippery. Now I know.
So there you have the skinny on "skinny". If you want to get me riled up, tell me I look like I've gained a few pounds the next time you see me.
On a personal note, my last living grandparent passed away this last Saturday. My grandfather on my Dad's side lived to be 100yrs old. His life was an ultramarathon and he ran it as well as anyone could. I'll be running the Dallas Rock 'N' Roll 1/2 Marathon this coming Sunday and I will dedicate this race to him and hope that the strength that carried him through life will be with me for 13.1 miles. This will be a cutback week in terms of mileage to taper for the race. Sunday's performance should give me a good idea of where I stand as far as fitness for Boston.
Last weeks workout:
2/1 - Rest
2/2 - 12.1 Miles MLR
2/3 - 12.4 Mile MLR
2/4 - 9 Mile tempo run on treadmill with 3-8 @ 6:04 pace, 3% decline
2/5 - 6.3 mile Recovery run
2/6 - 16.2 mile LR
2/7 - 6 mile Recovery run
62 Miles Total
Thanks for contributions this week for MCRC! Really appreciate all of you. Take care and have a great week!
Monday, March 1, 2010
Another One Bites the Dust!
Here we are, March 1st already. Another week down, another month down, another one bites the dust. The time seems to be going by faster as we get closer to April. Either that or it just goes by faster as you get older? We celebrated the 5th birthday of our Princess at home this weekend and it's just unreal. At best, I think I've got 4-6 months before our oldest son Corbin is bigger than me at the age of 14.
I'm sort of in that period where I feel like I want to hurry up and be done with the training and get on with the race, but at the same time, I feel like I could use more time just to be safe. It's a feeling that I am more familiar with during each tax season. As big deadlines apporach, I think to myself, "only XX more weeks", but at the same time I'm thinking "only XX more weeks". Too much time, but not enough. This year I thought I would put a self imposed deadline of April 10th for tax filing purposes so as to not be working like mad right up until the day before we leave for Boston, but that may not happen. I'm sure I'll be hammering away up until the 15th.
On a similar note, I registered two weeks ago for the Chicago Marathon wich fall on 10/10/10 this year, 5 days before my biggest tax deadline of the year and even more stressful that April 15th. What in the world where the organizers of these two races thinking when they scheduled these?
A huge thanks goes out to everyone that has shown their support for me in the B2BS Challenge and on my FaceBook page. Some funds started rolling in last week as well and that is awesome. I can honestly tell you that you will all be in my thoughts in Boston and Big Sur pushing me through to the end, especially Big Sur when my body will be screaming at me to stop and my brain will be asking if we hadn't just done this six days ago.
As for this weeks training, here it is:
2/22 - Rest
2/23 - 11 mile Tempo run with 6 in the middle @ 6:31 pace
2/24 - 6.5 mile recovery on TM @ 9:15 pace
2/25 - 6.8 miles with 4/1200m intervals at 5:31 pace
2/25 - 4.8 TM run with hill repeats 10x10 secs @ 12mph @ 12% incline
2/26 - 6.0 easy @ 7:42 pace
2/27 - 20.91 Long run with miles 11-20 @ Goal marathon pace of 6:21
2/28 - 5.0 mile recovery on TM @ 8:48 pace
61.1 Total miles for the week and finished February with 248 miles.
Sunday's long run with the 10 GMP miles gave me some confidence 7 weeks out. The 6:21 was about 4 seconds a mile faster than goal, but I wasn't off by much. I'd rather miss this to the low side than high. They felt pretty good, a bit difficult, but great for my confidence to run those splits deep into the long run.
That's it for now, too much work to do. Take care and I hope everyone has a great week.
I'm sort of in that period where I feel like I want to hurry up and be done with the training and get on with the race, but at the same time, I feel like I could use more time just to be safe. It's a feeling that I am more familiar with during each tax season. As big deadlines apporach, I think to myself, "only XX more weeks", but at the same time I'm thinking "only XX more weeks". Too much time, but not enough. This year I thought I would put a self imposed deadline of April 10th for tax filing purposes so as to not be working like mad right up until the day before we leave for Boston, but that may not happen. I'm sure I'll be hammering away up until the 15th.
On a similar note, I registered two weeks ago for the Chicago Marathon wich fall on 10/10/10 this year, 5 days before my biggest tax deadline of the year and even more stressful that April 15th. What in the world where the organizers of these two races thinking when they scheduled these?
A huge thanks goes out to everyone that has shown their support for me in the B2BS Challenge and on my FaceBook page. Some funds started rolling in last week as well and that is awesome. I can honestly tell you that you will all be in my thoughts in Boston and Big Sur pushing me through to the end, especially Big Sur when my body will be screaming at me to stop and my brain will be asking if we hadn't just done this six days ago.
As for this weeks training, here it is:
2/22 - Rest
2/23 - 11 mile Tempo run with 6 in the middle @ 6:31 pace
2/24 - 6.5 mile recovery on TM @ 9:15 pace
2/25 - 6.8 miles with 4/1200m intervals at 5:31 pace
2/25 - 4.8 TM run with hill repeats 10x10 secs @ 12mph @ 12% incline
2/26 - 6.0 easy @ 7:42 pace
2/27 - 20.91 Long run with miles 11-20 @ Goal marathon pace of 6:21
2/28 - 5.0 mile recovery on TM @ 8:48 pace
61.1 Total miles for the week and finished February with 248 miles.
Sunday's long run with the 10 GMP miles gave me some confidence 7 weeks out. The 6:21 was about 4 seconds a mile faster than goal, but I wasn't off by much. I'd rather miss this to the low side than high. They felt pretty good, a bit difficult, but great for my confidence to run those splits deep into the long run.
That's it for now, too much work to do. Take care and I hope everyone has a great week.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Boston 2 Big Sur Welcome
As this is my first post since publicizing that I am running the B2BS challenge on behalf of Midland Children's Rehab Center (MCRC), I thought I would give a warm welcome to anyone that finds themself here reading this post. I sincerely appreciate any support you give to me over the next nine weeks, whether it be in the financial or moral form.
The opportunity to take this challenge came up several months ago and I took the plunge along with 3 friends of mine that I will introduce at a later date. The 3 of them are all running to benefit the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation. I choose MCRC due to the great work that the center does for children here in our community of Midland, Texas and because of the children as well. I have been blessed with four healthy children, but not everyone is so lucky and their are many families out there that need the help of the center. Since my days of serving on the Board of High Sky Children's Ranch, I have had a place in my heart for organizations that benefit children and I truly appreciate the opportunity that MCRC is giving me to represent them in this endeavor.
On to the training. While it feels like I have been at it nonstop for some time due to the 3 marathons last year, I'm only 4 weeks along into this cycle for Boston at this point. I like to consider it a 12 week cycle for Boston, 5 days off and then no training for Big Sur. So far, all has held up pretty well for me physically. A slight scare a few weeks back, but found out it was nothing serious at all, but rather just some tightness in the calf muscles. For those of you that are unfamiliar with marathon training, encounterng injury during the training cycle is a much more common factor than I imagined before running my first. I don't know the numbers, but a good deal of people training for a marathon never make it to the starting line because of injury related issues. Right now, holding injury at bay while still training as hard as this body can take is my goal.
Fortunately for me, as I have gained experience, I've been better able to sense when things aren't "right" and back it off a bit if necessary. Currently, that's not the case and that's just fine with me. I'll keep the throttle open as much as possible, yet take advantage of some easy days as well and hopefully find a good enough balance of training to get me to the starting line healthy and in good position for a solid race. Uh, make that two solid races.
On to the training which I will try to post weekly. This past week's training has gone as follows:
2/15 - Rest
2/16 - 13 miles on treadmill with miles 3-10.5 @ 6:02
2/17 - 6.1 miles easy run @ 8:15 pace
2/18 - 8.6 miles total with 12x400m intervals @ 1:13 avg per 400m
2/19 - 7.6 miles @ 7:27 pace
2/20 - 10.15 miles @ 7:44 pace
2/21 - 20.05 miles @ 7:29 pace
Total Miles = 65.6
This is the last week of my "speed phase" so I will be moving away from shorter intervals on the track and will be replacing those workouts with lactate threshold runs as my primary hard days. Total mileage for each of the last 3 weeks has been between 60-65 and should be around 65 this coming week with a third weekend in a row to include a 20 miler. This will be my 4th of this cycle. I only did 2 for my entire Boston training cycle last year.
Three more weeks until my tune-up race which will be the Rock 'n' Roll Dallas 1/2 Marathon. That race being 5 weeks out from Boston should give me a good idea of were I stand with my fitness. I'm feeling pretty healthy so I have high hopes right now. I'll post more on my goal for that race as we get closer.
Okay, until next weekend, take care and I'll be back to post the weeks activities. Thanks again to anyone taking a peek here. Have a great week!
The opportunity to take this challenge came up several months ago and I took the plunge along with 3 friends of mine that I will introduce at a later date. The 3 of them are all running to benefit the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation. I choose MCRC due to the great work that the center does for children here in our community of Midland, Texas and because of the children as well. I have been blessed with four healthy children, but not everyone is so lucky and their are many families out there that need the help of the center. Since my days of serving on the Board of High Sky Children's Ranch, I have had a place in my heart for organizations that benefit children and I truly appreciate the opportunity that MCRC is giving me to represent them in this endeavor.
On to the training. While it feels like I have been at it nonstop for some time due to the 3 marathons last year, I'm only 4 weeks along into this cycle for Boston at this point. I like to consider it a 12 week cycle for Boston, 5 days off and then no training for Big Sur. So far, all has held up pretty well for me physically. A slight scare a few weeks back, but found out it was nothing serious at all, but rather just some tightness in the calf muscles. For those of you that are unfamiliar with marathon training, encounterng injury during the training cycle is a much more common factor than I imagined before running my first. I don't know the numbers, but a good deal of people training for a marathon never make it to the starting line because of injury related issues. Right now, holding injury at bay while still training as hard as this body can take is my goal.
Fortunately for me, as I have gained experience, I've been better able to sense when things aren't "right" and back it off a bit if necessary. Currently, that's not the case and that's just fine with me. I'll keep the throttle open as much as possible, yet take advantage of some easy days as well and hopefully find a good enough balance of training to get me to the starting line healthy and in good position for a solid race. Uh, make that two solid races.
On to the training which I will try to post weekly. This past week's training has gone as follows:
2/15 - Rest
2/16 - 13 miles on treadmill with miles 3-10.5 @ 6:02
2/17 - 6.1 miles easy run @ 8:15 pace
2/18 - 8.6 miles total with 12x400m intervals @ 1:13 avg per 400m
2/19 - 7.6 miles @ 7:27 pace
2/20 - 10.15 miles @ 7:44 pace
2/21 - 20.05 miles @ 7:29 pace
Total Miles = 65.6
This is the last week of my "speed phase" so I will be moving away from shorter intervals on the track and will be replacing those workouts with lactate threshold runs as my primary hard days. Total mileage for each of the last 3 weeks has been between 60-65 and should be around 65 this coming week with a third weekend in a row to include a 20 miler. This will be my 4th of this cycle. I only did 2 for my entire Boston training cycle last year.
Three more weeks until my tune-up race which will be the Rock 'n' Roll Dallas 1/2 Marathon. That race being 5 weeks out from Boston should give me a good idea of were I stand with my fitness. I'm feeling pretty healthy so I have high hopes right now. I'll post more on my goal for that race as we get closer.
Okay, until next weekend, take care and I'll be back to post the weeks activities. Thanks again to anyone taking a peek here. Have a great week!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Boston - Day 1
Today's the big day to kick off training for the 114th Boston Marathon so what's on tap? Nothing. Well, actually, I am already revising the schedule and pushing back the weeks runs by one day so therefore nothing today in the form of running.
Let's go back a couple of days. I had a pretty good tempo run Thursday morning and then a second run that evening that didn't feel so good. The inside of my right shin was hurting while I ran and in my head all I could think was "WTF"?
I had planned on running 6 easy on Friday, but due to time constraints and the shin still bothering me I held off and just did my strength training session. I would see how if felt on Saturday. Still sore to the touch so now I was getting really concerned and pissed all at the same time. Don't tell me I've already injured myself. I've booked everything for Boston. House rented, airline tickets for 6 paid for and Red Sox tickets on the way. Now this?
Saturday morning at 5:00 it was cold, wet and windy so my trianing partner and I blew off our long run. I rationalized that this would give me one more day to see how it feels, but I still got on the treadmill and cranked out 8.11 miles in 1:11:00, a pedestrian like 8:45 pace. And hey, what do you know, the shin didn't feel too bad. But still, it was in my head and I couldn't help but be a bit discouraged. WTH could it be?
Mid-day Saturday the friggin' light goes off in my head and I remember hitting my leg on a drawer in my closet Thursday morning after my first run. Was that it? I couldn't remember specifically what I hit in my haste, but I remember it hurt for a bit. I went into the closet and pulled the drawer out to see if it matched up with the painful spot on the shin and it kinda sorta did so I'm guessing that's it. That must be it!
So with a bit of a load off of my mind, I got on the treadmill Sunday in front of the Colts/Jets game and hammered out 20.4 miles with the simulation of the Boston course from miles .7-24.1 with 3 flat miles in the middle pulled out. 7.5 mph for the every mile resulted in a 2:44:00 run. Leg felt fine the whole time and now I am convinced it was the drawer.
Nothing exciting about this post other than looks like I am startng the cycle fairly healthy. My plans are to be standing in Hopkinton 84 days from today in the absolute best shape of my life, a lean 155- 158lbs and much better endurance than what I had in Tucson. Of course getting to that point is much easier said than done I have found, especially the staying healthy part.
So all of that to get me back to the beginning, I'm resting the legs today on day one and will only do a Core Performance strength workout at noon. Let's hope there are no further adjustments to the schedule this week.
Take care!
Let's go back a couple of days. I had a pretty good tempo run Thursday morning and then a second run that evening that didn't feel so good. The inside of my right shin was hurting while I ran and in my head all I could think was "WTF"?
I had planned on running 6 easy on Friday, but due to time constraints and the shin still bothering me I held off and just did my strength training session. I would see how if felt on Saturday. Still sore to the touch so now I was getting really concerned and pissed all at the same time. Don't tell me I've already injured myself. I've booked everything for Boston. House rented, airline tickets for 6 paid for and Red Sox tickets on the way. Now this?
Saturday morning at 5:00 it was cold, wet and windy so my trianing partner and I blew off our long run. I rationalized that this would give me one more day to see how it feels, but I still got on the treadmill and cranked out 8.11 miles in 1:11:00, a pedestrian like 8:45 pace. And hey, what do you know, the shin didn't feel too bad. But still, it was in my head and I couldn't help but be a bit discouraged. WTH could it be?
Mid-day Saturday the friggin' light goes off in my head and I remember hitting my leg on a drawer in my closet Thursday morning after my first run. Was that it? I couldn't remember specifically what I hit in my haste, but I remember it hurt for a bit. I went into the closet and pulled the drawer out to see if it matched up with the painful spot on the shin and it kinda sorta did so I'm guessing that's it. That must be it!
So with a bit of a load off of my mind, I got on the treadmill Sunday in front of the Colts/Jets game and hammered out 20.4 miles with the simulation of the Boston course from miles .7-24.1 with 3 flat miles in the middle pulled out. 7.5 mph for the every mile resulted in a 2:44:00 run. Leg felt fine the whole time and now I am convinced it was the drawer.
Nothing exciting about this post other than looks like I am startng the cycle fairly healthy. My plans are to be standing in Hopkinton 84 days from today in the absolute best shape of my life, a lean 155- 158lbs and much better endurance than what I had in Tucson. Of course getting to that point is much easier said than done I have found, especially the staying healthy part.
So all of that to get me back to the beginning, I'm resting the legs today on day one and will only do a Core Performance strength workout at noon. Let's hope there are no further adjustments to the schedule this week.
Take care!
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Tucson Marathon
I will apologize ahead of time for my lack of writing skills and lack of total recall. Some things I just don't remember while on the course because they just really don't matter. Here we go…………As some of you know, I was rocking along in my training with huge improvements since my last marathon in April. Solid progress in a 5k, 10k, ½ marathon and 10 miler in that order gave me great confidence 5 weeks out from Tucson. Now I just need to prove myself in the long one. What I didn’t realize was that I injured myself in the 10 miler on 11/08 and further aggravated it by running a 5k the following weekend. That being said, I had only put in 120 miles in the last 5 weeks and my last 20 miler was October 31st.
My goal immediately after the 10 miler was a 2:49:55 based on McMillan race predictor, but Sunday morning I had no idea if I could finish the race, much less break 3:00. I was constantly icing, Kinesio taping, epsom salt soaking, whatever I could do to nurse the right calf and left ankle back. The ankle cleared up fine, not the calf. In 5 weeks, I did a total of 2 runs on the road. The remaining 102 miles were on the TM. My two longest runs during that period were 16 & 13 and both on the TM.
Got in to Tucson Saturday morning. Other than my Stick being confiscated at security because it was considered "a club", the flight in was fine. I momentarily considered testing the club theory when I snatched it back from the NTSA woman, but cooler heads prevailed and I reluctantly handed it back to her. I stayed at the marathon hotel so I checked in, went to the expo, bought a smaller Stick, compression socks and some pain relief gel then back to the room for a nap. Hit the pasta dinner with about 75 other runners at about 6:00 and was back in the room by 7:30. Got everything ready for the morning including the compression socks that I bought at the expo. Considered wearing them, but opted to pass since that was uncharted territory for me. Still brought them along race morning just in case I changed my mind. Hit the sack about 8:00 and fell asleep watching Gladiator.
Up at 4:10, a couple cups of coffee, dressed and out the door about 4:45 to grab an early bus. Figured I would ride out to the start and take a nap. While sitting in the bus and just a couple minutes before it was to leave I realized I didn’t grab my Powerade. Argh! The driver informed me no time to go get it, but there would be another bus. Headed back to the room and caught the next bus, no problem. Nice heated bus and no one sat next to me. I think I was the only person sitting solo on the entire bus. Was I the only one that didn’t shower or what? It could have been the game face, because I put the headphones on, no smiling, no talking, just focusing on the task at hand. That okay, gave me room for my drop bag full of all sorts of stuff. We got to the start area about 6:00 so I just chilled with everyone else for about an hour other than my quick trip out to the porta potties. At 7:30 it was off the bus, strip down to shorts and singlet, gloves. Left the hat and arm warmers in the bag. It was probably 45 or so at that point, not bad at all. We would be fine once we took off.
In line to take a leak one more time, out the door as the National Anthem was starting, make my way towards the front with a lot of "excuse me, pardon me, excuse me", etc. and then we were off. I screwed around too long and didn’t get into position that I wanted. Just behind the 3:15 pace group as we crossed the starting matt.
The miles came as follows:
6:24 (too fast, slow down)
6:36 (better)
6:48
Some pretty good drops in elevation here. This was cake, but I knew I need to settle down.
6:40
6:37
6:28
Somewhere her between 6&7 the leaders where coming back from the "out and back" part. I was just hoping the "out" wasn’t too far away. It wasn’t. The leader was a guy that I noticed walking around at the start. He had only about half of an arm on the left arm. An inspiration when I saw him. Even more so now that he was leading the race.
6:47 (headed uphill here – 86 ft ascend)
7:38 (190ft ascend here - GMaclin’s pace band had 7:35 for a 2:59)
13:15 (missed mile 9 marker, 6:36 pace for 2.01) 10 miles
At this point we turned onto the highway which would be one long curve to the left for 14 miles. I was with a pack of about 5 other guys with whom we had al been jockying for position. We discussed goals a bit and all were shooting for sub 3 so a couple of us made to comment to work together. We were moving along pretty smooth and strong at that point. I could feel my right calf a bit, but I wasn’t too concerned. Maybe just nervous?
6:26
6:30
6:32
1:27:28 @ 13.1 marker/clock. I knew that a 2:49 was not in the cards, but thought that I would lke to hold this 6:30ish pace as long as possible, see how the body hold up. I was okay with a positive split if it happened, but hoped for something better. Starting to get a little frustrated as we are running into a head wind. I was hoping it would ease up, but not happening. Ditched the gloves somewhere in this area. Me and another guy, Shawn from Pasadena, 42, moved to the front and then slowly pulled away. We had a pretty good conversation over the next mile or so about various including him and his son racing the Baja 500 this past year. Cool! I could tell he was pretty competitive and that was good for both of us.
6:31
6:29
6:28
6:24
Somewhere in here around 17 or 18 we passed the early front runner that I mentioned above. No idea what had happened, but he was walking at this point. Never saw him again. Felt bad for the guy.
6:39
6:31
Things were good until about here for me. The wind was getting in my head and on at least two instances I remember yelling out some obscenities about it then quickly apologizing to my running mate. He was pretty much of the same opinion. Not sure how bad the wind was, but many of us that discussed it thought steady gusts in the 15-20mph range. No idea really other than the Weather Channel predicted 20mph when I checked. The wind blew pretty much from about miles 10-24. The rest of the story is ugly. Shawn and I had seen a 3 guys 100-200 yds ahead of us and said we would catch them, one at a time. From about 14-20 we did that. Of course, after them, there were more, 3 that I can remember so the same thing, go get ‘em. The first two we caught. The 3rd wasn’t so easy.
6:46
6:51
7:00
14:37 (missed the marker again - some had blown over with the wind)
By the 24 mile marker my legs were toast, endurance was gone. I told Shawn to go get him, I had nothing. He reluctantly left and went after the guy. It was the only racer that I could see ahead of us, but I had no idea at the time, maybe top 20-25? I watched Shawn surge ahead after the guy while convincing myself to hold on. From mile 20 on I was just telling myself "see how fast you can do this one, just one more", of course until the next mile marker. No way I was really going to quit, but the quads were really not working for me. As I saw Shawn pass this guy, maybe 50 yards ahead of me at this time I thought fvck, now I need to go get him. It was like a turtle passing another turtle, but I eventually caught him with maybe a little less than a half mile to the finish.
7:34 (141ft ascend here, slow motion, I think a walker may have passed me here?)
7:26 (1.01 avg pace 7:20)
Miles 25 & 26 were pretty tough, maybe worst ever for me. I felt very light headed and the possibility of passing out entered my mind. I could see a few spectators around so if it happened, I'd be okay? Okay, so I passed him, Shawn’s up ahead and will beat me handily, I’ve got no problem with that. He was the better man today. Then my legs just want to quit. I had hit a top speed of 10.1 mph on mile 26 , but must have slowed to 8:30 pace or so once I passed by the guy. Couldn’t keep it up. He went right back ahead with about a qtr mile, damn! Okay he got me, uh no, you can’t do that. I’ve got more in me than to roll over this close. We made the final turn onto the straight away which went from pavement to deep sandy type dirt. Maybe 50 yards. I could hear the announcer "we’ve got a race" and I turned it back on to pass him and edge him out. I crossed the finish line ahead of him by maybe 2 seconds, and then bit the dust.
1:37 final .2
2:57:45 Garmin, 2:57:42 chip time 26.27 on the Garmin
I collapsed to my hands and knees just beyond the finish line and could not get my self up. I crawled a bit struggling to get up, but it wasn’t going to happen. A couple of ladies from the medical team helped me to my feet and walked me around. Shawn was right there waiting. I think he finished 25-30 seconds ahead of me. We were both pretty satisfied at that point. Not sure what the conversation was, but as the medics walked me away, I heard him say 8th and 9th out of 1,246. We finished 1 & 2 out of 110 in the 40-44 AG. I’ll take it. It was not the 2:49:55 I originally wanted, but all things considered, I was pretty proud of the time despite the ugly finish. It was a top 10, something I would never have dreamed about 2-3 months ago, certainly not last year when I was still dreaming of breaking 3:20 for a BQ. Actually went to the searchable results page last night while waiting in the airport and I didn’t have to search for my name, it is right there on the Leaderboard.
I want to give a shout out to Smick. Met her after the race walking around. I was looking around for a blonde wearing pink and thank goodness for printed names on our bibs or else I would missed her. I enjoyed the conversation and I'm sorry the day didn't play out as well as you had hoped. Also, didn’t know that Spinderella would be racing, but I believe I saw her hanging out near the back of one of the buses just before the start. I hope you had a great race.
A PR by 19:42 and a lot to build on for the next one. Sunday’s race gives me some confidence that the 2:49 is possible on a great weather day with a good training cycle.
So Boston is next with a coupe of halves before then. In my training this past cycle, I kept trying to get up over 70 miles a week, but couldn’t get there. A tax practice, DW with her own career and 4 kids keep us busy. 60 & 61 were my two high mileage weeks back in October. My thinking last night was to just stick with it. Longer tempo runs, get all my 20-22 milers in and stay in the 50-60 mile range for 12 weeks. If I can’t get a 2:49 with that, I probably never will because I’m not getting any younger and life isn’t stopping for me any time soon.
I want to thank all of you guys from the 3:20 thread that have been a huge support to me and have had all the confidence in the world in me. Thanks to those of you from the Boston threads that have chimed in as well. It truly means a lot to me. Shawn, while not a RWOL guy, still want to point out that he was a huge help. We pushed each other pretty good out there and it helped immensely. There was a lot of distance between runners up towards the front. Finaly, DW will never read this, but I still want to acknowledge her here and say thanks as well. She thinks I’m crazy at times for "doing this to yourself", but she is my biggest fan! Couldn't do it wihtout her.
Take care and thanks for taking the time to read this piece.
Steve
My goal immediately after the 10 miler was a 2:49:55 based on McMillan race predictor, but Sunday morning I had no idea if I could finish the race, much less break 3:00. I was constantly icing, Kinesio taping, epsom salt soaking, whatever I could do to nurse the right calf and left ankle back. The ankle cleared up fine, not the calf. In 5 weeks, I did a total of 2 runs on the road. The remaining 102 miles were on the TM. My two longest runs during that period were 16 & 13 and both on the TM.
Got in to Tucson Saturday morning. Other than my Stick being confiscated at security because it was considered "a club", the flight in was fine. I momentarily considered testing the club theory when I snatched it back from the NTSA woman, but cooler heads prevailed and I reluctantly handed it back to her. I stayed at the marathon hotel so I checked in, went to the expo, bought a smaller Stick, compression socks and some pain relief gel then back to the room for a nap. Hit the pasta dinner with about 75 other runners at about 6:00 and was back in the room by 7:30. Got everything ready for the morning including the compression socks that I bought at the expo. Considered wearing them, but opted to pass since that was uncharted territory for me. Still brought them along race morning just in case I changed my mind. Hit the sack about 8:00 and fell asleep watching Gladiator.
Up at 4:10, a couple cups of coffee, dressed and out the door about 4:45 to grab an early bus. Figured I would ride out to the start and take a nap. While sitting in the bus and just a couple minutes before it was to leave I realized I didn’t grab my Powerade. Argh! The driver informed me no time to go get it, but there would be another bus. Headed back to the room and caught the next bus, no problem. Nice heated bus and no one sat next to me. I think I was the only person sitting solo on the entire bus. Was I the only one that didn’t shower or what? It could have been the game face, because I put the headphones on, no smiling, no talking, just focusing on the task at hand. That okay, gave me room for my drop bag full of all sorts of stuff. We got to the start area about 6:00 so I just chilled with everyone else for about an hour other than my quick trip out to the porta potties. At 7:30 it was off the bus, strip down to shorts and singlet, gloves. Left the hat and arm warmers in the bag. It was probably 45 or so at that point, not bad at all. We would be fine once we took off.
In line to take a leak one more time, out the door as the National Anthem was starting, make my way towards the front with a lot of "excuse me, pardon me, excuse me", etc. and then we were off. I screwed around too long and didn’t get into position that I wanted. Just behind the 3:15 pace group as we crossed the starting matt.
The miles came as follows:
6:24 (too fast, slow down)
6:36 (better)
6:48
Some pretty good drops in elevation here. This was cake, but I knew I need to settle down.
6:40
6:37
6:28
Somewhere her between 6&7 the leaders where coming back from the "out and back" part. I was just hoping the "out" wasn’t too far away. It wasn’t. The leader was a guy that I noticed walking around at the start. He had only about half of an arm on the left arm. An inspiration when I saw him. Even more so now that he was leading the race.
6:47 (headed uphill here – 86 ft ascend)
7:38 (190ft ascend here - GMaclin’s pace band had 7:35 for a 2:59)
13:15 (missed mile 9 marker, 6:36 pace for 2.01) 10 miles
At this point we turned onto the highway which would be one long curve to the left for 14 miles. I was with a pack of about 5 other guys with whom we had al been jockying for position. We discussed goals a bit and all were shooting for sub 3 so a couple of us made to comment to work together. We were moving along pretty smooth and strong at that point. I could feel my right calf a bit, but I wasn’t too concerned. Maybe just nervous?
6:26
6:30
6:32
1:27:28 @ 13.1 marker/clock. I knew that a 2:49 was not in the cards, but thought that I would lke to hold this 6:30ish pace as long as possible, see how the body hold up. I was okay with a positive split if it happened, but hoped for something better. Starting to get a little frustrated as we are running into a head wind. I was hoping it would ease up, but not happening. Ditched the gloves somewhere in this area. Me and another guy, Shawn from Pasadena, 42, moved to the front and then slowly pulled away. We had a pretty good conversation over the next mile or so about various including him and his son racing the Baja 500 this past year. Cool! I could tell he was pretty competitive and that was good for both of us.
6:31
6:29
6:28
6:24
Somewhere in here around 17 or 18 we passed the early front runner that I mentioned above. No idea what had happened, but he was walking at this point. Never saw him again. Felt bad for the guy.
6:39
6:31
Things were good until about here for me. The wind was getting in my head and on at least two instances I remember yelling out some obscenities about it then quickly apologizing to my running mate. He was pretty much of the same opinion. Not sure how bad the wind was, but many of us that discussed it thought steady gusts in the 15-20mph range. No idea really other than the Weather Channel predicted 20mph when I checked. The wind blew pretty much from about miles 10-24. The rest of the story is ugly. Shawn and I had seen a 3 guys 100-200 yds ahead of us and said we would catch them, one at a time. From about 14-20 we did that. Of course, after them, there were more, 3 that I can remember so the same thing, go get ‘em. The first two we caught. The 3rd wasn’t so easy.
6:46
6:51
7:00
14:37 (missed the marker again - some had blown over with the wind)
By the 24 mile marker my legs were toast, endurance was gone. I told Shawn to go get him, I had nothing. He reluctantly left and went after the guy. It was the only racer that I could see ahead of us, but I had no idea at the time, maybe top 20-25? I watched Shawn surge ahead after the guy while convincing myself to hold on. From mile 20 on I was just telling myself "see how fast you can do this one, just one more", of course until the next mile marker. No way I was really going to quit, but the quads were really not working for me. As I saw Shawn pass this guy, maybe 50 yards ahead of me at this time I thought fvck, now I need to go get him. It was like a turtle passing another turtle, but I eventually caught him with maybe a little less than a half mile to the finish.
7:34 (141ft ascend here, slow motion, I think a walker may have passed me here?)
7:26 (1.01 avg pace 7:20)
Miles 25 & 26 were pretty tough, maybe worst ever for me. I felt very light headed and the possibility of passing out entered my mind. I could see a few spectators around so if it happened, I'd be okay? Okay, so I passed him, Shawn’s up ahead and will beat me handily, I’ve got no problem with that. He was the better man today. Then my legs just want to quit. I had hit a top speed of 10.1 mph on mile 26 , but must have slowed to 8:30 pace or so once I passed by the guy. Couldn’t keep it up. He went right back ahead with about a qtr mile, damn! Okay he got me, uh no, you can’t do that. I’ve got more in me than to roll over this close. We made the final turn onto the straight away which went from pavement to deep sandy type dirt. Maybe 50 yards. I could hear the announcer "we’ve got a race" and I turned it back on to pass him and edge him out. I crossed the finish line ahead of him by maybe 2 seconds, and then bit the dust.
1:37 final .2
2:57:45 Garmin, 2:57:42 chip time 26.27 on the Garmin
I collapsed to my hands and knees just beyond the finish line and could not get my self up. I crawled a bit struggling to get up, but it wasn’t going to happen. A couple of ladies from the medical team helped me to my feet and walked me around. Shawn was right there waiting. I think he finished 25-30 seconds ahead of me. We were both pretty satisfied at that point. Not sure what the conversation was, but as the medics walked me away, I heard him say 8th and 9th out of 1,246. We finished 1 & 2 out of 110 in the 40-44 AG. I’ll take it. It was not the 2:49:55 I originally wanted, but all things considered, I was pretty proud of the time despite the ugly finish. It was a top 10, something I would never have dreamed about 2-3 months ago, certainly not last year when I was still dreaming of breaking 3:20 for a BQ. Actually went to the searchable results page last night while waiting in the airport and I didn’t have to search for my name, it is right there on the Leaderboard.
I want to give a shout out to Smick. Met her after the race walking around. I was looking around for a blonde wearing pink and thank goodness for printed names on our bibs or else I would missed her. I enjoyed the conversation and I'm sorry the day didn't play out as well as you had hoped. Also, didn’t know that Spinderella would be racing, but I believe I saw her hanging out near the back of one of the buses just before the start. I hope you had a great race.
A PR by 19:42 and a lot to build on for the next one. Sunday’s race gives me some confidence that the 2:49 is possible on a great weather day with a good training cycle.
So Boston is next with a coupe of halves before then. In my training this past cycle, I kept trying to get up over 70 miles a week, but couldn’t get there. A tax practice, DW with her own career and 4 kids keep us busy. 60 & 61 were my two high mileage weeks back in October. My thinking last night was to just stick with it. Longer tempo runs, get all my 20-22 milers in and stay in the 50-60 mile range for 12 weeks. If I can’t get a 2:49 with that, I probably never will because I’m not getting any younger and life isn’t stopping for me any time soon.
I want to thank all of you guys from the 3:20 thread that have been a huge support to me and have had all the confidence in the world in me. Thanks to those of you from the Boston threads that have chimed in as well. It truly means a lot to me. Shawn, while not a RWOL guy, still want to point out that he was a huge help. We pushed each other pretty good out there and it helped immensely. There was a lot of distance between runners up towards the front. Finaly, DW will never read this, but I still want to acknowledge her here and say thanks as well. She thinks I’m crazy at times for "doing this to yourself", but she is my biggest fan! Couldn't do it wihtout her.
Take care and thanks for taking the time to read this piece.
Steve
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