BAA Half Recap

This past Sunday was the 10^th annual BAA Half Marathon on 10/10/10 (not sure why the start time wasn’t pushed back to 10:00 AM instead of 8:30, but oh well.) I ran the race for the first time year and I really like the course, so I was looking forward to this year’s event.

This was a little bit different from last year’s race, as they “flipped the course around”, starting in Franklin Park instead of in the Fenway. I was a little disappointed that the powers that be changed the starting point. Last year, we stayed overnight with the kids downtown, went out to dinner on Boylston and I was able to walk down to the start in the morning. This year, I had to drive to UMass-Boston and then take a shuttle to the start in the park. Kate had to drive to downtown Boston with the kids, hop on the Orange Line to the Green St. stop and then walk about a half mile to the stadium (with Mike’s help). The logistics at the park were fine and well set up, but it seemed like there were fewer people near the finish this year cheering the runners at the end and (selfishly) I hope the BAA re-evaluates this setup looking ahead to next year’s race and they think about going back to the old start/finish.

Because the shuttle took a little longer than planned to get to the park, I got there a little later than I wanted. I had just enough time to drop my bag, loosen up, “use the woods” and get to the starting line. Because the coral at the 8:00/mile entrance was overflowing, I decided to go in at the 7:00/mile marker. I tried to work my way to the back of this pack, but I got held up by the crowd and had to stay put. My splits had been better leading up to the race, but they certainly weren’t around 7:00/mile. On paper, the course appeared to be hillier towards the end of the race, so I was wondering how it was going to play out as the race went on. I finished just over 1:52 last year and my goal going into the race was to try and break 1:50, but I knew it wouldn’t be easy with the hills at the end.

The weather was a little on the cool side, but sunny with little wind and perfect for running. As we started out, the first mile dropped down about 100 feet in the first mile as we left the park and the first 5K dropped about 125 feet in total. Going into the race, I was hoping to hold back a little bit and not go out too hard. That lasted about 30 seconds and I went out harder than I planned. I’m not sure if it was that the 7:00+ runners surrounding me were holding to their pace, or if I was just stupid, but I pulled 7:31, 7:41 and 7:33 for the first 3 miles. The good news was that I was way ahead of my goal pace. The bad news was that negative splits were out the window and I was putting myself in trouble for later in the race.

The other thing that I had a problem with were those idiots that decide they are either going to pass you or run right next to you to the point your either rubbing elbows or shoes. Here’s a news flash for these people. This isn’t Falmouth with very narrow Cape roads. We’re in the city and the roads are closed with plenty of room to run. Get the hell away from me. I mean, do you really need to cut me off or practically run in my shorts? I don’t have a problem running near someone for the purpose of pacing off another runner, but if you get tripped, it’s not my problem and if I get tripped, I’ll be pissed. Anyway…..

At this point, I found myself in a nice rhythm and decided that I’d keep going and do what I could to manage myself and the rest of the course. The beginning of the next 5K dropped down another 75 feet in the first mile, but then leveled off as we made our way into Longwood for the turnaround. My splits for the next 3 miles were 7:30, 7:40 and 7:44 so I was still holding pace for the most part and felt really good. As it was last year, the Emerald Necklace was a nice course and there were lots of people cheering along the way. I saw the leaders heading back just before heading into Longwood as the other runners around me cheered them on.

The next 5K is where things got tougher. The first 1.5 miles climbed back up the 75 feet we came down in the previous 5K, and I could start to feel my quads and hamstrings talking to me in a very negative tone. The good thing was that things leveled off for the remainder of that section of the race, and I started to see my splits get a little longer at 7:56, 7:51 and 7:59, but I was happy to still be living under 8:00.

In simple terms, 15 – 20K sucked. The new turnaround on the course between miles 9 and 10 brought us to the other side of the golf course and getting there was pretty much all uphill, with lousy footing. It wasn’t a huge hill, but at this point of the race, it started to hurt. Miles 10 – 11 brought us back down the way we went up, but the footing was bad in spots and with my legs getting tired, I was worried I was going to end up a$$ over head at any moment. My splits for 10 and 11 were 8:17 and 8:20. Sub 8:00’s were now in the rearview and I was starting to give back some time.

Mile 11 was back up the hill we started on, which meant a climb of 75 feet over the next mile and it hurt, but I kept it moving into the zoo and ended up with an 8:42 split for the mile, which I was happy about given how I felt. My quads were now yelling loudly and I had a blister joining the party at the tip of my left big toe.

As we made our way into the park, I was bonked. As I made it past the animal cages, and up the windy dirt path, I was worried I was going to lose my footing and fall. The only good thing was that there was no one around me so I didn’t have to worry about someone passing me or cutting me off. As I made it past the camels that were mocking me and out of the zoo, the football stadium was right in front of me. The 13^th mile had me at an 8:31 split and I made my way on to the track.

As I started the loop to the finish, people started to pass me left and right. I didn’t really care. I started to look up into the stands to see if I could see Katie and the kids, and fortunately, I was able to spot them waving. As I was waving back, I noticed Mike waving me towards the finish line. I was so tired and oblivious at this point, I thought the finish was on the other side of the track, but it was right in front of me. I was out of it.

Even with the splits going south the last quarter of the race, I ended up finishing at 1:44:40, for a 7:59 pace, beating my goal by more than 5 minutes. I definitely didn’t run the smartest race I’d ever run, but I was pretty happy with the result. Congrats to those who completed the race, as well as anyone who ran Chicago this past weekend in the 80 degree heat. That couldn’t have been easy. Good luck to those running Tufts on Monday and New York in a few weeks.

We’ll see how the rest of the fall goes. There may be a 6 hr. relay in Rhode Island on 11/16 that I may run in, and maybe a race or two after that. For now, I’m going to take a break for a few days and relax.

Summer in Review

I obviously haven't posted since the marathon (and I'm not sure anyone is ever going to see this post anyway), but I thought I'd give a recap of my summer running and how it went.

Coming off the marathon, I was kind of disappointed in my time and how I felt, so I had a bit of a hangover from the race. I didn't feel like running for a week after the race and then when I did, it was sporadic at best for a few weeks. But as the weather got warmer and the days got longer, I felt better about getting back into a routine and got myself back on track.

What helped a lot was the fact that Katie started to get into a routine of her own and we started to alternate mornings to go out for a run before the kids woke up. It was nice to get out and actually run a few races together. Here's a recap of what I ran and how I did.

Stapleton School 5k
Kate and I ran this one together and it was her first race of the year. It was a fund raiser in Framingham for a new rock wall at one of the local schools here in town. We ran together for the whole race, and she did great. We came in at 26:28 (8:31 pace), and we had a really good time. It also helped me to feel better about running again and got me motivated to get back into my routine.



Boston 13.1
Because I was feeling better about running and I was still in decent shape from the marathon, I decided to register for the 1st annual Boston 13.1 race that was down in the Blue Hills of Canton. Tough race with lots of hills (obviously) which made it really tough to get into a rhythm for most of the race. I pulled a 1:52:53 (8:37 pace), which I was pretty happy about given the course, as well as the fact that I really half-assed the training leading up to the race (I topped out at 10 miles a few weeks before the race). But I have to say, the race was poorly run and I'm not sure I'll do this one again because of it. Lots of logistical issues (e.g. they ran out of cups at multiple water stops and were handing out the water jugs to take a drink.....no thanks).



Somerset 4th of July
This is an annual race in Kate's hometown that I ran last year. They cut it down from a 5 miler to a 5K this year, and Kate decided to run it together for the first time. Her cousin and a few friends also ran, and we had a good time, with plenty of trash talking before and after the race. It was really hot (even at 8 AM), but I pulled a new 5k PR for myself, running it in 23:51 (7:21 pace), which I was pretty happy about. Katie also had a great race running a 26:52 (8:39 pace). This will definitely be an annual event for us going forward.


Cape Cod Irish Pub Race
I usually run Falmouth every year, but because of the fact they moved the race back a week this year, it didn't mesh with our vacation plans, so I took a pass. As luck would have it, The Cape Code Irish Pub's annual race was the morning after we arrived in Dennisport and it was right up the street from our rental, so Kate and I decided to register. Mike McD. joined us as well for the 5.25 mile race, and it was a great time, with great weather. I think that I had more fun running this race than Falmouth (Falmouth is fun, but it's a logistical nightmare to get your number, get to and from the race and it's always way too crowded). Plus, there was free beer after this race with Irish music as well. I was able to walk (or stumble, as it were) back to our house before going to the beach later on. I had another decent day, finishing in 40:26 (7:42 pace). This was the first time Katie had run more than 4.5 miles and she almost didn't register because she was afraid she wouldn't finish the distance, having not gone that far before. Not only did she finish, but she ran it in 43:04 (an 8:13 pace), her best pace by a lot for any race she's entered. I was really proud of her.


One of the things I've done differently with running is summer, is that I invested in a pair of Nike Frees. I'm not one of these "running-barefoot-crazy-people", but I can notice a difference in fatigue in my feet and calves after I use them vs. my Asics 2150's and, given the fact my times have been coming steadily down this summer without doing crazy mileage, I'm guessing they're helping me to get a little stronger while helping me stay healthy (knock on wood).

So what's next? Well, I was able to get into the BAA 1/2, so I've been training for that as of late. I pulled 12 miles after the Pats game yesterday and felt great, running an 8:29 pace. I plan on topping out at 14 miles before tapering back down leading up to the race. I'd love to break last year's time of 1:52:14 and I think that I have a pretty good shot at pulling it off based on where I am right now. I'm not sure what to make of the updtaed course yet, especially with the prospect of having that big hill near Franklin Park towards the end of the race. The weather finally seems like it's turned more fall-like, which will help to get ready over the next few weeks. It was way too hot for too long this summer.

After the 1/2, we'll see. With soccer games, swim lessons, CCD classes, etc. on the weekends now that the fall is here, it's going to be tough to enter some races in the near future. I guess we'll see what November brings once soccer is finished.

Enjoy the weather.

What a Day!

Well, it’s over. I ran and completed the 114th Boston Marathon. It wasn’t easy and I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t disappointed in my time, but I made it and finished. It was a busy weekend leading up to the race, with DMFC functions and little league games thrown into the mix and it made the whole experience fly by. Here is my (long-winded) recap of the race.

Morning – I woke up on my own at 4:45 in the hotel. I kissed Katie good-bye, made sure I didn’t wake the kids, and headed over to Dunkin Donuts for a bagel and coffee. It was really cool to walk the streets of Boston at daybreak without many people around, knowing that the next time I saw downtown and the finish line, it would be a madhouse. After walking through the Common, I met Mike and some fellow DFMCers at 6:00 at the Park St. station near the buses. The ride to Hopkinton ended up going faster than I expected as Mike and I made casual talk the whole way out. We walked over to the DMFC refuge at the church and started to prepare. To kill some time, Mike and I took a walk over to the starting area and Hopkinton green to check out the scene. We snapped a few photos, checked out the starting line and made fun of the people who were ordering fried dough and hot dogs from the vendors at 8:30 in the morning. We made it back to the refuge for final prep and group photos, we put our bags on the bus and we headed for the start around 10:00.

Starting Line - Mike, Gerry, Eric and I headed off to the coral. As we got close to the starting area, Mike, Gerry and I pulled off to the side to be blessed by the priests that were standing off to the side. I figured I could use all of the help I could get. As we settled into the coral, I took a look around and tried to soak up the moment. I couldn’t believe the number of people in front of us and behind us. It started to hit me that this was for real and I was about to really run this race. I was feeling calm and strong. As our wave started, we started walking up the hill and passed the starting line just over the crest. I started my Garmin, took a look at all of the people around us and headed out for my long journey.

Hopkinton/Ashland – I felt good as Mike, Gerry and I settled into a good 9:00/mile pace. This was right where I wanted to be for the first few miles. At this point, I was soaking it all in. The biker bar, the people near the Dairy Queen, the cookouts, etc. I couldn’t get over how many people were out and cheering on the runners. It was fantastic. The weather was good and I was feeling great.

Framingham/Natick – As we crossed into Framingham, “In God’s Country” by U2 started to play on my IPod, which I thought was funny (I live in Framingham). At this point, the sun began to beat down and it started to get a little warmer than I would have expected. As I we made it to downtown Framingham, I saw my friends Al and Gail on the right had side, with Al making fun of me as usual. As I made it past the Columbus Club, I saw my neighbor Barbara and her infant son cheering me on. It was pretty cool to see a few people cheering me on that I wasn’t expecting to see and it gave me a little boost. I tried to settle into a steady pace as we hit the 10K mark. But as I crossed into Natick and approached the lake, I noticed two things. First, I had salt on my shirt. I hadn’t had this happen during training, and I was realizing now that the little extra heat I felt earlier was making me sweat faster than I usually do and I was losing salt. Not good. Second, I felt really tight and sore from the back of my neck down to my shoulders, to the point that I was having trouble getting a good breath and I couldn’t catch my wind. This also had never happened during training, and not being able to breathe was starting to freak me out. I saw Kathy and Paul just past the center of town and kept moving towards Wellesley. Mike had dropped off to grab a Gatorade with his parents and Gerry was creeping up in front of me as I started to slow down a little bit.

Wellesley – I caught back up to Gerry around Pond St. right before the college. I asked him about how loud it was going to be in a few minutes and he told me it was going to get pretty noisy. As we made it past the students, it was indeed pretty loud, but not as loud as I thought it would be. I noticed that girls in a leopard leotard and running in bare feet had just passed me, which wasn’t a good sign. As I made it to the shops past the college, my back and shoulder were killing me and it was really hard to breathe. I knew that if I stopped to walk, I would most likely need to keep doing it for the rest of the race. I tried to keep going, but at the next water stop, I started to walk. As I kept moving past the park and towards Wellesley Hills, I knew the second half of the race was going to be tough. I had pulled the first half in about 2 hrs, which was my goal pace, but now I was walking too much and I knew that 4 hours was out of the question. Not running for time anymore, I focused on managing myself and just finishing. Things continued this was for the rest of Wellesley, as I periodically walked and, in hindsight, started to take in way too much water.

Newton – As I hit Newton Falls, I was feeling lousy. Fellow DFMCers were giving me a “keep going” here and there as they passed me, but I was still struggling. Crossing over Rt. 128 was a chore and I walked most of the overpass. I started to run again as I passed the hospital and Woodland station. A little further up, I spotted my mom and I gave her a big hug. She asked me how I felt and I told her “lousy” (which you should never tell your mom, as not to worry her). I gave her a kiss on the cheek and kept going. I walked a little more leading up to the fire station, and decided that I was going to run as much as I could up the first hill. That lasted for about 1 minute. At this point, my breathing was really bad and I was a head case. I decided that I would run the downhills in Newton and try to run up the hills as much as I could. I followed this procedure up until I hit Heartbreak. I took about 10 steps up the hill and realized that it wasn’t going to happen and I walked dejectedly up almost the entire hill. Cramps started to settle into my stomach as well, due to all of the water I drank earlier. I took in way too much due to my issues with the heat and the fact that I was sweating too much. As I hit BC, I couldn’t believe how loud it was. It blew Wellesley College away in terms of sheer volume and drunkenness. I started to run the backside of the hill past the school until I hit the train tracks, which is where I had to walk most of the way to Chestnut St. This is where I realized that it’s good to have your name on your singlet if you’re running well, but if you’re hurting and need to walk, you want to peel the letters off of your chest. I was out of GU and I took in some Gatorade to see if it would help me feel better.

Brookline – I started to run down Chestnut St. to Cleveland Circle. I ended up doing a run/walk until Coolidge Corner, when I started to get some wind back in me and I finally felt a little bit better. The unfortunate thing at this point was that my hamstrings were completely shot at this point and I had no way to make up any ground. I tried to pace off a few people in front of me and keep a steady pace. I also started to notice more people pulling off to the side with cramps, injuries, etc. I caught my breath again just before the Pike overpass and then started to run up the bridge. The DMFC cheering section was on the right and it gave me such a big boost as I made it by them.

Boston/Finish – I kept a decent pace through Kenmore and made it into the Mass Ave. tunnel. I walked the upgrade until it flattened out and then decided that was the last time I was going to walk. As I hit Hereford, I took the earphones out of my ears and lumbered up the hill to Boylston. As I took the left towards the finish, the end seemed to be a million miles away. I started to look for Katie and the kids, not knowing exactly where they’d be. As I kept going, I finally noticed Katie to the right hanging off of a lamp post near Lord and Taylor and cheering frantically, with Johnny right below her with my mother-in-law and Audrey. I gave them a wave and kept moving to the finish. As I crossed the line, I thought about my grandparents and the other people that I ran the race for and couldn’t believe it was over. Final time: 4:35:24. I received my medal, got my bag and gingerly headed off to meet up with Katie and the kids. I gave each of them a big hug and a kiss and we headed for the Marriott to meet up with my family and fellow runners to reflect on the race and get some food.

The one thing that sticks with me from the race is that the people in the crowd really responded to the Dana Farber shirt and the cause. I can’t tell you how many times I heard “Go Dana Farber” along the route. It made me proud to be associated with such a great organization and to help the Barr Foundation in some small way. The runners, supporters, volunteers and DFMC staff should all be proud of themselves and the work they have done and will continue to do. I’m proud to be associated with such a great team of supportive and caring people.

I don’t think that I’ve still yet been able to process the entire experience. It seems like last week that training began, and now it’s over. There are so many people to thank and congratulate, that I don’t know where to start. For me, this has been a learning experience on many different levels, and one that I’ll never forget. I’m not sure that I’ll do this again in the near future, but I won’t say “never”. What a race!!

Here We Go....

Today is Friday and the marathon is roughly 3 days away. This is the last time I’ll write before heading into the weekend and getting ready for the race. I wonder how I’ll feel when I write again next week once the race is over. Will the weather be nice? Will I achieve my time goal? What will it be like at the starting line moments before we begin? What will it feel like to cross the finish line Monday afternoon? Right now, the collective answer is, “I don’t know.” But I can’t wait to find out.

I want to take this opportunity to say thanks again to all of my donors and supporters. As I write this, I’ve raised over $5,300 for the Barr Program. I’ve said it a bunch of times over the last few months, but the generosity I’ve witnessed has been extraordinary and those of you that have contributed have my thanks and gratitude.

I’d also like to say thank you to my family. Everyone has been so supportive over the last several months in different ways and I really appreciate their help in this endeavor. I’d especially like to thank my wife Katie, who has been nothing but supportive, caring and patient and since that day last fall when I told her that I wanted to run Boston this year. She’s been everything from caregiver to psychologist for me related to this race, and I appreciate the time and effort she's put forth on her end to pick up my slack at home so that I could have the time to train. I couldn't have done this without her help and encouragement.

Wish me luck on Monday and don’t forget to track me during the race via either the BAA web site or via the AT&T runner tracker on your phone. Oh yeah, and check out Broadside with Jim Braude on NECN tonight at 6:00 pm or 8:00 pm to see some of the team talk about the race, the Barr Program and play some trivia.

What Are "Friends" For?

Here are 3 recent comments made by friends of mine as we approach the race on Monday.

1. When told I was running in the race this year....."Why are you running a marathon? You remember what happened to Pheidippides at the end of his run, right?" (I immediately went out and bought a heart monitor).

2. When I mentioned my goal of breaking for hours....."That's great. Didn't Oprah break 4 hours?" (After feeling defalted for about 10 minutes, I confirmed that she did not break 4 hours and felt better).

3. When asked if I wanted to play golf a few Saturdays ago, but declined because of a long weekend run....."Why go for a run? With the way you golf, you'll probably log more mileage looking for your ball in the woods all day?" (No comeback for this one. He was right).

What are friends for?

It's All In My Head

Is it Monday yet? Seriously, can this thing just get here already? I could be the most unproductive person on earth right now waiting for the race to get here and I apologize in advance to all of my family and friends if I drive them crazy between now and Patriots Day. Supplies have been bought, hotels have been confirmed, dinner reservations have been made and spectators have been told where to watch the race. Now, I just need to get my head in order.

With allergy season here, coupled with the fact that I have the worst sinuses in the world, I'm on the cusp of having a sinus infection. I went to the Dr. last night and I now am the proud owner of an emergency script for antibiotics, on top of 3-4 over the counter items that I will use and abuse over the next few days. Good times.

There have been quite a few "Jackisms" tossed around the last few days across the blog sphere (pennies in the barn, hay in the bank, or something like that), and all of them mean the same thing: keep yourself in check for the next week, or potentially pay the price next Monday. Like everyone else, this is going to make for a long exercise in patience (something I have very little of) over the next 5+ days. Like an idiot, I momentarily contemplated running 13 miles instead of the 12 on the docket last Sunday. Fortunately, Mike convinced me to not be stupid and stick to the plan. As a result, I ended up having a really good run and felt great. I need to make sure I maintain this type of level-headiness for the next week.

It's amazing that the 26.2 miles I run next week will equate to roughly 4.8% of the almost 550 training miles I will have logged. I'm also amazed that, this being my first marathon, I've been able to stay injury-free throughout the training. It's tough to see some of the folks in the group go down and not able to participate next week due to injury. I've been in their shoes in a prior lifetime when I used to be an athlete, and it is not a fun place to be so close to a big event. I'm sure that those of us that are running will keep them in mind next Monday and wish them the best in future races.

I'm looking forward to friends and family coming out next week to see the race and cheer us on. I'm hoping and praying for decent weather and no extremes (don't mess with me, Channel 7):

"Monday: Marathon Monday and it's great running weather! Mostly cloudy with highs in the low to mid 50s. "

I'm going to get in 2 more runs this week (today and Friday) and then sit tight until Monday. Man, it's going to be a long weekend.

A Beautiful Day and a Brush with Greatness

With a Saturday looming full of activities for my little guy (swim lessons, baseball practice, etc.), I decided to fit in my long run of the week on Friday, thanks to out Good Friday holiday. For the last time before the race, I drove to the other side of town grabbed my stuff, locked the car and headed east down 135 for an out-and-backer of 16 miles.

The weather was beautiful and I felt pretty good through the first 6 miles or so. But my the time I hit the 9 mile mark, I felt tired and my motivation was slowly waning. At one point, I just wanted to walk. I'm not sure why I hit the wall when I did, but I hit it all the same and as I went past Wellesley College on the way back home, I felt like crap. That's when things took a turn for the better.

As I went past the college and started back up the hill heading towards Pond St., I could see a girl standing on the sidewalk at the crest. I thought this was very odd. She had running gear on, but she wasn't running. Just then, someone cams hauling butt over the hill down the sidewalk towards me. The guy was flying down the hill and he grabbed a water from the girl who was standing there. That's when it hit me. The guy running down the sidewalk at me was Ryan (Freakin') Hall (his wife Sarah was the one waiting with the water). As I ran by him, I gave him a "Go get 'em, Ryan", to which he responded with a thumbs up and a smile. I also gave a "good luck" to his wife as she went back to the car on Pond St., which received a "thank you" in response.

Needless to say, I was pretty jacked up at this point and I got rid of my blahs. I mean, how often can a hacker like me in a specific sport be practicing on the same playing field as the guy who is the best in the country and one of the best in the world at the same sport? That's why running is cool. Stuff like this never happened in baseball, that's for sure. Keep your eyes peeled for him over the next few weeks if you're running the course.

This all happened the day after I saw the President drive by me in his motorcade on the back roads of Marlborough. Random and weird all around.

The next mile that I ran was the 2nd fastest for the run (my heart rate raced up a bit as well) and I ended up finishing the last few miles pretty strong.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/28718167

I tried to do a better job of going out slower today and keeping some in the tank for the second half, and I almost ran a negative split for the run (missed by 6 seconds). From here, the taper continues. It will be nice to get rid of some of the creakiness I'm feeling right now in my knees and hamstrings leading up to the race.

Happy Easter!!

Perspective

For all the dads (and future dads) out there. I thought this was accurate in terms of things I've thought of and reflected on over the last several months while training. I know who will be the first three people that get a sweaty "thank you" hug from me when I cross the finish line.

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-243-297--11806-0,00.html#

Caught 22

On Sunday morning, I hopped in the car and headed out to the starting line in Hopkinton. Not having seen or been on the course in that specific section, I felt that it would be a good idea to hit it at least once before the race. With 22 miles staring me in the face, I was already tired. Both of the kids were up for various reasons beginning at 4 am, so I was short on sleep and long on grogginess. I originally wanted to start the run by 6:30, but due to the lack of rest, I stayed in bed until 7 and ended up leaving the house around 9.

When I parked the car at the center of town, I counted 2 school buses and 1 touring bus full of runners. The green was packed with people. I wasn't expecting that many people out there, but I guess I should have, given the fact that this is the week before the taper begins for most people. Seeing all those runners made it a little more real and fun to see that many people at the starting line. I got my gear together, fired up the music on my IPhone, made sure I didn't lock my car key in the car, and headed out.

I had heard that the first few miles were downhill, but it didn't hit me how much downhill they were until I started out. My first two miles were way too fast and I tried to put the brakes on a little bit once I hit Ashland. Once I got to Framingham, I was able to get into a decent pace through Wellesley. Meanwhile, the course was packed with people from start to finish, with people running in clumps and passing each other all over the place on the sidewalks and the breakdown lanes. I only saw one person fall all day (a girl took a huge digger in Natick, but to her credit, she got up and kept right on going).

Once I hit the 128 overpass, I could feel myself getting tired on that little bit of an uphill. As I passed the hospital, I tried to hold back a little bit knowing the bigger hills were coming. Once I turned onto Comm Ave., I realized I was really low on water and that I was going to need some over the next few miles. Fortunately, Adidas had a tent set up with water for all of the runners, so I stopped to fill up my water bottle at the oasis, said "thanks" to the volunteer, and kept going.

Due to the fact this was the first time hitting the hills in Newton after coming from Hopkinton, they absolutely trashed me. By the time I got halfway up Heartbreak, I felt like someone ripped my legs off and started beating me with them. I ended up laboring through the last couple of miles to finish with and even 22 miles and a really tired body.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/28304481
(In my post-run haze, I must have forgot to stop my timer on the Garmin and I realized it was still going when I was driving home, so I had to post the run manually.)

As I walked down to Cleveland Circle to meet up with Katie and the kids, I started to wonder if breaking 4 hours was a reasonable goal or not. If the race is anything like it was on Sunday, it's going to be a close call, and I'm going to have to be smart about how I approach things that day. The good thing is that I've seen the whole course at least once, and I now have a better understanding as to what to expect at each interval along the way. And now for the taper.....

I had a few more donations this week, taking me over the $4,500 mark, which is great. I'm planning to get a few more emails/reminders out within the next week or two. I really hope I hit my goal.

Another Brick in the Wall

My legs are dead, I'm tired everyday by 4:00 PM, I haven't been able to get out of bed to run this week and, when I finally made it out today to bang out an early 8 miles, I thought I was going to fall asleep while I was running. The damned snow this morning didn't help my mindset either. I guess this what people refer to as "hitting the wall" near the end of training. I need to get over the hump and fast.

I'm trying to rally to knock out a solid 22 miles on Sunday from the starting line to BC. Hopefully the NCAA games will all be blowouts so I can get to bed at a decent hour the next few nights (I got sucked into the Cornell game last night night, which didn't help my cause).

Good luck to those doing the group run on Saturday. Only 9 days until opening day/night/Easter or whatever you want to call it.

Flying Solo

This past weekend's plan from Jack called for a long run of up to 18 miles. Due to prior commitments made for Saturday (my little guy's swim lessons and my annual baseball fantasy draft), I decided to skip the group run and bang out the run on my own early before my house woke up. In keeping with my goal to get on the actual marathon course as often as possible, I headed out at 6:30 am to the other side of town, parked my car and walked across the street to mile 7 of the course. My goal for the day was to run to the actual finish line on Boylston, which would be just over 19 miles.

The weather was great and the sun came up just after rolling through "downtown" Natick. As I continued in to Wellesley, I spotted Mike driving past me looking for the group run location. Noticing that I didn't have any water with me and knowing I would not have water stops available via the group run, he asked me if I needed anything. I told him I was good and felt alright and I kept going after wishing him well on his own run.

I popped into Dunkin' Donuts just over the Newton line to grab a water. After having half a GU and a few sips, I kept going. I ended up carrying the rest of the water with me, for fear that it was still early and some of the smaller stores, bakeries, etc. ahead may not be open yet. In hindsight, I was right and it was good to hang onto the bottle, even though it was a little annoying to carry.

Having never been able to participate in the Thursday night Crossroads' runs, the furthest I had ever gone out on the course was on Comm Ave. at South St. when the group has run out of the Mt. Auburn Club. Once I crossed that intersection, I wasn't sure what to expect (besides a little more traffic). After going through Cleveland Circle, I stayed on the left hand side of Beacon St., which I now realize is hillier than the other side of the street. The only issues I had involved not timing the crossing signal correctly at one intersection (oops), and literally dodging another charity's runners coming at me for a mile or so, to the point I had to get off the sidewalk for a stretch. I hit the wall at Kenmore, finished off my bottle of water while walking a few steps and then headed for the finish line. Due to the fact that it was a beautiful day, Boylston St. was packed so I had to dodge a few more pedestrians and other runners (the marathon route was filled with people from Wellesley to downtown).

I ended up making it to the finish line around 9:30 AM and felt a really good sense of accomplishment. As planned, Katie was parked with the kids in the car and waiting for me with water and a dry shirt right next to Trinity Church. After a quick stretch, we jumped back on the Mass Pike and headed home.

All said and done, I finished in under 3 hours and with a pace under 9:00/mile, which is better than I expected. My other moral victory was making it through the Newton Hills without walking once, so that was nice due to the fact I had yet to accomplish this.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/27509924

I'm probably going to miss next week's run from Hopkinton to BC due to John's baseball tryouts, so I'll be going solo (again) on Sunday for the full 22. I'm debating whether to run the same run again and tack on the extra miles around downtown or backup my start on 135 into Ashland.

Fundraising spiked up again with a few more really generous donations, which was great and a little unexpected. I'm hoping to hit the $5,000 milestone very soon.

What Are the Odds?

http://news.sc/2010/03/16/jogger-killed-on-hilton-head-beach-by-emergency-plane-landing/

My New Lucky Number - 22779

Water...Lots of It

I couldn't do my long run on Saturday, so I headed out this morning instead. With a newly purchased waterproof jacket, I once again drove to the other side of town, parked the car and headed towards Wellesley. Man, was it lousy out for the first half of the run. It was raining sideways in my face, as a constant 10-15 mph wind came out of the east directly down Rt. 135. But after 3 miles or so, it became sort of fun. I was already soaked head to toe and it didn't matter if I missed the puddles or not because my socks and shoes were soaked through. The only issue I had was the water in my ear, courtesy of my headphones.

I counted 13 other psychotic people on the route today at various points, so I was glad to not be the only crazy person out there. I ended up with a pretty good overall pace for the 15+ miles.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/26996645

My knees has been getting a little creaky leading up to the weekend, but they felt better and didn't bother me today (it could be that I couldn't feel them due the fact that I wore shorts and the wind chill numbed them). With this run, I also cracked 400 total miles since I started training which is kind of cool.

On the fundraising front, I cleared $4,000 this week after a few quiet weeks. I'm still hoping to hit my goal of $6,000 between now and race day. The following was a quick but funny exchange with my 5 year old:

John - "Are you going to win the race?"
Me - "Well, no, but I'm hoping to do as well as I can and raise some money to help sick people feel better."
John - "Oh. Well, I hope that you don't lose all that money in your pockets while you're running."

Another 20 and Looking Ahead

The group pulled another 20 miler this past weekend. I felt good for the first 15, then a blister hit, along with an upset stomach, so the last 5 miles were a chore and pretty lousy.

http://connect.garmin.com/dashboard?cid=47200

I've had a couple of good runs since then, but I feel like I need to get my endurance up. My times on the short to medium length runs have been dropping, which is great, but that's not going to necessarily help on race day. We have one more 20+ coming up before we taper, so I'm looking forward to that. I wish I could make the group run that weekend from Hopkinton to BC, but I'll need to do my own along the course on Sunday from Framingham to downtown, which will still get me on the course. I need to make the most of that run.

I went out today at lunch. It was nice to wear shorts and ditch the winter cap and gloves for the first time in months. I hope the decent weather is here to stay and I'm starting to get really excited for 4/19.

But, will she be in Waltham on Saturday?

http://bostonherald.com/track/inside_track/view.bg?articleid=1237364&position=1

10 Tunes Currently in "The Rotation"

I'm dating myself with a few of these, but they are all pretty solid when played loudly. In no particular order...

1. Marathon - Rush
2. Turn Up the Radio -Autograph
3. K.I.A.- Jet
4. The Unforgettable Fire - U2
5. Here I Come - The Roots
6. What Is Hip? - Tower of Power
7. Brain of J. - Pearl Jam
8. Mountain Song - Jane's Addiction
9. Rock 'N Roll Train - AC/DC
10. All These Things That I've Done - The Killers

So that's what 20 miles feels like

This past week's long run took us back to Watertown and the Mt. Auburn Club. We hit the same route as last time, but extended it out a bunch. I decided that, once again, I was going to go for another personal milestone and hit 20 miles for the first time. I had built this up as a pretty big deal in my head and was a little nervous about what the next 3 hours was going to present. Only one way to find out....

The weather was pretty nice and the wind, mercifully, was coming at us as we went out from the club for the first half of the run. My goal for the day was to leave a little more in the tank a little bit later than I had on recent long runs. It seemed as if 15 miles had been my threshold related to when I went from feeling OK, to feeling really bad. I wanted to see if I could push that out a bit. As hard I've been trying to do the negative split thing, I'm either too stubborn or too new to this (or both) to achieve that goal. My new goal is to stay as constant as possible related to pace, and make adjustments along the way depending on how I feel. That's probably not the way to do it, but I'll see how it goes.

The run ended being great. It was nice to see more of the actual race route. I had driven these roads 100 times in the past but never thought about what it would be like to run on them. I found myself thinking about things in the past as I ran by the familiar streets and landmarks. Like, how I spent so many hours over 4 years working towards my masters at BC. And, how I hadn't been by Newton-Wellesley Hospital since Audrey was born almost 18 months ago. A little further up was the street where Katie's office used to be when she took a new job and moved back from Manhattan in '98. I'm not sure why I was getting nostalgic, but for some reason, I was.

Without getting into all of the minutiae, I felt great up to Heartbreak Hill (again). I really hit the wall near the top, but at the same time, I was OK with it because it was 16-17 miles into the run vs the usual 15 when I felt like crap. I didn't break any speed records, but I ended up having a good run and finished in a little over 3 hours.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/25240480

I can really feel myself starting to get stronger and stronger as the weeks go on. Proof of this is that, for the first time ever, I finished 7 miles on Tuesday in the slop in under 1 hr, which I've never even been able to do running in Falmouth 4 times (a sore spot for me that Mike can attest to). If I can stay injury free, I think I'll be in pretty good shape, even for a rookie.

I've decided that I'm going to try and run parts of the course on the weekends when I'm not able to make the long group runs. Living in Framingham, I'm pretty fortunate that I can drive 5 minutes and be at mile 6, park my car and head out for solid out and back on the route. I need to take advantage of this more than I have.

After a bit of a lull in donations, I received a few really nice ones this week (some of them were on behalf of my birthday this week) and I'm closing in on $4,000, which is great. Thanks again to all that have helped.

Singlets and Bad News

Keep an eye out during the race for about 500 people wearing this shirt.

I received an email from a friend today that another friend from college was diagnosed with what is believed to be testicular cancer. As tough as it was to read that note, it is a sobering reminder why I'm wearing this jersey on April 19th and why we're all trying to help beat this awful disease.

A Clean 18

The DFMC group convened in Waltham this Saturday at the Boston Sports Club at Healthpoint, which also happens to be in the same building as the practice facility for the Celtics. 16-18 miles was on the docket for today and as I signed in, I decided that I'd give 18 a try. My previous longest run was 16+ a few weeks ago in Wayland so, assuming Jack knew what he was doing when he put his training plan together, and the fact that I've been feeling pretty good lately, I decided to go for a new personal record.

Stop me if you've heard this before....it was cold...damn cold. I'm thankful that Canada kept the jet stream in check and forced the blizzard that assaulted Baltimore down to our south, but the 20 degree weather and wind is starting to bug me and I'm seriously starting to think of deals to make with Mother Nature in order to send us a 40 degree group run sometime soon.

Anyway, the run started out fine and at a comfortable pace. I ran by myself for a while with the IPod jacked up, but I ended up running and talking with a few other runners that caught up to me. At the second water stop, I did some quick math based on the calculus that were presented to us in order to determine which routes to take and repeat, depending on how many miles people wanted to run. Once I figured out the combination that would lead me to a clean 18, I ended up hanging with the group for about another 1/2 mile after the water stop, when I realized it would be a good idea to let them go if I had any chance of finishing 18 upright. The music's volume went back up.

It started to get hilly...really hilly. Lots of up and downs on both sides of the fork. I tried to manage them by holding back on the downhills and giving a little extra on the uphills. All said and done, I didn't feel as bad as I thought I would once I finished each side, but I could feel myself getting tired and cold near the end. As I continued past the water stop after hitting the 1.6 miles stretch for the second time, I started to head up the other hill again towards the Carroll School, when it donned on me that I screwed up. The first giveaway was that no one was heading down the hill at me. That's when I realized that, given the mileage I had already run, I was supposed to be heading back to the gym and not back out on that stretch of road. So, I decided to make it to the top of the hill and then turn around and head back to home base.

At this point, I was about 13.75 miles into the run and the legs were getting heavy. I made it past the final water stop and through Lincoln Center without any issues but at a much slower pace. As I made my way back onto Winter St., I got a little disoriented and at one point, thought I was on the wrong road. As I made it up a hill, I saw a woman out for a walk. I ended up scaring her to death when I came up behind her and asked if Healthpoint was straight ahead. After she caught her breath and stopped laughing, she told me it was straight ahead and a few miles up the road. I apologized for the intrusion and kept going.

After dodging 6-7 deer that came stampeding across the street and almost tackled me, I hit the stretch of Winter St. that became less residential and more corporate. At this point, the hamstrings were in rough shape due to the cold and the hills, and I was toast. The only good thing about heading up the wrong hill earlier was that my 18 miles finished pretty close to the bottom of the hilly drive leading back to the club. Even walking up that hill was tough. But at the end of the day, I made my mileage and, considering I kept the Garmin running at the water stops, I was OK with my time.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/24074989

After downing 3 G2's and stretching for about 15 minutes, I headed for the car. As I pulled out the parking lot, I noticed a very large black Mercedes with illegally dark tinted windows and dealer plates that pulled into the complex. I wondered which Celtic was coming to practice and if he would have been impressed with the miles that many of us put in that morning.

Once again, THANKS to the volunteers who were out there with the snacks and beverages. You guys are patient, dedicated and obviously have an unbelievable ability to deal with miserable temperatures.

I took today off and will probably give myself one more day of rest on Monday. I've found that after going a distance I've never gone before, the extra day helps a little bit. It gets me off Jack's plan for a day, but I'll play catch up later in the week.

Someone up there likes us

I'm thankful the forecast for tomorrow is this....

...and not this.

Good thing I've got plenty of winter running gear.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/gallery/020210Groundhog_Day/

When the heck is spring again?

Back in the late fall, we had a little stretch of seasonally warm weather. I recall reading a long term weather report that said if the weather was that warm that late in the season, it meant we were in for a pretty mild winter. It was right around the time my participation in the marathon was confirmed, and I can remember thinking to myself that it might not be that bad training outside this winter. All that I have to say to the person that came up with that theory is that you should never predict the weather again....ever.

This weekend was brutal. Having reviewed the forecast earlier in the week, I decided to skip Saturday morning (0 degrees with the windchill) , and wait for the afternoon, when it was supposed to warm up to a July-like 20 degrees.

I missed a run earlier this week and decided to make up for it by going the full 14 miles. I decided that, due to the relatively low mileage for a weekend run, I'd hit the hilly course I did a few weeks ago and extend it out a bit by adding a tough hill at the end.

I felt lousy for the first 2 miles. I felt slow, my shins started to hurt and it was just damned cold. But, once I hit the 4th mile and the GU started to kick in, I started to warm up and feel better and stronger. But as I got to the 9th mile, it started to get cold again as it started to get dark. I had to keep pulling my face mask up over my mouth, as it was starting to get numb and had trouble moving my jaw.

I also had to contend with an unbelievable number of pine cones that we lining the sidewalk along Route 30. I never realized that these things could be so treacherous, until I slipped on one and then found another lodged within the outer sole of my Mizunos which was there for about a 1/4 of a mile.

As I pulled into my driveway at the end of the run, I was exhausted, even more so than from last week's 16 miler. I still ended up with a decent time, but my splits were still far from negative. This is obviously something I still need to work on. Not having a lot of experience at mileage like this, I still need to figure out how to keep things in check on the front end so that I have something left in the tank on the back end.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/23571505

I'm looking forward to a week of sticking to the schedule and gearing up for the 18 miles next Saturday will bring. It's kind of a nice feeling to set a new personal record each week related to distance. Right now, the forecast looks pretty good, but we all know how that goes...

On the donation front, I received a few more contributions this week which was terrific. It's pretty amazing that these have still been coming in, and I haven't even sent out a follow up notice since my first one went out in the beginning of December. Thank you again to everyone for helping up to this point.

Maybe this will belp me save some $$ on shoes

http://www.boston.com/news/health/blog/2010/01/oliver_ames_cro.html

Little By Little

Saturday's group run brought us out to scenic Wayland and the Longfellow Club. The location was perfect due to the fact that the club was a 10 minute ride from my house, which allowed me to leave the house a little later than usual.

As I signed in, I took the leap to write down a "16" next to the anticipated mileage. Having never run further than 13 miles up to this point, I was a little nervous bumping that up by 3 miles in one shot. After stretching, saying our hellos to our fellow runners, receiving a few team updates from Jan and route instructions from Jack, we were on our way.

It was a fairly cold morning, with a start time temperature of about 15, but there was no wind and the sun was out so it felt warmer than that. I started out with Mike and Aimee, both of whom have experience running Boston, as well as the route we were running on this day. I was a little nervous running with them due to the fact that that their normal pace is quite a bit faster than my 8:30/9:00 per mile, but they assured me that they weren't going to push it on a long training run and that negative splits were on the docket for today. That was music to my ears. As we started out down Route 20 and took a hard right around Sky Restaurant, the pace was easy and everyone in the group was able to have a casual conversation.

As we made it out to the first water stop, I felt great. Our splits were a little on the fast side, but within reason. We continued on past Lincoln-Sudbury High School and made our way down Lincoln Rd. to Concord Rd. After not having my bearings for the first quarter of the run, I suddenly realized where I was, as Katie takes the same back roads to work on occasion. As we made it to the second water stop, I still felt great. The last couple of miles had us running at sub 8:30 splits, which may have not been too fast for Mike and Aimee, but was approaching the orange zone for me for a long run. We started to slow things down as we left the stop and headed towards Rt. 117. We made it up to the final water stop and the halfway point in 1:11:46, which had us at an 8:45 avg pace to that point. I kept my Garming going at the water stops so it was probably showing a slower pace than what was really the case.

This is where things started to hit a bit of a bump for me. As I went past Verrill Farm, my stomach started to feel lousy and I had to slow down a bit. It subsided somewhat as I kept going, but it ended up being something that I needed to manage myself through for the entire second half of the run by walking a few times here and there. This was the second run in a row for me where this happened with no history of this in the past, so I may need to get in front of this moving forward. I tried to hang with Mike and Aimee as we kept going, but I told them to take off once we hit the final water stop with about 3.2 miles left. I was able to keep them within sight for most of the way back to club, which was a moral victory for me. I also screwed myself up ealrier thinking that I could see Rt. 20 in the distance, when it was really Rt. 27, which meant I had more than the mile left that I initially thought. Shoot.....!

When it was all said and done, I had a really good run. The total distance ended up at 16.35 and I even finished with a sub 9:00/mile pace which I was really happy about.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/23015584

Lessons learned from this run include:

1. I need to work on my negative splits. Jack made a point about this during the run prep, but did I listen......???

2. I need to eat a little lighter before my runs.

3. I can push myself a little more than I thought on the long runs, as long as I'm smart about it and listen to myself when I start to hit the wall.

The run ended just in time for me to meet my gang in the lobby of the club for John's weekly swim lesson. Mike was able to hang around for a while (which John was really excited about) and see his little cousin make his way up and down the pool with his 3 other little friends for the 1/2 hour lesson. John and Audrey were also the lucky recipients of cookies on the way out once the lesson was done, courtesy of Jan who was still there in the lobby closing up shop after the run (thanks, Jan.)

I took Sunday off completely and I'm planning to just do some more stretching today. I'll move this week's runs back a day each leading up to Saturday's long run. Have a good week.

Halfway There

With my latest donations this week, I'm more than halfway towards my fundraising goal. I feel really great about it and, even though it's been said a few times in the past, the generosity of my donors has blown me away.

With the team crossing over the $750,000 mark to date, we're past "mile 4" of our collective fundraising goal. We've got a long way to go, but we're off to a great start.

Looking forward to Saturday. The forecast looks a little cool, but good.

Daily Details for Wayland, MA [ English | Metric ] Weather for your life Weather Related to... Air Quality & Pollution Allergies & Pollen Boat & Beach Cold & Flu Fitness & Exercise Flights & Business Travel Golf Weather Home Improvement Interstate Driving Forecast Lawn & Garden Outdoor Recreation Pets Schoolday Weather Ski Conditions Sporting Events Vacation & Travel Guide Wedding Planner Today Fri, Jan 22 Sat, Jan 23 Sun, Jan 24 Mon, Jan 25 Tue, Jan 26 Wed, Jan 27 Thu, Jan 28 Fri, Jan 29 Sat, Jan 30 Hourly Forecast more details 6 am 18°F Feels Like 9°F 9 am 22°F Feels Like 13°F Additional Hourly Forecast Not Available. Day Night Sunny High 33°F Precip 0% Wind: From NNW at 7 mph Max. Humidity: 59% UV Index: 2 Low Sunrise: 7:07 AM ET Avg. High: 35°F Record High: 60°F (1959) Mostly Clear Overnight Low 16°F Precip 10% Wind: From NW at 2 mph Max. Humidity: 70% Sunset: 4:48 PM ET Avg. Low: 16°F Record Low: -14°F (1961) Last Updated Thursday, Jan 21, 10:12 AM Eastern Standard Time Details Video Text Averages

Fun In the Sun

For those of us that never really have the chance to run when it's light out this time of year (which is about 99% of the runners in New England), it was nice to go for a long run in the middle of the afternoon vs. o' dark hundred. As if that wasn't good enough, the temperatures reached the mid-40's, which given the recent temps around here, felt like July. I decided to forgo the usual 80 layers of clothing and stick to just 2 long-sleeved shirts, shorts and tights. It was nice to actually be able to move when I run and not feel like the little kid from "A Christmas Story".

I decided to tackle a really hilly route that I ran quite a few times when I was getting ready for the half-marathon in October (the total elevation gain is 1,348 feet vs. last week in Newton, which the Garmin calculated to be 856 ft.). It's a fairly quiet route traffic-wise that goes by a golf course, a farm with horses and longhorns and a fruit stand. In other words, pretty rural. Due to the lack of traffic, I decided to use the IPod today, and to make sure it was charged before I went out (unlike last week). After having a great run with the DFMC group last week, I was wondering how it was going to be doing a long run solo this weekend. Having the newly updated mix definitely helped.

As I was starting out, I was a little concerned with how I was going to feel, having done almost 7 miles yesterday. I ended up having a great run and feeling the best I've felt in a while.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/22503523

I came to the conclusion today that I always feel stronger and faster when I run later than 8:00 am vs. the usual 5:45 am time during the week. Not only was my time and pace better than last week's long run, but I didn't stop once on the hills, which I was never able to do back in the fall. I decided when I was done that the route was one that I'm going to take advantage of in the future in order to help prepare for Newton in April.

As great a day as this was, the weather forecast is bringing me back down to earth, with 4+ inches of snow predicted for Sunday night and temperatures back in the 20's and 30's over the coming week. I'm looking forward to the group run next weekend in Wayland. Johnny has his weekly swim lesson at the same health club we're invading next week, and I'll be finishing up right around the time his lesson begins, so it works out swimmingly (sorry, couldn't resist).

On the fundraising front, I am just about at the $3,000 threshold. THANK YOU to everyone who has donated up to this point. With the economy still on life support and being on the heels of the holidays, it is truly amazing and humbling related to how generous people have been up to this point. I think that it's a solid example of how many people are affected by cancer and what the potential of beating this disease means to each of them.

Have a great week and happy running.