Training Week 2

Well I'm a week into "official" Boston training and the weather has turned cold and windy.  It seemed a little early in the season for that, caught the weather this morning and they said it was about 10 degrees colder than normal, I hope this isn't an indication of the winter that is on tap.  As far as my training plan, I took what I had yesterday, sent it to a friend that is a certified coach to tweak a bit.  Overall, my mileage will be up about 15%, but my weekly mileage still won't hit the 60 mile range.  I'll see how I feel, if I feel good I might add a few more miles a week, but nothing crazy.  I did go to the track today for my workout, 6x800m with a 400m recovery jog.  I hit my 800s in 2:48 - 2:44 with recovery laps right at 2:00.  It was extremely windy out there today, I figure it was probably good for another 4-6 seconds per 800m, so I was very happy with the workout.  My goal was 2:50 800m with a 2:00 400m recovery.

Registration Fiasco

Last year registration for the Boston Marathon closed faster than any previous year.  I had a feeling that because there had been so much hype about it closing so fast the year before, this year it would close out even faster.  I was guessing weeks, not hours!  I had set a reminder in my calendar to register the day it opened, the minute it opened.  I went to the BAA website and nothing came up, I was at work so I didn't really pay to much attention to it and figured I would check back later.  Later that morning I got an email from a local running mailing list stating that people were having problems registering.  I immediately went back to the website, after a few attempts the registration form loaded, nothing else.  This was weird, but I decided to put my info in anyway.  After all that I was registered and by 5pm that day, registration had officially closed!  A few people I know that were thinking about doing the race had their decision made for them, best advice is if you are thinking about running a race, sign up ASAP and then decide what you want to do.

Boston Race Results

Hey, its that time of year again, about to start "official" Boston Training and I realized I never blogged on how the race actually went.  My race really couldn't have gone any better, I was hitting 6:30 pace like clock work for practically the entire race.  The weather was great, the fans were great, just a perfect day.  I ended up finishing in 562nd overall in 2:50:40, crushing my marathon PR by nearly 14 minutes.  So the day of the race, I had already decided I was going to run again in 2011, and here we are again.

New Hope 5k and Sickness

Sunday I ran in the New Hope 5k.  About 5 minutes before the race started I saw the guy who won it last year and knew I didn't have a shot of winning.  I went out at a decent but controlled 5:05 mile and was in 4th place.  After about a mile and half 2nd and 3rd place had gotten a good 10 second gap on me and I started thinking.  A friend of mine who is also running Boston decided not to run this race and he told me, "there is nothing good going to come about if I run this race."  So at that point I decided I would run as slow as possible just to maintain 4th place.  The guy that was in 5th slowly closed over the last mile, lucky for me I had plenty left and as we hit the track he started pushing hard.  I turned it up a notch for about 150 meters and that was enough for him to realize he didn't have a shot.  I walked across the line in 17:02, 16 seconds faster the last year.  We left early and I went home and I did another 5 miles pushing the kids.

Now the strange part.  So after I came back from running I relaxed for a bit, then I cut the grass and pulled out a bush that had been damaged from the snow.  I was in the sun for a good couple of hours in the afternoon.  Later on that night I felt a little warm and my eyes were burning a bit.  I attributed the warmness to some sunburn and the eyes to my allergies.  Some back story, two weeks ago I went to the Dr and was prescribed an antibiotic for a lingering cold I had.  It seemed to work but this past Friday it started back up again.  So this morning I went back to the Dr.  I saw the nurse practitioner, she took my temp and it was 100.3.  Oh, and I didn't have sunburn, so the warmth and burning eyes were probably due to the fever.  I decided not to run today, I don't think missing an easy 3 mile run will hurt my race.  The nurse practitioner prescribed me a 10 day course of antibiotics, hopefully this will kick whatever I have within the next few days. 

Less then 7 days till race time, can't wait.

11 days

Only 11 more days till the race and we went from Spring to Summer in about 3 days here, it was in the 60s then boom 80s.  My run today was horrible, I think/hope it was the heat because if not I have no clue what it is and I'm in trouble.  3 days in a row it has been 80 degrees or higher at lunch when I've gone out to run and my allergies are kicking into full gear with all the pollen that is in the air.  I just hope it cools down for the race.

Pace has been decided

I ran 24 miles on Sunday, and I've decided I'm going to aim for 6:30 pace during the marathon.  My run on the weekend I averaged 6:45 for the entire run.  There were three of us running, we ran the first 15 in 6:32 pace while maintaining a conversation nearly the entire time.  One guy peeled off at 13 miles then my other running buddy finished up at 18.  So the last 6 miles I ran easy by myself and was able to average sub 7 minute miles.  The weather was about 30 degrees but very little wind, compared to snow and flooding that happened on my last two runs it was perfect.  Today my legs are a little tired but nothing compared to last year after the marathon when I had a hard time walking the next day.  Anyway, 3 weeks today I'll be in Boston for the race.  Last night after having such a good long run I had a hard time getting to sleep thinking about the race and the prospect of running a great time.

Week of lasts and random thoughts

This is the week of "lasts".  Tuesday was my last track workout till after the marathon.  Thursday was my last midweek 10 miler, till who knows when.  And Sunday will be my last 20+ miler until the race.

I got my race number today in the mail, I'm number 4769.  I think last year I was 3500 something. 

My family is having t-shirts made up again for the day of the race, the phrase on the back is going to be something like "Run Boston Better, Super Fast!"  The "Run Boston Better" is part of the slogan on the race packet and the super fast part is from my youngest daughter Mia.  She always says, "daddy runs super fast."

I still haven't nailed down a race strategy yet.  My wife tells me to stay my pace, I asked her yeah but I don't know what that is yet.  She then will tell me, slower then last year.  Not the answer I like.  I'm thinking this will be the last marathon I will do for a few years so I want to make it my best, so if I went out and just a little better then my personal best and had something left in the tank I would not be satisfied.  I considering going after the pace I ran through the first 20 miles of last year's race, which was 6:30/mile.  And if I'm right and I blew up last year due to fueling and I fuel better before and during the race I should make it the entire way and end up around 2:52.  I did a little research and that would put me in the top 700 of the entire field from last year!  Decisions decisions....

First 5k of the year

Sunday I ran the YMCA 5k in Doylestown.  On Thursday after a great track workout I was looking forward to the race to see what I could do.  Fast forward to Sunday morning, I was laying on the couch at 7am thinking if I hadn't paid for the race already I wouldn't have gone.  The cold I have been battling for nearly 3 weeks came back and was getting worse.  I did run the race, I finished 4th in 16:51.  It was more frustrating that I knew I wasn't 100% and that first place was less then 30 seconds ahead of me, I really feel as though if I had been healthy I could have won.

I did go to the Dr on Monday and he prescribed me antibiotics since this cold has lasted as long as it has.  I'm definitely on my way to recovery today and hopefully I should be nearly 100% for my 24 miler on Sunday.

There are two things that you can't plan for when training, sickness and injury.  Generally you can avoid an injury, but sickness you just hope for the best.  It really all comes down to luck and I've gotten injured and sick during this training period, hopefully I have better luck in the race.  Speaking of the race, there is less then 4 weeks till the big show, I really just can't wait till this weekend is over, that way the next run over 20 miles is race day.

5 weeks!

5 weeks from right now, I'll be running in the marathon!!!!!

Perfect Storm

It has been raining here since Friday, and at some point over night it stopped.  I met a friend of mine for a long run at 7am, I should also add that daylight savings time went into effect last night, so I lost an hour of sleep.  We went to the lake, started on the path, and less then a half mile in we would have needed to swim for it to continue on, so we turned around and headed back to the road.  I normally go to the lake because for the most part it is a flat terrain with only one major hill every 6 miles.  So in total I would do about 2-3 miles of hills in this 22 mile run.  The route we took easily was 6 or more miles of hills and they were killers, long and steep.  But that wasn't the problem, at around mile 14 it started to rain, then at mile 16 it started to pour.  Within a mile my legs were already soaking wet and starting to get cold, by the end my legs were like two giant ice pops.  I shivered the entire ride home, and over an hour later and I'm still cold. 

Recap, I ran a total of 59.5 miles for the week, the most mileage I've run in a week since high school, or maybe ever.  I have a 5k scheduled for next Sunday, not sure how that is going to go since I have two speed workouts planned this week too.  Oh well, till next time.

6 Weeks to go

Six weeks from today is the race, and I'm getting a cold.  Oh well better now then race day.  Ran 12 miles on Sunday and it wasn't a good one.  The last two weeks I ran 100 miles, lets see, my wife doesn't drive that many miles to work in one month. 

I ordered a new pair of CW-X tights and right now I'm thinking I'm going to wear them during the marathon.  I'm not sure if its mental or actual physical, but I feel better when I wear the tights then when I don't.  I had to order a fuel/number belt because I will have no place to put my Carb-booms in my tights during the race.  Basically three more weeks of long hard miles till I start my taper, can't wait for race day, but alot of pain to go through between now and then.

Long run

Well after Saturday's short run I was questioning if I would make it even 3 miles, but in the end I cut it off at 20.7 miles.  It was a long easy run, and I felt pretty good after it and the next day.  This week I did two speed workouts, one consisting of 10 half mile repeats with about 0.15 miles of recovery and then five one mile repeats with about 0.34 miles recovery.  I average from 5:26-5:40 for all the repeats, not too bad for 10 miles of repeats.  I think this will help me in the marathon, where as last year I skipped the 2nd speed workout and just did a long run.  I only have a 12 mile run on tap for this weekend, so that isn't too bad.  Bigger news is that most of the snow is melting and it is supposed to be sunny and in the low 50's on Sunday.

Back at it

I took a full week off due to my ankle and have been running again for the last week with an ankle brace.  I've had some quad and calf soreness, which I'm attributing to having to run on the treadmill and changing my stride due to my ankle injury.  Also since the last time I've blogged we've been hit with two snowstorms, dumping more then two feet of snow on us.  Last year, when it did snow, it only stayed around for a couple of days.  Well the snow hasn't melted from the last storm and snowed all day yesterday and is still going.  Luckily I got my run in yesterday outside, but today I will be stuck on the treadmill at home.  My goal is to run a 22 miler on Sunday, we'll have to see how that goes.  In all I think I missed out on around 60 miles of training with the time I've missed due to my ankle and other personal things going on.  I'll hopefully get in another update after my 22 miler on Sunday.

Ankle update

Well, I took two days off and my ankle was feeling better so I ran a short 3 miler on the treadmill and then did a hill workout on Tuesday.  There was a little bit of swelling and alot of pain yesterday, so I'm going to take a week off to let it completely heal.  My only guess is I slightly turned it at some point because I can't pin point a moment that I remember twisting it.

Ouch

Ran 10 miles today and my left ankle was hurting the entire run, more when road was pitched.  Tuesday I did a track workout, and usually after a track workout my left ankle hurts from running all the turns, but this was different. I just hope it isn't something more then just normal pain.  Some background info on my left ankle, in HS I sprained my left ankle while playing basketball.  I was going up for a layup and came down on someone's foot and turned my ankle.  The Dr told me that it would have been better to have broken it then the sprain.  I was on crutches for weeks and went to physical therapy daily for at least 2 months.  Ever since then, I sprain my left ankle at the drop of a hat and it gets sore very easily.

Its been a while

Its been a while since I've created an entry, basically I've been really busy with work and just haven't had the time and when I have had the time I've been too tired too.  So since my last entry I've run 128 miles.  I had a great 18 mile run a week ago, which was weird because the day before the run I felt really beat and struggled to get through a simple three mile run.  The 18 miler I averaged a 6:50 pace per mile, and I could have easily have done 20 miles that day.  I also had a great track workout two weeks ago in which I ran 8x800s all in sub 5:38 pace.  This year I've been conscious of taking it easy on the easy days and pushing it on the hard days.  To date I've run 348 miles for this "training period."  Oh well, now my favorite thing about marathon training, time to eat.

Weekly Recap

Weekly Mileage: 46.4
I ran 16 miles on this past Saturday because it was supposed to be REALLY windy on Sunday, well it was somewhere in the 20s and about a 20 mph wind the entire time.  As I ran my mile splits just kept getting slower and slower as I got colder and colder.  Other then that I did a speed workout on the treadmill on Tuesday, I did 4x1 mile repeats at 5:33 pace.  So far I've run almost 220 miles since training "officially" started and I still feel really good, the one major difference between this time and last year is that I've been taking a protein shake right after my workout and I think its making a difference. 

This Monday I finally took a day off, it had been 37 days straight with at least a 3 mile run each day, that is by far my longest continuous stretch of running.