I have been off from work for a week now and besides running everyday I have been training my 5 month old Vizsla Duke to run/walk on the treadmill. Basically, I'm just getting him used to it at a walking pace so when he gets older he is not afraid. Right now I don't set the treadmill faster then we would walk and I don't let him go for more then a 1/2 mile. Once Duke is old enough he will become my new training partner, but till he gets older he will have to deal with walks outside and on the treadmill.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Long time no see
Well, I'm registered for the 2012 Boston Marathon to be held on Monday April 16th. There are 115 days till race day and there are lots of miles to be run before the gun goes off in Hopkinton. I will try and keep up with the blog again this year and I will even share my results from last year's race.
Something new I am going to try is sharing some of my runs. I work for Motorola and have been testing the new Motoactv device, which I am liking more and more. The web portal is just fantastic, here is a link from my run today, http://bit.ly/vcY2vp. Just a note, this is purely a recovery run, so it was run at a relaxed conversational pace.
Something new I am going to try is sharing some of my runs. I work for Motorola and have been testing the new Motoactv device, which I am liking more and more. The web portal is just fantastic, here is a link from my run today, http://bit.ly/vcY2vp. Just a note, this is purely a recovery run, so it was run at a relaxed conversational pace.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Goal Time
My goal time for this year is under 2:45. The only factor as of right now will be the weather, if the weather turns cold and raining that can be a real problem and at that point I will adjust my goals.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
Friday, April 8, 2011
The Athlete's Village
The day of the race I'll wake up around 5:30 or so, get dressed and head to the buses. The buses line up along the Boston Common and take all the racers to Hopkinton to a school that is transformed into a mini city for a few hours. While at this school, everyone is basically waiting around, outside, on the grounds of the school. So, from experience I've created a little list of things I need to bring with me, so I'll share that with you now. Some things are items that I want to have immediately after the race. Each runner is allowed to check one bag that will be transported to the finish area.
Here goes
Here goes
- trash bags - to sit on and use in case it rains
- protein drink for post race
- Carboom energy gels for the race itself, one for pre race and 5 for during the race.
- extra clothes to stay warm while waiting
- toilet paper - don't want to hit a portapotty that has run out.
- race shoes
- extra pair of socks in case the first pair gets soaked from standing in the grass.
- towel, this can be used more or less as a pillow when rolled up.
- Ibuprofen, I like to take a few before the race
- gatorade for post race
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Weight
Its been nearly two weeks since my last real post. Just a quick update, last weekend I did an 18 miler after a night hanging with the neighbors out by the fire drinking a few beers. I did manage to run 13 miles at around 6:12 pace with a two mile warmup and 3 mile cool down. I did get dehydrated, I was drinking during the run but just couldn't keep up with the loss and obviously the beers the night before didn't help. But all in all a very good run.
The past nearly two weeks I've spent alot of time working from home and it doesn't make sense but I eat less when I'm working from home then when at work. That being said, I weighed myself this morning and I'm down to 150.0, in the last week I've lost a half a pound. I was originally trying to get around 150 for the race, then about 6 weeks ago I got down to 152 and felt really run down and decided to stay at 152. So over the next week and a half I'll try and eat a little extra and put a pound back on, the sacrifices I make for running ;)
I was also able to confirm that I will be in the first corral for the race, I had been wondering if I might be right on the cusp of the second corral but the baa.org website was updated to list your starting corral.
Last night my wife and I were trying to figure out the slogan that we would have printed on the back of the shirts my family will wear during the race. The last two years she has used some variant of the Adidas slogan for the marathon. The slogan this year neither one of us liked, I had seen an ad on the back of a Running Times issue that I liked, it is "The marathon is a race to be run not a box to be checked." My wife thought it was a little elite-st, but I agree with it. She like another slogan we found on runlikeananimal.com "if you're not sure whether you are running or jogging, go faster." So we'll see what the shirts say.
Now that I'm in the home stretch, every night I have been thinking about the race before I go to bed. I've been analyzing every step I take while running, making sure nothing feels funny. I have done the training and feel I can do something special come race day. I'll share my goal time a little closer to race day.
The past nearly two weeks I've spent alot of time working from home and it doesn't make sense but I eat less when I'm working from home then when at work. That being said, I weighed myself this morning and I'm down to 150.0, in the last week I've lost a half a pound. I was originally trying to get around 150 for the race, then about 6 weeks ago I got down to 152 and felt really run down and decided to stay at 152. So over the next week and a half I'll try and eat a little extra and put a pound back on, the sacrifices I make for running ;)
I was also able to confirm that I will be in the first corral for the race, I had been wondering if I might be right on the cusp of the second corral but the baa.org website was updated to list your starting corral.
Last night my wife and I were trying to figure out the slogan that we would have printed on the back of the shirts my family will wear during the race. The last two years she has used some variant of the Adidas slogan for the marathon. The slogan this year neither one of us liked, I had seen an ad on the back of a Running Times issue that I liked, it is "The marathon is a race to be run not a box to be checked." My wife thought it was a little elite-st, but I agree with it. She like another slogan we found on runlikeananimal.com "if you're not sure whether you are running or jogging, go faster." So we'll see what the shirts say.
Now that I'm in the home stretch, every night I have been thinking about the race before I go to bed. I've been analyzing every step I take while running, making sure nothing feels funny. I have done the training and feel I can do something special come race day. I'll share my goal time a little closer to race day.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Weekly Recap
Wow, what a week, in a good way. I had a great track workout on Tuesday in which I ran 12x800m repeats with on avg just a minute recovery, that lasted 200m. On Thursday I ran a 10 mile tempo run where I averaged a 6:08 pace. Friday, my legs were shot but that was too be expected. I was busy ripping out a hardwood floor on Sat morning followed by a late night at a wedding reception. But I followed that all up with a 24 mile run in which I averaged 6:30 for the first 21 miles, and slowed slightly for the final three.
Weekly Total: 61.8
Miles to date 832.4
Weekly Total: 61.8
Miles to date 832.4
Monday, March 21, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
23 mile run this weekend
I ran a 23 miler this past weekend, Sunday morning precisely. I felt pretty good through 17 miles, then I started to slow, but the wheels really came off at the 20 mile mark. My preparation for the run was good, I think it was really the amount of hills I hit during the run. I easily hit 2x as many hills as I will in Boston, so all in all it was a good run. After the run we went down to the Penn Museum and walked around/stood for a few hours, so as expected my legs were a little tired on Monday. I started uploading my runs to Garmin connect, so here is the info if you want to check it out.
My total mileage for the week was 57.4 miles, I did take Saturday off otherwise I would have been up over 60.
My total mileage for the week was 57.4 miles, I did take Saturday off otherwise I would have been up over 60.
Bib Numbers Announced
Every few days over the past two weeks I have been looking up my name on the BAA website to see if bib numbers were published. Today was the day and my number is 780. This was a tad confusing because in years past they started at 1000 and went up from there. The first digit of your bib number was your corral number basically. I did a little searching and found that they started the open field numbers at 101 this year. So, I will be in the first corral right behind the pros! This also means I qualified with the 680th fastest time of the open runners.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Speed work
I finally got back to the track today and made it through the entire workout. I ended up doing 8x800 with a 400 recovery in between. My times ranged from 6:12 to 5:22/mi. I'm just happy I made it through the entire workout.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
More Pain
Well the pain free runs lasted till sometime during Wednesday's run, after that every step I take while training I feel my left calf and am just waiting till either it goes away or I can't run anymore. I'm changing my training plan to get in two more 20+ mile runs, so this weekend I did 15. It was supposed to rain all day, so early on there was a break in the rain and I headed out. Around mid run it started raining and by mile 10 I was soaked and headed into the wind, so I started getting cold. I could also tell not running that long in a few weeks I was tired around mile 10, or maybe it was the 6 beers (that I can remember) and a crappy nights sleep. Either way I finished the run and hope to keep the mileage up for 3 more weeks and hopefully my calf will recover.
My total mileage for the week was 56 miles.
My total mileage for the week was 56 miles.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Pain Free at Last
Last week did not end up any better then the previous week had ended. I have been experiencing pain in my right calf, what started as a pain during a speed workout nearly 3 weeks ago and only flared up during faster runs was a constant pain. It was a dull pain and tolerable, but it wasn't getting any better. I decided to take off starting Thurs and not run until today. I even went as far as buying and wearing a compression sock that goes up to my knee. Today was the first time in 3 weeks in which I didn't have some pain in the calf, so as of right now it looks like I made the right decision to stop running. There are 7 weeks till the marathon so I can change up my training plan a little and still get in two more 20+ mile runs for a total of five. As of right now I'm not too concerned, as the week progresses I'll have to see how the calf feels. I did wear the compression sock after my run today just to lessen any pain if there was any.
Last week I ran only 20 miles, which brings my total to 598.
Last week I ran only 20 miles, which brings my total to 598.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Damn Unicorn
The unicorn is the symbol of the BAA and the Boston Marathon and here is why, directly from the baa.org webstie.
Chosen by the founding members of the Boston Athletic Association in 1887 10 years before the inaugural Boston Marathon, the Unicorn is believed to have been chosen as the organization's symbol due to its place in mythology. In Chinese and other mythologies, the Unicorn represents an ideal: something to pursue that can never be caught. In pursuit of the Unicorn, however, athletic competitors can approach excellence even if they can never achieve it. It is this pursuit to push oneself to his or her own limit and to the best of one's ability that is at the core of athletics. As the marathon matured, the B.A.A. decided that the Unicorn would be the appropriate symbol for the marathon.
Chosen by the founding members of the Boston Athletic Association in 1887 10 years before the inaugural Boston Marathon, the Unicorn is believed to have been chosen as the organization's symbol due to its place in mythology. In Chinese and other mythologies, the Unicorn represents an ideal: something to pursue that can never be caught. In pursuit of the Unicorn, however, athletic competitors can approach excellence even if they can never achieve it. It is this pursuit to push oneself to his or her own limit and to the best of one's ability that is at the core of athletics. As the marathon matured, the B.A.A. decided that the Unicorn would be the appropriate symbol for the marathon.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Miserable Week
Well it started last Sunday with a bad long run, and pretty much every day this week was more of the same. My legs felt horrible and I seemed to be tired everyday. I took Saturday off and cut my long run in half today in hopes I can recover for this upcoming week. Nothing else much to say about it, it is what it is.
Weekly mileage: 44.8
Total miles: 578.2
Weekly mileage: 44.8
Total miles: 578.2
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Boston Registration changes
The BAA are going to change registration process for the 2012 Boston Marathon and qualifying times for the 2013 race. Read the full article here.
http://www.baa.org/news-and-press/news-listing/2011/february/boston-athletic-association-announces-new-registration-process.aspx
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Long Run
I ran 22 miles today, and let me tell you it was just bad. I felt fine for the first 7 miles, then I had to run through some snow for about a mile, then it was all down hill from there. Actually, it was alot of uphill, but that just wouldn't make any sense. It ended up taking me 2 hours 48 minutes and some change. I was spent with 5-6 miles to go, but I pushed through. I ran at a local park taking some interesting routes, towards the end I was about 3.5 miles from my car and I was getting so tired that I joked to myself I could take the short route and walk across the frozen lake. But I figured that wasn't a good idea because I had barely enough energy to run, if I would have fallen through I would have just sank like a rock. I was so tired that with about 2.5 miles to go I stopped to get a rock out of my show and I nearly face planted when I leaned over.
I'll try to do post something every Sunday from here on out. I'll end each with my total mileage to date during the marathon training period and my weekly mileage. So here goes
Total Mileage: 533.4
Weekly Mileage: 54.5 (7 straight weeks of at least 50 miles)
Last year I did a total of 840.9 miles.
Nearly forgot, this was my 3rd out of 5 planned runs of at least 20 miles, only 2 more to go!
11 weeks down, 9 more to go.
I'll try to do post something every Sunday from here on out. I'll end each with my total mileage to date during the marathon training period and my weekly mileage. So here goes
Total Mileage: 533.4
Weekly Mileage: 54.5 (7 straight weeks of at least 50 miles)
Last year I did a total of 840.9 miles.
Nearly forgot, this was my 3rd out of 5 planned runs of at least 20 miles, only 2 more to go!
11 weeks down, 9 more to go.
Monday, February 7, 2011
LVRR Super Bowl 10k
Well, I didn't place in the money, but I did finish 6th overall in a time of 36:08. I was hoping to finish in under 36 minutes, but considering the course, the weather, and the fact I have doing alot of training I'm happy with my time. I was the first over 30 year old in the race, the top 5 were all 28 or younger.
Got right back to training today with a 5 miler, the weather was great, 40 degrees and sunny! Super Bowl Sunday took a little out of me but by the end of my run I was feeling pretty good.
Got right back to training today with a 5 miler, the weather was great, 40 degrees and sunny! Super Bowl Sunday took a little out of me but by the end of my run I was feeling pretty good.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Its been a while
I have been really busy with a grad class and work, hopefully now that I got the blogger app for my phone I will start posting some more. Anyway, this morning I'm running in the Super Bowl 10k up in Allentown, top three overall get cash prizes. By last years results I probably won't win but a third or maybe a second is definitely a possibility. Also depends on how my legs feel, I've run more consecutive 50 mile weeks then ever before. I'll post later today how I did.
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