Tuesday Track Workout (7.0mi)

So the format for tonight's track workout I think I may have enjoyed the most yet. 6 laps of threshold, followed by 1 lap recovery, 2 laps hard, and 2 laps recovery, for a total of 11 laps per set. We did 5 sets. I felt pretty strong the entire time. I'm amazed at how much I can already see the track workouts benefiting me. I'm really glad to be able to go through this experience and learn so much. I would never have come up with these formats on my own, and I'm really learning quite a bit. Jack is really an invaluable source of information, and I am extremely appreciative to have been given this opportunity. Fred also made it for the first time and all things considered with his ongoing ITB recovery, he did exceptionally well. And Seth joined in for some fun also. It was really nice to have people running with me who were going just about the same pace I was.

Monday lunch run (6.00mi)

Jim and I went out at lunch today for an easy 6. My legs were still recovering from yesterday's push during the relay race, so I was ready for an easier paced run. It was good to get out there and loosen things up a bit, exactly what I needed. Jim and I both are getting a little bit tired of having to run on the roads, and are definitely missing the trail, but after slipping and falling last week, I don't think we'll be making anymore attempts at the trail anytime real soon. Tomorrow's track workout should be good, as long as my legs come around in time, but I'm anxious to see what Jack will have us do next...

Hyannis Marathon Team Relay (13.1mi)

So yesterday was the Hyannis marathon, half marathon, and team relay race, where my friends Fred, Seth, Mike, and myself all participated as a 4 person relay team. I must say, it went really, really well, and I couldn't be happier with how well we all performed. All 3 events, the marathon, 1/2, and relay, follow the same course. The marathon course is actually just 2 loops of the 1/2 marathon course, which I actually probably wouldn't be a big fan of if I were to ever run it, but I guess who knows... The course is nice enough, as it goes right by the beach for at least a couple miles, but in the middle of February, all that really means is that it's going to get a bit more windy for a little while... The relay course is broken up into 2 legs, that each get repeated twice. The 1st leg is 7.3mi, and the 2nd leg is 5.8mi (total = 13.1 x 2 => 26.2). I ran the first leg, and then handed the baton off to Mike, who then handed off to Seth, who handed to Fred. After a brief pause to catch my breath, I continued on and ran the next leg shortly behind Mike, just to make sure I was at least doing adequate training distance. So we ended up coming in with an astounding time of 3 hours, 3 minutes, and 43 seconds, for an average pace of 7:01min/mile! We finished 6th overall (out of 70 teams) and 2nd in our division (men's open). The only team to beat us in our division was the team that won the whole thing. I was ecstatic with our performance, and am still riding the wave. Check out team "Zephyrus" on the results page here: http://www.coolrunning.com/results/08/ma/Feb24_Hyanni_set4.shtml

Another cold crossroads, AWESOME! (9.11mi + 1.25mi)

So last Thursday's Woodland to Crossroads run was the first run my friend (and fellow DFMC teammate) Fred had done since approximately January 3rd, if memory serves correctly anyway. My other good friend Seth also joined us, so we had a solid crew of 3. It was good so that Seth and Fred could meet, as we were all going to be running in the Hyannis Marathon as a relay team of 4 (along with my other good friend Mike Martineau). So we kept the pace modest so as not to push Fred's newly healed ITB too much, but we made solid ground. Of course, the temperature again was down in the high teens/low 20's... But what else is new... As a sort of trial run, we opted to deviate slightly from the normal course, such that we would pass by my apartment, where I stashed my backpack with some dry clothes in it, inside my car, so that I could just throw the backpack on, and we could keep going. This way, I only would need to run with the backpack over the last 2.5mi, instead of the whole way. While running with the backpack was definitely different, it seemed to alter my stride/posture quite a bit, it wasn't all that bad, and I was extremely happy to have the dry clothes as soon as I started cooling off when we got to Crossroads. Perhaps I will use this method again if the weather doesn't start to cooperate anytime soon...

Watch your step! (4.75mi)

After last nights track workout, I thought I'd go out for an easy 5mi jaunt at lunch with Jim today... We decided to head out down the trail at work since we haven't really been on it recently due to it being covered in snow and ice, but with the sun out today, it looked like it might be somewhat passable... I should note, I've been running on this very trail for the past 4-5 years now. It's the same trail that essentially got me started running outside, when I first made my transition from the "dreadmill", after several months of peer pressure from my co-workers... Whenever my career inevitably takes me away from 201 Jones rd, having this trail to run on will definitely be one of the very top things I will miss most...

In any event, things started out well enough, the trail got a little dicey in a few of the more shade covered areas, but for the most part we were moving along without too much trouble. However, as we neared the first bridge along the trail, there's a part where the trail crosses over the train tracks, and as I went over and turned, I hit a patch of snow covered ice, and both of my feet immediately shot out from underneath me, and I came crashing down on my left hip/side with a loud thud, followed by my left knee and left arm right shortly after. I was a bit shaken up for a minute, but after getting back up on my feet, I felt ok to keep going. I was definitely pretty sore and was limping for a little bit, but as we went along it slowly became easier to manage. I'm not 100% positive, but I think Jim opted to shorten the route, as I think he may have felt bad and definitely doesn't want to be involved in any running related injuries I might incur while running with him... I was fine with going shorter, as I didn't want to do anything too long to begin with, and my hip and leg were definitely getting pretty sore...

After getting back to the office, and sitting at my desk for a little while, my knee and hip tightened up some, so now I'm a bit stiff when I first start to walk, and have a bit of a limp also. There's a small bump on my left knee, but fortunately, I don't think it's anything major. At this point, I don't think there's any reason for me to deviate from my normal running schedule yet, so I guess we'll see how Crossroads goes tomorrow night...

Tuesday Track Workout (7.0mi)

So I attended my second consecutive track workout last night, and again, it was a great success. The track workouts are really a great way to push your pace, get your cardiovascular system really working, and increase your lactate threshold. I'm fast becoming a big fan. The format of tonight's workout was different than last weeks as promised. I also brought my watch this time, so I could time myself and manage my pace better lap to lap... Instead of doing an 8-lap "set" as we did last week, tonight's set would only be 7-laps, consisting of 5 threshold laps (1K distance), and 2 recovery laps. You again repeat this 8 times. I'm not entirely convinced having my watch with me made any difference on my lap to lap times, but I think it did in fact encourage me to push my pace a little bit harder at the end, on the last few "sets" anyway. For the most part, I was pretty consistent throughout, and was able to pick up the pace with a fast last 1K set of 3:34, which would translate to a 5:42min/mi pace, although I'm not sure I could have kept it up for quite that long... I'm very anxious to see what next weeks format will be...

New Long run (20.42mi)

I've gotten a bit behind on my posts here, so I need to catch up. Over the weekend, I managed to get out on Sunday for my longest run yet... 20.42 miles... All things considered, it went really well. The DFMC long group run was on Saturday this weekend, but the way my schedule worked out, that didn't really fit in so well, so I opted to do the long run on my own on Sunday. I decided it was easiest just to do an out and back loop from my apartment, very similar to what I have done in the past when I run out to the Woodland T-stop for the Thursday night Crossroads runs... heading out down Comm to Cleveland Circle where I cut over to Beacon st and from there I follow that out all the way to route 16/Washington st, and then come back along the course over the Newton Hills. I was a bit weary about the hydration factor, since last weekends group run had worked out so well with the provided water/gatorade stops, but figured I'd just have to suck it up and carry something with me. I stopped at the 3.75mi mark and ran into a Walgreens in Newton Center to pick up a 24oz gatorade sports bottle, and sipped on that every mile or so. Although I just carried it in my hand, it wasn't all that bad, and was definitely good to have hydration with me. I finished the bottle just as I came upon the Marathon Sports store back on Beacon in Brookline, around the 13.5mi mark. I refilled my gatorade bottle with water from their bubbler and grabbed an energy shot as well. The next 7mi or so I pretty much ad libbed, running around the river a bit, and working my way slowly back to my apartment. It took me 2 hours and 45 minutes, for a pace of 8:05min/mi. I was pretty happy with this time for a cold Sunday training run by myself and afterward I definitely felt like I still had something left, so as I stand (and of course realizing it's still over 2 months out at this point), but I'm feeling pretty good about how things might go on race day...

Valentine's ramble (10.43mi + 1.25mi warm-up)

So for my Valentine's Day, while yes, I would have loved to spend a romantic evening in the company of my wonderful, beautiful, loving girlfriend Nicole, unfortunately for me that just wasn't possible... So instead, I went and ran 10.5 miles through the 20 degree freezing New England cold weather, up and over the Newton hills, doing my best to not get hit by impatient drivers on their way home/to, their wonderful Valentine's filled evenings... Yeah... Sounds like a good trade off to me, don't you think?!? Ok, ok... it wasn't that bad... I will say tho, this holiday is starting to kind of lose it's appeal...

In any event, needless to say, it was yet another cold night. It seems like every Thursday recently has been cold. I don't get it. Maybe it's just me looking at the glass as half empty, but really all I want to do is to be able to do the 9mi run back to Crossroads, and be able to hang out and have a beer or two after without having to worry about having hypothermia set in when I step back outside into the 20 degree weather in my now cooled, sweat soaked layers of clothing... If the temperature could just manage to be in the high 30's, or low 40's, I'd be fine. Is that really too much to ask? Well I guess it is the middle of February in New England... Honestly, what the hell do I expect? I did have a potentially good idea while I was out there tonight tho. Maybe next week I'll deviate slightly from the normal route and swing by my apartment instead, throw some warm clothes in my backpack, and run the last 2.5-3mi wearing that. That probably wouldn't be so bad...

I guess I must have been a few minutes late getting out the door tonight, so I missed the train carrying all of the DFMC team, and ended up having to do the run tonight solo. I should probably start bringing my mp3 player along with me, for these precise times. Now don't get me wrong, often I definitely like to just get out there and listen to all of the different sounds you might hear, but tonight really was not one of those cases... So it was a pretty quiet, lonely run. There was one really great highlight tho, as I came through Coolidge Corner, there was a really strong variety of different scents emanating from all of the surrounding restaurants. However, one in particular definitely stood out. I didn't catch whatever restaurant it was as I went by, but that old, all too familiar smell of something wonderful being cooked up on a grill, came winding it's way up into my nose, for a brief second whisking me away to the back yard, beer in hand, laying there while the sun beat down and I just soaked it in... And then as fast as it came, it was gone, and I realized I was actually running down Beacon st in 3 layers of clothing in 20 degrees in the middle of February... Ah well... What are ya gonna do?

Track workout (8.0mi)

So every Tuesday night for the past few weeks, Jack Fultz, the winner of the 1976 Boston Marathon and trainer/coach for my DFMC team, has been hosting these track workouts at the indoor track facility at the Tufts University campus over in Medford. I've been trying to make it to one since that time but tonight was the first time I was actually able to. So having never been involved in any running sports in my HS/College days, my track experience is thus extremely very limited. I've been to a couple of different tracks at various points over the past few years, to do different types of running drills, etc, but they've all been completely on my own, either of my own accord or once in a great while perhaps with some friends. So since I've never really done any official track workouts, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect.

After getting to the facility and doing a little bit of stretching and warming up, Jack arrived and gave us the run down of what tonight's workout would entail. The indoor track at Tufts is a 200m track, which means it takes roughly 8 laps to have run approx. 1mi. As Jack later explained to me, each week we will be doing a different type of workout, but tonight we were to do 6-8 sets, of 8 laps around the track. For each "set" of 8 laps, the breakdown would be to run 4 laps at your anaerobic threshold, meaning a faster pace than your normal training pace, but not your maximum. Then you do 1 rest/recovery lap, at a slower (but "keep it modest!" as Jack said) pace, and then 1 "fast" lap, followed by 2 more rest/recovery laps, and repeat. Each "set" is typically referred to as having run a "1000", since you will have "run" a 1000m during that set (5 running laps - the 3 recovery are NOT included in this reference).

I had decided when I left work NOT to bring my GPS watch with me, since as we were going to be running indoors, I figured it would be moot, since it cannot acquire a satellite signal inside. I realized however that this was a mistake, because since there are so many of us, even tho Jack has a few stop watches and is randomly timing people, I am entirely at his discretion to know what pace I am running at, which makes maintaining pace slightly more difficult. Once we started tho, I found I was able to settle into a very nice groove, and not having the watch wasn't really such a big deal. I'll def bring it with me next week, but by utilizing Jack, I was still able to keep a pretty good idea of what pace I was maintaining. After the first set or so, I found I settled into a nice even pace, and didn't really start to feel much fatigue until my 6th "set" or so. For my 8th and final "set", I still had enough left to do my "fast" 200m lap in 35s, which would work out to be a 4:40min/mi pace, which I was very happy about. I felt really good throughout, and still had enough energy at the end to keep going if I needed to.

I was definitely a fan of these track workouts, and am really hoping I'll be able to continue to make it to them on a routine basis. I'm also hoping I'll be able to convince a few friends to come along with me, as these workouts are NOT exclusively for Dana Farber team members. It was a lot of fun, and I found that even though I run with other teammates during the Thursday night crossroad runs, as well as any group runs I attend, being on a closed loop course, you are interacting much closer, and much more frequently with everyone, which I found particularly nice.

DFMC Group Run from Wellesley (18.17mi)

That was awesome. I'm not really sure exactly what I did right, but whatever it was, it worked. I felt fabulous out there today. Everything was moving in unison, flowing from one step to the next, it was almost effortless... Well, at least until about the 14.25mile mark or so but I'll get to that in a minute. Today's run was a Dana Farber Marathon Challenge Team group run. I haven't been able to make one in quite some time now, and I was very anxious to get back out there and meet some new faces. We met up at the Boston Sports Club out in Wellesley at 8am, and starting from there, we did an out and back over a portion along the actual marathon course. After a short 1.5mi stint of pavement to get you out to the actual boston marathon course, you enter right about what would be the 13.5mile mark. From there, we follow the course, down over the Newton Hills to the top of "Heartbreak hill", which is right around the 21mile mark, before turning around and heading back. On the way back, you run up a hill (apparently known as "Grossman's Hill") which I somehow barely noticed on the way out but now it definitely got my attention, around the 14.25mile of today's loop. It wasn't extremely bad or anything, but after 14mi, well, I'm guessing this is about the best approximation of what it's going to feel like when I hit the Newton Hills during the actual race day, that I've had to date. Suffice it to say, it felt good to get to the top and arrive at the water station. Which brings up my next good point... During team group runs, the DFMC staff have water/gatorade stations every 3miles along that day's route. Having this hydration support there was fabulous. I generally just go without any water/fluids during my long runs, so when I finish, I'm usually quite parched. I realize it's not really the best thing to be doing to myself (going without water), but I really don't like carrying anything with me, but perhaps today's example will serve to persuade me to purchase myself a fuel belt or come up with some other solution... In any event, having these water stations out there made all the difference in the world. It was great, and I really can't thank them enough for providing them.

I met up with a pack of runners around the 2mile mark who looked to be going along at about my pace, so I settled in with them, and eventually ended up running with this one guy whose name was Ben. He was actually having some ITB issues, and made the wise decision to play it safe and call it a day around the 12mile mark, but he made for some great conversation and was a pleasure to run with thru the first part of the route. After he pulled off, I mostly ran by myself for the last 6miles, but I think it worked out quite well this way. It allowed me to get the best of both worlds, having someone to chat and go along with in the beginning while I was fresh, and then just be able to focus on what I needed to be doing for the 2nd half. All things taken in perspective, I really felt great throughout the run, and can only hope that the rest of my long runs from here on out go nearly as smoothly...

Easy Friday... (5.4mi)

Didn't have a chance to post this on Friday, but went out with Jim for a shorter jaunt at lunch. It was nice. My legs were definitely still a little tight from the previous night's push, but they came around after a couple miles. We managed to catch the timing right for the most part, sneaking it in during a lull between snow falls, except for the last 10 minutes or so, where the snow (and wind) definitely picked up and made things a bit more miserable. But overall, it was a good, easier paced, shorter run, perfect for what I needed for prep for Sunday.

Crossroads! (8.84mi + 1.25mi warm-up)

Tonights run was very good. On the 1.25mi warm-up to catch the outbound D-Train to Woodland, I felt relaxed and ready. I opted to bring the throw away hand warmers this time as well, which definitely was the right call. Arriving at Woodland, I found it was probably the largest group of runners I've seen there to date. It's really amazing to me to see how the number of people participating in these Thursday night runs has grown over the past few months, with the onset of the marathon fast approaching. As we headed out, I remember thinking how strong I felt, and how much different it was even only from yesterday morning! It's amazing to me how different your legs can feel (slow, sluggish, etc) on one day, and how good they might feel the next... In any event, as we started out, I quickly found myself with the lead group of 5 or 6 runners. It was really nice to have people with me this time tho, and as the run wore on, they definitely pushed my pace. It ended up being a pretty hard run, for the most part all of us pulling each other, taking turns pushing the pace out front. I was definitely quite glad to see the big crossroads pub sign hanging there as we came down the last stretch of Beacon st... It was a solid effort and felt really good... especially to be done... ;-) It was definitely re-assuring to me tho, that now I think I'm ready for some good distance again, and looking forward to a nice, easier paced, long run on Sunday morning. I hung around at the bar after for a little bit, had a couple of beers and some pizza, and headed home. A good night all around.

Morning running... (6.24mi)

I haven't done an early morning run in quite some time now, and so this mornings early jaunt was a clear reminder of just how long it takes your body to actually get going when you first wake up. At 6:30am it's still essentially dark out at this time of year. As I started the run, for the first mile or so, it felt like I was actually waddling, something along the lines of what a penguin might feel like I'm guessing, more than it felt anything like running. After a little while my legs started to come around, but the run definitely remained a struggle. Everything just felt tired, slow, and sluggish. It never really got any better. Perhaps it was the dark, gloomy, overcast weather. I guess some days are like that tho, and you just have to keep going. In the end, it worked out well to get the run over with early, as it started to rain rather heavily shortly after I finished, and continued throughout the better portion of the day.

Prospect Hill (6.42mi)

Today at lunch, Jim (a co-worker friend of mine and my largest donor to date - thank you Jim!!!) and I did the Prospect Hill Park loop, which at the summit, offers a spectacular view of the Boston skyline all the way out from Waltham. It really is a great vantage point and if you happen to live/work in/around the greater Waltham area, it's totally worth checking out sometime. From my office, it's roughly 1.15mi to get to the base of Prospect Hill Park road. From there, you start a roughly 350ft vertical climb up, over the next mile or so, until you get to the top at the vantage point. From there the route descends slowly back down, winding along the road through the park, until you get back to street level on the opposite side. From this point, there are 2 options. Turn around and come back the way you came, or turn and run up the old ski slope on the back side. We usually mix it up, depending on the weather and surface conditions. We opted to stick to the road as the rocky/icy surface of the ski hill could easily result in a twisted ankle or other injury, so we played it safe. This loop is one of the more difficult hill loops I do. I'm not sure if this will come through or not, but I think you should be able to see the elevation profile from this link: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1603967

In any case, it was a really good run. Jim and I pushed pretty hard and we finished this run up a few minutes faster than we normally do. It was the first time I had felt near 100% in a while. I'm really starting to look forward to my long run this weekend.

Central Park (9.03mi)

According to my GPS Garmin wristwatch, Central park measures approx 6.05mi for one loop circumnavigating the park on the main road. I've probably ran this loop no less than 25 times while visiting my girlfriend over the course of the past year. There aren't too many other options really for running around NYC. I've headed over to the East river a few times, and done a few different loops along that, but usually that's nicer when the weather is warmer. You also run the risk of ending up in a perhaps not so friendly section of town if you don't really know where you're going, such as I did earlier this past summer when I mistakenly ran over through the Bronx. It's also not as conducive to allowing you to run whatever distance you might want. Within central park, there are literally dozens of combinations you can come up with for loops of varying length, and modifying your loop on the fly is pretty easy to do as well. Central Park is extremely well thought out, and NOT as flat as you might imagine, but actually offers a few moderately good hills mixed in there as well.

My run on Saturday afternoon wasn't particularly inspired, but it was good to get it done. I was having some mixed feelings about my recent lack of long distance in my runs, due to my being sick for the better part of 2 weeks and knowing that a good portion of my DFMC teammates were out doing a long run of 14-16mi that day, but I didn't force the issue, and stopped at what I considered to be a healthy distance for the given day of 9miles. I know that I'll be getting my distance back up again soon enough, and right now it's important for me to keep focus and know that just because I haven't gone out and run a 15+ mile run in a couple weeks, that doesn't mean I'm falling behind. If things go according to plan, I'll get my distance back up next weekend...