Follow the D-TRAIN!!!

Friday final run??? (3.71mi)

2008-04-18T20:45:00.000-07:00

Well, I think this might have been it. My final training run prior to race day. Over the weekend I intend to get out and do a bit of walking around on Saturday, and then maybe I'll go out for a 15minute extra-light jog on Sunday, just as a last sort of "all systems check" type of thing, if I feel the need/desire, but my run this afternoon I think was most likely the last one before the race on Monday. I'd have to say I'm definitely feeling pretty good at this point, the run was really light and easy, and both yesterday and today I finished the run by doing a few strides, just picking up the pace ever so slightly and lengthening my stride out a little bit to try to stretch my legs. Overall I'm feeling pretty loose, relaxed and refreshed, although I'm not sure I'm quite "chomping at the bit" as much as I had somewhat suspected I might be. Perhaps that's just because it all hasn't really set in yet, and time will tell, so come Monday morning when I'm at the church in Hopkinton or finally actually at the start line in my corral, I guess we'll see how I feel then...

Thursday easy run (3.81mi)

2008-04-18T20:41:00.000-07:00

I had intended to get out for a few miles on Wednesday but got side tracked with some stuff and never got the chance. So it got pushed off until Thursday, but it really wasn't that bad, since most of what I do this week is pretty much mostly all just for mental purposes anyway. Of course ideally you don't want to stop running altogether, but most of the runs this week should be real light and easy, just keeping the legs stretched, muscles working, and things moving. The weather was great, actually it was fantastic all week long, and so it was definitely quite enjoyable to just get out and enjoy the sun for a little bit.

Monday lunch run (4.58mi)

2008-04-14T13:21:00.001-07:00

Well, its really coming down to it now, today the excitement is really starting to mount. More and more articles and postings going up all over the internet re: the marathon, everyone sharing more and more of their stories, interviews with Lance and other race/running celebs, etc... Trying to make sure I've gotten all of the information out to the people that I need to... And more and more people asking me if I'm ready, how I feel, etc... I guess maybe it still hasn't hit home yet, but I haven't been (at least I don't think) and I'm still not, really all that nervous. I guess we'll see how I feel come Sunday night... Because if it hasn't hit home by then, I guess it isn't going too... But knowing myself, and how I am, I'm guessing I'm going to be pretty much a mental wreck inside, but see, the real question is just whether or not I can fool everyone into thinking I'm actually fine... ;-)

The weather isn't helping me with the whole "taper" thing either... It looks like it's going to be absolutely gorgeous this week, sunny with temps in the upper 50's/60's, PERFECT running weather... But I guess, wouldn't that be the case, right??? So I went out for a short light run today at lunch with Seth, nothing really all that difficult, just keeping the legs going. I felt much better today than I did yesterday morning, so that was good. I was happy about that.

It's funny though, I still haven't worked out EXACTLY how my runs are going to go for the rest of the week. I guess I just really don't think having a pre-determined schedule is the best way to go about things... To me, it's more just about how you feel each and every day... Obviously there are some governing rules/principles that you should abide by (I think that goes without being said), but when it gets down to the real detailed level, I think its most important to listen to yourself. Here's what Jack had to offer when I asked for his take, I pretty much think he hits the nail on the head, as usual... The part about the massage I'm not sure about, but that's only because I've never done it. Maybe I should consider it... Hmm:

Hey Dennis,

It is tempting to get out there every day with this great weather. You can keep the same pattern you’ve been running (every other day, 2 of 3 or every day) just keep them shorter runs, maybe on softer surfaces, include some light strides just to put some bounce in your legs and call it quits each day when you’re still feeling full of run.

No more than an hour today or tomorrow, 45 min Wed or Thursday and 30 min Friday or Saturday. If you want, an easy 20 min or so on Sunday – or just take that day off.

Keep stretching – maybe a massage (optional) and get to bed early, especially later in the week.

CU soon = Jack

Sunday morning run (8.30mi)

2008-04-13T22:01:00.001-07:00

I took 2 more days off over Friday and Saturday, and headed out Sunday morning for my final pre-race weekend run. 8-10mi should be fine at this point, as Jack says, "the hay is already in the barn"... The point really is mostly just mental now, so just get out there and keep your legs moving, make sure everything feels good. I think I probably should have felt better than I did, with all the rest I've been giving myself, but instead of feeling fresh, light, and fast, I felt tired, heavy, and slow. Regardless, I've run long enough to know that some days are like that, and that's just how it goes. The run was for the most part pretty painless, so now I just need to make sure I play out the rest of the week right...

The final Crossroads... (10.29mi + 1.25mi)

2008-04-10T19:23:00.000-07:00

Wow... It was absolutely gorgeous out today. Looking out the window while sitting at my desk all day, I knew it was nice, but man, when I took that first step out the door as I headed home to get changed for the run, it was just sooo refreshing. The temperature was 72 degrees when I left work. That's about 12 degrees warmer than it's been at any point I can remember so far this year, and about 20-30 degrees warmer than what its normally been. At least on any day when I was going out for a run anyway for sure. It really was a *VERY* welcome change of pace...

Fred had indicated that he wanted to run all the way to the actual marathon finish line tonight, and since I hadn't actually done that yet at any point in my training, I promptly agreed. Technically the Crossroads Irish Pub (where we typically head straight to for these runs) is not actually on the course, but instead you take a slight detour as you come through Kenmore Square, and deviate from the course, cutting the route about 0.5mi short of where the actual finish line would be. Tonight we ran all the way to the finish, and then circled back to the bar after that. It was pretty crowded with pedestrians (due to the nice weather) as we came down Boylston st toward the finish line, but it was still very nice to say that I've now run every single portion of the course at some point during my training... I mean, what can I say, I guess I'm a little cheesy, but I just like the symbolism of it.

So this was the last "Crossroads" run of the season. Running around the river in the warm summer sun is certainly something I'm looking very forward to, but yeah, I'm also going to miss these cold night time runs over the hills as well. Since late November/December almost every Thursday night I've trekked myself out to the Woodland t-stop, and run back along the course over the Newton Hills, down Beacon st, and finished up at Crossroads for some free pizza, and maybe a couple of beers. It really has been a truly wonderful experience, and I'm very grateful have had the opportunity. I would also recommend these runs to anyone training for Boston, as they definitely have helped me get really familiar with the Newton Hills, and I'm feeling very confident about when I come to them on race day.

We didn't really push all that hard, but maintained a very consistent pace all the way throughout, and I was very pleased with the run. I was feeling very fresh and relaxed after taking another couple days rest having last run Tuesday morning. I'm really enjoying the taper now tho, and just trying to make sure I get myself completely rested up.

Tuesday morning run (5.58mi)

2008-04-10T08:44:00.000-07:00

I was still feeling pretty tired and sore but I made myself get up and get my run done, as I knew Tuesday was going to be a very full day, and if I didn't get it done in the morning, it wouldn't have happened. Nothing too difficult, just a real easy ~5mi loop out around the Charles river a little bit and back. At this point, since I'm "tapering", I figure it better to just give myself as much rest as my body thinks it needs, while I still have the time to do it, rather than waiting until next week, when time will be running out. If I start to feel really antsy, well, then I think that just means I've correctly done my job, and I'm ready to go. But I'm certainly not at that point yet. I want to be at 150% come race day.

Sunday night run (13.61mi)

2008-04-06T21:28:00.000-07:00

I guess I've had a slew of relatively enjoyable runs recently, so I suppose I was due for a perhaps more unpleasant one. Fortunately, nothing really went *that* wrong with it or anything, it was just more that I was very tired, had just driven home from the weekend in NYC, it was relatively late, and I just really did NOT feel like doing it... Oh and the weather was pretty cr@ppy to boot, but hey, no one said this was going to be easy, right??? I hadn't really ran since Thursday night, and I knew I was going to be pretty busy over the next few days and wasn't sure exactly when I was going to be able to fit any runs in, so I knew I really needed to get something done last night. So while it was in fact rather miserable, nonetheless I still made myself get out there and get it done, so at the end of the day, I guess that's what really matters.

Crossroads! (8.83mi + 1.25mi)

2008-04-03T20:01:00.000-07:00

I was still feeling pretty sluggish when we started tonights crossroads run, but after we made it through the hills, I started to feel a bit better. It was a pretty nice evening out, the weather was just about right, although I still went with pants as opposed to shorts like most everyone else. I find I generally am colder than most people, so I tend to wear more clothing. I'm generally not comfortable in shorts until the temperature reaches the high 50's, unless it's in the middle of the day when the sun is high above shining down. Although I guess to some extent, I also get used to whatever I've been doing most recently, such that at the end of summer, I tend to wear shorts into the colder part of the season, and at the end of winter, I tend to wear pants and more layers perhaps longer than others might as well. I also have an interesting phenomenon with my hands where they are generally always cold when I run, so I normally wear gloves until the temperature gets up into the 60's. I guess I'm just kinda strange like that. In any event, tonight the temperature was in the low 50's, with a slight tail wind, and I was perfectly comfortable with pants and 2 long sleeve layers up top. We picked the pace up a bit down Beacon st, so I got a bit warm there, but other than that I was fairly comfortable. Another great Crossroads run in the bag. I think next week might be the last one for me (and probably most others as well)...

Tuesday Track Workout (6.5mi)

2008-04-01T20:23:00.001-07:00

In general, I find it normally takes about 48 hours for me, after a long run or some other extended period of strenuous physical activity, before the fatigue and soreness really sets in. So as I briefly mentioned in my previous posting, about an hour after my run on Monday, when I got back to my desk and had been sitting there for a little bit, I think the long run from Sunday morning finally really hit home... Despite my best efforts to rest up Monday night, on Tuesday, I was still feeling fairly fatigued and pretty sore. With the temperature reaching up into the 60 degrees however, despite the light rain, Jack sent an email out letting people know that he was intending to do the track workout a little bit on the earlier side at the Tufts outdoor track.

So despite my legs and brain pleading with me otherwise, I left work around 5:15 to fight through the route 2 rush hour traffic over the 45min/8 mile trek to Tufts. When I got there fortunately I found out everyone else was feeling fairly fatigued as well, so as a result I think Jack took it a little easy on us. The format was pretty simple; 400m repeats, with a 60s recovery in between, and a full lap recovery after every 4th. Repeat each set of these 4 times, for a total of 4mi of "speed" laps. Although my legs never felt great, the weather was relatively decent and I managed to get through the workout at close to my normal pace, so I felt pretty good about that. I was very eagerly looking forward to taking the next day and a half or so off tho...

Monday lunch run (5.98mi)

2008-03-31T12:30:00.000-07:00

With the forecast looking like rain for the next day or so anyway, Jim and I went out for a nice "stretch" run today at lunch. My legs were pretty sore from yesterday, but after a couple miles they started to come around. Appearances can be very deceiving tho, as I don't think I realized just how tired I must be, because since I got back to my desk, well lets just say the rest of the day has just been pretty tough going. I think I might need to find my bed soon...

DFMC Long Group Run (22.47mi)

2008-03-30T11:12:00.000-07:00

Today was the climactic "long" group run for my Dana Farber Marathon Challenge team. So anyone who is somewhat following Jack's original "official" training schedule, this would be the longest run they would do. As I've somewhat discussed before, I don't believe (and Jack would say this as well) that there's really any one schedule that's correct for everybody, so I've basically been doing my own modified version of things. So the route was an out and back along the actual course, starting out from the Boston Sports Club in Wellesley, from which you run about 1.5mi to get out to rt. 16, just about at the 1/2 way mark along the marathon course. You then run backwards a little over a mile, turn around, and head back running all the way up over heartbreak hill, a little bit beyond Boston College, to where the final turn back point is, and then head back to the start point.

I picked Fred up at 7:15am and we headed out to Wellesley. Fred planned to do 16mi today, so that meant we would basically be running together out until the final turn back point just past B.C., where he would keep going straight back home, and I would turn and head back the way we came. The run started off a bit on the cold side, as temperatures had dropped down to the low 20's overnight, with a steady wind making it feel closer to the low teens. But by the time we got out to the Newton hills, the sunshine had come out in full force, and definitely started to warm things up. Fred and I maintained a great even pace through the first 12.5mi, and so when we parted ways, I was actually feeling fantastic. I slowly picked up my pace, and actually had negative splits over the last 10mi. In the end, I had a really great run today, and I'm feeling pretty confident heading into my taper over the next few weeks that come Marathon day, I'll be ready.

I had made the conscious decision even before we started that I would be really trying to simulate how I expect things to go on race day, so I didn't want to spend too much time at any of the water stations, eating my gel shots, or anything like that. I also busted out the "D-Trains" (my AWESOME kicks pictured at the top of this blog, that my wonderful girlfriend Nicole so graciously purchased for me) to test how they would feel on a longer run. I've been slowly breaking them in, using them at track runs, a few shorter runs here and there, all spread out over the past few months. I must say, they are pretty fantastic and I do love running in them. So I'm sure they also contributed to how well I felt today as well. And I also need to give a HUGE thank you to all of the awesome Dana Farber volunteers, who come out and man the water/gatorade/refuel stations along the routes we do for these group runs. They really do make *ALL* of the difference in the world. Not having to carry water or gatorade with you for these training runs is truly fantastic.

Friday evening easy (5.03mi)

2008-03-30T11:05:00.000-07:00

With the longest Dana Farber group run scheduled for this Sunday, and knowing I had a few things to do on Saturday, I thought it would be best to get in some light miles on Friday... The weather felt it should make things difficult for me tho, so it decided to rain/sleet for the better part of the day. That was alright though, with the hard push from the night before, I figured waiting until later in the day wasn't a bad option. Around 5-6pm the weather finally let up, and so I was able to get in an easy jaunt around the neighborhood right after I got home from work. Nice and easy, it was actually pretty pleasant, with a cool moisture in the air. My legs were feeling pretty good, so I was looking forward to Sunday's run.

Crossroads! (8.84mi + 1.25mi)

2008-03-28T12:10:00.000-07:00

I was feeling pretty fresh Thursday night for the Crossroads run, as continuing with my recent strategy of trying to be better about resting, I had taken Wednesday completely off as a rest/recovery day. So right from the get-go, I could tell it was going to be a faster paced run. Fred and Seth joined in the fun as well, and we moved along very nicely. The weather was actually awesome as well, with the temperature in the low 50's when we started! And now that it's staying light out later, it's kind of interesting to see how the course takes on quite a different look at dusk as opposed to the pitch black it has been for so long... It's pretty amazing to think back how dark it was for most of these Thursday night runs, and how that actually affects your state of mind, and the way you physically feel during the run. Before I know it, summer will be here and evening runs around the Charles will be back in action in full force... I can't wait!

Tuesday Track... err Hill? workout (7.03mi)

2008-03-25T20:43:00.000-07:00

Jack (the DFMC team trainer) sent out an email yesterday to all of us who have been regularly participating in the Tuesday night track workouts letting us know that we were going to be changing things up a bit this week. Instead of going to the indoor track that we have been for the past several weeks, we would be headed over to a place actually not too far from my work, and doing a bit of a hill workout outside. The Healthpoint club in Waltham, aka Boston Sports Club - Waltham, or the Boston Celtics training facility, is located on a pretty hilly patch of land, where there are lots of office buildings and parking lots, all spread out over a very large area. So we all met up there and proceeded to do a rather interesting workout, following Jack's instruction as he followed us around on his bike.

I was actually already pretty familiar with the area, as it's really only a couple miles away from my office, and on some of the longer runs I've done in the past from work, I would go directly by this location. Having just done a fairly difficult hill workout yesterday, my legs weren't quite as fresh as I would have liked, but that's obviously to be expected given the scenario, and in my mind, it's all good anyway. It was a pretty nice change of pace, perhaps a little colder than I would have liked, but it was still nice to get Jack's take on a hill workout, and to have his vast knowledge and advice at hand is always a HUGE benefit. He really is full of so much good information, I can't begin to say how thankful I am to have the opportunity for this experience.

Afterward we all went out to Bertucci's down the street for some pizza, and I got to sit near Jack and pick his brain a little bit more and listen to him answer lots of questions everyone has about all sorts of things having to do with the marathon and their training and getting ready for the big day. It was all very informative and I just soaked up as much as I could. He also told some pretty intriguing stories about the history of the Boston Marathon, particularly through the 70's and 80's when the race was undergoing some very interesting times. All very good stuff.

Lunch run with Seth (6.50mi)

2008-03-24T12:58:00.001-07:00

Monday's run was pretty awesome. My good friend Seth recently started working nearby, so since he knows I often run at lunch, we had been discussing meeting up and running together for a few weeks now. Yesterday we finally did just that. Turns out the building he is working in is actually adjacent to one of the parks (Prospect Hill) I often run one of my "hill" loops through. Prospect Hill park is an old park in Waltham that offers a spectacular view of the surrounding area from a fairly high vantage point up at the top. It offers a great almost 360 degree view of the greater Boston area from Waltham's perspective. I'm not sure how busy the park gets during the weekends, but during lunchtime on the weekdays, it's often fairly quiet, which personally adds to its appeal for me. (http://www.phpag.org/history.html)

I described the typical loop I do through the park in more detail in a previous posting (http://followthedtrain.blogspot.com/2008/02/prospect-hill-642mi.html), but I had Seth meet up with me at the base of the start of the first ascent into the park. Judging by his commentary, I think he was quite pleased with the difficulty of the loop: "Jesus Dennis... I didn't sign up for this!", I think was the exact phrase that caught my ear as we traversed up the old ski hill on the reverse side of the park... ;-) It's a pretty good workout, and I was glad to have Seth there with me. He's pretty aggressive when it comes to excercise, and as a moderately experienced tri-athlete, it's always good to have someone there to push with you.

Easter Sunday jaunt (7.35mi)

2008-03-23T17:45:00.000-07:00

I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that my legs weren't completely run down on Saturday, after the long run from the day before, but I took the day off anyway and waited till Sunday to get back out there. I actually felt pretty strong on Sunday when I did tho, and was able to sustain a very nice pace throughout my run, without too much effort. I had set out thinking I'd keep it a bit short closer to 5mi or so, but when I got going and realized I felt pretty good and the weather was actually quite nice, I decided to take advantage and alter my route slightly adding in a little bit of distance. That's one really nice thing about running around the Charles river, is that you can easily adjust your route on the fly pretty much as needed, within a mile or two anyway, and still not really change your environment all that much. It didn't quite yet have that warm weather summer time feeling, but you could definitely tell that it's really getting close now, so it was a nice change of pace. I felt really relaxed and comfortable throughout the run and in hindsight I guess it just wound up being one of those days were things were just working.

Course review... (24.75mi)

2008-03-23T13:10:00.000-07:00

How to properly train for a marathon I think is one of those things that everyone (at least amongst other runners) has an opinion on. There are about a billion different websites, books, and whatever else out there that offer a lot of really great information and insight into the topic. However, ultimately I think what it all really boils down to is this; while there are in fact some general governing techniques/approaches that apply for most people, exactly what is right for each and every person needs to be specifically determined by them. Everybody's body is different, and what they need to do to make sure they're ready for the big event, is all really a combination of a lot of different things, and one generic formula can't be applied to all.

One specific area that is often brought up in conversation is how far should a runner train up to, distance-wise for their "long run"? As far back as I can remember, my opinion on this has always been the same, at least, as it applies to myself anyway. Most current pre-designed training schedules will take you all the way up to a distance of 20-22 miles, for a long run, typically 3-4 weeks out from the actual date of the race. But I've always thought to myself that if I were to ever be training for a marathon, I would just assume why not at least attempt to run all the way up to 26mi as my "long" training run, in order to really ensure that I was ready. I mean, once I know I can go 22mi, why not work in another long run a few miles longer? I guess a part of it for me is really the fact that I just need to know ahead of time. I don't want to find out what my legs feel like at 24mi for the first time during the actual race. I'd much rather know ahead of time, what it's going to feel like, so that if anything isn't right, I have some time to try to correct it, or at least make adjustments to deal with it. Now don't take that to say that I think its absolutely necessary to run the whole 26miles for sure, but rather just that if I get out to 22mi and find that I am feeling ok and not really in any particular risk of injuring myself, then why not keep going? And if I can successfully go out and run the 26miles before hand, then that just gives me that much more confidence going into race day as well.

And so with all of that in mind, at approximately 8:16am Friday morning (I didn't actually get Good Friday off as a holiday, but I decided to use a vacation day), Fred and myself lined up at the official Boston Marathon start line out in Hopkinton, MA, and with a gusting 25-35mph wind mostly at our backs (thank God!), we set out on our trek back to Boston. The link below shows the exact route we took, courtesy of my Garmin GPS wristwatch:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/kml/episode.kml?episodePkValues=5217706

So as I somewhat alluded to before, while I wasn't 100% certain whether or not I was going to do the whole course or not, I figured doing this run would absolutely be really beneficial to me in several ways. And now after having actually attempted it, it definitely confirmed for me that it's a really great idea. If I ever run Boston again, I would definitely do this again, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone else training as well. Another topic that's often discussed (specific to the Boston course) is the Newton Hills (Heartbreak hill is the last of them) and the effect that the first 16-17mi of the course all being down hill, has on your legs. The course is essentially all down hill up until the 17mi point, where the Newton hills start. So while I've been doing lots of training on these "hills" over the past few months, I was very anxious to see exactly what they would feel like after having done the 17mi preceding them. Turns out, it wasn't as bad as I had imagined. For sure there was definitely a distinct change in muscle usage, and of course it was a little more difficult, but I actually felt ok, and was able to maintain pace pretty much throughout the hills. In fact, Fred and I actually maintained a very consistent pace throughout the entire run. I was pleasantly surprised by that.

Fred never intended to run the whole distance, and so he pulled up at BC to catch the train back downtown. While I was still somewhat in debate after coming through the hills, I had pretty much decided that the benefits of running straight to the finish line downtown didn't outweigh the advantages of just turning just after the 24mi mark, and heading back to my apartment. This would put me at a distance just shy of 25mi, and while I was definitely tired, I had satisfied my curiosity and I knew that if I had to, I could definitely go another 1.5miles.

Thursday easy run (3.58mi)

2008-03-23T13:02:00.000-07:00

After feeling a little run down toward the end of last weekend, I sort of made the conscious decision to really try and work in an extra day of rest this week. So after taking Wednesday off, I was feeling pretty good and rested on Thursday. Going along with this tho, I also knew that I was planning a potentially very long run coming up the next day on Friday, and so I didn't want to do anything too drastic. So a little bit later in the afternoon, I went out and made sure I did at least just a few miles, just something to make sure my legs didn't tighten up too much and help keep things moving. It was nice and easy and felt good.

Tuesday Track Workout (9.0mi)

2008-03-18T21:52:00.001-07:00

I was feeling particularly good for tonight's workout, with a little bit of time off my legs were feeling particularly fresh. During Jack's rundown of what the format would be for the workout, he mentioned that anyone who had run the New Bedford half marathon over the weekend should really throttle it back and limit themselves to about 80-85% of what their "normal" track workout would be, but anyone who hadn't could go ahead and feel free to really push their pace out if they wanted to. He actually specifically mentioned to Fred and myself that we could feel free to do an extra set, if we wanted, since he knew we had NOT raced over the weekend. Since I was already feeling good, that was about all the motivation I really needed.

The format for the workout was going to be 600m, 800m, 1000m repeats, but once Jack arrived and sort of picked up the vibe that people were still fairly tired and sore from the race, he opted to cut it back to 400m, 600m, and 800m repeats. So you run 400m (2 laps), take a 1 minute slow jog recovery, run 600m (3 laps), recovery, and then the final 800m finishes off the set. You take a full 2 lap recovery and repeat. I did a total of 6 sets of these. Fred and I ran together most of the way, but since I was still feeling particularly strong, I picked up the pace a little bit for the last 2 sets. Another great track workout.

Monday lunch run (7.22mi)

2008-03-17T17:41:00.000-07:00

After having 2 out of the last 3 days off, today my legs were finally starting to come around and feel a bit better. I had run them down pretty good over the past 2 weeks, and so I had definitely felt it during my run on Saturday, but having the "light" weekend was definitely nice. So I'm thinking maybe I might try to work in one more day off during the week then I've been taking over the past couple but I guess I'll probably play it by ear and just see how I feel. With the big day exactly 5 weeks out from today, I really only need to get through the next 2-2.5 weeks and then the tapering will start.

Today's run was an easier paced lunch time run with Jim. We set out thinking we'd do 5-6mi, but whenever we arrived at a junction and I asked Jim which way to turn, he always seemed to choose the longer route, so it ended up being a bit more. In my mind, the more the merrier at this point, so it was all good. The weather was in the upper 30's and the sun came out shining over the latter half of the run, so all in all, it was again another rather enjoyable run. I'm feeling good for tomorrow's track workout.

Central park (16.24mi)

2008-03-15T17:20:00.000-07:00

For my weekend long runs, I've *mostly* been trying to follow a pattern of 2 consecutive weeks up in distance, with 1 slightly back down. So after the past 2 weekends being 19mi, and 22mi, this weekend was time for a slight small step back down. Which actually worked out very well since I was away in NYC visiting with my wonderful girlfriend Nicole. But no matter how many times I do it, it seems that every time I run loops in central park, I always imagine it being easier than it actually turns out to be. One loop around the main road, central park dr, measures out to be roughly 6.05mi. I normally tend to stick to this route, simply because it involves the least amount of thinking/planning. By the time you start into the 3rd lap though, in general you're ready to be done with it. That sort of summed up my feelings toward the end of my run on Saturday. The run started off with the weather a bit overcast and breezy, but as the sun got up directly overhead and broke through the cloud cover, it started to warm up and was actually pretty pleasant by the time I finished. My legs were feeling pretty wiped tho, and I was very much looking forward to some much needed time off for the remainder of the weekend.

Crossroads! (8.89mi + 1.25mi)

2008-03-14T07:25:00.000-07:00

Last week after the Crossroads run, Fred, Gordon, and myself tentatively agreed that we would all run together for the following weeks Crossroads run, and hopefully try to push the pace a little bit. So with that thought in mind, I hurriedly set out on my 1.25mi warm-up over to catch the T to the Woodland stop. My timing was spot on, and so Fred and Gordon were actually on the same train that I happened to catch. I had been a bit tentative about the whole pace pushing thing in general, as my legs were feeling pretty tired overall, and I actually had some significant cramping in my right foot on my way over to the train, which had me mildly concerned. In hindsight, I probably should have given myself a bit more time off throughout the week, esp after my 22+ miler on Sunday. So I wasn't sure if my foot was going to be an issue or not, but fortunately for me, Gordon commented on the way over that he wasn't sure what pace he was going to try keep either, so this set me at ease. Arriving at Woodland, we all started out a fairly relaxed, warm-up pace, all in a sort of an unconscious agreement. My foot cramping didn't come back again, and through the hills I was feeling pretty good. There was a bit of a headwind, but that didn't seem to hinder our progress terribly. As we made our way down Beacon st though, I could feel Gordon start to push the pace. I kept up as long as I could, but at about a mile and a half out from Crossroads, I had started to drift back slightly, and then got caught at a light at an intersection, and after that, well, the motivation to keep up started to dwindle. All in all tho, it was another really good run, and I finished about a minute behind Gordon and Fred.

Wednesday lunch run (6.12mi)

2008-03-12T14:00:00.000-07:00

After having been raining all morning, I wasn't terribly excited to get out and go for a run yesterday, but I knew that I was most likely going to be taking Friday off this week, so I figured it would be best to just get out there and get it done. And sometimes that's just what you have to do. So while the run started off a bit on the wet side, a couple miles into the run the rain finally subsided to nothing much more than a light drizzle, and remained mostly clear the rest of the way. The temperature wasn't that bad either, in the upper 30's - lower 40's, which actually felt ok. We started out at a pretty easy pace, and then after a few miles Jim and I decided to pick up things up a little bit. Nothing too serious, but just a little more than the easy pace we were at, closer to my normal training runs. I felt pretty strong when we finished, and as usual at the end of a run, very glad I decided to get out there and get it done.

Tuesday Track Workout (7.0mi)

2008-03-11T21:57:00.000-07:00

Last night's track workout was what's called a "pyramid" workout. The name comes from the fact that in short, the workout consists of basically running intervals, starting at a small distance, slowly working your way up, increasing that distance each interval, reaching a plateau, and then coming back down via the same pattern you went up, thus the reference to the pyramid. We started at a distance of 400m (2 laps), increasing by 200m every interval, all the way up to 1200m, with a 1 minute recovery in between each. Then when you get up to 1200m (6 laps), you take a 3-4 lap recovery, repeat the 1200m and start the process back down. This format I think was my favorite out of any track workout so far. I found it to actually be rather enjoyable... As I came back down the pyramid I found that I was able to push myself harder, because even though you're getting more tired, the distances are getting smaller and smaller.

Fred and I again ran together throughout, maintaining a relatively consistent pace of 46-48s per lap on the way up the pyramid, and then picking up the pace for each "interval" on the way down. We finished our last 400m in 1:21, or just over 40s per lap. I was quite pleased.

Monday stretch run (4.71mi)

2008-03-10T12:07:00.001-07:00

Of course, my legs were still pretty sore from Sunday's long run, but nonetheless as I stated before, I think it's important to get back out there and at least do something the day following a long run in order to help accelerate recovery. If you don't, I think your muscles, joints, etc, all just actually tend to get stiff and tighten up, and you'll find yourself more sore in the end. We went slow and easy, so it was a pretty nice run, although compared to last week, the temperature seems to be dipping back down again... I'm anxious for consistent 40+ degree weather to hurry up and get here...

A bit windy, but feelin good (22.22mi)

2008-03-09T17:52:00.000-07:00

Today's long run went much better than I thought it was going to. Even though I took yesterday completely as a rest day, my legs were feeling a little bit tighter than usual this morning, and that had me a bit weary. Nonetheless, after last weeks long run and not hydrating properly, I think I've finally learned my lesson, so I made sure that I was well hydrated before, as well as during, this weeks run. Unfortunately since I can only carry so much liquid with me (a 24 oz bottle of gatorade only gets u so far...), this means I have to stop at least once to replenish my sources. While this obviously adds to my overall time and slows me down, I think I've finally come to realize that the benefits far outweigh the negatives. I also brought along 2 energy "shots" as well, which I used at miles 10 and 16, and I think having the new shoes also definitely helped make a difference also.

I met up with Fred and Katie for this run also, which is always nice to have some company. We decided we wanted to stick to a mainly flat route, as we've already been running on the course quite a bit anyway, and we're definitely going to be running along it more in the coming weeks as well. Since it was a pretty sunny day (albeit windy), we decided to head to the river and run around that. The longest loop around the river measures 17.1 miles, going from the Galen st bridge in Watertown center, all the way up to the Museum of Science bridge. Leaving from my apartment, we headed down to the BU bridge to start the loop there. We faced a strong headwind as we made our way along the river down to the Watertown center bridge, but as soon as we turned the corner, we had the wind working with us all the way back to the Museum of Science. I felt pretty good for the majority of the run, and didn't really start to notice much fatigue until around mile 17. Overall I finished the run feeling pretty strong, and even though my legs were definitely getting tired, I think if I had to, I could have pushed on for another 4 miles. Which definitely eases my mind for marathon day, especially given the fact that we had run into a pretty strong headwind for a significant portion of the distance.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1686813

Friday lunch run (6.63mi)

2008-03-07T13:51:00.000-08:00

Even though I've ran everyday this week, since it was a relatively nice day out and my long run this weekend is going to be on Sunday (which gives me Saturday to rest), I figured I'd get in one more run today. Nothing too difficult but again, just something to keep the legs loose. The relatively nice weather this week has been a real great welcome break to the cold/winter conditions that have prevailed thus far. It was a good run. Sunday to Sunday will definitely be an all time high in "weekly" mileage for me. I realize that's technically 1+ day extra for a "weekly" measurement, but regardless, it's still a lot of miles for me in that time frame. I think it all makes good sense though, as I "should" be hitting my stride at this point in my training, and I actually really do feel like I am. With the new shoes this week and everything, I've been feeling really good, and am just crossing my fingers and hoping everything continues going this well through the next 3-4 weeks, as this will definitely be the "thick" of my training. The 22 mile run coming up this Sunday will be a real good test and measuring stick to see how "ready" I am for sure...

I also just want to quickly say thank you to those of you who have left comments on some of my postings, as it's really nice to hear that there are people out there who are listening to my ramblings. Thank you all so much for your continued support, and I'm truly grateful to have this opportunity.

It's gotta be the shoes! (8.89mi + 1.25mi)

2008-03-06T21:31:00.000-08:00

Thursday nights Woodland T stop to Crossroads pub run was pretty much everything I could have hoped it could be. Two things helped contribute to this. First, the roughly 7-8x ongoing streak of Thursday being the coldest night of the week was finally broken, with temperatures in the mid-upper 30's, and probably more importantly, I also finally got to wear my new sneakers. Sneaker wear is one of those things that I am constantly debating with myself. Through the past several years personal experience, as well as several discussions with many different "experienced" runners, I have pretty much determined that I should only really be putting 3-400miles on a single pair of shoes. I also try to have a working strategy of having 2 pairs of rotating sneakers, the ideal scenario being that they would be roughly 150 miles out of phase or so, such that you always have one good pair to run in, as the other pair is on its way out and you break in the new ones... Needless to say, it doesn't always work out that way, but it's still something to aim for. So regardless of the fact that I'm very aware of this, and no matter how many times I'm told, I'm continually amazed at how often I don't follow these simple rules, and instead end up racking up 6-700miles on a single pair, and then completely blow myself away at how great I feel when I finally break down and get new sneakers. This pretty much summarizes exactly how I felt last night. I got to Crossroads and felt amazing, mesmerized at how great I felt not only at the finish, but for the duration of the run, and how my legs never really got sore at all after, my knees felt fine, and I actually felt like I could sprint the last 1-2miles... Normally by the time I reach Crossroads, I'm *ready* to be done...

In any event, it was a really good night, the weather was much better than it's been in the past to say the least, and thus I was also able to NOT have to make the detour by my car to pick up my backpack of dry clothes either, which was a nice relief for my back, shoulders and neck as well...

Wednesday easy lunch run (6.0mi)

2008-03-06T21:30:00.000-08:00

I woke up early thinking I'd perhaps try and get my run done and out of the way first thing, but a combination of not getting to bed early enough, looking out the window at 7:00am and seeing nothing but rain, and checking the weather to see that it should be clearing and warm in the latter half of the day, I decided to hold off and just run at work during lunch instead. Turns out that was probably the best call, as I was joined by 4 other co-workers and so we had quite the merry group, and the temperature had warmed up to near 50. Nothing too difficult, just a nice, easier paced run to hold me over until Crossroads tomorrow night.

Tuesday Track Workout (8.0mi)

2008-03-04T21:43:00.000-08:00

I continue to be amazed at home many different variations of track workouts you can do. Tonight we ran I guess what's often referred to as "running 400's", which basically just means you are running some # of sets of 400m repeats, with a brief rest/recovery in between, in our case, 1 minute. We were to do 20 sets of this total. So you run 2 laps (in our case - 200m track) at threshold, and then a slower 1 minute recovery, and repeat. Once you've done 4 sets (1600m ~ 1mile), we also got a longer full 2 lap recovery period. I quickly made the decision to adapt a very systematic approach to this, such that I would try to slowly increase my pace for each set of 4, or every mile, by 2s per lap. So I ran my first 4 sets at a 50s/lap (1:40 per set) pace, and then my next 4 at 48s, working down such that my last mile would be at a 42s/lap pace (1:24/set - 5:36/mile) pace. Keep in mind there are rest periods in between, but still, I felt pretty good at being able to accomplish this. I was glad to be done running when I finished, but I definitely still had more in the tank if I needed it, so I felt pretty good overall. Another great track workout.

Monday stretch run (4.67mi)

2008-03-04T08:41:00.000-08:00

Yesterday's run was a nice short and easy lunch time run with Jim and Bill. My legs were definitely still very sore from Sunday's outing, but this run was exactly what the doctor ordered. At first I was very stiff and things were slow going, but after a couple of miles I definitely felt an improvement and was able to pick up the pace, even if just slightly... I am 100% of the opinion that the day following a long run, it's absolutely best to get right back out there again and at least do a few miles, as I think this helps keep your leg muscles from tightening up, by forcing things to move around and loosen up, and helps speed things up for an overall shorter recovery time.

Sunday long run (19.01mi)

2008-03-02T21:44:00.001-08:00

Today's run can be pretty much be described as utterly painful. It's not that it was a new route or particularly hilly or anything (the same route I've done for the majority of my long runs actually), but just that the last 6-7mi, especially the last 3 or so, I really had to dig pretty deep. I actually felt pretty good starting out, but I think I came out a little too strong, and definitely paid the price over the last 1/3 of the run. I also didn't hydrate as well as I should have during the early part of the run, as I really didn't feel like carrying anything with me, and didn't pick up a gatorade until around approximately the 12.5mi mark. Also, while I've ordered new sneakers over a week ago, they still haven't come in yet, and I think the ones I have are definitely starting to show their age. So I think this early speed/lack of hydration and old sneakers was just a really bad combination (and yes, I realize that's all very obvious, yet sometimes I do stupid things anyway...).

The route I took headed out down Beacon to Washington st (rt 16), and then simply follows the course (for the most part - I took a couple of minor detours today) back until Kenmore, where I then turned around and came straight back down Commonwealth to my apartment. When I got to the 12.5mi point (Cleveland Circle), I had been maintaining a pretty solid pace of 7:36/mi, but like I said, in hindsight, pushing hard early was def a mistake. Even though *EVERYBODY* and their brother will say this, it realy is something I'm going to need to be very conscious of and keep in my head come race day... And today's run definitely helped contribute to hammering that point home. I can only hope I listen to myself on race day, and don't let the excitement/anxiety take over... The last 3.5mi of today's run were really painful. I could feel both of my calves were really tight, with the right one really starting to cramp up anytime I headed even slightly up hill. I finished with a pace of 8:01/mi, which is all well and good, but I'm still pretty sore. I think I'll definitely take it a lot easier next weekend, which I'm hoping to be my longest run yet, at ~22miles.

Crossroads! (9.18mi + 1.25mi)

2008-03-02T21:36:00.000-08:00

Hey, time for another crossroads run, and guess again what the temperature might be?! I swear, somebody can go back and check, but legit for the past 7-8 weeks in a row now, Thursday night has been the coldest night of each week. This weeks run was no different of course, again, dipping down well into the single digits with the wind chill factor considered. The run went off pretty much without a hitch tho, and it was the first time in a long time that Fred, Katie, and myself were all there for the run. We again opted to detour slightly from the normal route of sticking to the marathon course, and instead continue straight down Commonwealth ave as we came by Chestnut Hill ave (this would take us down into Cleveland circle), so that we could swing by my apartment/car and I could pick up my backpack to run with for the last 2.5miles or so, so that I could have some dry clothes to change into when we arrived at Crossroads. While annoying to have to run with the backpack, it's definitely very worth while and much appreciated/needed once we've gotten to the bar. I felt pretty good throughout the run, with no real issues to make note of.

Tuesday Track Workout (7.0mi)

2008-02-26T20:52:00.000-08:00

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)

2008-02-25T15:08:00.000-08:00

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)

2008-02-25T14:55:00.000-08:00

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)

2008-02-25T14:45:00.000-08:00

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)

2008-02-20T21:47:00.000-08:00

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)

2008-02-20T15:53:00.001-08:00

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)

2008-02-20T15:20:00.000-08:00

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)

2008-02-14T20:28:00.000-08:00

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)

2008-02-12T22:07:00.000-08:00

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)

2008-02-10T10:30:00.001-08:00

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)

2008-02-10T10:24:00.000-08:00

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)

2008-02-07T22:20:00.000-08:00

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)

2008-02-06T06:37:00.000-08:00

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)

2008-02-04T22:31:00.001-08:00

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)

2008-02-04T21:16:00.000-08:00

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...

Crossroads! (10.52mi + 1.25mi warm-up)

2008-01-31T17:41:00.001-08:00

So tonight is Thursday night and that means running of the "Newton Hills" followed by beer and pizza at Crossroads pub! Since late November when I first learned about these runs, on most Thursdays I try to meet up and run with a group of runners (some DFMC teammates, some not) who take the T (the D-train nonetheless) out to the Woodland T stop which is the last stop before the end of the line at Riverside. The woodland stop is right on Washington st in West Newton which is directly on the Boston Marathon course, so it works out very nicely allowing you to run roughly the last 8.5-9miles of the actual race course, including the often referenced "Newton Hills", and the infamous "Heartbreak Hill". These hills actually aren't really all that bad in and of themselves, but what makes them revered is the point at which they come up on the course, essentially between the 16-21mile marks, after you've been mostly running downhill up until that point. In any event, as Marathon Monday draws closer, the number of people attending these Thursday night runs continually escalates. The runs don't actually go all the way to the finish line down by Copley, but instead take a slight detour as you come through Kenmore square, and break off onto Beacon st ending shortly thereafter at Crossroads pub. Crossroads serves up free pizza to all patrons on Thursday nights, so the crew usually gathers there to share stories and relax while enjoying a beer or two.

Because my apartment lies in between Crossroads pub and the Woodland stop, getting over to Crossroads ahead of time to drop off a dry set of clothes to change into after is often more trouble than it's worth, so on cold nights (which we've had our share of recently), for me it's often just easier to turn back at Kenmore square (as I did tonight), and head straight back to my apartment at the end of the run, rather than hanging around getting cold in sweaty running clothes. This also has the added benefit of adding an additional 2miles to my run. Hopefully as spring draws closer, the weather will warm up a bit, and allow me to attend more of the beer and pizza festivities after. I am looking forward to that.

Leaving my apartment, it's almost exactly 1.25miles to the reservoir stop, which is the closest point for me to pickup the D-train heading outbound to woodland. This works out nicely as a short easy warm up. A couple of times so far this winter, when I knew I wasn't going to be able to complete a long run over the weekend, I've actually run out to woodland, instead of catching the train, which adds roughly 7.25miles to the run, bringing the total distance round trip to approx. 17.5miles. A solid distance for a mid-week run at night in the middle of the winter for sure!

Tonights run was pretty good. It felt good to get a little bit of distance in finally, but it also definitely showed me that while I certainly feel a ton better, I'm still not 100% over my cold. While this might not make complete sense, I often feel like running helps me when I'm sick (obviously depending on the severity), but I feel like it helps get the blood flowing and just helps to get things moving around. I managed to somehow make it a bit of a lonely run tonight tho, as I think all of the rest recently had given me a little bit of anxiety, and when I got out there, even though I started off with a few people, I quickly decided to just go off on my own. I think it was what I needed tho, as really I just wanted to assess my current situation, and enjoy my run, which I was definitely able to do.

I'm reminded why I run... (4.56mi)

2008-01-29T21:53:00.000-08:00

Wow, that felt good. After spending the past 5 days resting, allowing my body to try and really make sure I've fully beaten this nasty sinus infection, I finally got out there tonight, even if it was only a short 4.5miles, for a run. And my god did it feel amazing. Now I expected that it would feel good as after having been held up for the past 5 days, I was somewhat antsy, and I've been itching to get out there and do something, but I guess it just really hit home to me as I started going, just how much an integrated part of me running has become. I never would have thought this would've happened to me, but I really do NEED to run. I can't imaging life without it. I'm fortunate enough to be blessed with a working mind, two able legs, and a situation that allows me to get out there and just do it. It's funny how we all too often don't realize how good something is, until we don't have it anymore. I run, because I can, and I hope I am able to enjoy it for the rest of my life.

Road Bumps

2008-01-29T21:26:00.000-08:00

So my training for Boston recently hit its first minor "road bump". I came down with a VISCIOUS bacterial sinus infection late last week, that really just took me out of commission. And trust me here, I do mean it when I say VISCIOUS. Now normally, and I really don't want to sound like I'm some kind of ridiculous bad ass here or anything, but the truth is I historically have been very good about making sure I get my run in, regardless of what kind of physical/mental condition I might actually be in. I'm usually pretty resilient, and have been very fortunate through the past 4-5 years of running, where I haven't come down with any real major injuries. Now don't get me completely wrong, I've had a couple of hangups here and there, but for the most part I've generally run with all sorts of different kinds of ailments, be it the all too common knee, leg, neck or back pains that runners are so often afflicted with, nasty blisters from running in wet shoes for too long, head colds, seasonal allergies, etc, I've been faced with all sorts of problems, and generally, I find if I just keep pushing, after a few miles, it eventually goes away. And even if it doesn't, you learn to just deal with it.

Regardless, whatever it was that took hold of me late Thursday evening last week, it came in with a grip that I have only encountered on a handful of occasions in my life. It took me out hard. On Wednesday night I had started to feel a little bit of irritation in my throat and as the day wore on on Thursday, it got progressively worse, so by the time I went out for my run with my friend Katie that night, my voice had become quite raspy. The plan was to do 8-10mi, as the Boston Prep 16 miler was coming up on Sunday, and this was to be the last real run of the week. Friday and Saturday would be pretty much rest days. As the run went on, I realized it was a little colder than I anticipated and was regretting opting to not bring a throw away set of hand warmers that I had been debating about before I headed out. My left hand had started to numb up on me, so by the time I got home, I had to spend 10-15 minutes sitting there waiting for my hand to warm up. I don't think this really helped my body in fighting off the attacking bacteria. I spent most of Thursday night awake, coughing, hacking, and emptying my sinuses out into the trash can. I fluctuated from being freakishly hot to icy cold all night long. The sinus pressure in my head built up so much I thought I was going to legitimately pass out every time I sat up to blow my nose. I barely had the strength to move, yet alone get out of bed. It really was an awful night. I normally never do this, but I actually decided to call my Dr. in the morning and see if I could get in to see him that day. Fortunately they had an opening at 10:45am. I laid in bed until 9:45am, at which point it honestly took about every ounce of strength I had to get up and get myself in the shower. I almost passed out standing up in the shower several times. After the shower, I had to lay down for another 5 minutes before I could muster the strength to get myself dressed. Getting myself too the hospital was almost as bad, but I managed to get through. My Dr. took my temperature and it was only ~99.6, so I did have a slight temperature, but he diagnosed me with just a bacterial sinus infection and prescribed me with some antibiotics, some good cough medicine with codine, and told me to take some Sudafed, drink plenty of fluids, and too rest. I had no problem with any of that. I took the drugs when I got home and spent the rest of Friday passing in and out of consciousness on my couch. With the codine laced cough medicine, I slept pretty well Friday night. I actually awoke on Saturday feeling much better, and my condition only continued to improve throughout the day. I actually was maintaining hanging onto a small thread of hope that I might still be able to participate in Sunday's race.

That was the real kicker for me. I had read about the Derry race back in 2006, when I still had ideas about trying to get in to the 2007 Boston marathon. The Derry Boston Prep 16 miler is typically regarded by most New England runners as a very difficult course. Therefore, it means it's a race I really wanted to do. When it came up amongst some of my DFMC teammates that they would be running it, I knew I had to sign up. I really wanted to kick this race's ass. They say it has big hills. I was very eager to find out just how big for myself. Now this sinus infection was looking to put an end to all of those hopes and dreams. For me to give up on this race and not participate was extremely hard. I hung onto the decision right up until the very end. On Sunday I had planned to make the trek up to Derry (regardless of whether or not I actually ran) to cheer on my good friend Katie and keep fellow DFMC teammate Fred, company. The weather changed from rain to snow as we traveled north toward Derry early in the morning. When we got up there, I actually changed into my running clothes and went out to run a short 1/2mile or so, in order to analyze my situation and make my final decision. I knew almost right away, as I made my way up slight incline on the snow covered sidewalk, that if I actually tried to complete this thing, it would have taken a great deal of energy out of me, and probably undo any of the recovery the past 2 days had allowed me from my sickness, and set me back another week. So in the end, I made the smart, but extremely tough, decision to stand this one out, and just support Katie (and her friend "Mo") in their race. They both did extremely well. I was very happy for both of them.

About time...

2008-01-29T20:46:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting to get a blog going since I started this whole marathon training experience way back in October. Technically, it's something I've thought about doing just as a general running blog, several times in the past. In any event, so I know it's a little later than I'd have liked to actually get it started, but I guess better late than never, and you have to start somewhere. So here goes...