Boston Marathon Miles 1 & 2

With the start of the Boston Marathon 13 weeks away (and since I don't have any training on Wednesdays) I thought I would bring you on a virtual tour of the Boston Marathon for those of you who aren't local.  Every week I'll profile two miles of the course and where I hope to be when I hit it (I actually hope to be a little faster but 11 minute miles gets me under 5 hours so I'll take it).  With the start of fourth wave being 11:15 (I assume I'll end up there) I assume that it will take me two minutes to get to the start so I've assumed an 11:17 start.  First up are miles 1 and 2.

The race starts in Hopkinton.  Because it's such a small town and there are tens of thousand of runners/spectators and volunteers, runners are bused out from Boston Common to the starting line.  The first mile is the steepest downhill mile dropping 130 feet.  The wheelchair racers are paced out at the start for fear that the downhill will make them go to fast resulting in a crash with serious injuries.

Mile 1 -130 ft 11:00 /11:28AM mile change -130 ft net change -130 ft

Mile two continues downward trend as runners lose another 40 feet along Route 135.  This rual two lane suburban road is teaming with runners making their way down tree lined streets before reaching mile marker two just over the border in Ashland.  Ashland hosted the start of the marathon until it was moved out west to Hopkinton in 1925.

Mile 2 22:00 / 11:39AM mile change -40 ft net change -170ft

Part 2 Miles 3 & 4 Due out 1/22

Part 3 Miles 5 & 6 Due out 1/29

Part 4 Miles 7 & 8 Due out 2/5

Part 5 Miles 9 & 10 Due out 2/12

Part 6 Miles 11 & 12 Due out 2/19

Part 7 Miles 13 & 14 Due out 2/26

Part 8 Miles 15 & 16 Due out 3/5

Part 9 Miles 15 & 16 Due out 3/12

Part 10 Miles 17 & 18 Due out 3/19

Part 11 Miles 19 & 20 Due out 3/26

Part 12 Miles 21 & 22 Due out 4/2

Part 13 Miles 23 & 24 Due out 4/9

Part 13 Miles 25 & 26 Due out 4/16

Interval Training 1.14.14

Tuesday morning was another nice (relatively) warm morning.  After a short warm-up I headed back to the track from some speed work doing half mile intervals 5 times. The guide says that I should be doing them at my goal time in minutes (just moving the hours into minutes and minutes into seconds), so in my case for 5 hours I should be doing my half mile intervals in 5 minutes but as always I have to do better than that.

The weather was nice as I did just over a mile warm up around the neighborhood before heading down to the track.  The track isn't the most interesting place so I again decided to listen to my audio book starting in on book two of the Black Flagged series by Stephen Konkoly. 

The intervals started out good with each interval being around 15 seconds ahead of pace, and I was feeling good during the recoveries. The last interval was a killer thought and really had to struggle to make it under pace.  After a light jog back home it was time for some breakfast!

Interval	Milage	Time	Pace
Warm Up	1.09	11:31	10:35
Fast 1	0.52	4:46	9:10
Recovery	0.47	5:00	10:38
Fast 2	0.52	4:47	9:16
Recovery	0.50	5:17	10:28
Fast 3	0.51	4:43	9:11
Recovery	0.50	5:22	10:43
Fast 4	0.51	4:45	9:19
Recovery	0.51	5:26	10:42
Fast 5	0.51	4:53	9:38
Cool Down	0.86	9:53	11:32
Overall	6.50	1:06:23	10:13

Monday Recovery Run 1.13.14

"Ouch" is all I have to say.  After taking Sunday off because I felt stiff and sore Monday morning came and I felt only moderately better but headed out on a slow recovery run.   I headed out with the intention of just going to the track so I didn't take my lighted visor, but decided to take a lap around the neighborhood first.  About half way around the loop I realized my mistake as I had very little light and needed to run in the road to avoid tripping like I did last week.  After that thankfully uneventful loop I headed down to the track.  I picked the track so I could zone out and not worry about uneven footing or cars and just zone out and listen to my mediocre book "The deep zone".  It's kind of boring in my humble opinion, but it's starting to pick up for the last 10%.

It was about 32 degrees so I thought I would be fine in shorts and a long sleeve tech shirt. which normally I would be, but since this was an easy run I wasn't pushing myself very hard I ended up warming up as I was used to.  As a result it was a cold run!

The track was pretty uneventful, but reminded me of a spring or fall day as the one guy who runs intervals the other way and the group of ladies doing some sort of boot camp training were both there while I thought I would have the track all to myself.  I was able to keep my pace around 11:20 the whole time with each mile getting a bit slower as I tried not to push myself.

A couple of laps later I was at 3.5 miles and headed home along Orchard where I again cursed myself for not wearing a light and had to step carefully along the sidewalk.  Thankfully I made it to the end of my 4 miles without incident and headed home where some farmers market Sausage waited to be cooked for breakfast!

4 mi in 45:20 an 11:20 pace

Saturday Long run 1.11.14

Saturday was about as good weather for training as anyone could ask for our  Boston Children's group training run.  High in the low 40's at the start warming up to the mid 50's with a chance of rain.  I arrived at St. Paul's church which was our base for today about quarter to 8 and stretched while we waited for our latest clinic on gels and hydration to start.  After a 45 minute presentation we warmed up and headed out the door.

We started off at about mile 13.5 of the course and immediately started on a gradual uphill until just before mile 2 and our first water stop.  By this time I had fallen into a good 10 minute mile pace (just less to allow for some time for water stops) with Lauren and Mary who I had met on two previous runs.  Just before and after the water stop the road went on a deep dive dropping 136 feet in 0.65 miles to the lowest part of the race course.  The course then starts back up hill for the next 0.6 miles as you go through Wesley peaking just after you cross 128 where it slowly descends 50 feet over the next mile to Comm ave.  At the firehouse we took a right starting to tackle the hills of Newton (which ultimately end in Heartbreak Hill).

The course was packed with runners from different charities which we had been passing all morning coming the other way (I guess we got a late start because of our clinics), and it was very evident here on Comm ave as many of the charities (including ours) had a water stops set up on the carriage road that runs parallel to Comm.

Just before a mile on to Comm Ave. the route peaked at 166 feet which is a net increase of about 30 feet from where we started but represented about a 130 foot climb from the low point of our run.  I was pretty tired at this point but right at my 10 minute mile pace.  At mile 5 there was another water stop but we passed on it as we were just going another half mile and then turning around so we would hit it on the way back.  Another half mile and we hit Lowell Street which was our turn around for today, and we started making our way back.  When we hit the water we stopped this time taking about a minute to get some water and down a Gu before hitting the road again on the decline.

You would think that because we're going net downhill now that we would be faster but by this time my legs were trashed and it was all I could do to hang on to the ladies and maintain a 10:20ish pace before hitting the big hill (I think our Coach Jeff named it Mildred...he says the jokes get better as the mileage goes up).  As much as I wanted to walk up the hill I knew I needed to push myself in training to be better on race day so I continued my slow trot up to the water stop just before the crest of the hill.  A little water and Gatorade and we're off again with a pretty good pace of just over 10 minute miles for the next mile and a half.  After waiting for a light to change about a third of a mile from the church we put it into high gear until the end pushing the last mile down to about a 9:30 minute mile.

I headed around back to do some lunges and squats before heading inside to stretch and change.  Inside I ended up talking to a group from last year which were all trying to do X number of marathons before they turned 25 or 30 (which made me feel kind of old) but it was great to hear how much they enjoyed the team and wanted to run again.  On the way home I hit Whole Foods to get some food for the week but the fatigue was settling in and I forgot my wallet in the car.  After running out I was able to pick up a few items and headed home for a big lunch!

11 mi in 1:52:58 a 10:14 pace

14 Weeks until the Boston Marathon!!!

Week In Review 1.12.14

Monday started off rainy so I decided to try the BSC in my building for a change.  I headed down just after 11:30 to grab a new paid of headphones and beat the rush.  The gym was hot and it made the slow recovery run feel much harder than it should have.  Also I think running on the treadmill for so long on Saturday gave me a case of nipple chafe which was exacerbated by this quick run.  Ouch!  It's nice having a gym in my building but it was pretty crowded (especially the locker room) so I think I'll just try to use the gym as a shower when I run to work when it gets warmer rather than on my lunch break going forward. 4 mi in 44:34 an 11:09 pace

Tuesday was supposed to be cold and icy so I got ready (with pants to get to the gym, I learned my lesson from Sunday) and headed to BSC for interval training sponsored by my old PwC co-worker Emily White!  As I made my way out it was cold but much warmer than expected (18 degrees) from what the new folks had been talking about.  Half mile warm up followed by intervals of a half a mile at 6.6 MPH followed by another half mile of recovery (at 5.7-5.8 MPH) with a half mile cool down.  After my run I got dressed and headed over to Panera for some breakfast since I was running a bit late and didn't want to make something at home.  I'm not sure if it was the sweat from running or the wind (or both), but it was SIGNIFICANTLY colder than it was when I got in.  The cold is settling in, but Saturday looks pretty warm for our group run! 5.5 mi in 53:19 a 9:42 pace

Wednesday was a nice day off so I headed out Thursday for a tempo run feeling pretty good.  Adding to my good luck was the heatwave that has taken over New England.  That's right it was nearly twice as warm on Thursday than it was Wednesday making it a balmy 12 degrees (vs 7 on Wed).  I decided to take a different route today rather than the normal down and back to John Brewers so I headed out and did a lap around the neighborhood for a warm up before heading down past the track and out to Mount Auburn St, before taking a right on Main.  This portion is all pretty much down hill so I was able to keep my times under 10 minutes (despite what RunKeeper says).  From here Main has a slight incline all the way to the police station so I fell off my pace a bit for mile 3, but pushed it and made it back under 10 the rest of the way.  As I hit John Brewers I took a left and headed for home.  About a quarter mile from being done I caught my foot on a tree root and nearly did my best "Superman" impression but I was able to catch myself.  It didn't feel like much at the time but after my run my ankle was pretty sore.  A short mile cool down and I was done walking in the door as Julie was putting breakfast together.  Nothing ends a run well like huevos rancheros!  This run was sponsored by our college friend and Julie's twin from anotha motha Heather Osowski!  Thanks Heather I really needed the motivation to get out of bed!!!    6 mi in 59:48 a 9:58 pace

Friday I headed over to the BSC for another spin class for cross training.  I was supposed to do 60 minutes but got there a little late so 45 would have to do.  I got to try out my new cycling shorts which made the ride much better but I kept getting the cushion caught when I tried to sit back down from a hop.  It also begs a question, "if cycling saddles are so uncomfortable that you need to wear padded short to ride then why don't they make more comfortable saddles?"  Am I the only one thinking this?  I wonder if I can I get a patent on a saddle that doesn't make you walk bow legged for an hour after you get on the bike.  If anyone out there has some money they want to give me to start a company to try and build this new idea let me know.  If you don't have enough money to help me start a company you can always just help me by donating to my marathon run (link below).  21.8 miles in 45:27 or 28.78 MPH

This is my last week in Review as starting on Saturday and going forward I'll be writing individual posts for my training to take you through what it's really like day to day!

2013 Year in Review

2013 was quite a year for running.  I kicked off this blog to have people join me as I traveled with my Tour pass and made my way to all sorts of places.  Here's a look at some of the highlights in case you missed them:

• 14 races 
• 21 medals
• 5 new person records
• 136.3 race miles
• Almost an entire day spent racing (23 hours 32 minutes and 19 seconds)
• visits to 10 states including first time visits to Tennessee and Oregon
• 1,033.3 miles run (a little more than running from Boston to Jacksonville, FL)
• Over a week spent running (7 days 17 hours and 58 minutes)
• Acceptance into the Boston Marathon
• 59 Blog posts resulting in almost 2,500 page hits (seriously people get back to work)

Here's to 2014!!!

Week In Review 1.5.14

Monday is the day for a recovery run.  I think I finally got the hang of this easy (aka slow) thing down.  I headed out early since I had to take Julie to the airport at 6:30 and found the roads to be a bit slippery.  I took care not to "superman" out on the road shortening my stride, it was a nice easy run that got the juices flowing but didn't leave me feeling tired.  A quick shower and it's off to the airport.  3.1 mi in 35:56 an 11:36 pace.

New Year's eve I headed two the track on a cold morning (14 freakin degrees) for some interval training.  Half mile warm up followed by intervals of a half a mile at around 9 minute miles followed by another half mile of recovery with a half mile cool down.  After my run it was time to go to the dentist and run some errands before a quiet night at home eating way too many wings and drinking some sangria!   5 mi in 48:19 a 9:40 pace

Wednesday was supposed to be may day off but with a storm coming I switched with Thursday and did a tempo run.  I snaked my way down the familiar rout towards John Brewers (where I bought all the wings the night before) successfully keeping my pace at less than 10 minutes per mile until the cool down mile on the back end around my neighborhood (10:35).  This was my first sponsored run by Gus, Ty and Stephanie Solivan!  Thanks guys!    6 mi in 59:51 a 9:59 pace

Friday was my cross training day which was broken out into two parts 1) shoveling the foot of snow we got and 2) 30 minutes on the newly cleaned elliptical.

Saturday was scheduled to be brutally cold, but I dutiful woke up at 6:15 to get ready for group run number three for Boston Children's.  I got breakfast together and started checking my e-mail as I ate and found out that because of the cold weather and snowy conditions that practice had been cancelled, and we were encouraged to either run on a treadmill or later in the day when it warmed up.  Since I was already up I check the opening time of the BSC and saw it as 6:30 so I got ready in my shorts and short-sleeves (since I was running inside), downed a Gu and headed out the door.  I arrived at BSC about 7:30 only to find it closed.  Apparently Google pulled up the Waltham hours so there I was freezing my butt off in shorts outside the gym, so I quickly made my way over to Panera for a hot coffee to warm myself up while I listened to my book on tape.  After a half hour the gym was open and I braved the cold again to start my run.  I jumped on the treadmill and now my headphones weren't working.  Two hours on the treadmill with nothing to listen to.  I guess today just wasn't my day, but after that the run went pretty well using a 1.5% incline (normally I've been using 1% but I might as well start liking the hills) as I covered 6.2 miles in the first 60 minutes (the limit on the gym machines).  I downed a second Gu and started in again going pretty good just above the 6.2 MPH but with just a little over a mile to go I really hit the wall.  I think since I took that first Gu so early I was a bit low on fuel, but I fought through it to finish well under the 10 minute pace. After I hopped of the treadmill I went over and did some lunges and squats before heading home. This run was graciously sponsored by Dick and LJ Pasternak down in PA.  10 mi in 1:37:04 a 9:42 pace

Sunday is again a cross training day headed back to the gym for another spin class.  Julie was feeling a bit under the weather so I headed in alone.  This being so close to the new year I knew it would be packed so I headed down early even though I had signed up in advanced, and I was right.  There was maybe one bile available by the time class started.  Getting there early allowed me to up on early and get some miles done before class started.  The 4th new teacher I've had (only had the same person twice so far) was pretty intense often jumping off the bike to encourage people up close.  I pushed myself pretty hard and by the time I was done I felt like I needed a new shirt!  After the ride I did some light weights but was pretty wiped to do much of anything  1 hour 6 minutes on the bike covering 19.6 miles

Miles run last week 24.1

14 Weeks until the Boston Marathon!!!