Day 120 - Run with Fil around his workplace. Enjoyed a long stretch of the always scenic Brick Kiln Road.
Mt. Washington training begins tomorrow with a trip out to Wachusett to do some wind sprints up and down the hill.
Westford 5K is on the schedule for Sunday.
Plan is to post (finally) Boston Marathon write-up by Sunday evening.
April 29th, 2010 - Training - Chelmsford, MA - 5
Day 119 - Spring track with GLRR officially started for me today at the Chelmsford High track. My head is still spinning from winter track at the rat dome in Lexington, so I was looking forward to a more typical looking track that didn't require 11 laps for 1 mile! My hip also thanks me.
The workout for Week 2 of GLRR spring track included 6 x 800's. With the additional room on the track, Glenn and Jim were able to break out the runners into more specific speed groups, as oppose to everyone just following Jim's lead in Lexington.
It was a very nice turnout tonight with Matt, Bill, Alyssa, Scott, Andrea, Tom, Fil, Mike B., and a number of others that I can't recall off the top of my head showing up for the work out. In all there were at least 10-13 members broken out into about 4 different speed groups. I was in Group 1 with...myself. Sandbagger Fil and the majority of the other runners fell into Group 2, and so on, depending on their goals.
My goal for this spring is to consistently stay under 18's for the 5K, so Jim recommended that I go for 2:50's for my 800's, which I happily accepted. The only drawback was that nobody else was going to run with me. Festus, hurry back!
Mike (didn't catch his last name), but we'll call him Speedster II, was also at the workout tonight, and is not an official member of GLRR (yet). He's returning from a winter long hiatus due to an injury (more on that later), and this was his first day back on the track. Glenn told me that Mike would be someone I could work out with, so I waited as the other speed groups took off first. I waited a little bit more while Mike warmed up, and then he decided to take a detour to the bathroom.
I decided to just start my work out before it got too late.
I did my first 800 interval in 2:46, a little too excited on that one, due to the fact that running track outside (for the first time in my life!) felt great, even with the killer headwind on the final straightaway.
The next interval came and went in 2:51. That's more like it.
Mike finally returned from the bathroom and asked if he could jump in. We introduced ourselves and off we went. We nailed our first interval together in 2:50. Right on the money! What a huge difference it makes to have a training partner.
On our 400 rest interval, I learned that Mike lived in the Lowell area, and his 5K PR was in the low 17's. Perfect! Something for me to aim for. I also learned that he was getting over an injury from running over the winter. Part of it had to do with running at the Lexington track. The same track that GLRR used for winter workouts!
Mike had been going all out through the early winter on that track, and a few weeks into his workouts, his right hip started to bother him tremendously! This was exactly what I was experiencing by the end of winter track at the dome. Fortunately, my injury didn't sideline me for 5 months like it did for Mike. I think it was mainly due to the fact that I had held back on most of those winter workouts, and it was only when I started to pick it up near the end that the punishment of all of those short, banked turns eventually got to me.
We completed the fourth and fifth interval in 2:51 and 2:53. My mind kind of wandered on the fifth interval, so that was the reason for running slower than the target pace. I actually zoned out a bit on the fifith interval and thought it was the fourth interval! I guess Reno would call that being "mindlessness".
I felt great on the sixth interval, which I thought was the fifth interval, and completed that one in 2:49. I was disappointed to find out, when I came back around and ready to kick it in for the "final" interval, that I had already completed all six of my 800's! Wow. I was amazed at how effortless the workout had felt, and how much faster it is when you're not running around a track fifty times in a workout!
I can't wait for next week's track workout, and also wishing for less wind.
Expecting to put in a lunch time run with Fil, so it looks like we're doing the Parking Lot Series.
Map of tonight's run (this is more like it):
The workout for Week 2 of GLRR spring track included 6 x 800's. With the additional room on the track, Glenn and Jim were able to break out the runners into more specific speed groups, as oppose to everyone just following Jim's lead in Lexington.
It was a very nice turnout tonight with Matt, Bill, Alyssa, Scott, Andrea, Tom, Fil, Mike B., and a number of others that I can't recall off the top of my head showing up for the work out. In all there were at least 10-13 members broken out into about 4 different speed groups. I was in Group 1 with...myself. Sandbagger Fil and the majority of the other runners fell into Group 2, and so on, depending on their goals.
My goal for this spring is to consistently stay under 18's for the 5K, so Jim recommended that I go for 2:50's for my 800's, which I happily accepted. The only drawback was that nobody else was going to run with me. Festus, hurry back!
Mike (didn't catch his last name), but we'll call him Speedster II, was also at the workout tonight, and is not an official member of GLRR (yet). He's returning from a winter long hiatus due to an injury (more on that later), and this was his first day back on the track. Glenn told me that Mike would be someone I could work out with, so I waited as the other speed groups took off first. I waited a little bit more while Mike warmed up, and then he decided to take a detour to the bathroom.
I decided to just start my work out before it got too late.
I did my first 800 interval in 2:46, a little too excited on that one, due to the fact that running track outside (for the first time in my life!) felt great, even with the killer headwind on the final straightaway.
The next interval came and went in 2:51. That's more like it.
Mike finally returned from the bathroom and asked if he could jump in. We introduced ourselves and off we went. We nailed our first interval together in 2:50. Right on the money! What a huge difference it makes to have a training partner.
On our 400 rest interval, I learned that Mike lived in the Lowell area, and his 5K PR was in the low 17's. Perfect! Something for me to aim for. I also learned that he was getting over an injury from running over the winter. Part of it had to do with running at the Lexington track. The same track that GLRR used for winter workouts!
Mike had been going all out through the early winter on that track, and a few weeks into his workouts, his right hip started to bother him tremendously! This was exactly what I was experiencing by the end of winter track at the dome. Fortunately, my injury didn't sideline me for 5 months like it did for Mike. I think it was mainly due to the fact that I had held back on most of those winter workouts, and it was only when I started to pick it up near the end that the punishment of all of those short, banked turns eventually got to me.
We completed the fourth and fifth interval in 2:51 and 2:53. My mind kind of wandered on the fifth interval, so that was the reason for running slower than the target pace. I actually zoned out a bit on the fifith interval and thought it was the fourth interval! I guess Reno would call that being "mindlessness".
I felt great on the sixth interval, which I thought was the fifth interval, and completed that one in 2:49. I was disappointed to find out, when I came back around and ready to kick it in for the "final" interval, that I had already completed all six of my 800's! Wow. I was amazed at how effortless the workout had felt, and how much faster it is when you're not running around a track fifty times in a workout!
I can't wait for next week's track workout, and also wishing for less wind.
Expecting to put in a lunch time run with Fil, so it looks like we're doing the Parking Lot Series.
Map of tonight's run (this is more like it):
April 28th, 2010 - Training - Lowell, MA - 3.1
Day 118 - Welcome to the race Jim R.*
(Photo courtesy of Jim Rhoades...Yep, he took the photo of himself and ran the race!)
April 27th, 2010 - Race - Lowell, MA - 3.1
Day 117 - The assault on a sub-17 5K took a slight detour tonight at Good Times #2 in Lowell, MA.
The sight of seeing 17's at Groton this past weekend (albeit by 1 second!) was too good to not try for again, and I felt I had a good shot at it tonight at Good Times. Main reason being is that I feel that Groton is a slightly slower, "tougher" course than the GT alternate course. The rest of it would be up to me.
I felt great when I left work at 5:30PM. The temp was about 50 with a slight drizzle in Burlington. By the time I got to Lowell it was more than a drizzle, and it was closer to 40 degrees! Perhaps I had a better shot at a sub-zero tonight. When I left the apt to head over to Hookslide's at 6:30 the rain had stopped, but the chill was still in the air. It was a strange chill, almost like late fall with the wetness.
I wore my compression arm sleeves and running gloves, along with just a singlet and cap up top. Short shorts down below. Went sox-less with the Lunars tonight since it was a going to be a wet one out on the course.
My hopes of Titus and Joe not showing up for at least one week was dashed as we lined up for the start.
The only runner that was here, and had finished ahead of me last week, was Joseph M. Pretty much all of the regulars were here tonight, with the exception of Bill A. Frank and Rick were still MIA. Maybe next week guys? Jim H., a new, but familiar face, was also here tonight, hoping to get over a "disappointing" NH GP race over the weekend.
The weather kept away the record crowd of the prior week, and the race itself felt a little more subdued than usual.
The GO signal went off a little after 7.
Joe and Titus once again took the lead heading into the first turn, with me right on their tail. They were definitely not going all out this week, and the same was true for everybody else in the pack.
We got onto the riverwalk stretch in the same order, with Joseph passing me on the long straightaway. There's something about this beginning stretch that always makes me relax a little bit too much. Like at Groton, I just wanted to keep the closest person no more than five seconds in front me.
Crossed over Mile 1 in 5:45 (vs 5:40 at Groton). I knew that I would need a sub 5:48 pace to get under 18, so I was being really conservative at the start, hoping to make up any difference by the end.
Joseph was still in front of me as we crossed the University Ave bridge, and down the VFW. He was actually starting to pull away, and my stomach was acting up again. He ran a 18:07 last Tuesday, so I knew that I had a good shot at catching him if I was able to maintain this pace and get under 18. The only other piece of good news was that I didn't hear or sense anyone else on my tail throughout this stretch.
We crossed Mile 2 in 5:56 (vs 5:53). My slowest mile has always been on this stretch, even with the downhill, which I believe is typical for most runners halfway through a 5K race. Note to self, I'll need to focus on increasing my pace on this stretch to see if it helps or hurts.
It wasn't until where the VFW starts to climb (end of guard rail) that I was able to make my move on Joseph. I quickly debated whether or not to stay on his heels in an attempt to wear him out (always easier to follow than to lead), but I was gunning for a sub 18, so that was out of the question. I eventually passed Joseph just as we turned onto the Aiken St bridge. A few passerbys were even nice enough to yell out our current standings in the race, but that wasn't too hard to figure out.
I didn't hear Joseph make an effort to try to keep up with me, so I managed to pull further and further away, passing the final water stop about five seconds in front of him.
I tried to pick it up on the home stretch, but I couldn't get the turnover that I was getting at Groton. I figure that the track at Groton and the long straightaway at Good Times are about equivalent in speed. Fortunately for me, Joseph only picked it up a tiny bit, and my kick at this point negated any change in separation between the two of us.
I came across Mile 3 in 5:46 (vs 5:54), so I was indeed getting a little more speed than I was feeling. With .1 to go, I could hear Glenn, at the finish, yelling at me to pick it up, but I could sense disappointment in his voice when the clock ticked over to 18:00 with .03 to go. The same disappointment washed over me when I finally crossed and saw my Garmin read 18:06. Although I didn't get under 18 tonight, I did manage to set a new GTS PR by 7 seconds, and move myself into the top 100 all-time, for males at the series, behind the Masked Avenger!
The split for the final .10 for Groton and tonight were 32 seconds and 40 seconds, respectively. The final kick was basically the majority of the difference between my times at both races.
I took away a couple of lessons tonight. Mainly, I was relying way too heavily on my Garmin to set my pace, in the hopes that I could get under 18 based on my average pace readout. I need to keep in mind that the Garmin isn't that accurate, and it's typically a few seconds off of the offical race time.
There's always next week to go for another sub-17 5K (and stay there), or another GTS PR. I'm hoping to rest up a little bit more and be at 100% post Boston by next Tuesday.
Nice job by all of those PR's tonight! Including Owey, Kelly, and Angela who smashed their own PR's by over 4, 3, 2 minutes, respectively. Keep it up ladies!!
Big congrats to the Faria boys for showing up and finishing the race, but you need to work harder in order to kick your dad's butt by the end of the summa' series!
Tonight's race was also in memory of Good Times regulars who recently passed away, Jack Kelleher and Phil Riley. Jim H. ended up winning the Phil Riley award for the night for winning what would have been Phil's age group. Nice job getting over the weekend race!
Interesting fact, 366 days ago tonight, I accomplished my assault on a sub-20 5K, and ended up running a PR of 19:59!
Results
The sight of seeing 17's at Groton this past weekend (albeit by 1 second!) was too good to not try for again, and I felt I had a good shot at it tonight at Good Times. Main reason being is that I feel that Groton is a slightly slower, "tougher" course than the GT alternate course. The rest of it would be up to me.
I felt great when I left work at 5:30PM. The temp was about 50 with a slight drizzle in Burlington. By the time I got to Lowell it was more than a drizzle, and it was closer to 40 degrees! Perhaps I had a better shot at a sub-zero tonight. When I left the apt to head over to Hookslide's at 6:30 the rain had stopped, but the chill was still in the air. It was a strange chill, almost like late fall with the wetness.
I wore my compression arm sleeves and running gloves, along with just a singlet and cap up top. Short shorts down below. Went sox-less with the Lunars tonight since it was a going to be a wet one out on the course.
My hopes of Titus and Joe not showing up for at least one week was dashed as we lined up for the start.
The only runner that was here, and had finished ahead of me last week, was Joseph M. Pretty much all of the regulars were here tonight, with the exception of Bill A. Frank and Rick were still MIA. Maybe next week guys? Jim H., a new, but familiar face, was also here tonight, hoping to get over a "disappointing" NH GP race over the weekend.
The weather kept away the record crowd of the prior week, and the race itself felt a little more subdued than usual.
The GO signal went off a little after 7.
Joe and Titus once again took the lead heading into the first turn, with me right on their tail. They were definitely not going all out this week, and the same was true for everybody else in the pack.
We got onto the riverwalk stretch in the same order, with Joseph passing me on the long straightaway. There's something about this beginning stretch that always makes me relax a little bit too much. Like at Groton, I just wanted to keep the closest person no more than five seconds in front me.
Crossed over Mile 1 in 5:45 (vs 5:40 at Groton). I knew that I would need a sub 5:48 pace to get under 18, so I was being really conservative at the start, hoping to make up any difference by the end.
Joseph was still in front of me as we crossed the University Ave bridge, and down the VFW. He was actually starting to pull away, and my stomach was acting up again. He ran a 18:07 last Tuesday, so I knew that I had a good shot at catching him if I was able to maintain this pace and get under 18. The only other piece of good news was that I didn't hear or sense anyone else on my tail throughout this stretch.
We crossed Mile 2 in 5:56 (vs 5:53). My slowest mile has always been on this stretch, even with the downhill, which I believe is typical for most runners halfway through a 5K race. Note to self, I'll need to focus on increasing my pace on this stretch to see if it helps or hurts.
It wasn't until where the VFW starts to climb (end of guard rail) that I was able to make my move on Joseph. I quickly debated whether or not to stay on his heels in an attempt to wear him out (always easier to follow than to lead), but I was gunning for a sub 18, so that was out of the question. I eventually passed Joseph just as we turned onto the Aiken St bridge. A few passerbys were even nice enough to yell out our current standings in the race, but that wasn't too hard to figure out.
I didn't hear Joseph make an effort to try to keep up with me, so I managed to pull further and further away, passing the final water stop about five seconds in front of him.
I tried to pick it up on the home stretch, but I couldn't get the turnover that I was getting at Groton. I figure that the track at Groton and the long straightaway at Good Times are about equivalent in speed. Fortunately for me, Joseph only picked it up a tiny bit, and my kick at this point negated any change in separation between the two of us.
(Photo courtesy of Mike Stynwyck and his D200)
I came across Mile 3 in 5:46 (vs 5:54), so I was indeed getting a little more speed than I was feeling. With .1 to go, I could hear Glenn, at the finish, yelling at me to pick it up, but I could sense disappointment in his voice when the clock ticked over to 18:00 with .03 to go. The same disappointment washed over me when I finally crossed and saw my Garmin read 18:06. Although I didn't get under 18 tonight, I did manage to set a new GTS PR by 7 seconds, and move myself into the top 100 all-time, for males at the series, behind the Masked Avenger!
The split for the final .10 for Groton and tonight were 32 seconds and 40 seconds, respectively. The final kick was basically the majority of the difference between my times at both races.
I took away a couple of lessons tonight. Mainly, I was relying way too heavily on my Garmin to set my pace, in the hopes that I could get under 18 based on my average pace readout. I need to keep in mind that the Garmin isn't that accurate, and it's typically a few seconds off of the offical race time.
There's always next week to go for another sub-17 5K (and stay there), or another GTS PR. I'm hoping to rest up a little bit more and be at 100% post Boston by next Tuesday.
Nice job by all of those PR's tonight! Including Owey, Kelly, and Angela who smashed their own PR's by over 4, 3, 2 minutes, respectively. Keep it up ladies!!
Big congrats to the Faria boys for showing up and finishing the race, but you need to work harder in order to kick your dad's butt by the end of the summa' series!
Tonight's race was also in memory of Good Times regulars who recently passed away, Jack Kelleher and Phil Riley. Jim H. ended up winning the Phil Riley award for the night for winning what would have been Phil's age group. Nice job getting over the weekend race!
Interesting fact, 366 days ago tonight, I accomplished my assault on a sub-20 5K, and ended up running a PR of 19:59!
Results
(Groton 5K Splits)
(GTS #2 Splits)
April 25th, 2010 - Race - Groton, MA - 3.1
Day 115 - Not knowing what each day will bring is what makes life, and this 365 Day Race, interesting.
I woke up this morning, after getting some much needed sleeping-in, around 9:30AM and was just expecting it to be another lazy Sunday with an 8-9 miler thrown in. The weather was suppose to turn for the worse around 11AM, so it was looking more like a dreaded treadmill run.
I took the boys out and the weather was actually nicer than I had thought it would be, but then again, this is New England. There was only a steady, cool breeze to make an otherwise beautiful day a little less beautiful.
That's when my cell phone rang and a phone number that I didn't recognize showed up, so I just let it go to voicemail. I figure that if it's important, then they'd leave a message. I guess it was important because 30 seconds later, I had voicemail.
The only word that I could make out in the short message was my name, and something about being late. I would have just deleted the message and continued on with my day if the caller didn't use my name in conjunction with "late".
Of course, the first thing I did when I got back inside was Google the number. Nothing.
I decided to do a callback and on the other end was the same broken-english voice.
"Who's this?"
"Hi, Jason, it's Titus!"
It was Titus calling to find out if I was going to the Groton Road Race later that day. I didn't plan on running the race, and was only reminded of it the night before by Eric M.. Eric was already registered to run the 5K. My plan was to perhaps just go and watch the race. This would have been my 3rd race in 6 days, one of which was Boston.
I was ready to tell Titus to just run to the race as a warmup, just like Glenn eventually did (20.5 miles!). Instead, I told Titus that I could swing by in about 30 minutes to take him to the race. Unfortunately, Rachel overheard my conversation and was ready to jam the phone down my throat.
It took some pleading, and more pleading, before she allowed me to just drop Titus off. NO RACING!
Of course, me being me, I always have my race gear packed and ready to go at a moment's notice. No way was I going to drive one hour round-trip, to a race, and not race! Before leaving (and sneaking out with my race bag), I told Rachel that I'd be back in an hour or so...
I picked up Titus and we drove the 30 minutes to Groton. During that time, I told Titus that I was going to just run the 5K to stretch out my legs. That's when I discovered that he was planning to run both the 5K and the 10K! In my mind, I moved myself down one spot in the 5K standings. Also, Titus told me that Ben N. was also planning to run the 5K. Another spot down the standings I went. Oh, Joseph K. was also running...but he's running the 10K though. Phew.
The temps were in the mid 60's with a stiffer breeze when we got to the already bustling race site. The parking lots were filling up fast, so we had to park about 1/4th of a mile away from the registration area and walk back. That's when we ran into Ben and Joe. This was actually the first time that I had ever met the friendly (they all are) Ben. I had met Joseph at Boston.
The Kenyan trio went to register, while I headed down to the finish area to look for John or Debbie from Bay State Race Services. I was hoping for a free entry into the race, but when I discovered that it was just Debbie, I decided not to push my luck.
Eric saw me poking around the finish area and greeted me with a few choice words, a smile, and a handshake. I had told him that I wasn't going to run, but my attire indicated otherwise. In Eric's mind, he just moved down one more spot :)
I went and registered, changed, and with 30 minutes to spare, Eric and I went to warm-up. Eric was nice enough to describe the course to me, and then took me on a quick tour of the start and finish of the course during our warm-up. This was definitely helpful, and made a huge difference later in the race.
We did 1.5 miles of the course preview before we lined up for the start of the race at 11:50AM.
I couldn't believe I was actually lined up in the front row with Mark M. (3rd place last year), Ben, Titus, and a number of other speedy looking fellas i.e. Tim Burke. Eric was behind me along with Mark C. and his young running crew:
I was actually surprised to see Tim, since the last time I saw him was last September when he was getting into a van at Reach the Beach, and before that was the 2009 Spring Good Times 5K series. I have always been in awe at Tim's performances, and I was beginning to gauge my own performance at the Good Times based on his times. Other than Titus, Festus, and EJ, I always felt that Tim would have been the next person I would need to catch in order to move up in the Good Times standings. Unfortunately, after winning the 2009 spring series, he disappeared from the scene...until today!
My spur-of-the-moment goal was to challenge, or even beat Tim, at this race! If I could do that, then I knew that I was moving up in the local running world. Also, beating Tim would most likely require a first sub-18 5K from me. Both goals were just fanciful thoughts while I stood waiting for the Minutemen to fire their muskets to signify the start of the race.
The one thing that really stood out for me, while I was waiting for the start, was how calm I was. No nervous energy, no pre-race jitters, no lead feet. I just felt calm. I guess my body was finally getting use to racing against strong competition, or it could just mean that I've given into defeat before the race even started. Either way, it was a great feeling to have!
The muskets went off and we were off, down the straightaway track, lined with spectators, that lead onto the main course. A very cool way to start a race.
There was the usual group of youngins' that took off like a bat out of hell. By the time I got to Mile 1 in 5:40, most of those kids had already dropped back and I had moved up into about 13th place. The lead pack wasn't too far ahead, but they were steadily moving further away.
In front of me were three high school runners working together to get through the race. I remember coming across their coach at 1.5, and he was just screaming his head off at them to pick it up. Relax buddy. Running is supposed to be fun.
By Mile 2, one of the high schoolers had fallen away from his teammates, and things weren't looking too good for other two as well. I began to reel them in. Mile 2 came and went in 5:53 with a few steady hills thrown in there for good measure. Nothing crazy as others were making the hills out to be before the race. Also, it appears that the police might have directed the runners in the wrong direction at one point, but fortunately it just forced the runners to run a looped part of the course in reverse.
My stomach was churning at this point and the acids were doing a nasty number to my insides. I felt great otherwise and just told myself to ignore the stomach pains, since it didn't really impact my running. Tim made his move around 2.5 and passed me while I was talking to my stomach. At this point, I just wanted to keep him within five seconds of myself if I wanted any chance to catch him down the final stretch.
I knew exactly where I was on the course and what to expect over the final mile thanks to Eric's guidance earlier in the day. Another runner passed me as we approached the right hand turn for the final 300 meter track finish. The bad part was that he looked like he was in my age group (confirmed later that he was in my age group).
The one thing that I didn't want to do was start my kick too early and die right before the finish. Thanks to my track workouts, over the winter with GLRR, I also knew that I had enough in me to give a nice kick for at least 3/4th's of a lap, and having the finish on the track definitely helped in this aspect.
From the final turn to the start of the track portion (Mile 3) is about 15 yards. I started my kick and gained some ground on the the kid in front of me, but it wasn't until we got to the final turn on the track that I managed to pass him on the outside. I heard him grunt something mean and attempt his own kick to no avail. I stepped on the gas even harder just hoping to have a strong finish and prevent the kid from passing me back.
This was when I realized that I had a good shot at Tim on the final straightaway leading into the finish chute! I kicked it into another gear (didn't know I had) with the rush of knowing that I could at least meet one of my goals for today. I was basically falling forward, hoping not to trip and land on my face, short of the finish. Here, I'll let Jim Rhoades describe the finish:
I woke up this morning, after getting some much needed sleeping-in, around 9:30AM and was just expecting it to be another lazy Sunday with an 8-9 miler thrown in. The weather was suppose to turn for the worse around 11AM, so it was looking more like a dreaded treadmill run.
I took the boys out and the weather was actually nicer than I had thought it would be, but then again, this is New England. There was only a steady, cool breeze to make an otherwise beautiful day a little less beautiful.
That's when my cell phone rang and a phone number that I didn't recognize showed up, so I just let it go to voicemail. I figure that if it's important, then they'd leave a message. I guess it was important because 30 seconds later, I had voicemail.
The only word that I could make out in the short message was my name, and something about being late. I would have just deleted the message and continued on with my day if the caller didn't use my name in conjunction with "late".
Of course, the first thing I did when I got back inside was Google the number. Nothing.
I decided to do a callback and on the other end was the same broken-english voice.
"Who's this?"
"Hi, Jason, it's Titus!"
It was Titus calling to find out if I was going to the Groton Road Race later that day. I didn't plan on running the race, and was only reminded of it the night before by Eric M.. Eric was already registered to run the 5K. My plan was to perhaps just go and watch the race. This would have been my 3rd race in 6 days, one of which was Boston.
I was ready to tell Titus to just run to the race as a warmup, just like Glenn eventually did (20.5 miles!). Instead, I told Titus that I could swing by in about 30 minutes to take him to the race. Unfortunately, Rachel overheard my conversation and was ready to jam the phone down my throat.
It took some pleading, and more pleading, before she allowed me to just drop Titus off. NO RACING!
Of course, me being me, I always have my race gear packed and ready to go at a moment's notice. No way was I going to drive one hour round-trip, to a race, and not race! Before leaving (and sneaking out with my race bag), I told Rachel that I'd be back in an hour or so...
I picked up Titus and we drove the 30 minutes to Groton. During that time, I told Titus that I was going to just run the 5K to stretch out my legs. That's when I discovered that he was planning to run both the 5K and the 10K! In my mind, I moved myself down one spot in the 5K standings. Also, Titus told me that Ben N. was also planning to run the 5K. Another spot down the standings I went. Oh, Joseph K. was also running...but he's running the 10K though. Phew.
The temps were in the mid 60's with a stiffer breeze when we got to the already bustling race site. The parking lots were filling up fast, so we had to park about 1/4th of a mile away from the registration area and walk back. That's when we ran into Ben and Joe. This was actually the first time that I had ever met the friendly (they all are) Ben. I had met Joseph at Boston.
The Kenyan trio went to register, while I headed down to the finish area to look for John or Debbie from Bay State Race Services. I was hoping for a free entry into the race, but when I discovered that it was just Debbie, I decided not to push my luck.
Eric saw me poking around the finish area and greeted me with a few choice words, a smile, and a handshake. I had told him that I wasn't going to run, but my attire indicated otherwise. In Eric's mind, he just moved down one more spot :)
I went and registered, changed, and with 30 minutes to spare, Eric and I went to warm-up. Eric was nice enough to describe the course to me, and then took me on a quick tour of the start and finish of the course during our warm-up. This was definitely helpful, and made a huge difference later in the race.
We did 1.5 miles of the course preview before we lined up for the start of the race at 11:50AM.
I couldn't believe I was actually lined up in the front row with Mark M. (3rd place last year), Ben, Titus, and a number of other speedy looking fellas i.e. Tim Burke. Eric was behind me along with Mark C. and his young running crew:
I was actually surprised to see Tim, since the last time I saw him was last September when he was getting into a van at Reach the Beach, and before that was the 2009 Spring Good Times 5K series. I have always been in awe at Tim's performances, and I was beginning to gauge my own performance at the Good Times based on his times. Other than Titus, Festus, and EJ, I always felt that Tim would have been the next person I would need to catch in order to move up in the Good Times standings. Unfortunately, after winning the 2009 spring series, he disappeared from the scene...until today!
My spur-of-the-moment goal was to challenge, or even beat Tim, at this race! If I could do that, then I knew that I was moving up in the local running world. Also, beating Tim would most likely require a first sub-18 5K from me. Both goals were just fanciful thoughts while I stood waiting for the Minutemen to fire their muskets to signify the start of the race.
The one thing that really stood out for me, while I was waiting for the start, was how calm I was. No nervous energy, no pre-race jitters, no lead feet. I just felt calm. I guess my body was finally getting use to racing against strong competition, or it could just mean that I've given into defeat before the race even started. Either way, it was a great feeling to have!
The muskets went off and we were off, down the straightaway track, lined with spectators, that lead onto the main course. A very cool way to start a race.
There was the usual group of youngins' that took off like a bat out of hell. By the time I got to Mile 1 in 5:40, most of those kids had already dropped back and I had moved up into about 13th place. The lead pack wasn't too far ahead, but they were steadily moving further away.
In front of me were three high school runners working together to get through the race. I remember coming across their coach at 1.5, and he was just screaming his head off at them to pick it up. Relax buddy. Running is supposed to be fun.
By Mile 2, one of the high schoolers had fallen away from his teammates, and things weren't looking too good for other two as well. I began to reel them in. Mile 2 came and went in 5:53 with a few steady hills thrown in there for good measure. Nothing crazy as others were making the hills out to be before the race. Also, it appears that the police might have directed the runners in the wrong direction at one point, but fortunately it just forced the runners to run a looped part of the course in reverse.
My stomach was churning at this point and the acids were doing a nasty number to my insides. I felt great otherwise and just told myself to ignore the stomach pains, since it didn't really impact my running. Tim made his move around 2.5 and passed me while I was talking to my stomach. At this point, I just wanted to keep him within five seconds of myself if I wanted any chance to catch him down the final stretch.
I knew exactly where I was on the course and what to expect over the final mile thanks to Eric's guidance earlier in the day. Another runner passed me as we approached the right hand turn for the final 300 meter track finish. The bad part was that he looked like he was in my age group (confirmed later that he was in my age group).
The one thing that I didn't want to do was start my kick too early and die right before the finish. Thanks to my track workouts, over the winter with GLRR, I also knew that I had enough in me to give a nice kick for at least 3/4th's of a lap, and having the finish on the track definitely helped in this aspect.
From the final turn to the start of the track portion (Mile 3) is about 15 yards. I started my kick and gained some ground on the the kid in front of me, but it wasn't until we got to the final turn on the track that I managed to pass him on the outside. I heard him grunt something mean and attempt his own kick to no avail. I stepped on the gas even harder just hoping to have a strong finish and prevent the kid from passing me back.
This was when I realized that I had a good shot at Tim on the final straightaway leading into the finish chute! I kicked it into another gear (didn't know I had) with the rush of knowing that I could at least meet one of my goals for today. I was basically falling forward, hoping not to trip and land on my face, short of the finish. Here, I'll let Jim Rhoades describe the finish:
My head was a blur, my chest was pounding, and my legs were completely on fire when I finally came a stop. I could barely muster the energy to thank Tim for a great race. He didn't respond as he himself was pretty burnt out.
Almost as an after thought, I looked down at my watch and saw that it read 17:59!
Missions Accomplished.
I gathered myself on the grass and spoke to Titus and Ben about their own run. Jill Trotter (she was racing the 10K) came over and congratulated me on a great finishing kick.
Tim was nice enough to come over and shake my hand for a great race.
That it was, that it was.
April 24th, 2010 - Training - Lowell > Bedford - 9.5
Day 114 - I discovered today that from my apartment's parking lot in Lowell to my in-laws' back yard in Bedford that it is exactly 9.5 miles.
Went out at about an 8 min pace for the first 5K, and then mid 7's in between, before finishing off the last 5K with low/sub 7's. So much for a recovery run, but my legs feel great and are at about 90% post-Boston.
Debating whether or not to run in the Groton 5K race tomorrow, or put in another 9 miler. Either way, it's going to work out to be about the same intensity for my legs. I would rather go with the race, but I will see how I feel in the morning, since the 5K is an 11:50AM start.
Eric M. is expecting to race the 5K tomorrow, so that's more motivation for me to get out there and race.
Went out at about an 8 min pace for the first 5K, and then mid 7's in between, before finishing off the last 5K with low/sub 7's. So much for a recovery run, but my legs feel great and are at about 90% post-Boston.
Debating whether or not to run in the Groton 5K race tomorrow, or put in another 9 miler. Either way, it's going to work out to be about the same intensity for my legs. I would rather go with the race, but I will see how I feel in the morning, since the 5K is an 11:50AM start.
Eric M. is expecting to race the 5K tomorrow, so that's more motivation for me to get out there and race.
April 23rd, 2010 - Training - Chelmsford, MA - 4
Day 113 - Met up with Fil and Kelly at around the 4 mile mark (Brickhouse Pizza) on the freshly minted Freeman Trail for a light jog.
This was my first time running on the trail after hearing so much about it, and it's everything you could ask for in a trail that spans a handful of communities: well maintained, nice scenery, and flat. Flat because Glenn had just completed his progression run earlier in the day. Thanks, Glenn!
Went out about 2 miles and back again. Just wanted to continue to stretch out the legs before putting in serious mileage again. Kelly did awesome after running a 5K PR on Tuesday night. Keep it up Kelly and you'll be kicking Fil's ass in no time. Let him talk all he wants now. That's the way I dealt with him last spring :)
It's nice to have a trail like this, basically in my back yard, instead of having to go down to Bedford to hit the, just as equally nice, Minuteman Trail system.
Once completed, the proposed Freeman Trail will run from Lowell to Framingham, for a total of about 25 miles. Can't wait to run its entirety one day!
This was my first time running on the trail after hearing so much about it, and it's everything you could ask for in a trail that spans a handful of communities: well maintained, nice scenery, and flat. Flat because Glenn had just completed his progression run earlier in the day. Thanks, Glenn!
Went out about 2 miles and back again. Just wanted to continue to stretch out the legs before putting in serious mileage again. Kelly did awesome after running a 5K PR on Tuesday night. Keep it up Kelly and you'll be kicking Fil's ass in no time. Let him talk all he wants now. That's the way I dealt with him last spring :)
It's nice to have a trail like this, basically in my back yard, instead of having to go down to Bedford to hit the, just as equally nice, Minuteman Trail system.
Once completed, the proposed Freeman Trail will run from Lowell to Framingham, for a total of about 25 miles. Can't wait to run its entirety one day!
April 22nd, 2010 - Training - Lowell, MA - 3.2
Day 112 - A little cross-training tonight with Rachel. Went straight to the tennis courts in Bedford after work and got in a few volleys and drop shots. The skies were threatening the entire hour that we were there, but mainly off in the distance. I was hoping that it wasn't pouring up in Lowell as I still had to put in a run.
Got back home and the sky was on fire with a pretty outstanding sun set.
Over dressed for tonight's run, but got in a good sweat over the 3.2 miles. Feeling much lighter for good reason. I weighed myself this morning and got a nice surprise with a reading of 127 lbs. I haven't been under 130 since late last summer, and to think that I was actually at 150 at this point last year! I guess I'm ahead of schedule for next year's blog.
I promise I will add the new racer in the 365 Day Race and update the mileage by this weekend.
Keep it going gang!
Got back home and the sky was on fire with a pretty outstanding sun set.
Over dressed for tonight's run, but got in a good sweat over the 3.2 miles. Feeling much lighter for good reason. I weighed myself this morning and got a nice surprise with a reading of 127 lbs. I haven't been under 130 since late last summer, and to think that I was actually at 150 at this point last year! I guess I'm ahead of schedule for next year's blog.
I promise I will add the new racer in the 365 Day Race and update the mileage by this weekend.
Keep it going gang!
April 21st, 2010 - Training - Lowell, MA - 3.1
Day 111 - That's binary for, I almost gave up on the running streak tonight. Went to the GLRR board meeting right after work, from 7:30 to 9:30. I didn't finish my run until about 11PM!
Overall, felt good, and the legs are recovering nicely from two intense days of running.
I don't expect to make it to track tomorrow as Rachel wants to play a little tennis. I definitely owe her one for making her put up with all of this running business.
Overall, felt good, and the legs are recovering nicely from two intense days of running.
I don't expect to make it to track tomorrow as Rachel wants to play a little tennis. I definitely owe her one for making her put up with all of this running business.
April 20th, 2010 - Race - Lowell, MA - 3.1
Day 110 - Spring arrived late this year.
Tonight was the first of 8 weeks of the Good Times Spring Series in Lowell, MA. This is a weekly running series like no other (I stole that from the site).
My run at Boston the day before was just a warm up for tonight's race. This series is near and dear to my heart as this was the series, last year, that basically got me back into running/racing, and the rest is history.
The biggest plus for me is that the race is in my hometown of Lowell, and the start/finish is only a 5 minute jog from my apartment. Great for a cooldown/warmup run before the festivities begin (and end) at Hookslide's.
After a semi-successful Boston run, I decided to just take it easy and work from home in order to spend time with Rachel and the boys, and to also prepare for Good Times at 7PM. My secret weapon tonight was going to be Salonpas. I had grabbed a handful of these freebies at the Marathon Expo and was now attaching it to every part of my upper leg (and higher) that could possibly cramp up/go limp.
I took a 20 minute dog nap around 5, and was out the door by 6 with my GLRR gear on. The Salonpas was working its magic and I could feel my quads and hamstrings loosen up tremendously. Domo arigato Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical Co!
I jogged the half mile to Hookslides and saw Matt S. warming up with his signature orange hat. The registration line at Hookslides was almost out the door when I arrived. I was greeted by a bunch of familiar and not-so-familair faces. I also received a bunch of 'congratulations' for my run at Boston, which was very heart-warming.
Eventually, I got to the front of the registration line and was greeted by 2009 GLRR RD of the Year, Nancy S., and fellow Boston runner, Jessica C. working the hectic registrations. I noticed right away that Jessica had had her Boston medal permanently attached to her neck.
I received my #14 B-Tag bib, which was in itself another historic footnote to a historic Good Times night. From the man himself, here's Dave Camire describing the new timing device:
The Good Times Series became the first weekly series in the region, perhaps all of New England, to institute chip timing. Each participant is given a bib with a chip affixed to the back. As they cross the finish line mat each entrant is automatically timed. This technology is known as a B-Tag and is one of the most revolutionary products to hit the running industry in years. You'll be hearing lots about it going forward.
After getting my gear on and making some small talk, I completed a one mile warm up around the neighborhood. I eventually ran into grandfather Fil, hobbling around more like a great grandmother, but he looked ready to race too. It was nice to see that his sister Owey, and our good friend, Kelly were also signed up for the series!
The last minute runners were now arriving, and the registration line was definitely out the door at this point. The race was now delayed until a little after 7 to accommodate Tom O's. late arrival.
With time to kill, I began looking around for more familiar faces. This place was turning into Cheers for me. There was Glenn, EJ, Jimmy S., Kim S., Mike S., Dave L., Joe D., Titus "Mutinda", Jonathan M., Keith O., Eric M., Bill A., Scott O., Mark C., Dana B., Paul H., Kara H., Linda M., Ryan H., Meb K., Mark Co., Melanie H., George B., and even Hans Gruber from Die Hard! I'm not sh*tting you!
To think that a year ago, I couldn't even pick any of these unusual suspects from a police line-up! Mysteriously missing tonight was Ricky B. and Frank G., but I hear that they will make their presence known next Tuesday.
After the usual plug for next week's race, and race instructions from Dave, spring was finally underway!
My legs felt great under me, and nothing exploded, so that was a good start. Eric had an even greater start, leading the pack into the first turn at sub 6's. The lead pack dispersed a bit heading down to the river walk where I comfortably fell back into about 8th place as Joe and Titus battled for first place.
Tonight's course altered a bit from the usual Good Times course due to construction behind the ball field. After grabbing some water from 2009 GLRR Volunteer of the Year, Jim S. I made my way up onto the street level with Eric, stride-for-stride next to me. My winter track partner in crime/pacer, Keith O. was about 3 seconds ahead of me as we jockeyed for position on the hill towards the University Ave bridge walkway, crossing Mile 1 in 5:49. Keith managed to keep the lead, and there was no room for me to pass him on the narrow/crowded walkway.
I drafted behind Keith until we got to the downhill portion of the VFW, where Jonathan came out of nowhere and made a pass (non-sexual) at me and Keith. I nearly tripped Keith (sorry!) in the process of getting around him, trying to keep up with Jonathan. By the time Mile 2 came and went in 6:02, Jonathan had fallen back by only a small margin. I could definitely still hear his footsteps as we made our way over the Aiken St bridge, and back down to the river walk for the home stretch.
My back started to tense up a bit at this point, so I consciously told myself to relax and just focus on my form, knowing that everything else would fall into place. That did the trick as I managed to pick up a little speed every time I heard Jonathan try to make another move (this time it might have been sexual). It was getting quite intense with about a quarter mile to go!
I knew that Jonathan still had a strong finishing kick to unleash on me before we were done.
I could finally see the red of the timing clock, and hear the beeps of the timing mats, after the final twist and turns of the finish area. Right on cue, I could hear Jonathan pound on the pavement for the final tenth of a mile, which forced me to kick with every last ounce of my micro-torn leg muscles! This was the finishing kick that I wish I had had the day before at Boston! I guess I just needed someone like Jonathan to kick my ass into a higher gear.
Jonathan and I basically crossed the finish line at the same time, me in 18:24.7, and him with a PR of 18:26.2. Hot damn, that was awesome! Nice run and push, my friend!
I missed my 5K PR by about 13 seconds, but there's always next week to earn a Miley.
After watching and congratulating the other finishers for a few more minutes, I took off for my cooldown and for home.
Results
It's going to be a kick-ass series if every week is going to be like tonight, less the marathon pains.
Tonight was the first of 8 weeks of the Good Times Spring Series in Lowell, MA. This is a weekly running series like no other (I stole that from the site).
My run at Boston the day before was just a warm up for tonight's race. This series is near and dear to my heart as this was the series, last year, that basically got me back into running/racing, and the rest is history.
The biggest plus for me is that the race is in my hometown of Lowell, and the start/finish is only a 5 minute jog from my apartment. Great for a cooldown/warmup run before the festivities begin (and end) at Hookslide's.
After a semi-successful Boston run, I decided to just take it easy and work from home in order to spend time with Rachel and the boys, and to also prepare for Good Times at 7PM. My secret weapon tonight was going to be Salonpas. I had grabbed a handful of these freebies at the Marathon Expo and was now attaching it to every part of my upper leg (and higher) that could possibly cramp up/go limp.
I took a 20 minute dog nap around 5, and was out the door by 6 with my GLRR gear on. The Salonpas was working its magic and I could feel my quads and hamstrings loosen up tremendously. Domo arigato Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical Co!
I jogged the half mile to Hookslides and saw Matt S. warming up with his signature orange hat. The registration line at Hookslides was almost out the door when I arrived. I was greeted by a bunch of familiar and not-so-familair faces. I also received a bunch of 'congratulations' for my run at Boston, which was very heart-warming.
Eventually, I got to the front of the registration line and was greeted by 2009 GLRR RD of the Year, Nancy S., and fellow Boston runner, Jessica C. working the hectic registrations. I noticed right away that Jessica had had her Boston medal permanently attached to her neck.
I received my #14 B-Tag bib, which was in itself another historic footnote to a historic Good Times night. From the man himself, here's Dave Camire describing the new timing device:
The Good Times Series became the first weekly series in the region, perhaps all of New England, to institute chip timing. Each participant is given a bib with a chip affixed to the back. As they cross the finish line mat each entrant is automatically timed. This technology is known as a B-Tag and is one of the most revolutionary products to hit the running industry in years. You'll be hearing lots about it going forward.
After getting my gear on and making some small talk, I completed a one mile warm up around the neighborhood. I eventually ran into grandfather Fil, hobbling around more like a great grandmother, but he looked ready to race too. It was nice to see that his sister Owey, and our good friend, Kelly were also signed up for the series!
The last minute runners were now arriving, and the registration line was definitely out the door at this point. The race was now delayed until a little after 7 to accommodate Tom O's. late arrival.
With time to kill, I began looking around for more familiar faces. This place was turning into Cheers for me. There was Glenn, EJ, Jimmy S., Kim S., Mike S., Dave L., Joe D., Titus "Mutinda", Jonathan M., Keith O., Eric M., Bill A., Scott O., Mark C., Dana B., Paul H., Kara H., Linda M., Ryan H., Meb K., Mark Co., Melanie H., George B., and even Hans Gruber from Die Hard! I'm not sh*tting you!
To think that a year ago, I couldn't even pick any of these unusual suspects from a police line-up! Mysteriously missing tonight was Ricky B. and Frank G., but I hear that they will make their presence known next Tuesday.
After the usual plug for next week's race, and race instructions from Dave, spring was finally underway!
My legs felt great under me, and nothing exploded, so that was a good start. Eric had an even greater start, leading the pack into the first turn at sub 6's. The lead pack dispersed a bit heading down to the river walk where I comfortably fell back into about 8th place as Joe and Titus battled for first place.
Tonight's course altered a bit from the usual Good Times course due to construction behind the ball field. After grabbing some water from 2009 GLRR Volunteer of the Year, Jim S. I made my way up onto the street level with Eric, stride-for-stride next to me. My winter track partner in crime/pacer, Keith O. was about 3 seconds ahead of me as we jockeyed for position on the hill towards the University Ave bridge walkway, crossing Mile 1 in 5:49. Keith managed to keep the lead, and there was no room for me to pass him on the narrow/crowded walkway.
I drafted behind Keith until we got to the downhill portion of the VFW, where Jonathan came out of nowhere and made a pass (non-sexual) at me and Keith. I nearly tripped Keith (sorry!) in the process of getting around him, trying to keep up with Jonathan. By the time Mile 2 came and went in 6:02, Jonathan had fallen back by only a small margin. I could definitely still hear his footsteps as we made our way over the Aiken St bridge, and back down to the river walk for the home stretch.
My back started to tense up a bit at this point, so I consciously told myself to relax and just focus on my form, knowing that everything else would fall into place. That did the trick as I managed to pick up a little speed every time I heard Jonathan try to make another move (this time it might have been sexual). It was getting quite intense with about a quarter mile to go!
I knew that Jonathan still had a strong finishing kick to unleash on me before we were done.
I could finally see the red of the timing clock, and hear the beeps of the timing mats, after the final twist and turns of the finish area. Right on cue, I could hear Jonathan pound on the pavement for the final tenth of a mile, which forced me to kick with every last ounce of my micro-torn leg muscles! This was the finishing kick that I wish I had had the day before at Boston! I guess I just needed someone like Jonathan to kick my ass into a higher gear.
Jonathan and I basically crossed the finish line at the same time, me in 18:24.7, and him with a PR of 18:26.2. Hot damn, that was awesome! Nice run and push, my friend!
I missed my 5K PR by about 13 seconds, but there's always next week to earn a Miley.
After watching and congratulating the other finishers for a few more minutes, I took off for my cooldown and for home.
Results
It's going to be a kick-ass series if every week is going to be like tonight, less the marathon pains.
Marathon Monday, 2010 - Race - Hopkinton > Boston - 26.2
PART I
October 4th, 2009 - Race - Portland, ME - 26.2
I drove up to Portland the night before the Maine Marathon, and stayed in the same hotel as John and his timing crew from Bay State Race Services. They were the ones responsible for the timing of the race itself, and John managed to obtain a free pass for me to run the marathon. I was also allowed stay in one of the hotel rooms, since there was still room available after putting up his timers, at no cost to me. A big THANK YOU for everything, John!
Conditions on race morning were pretty close to ideal for a long distance run. Overcast skies, mid 50's, and your typical cool fall were in the forecast for the entirety of the race. If only the weather could be like this come April 19th, 2010....
Fortunately, I didn't have to get up as early as the rest of John's timing crew to set up (I think they were up around 4AM as this was a 7:45AM race), so I slept in a bit later and was able to take my time getting ready. Once I was ready I made my way down to the race area near the U of Southern Maine campus (less than 15 minutes from the hotel). There was plenty of parking in the garage, and packet pickup was less than a block away. This is exactly what you would want in a "big" race: stress-free organization. I actually couldn't believe how everything had fallen into place, and how smooth things were going so far. A sign of things to come for the rest of my first BQ? Hopefully.
I went out to the start/finish area to see John, and to kill about an hour of time before the race was scheduled to start. I was still basically wearing what I wore to bed the previous night, sweats and a sweater. John also gave me access to use the timing trailer/HQ to get ready and change into my running clothes when the time came. The trailer was about 10 feet from the starting line. Too good to be true.
After wandering around, anxiously, for about 30 minutes, I finally got on my battle gear and did a short warm-up. As they say, the longer the race, the shorter the warm-up.
I knew that I was ready coming into this day. I didn't follow any particular marathon training regiment, but I'd put in what I felt was the right amount of training to get me ready. I just had to focus on my goal and be disciplined enough to stick to it for the entire race.
The only goal for today was to just average under 7:17's per mile in order to get below the magic number of 3:10:59. I think every training run I had put in prior to this was comfortably below this threshold.
The very scenic Portland course is relatively tame based on what I had been told, and what I had read. I also received a few last minute tips from veteran runners who had completed the course, and it jived with all of my expectations. John gave me one last tip that still stays with me to this day: For the start of a marathon, find a comfortable pace and back off from that.
I positioned myself near the front of the pack, but not too close as I remember from timing this race in prior years that the race organizers love to use a cannon to signify the start. The mini Civil War cannon definitely packs a wallop and makes you jump right out of your shoes, and that’s exactly what everybody did, myself included, when it went off at 7:45AM.
I quickly settled into a 7:05 pace and tried not to get pulled into the early rush. Runners of all shapes and sizes quickly passed me, mainly due to the fact that the half-marathon event ran the same course as the full (similar to Baystate), before a turnaround point at mile 6 for the half.
I tucked behind other runners who I felt were going to run the same pace as myself, but quickly found myself ahead of them too. There was one cute girl that I ran with for about 2 miles, but looks can only take you so far in life, and running, so I dropped her around mile 4. We were now out on the outskirts of Portland and this was where the rolling hills began.
It was around this point that I came up on Dwane M. who I still stay in touch with to this day. I found out that he was from the Boston area and was also attempting to qualify for Boston. We stuck together for the next 20 or so miles. This was the first time that I had ever been able to run with someone, side-by-side, for this long during a race. It helped that he needed the same qualifying time as me, sub 3:10. Like runners often do, we silently agreed to work off one another and pull each other along.
It was easier to pace ourselves once we reached the 6 mile mark when the half-marathoner’s turned around to head back to the finish area. We now knew who were racing against and, surprisingly, Dwane and I weren’t that far behind the lead pack! We managed to fight the urge to go any faster, stuck with our 7:05 pace, and only going sub 7’s on the down hills.
Dwane and I would talk in short bursts and I would intermittingly announce our pace every few miles. We were consistently hanging onto a 7:05 pace at this point, and more importantly, it felt effortless. The one thing that I remember, from my run with Dwane, was that he knew how to run the down hills. I would fly up the hills (Thank You USATF NE Mountain Races!) and he would repay me the favor by flying past me on the down side. I wanted to stick with him, so I followed him down just as fast. We were now starting to pass the runners that passed us earlier.
The lead runner was about 2 miles ahead of us when we saw him, and the lead pack, come back home on the out-and-back course. It was nice to get some encouragement from other runners, still heading to the turnaround at mile 13, when we started to head back home ourselves. I still felt great with a split of 1 hr 32 minutes at the halfway mark.
It was around 15 that I took my first GU. I had another packet on me, and my plan was to use that one around 22 for the final kick. The other packet was actually a Hammer Gel, which I discovered at the Applefest Half a few weeks earlier, was much better at delivering the crucial energy that I would need. I just think that GU requires too much water to digest properly, and then it takes awhile to deliver the energy.
Around 20 was when I first noticed that Dwane was starting to fall back every time I made a surge to get up and down another set of hills. He was now fighting his own battle and I couldn’t stick around to help him. I had my own fight ahead of me. Just as quietly as we agreed to run together, we slowly parted ways.
I later learned that his legs started to cramp up on him, which was also in the back of my mind. Legs cramps have always been an issue that I’ve had in marathons, especially during my Boston bandit days. But I also kept on telling myself that that was Boston, and the nature of that beast. This is Portland. It couldn’t happen here too, could it?
That’s exactly what happened. Right on cue around mile 23, my legs muscles started to twitch and show the tell-tale signs of cramping. I eased up on the gas, and dropped my pace just a tad. I had one packet of GU left and I decided to take it for the final 5K, hoping the leg cramp would hold off just a bit longer.
I came up on the final hill, a bridge crossing the Back Cove, around Mile 24 and I remember a cross-wind was howling during this half mile crossing. Once I cleared this section in 7:28, I finally felt the surge of my final GU kicking in.
With that obstacle behind me, I now only had to hang in there to finish under the goal of 3 hrs and 10 minutes. I was on pace for about a 3:07 marathon. I began to see the final finishers of the half marathon as I came around the bend in the Back Cove. This stretch of road reminded me of running on a banked track. In other words, it felt very fast.
I started passing the half-marathoners’ as they cheered me on. Race photographers were set up in the middle of the road, snapping my pictures. Each cheer and each snap acted like a checkpoint in a racing video game, giving me a boost of energy at each crossing. My Garmin beeped off Mile 25 in 7:01.
I kicked it into overdrive and began my final sprint to the finish. My legs were loose and my mind was focused on one goal: finish strong.
I hit sub 7’s at a couple points during the final mile, and flew into the finish area not knowing where to go! I couldn’t recall if marathoners finished on the right or the left chute. I still don’t know if my timing buddies at the finish were playing a practical joke on me or they really thought I was a half-marathoner, but they started pointing to the left and then to the right, and then back to the left! I quickly slalomed between the road cones and finally settled on the left side, the correct side. I was lucky (and them too!) that I didn’t pull a muscle.
I finished the final mile in seven flat, and crossed the finish line in 3:07:14 for a 25th place finish out of 959 runners.
Results
Dwane, my runner partner for 20 miles, managed to work out his cramps and finish about 38 seconds below the Boston cut-off time for our age-group!
I quickly cooled down and packed up my belongings. I was riding a tremendous high, and a faint hint of sadness, as I left Portland.
The only thing on my mind now, as I made my way home down 95 South, was…
PART II
Mile 22 – This was where the wheels on bus 4280 from Hopkinton to Boston started to come off. My right hamstring cramped up, and I stutter stepped from the shock of the sudden pain shooting up my right leg. Not again, I thought.
(The wheels on the bus go...)
In all of the excitement of cresting Heart Break in 2 hrs and 30 minutes, I had forgotten to follow through on part three of Plan A: race the flats, survive the up hills, and control myself on the down hills. Hamstring cramping has always been an issue for me, and the one issue that I’ve always had at Boston, and other marathons, including my qualifer in Portland, Maine late last year…
I drove up to Portland the night before the Maine Marathon, and stayed in the same hotel as John and his timing crew from Bay State Race Services. They were the ones responsible for the timing of the race itself, and John managed to obtain a free pass for me to run the marathon. I was also allowed stay in one of the hotel rooms, since there was still room available after putting up his timers, at no cost to me. A big THANK YOU for everything, John!
Conditions on race morning were pretty close to ideal for a long distance run. Overcast skies, mid 50's, and your typical cool fall were in the forecast for the entirety of the race. If only the weather could be like this come April 19th, 2010....
Fortunately, I didn't have to get up as early as the rest of John's timing crew to set up (I think they were up around 4AM as this was a 7:45AM race), so I slept in a bit later and was able to take my time getting ready. Once I was ready I made my way down to the race area near the U of Southern Maine campus (less than 15 minutes from the hotel). There was plenty of parking in the garage, and packet pickup was less than a block away. This is exactly what you would want in a "big" race: stress-free organization. I actually couldn't believe how everything had fallen into place, and how smooth things were going so far. A sign of things to come for the rest of my first BQ? Hopefully.
I went out to the start/finish area to see John, and to kill about an hour of time before the race was scheduled to start. I was still basically wearing what I wore to bed the previous night, sweats and a sweater. John also gave me access to use the timing trailer/HQ to get ready and change into my running clothes when the time came. The trailer was about 10 feet from the starting line. Too good to be true.
After wandering around, anxiously, for about 30 minutes, I finally got on my battle gear and did a short warm-up. As they say, the longer the race, the shorter the warm-up.
I knew that I was ready coming into this day. I didn't follow any particular marathon training regiment, but I'd put in what I felt was the right amount of training to get me ready. I just had to focus on my goal and be disciplined enough to stick to it for the entire race.
The only goal for today was to just average under 7:17's per mile in order to get below the magic number of 3:10:59. I think every training run I had put in prior to this was comfortably below this threshold.
The very scenic Portland course is relatively tame based on what I had been told, and what I had read. I also received a few last minute tips from veteran runners who had completed the course, and it jived with all of my expectations. John gave me one last tip that still stays with me to this day: For the start of a marathon, find a comfortable pace and back off from that.
I positioned myself near the front of the pack, but not too close as I remember from timing this race in prior years that the race organizers love to use a cannon to signify the start. The mini Civil War cannon definitely packs a wallop and makes you jump right out of your shoes, and that’s exactly what everybody did, myself included, when it went off at 7:45AM.
I quickly settled into a 7:05 pace and tried not to get pulled into the early rush. Runners of all shapes and sizes quickly passed me, mainly due to the fact that the half-marathon event ran the same course as the full (similar to Baystate), before a turnaround point at mile 6 for the half.
I tucked behind other runners who I felt were going to run the same pace as myself, but quickly found myself ahead of them too. There was one cute girl that I ran with for about 2 miles, but looks can only take you so far in life, and running, so I dropped her around mile 4. We were now out on the outskirts of Portland and this was where the rolling hills began.
It was around this point that I came up on Dwane M. who I still stay in touch with to this day. I found out that he was from the Boston area and was also attempting to qualify for Boston. We stuck together for the next 20 or so miles. This was the first time that I had ever been able to run with someone, side-by-side, for this long during a race. It helped that he needed the same qualifying time as me, sub 3:10. Like runners often do, we silently agreed to work off one another and pull each other along.
It was easier to pace ourselves once we reached the 6 mile mark when the half-marathoner’s turned around to head back to the finish area. We now knew who were racing against and, surprisingly, Dwane and I weren’t that far behind the lead pack! We managed to fight the urge to go any faster, stuck with our 7:05 pace, and only going sub 7’s on the down hills.
Dwane and I would talk in short bursts and I would intermittingly announce our pace every few miles. We were consistently hanging onto a 7:05 pace at this point, and more importantly, it felt effortless. The one thing that I remember, from my run with Dwane, was that he knew how to run the down hills. I would fly up the hills (Thank You USATF NE Mountain Races!) and he would repay me the favor by flying past me on the down side. I wanted to stick with him, so I followed him down just as fast. We were now starting to pass the runners that passed us earlier.
The lead runner was about 2 miles ahead of us when we saw him, and the lead pack, come back home on the out-and-back course. It was nice to get some encouragement from other runners, still heading to the turnaround at mile 13, when we started to head back home ourselves. I still felt great with a split of 1 hr 32 minutes at the halfway mark.
It was around 15 that I took my first GU. I had another packet on me, and my plan was to use that one around 22 for the final kick. The other packet was actually a Hammer Gel, which I discovered at the Applefest Half a few weeks earlier, was much better at delivering the crucial energy that I would need. I just think that GU requires too much water to digest properly, and then it takes awhile to deliver the energy.
Around 20 was when I first noticed that Dwane was starting to fall back every time I made a surge to get up and down another set of hills. He was now fighting his own battle and I couldn’t stick around to help him. I had my own fight ahead of me. Just as quietly as we agreed to run together, we slowly parted ways.
I later learned that his legs started to cramp up on him, which was also in the back of my mind. Legs cramps have always been an issue that I’ve had in marathons, especially during my Boston bandit days. But I also kept on telling myself that that was Boston, and the nature of that beast. This is Portland. It couldn’t happen here too, could it?
That’s exactly what happened. Right on cue around mile 23, my legs muscles started to twitch and show the tell-tale signs of cramping. I eased up on the gas, and dropped my pace just a tad. I had one packet of GU left and I decided to take it for the final 5K, hoping the leg cramp would hold off just a bit longer.
I came up on the final hill, a bridge crossing the Back Cove, around Mile 24 and I remember a cross-wind was howling during this half mile crossing. Once I cleared this section in 7:28, I finally felt the surge of my final GU kicking in.
With that obstacle behind me, I now only had to hang in there to finish under the goal of 3 hrs and 10 minutes. I was on pace for about a 3:07 marathon. I began to see the final finishers of the half marathon as I came around the bend in the Back Cove. This stretch of road reminded me of running on a banked track. In other words, it felt very fast.
I started passing the half-marathoners’ as they cheered me on. Race photographers were set up in the middle of the road, snapping my pictures. Each cheer and each snap acted like a checkpoint in a racing video game, giving me a boost of energy at each crossing. My Garmin beeped off Mile 25 in 7:01.
I kicked it into overdrive and began my final sprint to the finish. My legs were loose and my mind was focused on one goal: finish strong.
I hit sub 7’s at a couple points during the final mile, and flew into the finish area not knowing where to go! I couldn’t recall if marathoners finished on the right or the left chute. I still don’t know if my timing buddies at the finish were playing a practical joke on me or they really thought I was a half-marathoner, but they started pointing to the left and then to the right, and then back to the left! I quickly slalomed between the road cones and finally settled on the left side, the correct side. I was lucky (and them too!) that I didn’t pull a muscle.
I finished the final mile in seven flat, and crossed the finish line in 3:07:14 for a 25th place finish out of 959 runners.
Results
I quickly cooled down and packed up my belongings. I was riding a tremendous high, and a faint hint of sadness, as I left Portland.
The only thing on my mind now, as I made my way home down 95 South, was…
PART II
April 18th, 2010 - Training - Lowell, MA - 3.2
Day 108 - Woke up at 8AM. Drank some water. Ate some carbs. Took the boys out. Drank some water. Ate some carbs. Went back to bed. Drank some water. Ate some carbs. Woke up at 12:30PM. Drank some water. Ate some carbs. Went to Fil's parent's. Drank some water. Ate some carbs. Came home. Drank some water. Ate some carbs. Took a dump. Drank some water. Ate some carbs. Went for a run. Drank some water. Ate some carbs. Went to bed. Drank some water. Ate some carbs. Rinse. Repeat.
April 17th, 2010 - Training - Lowell, MA - 3.2
Day 107 - In a world record attempt to fit as many anxious runners as possible, along with every sports vendor as possible, into the Hynes Convention Center, the BAA has created the annual rites of passage to the Boston Marathon known as the Boston Marathon Expo.
Even before I officially qualified and got a number to run Boston, I've come to the Expo every year for the past nine years! Nothing beats squirming your way through the way over-crowded show room floor for bite size freebies and hyper-marked-up Boston Marathon gear! Damn right I'll do it again next year!
Fil, Rachel, and myself left Lowell around 10AM, hoping to get down there, get our number, get some gear, grab some grub, and get back home for the Phil Riley Memorial run. Wishful thinking.
The weather was crummy and the driving was worse. Traffic was light, but it was painful once we got into Boston proper. Instead of trying to find parking and all of us walking over to the center, I decided to just drop off Rachel and Fil at the Hynes, and let them pick up the bib numbers, and wander about while I battle the locals for parking. I've done it all before, and I wanted Fil to get the full experience of price gouging without feeling rushed.
I drove around for 15 minutes before I found a metered spot about a 10 minute walk from the expo. It doesn't get much better than this in Boston.
My phone decided to crap out on me before I got back to the expo on foot, so there was no way I could get in touch with Rachel and Fil by phone to coordinate a meetup inside the packed gathering. Rachel didn't have her phone on her and I never bothered to remember Fil's phone number (I don't even know my own number!), so borrowing a stranger's phone was also out of the question. I was running out of luck and patience quickly. As everybody knows, there's hot and then there's Marathon Expo hot. Temps outside were in the mid 40's, while temps inside the congested aisles were close to double that!
Fortunately, I remembered that Fil wanted to buy everything in sight since this was going to be his first Boston. With Rachel next to him, there was no doubt they were looking at clothing and that was exactly where I managed to find the two amigos, creidt cards still unswiped. Phew!
I (as in my credit card) managed to leave the checkout area relatively unscathed, with only the purchase of this year's marathon jacket. FYI, the one year that I didn't buy an official marathon jacket (2007) I was unable to finish the entire race.
We stuffed every article of clothing we had brought, and bought, into the yellow BAA bags, nearly ripping them in the process. Too bad Jessica C. had to learn this lesson the hard way...by giving her bag to Fil!
Speaking of GLRR members, I only managed to run into three other GLRR members, but Fil and Rachel had better luck, running also into Jessica and Scott.
We left shortly after checking out a couple of the vendors and grabbing some practical freebies (like those mountain climbing clips that, engraved on them, warn you not to use them for climbing!). Before reaching the exit we came across the Sam Adams Beer booth (beer at a runner's convention? Go Figure!). They were handing out some coupons for their special pint glasses, but it could only be redeemed at their gift shop/brewery. The address on the coupon indicated that they were located somewhere in Boston...
...and off we went, to the last place I thought I'd be today, the Sam Adams Brewery! According to my GPS, they were located only 3 miles away! When in Boston...
When we got over there, after cutting through some seedy looking neighborhoods, we could barely find any parking, and there was a line out the door for the brewery tour! Apparently, everybody else was cashing in on the coupons too.
We waited in line for about 10 minutes, and then another 10 minutes once we got inside. In the end all three of us got the very special, and very cool, pint glasses (valued at 8 bucks a pop!). It was actually a lot of fun getting there, being there, and getting the heck out of there.
We didn't get back to Lowell until about 2PM, so there was nothing left to do but plan our required run for the day. Fil came up with the brilliant idea to start today's run at 11:30PM, finish around 11:55PM, take a 5 minute break, and then start the next day's required run at 12:01AM! Genuis! This would have given us a full Sunday to rest up for Boston.
When reality finally set in, there was no effin' way I was going to put in a 10K at midnight, around Hudson, NH, let alone Lowell, MA! I wanted to be alive for Boston 2010!
Fil eventually put in his run in Hudson around 5PM, and I at 6PM around Lowell.
This was all before the Bruins pulled of a nice win, the Sox completed their suspended game from last night (lost), started their regularly scheduled game (lost, again), and the Celtics winning their first playoff game! Is this heaven?
I've decided to give my Boston number to Homer Simpson:
Even before I officially qualified and got a number to run Boston, I've come to the Expo every year for the past nine years! Nothing beats squirming your way through the way over-crowded show room floor for bite size freebies and hyper-marked-up Boston Marathon gear! Damn right I'll do it again next year!
Fil, Rachel, and myself left Lowell around 10AM, hoping to get down there, get our number, get some gear, grab some grub, and get back home for the Phil Riley Memorial run. Wishful thinking.
The weather was crummy and the driving was worse. Traffic was light, but it was painful once we got into Boston proper. Instead of trying to find parking and all of us walking over to the center, I decided to just drop off Rachel and Fil at the Hynes, and let them pick up the bib numbers, and wander about while I battle the locals for parking. I've done it all before, and I wanted Fil to get the full experience of price gouging without feeling rushed.
I drove around for 15 minutes before I found a metered spot about a 10 minute walk from the expo. It doesn't get much better than this in Boston.
My phone decided to crap out on me before I got back to the expo on foot, so there was no way I could get in touch with Rachel and Fil by phone to coordinate a meetup inside the packed gathering. Rachel didn't have her phone on her and I never bothered to remember Fil's phone number (I don't even know my own number!), so borrowing a stranger's phone was also out of the question. I was running out of luck and patience quickly. As everybody knows, there's hot and then there's Marathon Expo hot. Temps outside were in the mid 40's, while temps inside the congested aisles were close to double that!
Fortunately, I remembered that Fil wanted to buy everything in sight since this was going to be his first Boston. With Rachel next to him, there was no doubt they were looking at clothing and that was exactly where I managed to find the two amigos, creidt cards still unswiped. Phew!
I (as in my credit card) managed to leave the checkout area relatively unscathed, with only the purchase of this year's marathon jacket. FYI, the one year that I didn't buy an official marathon jacket (2007) I was unable to finish the entire race.
We stuffed every article of clothing we had brought, and bought, into the yellow BAA bags, nearly ripping them in the process. Too bad Jessica C. had to learn this lesson the hard way...by giving her bag to Fil!
Speaking of GLRR members, I only managed to run into three other GLRR members, but Fil and Rachel had better luck, running also into Jessica and Scott.
We left shortly after checking out a couple of the vendors and grabbing some practical freebies (like those mountain climbing clips that, engraved on them, warn you not to use them for climbing!). Before reaching the exit we came across the Sam Adams Beer booth (beer at a runner's convention? Go Figure!). They were handing out some coupons for their special pint glasses, but it could only be redeemed at their gift shop/brewery. The address on the coupon indicated that they were located somewhere in Boston...
...and off we went, to the last place I thought I'd be today, the Sam Adams Brewery! According to my GPS, they were located only 3 miles away! When in Boston...
When we got over there, after cutting through some seedy looking neighborhoods, we could barely find any parking, and there was a line out the door for the brewery tour! Apparently, everybody else was cashing in on the coupons too.
We waited in line for about 10 minutes, and then another 10 minutes once we got inside. In the end all three of us got the very special, and very cool, pint glasses (valued at 8 bucks a pop!). It was actually a lot of fun getting there, being there, and getting the heck out of there.
We didn't get back to Lowell until about 2PM, so there was nothing left to do but plan our required run for the day. Fil came up with the brilliant idea to start today's run at 11:30PM, finish around 11:55PM, take a 5 minute break, and then start the next day's required run at 12:01AM! Genuis! This would have given us a full Sunday to rest up for Boston.
When reality finally set in, there was no effin' way I was going to put in a 10K at midnight, around Hudson, NH, let alone Lowell, MA! I wanted to be alive for Boston 2010!
Fil eventually put in his run in Hudson around 5PM, and I at 6PM around Lowell.
This was all before the Bruins pulled of a nice win, the Sox completed their suspended game from last night (lost), started their regularly scheduled game (lost, again), and the Celtics winning their first playoff game! Is this heaven?
I've decided to give my Boston number to Homer Simpson:
(Homer staring up at Heart Break, or is that Heaven?)
April 16th, 2010 - Training - Lowell, MA - 3.2
Day 106 - The only way this crappy work week could have ended on a high note would have been to hang out with a bunch of my running friends. Well, would you look at that, the GLRR Awards/Hall of Fame get together is on the calendar tonight!
MC'ed by comrade Glenn Stewart*, it was a rousing, and bitter sweet, success. Congrats to all of the well-deserved award recipients! Hey Jimmy, take the photo!:)
It was awesome to see some old, and I do mean old, and new faces tonight. I think I finally managed to snap out of my taper funk after hearing about running for two hours, and that was just Mark C. speaking!
Tonight was also the closest I've come to ending the 365 run streak. I didn't get back home from the dinner until about 9:15PM and it was beginning to rain. The hardest part (again) was convincing Rachel that I still needed to put in a run. She could care less, so I went straight to my trusty playbook and pulled out a classic: I'll take the boys out for a "walk". She fell for the trick play.
I called an audible at the line, and the walk play became a run play. Touchdown! Extra point is good!
The boys and I ended up doing 3.2 at the river at a 7:14 clip! They were soak n' wet, as was I, but boy did we have fun! This is what I've missed about running. Just going out there and having fun.
Tonight was also tryouts for the Canine-Cross later in the year. It looks like the "underdog" Teddy pulled off an upset over Scooter, so Teddy will be my 5K-9 partner, but he still needs to shed about 15lbs if we want a shot at 1st place:
I wasn't the only one out there having fun tonight in the cold rain. Another midnight runner passed me on the river and said, "Good luck Monday!" The hell? Karnac? David Blaine? FLETCH?!? That's when I realized that I was wearing my bright yellow 2009 Boston Marathon shirt. Pretty cool.
Welcome to New England:
MC'ed by comrade Glenn Stewart*, it was a rousing, and bitter sweet, success. Congrats to all of the well-deserved award recipients! Hey Jimmy, take the photo!:)
It was awesome to see some old, and I do mean old, and new faces tonight. I think I finally managed to snap out of my taper funk after hearing about running for two hours, and that was just Mark C. speaking!
Tonight was also the closest I've come to ending the 365 run streak. I didn't get back home from the dinner until about 9:15PM and it was beginning to rain. The hardest part (again) was convincing Rachel that I still needed to put in a run. She could care less, so I went straight to my trusty playbook and pulled out a classic: I'll take the boys out for a "walk". She fell for the trick play.
I called an audible at the line, and the walk play became a run play. Touchdown! Extra point is good!
The boys and I ended up doing 3.2 at the river at a 7:14 clip! They were soak n' wet, as was I, but boy did we have fun! This is what I've missed about running. Just going out there and having fun.
Tonight was also tryouts for the Canine-Cross later in the year. It looks like the "underdog" Teddy pulled off an upset over Scooter, so Teddy will be my 5K-9 partner, but he still needs to shed about 15lbs if we want a shot at 1st place:
(The Fat One)
I wasn't the only one out there having fun tonight in the cold rain. Another midnight runner passed me on the river and said, "Good luck Monday!" The hell? Karnac? David Blaine? FLETCH?!? That's when I realized that I was wearing my bright yellow 2009 Boston Marathon shirt. Pretty cool.
Weekend plan is to hit the expo and number pick up with Fil early tomorrow morning, and try our best to get back to Lowell for Phil's memorial run around 12:30PM.
Unfortunately, I think I picked up a sneeze and a sniffle from either Fil or Rachel. Most likely Fil since I see him more than I see Rachel. She's still cuter though. Sorry, Fil.
*You want your asterisk, Glenn? You got it! (Under USATF Age-Group guideline)
Tax Day, 2010 - Training - Lowell, MA - 3.1
Day 105 - This entry is dedicated to Double D, the mountain running tax man.
The last thing on my mind today was a run, and it ended up being the last thing I did today before going to bed...
...ended up being one of my best training runs up until this point. I ran around the neighborhood and it took four loops to get in the 3.1 in about 21:30:
Weather for the weekend has turned for the worse, and it looks like less than ideal conditions throughout the weekend, with a 30% chance of rain on Marathon Monday. High of only fitty-1!
If it's anything like 2007, then Monday is going to be a major suck fest.
GLRR Awards Dinner is tomorrow evening. Looking forward to meeting up with everyone, but it will be a bitter sweet gathering with the recent passing of Phil Riley.
There will be a memorial run/walk (2-5 miles) on Saturday afternoon at 12:30PM starting from the GLRR office on Merrimack St.
The last thing on my mind today was a run, and it ended up being the last thing I did today before going to bed...
...ended up being one of my best training runs up until this point. I ran around the neighborhood and it took four loops to get in the 3.1 in about 21:30:
Weather for the weekend has turned for the worse, and it looks like less than ideal conditions throughout the weekend, with a 30% chance of rain on Marathon Monday. High of only fitty-1!
If it's anything like 2007, then Monday is going to be a major suck fest.
GLRR Awards Dinner is tomorrow evening. Looking forward to meeting up with everyone, but it will be a bitter sweet gathering with the recent passing of Phil Riley.
There will be a memorial run/walk (2-5 miles) on Saturday afternoon at 12:30PM starting from the GLRR office on Merrimack St.
April 14th, 2010 - Training - Lowell, MA - 3.1
Day 104 - Every ounce of energy that I'm saving for Boston is quickly being sapped away by my living coffin, my job.
I need a vacation.
Got a nice comment from the Nashua Soup Kitchen 10K organizer on my posting the other day. I definitely overreacted on the post race mishaps, and will be updating that entry shortly to reflect how I really feel about that race. In short, I'll be back next year.
It's nice to know that someone other than Fil is actually reading my blog.
5 days to go.
I need a vacation.
Got a nice comment from the Nashua Soup Kitchen 10K organizer on my posting the other day. I definitely overreacted on the post race mishaps, and will be updating that entry shortly to reflect how I really feel about that race. In short, I'll be back next year.
It's nice to know that someone other than Fil is actually reading my blog.
5 days to go.
April 13th, 2010 - Training - Lowell, MA - 3.25
Day 103 - Felt very sluggish today, mainly due to being at work late, again. I also committed the cardinal crime of eating before putting in my run.
It was already 8PM by the time I got out on the road to put in my mileage. Weather has been on the chilly side as of late, tonight it was in the upper 40's, and the darkness didn't help.
Weather forecast for Boston is starting to look very good. Currently expected to be in the low 40's at race time, with a high of 58 and some sun:
This can only mean one thing, 15 degrees and a good chance of snow!
It was already 8PM by the time I got out on the road to put in my mileage. Weather has been on the chilly side as of late, tonight it was in the upper 40's, and the darkness didn't help.
Weather forecast for Boston is starting to look very good. Currently expected to be in the low 40's at race time, with a high of 58 and some sun:
This can only mean one thing, 15 degrees and a good chance of snow!
April 12th, 2010 - Training - Lowell, MA - 3.75
Day 102 - It's with tremendous sadness that I record this entry about the passing of Phillip Francis Riley on Saturday, April 10th.
All those who knew him, or only had the chance to hear about him, will miss him dearly.
All those who knew him, or only had the chance to hear about him, will miss him dearly.
(Phil Riley is on the far right, standing in front of the USATF logo, a pair of wings)
April 11th, 2010 - Race - Nashua, NH - 6.2
Day 101 - Nashua Soup Kitchen 10K is this year's Boston tune-up race. Fil ran this NH Grand Prix race last year and spoke highly of it, and it's for a good cause. It's been about three weeks since my last race, so I wanted to see if the time off from racing has made a difference.
Unfortunately, it was another 1PM race (not my favorite time to run a race, kills the day), but it did allow for me to sleep in for the first time, in a long time. Got out of bed and started my morning at 9:30AM. My body felt great, but I wasn't feeling hungry. Like I've mentioned before, it's always tricky to eat properly for an afternoon race. You want to eat enough to get you through the morning and the race, but not too much to make it prohibitive to have a good race.
Had a light breakfast with some eggs and toast, and spent the rest of the morning reading and playing with the boys.
Rachel, the boys, and myself got up to the race site at the Nashua YMCA a little after 12. There was plenty of parking and the weather was near ideal, although there was a stiff wind in the air. The expected temps at race time was going to be about the mid 60's, which is fine with me. The hotter, the better.
I did feel a little dehydrated, so I downed a small bottle of water as I got dressed for the race.
I met up with Fil about thirty minutes before race time and we did a short warm-up, running out to the start and back to the Y. Fil expressed that he wasn't feeling well after reffing earlier in the morning, and eating chinese food the night before. Definitely the reffing.
I must admit, I was also starting to feel a little Uta Pippigish, with my stomach rumbling every few minutes. It was getting too close to race time to stand in the bathroom line, so I was going to have to deal with it out on the course, one way or another.
The gun went off on time around 1PM and the surge of racing adrenaline came right back like an old friend. I went out with the lead pack for about a mile (5:55), and then purposedly backed off from that pace. April 19th was definitely on my mind.
I fell back behind a group of about five other runners as we came up on the first hill on the course close to mile 2. I wanted to stay with this group, but I also love tackling hills with as much effort as possible.
The group slowed considerably and I surged up this portion, passing them and mile 2 with a 5:58 split. The first female overall was about 20 yards in front of me, and she was passing one other runner. I made a surge to catch up to her (it didn't hurt that she had a cute butt), and stayed with her for about half a mile. I was probably more of a nussiance to her concentration, so I once again continued on alone.
Mile 3 included the steepest hill on the course, so I got through the 3rd mile in 6:25, and the 5K mark, in about 18:40. I also lost my favorite running cap on this portion, thanks to a big gust of wind. Amazingly, Fil saw it later on when he came by and picked it up for me! I think he just thought he had a free cap.
Not having the hat made a huge difference for me. The heat of the afternoon sun was directly over head and I could feel its effects on my bare and balding head. Oh well, it's all part of racing and I had to struggle on.
From studying the course's evelation profile, I knew that the rest of the course was a complete free fall after the 4 mile mark, which interestingly enough, went through a tree-covered park for about half a mile. There was a slight climb getting to that point, so I did that mile in 6:18.
Right on cue, the course began its descent a little after the 4 mile sign and it couldn't have come sooner. I was having trouble catching my breath throughout the race, so the downhill respite was nice. I was at least 30 seconds behind the next runner at this point, and he was out of sight on the curvy course. I just started to focus on my form and downhill turnover.
As expected, mile 5 came and went in 6:03.
The final mile on this course is top notch and the highlight of the race. With a mile to go, the course for the 5K and 10K race merges together, and runs through a bustling downtown Nashua.
I always get a nice surge of energy when I get to pass other "runners", even if they are running a different race. I also enjoy running past cars sitting in traffic, and boy did this race create a lot of traffic. I was hitting a 5 minute pace on some parts of this last stretch, with only the final turn slowing me down slightly.
The final .20 is a nice and fast downhill that takes you right into the finish chute. I crossed the finish line in 37:54 with a 5:47 final mile. The finish time crushed my 10K PR from 101 days ago at the 1st Run 10K by over 2 minutes!
I finished 10th overall, and 1st & 3rd in my age group, depending on where you look and who you ask. More about this later.
Overall, I was quite happy with the results of this Boston tune-up, butnot so happy with the post-race results/awards ceremony. To put it bluntly, the organizers had no idea what they were doing, and this race does not deserve to be a grand prix race. I don't know if it's due to the scorers (Granite State) or the organizers, but it was a mess.
I do race scoring/timing too, so I understand the behind-the-scenes crap that happens, but today was just inexcusable. I hung around for over an hour for the awards only to get the wrong award, and to find out that the results have changed once they posted it online.
I overreacted in my opinion of the post-race ceremony. It's an excellent race for an excellent cause, put on by an even more excellent group of people. I definitely plan on coming back next year to see all of the improvements! I want to thank Lisa for taking the time to drop the constructive comment below. As for those who feel they need to post criticisms anonymously...get over yourself! :P
Fil and I have agreed to stay away from any race, going forward, that feel that they need to attach different race distances to the main race in order to get more runners. It's just not worth it when results are FUBAR.
Enough about that, it's time to really taper and relax for one more week.
Thanks to EJ, I finally have a card of another GLRR legend, Peter Lagoy:
Unfortunately, it was another 1PM race (not my favorite time to run a race, kills the day), but it did allow for me to sleep in for the first time, in a long time. Got out of bed and started my morning at 9:30AM. My body felt great, but I wasn't feeling hungry. Like I've mentioned before, it's always tricky to eat properly for an afternoon race. You want to eat enough to get you through the morning and the race, but not too much to make it prohibitive to have a good race.
Had a light breakfast with some eggs and toast, and spent the rest of the morning reading and playing with the boys.
Rachel, the boys, and myself got up to the race site at the Nashua YMCA a little after 12. There was plenty of parking and the weather was near ideal, although there was a stiff wind in the air. The expected temps at race time was going to be about the mid 60's, which is fine with me. The hotter, the better.
I did feel a little dehydrated, so I downed a small bottle of water as I got dressed for the race.
I met up with Fil about thirty minutes before race time and we did a short warm-up, running out to the start and back to the Y. Fil expressed that he wasn't feeling well after reffing earlier in the morning, and eating chinese food the night before. Definitely the reffing.
I must admit, I was also starting to feel a little Uta Pippigish, with my stomach rumbling every few minutes. It was getting too close to race time to stand in the bathroom line, so I was going to have to deal with it out on the course, one way or another.
The gun went off on time around 1PM and the surge of racing adrenaline came right back like an old friend. I went out with the lead pack for about a mile (5:55), and then purposedly backed off from that pace. April 19th was definitely on my mind.
I fell back behind a group of about five other runners as we came up on the first hill on the course close to mile 2. I wanted to stay with this group, but I also love tackling hills with as much effort as possible.
The group slowed considerably and I surged up this portion, passing them and mile 2 with a 5:58 split. The first female overall was about 20 yards in front of me, and she was passing one other runner. I made a surge to catch up to her (it didn't hurt that she had a cute butt), and stayed with her for about half a mile. I was probably more of a nussiance to her concentration, so I once again continued on alone.
Mile 3 included the steepest hill on the course, so I got through the 3rd mile in 6:25, and the 5K mark, in about 18:40. I also lost my favorite running cap on this portion, thanks to a big gust of wind. Amazingly, Fil saw it later on when he came by and picked it up for me! I think he just thought he had a free cap.
Not having the hat made a huge difference for me. The heat of the afternoon sun was directly over head and I could feel its effects on my bare and balding head. Oh well, it's all part of racing and I had to struggle on.
From studying the course's evelation profile, I knew that the rest of the course was a complete free fall after the 4 mile mark, which interestingly enough, went through a tree-covered park for about half a mile. There was a slight climb getting to that point, so I did that mile in 6:18.
Right on cue, the course began its descent a little after the 4 mile sign and it couldn't have come sooner. I was having trouble catching my breath throughout the race, so the downhill respite was nice. I was at least 30 seconds behind the next runner at this point, and he was out of sight on the curvy course. I just started to focus on my form and downhill turnover.
As expected, mile 5 came and went in 6:03.
The final mile on this course is top notch and the highlight of the race. With a mile to go, the course for the 5K and 10K race merges together, and runs through a bustling downtown Nashua.
I always get a nice surge of energy when I get to pass other "runners", even if they are running a different race. I also enjoy running past cars sitting in traffic, and boy did this race create a lot of traffic. I was hitting a 5 minute pace on some parts of this last stretch, with only the final turn slowing me down slightly.
The final .20 is a nice and fast downhill that takes you right into the finish chute. I crossed the finish line in 37:54 with a 5:47 final mile. The finish time crushed my 10K PR from 101 days ago at the 1st Run 10K by over 2 minutes!
I finished 10th overall, and 1st & 3rd in my age group, depending on where you look and who you ask. More about this later.
Overall, I was quite happy with the results of this Boston tune-up, but
I overreacted in my opinion of the post-race ceremony. It's an excellent race for an excellent cause, put on by an even more excellent group of people. I definitely plan on coming back next year to see all of the improvements! I want to thank Lisa for taking the time to drop the constructive comment below. As for those who feel they need to post criticisms anonymously...get over yourself! :P
Enough about that, it's time to really taper and relax for one more week.
Thanks to EJ, I finally have a card of another GLRR legend, Peter Lagoy:
April 10th, 2010 - Training - Lowell, MA - 8
Day 100 - Pretty cool milestone day for Fil and I.
Day 100 started off like most of the Saturdays so far this year, with a run.
I woke up early and decided to get my run out of the way early, as a busy and beautiful day was anticipated. I got dressed in the soft light of morning and took the boys out to use the bathroom. I purposedly dressed in shorts and my light running attire to see if I would need anything else on my run. It was about 40 degrees at 7:30AM.
I decided to keep my relatively thick 2008 marathon jacket on as I ran the half mile from my apt down to the GLRR office on Merrimack St for the 8AM GLRR group run. Matt, Paul, and a few others were just getting out of their cars as I stopped my Garmin...near the the toilet out in front of the GLRR office?! Is this a running club prank/threat like the horse's head in The Godfather?
I went upstairs to just drop off my jacket as I knew it would only get warmer from here on out. I ran into Andy as he was coming back down to lead the run.
Back downstairs was now Jim Q. and some new GLRR faces (apologies, I am awful at remembering names). I scribbled in "8ish" for my expected run distance on the sign-in sheet, and we were off a little after 8AM.
Matt and I headed down towards the Good Times course doing about 8:30's, very nice and relaxed. There was a stiff wind with a couple good gusts to keep us honest as we made our way to the Rourke Bridge on Middlesex St. Jim and Andy were right behind us, and eventually caught us as we crossed the Rourke.
The headwind of earlier became an undetectable tailwind that pushed us to about a 7:30 pace for the boulevarde stretch of our run. Rowing crews were out on the river today, so it was nice to have a crowd to run past and through.
Jim and I held a conversation for most of the back stretch, with Jim doing most of the conversing, dishing out bite-size tidbits of Boston marathon tips, and his own success at the race. The only piece of advice that I can remember right now is to not have sex for the next week, leading into the race. I guess I'm going into a prize fight at Boston.
Andy took off and was in front of us for the remainder of my run with them. We went though miles 6 to 7 at about a 6:30 pace, trying to keep up with Jim. I felt great, and from what I could tell, Matt was enjoying himself too.
Matt and I decided to turn at the Aiken St bridge to return to home base and get in about 8 miles. Jim and Andy continued on down the VFW, so we bid a good run and waved a good bye.
We concluded the back-end of our run on the Good Times course, calling our own run, Good Times Ultra. It was exactly 1 hr and 8 miles as Matt and I stopped our watches in front of the toilet. We couldn't have planned it any better, especially the toilet part.
I didn't hang around for long after we finished the run as I wanted to grab some breakfast with Rachel, and get up to Methuen by 10:30AM to help Dave time a race.
Breakfast was at a diner close to our apt that we've never visited before (not worth it, but the whacked out patrons and arguing waitresses was definitely worth the price of admission). I dropped Rachel back at the apt around 10:15 and made my way up to Methuen.
I saw a sign for Andover as I drove up 495 and remembered that Glenn and others (like everyone else) was running the Merrimack 10 Mile Trail Race this morning. I was a little envious as I enjoy trail races, but that course can be nasty (single track out & back?!), and not recommended for those running Boston in a week. I learned that painful lesson last year when I nearly broke my ankle at the Wapack 16 Miler about a month before my Boston qualifier in Portland.
Things were a little hectic by the time I met up with Dave and Bill inside Fireside, race HQ. I helped out with some data entry and then Bill asked if I could set the clocks on the course. This required me to sit in the lead police vehicle and make my way to each mile (5 mile course), set the clocks, and take off to the next mile marker. Very cool!
My new cop buddy and I had a blast as we blew through traffic to get our task completed. With clocks set (albeit a little off from the official time), he dropped me off back at the finish, and I manned the
5K finish chute.
To my pleasant surprise, familair faces, Jonathan Morris finished 3rd overall (1st in Age), Tom O'Leary, 7th overall (1st in Age), and Jessica Costa, 20th overall, 2nd female overall, and 1st in Age Group in the 5K!! Incredible running, gang!
On the other side of the race, in the 5 Miler, another familair face and name showed up. He finished 2nd overall after not running (road running that is) for over 5 months!! Here's a little secret, his name was not what you currently see on the results when we saw the entry application;) Sorry if we blew your cover. I also gave him a ride home back to Lowell after the race, checking my rearview mirror the entire way home...
...and it was only 1PM when I got home.
I'm looking forward to the next 265 days. Good job, Fil, and I'm not being a wise-ass either.
Day 100 started off like most of the Saturdays so far this year, with a run.
I woke up early and decided to get my run out of the way early, as a busy and beautiful day was anticipated. I got dressed in the soft light of morning and took the boys out to use the bathroom. I purposedly dressed in shorts and my light running attire to see if I would need anything else on my run. It was about 40 degrees at 7:30AM.
I decided to keep my relatively thick 2008 marathon jacket on as I ran the half mile from my apt down to the GLRR office on Merrimack St for the 8AM GLRR group run. Matt, Paul, and a few others were just getting out of their cars as I stopped my Garmin...near the the toilet out in front of the GLRR office?! Is this a running club prank/threat like the horse's head in The Godfather?
I went upstairs to just drop off my jacket as I knew it would only get warmer from here on out. I ran into Andy as he was coming back down to lead the run.
Back downstairs was now Jim Q. and some new GLRR faces (apologies, I am awful at remembering names). I scribbled in "8ish" for my expected run distance on the sign-in sheet, and we were off a little after 8AM.
Matt and I headed down towards the Good Times course doing about 8:30's, very nice and relaxed. There was a stiff wind with a couple good gusts to keep us honest as we made our way to the Rourke Bridge on Middlesex St. Jim and Andy were right behind us, and eventually caught us as we crossed the Rourke.
The headwind of earlier became an undetectable tailwind that pushed us to about a 7:30 pace for the boulevarde stretch of our run. Rowing crews were out on the river today, so it was nice to have a crowd to run past and through.
Jim and I held a conversation for most of the back stretch, with Jim doing most of the conversing, dishing out bite-size tidbits of Boston marathon tips, and his own success at the race. The only piece of advice that I can remember right now is to not have sex for the next week, leading into the race. I guess I'm going into a prize fight at Boston.
Andy took off and was in front of us for the remainder of my run with them. We went though miles 6 to 7 at about a 6:30 pace, trying to keep up with Jim. I felt great, and from what I could tell, Matt was enjoying himself too.
Matt and I decided to turn at the Aiken St bridge to return to home base and get in about 8 miles. Jim and Andy continued on down the VFW, so we bid a good run and waved a good bye.
We concluded the back-end of our run on the Good Times course, calling our own run, Good Times Ultra. It was exactly 1 hr and 8 miles as Matt and I stopped our watches in front of the toilet. We couldn't have planned it any better, especially the toilet part.
I didn't hang around for long after we finished the run as I wanted to grab some breakfast with Rachel, and get up to Methuen by 10:30AM to help Dave time a race.
Breakfast was at a diner close to our apt that we've never visited before (not worth it, but the whacked out patrons and arguing waitresses was definitely worth the price of admission). I dropped Rachel back at the apt around 10:15 and made my way up to Methuen.
I saw a sign for Andover as I drove up 495 and remembered that Glenn and others (like everyone else) was running the Merrimack 10 Mile Trail Race this morning. I was a little envious as I enjoy trail races, but that course can be nasty (single track out & back?!), and not recommended for those running Boston in a week. I learned that painful lesson last year when I nearly broke my ankle at the Wapack 16 Miler about a month before my Boston qualifier in Portland.
Things were a little hectic by the time I met up with Dave and Bill inside Fireside, race HQ. I helped out with some data entry and then Bill asked if I could set the clocks on the course. This required me to sit in the lead police vehicle and make my way to each mile (5 mile course), set the clocks, and take off to the next mile marker. Very cool!
My new cop buddy and I had a blast as we blew through traffic to get our task completed. With clocks set (albeit a little off from the official time), he dropped me off back at the finish, and I manned the
5K finish chute.
To my pleasant surprise, familair faces, Jonathan Morris finished 3rd overall (1st in Age), Tom O'Leary, 7th overall (1st in Age), and Jessica Costa, 20th overall, 2nd female overall, and 1st in Age Group in the 5K!! Incredible running, gang!
On the other side of the race, in the 5 Miler, another familair face and name showed up. He finished 2nd overall after not running (road running that is) for over 5 months!! Here's a little secret, his name was not what you currently see on the results when we saw the entry application;) Sorry if we blew your cover. I also gave him a ride home back to Lowell after the race, checking my rearview mirror the entire way home...
...and it was only 1PM when I got home.
I'm looking forward to the next 265 days. Good job, Fil, and I'm not being a wise-ass either.
April 9th, 2010 - Training - Lowell, MA - 3.1
Day 99 - Took it indoors on the treadmill with the cold rain falling outside tonight. Looks like a nice weekend with only some race timing (Saturday) and racing (Sunday) on the docket.
Since it's been quiet for me running/racing-wise, I'll use this opportunity to allow someone else talk about their own racing experience. The following is a snapshot of fellow GLRR Scott Graham's tremendous 2009 season, at the age of 50! Here's a snapshot of his 2009 racing experience:
Below is a list of all the races I competed in over the 2009 season. There were some HIGH points, Boston Marathon and there were some low points, a completely burnt out run in Plymouth, NH. I raced on foot, bike, snowshoe, road, trails, snow, across lakes, up mountains and across states. I fell in almost every snowshoe race. I gave it all I had in every race except for 1, once again it was the race in Plymouth, NH where I was so beat up I just took it easy and mailed in the effort. All in all it was a great year for me having turned 50 and putting it all on the line. Below is and a bunch of statistics:
Toed the line: 45
Miles raced: 311.94
Time spent racing: 35:43:59
Average mile pace: 0:07:22
Won Race: 1
Won division: 16
2nd in division: 11
3rd in division: 5
Podium finishes: 32
Number of runner ran against: 35074
Number of runner in my age cat.: 3014
# of SS races: 9
# of Road 5K races: 10
# of XC 5K races: 2
# of 3.5 mile races: 10
# of 5 mile races: 2
# of Half Marathons: 2
# of Marathons: 2
# of Relays legs: 6
# of Hill climbs: 1
# of Tri's: 1
Average Road running pace: 0:06:56
Average SS pace: 0:09:45
Shortest time spent racing: 0:18:53
Longest time spent racing: 6:31:51
Since it's been quiet for me running/racing-wise, I'll use this opportunity to allow someone else talk about their own racing experience. The following is a snapshot of fellow GLRR Scott Graham's tremendous 2009 season, at the age of 50! Here's a snapshot of his 2009 racing experience:
Below is a list of all the races I competed in over the 2009 season. There were some HIGH points, Boston Marathon and there were some low points, a completely burnt out run in Plymouth, NH. I raced on foot, bike, snowshoe, road, trails, snow, across lakes, up mountains and across states. I fell in almost every snowshoe race. I gave it all I had in every race except for 1, once again it was the race in Plymouth, NH where I was so beat up I just took it easy and mailed in the effort. All in all it was a great year for me having turned 50 and putting it all on the line. Below is and a bunch of statistics:
Toed the line: 45
Miles raced: 311.94
Time spent racing: 35:43:59
Average mile pace: 0:07:22
Won Race: 1
Won division: 16
2nd in division: 11
3rd in division: 5
Podium finishes: 32
Number of runner ran against: 35074
Number of runner in my age cat.: 3014
# of SS races: 9
# of Road 5K races: 10
# of XC 5K races: 2
# of 3.5 mile races: 10
# of 5 mile races: 2
# of Half Marathons: 2
# of Marathons: 2
# of Relays legs: 6
# of Hill climbs: 1
# of Tri's: 1
Average Road running pace: 0:06:56
Average SS pace: 0:09:45
Shortest time spent racing: 0:18:53
Longest time spent racing: 6:31:51
April 8th, 2010 - Track - Lexington, MA - 6
Day 98 - It's amazing how much faster the track workouts are without Fil there. Coincidence?
800 - 2:58
800 - 2:57
1600 - 6:17
800 - 3:00
800 - 2:43
Running tonight's workout was just Glenn, Matt, and myself. Jim was manning the splits as his back was being temperamental. I think Fil was actually there tonight because I do recall lapping an old man at one point.
Tonight was the last night for myself at the Lexington Rat Dome for the season. Next week is the last week of indoor track, but I'll be "resting" for Boston. I should still be able to make it for Mario's though.
Here's a map of tonight's run:
Looking forward to a final tune-up race this Sunday in Nashua at the Soup Kitchen 10K. Hard to believe its been almost three weeks since New Bedford, my last race.
800 - 2:58
800 - 2:57
1600 - 6:17
800 - 3:00
800 - 2:43
Running tonight's workout was just Glenn, Matt, and myself. Jim was manning the splits as his back was being temperamental. I think Fil was actually there tonight because I do recall lapping an old man at one point.
Tonight was the last night for myself at the Lexington Rat Dome for the season. Next week is the last week of indoor track, but I'll be "resting" for Boston. I should still be able to make it for Mario's though.
Here's a map of tonight's run:
Looking forward to a final tune-up race this Sunday in Nashua at the Soup Kitchen 10K. Hard to believe its been almost three weeks since New Bedford, my last race.
April 7th, 2010 - Training - Lowell > Tyngsboro > Lowell - 14.5
Day 97 - Tonight was a tale of two runs, a 7.25 miler under the warm late afternoon sun, fom Lowell to Tyngsboro, and 7.25 under the early evening moon, back home to Lowell.
No goals in mind other than to put in one final, solid, steady, well-paced long run before Boston (OK, a few goals).
The temps were in the mid 80's when I left the apt around 6:30PM. The heat wasn't as oppressive as I thought it would be. It helped that the big yellow ball in the sky got blocked by some thick clouds as I started my run. The air was easy to breathe, with a steady, but light, headwind heading into Tyngsboro. Got the nice tailwind on the way home, which is always a plus.
I guess I'm now ready for whatever Mother Nature throws at us come April 19th.
Splits for tonight:
Fellow GLRR member, Phil Riley has been on my, and many others, mind the past few days. Most of you already know what had happened a few days ago, and we're all pulling for a full recovery. There's a group on Facebook wishing him well: Friends of Phil Riley
I haven't had a chance to meet Phil, and I hope I will eventually. Until then, he will continue to be on my mind.
No goals in mind other than to put in one final, solid, steady, well-paced long run before Boston (OK, a few goals).
The temps were in the mid 80's when I left the apt around 6:30PM. The heat wasn't as oppressive as I thought it would be. It helped that the big yellow ball in the sky got blocked by some thick clouds as I started my run. The air was easy to breathe, with a steady, but light, headwind heading into Tyngsboro. Got the nice tailwind on the way home, which is always a plus.
I guess I'm now ready for whatever Mother Nature throws at us come April 19th.
Splits for tonight:
Fellow GLRR member, Phil Riley has been on my, and many others, mind the past few days. Most of you already know what had happened a few days ago, and we're all pulling for a full recovery. There's a group on Facebook wishing him well: Friends of Phil Riley
I haven't had a chance to meet Phil, and I hope I will eventually. Until then, he will continue to be on my mind.
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