Quest For Boston

Annual New Years day run with the Island running community.  I love this run even though it ends up being my slowest of the season.  It's a great time to see and talk with a lot of the running community that I don't get to see very often.  The run was followed by a pot luck lunch.  A nice easy run was exactly what my body needed.  Looking forwards to going out and running tommorrow.  Sadly, weather over the nextt 3 days is for snow- again. Happy New Years everybody!!!!

7 miles at 8:30 pace

Talk about crappy weather.  White out conditions.  Snow ing with 40 MPH steady wind with some gusting made for an interesting decision. Do I go out or not.  It took me 45 minutes to make my decision, but I eventually went out.  I've been so concerned about getting back on the treadmill that I decided to go out and brave the elements.  There was a lot of slipping and slideing but I'm glad I went out. I actually felt good after I reached the 6 mile mark.  I'd hate to think this is my future.  6 miles to warm up.  It's gonna make it tough to run a 5k.

4.2 miles at 8:30

Even though the weather was much nicer,  the road conditions were worse.  Everything that was snow was now mixed with ice and I worried the whole time about falling down and taking a header.  I ended up shortening my run.  Hopefully the roads clear up a bit and I can feel more comfortable tommorrow.

7 miles at 8:45

Ran with Dave today.  He had just got back from FLA and I don't think he was thrilled with the conditions. We took it nice and easy and enjoyed the run.  Ended up running off road to avoid traffic.  A lot less stress on the mind but the footing was interesting at times.   There's no way I can get the speed work my swchedule is calling for in but I don't mind.  I'm actually happy to just be out there running without any pressures.

5 miles in 43:43

The miles seem to be getting slower and slower.  The knee felt fine today so that's a plus.  I also signed up for a 16 mile race on the 24th of the month.  Hopefuly that wasn't a mistake but I need some motivation.

5 miles at 9:00 pace Realy slow run today with Kate.  Fine by me as I'm still no feeling 100%.  I think I've decided to give up on the BAA training schedule and just play things by feel.  I guess I'm just not hard core enough to train that hard.

3.5 miles at 8:00 minute pace.

I ran early today as more snow is expected to move in this afternoon.  I finally managed to run sub 8:30's for the first time in a week.  It felt good without any strain. Hopefully my legs are back under me for a while.

9.1 miles at 8:15 pace.

Cold out there today.  12 degrees at 7:30 when I left the house and it didn't warm up at all.  The plan was to do 11 but after running east chop with the exposure, I couldn't feel my fingers or face so I cut the run short to warm myself up.  My last 3 were at 7:20 pace- hopefully what I'll be running Boston at.  What ever happened to global warming?  Colder in FLA than up here in Mass.

7 miles in just over an hour  8:55 pace

I can't remember when I've run so slow but that seems to be where my body is right now.  I'm trying not to let it bother me but it's getting hard.  Footing was a major reason for it today as the dirt roads and trails we ran were ice covered causing me to step gingerly.  Other than the speed, I'm feeling pretty good. 

7 miles in 1 hour Once again slow miles but the roads are starting to clear. The ice should be clear by Friday.  Hopefully with better footing my pace will increase.  Feeling good though.

Same as yesterday. Blah blah blah.  Feeling burnt out.  I need some nice weather!!!!

7 miles in 1:02 8:45's Finaly a day above freezing.  39 degrees made for wet and sloppy conditions.  I''m off for 2 days- work training seminar.

13.1 miles in 1:51:04  8:25 pace

42 degrees out this morning.  That's the warmest it's been in a couple weeks at least.  The snow is gone as last night's rain washed the last of it away.  I went out with Patrick and Blake and it felt pretty good until the last 3 miles.  Then I struggled.  Made it through but feel like hell now.  Fever and chills along with stomach cramps.  Not sure what's wrong but I hope it clears up soon.

7 miles in 1:00:42  8:42's

Feeling a lot better today.  Stomach still feeling a little cramping but not consistant.  Run felt faster than it was but at least I didn't struggle.  Sunday's race in Derry should be interesting.

4.65 miles in 34:17 7:22 pace

Tempo run today to see if I was still able to run sub 7:30's  It's hard to believe that I ran a marathon in 7:34's 3 months ago.  Still feel like I'm struggling.

6 miles in 47:02  7:50 pace

New shoes finaly arrived.  As usual, the feet need to stretch and adjust to the new kicks. Both feet trying to go numb.  Stopped once to loosen things up and get less pressure and better blood flow.  Hip bothering me a bit post run.  I probably won't be wearing them for Sundays 16 miler.

16 miles in 1:55:25  7:15 pace

Beautiful course with a lot of ups and downs.  They claim it's not as tough as everyone says but I think they're wrong. 

The course is a zero net gain as it starts and finishes in the same spot.  The thing that makes it tough is that it never evens out.  You're either going up; or down. 

   Race morning started at 5:00 a.m. Woke up and rushed around getting ready for the 6 o'clock boat. We reached the mainland a little late and grabbed the bus to  the parking lot where our vehicle awaited.  We left Falmouth a little after 7 and sped the 210 miles up to Derry, New Hampshire.  Luckily there was very little traffic as we raced through Boston and ended up in Derry in record time.  Park the truck and grab our second bus of the day to get to the race headquarters by 9:15 giving us plenty of time to warm up for the 10 o'clock start. Weather was probably about as good as you can expect this time of year. Temps were in the high 30's with little to no wind. The race was pushed back by 10 minutes to allow for late arrivals and yet we still managed to be late to the start.

     As Pat and I walked up to the rear of the 800+ runners; we observed the leaders pulling away from the starting line.  I guess we'd be weaving our way to start. The time reflected that with a chip time of 8:32 first mile.  Sadly, the race didn't have a mat for the start so the posted times were all gun times.  It cost me 1:10 just reaching the starting line but that will teach me to get to the start late.  The first 4 miles were spent finding some space to move and hoping that I'd feel a little better.  As I went down the hillls the space between the runners would increase and I would use gravity as an ally and pass a bunch of other runners.  But once the terraine shifted back to uphills the gaps between bodies would shrink making it near impossible to pass.

At about 4 miles I decided to throw in a surge and see exactly how I was feeling.  Between the crowding and late start I was averaging about 8:00's.  My 5th mile was 6:54 folllowed by a couple 7:12's and then 2 7:03's.  At the 1/2 way point my chip time was 58:35 for an average pace of 7:20.  Most of the first half had been down hill so I knew that I was in for some seious payback in the second half.  It came at just over 9 miles.  You come up over a slight rise and take a sharp left hand turn and are faced with a "steep" hill of about 200 yards.  It seemed like half the people around me started walking here.  I kept running but wasn't going any faster than the walkers at first.  That's when I put my head down, leaned way forwards and shortened up my stride.  The next thing I knew I was starting to pass people again.  For the next 3.5 miles the course continued to roll and climb with very little relief.  I had my doubts about running a negative split but just focused on the here and now. A woman notifiedthe runners upon finally reaching the highest point on the course.  I checked out the Garmin and realized that I had  a great shot at breaking 2 hours. I just told myself- Only a 5 k to go.  Looking up I picked out a shirt and decided I was going to catch that guy.  It was the perfect jersey to chase.  I spent the next 3 miles sowly reeling him in.  Even though I never caught him, he dragged me along and we both managed to pass at least a dozen other runners.

     As I came over the top of the final hill and took the  turn for home I looked at the clock and realized that I had kicked some serious butt in the final 5k, averaging 6:46.  I had indeed negative split the course.  My final 8 miles were covered in 56:40 for a pace of 7:05 with all those uphills.  I'm very satisfied with my performance, especialy feeling as uncertain as I have the last month or so.

Slow, slow miles today.  My legs  feel like I'm getting ready to run a 4th leg at Reach the Beach.  At least I could run today with them.  Small improvements.  I think I'll try to use an ice bath after my next long race. Recovery is quicker.

3.55 miles at 8:15's

Legs are still a little soar but I could actualy go down stairs without using the handrails or taking them one at a time.  Yesterdays run definetly helped.  M.V. 20 miler in just over 2 weeks.  I have to decide if I'll be running hard or not.  Being a home race it'll be hard not to try and compete.  Bragging rights for the year are at stakes.

Easy run off-road today.  Legs feeling almost normal accept for being heavy.  Off day tommorrow.

15 miles at a snails pace.  I would have liked to go a bit quicker but stayed with Neil as he struggled a bit.  I just reminded myself that long runs are all about time on the road, especially while still recovering from last Sundays race.  Probably the best thing that could have happened.

2 mile warm up 5 mile tempo at 7:20 pace 2 mile cool down

I felt really good today and the tempo run went pretty effortlessly. A week and a half to my 20 miler. Goal is to run 7:15's as long as I can.  If it works out time should be 2:15.

Easy recovery run today. 8:10 pace.

Double sessions today.  7.3 in the a.m. in an 1:01  followed by 6.8 afternoon run with the boys in 1:07.  Felt good for both runs.

3.25 miles in 25:36   7:50 pace

Angry run as a personal issue fired me up.  Tweaked my ankle.  Hopefully it'll be O.K. for tommorrow.

11.5 miles in 1:40:06   8:41 pace

Ankle was bugging me a little before the run but worse afterwards.  So much for being smart.  Other than that the run felt good.  Lots of icing this week.  We'll see how it responds before committing to Saturdays race.

15 miler with 8 at 8:45 and finished with last 7 at 8:00.  First 8 were with Danny at a comfortable conversational pace.  After he dropped off I sped up without realizing it.  Effeort didn't seem to be any greater for the final 7.

4 mile tempo at 6:30 pace.  Felt really good.

5 mile tempo run at just under 7 minute pace.  Felt strong even with Tuesday's hard tempo run.

LSD  split between running with Pat and Dave and alone.

9 miles in 1:09 7:40 pace

It's been a long time since I've visited the site.  After hurting the ankle and not being able to run Boston I just checked out mentaly to any serious training.  I've used the last 6 months to run how I've felt and not follow any particular schedule. That doesn't mean that I wasn't running and running hard. I just wasn't running according to any specific program.

     I signed up for Boston- again- yesterday so It's time to at least keep track of milage and how I'm feeling.  With 6 months to go, it's still too early to start focusing on the race but I do need to get more consistent with the training. Plus the ankle is still an issue and will always be to some extent.  Now it's all about how much discomfort I'll be able to handle.

I'm headed off to Disney World for 10 days starting Thursday so I don't know how much running I'll manage down there but plan on building the milage back up upon my return.  I'll be going back and trying to add in some of my training over the past 6 months based on my Garmin.  I'm sure there will be a lot of gaps as I ran a lot without any records. 

I'll be back soon?!

5 easy miles at an easy pace. Headed to the airport for 10 days of rest and relaxation with the mouse.

Back from Florida. Had a couple of 1/2 hour runs while down there,  The heat was tough after leaving 40 degree weather.  Would have run more but the walking was killing me.  Why?   8 easy today.  Felt good.

5 miles at 7:46 pace

Long day at work today.  I came home and didn't feel much like running but forced myself out the door.  Gald I did.  Legs were a bit heavy but pushed myself to run a bit out of my comfort level.

I was thinking about running all day today.  Although my legs were tired I decided that mentaly I needed to push myself.  Did my 1.1 mile warm up and proceeded to run the St. Pats 5k course.  18:42 for 6:02 pace.  miles were 6:05, 5:59, 6:03.  This was my p.r. before this season.  The run didn't feel great by any stretch of the imagination but I pushed through and didn't allow my mind to shut down.  These tempo runs are not exactly fun but I do enjoy the feeling of accomplishment when they are over. Now to find out why my lone hard runs are so close to my races as far as times.HMM?

Easy recovery run today.  The calfs were realy tight. I never realy got flowing. Off day scheduled for tommorrow.

4 miles in 31 minutes. Worked on better form for the last 2 miles. Need to find a more efficient way to run. I feel myself leaning back in my stride the past few months.  Slight forwards lean is keeping more off my heels and quicker. Long run tommorrow.

10ish miles today. My Garmin died at about 7.5 miles and I was running a course I'm not familiar with.  No matter.   I went off road for a good portion of todays run which slowed me down quite a bit. Lots of fallen leaves out there hiding ankle twisters. Weather was 43 degrees with a slight drizzle so not ideal conditions. Made the idea of not adding on more miles to the end of the loop easy to make.  It took a good hour to thaw out my hands.  I guess I'm going to have to break out the winter gear sooner rather than later.  Now that day light savings is here it's going to get tougher to get out the door.  I miss working for myself just for this reason.  I'm not a huge fan of running in the dark.

4 miles at 7:38 pace.  The dark days of winter are upon me.  One day of running in the dark and I'm ready to cry!  Just kidding.  It does make it tough to get out there however.  Run felt good otherwise.

13.1 in 1:33:03

Not realy a race but more a time trial.  I ran a 1/2 marathon on this course last year and enjoyed it so much I decided to do irt again this year.  Sadly, the race was not scheduled again.  This is an interesting course.  First half is super flat and fast.  I averaged 6:40's for the first 7 befor the hills started and kicked my butt!  There are 2 realy tough hills. The one at mile 7 is 3/4 of a mile long and steep, and the one at mile 12.  The one at twelve is shorter but steeper.  You feel like you're walking as you climb it.  Good news is I found a second gear for the final mile and finished up with a 6:08.  Surprised myself.  No negative split here today.  I obviously need some more hill work.

Easy recovery run today. The calfs were pretty soar after Sunday but loosened up nicely during todays run. Busy day at work kept me from hydrating properly. I need to find the time on these busy days to properly fuel my body.

Easy morning run.

10.3 at 8:36

LSD today. Not as far as I would have liked but I had a work appt. at 9:00.  Ran with Dave and a couple of new guys in the neighborhood.  It went by fast and I felt good. It's getting close to thinking about Boston time. Time to find myself a training program.

Easy recovery run today.

Early morning as I had to put the turkey in the oven befor running out the door for the race.  Cold and windy conditions. Temp was 33 with 20 mph winds.  I wasn't feeling my best as I fell asleep on the couch and spent the night twisted up like a pretzel.  Add the fact that I'm dealing with some sort of bronchille issue and it was a recipe for a poor performance.

     Only did a mile warm up as I was running late to the start.  By the end of it I was going through my normal hacking up a lung ritual.  Luckily it tends to last only long enough to bring up the nasty's and then I'm fine again until I lie down.

     There were a surprising number of good runners who showed up this morning.  I usualy finish in the top 5 with no worry but I could tell right away that the top 10 would be quick.  Having left my Garmin home I have no idea what my splits were.  I thought today would be a good day to run sans watch as my times have been consistent to the point of scary. I'm just starting to wonder if I run too much by the clock and not enough by my training and how I feel.  Last month I ran a hillier cousre in 18:42 by myself in practise so you would think a real race would be a bit quicker.  18:38 is a bit quicker but not by much. 

     I went out hard for the firstmile as I didn't want to lose contact with the leaders.  Sadly my legs just wouldn't respond after that.  I used the hill at mile2 to star making a move on the three runners in front of me and managed to close the gap from about 200 yards to 50 but then course went into a tight turn and I tweeked my hammy a bit.rounding the corner.  It forced me to hld back on the down hill leading into the finish.  It was sad to watch the 3 men in front of me pull away but it's just a turkey day 5k.  No need to get hurt. I suppose if I had realy wanted 2nd I wouldn't have yelled at them as they started taking a wrong turn at the bottom of the hill.

     I'm pretty happy with my effort but a little frustrated with my lack of speed.  The legs just don't want to turn over any quicker.  I guess I'll have to do some more core work and hit the track if I realy want to improve.

6 miles today at 7:56.  Started out slowly and picked it up as I went along.  My legs felt surprisingly good after yesterdays race. X-country 5k tommorrow.

The streak is over.  I've finished this race in 4th place for the first five years of it's existence but this year slipped to 5th.  The high school kids are getting faster. :)  I love this race as it takes place over the local high schools x-country course. As a former XC runner back in the day it's nice to get off the roads.  I wish I lived off island sometimes so I could do a few trail races.

The ankle felt a little fragile to start this run.  Tendonitis sucks.  Luckily it felt better as the race progressed.  I started out slower than on Thursday for two reasons. One; the start of this race can get scary with all the young kids sprinting to the front for the photo op. Two; I really wanted to see how I was feeling after racing 2 days ago.  This combo of races is a yearly tradition and after last years 19:42 I wanted to run a smarter race.

 After starting out in about 12th place I settled in to a pace that didn't feel too fast and focused on the person in front of me.  By the end of the first mile I had moved up into about 10th place and started to pick up the pace. I could see that there was a small group of high school kids about 80 yards up on me so I tried to reel them in.  Didn't quite work out as the lead group continued to pull away but a stragler would drop off the pack and I would slowly reel them in. With about 1/2 a mile to go I found myself in7th place with 2 runners working together to try to hold me off.  As I moved up along side them, one of the guys fell back off the pace while the other pulled ahead.  I bided my time and stayed on his heels until just before a big clearing when I went by him at a full sprint.  I held it for about 30 seconds and took a peek over my shoulder as the course took a hairpin turn and saw that he was 40 yards in the rearview mirror.  Styed relaxed and finished strong over the final 200 yards to take 5th place.

I managed to run a PR for this course today without feeling like I had run as fast as I could have. Plus it was a lot of fun to run a race with strategy for a change.  This race officialy marks the end of racing season so it's all about packing on the miles until the Boston Prep 16miler at the end of January. I'm starting to get excited. :)

I woke up looking forwards to running this morning.  I wasn't sure how I'd feeel after 2 5k's in 3 days but I felt good.  The calfs weren't sore at all and my hip and ankle felt o.k.  I ran the Southern woodlands with Dave and then added on the East Chop loop for  an additional 3 miles to the run.  I think I'll try to avoid the woods for a while, at least until some of the leaves are packed down or blown away. Dave tweaked his ankle early on in the run and it made me a little nervous with the way my ankle has been feeling of late.

Did a little cross training afterwards with some yard work.

6 miles at a steady effort of pushing myslef slightly. Felt really good.

100 floors on the stairmaster tonight before power yoga.  Followed up with 1.5 miles on the treadmill to cool down. It's a beginning to cross-training.  Hopefully the stairclimber will build up the quads a bit and make the pounding easier to handle in the longer races.

6 miles in the dark.  I can't seem to get used to it.  A lot of extra pounding with the lack of light.   Off day tommorrow.

6 easy miles on a cool windy day.

Long run with Dave this morning.  I felt pretty good right up to the point I quit running.  My hip flexors realy started to bug me by the end of the run.  Did some good post run stretching for a change and it made a difference by the p.m.  I averaged 8:40's for the run but my final 4 were at 7:45 pace to finish up strong.  Off day on Monday.

Left the house on an out and back. I decided an hour run would be an improvement over last Tuesdays run as I slowly want to build my miles back up.  Turned out to be 7 miles in 57 minutes as my return speed was a bit faster than my out leg.  Out in 8:20's back in 7:40's.  I'm finding it a little easier to motivate myself out the door in the dark to get these runs in. I LOVE RUNNING IN THE DARK!  If I keep saying it, it will eventualy be true.  The legs feel pretty fresh this morning following the run .  X-training with power yoga and stairmaster tonight at the gym.

110 flights on the stairclimber in 15 minutes at level 12.  Followed up with 2 miles on the treadmill and power yoga class. Yoga class is getting a little easier but still have a long way to go.

30:30 minutes out 28:07 back for 7.4 miles.  Averaged 7:56 for the entire run.  Out in 8:20 back in 7:40. Legs were a little heavy from yesterday, plus I took a tumble on some ice at work this morning. Tweaked my shoulder and jambed my hands pretty good.  I'm sure it will be worse in the morning.

Long run with Dave this morning turned into a shorter run as the skies opened and the 20+ winds with gusts and 38 degree weather made for a bit too much discomfort. I almost felt like a wimp. Almost.

Averaged 7:48's with the last three pushing it a bit for 7:15's. My right foot was feeling a bit soar between the arch and big toe right after the run but feels better now; 1 hour post run.  I'll have to keep an eye on it.  Otherwise I felt good.

6 easy mile.  Physical this morning. Doc's sending me to get an ecocardiagram on Thursday.  She seems to think there's some odd peaks on my ekg. I don't see how my heart can be a problem with all the running.  We'll see.

easy first  4 followed by a 10k tempo run at 7 minute pace. Followed it up with a cool down and lots of house cleaning before football.  Still no word back on the eco test. Sick of worrying about it. I'm just going to keep running like there's no problems.

Doc wants to set up a stress test to check things out further. Seems I have a slightly enlarged left atriam. Good news is I have excellent pumping power. They want to set up a stress test which is fine by me.  I want one of those anyway.

Easy run with Pat this evening.  The snow made for slick conditions. Like running at night isn't bad enough.  :)

I hammered the stairmaster for 20 minutes followed by 10 minutes cool down on the treadmill.  Followed up with power yoga class.  Todays class really focused on the hip area and I walked out feeling great.

Headed out for 12 to 15 when I ran into another runner I knew.  Decidede to run with him for a while and before I knew it the miles were flying by.  Felt really good until the last 2 or so when the knees started to feel a bit fragile.  Glad I pushed it a bit. 

Nasty storm moving into the area so I have no idea how the roads will look over the next week.  May have to move indoors.  Stress test scheduled for tommorrow off island.  Hopefully the weather won't cause it to be cancelled.

2 mile warm up at the gym before power yoga class.