First Long Run Complete!

Today's run went surprisingly well from start to finish.  I woke up at 5:30 this morning, had some coffee and answered some emails.  I checked the weather and the high for the day was only 80, so I purposely took my time before I left for my run.  Knowing that my productivity would plummet after running for 2+ hours, I figured I'd attempt to get as much done as possible within the next couple of hours while I was still capable.

I headed out the door at 8:15, and had a really easy pace going for the first eight miles.  There are no running trails in Norfolk, MA (or at least that I'm aware of), so most of my running is done on the street.  There are a lot of windy roads, however, and I was fortunate enough to only have to deal with people driving to church, and no speed demons.

  

I ran to Medfield and at my halfway point, I stopped in to a convenience store to buy some gatorade.  As I'm walking through the store, I receive a few quizzical looks.  I assume that this is resulting more from the fact that I look like I've just been sprayed down by a firehouse, and less of the fact that I have the whitest legs known to man.  I knock back the gatorade and I'm off for the second half of the run.  I'm running approx 8:30 minutes a mile, and aside from the wet clothes, I feel fine.  At mile 10, I run into my first and only issue of the run, and luckily it wasn't anything physical.  I had kept my debit card, a GU, and my iPod in the pouch of my running belt, and some water / sweat got into my iPod and caused it to stop working.  Fantastic.  (Somewhere, Chris Crook is reading this and laughing hysterically).

At 13 miles, I had an unexpected, but much welcomed, visitor.  Lauren was heading home from the gym and decided to see where I was.  Once she spotted me, she pulled over to the side of the road, and I jogged over to her.  After some chit chat, I "borrowed" what was left of the water she had, and went back at it.  It was a welcomed visit because this is where my run started to get difficult.

I was waiting for this to happen, and was happy that the tough part of the run started right at the two hour mark.  Yesterday's run was tough because it was hot.  Today, this part of the run was tough because my legs had had enough.  Completely different ballgame.  Anyway, I try to keep the same pace (8:45 - 9:00 minutes / mile) for the last three to four miles, and did so with moderate success.  I muscle through the last couple of miles, and finish my 18 mile run in 2 hours and 37 minutes.  Not bad.

The biggest success today wasn't the time or the distance of the run, but more so that I actually finished my first long run, and I did so in one piece.  The long runs should only get easier from here (emphasis on should).  And don't worry, I'll keep you posted on how they turn out...

Glory Days

Yeah, just sitting back trying to recapture a little of the glory of, well time slips away and leaves you with nothing mister but boring stories of glory days  

 -Bruce Springsteen

This morning's run is / was a testament to the amount of work I have to do to get back to where I was as a runner a few years ago.  I got up early this morning to beat the heat (it's supposed to be 95 degrees in New England today!), and knocked out nine miles in 73 minutes.  The time isn't that bad, however, the effort required to finish those miles and the fact it required a two hour nap to recover from is a little ridiculous (I know, I've got it tough).  Taking into consideration that I've only run twice this week, there's no reason for me have to sleep after running for an hour and 15 minutes.

Patrick Ewing once told me I sweat a lot.

At the same time, I know I shouldn't even consider trying to run the amount or at the pace I used to run in the past.  On average, I've run one to two times a week for the past year, and usually never running for more than 45 minutes.  I haven't followed any sort of training program or diet, and it's obnoxious to think that I would be able to pick up where I left off.


So, what am I going to do to get back to running at a 7:00 / mile pace?  The obvious answer is to run more.  And in order for me to do so, I'm going to have to start waking up really early in the morning to do so.  This is something that I know I'm going to struggle with.  I can get up at 5:00 AM if I know I've got something to do or some place to go for work, however, any other reason usually involves hitting the snooze button the minute my alarm goes off, and then waking up at 6:15 - 6:30 and cursing myself for sleeping in.


Does anyone have this problem?  And does anyone have any solutions?  If so, I'm all ears.

My training is heating up

And only in the literal sense.  Today I was planning on running my first long run, which was supposed to be a nice, easy run to cap off what I would consider to be a successful first week back in the saddle of marathon training.  Instead, today's long run turned into a run / walk mess, and required a marathon effort just to finish 13 miles.

Of course all of this could have been easily prevented.  Instead of getting up at 7:00 and hitting the road at 8:00 AM to start my run, I decided to enjoy a long Sunday morning reading and drinking coffee.  Not really paying attention to the time, next thing I know it's 1:00 PM.  What the heck, I'll just go run now I tell myself.  It's ONLY 85 degrees and I'm ONLY planning on running for 2 hours.  After heeding Lauren's advice to wear sunscreen, I lather up in SPF 2000 (it's fun being Irish), grab my iPod and sunglasses, and hit the road.

After running approximately 25 miles in the past five days, I somewhat convince myself that I should be able to finish close to 15 miles in 2 hours, just like the old days.  Silly me.  After the first 20 minutes, I realize that this will not be the case.  Now it feels like 95 degrees.

I take the first hour slow, running between 8:30 and 9:00/miles.  At the hour mark, I'm a little over 6.5 miles, so I decide turn around and start the second half of my workout.  And here's where it became ugly.  After one mile on the return leg, the heat started really getting to me, and I started my first of four walking "intervals" (calling these intervals makes this sound and read like a legitimate workout).  I walk by Medway Garden Center, and decide to see if I can get some water from one of their hoses.  The supervisor countered with a ice cold bottle of water, and after a few thank yous, I was back on my way.  While the water was great, the benefits turned out to be short lived.  I wound up finishing my last 4+ miles running one mile, and walking a half a mile, until I was finished.

Luckily, the 13 miles only took 2 hours and ten minutes (ughhh).  I could have and probably should have, walked the last five miles of my workout, but last thing I wanted was for my sunscreen to sweat off, and top off my workout with a sunburn.  I'm not sure anyone would really call this a long run, but for the sake of my training calendar, I am going to.   Going forward, I will be running in the mornings or evenings.  And I will be bringing water and food with me on any run longer than an hour and a half.

Other than today, I'm pretty happy with the week.  For those of you interested in follow my runs in more detail, you can click on the specific workout to the right of post section and it'll take you to a page with a ton of stats and a map of my run.  If you run and enjoy documenting your runs/times/etc., I recommend checking out RunningAhead.com.  After using it for a day, I find it much easier to use than other similar sites, such as mapmyrun.com or garminconnect.com.

Here we go again!

For those of you who know me, I'm at it again.  This will be eighth marathon, and the second time I will be blogging about my marathon training progress.  On October 16, 2011, I will be toeing the starting line in Lowell, MA attempting to complete 26.2 miles in a somewhat timely fashion. 

Why am I blogging about another marathon, and why am I running the Bay State marathon again?  Both great questions.  I signed up for the Bay State marathon in order to raise money for and awareness of Easter Seals of Massachusetts.  As some of you may know (and hopefully everyone will know much better in the next few months), Easter Seals provides services to ensure that children and adults with disabilities have equal opportunities to live, learn, work and play.  I have been volunteering with our chapter for the last few months, and the more I participate with our chapter and it's participants, the more I realize the opportunity we have to make a positive impact for individuals and families who receive services from Easter Seals.

Am I running the Bay State Marathon because it is known as being one of fastest and easiest marathons in the United States?  Am I running it because Bay State is the only fall marathon in Massachusetts?  Is it because it's a great opportunity to run a state marathon while fundraising for a state charity?  Or am I running Bay State because this is the only marathon (that I know of) that Lauren will be able to ride along on her bike for most of my run?  Yes, yes, yes, and a resounding yes are my answers.

Bear with me while I get the blog up and running (get it?) and make it a little easier on the eyes.  I'm looking forward to sharing my experiences training and volunteering with you.  Thanks for reading.

2009 Boston Marathon Race Recap

I started out the morning getting up at 5:45, taking a quick shower, getting dressed and making breakfast.  Breakfast was the same as usual, an English muffin with peanut butter.  With the race starting at 10:30, I made and packed another English muffin to eat around 9:00.  With all of my belongings and race gear packed, I jumped in the car with 3 other Cambridge Running Club members to drive out to Hopkinton.

We arrived in Hopkinton around 8:30 and proceeded to walk a ½ mile uphill to the elementary school where all the runners can leave their pre-numbered bags on buses to pick up at the end of the race, and to relax after that rigorous walk (just kidding).   I sat around for a little over an hour people/runner watching, since there were about 18,000 other people in this area (yes, I counted), as well as trying to keep warm.  At this point, it was about 40 degrees.   During this time, I finished my thermos full of coffee, the other English muffin, a bottle of vitamin water, and another bottle of water.  It was safe to say I was properly hydrated.   At 10:15, I changed into my race wear, got my running gu’s in my new running belt (yes, a new running belt), and headed down to the start line.  

One of my big concerns about the race was starting in the 22nd corral, which is almost at the back of the second wave.  I was concerned that having so many runners in front of me would slow me down and put me off course.  As I entered my corral, I realized that I was able to walk as far up to the front as possible by forcing myself through the crowds.  The crowds were similar to those in a crowded hallway in high school.  Anyway, as I found myself walking closer to the front, the gun went off and everyone now started moving.  The race had begun!

The first 3 or so miles are pretty much all downhill.  To the tenured Boston marathoner, they would understand and force themselves to take this part of the race slow.   I knew this, but still wound up running the first miles pretty fast.  My first mile came across at 6:42, a little too fast, but I was happy that I was not getting caught behind a lot of people.  I finished the second mile in 6:45.  I remember telling myself to slow down, but I was feeling great, and had a comfortable pace going. Plus, I had just passed Bill Rodgers, the Olympian who had also won the Boston marathon FOUR times.   How awesome is that?  I just ran past an Olympian!  I guess I should also mention that his Boston marathon wins took place between 1975 and 1980.  Ahh details…  Anyway, the crowd was already thinning, and I was still running downhill.  I figured I’d naturally slow down soon since I was 14 minutes into the race, and should have settled down a little bit.  Or so I thought.  I finished the third mile in 6:35.  Sh*t!  I still felt good, but I forced myself to shorten my stride a little.  The third mile had the biggest descent of the first three miles, but still.  My 5k time was 20:40-something, which was 20 seconds slower than the 5k race I ran during this past Thanksgiving in Virginia (a little training can go a long way!)   Mile 4 came in at 6:52, which was good, and mile 5 came in at 7:02, which was fine.  A little over a half hour in the race, I feel fantastic, and for the most part I’m happy with my pace and time.

Miles 6 – 10 were pretty much the same as the first miles.  By mile 6, I was ahead of most people in Wave 2 and had been running by myself for the past two miles.  Then Becky, one of my new friends in the Cambridge Running Club, came running by me drafting off of another guy.  Drafting in running is the equivalent of drafting in NASCAR, where you run behind another runner and shield yourself from the wind, therefore making it easier for you to run.  Well, I decided that was a good idea, so I followed suit and pulled up behind Becky.  The three of us ran together for approximately 5 miles, and we were consistently hitting a 6:45 pace.   Now I started thinking that this pace is getting a little fast for me, however, I was still comfortable, and continued to push forward.  In Natick around mile 10, I saw my friends Matt, Eileen, Matt, and Kathy with their children.  I swooped in to give everyone that wasn’t holding a child a high-five, and I think I startled them a little bit since they didn’t see me.  That was fun.  

At mile 11, I started talking to the guy I was running with by asking him what his goal time was for today.  He said he wasn’t sure, and also added that he swam a mile and biked 50+ miles this morning prior to the race.  Well, that’s just great.  I’m running with Superman.  At this point, I had been drafting off him for the past 2 miles, and he proceeded to pick up the pace a little bit.  He said that he was from this part of town and I guess he wanted to look good for his friends.  I thought this was a good time to let him go.   I was breathing harder, and I had still hit all but one mile in my first 11 under 7:00/mile pace.  

Remembering my races from the two year’s past, mile 12 is a fun mile.  This is where the runners race through Wellesley, past Wellesley college, and through the throngs of the crazed student body cheering as loud as they possibly can.  Not exactly the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show, but close.  Where they get the energy to cheer this loud or obnoxiously for 2 + hours, I don’t know.  Regardless, the last thing you think about when running through here is the fact that you’re running.   It’s like they’ve been allowed to go outside and have fun for the first time in 6 months, and they’re not quite sure how to act.   This was my second mile over a 7:00 pace (7:05) and, unknown to me at the time, my last mile close to a 6:52 pace.

I hit the halfway point at approximately 1:30:00 (an hour and a half); with some concern about the last half of the race.  I was feeling a little more tired that I wanted to at this point in the race, and was getting the feeling that my previous pace is starting to get the better of me.  At this point, I’d like to think that I forced to myself to slow down, but I think my legs were not giving me any choice.  I knew (and expected) the race to begin to get difficult, but I didn’t think it would happen this soon.  Miles 14 – 16 I completed between 7:20 and 7:40.  Knowing that miles 16 – 21 were the toughest part of the race from the perspective of overall course elevation, I was fine with continuing this pace.  I’d keep it here (or at least under 8:00/mile) going through the hills, and then I’d attempt to race the last 5 miles.  Easier thought than done.

Each mile from 16 – 21 grew progressively harder.  By mile 17, I thought I felt a slight twinge in my left hamstring.  At mile 18, I passed my friends Naoko and Dan.  Naoko ran the first 18 miles as a tune-up, and look like she probably finished her run 15 minutes earlier.  Lauren and I ate dinner with them on Saturday night, and Dan and I were joking that we would have to age-adjust his marathon if I got close to running a 3:00:00 marathon.  As I passed them, I think Dan and I both knew any age adjustments would not be necessary.  The first two big hills I ran with the goal of not stopping to walk, which I succeeded.  However, my legs and lower back were starting to get tight, and I now had a chest cramp (oh the war stories!)  After completing the second hill, I knew I had a little less than a mile to prepare for Heartbreak Hill.  I knew that this was not going to be fun, and I had a feeling I was going to have some trouble with leg cramps.  As soon as I turned the corner, I look up to see a street that drives straight to the sky.  

With the same goal of not stopping, I put my head down and marched upwards to knock out the last of the hills, listening to Boston College students cheer and slur, watching them hand out beer to the naïve runners, and all the while thinking how crappy of a college football team they root for (I needed some motivation!)  Halfway up the hill, I chuckled to the thought of running this at a 7:00 pace, or for that manner, a 9:00 pace.  As I get closer to the top, I see my fellow drafter Becky walking.  As I’m catching up to her, I tell her “Let’s go”.   She turns around, looks at me, and just takes off and after 30 seconds I don’t even see her anymore.  So much for running with someone else….  Anyway, I got to the top without walking, mission accomplished.  I then begin to run downhill towards mile marker 21, and as I’m getting close, my good friends Erin and Brandon who were on the island in the middle of the road start cheering for me.  I turn to my left to figure out who was cheering, and as soon as I see them, my right hamstring cramps like no other and I had to stop moving.  I don’t know how to describe the pain other than feeling like you’ve just been shot in the leg.  I attempted to walk, but that didn’t work.  So, I sat there and rubbed my hamstring until it loosened up.  A minute or so later, I started walking again.  I turned to see Erin and Brandon looking over at me, wondering what happened.  I shake my head, and continue forward finally being able to SLOWLY jog.  I pass mile marker 21 in just under 13 minutes.  And there went my respectable finish!  

I continued forward averaging about 9:00 pace.  At this point in the race, I noticed that the temperature dropped, and it had become windy.  I don’t know how or why this happened, but when I got hit with my first strong headwind at mile 22, my left hamstring experienced the same cramp as my right hamstring did one mile back.  Ouch.  By mile 23, I had stopped again, but only for 20 seconds or so.  My legs were toast, and I was now just trying to finish.  I saw Matt and Nora, some more good friends, cheering on and came over to give them high fives.  At least they looked like they were having fun!

The last three miles were pretty much the same.  Jog at a 9:00, speed up, cramp, stop.  By mile 25, I finally succumbed to the pace, and hoped that I’d finish under 3 ½ hours.   During the last mile, I saw Lauren, her mom, Marie and heard her brother Kevin cheering.  As per tradition, I ran over and gave Lauren a kiss, which was all the motivation I needed to finish the race.  I picked up the pace for the last half mile, and crossed the finish line in 3:26:25, and just completed my third Boston marathon!

As much as I wanted to finish the race less than 3 hours, I was happy that I ran and that I finished.  I guess this just wasn’t my day.  Not only did I get to run and complete another marathon, but I was able to promote and raise money for a great charity.  I’ve also learned how to start and the time investment required to run a blog.  Finally, if I motivated anyone to go for a run when they normally would not have, I’ll also consider that a success.  

Thanks again to all that donated and to all who followed me along my journey.  Once I figure out what my next race is, I’ll be sure to let you know.  And if you’ve ever had the smallest thought of running a marathon, please completely disregard everything you read about miles 21 – 26 and sign up!  It is an AWESOME experience!

Tom

Thank you!

After training for the past three and a half months, I can say that I am finally ready for the Boston Marathon tomorrow.  In this time, I've run approximately 550 miles, burned approximately 77,000 calories, and ran in temperatures as low as - 2F degrees.  I've come up with my running strategy in the past two weeks, and now all that's left is to execute it.  I have three obstacles to overcome tomorrow, and if I can do so, I'll have a successful run.  My first obstacle will be trying not to waste energy while running past the 22,000 people ahead of me. Second, I'll need my legs to cooperate with me for the entire race. I've always had problems with my leg muscles cramping up in my past marathons, making me slow down significantly in the last 6 miles.  If I can keep from cramping up (specifically my right hamstring), I should not have a problem keeping pace aerobically.  Finally, my last obstacle will be dealing with the unexpected events.  My shoes coming untied, getting a blister on my toe, chaffing, tripping and falling, catching other peoples elbows, and the weather could all have an impact (either good or bad) on the race.  The less number of times any of these happen, or the less severe they are, the better my chances are of running a good race.

 
I also wanted to say thank you to everyone who has donated to the Respite Center.  This year 42 runners have pledged to raise money for the Respite Center, and their contributions alone have raised almost $100,000!  So far, I've reached 91% of my fundraising goal.  For those of you who were still planning to donate, there is still time.  You can go to:

 
www.tom-running-blog.com.

 
Click on the donations tab, and instructions to donate will follow. Any and all donation amounts are really appreciated, and it would be great to be able to line up tomorrow with my goal of $3,000 raised.

 
Finally, if anyone is interested in following my progress during the race, please follow these instructions.

1.  Go to: http://www.baa.org/BostonMarathon/Att-Athlete-Alert.asp

2.  Click on the registration page link in the second bulleted paragraph.

3.  Follow the instructions to receive either text messages or email alerts.  To do so, you'll need the following information:

    a.  Bib number - 22684

    b.  My birth date - 03/21/1977

4.  For people who sign up for text message alerts, you will have to confirm the message by sending a reply.  Instructions will be included in the original text message.

 
Thank you again for following along in my journey to complete another Boston marathon, and helping the Michael Carter Lisnow Respite Center.  I'll be sending out an update after the race to let you know how it went.  Until then!

 
Tom

 
P.S.  If you are in the area and are watching the marathon, I'll be starting the race at approximately 10:37 AM.  I'll be running each mile at approximately a 7 minute mile pace.  You can figure out what time you expect to see me based on where you are on the course. Otherwise, I'll be wearing a solid dark blue, sleeveless running shirt and black running shorts.  If you keep an eye out for a pair of blinding white legs, you should have no problem finding me!

Almost there

With only one week left until the big day, I’m ready for this party to start.  Being out of town for the last week has made it easy to immerse myself in work and not think about the marathon every waking hour.  But with only seven days to go, I’ll need to start physically and mentally preparing for this race.

 

My runs during this last week should be fairly easy - 3 to 5 miles at race pace (6 minutes and 52 seconds/mile) and I’ll focus on my form and staying relaxed.  I’ll also spend an additional 15-20 minutes stretching, focusing specifically on my hamstrings.  I vividly remember running my first marathon, the Marine Corps Marathon, and right after running 17 miles and past The Awakening at Hains Point, my right hamstring locked up.  I hopped over to the side of the road to stretch it out, and as soon as I got there, my left hamstring locked up and I couldn’t walk.  Literally.  I stood there for 3 minutes, rubbing my hamstrings to loosen them up.  I learned my lesson, and stretching for an extra 15 minutes after each run will be a tiny price to pay if it alleviates hamstring issues like that during the race.

 

In addition to running a few easy miles, I’ll also spend the week mentally preparing to run the race.  Weird?  Yes.  But effective?  Yes.  Let me explain.  If you haven’t heard of the “wall” before, it’s the point during the race where your body gets too tired to keep up the pace you’ve been running and you just want to quit.  At this point, it’s all too easy to slow down your pace and lose sight of your goal.  The more I can think about having this moment during the race (which will happen at least once), and practice reminding myself that the discomfort is only temporary and I’ll get through it, the more prepared I’ll be when it happens.  I’ll be able to bust through that wall at mile 18, 21, or whenever it happens.  Now if only I could apply this same methodology to my discussions with Comcast’s customer service personnel...

 

So, stretching and thinking.  If only my whole training program was that easy!