Runnin Bubbas

Lunch:  easy out and back on Murdock from my office.  Legs are still heavy so kept it easy.  7:47AP

Happy April Fool's Day to all 

Also, I am pumped for the Astro's Home Opener tonight.  Opening Day is a fun time of year.  If you haven't been to a mlb ballpark you are missing out on a great time!  Go Stro's kill the Yankees!

MP Aerobic Builder 

PM: 2up/.5down

Draper Lefty Loop which includes about 400 feet of climbing. 8 miles 6:47AP. This loop simulates miles 14-22 at Boston. Really enjoyed this sunset run tonight. The run never felt hard. Legs felt very light and smooth. Everything was controlled and right effort. Feels good to know I'm starting to get in shape. MIH 7:02AP

Stro's are 2-0/Yankees 0-2 and that's a Big Deal!

Lunch:  Nice afternoon run in the sun.  easy solo miles at recovery pace. 8:26AP

AM:  easy miles with Ben M. Draper Small Loop with some strides at the end.  7:47AP
 

Striders Half Marathon MP workout. 

I was able to spend the night at Van Beekum's residence. I ran 5 easy Frudat morning with some striders at the end of the run and the very last step I took my right glute got really tight for some reason. I thought it was just something that would go away but it didn't. Any how, I knew Allie would be going out with the same game plan as I wanted to do. MP to HMP so I thought I would just work with her. It was very easy to run with Allie. We started out conservatively and progressively picked it up. By mile 5 though my right glute felt like it was tightening up. At 5.5 I told Allie to go on without me. I slowed down to try and see if this would back off the pain. It did. Jason Holt circled back around from doing a 6 mile tempo run to come run with me. I had planned to run 6:00 min pace here but I couldn't manage to run any faster than 6:40's because my hip and glute would just tighten up. So I told Jason that I just wanted to keep the effort here the rest of the way and that's would I did. Nothing I could do. Wasn't planing on racing this half. Just thought the course simulated the Boston Marathon well bad that I could get in a good tempo tune up one last time. I couldn't cool down like I wanted because of the tightness so I bagged it. I enjoyed talking to many friends. My friend Ali came to watch me finish. She's a sweetie. Congrats to Scott for a big win and great time on this course. This course is very honest and a great run. So many others had great runs too. Bryant, Ben, Fritz, Jace, Josh E., Walter, James, Devra, Sariah and Allie all had great races. Fun to hang with these guys and learn from them. Goegeous course and the weather was fantastic this morning. Thoroughly enjoyed the run. I talked with Allie and Jason the whole time and even though I didn't accomplish what I wanted exactly, I did the best I could with the circumstances. Hope to get this twinge figured out quickly with two weeks til the marathon. 6:45AP 

Day Off. Legs feel fine. Just need to figure out all these twinges. 

Lunch:  Easy miles from office out and back along PRT.  Fun in the Sun.  Legs felt great minus whatever SI issue I have right now.  Going to schedule a good massage and adjustment so I can fire right as it just seems like all the milage lately has gotten me off.  who knows.  7:42AP

Lots of walking, stretching and massage today.  Decided that a day off would not effect anything.  Hay in the barn.  MIH

AM:  nice stroll with the crew on JRT.  I showed up late (called my boy Solomon Happy 6th Bday this morning) so I ran the first 5 alone and ran back with the crew.  Love the laughs.  Good dudes.  7:35AP  MIH

PM: Draper Lefty Loop with Ben M. Kept it very easy the whole time. Right leg hurt the entire run. Trying to just keep perspective and focus. 7:49AP

AM:  mid morning run Draper Small Loop. Right leg and siatic is bad. Doing everything I can to just hang tough. 8:00 AP. 

Boston Start Time:  very good Draper Roller Course. Good hills and inclines. Took me 3 miles to warm up and then I settled into about 7:20's the next 10 miles and kept it there. Right leg and and back hurt the whole time. Pretty rough. Energy wise I feel good. I felt a little dehydrated today because of the sunny temps just enjoyed the solo effort. Ready or Not Ready I'm going to go enjoy Boston. Appreciate all the training partners help this past training cycle. 7:38AP

AM: Scott's house with the crew. Great laughs, stories, full moon. New course was cool. 7:52AP

Lunch:  easy miles from my office down Pallisade and back with some Orem Soccer Field Laps.  Right hip and back still tight.  Nothing I can do it feels like.  oh well, happy to fill the cup anyhow I can.  7:50AP

AM:  easy miles on the small Draper Loop. Took two days off to see if my right side, back, hip, hammy and calf would just relax. It's been bad for two weeks. Nothing I can do at this point. I've done everything possible. Just gonna do the best I can to enjoy it. This will be a very painful marathon though. #BostonStrong #makeithappen Best Wishes to everyone racing the SLC event and everything else this weekend. Have a good one. 

AM:  easy miles with Walter, Gina and Bethany around Jamaica Pond Trail by our hotel. Really cool run. Still feel blah and tight. Time to make the most of the past 11 weeks. MIH #bostonstrong

I don't even know where to begin or end. This experience was more than incredible. It was unbelievable. The city was electric, on fire, very emotional. I'm so impressed with how much love for the marathon the people have. It is impressive to think that the people make you feel like Heros just for running the course. I felt humbled and emotional the entire run. I never thought I would run a marathon let alone run Boston. I have spectated three times and it is very surreal going into this morning thinking hey you're about to run this historical 118th Boston Matathon. I cannot imagine the a better first time in Boston to run this event. 

Lots of apprehension coming into this race. My body only really got 11 weeks of training and I had to cram a lot into a short amount of time. Even the short run with Walter, Bethany and Gina Sunday morning around Jamaica Plain Ponds was very frustrating. Just too tight and nothing I had done the past few weeks let me stay loose or feel ready. I was just gonna go in happy and let the event be about the people of Boston and run for my little men, famil and friends and not make it about what I need out if this. This is how I would fill my cup. 

And so the morning arrived and I eat my normal cliff bar and Gatorade along with a bagel. The night before Walters Aunt Faith had made the most delicious carbo load meal I've ever eaten. Unreal meal. Care package for the morning included. So thoughtful. Again the people just so happy for every runner. 

I decided to use strength tape all over my right back and leg so that I could have some support for the pain. It worked. I'm glad I did this. The bus ride up was entertaining. We sang happy bday to Gina as it was her bday. Y'all know how I sing happy bday if you've ever run with me on your bday. Pretty fun to have the whole bus listen and then clap and cheer after the opera was over. 

The village was awesome. Three bathroom visits and I was ready to go. I walked with Walter to the corrals. I started in corral 7. When the lady dropped the ropes I moved up to about 4.5 and then the gun went off. That sent chills through me. everyone was cheering us on and I immediately started the thousands of high fives that I would be doing through the course. From the beginning I knew I need to hold back. 6:40 pace to start and it felt like 8 min pace. I immediately started to jog. I went through the mile mark in 7:01 which is exactly what I wanted to do. I knew if I got sucked out I would be in trouble and so many people passed me like they were doing a 5K. At 2 miles Steve Turley grabbed my right a and said what's up. We started talking and we were just so overwhelmed with how cool this was to participate. Steve was so excited he took off. I tried to get h to hold off. It was hard to pass him at mile 4 seeing him be really sick. He got food poisoning the night before. I never saw him again. In fact the only other familiar face I saw the rest of the way was Carina who finished just ahead of me. 

I ran what I thought was a smart game plan. My splits were all very consistent I felt and the effort felt right. I never tried to kill myself. I drank water at every aid station from 1-24. The only aid station I didn't get was mile 25. I took GI at 8, 13.5, 17.5 and 21. I feel very confident that I did the right nutrition. The start temp was 54 degrees and my finish temp was 62 degrees. Might not seem hot but there was no cloud cover and the wind was weird. The sun felt a lot hotter than it should have. When it feels nice right at the start and you're not cold then you know you're in for some heat. Such is the spring marathon. I had trained for it though with running at specific hot times and so I mentally said just drink at every aid station and you'll be fine. It's true. I saw hundreds of runners walk, fall down, cramp, cry. It was bad. You had to just suck it up and push on. My quads were hurting pretty bad. I managed however to keep going. I was frustrated with trying to manage my pace during the aid stations. With so many people around me I had slow down and speed up a lot after every aid station. It was a great experience to learn a lot. I definitely learned a ton during this marathon. One thing I learned is I need to run a faster marathon time so I can start in corral one next time because it was so many people the whole way. If I run faster I can finish earlier and have more room to run. Sounds dumb but it's true. 

Mat mile 18 I'm running by the aid station and this cool masters runner woman is with me much of the run. We worked well together. But our legs got crossed up when I tried to get out of the aid station. It pulled my left groin and quad bad. I thought I might have injured myself really bad. My left quad remained tight the rest of the way. This probably led to my slow miles from 23 on but for sure it hurt me. Nothing I could but suck it up and go. 

Wellsley College was unreal. I raised my right hand to my ear and kept saying can't hear y'all?  It was deafening. All I can say is the girls were awesome. I didn't get any kisses but I was very emotional through this mile. I probably choked up six times through the course. Cresting Heartbreak was cool. Thought the hill before Heartbreak was tougher. But it's where Heartbreak is during the course that makes it fun. I didn't even realize I was running up Heartbreak until half way through. I told myself this better be heartbreak because I'm ready to be done with these hills. Haha. When I passed Boston College went around Chestnut Hill Res I really started getting pumped. The turn on left on Beacon Street was awesome. I felt rejuvenated. I picked what I thought the pace up. My legs were hammered though. At 23 I could tell I was on my last wind. I saw the Citgo sign at 23. I knew I was gonna make it. I was thrilled. At this point I decided, hey take this moment all in. Enjoyed the crowds and supporters. I had given tons of high fives the whole way but these last few miles I was done with slapping hands. I just smiled and said thank you. Passing Citgo was extremely overwhelming. So many people. One million spectators today. The most ever. You felt like you're in another world. Couldn't believe it. Then you come under Nass Tirnpike and the crowd was crazy big. Right on Hereford. WOW. Left on Boylston. Holy crap. It's packed. It's loud. It's the coolest emotions ever. I just did what I wanted. I waved my hand up in the air the whole last mile. I didn't even care. I knew I was gonna PR because of what I had already done. Not a big deal but fun to say I improved a little. 

I crossex the finish line and stood there and just have a champions clap like I was at Winbledon playing tennis and thanking the grandstands. It was so cool. This is now my favorite part of the whole day. I decided to make sure very volunteer knew how much I cared and loved their help. I literally hugged 400 people at the end. I shook their hand with 200 others. I said Thank you to all of them. They laughed, cried, hugged me back and have me water and food and cool blanket. I didn't care who they were. Just loved that they made my day fun and unreal. I felt loved by these people. I felt #bostonstrong. At mile 18 I heard a guy on the side of the road say "MEB, just won!"  I was so pumped. The people all around me with myself just yelled and cheered. Finally. An American wins. And what a year to win it!  The champs MEB and RITA were increbibly gracious winners. Such a great awards ceremony and acceptance speeches of perfect humility and confidence. I'm touched by these Atheletes. So excited for how well Shalane ran and made the women's race. Ryan Hall's strategy to tell the rest of the Anerivans to hold back and let MEB go was also genius. Ryan is a stud and truly did his part today to help and Ametican win. So rad!  I qualified again today to run this marathon again and I believe I will do just that.

MADE IT HAPPEN!;)

thanks to all who have helped me train and continue to train. Appreciate y'all. 

Splits for Boston
7:01 
6:50
6:43
6:43
6:53
6:51
6:51
6:57
6:54
6:56
7:00
6:45
6:55
6:50
6:57
6:48
7:03
7:13
6:57
7:08
7:35
6:52
7:09
7:12
7:14
7:29
2:21 .39 (6:38)

Lots and Lots of walking. Freedom Trail and downtown over zero Fenwway Park. Took in more historical sites and lots of fun stuff. Cheers and Marathon Sports. Fenway was awesome again with Yankees/Soxes. 9-3 blowout unfortunately. Rained on us quite a bit. But Fenway is religion. Loved being at the ballparrrkk tonight. MIH

AM:  really cool revovery miles through Back Bay, over to Boston Common, to the markets, financial district, around so many historical sites, Beacon Hill, Milk Street passed Franklins birthplace and the first alley way in Boston. This place has only been around since 1630. So it's really new compared to Plymouth Rock. Love this city. Can't wait to get back. First mile was 11:36. Quite comical hobble through the streets. Finally got going after mile 4. 9:48AP

AM: morning run from my hotel in Warrick(Providence), Rhode Island. Out and Back along some back roads. Ran right past a Shawshank Prison. Really cool. Legs are feeling better still slow though. 9:12 AP

AM:  another cool recovery run through the city of providence, RI over through all of Brown University Campus. Brown is really hilly. College Hill they call the top. The Stadium was cool, old and small. I ran right by the Yale Baseball team as they were getting off the bus when I was running through the Browm Atheletic part if the campus. Ran right through them and told them good luck during the games this weekend. Beautiful homes, neighborhoods, old old buildings. Brown is only 255 years old so it's much newer than say Havard that charted in 1620. I love these site seeing runs. Ran over 4 bridges and two rivers today as well. My day trip to Newport, RI yesterday was incredible. I was pretty tired today. Legs feeling a lot better. 9:11 AP

PM: some good miles through Central Park this evening. Man it went too fast. Great rollers throughout the circumference of the park. Lots of great people watching. Imagine if the group could meet here for group runs every day. That would be heavenly!  Legs felt great minus the same right leg tightness. 7:26AP

AM: small loop through Central Park. Tons of runners out this morning. Also a cool 4 mile race going on put on by NYRR. Really cool event. It was sold out I was able to take it in and run part of it on my run. Looked like a great event. Enjoyed the sun this morning. No watch. 

AM:  Another beautiful day in NYC. Hotel was in Times Square last night off 37th and 8Ave so ran to Central Park and did the big loop and back to the hotel. Felt good but still tired after a week. This trip has probably exhausted more since I've walked all over. Ran 5 miles of this run with a guy from Vienna, Austria. Good TriAthelete. It was fun to have a running partner for most the run. We chatted the whole time and just a nice dude. Three runs through Central Park. Loved it. 7:40 AP 

Day Off...

AM:  Scott's house. Scott, Mike and Reed. Beautiful morning. Legs still tired and left groin still tight. Good run.