Boston Strong

400m:  79, 77, 76

200m:  38, 35, 34

 Ok, so half the distance & # of repeats I should have done, but at least I went to the track!

Have not raced in 90 days, so signed up for this to kickstart my running mojo!

Course was hilly & a tad short ... but I still easily would have broken 40 on a full 6.2.  I was on pace for a 39:30 at 5 miles, and figured I could throw down a fast last mile ... then a side cramp struck & I had to walk for about 20 seconds.  This was a bummer, as my legs felt good & I was in control aerobically.  I loaded with Hammer 'Race Day Boost' (sodium phoshate) capsules for 3 days prior to race ... I think this being in my system is what caused the side cramp.

Mile 1:  Big uphill, felt comfortable though - 6:15

Mile 2 More up & a little down, in 4th place - 6:27

Mile 3:  Rolling Hills, scaled back a little - 6:30

Mile 4:  Walked about 10 seconds to get some water.  Alas, some downhill! Just trying to stay on sub 40 pace -  6:23

Mile 5:  Picked it up a little, guy right behind me - 6:11

Mile 6:  Got passed by guy in my age group, was glad he passed, figured I would fall in behind and pass him back with a kick the last .2 ... but right after he passed, side cramp struck.  Tried to keep pace, but cramp was getting worse, so let him go, and walked for about 20 seconds & raised arms over head to try to make cramp go away.  That helped, but it really did not go away.  Forced myself to start running again to make sure I broke 40 - this was a tough mile!  -  6:49

Last .11:  Just ignored the pain & tried to finish strong ... 35 seconds, 5:27 pace.

Overall, I was pleased with race, although disappointed with the side cramp ... don't like getting passed with a mile to go & not being able to turn it into a race!  I was at 31:46 through 5 miles & felt like I should have been able to run another 1.2 in 7 minutes (6:00 pace), so I was on track to break 39 on a full 10k ... cramps happen sometimes ... but I really do not feel like it was a result of pushing too hard ... I was conserving a little for a fast last mile ... just could not pull it off with the cramp.

For the first time I feel like a sub 38 is attainable ... and as luck would have it ... there is a faster 10k in 3 weeks ... so I will give it a shot there!

 Post races party was awesome ... live music, free beer, good food ... race was hosted by Terrapin Brewing company.  :)

Quick 3 as warm-up to 90 minutes soccer, 7:30, 7:03, 7:14

8 easy at Sims Lake

8 to IHOP @ 7:40, devour short stack, catch ride 2 miles back east, run 6 home @ 8:17

 Spin Class in evening

Ran this race with Alex ... 40 degrees & 20 mph winds

After a 6:00 1st mile into a headwind, it was hard to 'race' the rest of the race!

5:57, 6:32, 6:26, 5:30 pace over last 0.17 per Garmin ... 19:52, 6:16 AP by Garmin

Not very happy with performance, but considering  it would have been a 40 second PR over what I ran 10 months ago, sometimes you just have to keep things in perspective!  The other positive is that although I kinda went into oxygen debt and was aerobically struggling miles 2 & 3 ... I did not feel like I was pushing that hard ... I'll take a 6:30 pace any day of the week when I do not feel like I am running at race effort!

If I could do it over, I would have started with a 6:30 mile, but what the heck, you might as well run the first mile to give you a chance at a PR, whether it is wise or not.  5k's are brutal, anyway you look at it, there just is not enough time to really make up for a slower start ... so you have to either roll the dice or lower expectations going into them!

Alex dropped off at the 1 mile mark, I tried to slow enough for him to catch me (I needed to slow down anyway), but I somehow missed seeing him at the half turnaround, so after a quick water stop right after the turnaround, I started back up ... he said he was close ... and finished strong about 30 seconds behind me.  Considering he has not run all winter due to playing basketball, his time was very respectable.  It was good for him to realize the dividends that regular training produced when he was running cross country in the fall.  He is playing soccer now, so he will stay fit, and hopefully when that ends we can start ramping him up for a sub 18 next fall!

90 minutes soccer

7.5 @ 7:45 pace ... right knee pain whole time, could not even complete 8, had to walk back.

Took 3 weeks off, to ice & rest left knee ... & now right one hurt ... go figure.

Guess I will take lots of Vitamin I before Half marathon Saturday!

!/2 mile warmup on treadmill before Spin Class.  Jumped off bike & on treadmill twice during Spin to do 2 progressively fast miles on treadmill ... in part to test my knee ... in part because Spin class tends to kill me!  Did 1/2 mile easy cooldown on TN after Spin.

Knee felt 'ok'

Fiasco!  Considering I have only been able to run 70 miles in the last 30 days dealing with knee pain, I had little exectations about how I might 'race', but figured I would take things as they come.  Arrived 40 minutes early & jogged 1/2 mile to start/packet pick-up ... took 20 minutes to get bib number!  Decided I better jog back to car & get knee brace, and stopped to use restroom.  As I arrived back at car, I heard national anthem, & knew I was screwed!  Jogged back to start, passing all the runners going the opposite way!  Grabbed a drink of water & started my journey of passing 800 runners ... already 4-1/2 minutes into the race.  Unfortunately, there were no chip times, as they only recorded finish times, not 'start' times ... really?  600+ Half runners & 500 10k runners starting at same time & they can't put a timing mat at the start?  Ridiculous ... not that it mattered because it was a crappy run anyway, but sad for many people, who surely assumed there would be a chip time & started farther back in the pack.

Anyway, started off with a goal of trying to maintain a 6:30 pace, quickly revised to 6:40, then 6:50, then to 7:00 overall pace, then to just trying to finish running.  As soon as I finished, I limped back to car, got a cold beer, and made my way back to congratulate some friends who got awards.  Looks like Boston is going to just be about enjoying the experience, and hopefully I can compete in 2013.  While my knee was the main culprit in this race, I was definitely feeling the aerobic effects of taking a month off for the most part ... and while I am sure I could get the aerobic part back in two months, I am pretty sure my knee would not hold up for 26 miles if I keep beating it up ... so getting healthy is my main goal.

I stopped for water & walked a little in the 5th mile, and really had trouble starting to run again.  I walked through every water stop from that point on, so there were walk breaks in Miles 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, & 12 ... not good. 

1 - 6:25

2 - 6:41

3 - 6:40

4 - 6:50

5 - 7:20

6 - 8:09

7 - 6:56

8 - 6:54

9 - 7:01

10 - 7:14

11 - 7:11

12 - 7:08

13 - 6:55

.1 - 6:36 pace

Overall pace: 7:02

A friend sent me a picture she took at Mile 11 ... I was grimacing & my form looked like crap ... I quickly deleted it!  I think the worst part of running in pain is form goes out the window, as subconsciously your stride is altered trying to compensate/alleviate the forces causing the pain.  All things considered, was still a good day ... saw lots of friends, & a good friend of mine smoked the course & won our Age group in 1:27.

4 comfortable miles, no knee discomfort

8:00, 7:30, 7:19, 7:41

2 loops @ Sawnee Mtn, 900' vert

A little knee discomfort around Mile 4, so I eased off on downhill.

Would probably be wise to stay off trails with steep descent for a little while.

USA 1   Italy 0  First time ever we beat them ... Woot Woot

Then went to Alex's JV game, they won 1-0 to improve record to 4-0-1

Alex is playing stopper, he is not the most skilled on the team, but probably the fastest, and plays with the heart of a lion.  I am a little biased, but he is the biggest reason they are undefeated, he stops the other teams attack cold before it starts ... and if they do get by him, he usually chases them down and makes them pay ... fun to watch!