Hopefully I'm back! I've been out sick for five days running a fever and with stomach issues. I've lost about 6-8 pounds but feel much better today.

Today I decided just to do a short easy run to see how it would go. Everything is good but I did feel a little run down. My HR started to rise on the last mile so I slowed down. Obviously I am dehydrated so I'm sure this is why the HR jump.

Hoping to be back in full swing by next week with one 17 mile run and everything else is down hill.

I'm hoping this bump in the road doesn't effect me too much for Boston. I'm starting to put together my racing plan and now hoping for good weather!

Psalm 73:26

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

I'm on a streak...I've run two days in a row! Here I come Boston. :-)

I just ran at a little above comfort level on this run, still recovering from the illness. I am still under weight quite a bit at 153 when I started today and 151 when I finished. I need to be 156-158 when I start running. I'm planning to run a little longer tomorrow then a day or so of easy/short runs, then my last long run early next week.

(NO MORE SICKENESS BEFORE BOSTON!)

I've been studying and putting a stratagy together for Boston and will have my paces worked out soon with my goal. :-)

Sorry, I can't contain myself:

GO SPURS GO ...!!!

I feel like I'm getting back into the swing of running. My legs seemed a little stiff this morning but the effort and paces seemed fine. Only 25 miles this week, hopefully I can jump back up to some reasonable (but tapering) miles next week.

It was very windy this morning but the humidity and temp was down so it was actually pretty nice! I like 60 degrees and dry.

John 3:8

On paper this run looks fine but in "real life" it didn't feel that good. My legs seemed sore and stiff. My HR as also very sporadic, it kept jumping from 120's to 160's in the first 1-3 miles. Finally after mile 3 it settled down to normal for the effort. This morning  (Monday) they feel better than they did yesterday before the run.

Two weeks from right now I'll be waiting to start my 1st Boston Marathon. I'm excited...It should be fun!

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Would anyone like to meet up in Boston on Sunday morning at The Marathon Scarf Project? It is held at the Boston's Old South Church and will have a ceremony that will "bless the runners and wish them Godspeed and a safe run". I believe they have two services. I'm not sure what time each one starts so we can decide which to go to. You can find out a little more about this at:

http://www.ucc.org/news/boston-marathon-scarf-project-02212014.html

Let me know if you're interested and we can set some final plans. We could also go to breakfast or lunch depending on which service we go to. :-)

Now for today's run. I would have run this LR on the weekend but I still wasn't feeling that good so I waited until today. I ran my fast 7 miles @ 7:09 so I was happy with that. I tried to run slow enough to bring my HR down to around 140 on the last 5 miles.

5 very easy recovery miles today.

Full Taper Mode now. Next few days look something like this 8,5,6,13,7,7,5,5,4,0,0,Race.

This was a fun run! I haven't done any real speed work in months so I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. This was one of the workouts from one of the two plans I've been working from. The goal was 3 interval fast miles with easy recovery between. The other plan called for 3 fastish miles sandwiched between warm-up and cool-down. I opted for this workout because I wanted to run the faster miles. It called for the 3 fast miles to be at 5K pace. I'm not really sure what my 5K pace is so I decided to make it 6:00. :-) 

Pretty pleased with the results. I could have gone a little faster on each mile but wanted it to be more realistic to what I think my current 5K pace is. Fast mile 1 is slightly down hill, mile 2 is slightly up hill and mile 3 is basically flat. Fun to see a 5:XX there! (I'm kinda wondering what my mile PR could be.)

Matthew 19:26 

But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Recovery run. 5 miles at a very slow pace, walked a little, streatched a little. Probably needed this since my body wasn't used to running fast miles as I did yesterday.

2 Timothy 1:7

6 Easy miles out and back on fm 1339 to hwy 123. Don't usually run this way because it's just an out and back and more traffic. (more traffic means one care every 5-10 minutes). It was pretty warm and humid and I ran later in the morning. 

As far as tapering...I'm not feeling very good. My legs feel heavy and I seem to be stiff and a little sore all over. I don't really remember exactly but I think I've felt like this before when I tapered. Hope it goes away soon!

Philippians 4:6-7 

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Last mid-distance run before Boston. I wasn't feeling that good and it was hot and humid too. The plan called for a 75% effort run at 13 miles so that's what I did. I simply leveled out to a consistant effort with a HR of about 145 and ran the miles. You can see my pace varies 30 seconds based on the terrain of the rolling hills. :-)

No run on Monday and just a couple more short/easy days left.

I believe Tom S, Hillbilly Runner, JG and Myself are all in Wave 2 - Corral 4. Tom K is in Wave 2 - Corral 1 (showoff!).

Psalm 107:29

He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.

 Praying for good weather! :-)

Finally I'm starting to feel rested and ready to run! This morning the weather was great and the run was plesant. The plan called for 7 miles at a recovery pace so I ran at 75% effort again. I actually expected it to be a little faster with the cool weather and feeling good but it was actually slower than the 13 mile Sunday run when it was hot, humid and I felt bad. Oh well...?

Galatians 1:10 

For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

So my wife tried to called the hotel we are supposed to be staying in (Howard Johnson Fenway Park) this morning and could not get through. Then she called the Howard Johnson main office. She was informed that thisHoward Johnson had been sold and they did not own the property any more and the conformation number we were given was no longer valid. AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

As I type this I am on hold with Marathon Hotel Guide (the company we made the reservation through) waiting for them to get back with me. They still had the conformation show as a good one. I'm not sure what we are going to do.

I am very anxious right now!

I did run easy today:

Philippians 4:6 

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Ran 7.35 miles today with 2 at Marathon Pace, the others I jogged and walked some.

I am so frustrated! I got a call from Howard Johnson Hotel management this morning to notify me that they were not able to find  a closer hotel, that they wouldn't be able to compensate me for the additional $75 per night room cost and they were "sorry" for the fact that they canceled my CONFIRMED room reservation without notifying me. Ahhhhh!!! I think they just wanted to irritate me more.

Matthew 5:44
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 

WOW…what a GREAT experience!

Although my race plan did not fall into place I had a wonderful time running Boston. Being my first time I was in awe of race production, runner support and crowd size and enthusiasm.

I was able to meet up with several of my FastRunningBlog buddies including JG (Jonathan), DerHammer (David), RaTtLeTrAp (Mike), Tom Slick (Lloyd) and Hillbilly Runner (Ronnie). I’m sorry I never was able to catch up with Tom K as our paths just never crossed.

Thanks to JG for picking me up at the airport, spending time with me and helping me pace for the first 7 miles of the race. Also, thanks to RaTtLeTrAp and his wife (Kim) for spending lots of time with me and my family. This was a trip that I will cherish and have fond memories for years to come! I also met a new friend (Kevin)  whom I hope will be join us on the Blog soon.

I really have so much to talk about the trip and race but I will try and keep it short as I know there are so many writing reports now. For now I will simply insert a couple of comments about the race and the actual mile splits for reference.

Basically, this was a “Run Fail”. I believe I went into this race in the best condition I have ever been in. All of my training runs, mileage and indication showed I should have been able to run below 3:15 but for the last few days I was having problems (don’t want to discuss on the blog) that was causing me to continually be dehydrated. The indication of this problem showed up from the start of the race and continued to get worse throughout. I have run with my HR monitor so much and watched my weight so much I can easily tell when this limiting situation will occur. My heart rate, from the start of the race, was running about 10 beats per minute faster than it should have been. As I ran the first few miles I remember JG asking me how I was feeling and I told him my legs felt a little stiff and heavy and my HR was way up.

Bottom line, it was not my best race although the effort was there. I know I’ll run it again and PR in a big way some day.

Proverbs 16:3 

Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.

I feel pretty human now. My legs are just slightly sore now. I decided to go for a bike ride instead of running. I haven't rode my bike but once in the last year (since I broke my collarbone).

I rode for 50 minutes at a pretty good speed. I think it was about 17.5 miles.

Here's a picture of JG and me at the "Blessing of the Runners" Service in Boston. This was an amazing service. There were many wet eyes as the bagpipe player played and they blessed, prayed over and gave every runner a hand knitted scarf. I am sure glad we took the time to do this!

4 Miles @ 7:55 Pace.

Then 24 Mile on the Road Bike.

No...the legs are not recovered.

It was actually very nice weather this morning despite being 96 degrees yesterday.

I ran the small loop. My legs are still just a little sore. We'll see how they feel after this run.My next race is the Beach to Bay Marathon Relay on May 17th. I'm running the last leg which is 5 miles. Hopefully I will be back to 100% by then and can really run fast. I also plan to run a 5K on the 24th of May. I'm not really in shape for these fast races but it will be a good test to see where my base is and then I can start doing some real speed work.

Hebrews 10:24-25 

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Very...very nice morning to run at 54 degrees and low dew point.

My legs feel pretty good now (not quit 100%) but seem ready to run again. I wasn't expecting to run this tempo run this morning but I just felt good so I ran.

7:15 Pace...not bad. Now to get ready for the Beach to Bay Relay Marathon on the 10th.

Psalm 139:17-18 

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.