sub-3 or blow-up trying

Ran the "Pie Hill" course which is filled with very steep hills.  Decided to do more of a progressive run and see how far I could take it comfortably- 8:57,8:51,8:13,8:13,8:07,8:00,7:41,7:48,7:30,7:38,7:24 + 1.5 mile "cooldown" for 12.5 miles total.  Right achilles started to get sore towards the end, so I walked the last .6 miles of the course, so as not to aggravate it any further.  It was fine 95% of the run, just being cautious at the end. 

Entered a race this morning to get a good threshold run in.  Perfect weather- high 40's, sun, light wind.  Warmed up at home (3 miles) and then drove almost an hour to get to the race- got a little lost towards the end and just made it in time.  Upon stepping out of the car, I heard them announce 5 min to race time.  Darted over to the registration table, threw on a bib# + chip and was literally off within a minute of getting to the start.  I haven't seen official chip time, so I'll give my report based on my garmin information...

Mile 1- 6:11 (a little faster than planned, but I couldn't hold back adrenaline)

Mile 2- 6:33 (uphill and against the wind, however, I felt I was settling into a comfortable pace)

Mile 3- 6:31 (still against the wind, but rolling hills- still feeling quite comfortable)

Mile 4- 6:28 (knew that I had a shot at 40min if I decided to pick things up)

Mile 5- 6:32 (a little disappointed with this mile, thought I was running faster)

Mile 6- 6:28 (kept a nice even pace and picked it up a tad for the final 1/2 mile slightly uphill)

Last .25- 6:09 pace (garmin was .05 longer than the course...not too bad)

Felt satisfied with the overall performance.  I think it's a pr, but I've not run this distance many times.  Felt as though I could have held pace for an extra 5k (but definitely not an extra 10k), and pretty likely could have done 5-10 sec faster per/mile if this was the race I was preparing for (rather than Boston in 2 weeks).  Pace stayed even and controlled throughout- probably 7-8 hills with pace variation from 6:40ish uphill to 6:05ish downhill.  When things were flat, I mostly maintained 6:15-25.  The garmin was really helpful in keeping this as an effective training run for Boston...might do a light recovery run in the late afternoon- it's a gorgeous day!  Sweet!! (just checked website) My official "chip time" was 39:58- I knew I was close, but didn't think I'd quite broken it. 

5.75 miles outdoors with 2 of my girls on their bikes. 

Full day followed by a nice, easy 5-mile run outdoors- Happy Easter to all!

5 miles recovery pace on the TM.

Ran a challenging course outside ("Pie Hill") and did .5 mile warm-up, 12 miles @ marathon pace (7:12,7:06,6:44,7:36,7:26,7:10,7:27,7:10,7:28,7:03,7:08,7:02) and then shut things down a little early because achilles was acting up again (1.5 mile jog at the end).  Total of 14 miles, 12 of them @ 7:14 pace through challenging terrain.  Plan to do plenty of icing/stretching between now and April 19th. 

Hot and humid out- mid 80's.  Ran 7.75 miles @ an 8:20 pace. 

High 70's out and humid.  Did 30-min weights at the gym (only been lifting 1x/per week) and then ran 9.5 outside- .25 mile warm-up, 3.5 mile @ 6:55 pace, jogged 1.5, ran another 2.75 @ 6:48 pace and then finished up the run going through trails in Whites Woods.

Achilles is still a bit tender- hopefully the taper will be helpful. 

Also, weight is just a tad below 178lbs- that's a 10lb loss over the past 6 weeks w/out really monitoring my eating quantity that much. 

Went to Olive Garden w/family to celebrate our eldest daughter's 12th birthday.  Within 1 hour of eating a "Tour of Italy" w/3 breadsticks got outside and ran 6 miles in 39:01/6:30pace (1st 6 miles of Litchfield Road Race course)- not a recommended stint for the digestive system, but made it through fairly fine.  Had .35 mile warm-up and .75 mile cooldown.  No achilles issues today.

Ran a nice steady 12-miler with Ed through the hills ikn 1:36:30 (8:03 pace)- fastest mile was 7:38 and slowest was 8:20.  Achilles was just a tad sore, but nothing too concerning. 

Ran 9 miles outside, felt a bit sluggish, but threw in a couple of threshold miles in the middle of the run.  Warmed-up 2 miles, ran a 6:27 mile, jogged a mile, ran a 6:14 mile, jogged a mile, ran 3:06 for 1/2 mile, and then jogged the rest of the way home.  Planned to run the rest of the week easy, except for a few strides each day + 3-4 mp on Thursday. 

Ran 7.25 miles at about a 9:15 pace- felt very sluggish today.  Finally getting over a 3-4 day sore throat/cold and leave for vacation today. 

Ran in Central Park (NY) today- 7 miles in 52:49 (8:17,7:41,7:33,7:31,7:16,7:14,7:14).  Gorgeous day, slept in (til 9:30am), and felt very sluggish- by mile 4 began to feel better and kicked it up a tad.  Spent the afternoon in the park and then in Times Square.  Hope to get 3-4 miles in a mp tomorrow- just a tad faster before heading off to the Bronx Zoo.  3 nights in a row with 8hr+ sleep.  That hasn't happened in quite some time. 

Felt ok today.  Back out in Central Park for a pre-race run.  Put on planned Boston gear and wanted to get 3-4 miles mp in.  Warmed-up .25 miles and then got on a loop around a segment of the park.  The loop was just over 1 1/2 miles so I did it 2x @ 6:48 pace- 3.5 miles total (6:45,6:49,6:51,6:47).  Felt more like 1/2 marathon pace than marathon pace- think I'll shoot for a 7-7:05 pace on Monday and let myself go faster/slower depending on how I feel that particular day.  Jogged .25 back to the hotel.  Felt fine other than the achilles that is still tender.  I'm not sure how this will play out in the 2nd half Monday's marathon.  Hopefully I can just block it out. 

The plan was to do 3-4 miles today as my final run.  However, our whole family came down with the flu (me included).  I spent most of the evening cleaning vomit and by 1am was sick myself.  Finally fell asleep around 3ish and slept until 2:30pm.  Took everyone to the doctor today and 3 of the kids have strep throat, so all of us are now on an antibiotic.  Hoping I can get through the worst part before Monday. 

Considering my week and the past 3-4 months, I'm satisfied with my time today.  Re-qualified by 5 seconds and ended up in the medical tent making sure I finished under 3:16 (7:30ish final mile after several 8:15ish miles).  Plan to have a full race report within the next couple of days...

Well, Friday afternoon I sat in a doctor's office with my family after spending 2 days not eating and cleaning other people's vomit.  The diagnosis- 3 family members with strep throat and all of us needing to take an antibiotic.  A 24-hour fever had broken, so the doctor reluctantly said Boston was ok as long as I didn't have a fever and I was keeping well hydrated.  Ate my first descent meal in 48 hours on Saturday afternoon.  Also, ate well on Sunday. 

Woke up early on Monday morning and met up with Jim Flowers (from the blog).  It was great taking the busses up with him to Hopkington and helped to keep me relaxed.  Glad we met- enjoyed our time!  Both of us were feeling similiar in terms of goals and were grateful for a gorgeous day of weather.  I had a great month of training in March, but had struggled with injuries in Dec/Jan.  That combined with recent illness made me uncertain of what a realistic goal should be.  Thought about a 7:05 pace would be good and then adjust by feel.  Deep down I wasn't sure my training had been long enough to sustain a full marathon (ideally would have liked Jan/Feb to have provided a stronger base).  Found a plot of land at "The Village" and relaxed for about an hour (I snoozed on a sleeping bag).  Waited for a porta-potty just over an hour before the race and was at the start with 10-15 minutes to spare.

I was in the 5th corral and with the start of the gun, we were off.  It took maybe a minute or two to hit the starting line (for the chip) and the group kept a pretty descent pace in the first few miles.  Here are my splits for the race...my garmin was off by about .15, so I fudged a few of the miles by a second or two (should still be fairly accurate)...

Mile 1:  6:40 (legs felt amazingly fresh...honestly, about a 7:40 effort)

Mile 2:  6:50 (probably too fast, but it felt so slow)

Mile 3:  6:53 (trying to ease the pace to 7:05, but couldn't go that slow)

-5k:  20:53 (official/6:44 pace)

Mile 4:  6:56 (new I needed to go slower, but since legs were fine decided to just keep with the flow of the pace)

Mile 5:  7:10 (no longer all downhill)

Mile 6:  6:58 (still feeling very comfortable)

- 10k (42:48- 7:04 average for 5-10k)

Mile 7:  6:59

Mile 8:  7:06

Mile 9:  7:05 (felt comfortable, absolutely not stiffness or cramping)

- 15k (1:04:47- 7:05 average for 10-15k)

Mile 10:  7:08

Mile 11:  7:20

Mile 12:  7:11 (legs felt fine, but my system did not feel adaquate for marathon distance...decided to just let my body go at whatever pace was comfortable... had no confidence to push, having only really successfully achieved one 20-mile run in my training)

- 20k (1:27:15- 7:15 avg for 15-20k)

Mile 13: 7:12 (*1:32:09 at halfway point and still enjoying the run)

Mile 14: 7:16

Mile 15: 7:28 (No goal at this stage for pace, just trying to stay comfortable and steady...absolutely certain my body was in jeopardy of a crash)

- 25k (1:50:01- 7:20 avg for 20-25k)

Mile 16: 7:14

Mile 17: 7:44

Mile 18: 7:47 (I'm making it, but a crash seems inevitable...legs are ok, but my system...how do you describe system?  Legs don't really hurt but feel a bit in slow motion...reaching the end of my limit...you're prepared to sprint 100m, but it's a 130m race...feel in good shape, but not for 26...anyway- maybe it's unable to explain)

- 30k (2:13:59- 7:41 avg for 25-30k)

*At this point, if it was a 20-mile race, I think I could have kicked it back up to 7-7:05 pace, yet I knew there were still at least 2 challenging hills left...I was now in survival mode...what will my body do?

Mile 19:  7:37 (kind of pumped my fist at the end of this...I still have life!)

Mile 20:  8:02 (pumped my fist again...starting to see a few walkers...could be me)

Mile 21:  8:24 (pumped my fist again...Heartbreak's done and I'm still standing!! Tried to do a little math in my head...figured if I could keep an 8min pace, I'd requalify for Boston...absolutely exhaused, yet seemed doable- I can do 8min pace in my sleep)

35k (2:38:59- 8:06 avg for 30-35k)

Mile 22:  7:50 (Last year at this time I was in major pain and pushing...this year, no pain, just completely exhausted...another attempt at how I feel...I am now in a desert, desperately seeking an oasis, I come to the oasis every 2 miles or so and they have gatorade...when I get the gatorade, it looks so good and then it spills all over my face and trickles down the front of my shirt...I suck in a splash or two, but even that little amount makes me want to vomit...my spit's still brown from the gu I took over 2 miles ago...is there a place I could just rest for a moment?  that is, with time standing still...just 5 minutes please?)

Mile 23:  8:11 (uh-oh...I thought I could run 8min/miles in my sleep)

Mile 24:  8:20 (saw my family...wife and all 6 girls wearing "Rock-chick" t-shirts/each with a yellow ducky labelled with their #'s...Rock-chic #1, #2,etc. and waving pom-poms...gave a bunch of high 5's felt a wonderful surge of energy...ok, still a bit of running to do...where will the death march bring me to my grave?)

Mile 25:  8:07 (I'm not getting this close not to re-qualify)

Mile 26(to the end):  8:17 (ok, it's hard to explain this mile...I started out mile 26 thinking that a sub-3:16 was no longer in the cards...just wasn't in the frame of mind to do proper math...spent close to a quarter mile just dropping to like a 10-12min pace...then a marker said 1-mile to the finish and I caculated it, don't ask me how, and my delirious head calculation said I needed to break 7:30 to re-qualify...I decided to give it everything I had and I did...as I zoned in on the finish line, the official time meant nothing, it was well over 3:16, however, my watch had me right on the edge...I just pushed it as fast as I could muster and according to my garmin calculations, I was in...I hit the finish line, put my hands on my knees and was unable to walk it off...a young woman asked if I was ok and I said no...next thing I knew I was in a wheelchair in the medical tent.)

Drank a full gatorade, tried to stand up and almost passed out.  They got me on my back and took forever trying to get an IV in me- my veins collapsed a dozen times and then finally one of the 5 helpers got something to stick.  The staff was awesome and I made a few friends before leaving the tent- their assessment of things was that I was severely dehydrated- much of that must have come from the illness/antibiotics.  Felt pretty descent within about 20minutes of the IV taking and was able to walk a mile to meet family at a hotel.  Went with family and friends to the "Cheesecake Factory" and then later looked up my the Boston Marathon website to get the official results...and yes!  I re-qualified for Boston with 4 seconds to spare!!  Followed the experience by going with family to a Red Sox game- great finish!!

In hindsight, I feel very satisfied with my time.  My running is going well, but I did not have enough time to properly train for the distance.  A solid February and fantastic March, but needed another 6-weeks or so of 8-10 mile/per day training + a least 2-3 twenty milers.  My sickness may have played a role, but not as significantly.  Feel good though.  No injury, no unusual soreness, in fact, I could probably go for a jog today (think I'll wait another day or two).  If anyone came anywhere near to finishing this report, I apologize :).  It's way lengthly, yet it feels good to get it all written down to record for future reference.  Thanks to all who provide this supportive "running tool" and "community"! 

Jogged 1/4 mile, ran 8.5 @ 7:32 pace, and then did a 1-mile "cooldown".  Ran a hilly course and legs felt pretty good. 

Real happy with today's run.  Planned on more of a recovery run, yet felt good as I started out.  Picked it up a bit and completed the first mile in 7:14.  Decided to try to hold that pace through the hills of Morris and did so for 8 miles (7:20 pace for all 8) and then slowed it down as I completed the run in White's Woods.  I've sprained my ankle 4 times in the woods, twice pretty significantly, so I've vowed to keep it slow on the trails 100% of the time.  Did a total of 10 miles and weighed in at 177lbs.  That's the lowest I've been for some time...maybe I can shaved off a little more for a Fall marathon. 

1/4 mile warm-up, then ran 6 miles of Litchfield Road Race @ 6:57 pace and finished with .75 mile jog.  My oldest accompanied me on her bike. 

Did .25 warm-up and then ran 7.5 miles through hills past Jr. Republic @ 7:10 pace. 

Ran 12.5 miles through the "Pie Hill" course @ 8:40 pace.  Got a bit of "hotfoot" towards the end.  Probably more ready for a 10 miler than 12.  Legs are fine...feet a bit sore.

Very little time today, but did get in 2 miles @ 9min pace.

Very windy out today, so decided to do a TM workout.  Felt great in "warm-ups", so decided to go with speedwork.  Alternated 5:30/pace with 10min/pace for every other minute for 40 minutes...total of 20minutes @5:30 pace (3.65 miles).  Did "cooldown" upon finishing the 40 minute workout for 8.75 miles total.  Recovery from Boston seems complete. 

Did a .25 warm-up and then ran 8.5 miles @ 7:22 pace through hills of Morris (from home).  Then got on a trail for the last portion of the run.  Did total of 11.5 miles.