On the road to BOSTON!

Ran over to Bloomington Hills Park and back. 7:34 average pace- tried some different insloes- 2 ounce miracles, I haven't used them for a year and a half now. Felt really good today- may be what I use for race day but not for everyday

AM-Bloomington Drive loop 8:12 pace

PM-Bloomington Drive loop 7:46 pace Tried out a new pair of shoes- HOKA they feel incredible soft on the run. Since they have so much give the soles are very thick so you are riding higher off the road, took a little getting used to. Felt pretty good for a first run- pace was about 30 seconds per minute faster than this morning's identical run. One thing that was interesting is that my pace each mile was almost exactly the same, 7:48/ 7:50/ 7:45/ 7:42

I am going to work with these shoes for 2 weeks and decide if I will give them a go at Mesquite.....

SPLITS: 6:55/ 6:55/ 6:47/ 6:16/ 6:10/ 6:20/ 6:38/ 7:40 aide station and first hill/ 7:06/ 7:47 took shoes off-nueromas starting to get to me- lost 1 minute/ 8:18/ 7:37 shoes off again- dang they are killing me!/ 7:25 gutting it out feet are the only issue today!/ 6:50 average pace 7:04

Body feels great after the race- if the feet could have held up I would have cut at least 2 minutes if not more- tried to run through the pain but it is too long to run for 4 plus miles with the feet hurting so bad.

Went out for my run at 10am this morning...waited till it warmed up to 45. Post race run felt better than I thought it would. Ran at 8:01 average for the run on the Bloomington trail out and back. 

33 degrees at start of run/45 at end: went out over I-15 to River Road- left to Riverside Drive bike path to DC to home. Running without anything in the stomach this morning so the energy is not high. I kept a solid pace throughout the run and felt really good. The Hokas are doing well, some pain in the forefoot at 10 miles, need to see what I can do to take a little pressure off.... 8:17 pace

8:53/ 8:23/ 8:29/ 8:29/ 8:09/ 8:07/ 8:15/ 8:06/ 8:08/ 8:07/ 7:54

Weight has dropped 7 pounds in the last 2 weeks-

Ran out to SunRiver, out to River Road out through Bloomington Hills to Bloomington path to home. Felt good until I hit mile 15....I had no energy since I didn't take any fuel or water with me 8:28 pace

Went out this morning not knowing how far or where I was going to run.I was a bit tired from yesterday's run so I didn't think I would go too far. Got out on the trail and went to the DC then just kept going. Thought I would make the trail loop for 10 miles. Once I got to River Road I got stupid and thought about going to Little Valley to the park for a drink, that put me at just under 8 miles.....what was I thinking??? Ran back the same way. The feet did much better today. My socks were a bit tight yesterday and I think that was my foot problem for that run. Today I feel real good, they are tired but no significant pain....hoping!!!!!  8:10 average pace
PM 5.50 miles very slow in the dark- fueled by movie popcorn.......won't do that again! 8:54 pace felt like crap after the first mile

Went out this morning with Bigfoot and Wildbull and ran the Mesquite Half Marathon Course.....I hate the course. Today was good for me to get something positive to think about next week when I get to the last half of the marathon.I ran a solid evenly paced run at 7:57 average pace. Bill ran with me through the first 8 or 9 miles and kept me going up all of the hills.

Easy run around Bloomington- heavy legs today  8:35pace

same run as monday 8:05 pace

My 13th marathon was my 2nd fastest- Went out too fast but got it under control as the first 6 miles are a nice decent then the course flattens out for the next 5 or so miles then a nice drop into Beaver Dam. At the halfway mark I was sitting at 1:34 and right on schedule, 1 minute ahead actually. Then the work begins on the race. The next 7 miles are hills, flats, gentle down and steep downhills. They beat you up real good. I kept moving to the top of the hills at mile 20 without any walk breaks...yeah! That is where Bigfoot and Wildbull tried to help me keep the pace to the finish. Problem was I didn't have much left in me. My feet were hurting but I wasn't going to let them destroy my attempt of a Boston Qualify time. They alternated miles and ran me in barking at me and encouraging me the best they could. Thanks to them I barely made the BQ. I would have crashed for sure without their help.

I won my age group and 17th male, 21st overall with a time of 3:29:31. I had mild cramping in the left calf but not so bad---- more later after I get some lunch!

SPLITS: 6:15/ 6:33/ 6:35/ 6:46/ 6:55/ 6:58 / 7:07/ 7:52( this included a potty break of 1 minute)/ 7:26/ 7:36/ 7:53/ 7:50/ 7:31/ 8:18/ 9:09/ 8:31/ 8:23/ 7:38/ 8:55/ 9:25/ 8:43/ 8:27/ 9:35/ 8:03/ 9:15/ 9:12/ 8:25  7:59.46 average pace

Looking back: What could I have done better?

Not need a potty break 7 miles into the race. (1 minute)

Been better prepared for the hill section, lost too much time in this area, did remain running through there just a bit more training to pick the speed up 15-20 seconds. (2 minutes)

Had more electrolytes- ran on water and that was not enough to hold off the cramping- they weren't bad but it did affect my overall speed in the last 5 miles.

Hope for not head wind at the finish next time-( lost at least a minute)

I do feel like I can eventually break under 3:25 but I need everything to be perfect for that to happen.

Running with someone who is a much better runner than I at the end proved to be a great motivation for me even if I was weak. I certainly should have pushed harder when I had this help, I just was out of gas and the quads were barking loudly with every step.

Well Boston 2013- I hope my time is good enough to get in!

Post race recovery run- same run as last week- 8:18 pace really surprised that my legs had anything in them. First mile 8:53 slower at first then gradually faster, 2nd 8:29 3rd 7:47 and 4th 7:41. Some slight pain in the right leg nothing bad though.

Thanksgiving morning run on the barrel- roll trail Fun run with about 15 people. Ran this 2 years ago so thought I would give it a go again. Body is still sore, not bad, more tired from Mesquite. Nothing too eventful other than 2 falls along the course. The Hokas take a bit of getting used to on the trails, tripped me because of the thickness of the soles.Didn't tear up the course just had a good solid run-

Started in Washington and went up the Telegraph hill then back down over to the Washington Exit then to Green Springs to Telegraph back to the car. Tough run with lots of hills. 8:05 pace

Started the run from downtown and ran out to River Road to Riverside to the bike path to home. Started out slow but feeling pretty good with the first 1/2 mile up hill. Once I got through the first mile it starts down and all the way down River Road is a nice run, other than hopping the curbs and dodging traffic. After 3 miles I decided to pick up the pace and run 1/4 to 1/2 mile bursts at low 6 pace with a recovery walk. The legs felt very good and actually had some speed in them today. I was hitting 5:45 to 6:10 pace for the next few miles and overall pace for the run was 7:08 pace.

8:25/ 7:16/ 7:04/ 6:54/ 6:16/ 6:40