Getting back to Boston

Interesting day to be sure. Up at 4:45 to get out to the marathon course by 6 to serve as a marshal on the last 0.1 mile of the course. Of course, the guy I was supposed to report to at 6 didn't show up until 7:15, by which time the 5K was well underway. Had to juggle barricades between the 5K and the half marathoners, then positioned myself on the median of LaHarpe Blvd, where half-marathoners would pass on one side, marathoners on the other. My job was to keep the course clear, to keep people from standing on the median, and, oh yeah, to encourage the runners. I quickly found that runners liked hearing they had only 200 yards to go; that quickly brought smiles to their faces. So I repeated it over and over. Saw quite a few people I knew -- fellow Crackheads, online acquaintances from RWOL, and even a few Facebook friends. One of my Crackhead colleagues won the women's marathon, which I really enjoyed. By 1:15 p.m., I'd been on my feet for more than 7 hours, and my back was shot. So I kinda, uh, sneaked off, after determining that there were enough other marshals in place and that there was no threat of mass chaos on the course.

After four or five hours' rest, I felt like running, so I went to the club for a TM recovery run. Dividing my likely pace into the amount of time left before the club closed at 8 p.m., I determined I could run 8 miles. Which I did -- and finished at 7:57. Good, steady pace, nothing difficult, legs left pretty good considering 20 miles yesterday and seven hours' marshaling today.

The volunteer stuff was interesting, but I don't know that I want to be a course marshal again -- unless I bring a chair. Maybe next year I'll volunteer to work the expo or stuff packets or something less wearing on my back. Or maybe I'll run the darn thing again. 

This was supposed to be an 8-mile GA run on the dreadmill, but you know me -- if the legs feel good, I can't leave anything alone. And I didn't. Eight GA became 10 hard, progressing from 9:13 pace at the start to GMP for the final mile. Average for the 10 miles was 8:23 -- pretty much MP + 10%.

Speaking of hard paces, I'm having to think seriously about when and where I'm going to race between now and Newport. The Cabot 5K is only 12 days away; Hogeye Half is 20 days away. Part of me wants to race Cabot, Hogeye and Toad Suck. The other half wants to pick Cabot or Hogeye, not both, but definitely run Toad Suck (which is a 10K I ran last year, so my performance there on the same course will provide a benchmark on how much I've improved in 12 months). If I do one or the other, I'm inclined to do Hogeye only; a half is more valuable to me, I think, than a 5K in preparing for 26.2. Maybe I need both -- all-out speed and a 13-mile tempo run. I'll think about it some more, but I need to enter Hogeye by Wednesday or the fee goes up. 

Back on the River Trail tonight, repeating the exact same 15-miler I ran last Tuesday. No smooth run tonight, no runner's high. I had to work this one from start to finish. But I kept the legs turning over when they didn't necessarily want to turn over, and kept the pace high (for me; I am aware this would be a recovery run pace for several people on this blog). The last 13 miles were all at sub-9, the last 1.5 or so were at sub-8. And I finished nine minutes faster than last week's run.

This is the kind of run that's going to help me get to Boston, I think, meaning I needed a few like this before I went to Memphis. Needed practice on keeping the pace high when the legs didn't feel their best, and that's what tonight was. Once I got through the two-mile warmup phase, there was never a point where I slacked off and let the pace drag. I kept trying to go faster, and as far as I can tell from the splits on the Garmin, it worked. 

Complicating factor to tonight's run. After taking care of some things that needed my attention, I went to the club with just enough time to run 8 miles at my usual TM recovery pace before they closed the door/kicked me out. That was before my electronic leash intervened at the 2.75 mile mark; a patient was calling and I spent four minutes or so dealing with that. That meant that my original planned pace was not going to be sufficient. So I ended up bumping it up a little more, then running the last half-mile at just about GMP, to just finish before 10 p.m. Then I forgot the cellphone on the way out and had to U-turn to retrieve it. Fortunately, our new NP is on the job now and my weeks on call are about to decrease by 50%. And not a moment too soon.

Lousy night's sleep last night, which I need to rectify tonight. Blogger out. 

Good, solid, steady 14-miler on the River Trail. Once I got warmed up, kept it below 9:00, and the final mile was at GMP. The legs didn't feel great, but I really didn't make a huge effort to push the pace like I did Tuesday, just tried to keep it steady. Consequently, it was a little slower than Tuesday -- but I still got through 13.1 in 1:55 or so.

Probably be up in a few hours to get the kinks out before work with a 5-miler at the club. That would mean my 22 on Saturday will get me over 80 for the second straight week.

Forced myself out of bed today for a prework run, figuring that with the miles I've put in lately, there'd be some kinks to be worked out before the big Friday clinic.

And boy, were there some kinks. The right hamstring just did not want to warm up. Glutes weren't much better. Today was as slow a slow run as I've had in quite some time; 39:00 for four miles, including a 45-second stretch break. Then some whirlpool/stretching time in the locker room. I may still be kinked a bit, but a lot better than I was at 6 a.m.

Very good 22-miler this morning with Pat and Kenny. Did a 10-mile loop on the River Trail, dropped Kenny off at his car, then a 12-mile loop across the river, up Kavanaugh and down Cedar Hill. I left Pat shortly after the turnaround at Mount St. Mary's and wound up beating him by almost a mile. We started slow, picked up the pace later, particularly after starting the second loop, and I pushed the last five miles pretty hard. The result was 22 miles in 3:25. If it's true that you should be able to run 22 in training in about the same time as 26.2 in a race, I should be in good shape in Newport. A 3:25 will get me where I want to be, which is Hopkinton.

I think this is definitely the best LR I've ever had. Certainly a lot better than my 22 in October before Memphis, when I really struggled. The weather was ideal -- mid-40s, overcast, minimal wind. A few sprinkles fell but not enough to get anything wet.

I'm starting to like the idea of going out really conservatively in Newport, then gradually picking up the pace as I go. Kinda what I did today, only with a little faster start; maybe run in the low 8s for four or five miles and then pick it up from there. It was nice being able to actually accelerate after the 17-mile mark today. The turnaround in Newport is at mile 15, so that would correspond pretty well with trying to put the hammer down at the turnaround. Psychologically, I do well with accelerating on the return leg of an out-and-back, which is one reason I think Newport was a good choice for my BQ. Maybe that realization that I'm homeward bound helps me overcome my governor in the Noakes central-governor theory.