Getting back to Boston

Easy 3 on the DM, except the right ITB decided to act up. The RIGHT ITB almost never acts up, so this was unusual, but it just seemed to be sore, not injured, and didn't get worse. We'll see if this continues.

Didn't get to run Monday night; we were looking on the Net for possible places to live. So I decided to get up early to run at the AC. Good thing the cat got hungry at 5:45 a.m., because I set the alarm for 6 PM. But the furry alarm clock took care of that, I got up, went over there, ran a hard 5 with the last 400 at 6:00 pace. Took me just 44 minutes. Good thing the treadmills weren't in heavy demand this morning.

Tonight I decided to do something I may not have done since high school. Or maybe not even then -- two tough workouts in one day. One easy, one hard, sure, but I pushed it pretty good this morning, then pushed it even harder tonight. Back on the treadmill, thanks to heavy later afternoon rains (that made things much cooler but also put puddles on the track at East Campus) for intervals. Two and a quarter warmup with a stretch break tucked in there, then 9 X 200 at 6:00. That pace felt a lot faster tonight than the same pace did this morning, not sure why. I ran 400 at pace this morning and a mile-plus tonight. Then 1.62 of cooldown afterward, total 6. Eleven total for the day, with nearly a mile and a half of haulin'. Anyway, the legs responded, got through it OK without a wipeput on the dreadmill, and now I have four full days of backdown before Firecracker on Saturday (which I entered today).

Easy 4 tonight on the DM at the AC. Legs still a little rubbery from two hard runs yesterday; no real surprise there. Just chugged through it with the benefit of an oscillating fan in front of me. Sure do prefer finishing a four-miler not feeling like I'd been working out in a steam room. The muscles get the same benefit and I don't dehydrate. Anyway, probably won't run tomorrow or Friday, although I may put in 2-3 late miles after we get to Springdale tomorrow night before the big 5 a.m. interview on Friday. Then try to bust one Saturday at Firecracker, and that PR firmed up a bit. Not expecting anything huge this soon after a marathon, but my overall conditioning should let me get in under 22, I hope.

Wasn't sure what to make of my fitness for the Firecracker this year. I'm definitely not fully recovered from Newport yet. I've had some good runs since then, and two interval sessions of 200s have gone OK, but the legs have not recovered their snap, for lack of a better term.

Firecracker is a big net downhill course, although there about about two or three small uphills and one fairly major one at about 2.6 miles by the zoo. Last time, the zoo hill got me and I gave in to the walk monster. I decided this year to run conservatively, not blast the big downhill on Van Buren, and try to have something left to attack the uphill by the zoo.

Started out on the downhill on University and probably went a tad too fast, but once I got on Kavanaugh I settled in at just a smidge over 7:00 pace. Second mile, which has another little uphill going to Mount St. Mary's, I was a little slower, maybe 7:10 pace. Get to MSM, turn on to Van Buren, and except for a bump in the middle, it's straight downhill for the next three-fourths of a mile. I extended my stride a little to take advantage of the hill, but I would not say I pushed the downhill. Still, I was hurting pretty good when I crossed Markham into War Memorial Park, and I knew the zoo hill was coming. Just tried to maintain pace at that point. It helped that a bunch of people who went out too fast were slowing or walking, and I was able to pass some of those. Passing people always gives you a boost.

I told myself I absolutely was not going to walk, and I tried to shorten my stride and attack the uphill as best I could given that I was pretty gassed. Again, I was passing people. Then to the top of the hill on Monroe, maybe a quarter-mile left, and I could see the 3-mile marker and the finish beyond it, and I put the hammer down and started passing some more people. The clock read 22:19, I think, when I crossed the line. I had started maybe five seconds after the gun due to the crowd (no chip timing here) and I think the Garmin said 22:14, but my attempt to stop it at the line failed. So I'm gonna have to take the official time for lack of other evidence. But I am pretty sure it will be a PR when the official time is posted. Definitely a victory for running smart over being in shape. I was in much better shape last July but went out too fast and didn't have the discipline to fight up the zoo hill. If I'd run a little smarter last year, with fresh legs, I'd have broken 22 easily. So I'll take a couple more cracks at sub-22 this summer.

Had jogged about 1.2 miles to warm up, and I'd started the jog up the hill to retrieve my car when fellow Crackhead Robert offered me a ride. I took it. I can get in my slow cheap miles later, after I have my Fourth of July allotment of fat, grease and ice cream at Dad's house.