They all can't be "easy" runs.

10.2 miles Legacy Trail to Colonia and back. 5:45 am start. 1:24:30. 8:17 pace. 54 deg. 100% hum. 54 d.p. 

5.2 Miles. Ringling Bridge. 38:13. 7:21 pace. 5:35 pm start. 75 deg. 64% hum. 61 D.P. 

In today's Sarasota Herald Tribune, they listed all of the local runners that will be going to Boston. My phone has been ringing. Most common greeting, when I answer the phone - "You're Famous!"

Fool, please.

5.2 Miles. Ringling Bridge. 38:39. 7:26 pace. 5:35 pm start. 75 deg. 64% hum. 62 D.P

3.5 miles. Hood route. 2 pm start. 26:46. 7:39 pace. 77 deg. 69 hum. 66 d.p. Fartleky run.

20.75 Miles. Legacy Trail to Caspersen Beach and back. 2:57:25. 8:33 pace. 68 Deg. 94% hum. 66 d.p. 5:30 am start. This run felt awful from beginning to end. I could never really get things going.

12.9 miles. Legacy Trail to Venice Avenue and back. 6:30 am start. 1:47:04. 8:18 pace. 72 degrees. 88% hum. 68 d.p. Continuation of yesterday's junky run. I had to stop to use the restroom at half way. I think it is because Derunzo jinxed me with his post from yesterday.

4.6 Miles. Ringling Bridge. 35:41. 7:45 pace. 5:35 pm start. 81 deg. 74% hum. 72 D.P. A bit Windy.

At track. 2 up. 2.25 @ < 6:30 pace. I wanted to get 4 repeat miles in @ 6:20, but I gave up after 2.25. I had to run in lane 4, due to flooding on the track. I just didn't have it Tuesday.

I will not be wearing a watch for any of the training runs between now and Boston. (I may not wear a watch for the race, either. I'm on the fence about that one.) 

Ringling Bridge

Ringling Bridge

10.2 easy miles Legacy Trail to Colonia and back. 5:20 am start.

10.2 fast-ish miles Legacy Trail to Colonia and back. 5:45 am start. Longest run with no water.that I have done.

After running, I saw the last of the finishers at the Sharkstooth 10k.  It made me think I should have run that again this year (for my “running shark wearing sunglasses” coaster).  However, with the slightly more important race next week, I decided to let this one go.

Then, (Proud Father Moment Alert) Tommy went 4 for 5 with 4 RBI’s at his baseball game.  But that’s not the proud dad moment.  The coaches were asking him after the game about his diet, or sleep, or “So what is your key to success, kid?”

His answer – “Happiness.”

7.5 easy miles. Hood Route to legacy Trail. 7:50 am start. Effortless gliding.

4.6 Miles. Ringling Bridge. 5:35 pm start. 82 deg. 71% hum. 69 D.P. 

Warm.

2 mile runfail. Hood route. 5:30 am start. hot and humid. nothing like blowing 3 months of training in the last week, huh? 

5.2 miles. Ringling Bridge. 5:30 pm start. 77 deg. 50% hum. 57 d.p.

5.5 miles. Hood route. 7:30 am start. Hot and sticky. This will be my last post for a while.

Last night, the folks at the night job gave me an embroidered Home Depot hat with "Tom K Boston 2014" on the back. Plus a shirt signed with all their best wishes, plus another shirt with Boston on it and our store #. Those are good people.

It is a little early in the game to get emotional about things, Focus on the job at hand.

Took the T to Aquarium Station. Our home for the week: 

http://sleepafloat.com/rentalsearch/v2/not-set-boston-709

The kids went nuts! We were too early for "check in," so we talked to the folks on the boat next door. they were also in town for the race from Colorado. They were nice enough to let us store our bags in their boat, so we could go to the Sawx game at Fenway. Then we took the trains to meet up with the rest of the family, and go to the game.

http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=340419102

We stayed for the whole game. Since my mom is a big Neil Diamond fan, this might be her most favorite baseball game ever. After the game we got some really good Chinese Food, and went to sleep. The tide changes up here are remarkable. In FL, we have @ 2-3 foot tides. In MA, they are more like 15 foot tide changes!

We went to Sacred Heart Church, and met the rest of the family there. Happy Easter! We Ate lunch at Faneuil Hall / Quincy Marketplace. It was not our traditional Easter Brunch, but everyone got some good grub.
Then I went back to the boat to meet Derunzo. We ran along the waterfront for 2.89 miles (according to him). I wasn't really tracking what we were doing. I was more sightseeing, than I was serious running. Then Derunzo and I walked to the to Expo, checked out the finish line, picked up my bib, and I spent too much money on marathon stuff. It was pretty cool of D to travel all the way into the city on Easter Sunday for a silly shake out run with me, and to be a city guide to the expo. I got the call from IJR that he was leaving the expo, right as Derunzo was showing me where the bus pick-ups would be the next day. I considered going back, but given that we went to the baseball game the day before with Standing Room Only tickets, and I had spent the majority of Sunday on my feet, I really just wanted to go back to the boat and relax before dinner.

While I was hanging out with Derunzo, Spouse took the kids to explore the Boston Public Gardens, and ride the swans. Then she took them to the Tea Party Museum, where they actually threw Tea overboard. She called me afterward, and the kids were staging a revolt. They didn't want to get off the Tea Party boat. So I walked to the Tea Party Museum to drag them to the boat, and get them cleaned up for pre-race dinner. So much for relaxing. 

The eight of us (My parents, My brother, My future sister-in-law, My kids, and My wife) had dinner at Mother Anna's on 211 Hanover Street. It was awesome piles of Italian awesomeness!

Then we went back to the boat, and I actually slept well before race day. Way too much time on my feet over the last 2 days, though. 

They say insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result..

Okay, I think I get it now. Message received. I need to stop going out too fast.

Split       Time                      Diff.       Pace

5k           00:20:12               20:12     6:30

10k         00:41:29               21:17     6:52

15k         01:03:23               21:54     7:03

20k         01:25:54               22:31     7:15

Half        01:30:44               4:50        7:06

25k         01:48:36               17:52     7:22

30k         02:12:13               23:37     7:37

35k         02:37:12               24:59     8:03

40k         03:03:06               25:54     8:21

Full         03:14:06               11:00     8:04 (7:25 overall)

I missed my 10k PR by 23 seconds! (and then I had a fairly tough 20 mile cool-down run.)

5,058th overall, 4,522nd among men, and 884th among men aged 40-44.

I make excuses, like, “Well, since the first half is mostly downhill, I should try to bank time.” Or “It’s in my nature to go out too fast.”  It’s time to race with my head and not my heart. I think my pre- and during-race nutrition and hydration was spot on. I feel more confident about this than I have before. I think my training between Louisiana and Boston was well executed, and a good program. The biggest flaw in my training program was recovery. 50-60 miles per week is not that big of a deal. 50-60 miles per week (when I sleep less than 4 hours per night for 4 nights of the week), is really tough, and doesn’t allow my muscles to fully recover. However, the goofy sleep cycle is part of my life for the time being, and I’m not going to change it for the sake of becoming a marginally better runner. If this is the best I can do without changing my lifestyle, so be it. 

I know this sounds like I am upset with my performance. I'm not. It is a good time, I think. PR's don't happen in every race. And every race is not Boston. I have never had an experience in my life like this race. I could start writing now about all of the non-racing intangibles, and cool things I experienced, and maybe never stop.

The last time I had a million people cheering for me, it was....

Edit: I decided to go back and add some Race Day Anecdotes:

I wore the cargo pants that I cut the grass in to the start. When the family was seeing me off, the kids were confused.

I had been given some advice to bring garbage bags to sit on with me to the athlete’s village. So I brought 2. When I got to the village, I pulled them out to sit down. That’s when I realized they were “scented” garbage bags. HEAVILY Scented garbage bags. People around me were aware of this. I rolled one out and sat on it. A British guy walks up and sits down next to me in the grass. I asked him if he wanted a bag to sit on. He was pretty happy about that, so I gave him the other one. He pulls out a vat of Vaseline, and starts rubbing it on his chest, and offers some to me. I say “no thanks, I’ve got the band-aids going.” He offers again, grabs a huge wad of the stuff, jams his hand down the front of his shorts, and starts vigorously applying the jelly, all the while talking to me with a big smile. He gets up to move on to his next spot, and I turn around to the woman behind me, who is laughing. “What just happened here? Am I being punked?” Is there etiquette for this situation?

I left all my shed-able stuff at the village. It was pretty warm. From the village to the start, it was a longer distance than I was anticipating. Everyone was running to the start. I was kind of surprised by that. There was a lady that had a full medical supply table set up on the way to the start. What a nice person! The 15-20 guys on the opposite side of the street had a big sign that said “DOUGHNUTS  BEER  CIGARETTES” That was pretty funny. They were yelling at all of the runners, while holding up their beers, saying “you know you want one!”

The only time I really got choked up about the race was in the first mile. I qualified for this thing 18 months ago. That is an awful lot of build-up. By the time I got to the finish, I was so beat down, I think I missed out on some of the experience. 

I was pretty upset with myself for having to walk about 10 steps on Heartbreak Hill. I was even more upset when a photographer jumped out and started snapping pictures of me walking. That will get you moving again.

I saw Rattle Trap around this time, and since we never met before this, I imagine it was weird to hear someone yelling “Go Rattletrap, go!” Easily identifiable outfit, you’ve got there. I was pretty far way, and I had to yell “Oh yeah, I’m Tom K.” Maybe I should have started with that.

My family planned to see me @ mile 22. They were not all in the same place, and I think it is a miracle that I saw everyone in 3 separate groups. First, on the right side of the road, I only saw my brother and his fiancé, because he started dancing around like Yosemite Sam shooting guns in the air. He definitely stood out with that move. After I waved at him, he pointed diagonally across the street at my mom and dad. They gave me big cheers. Spouse and the boys were a half mile later on the left. They had their “Tom K scares me. Because he’s wicked fast” signs. I almost passed them, and saw them at the last second. I went over and gave Spouse a kiss, and got high fives from the boys.

I knew that my PR chance was gone a long time before the “1 km to go” sign on the underpass. But I decided to make a big push at the end, anyway. My legs said “no.” I made a couple of surges, but nothing would stick. I kept moving because of the ginormous crowd. I didn’t want to stop in front of those people.

I wanted to get a big family finish line picture but that was not possible. Spouse was pretty sick, and had already returned to the boat with the boys and my folks. My brother met me at the family meeting area, then we walked back to the boat and went out to dinner. Lots of chowda! I didn’t make it to the 27^th miles stuff at Fenway or House of Blues. I was just too beat.

The finish line picture thing worked out okay. Apparently, there was a professional photographer named Melissa Jill, who was taking pictures of the race about 20 feet from where Spouse was camped. She captured the whole meeting with me and my family. She sent the pictures to us, and they are just great! So, if you know someone who is getting married in the Phoenix area, please have them look her up! http://www.melissajill.com/blog.cfm?postID=1492&boston-marathon

The whole week we spent in Boston surrounding the race was a huge success. This family vacation will be tough to beat. 

I woke up with some very stiff legs. The Quads and the Hamstrings were both pretty well destroyed. Since it was low tide, looking uphill at the floating dock gangway to the mainland was really intimidating. The kids were clearly operating on a different speed than I was. My family waited not-so-patiently for me at the top of the ramp, and the we all took the train to the Boston Museum of Science for the Duck Tour. 

http://www.bostonducktours.com/

It was very cool (mostly because it required very little stair/ramp/hill climbing for me). The kids even got to run the Duck for a while, when we were in the water. Then we got Hoagies at this place on our way back to the Aquarium. This is the one thing the kids wanted to do in Boston. We wanted them to have some say in the sightseeing, but we have like a zillion Aquariums in FL! So we went to the aquarium, and they picked Boy #2 out of the crowd to go up front and feed the Sea Lion. Okay, I guess it was worth it, kids. I mean, I have never fed a Sea Lion. How sweet is that? 

Then to dinner and back to the boat. 

We left the boat, got breakfast, and took the T to Boston Common. We began the Freedom Walk. Toured the MA State house, Beacon Hill, Shaw / 54th Regimen Memorial, Park Street Church, Granary Burying Ground, King's Chapel (and Burying Ground), The site of the First Public School, went past the Old Corner Book Store (which is now a Chipotle!), then we got lunch, went to the Old South Meeting House, Old State House (where we learned more about the Boston Massacre), we went upstairs in Faneuil Hall, and ended our day of touring at The Paul Revere House on the North End. The kids had history pouing out of their ears. 

Woke up to 25+ mph winds. The boat was really moving! We decided that a walking tour was not a wise choice for the weather. So we went to the Boston Museum of Science, and spent almost the entire day there (including the boys' first trip to a planetarium. Minds were blown!). We closed the place down. Before going to the museum, I wanted to see if I could get some decent pictures of me in my Home Depot garb at the finish line. Long story short - Not without risking my life. I also tried to find a hat with the unicorn logo on it for a friend, but the whole town was sold out.

4 miles. Along Boston North End waterfront, from Lewis Wharf north over the bridge into Charlestown, Past U.S.S. Constitution, and back. 1st run back since race day. Slow and somewhat awkward. Tried out the new gift shoes from my brother. Asics Lite Show. Not bad.

Then the family did the 2nd half of the Freedom Trail. Old North Church, Copp's Hill Burying Ground, U.S.S. Constitution, U.S.S. Cassin Young DD793 WWII Destroyer, Had lunch at the Warren Tavern in Charlestown, then Bunker Hill. Spouse and the boys climbed to the top of the 221 foot granite Obelisk. I sat on the lawn, considering how much chowder a person might consume in a single week. Then we rode the ferry from Chalestown back to Aquarium Station. The boys loved all of it.

We flew back home from Boston today. We landed back in comfortable 84 degrees and 90+% humidity. Came home to see "ATTA BOY" in big letters, taped to my garage door. It's too late to interrogate the neighbors, to figure out who did it.

I have to catch up on some things around here. (8 days worth of Time Travel!) This is going to read more like a vacation diary than a runner's log, but since I run so I can take cool trips with my family, it all kind of works out.

On the Cab ride to Logan I noticed that all of the barricades around a construction site had "Derenzo" labels. I don't usually point at Jersey Barricades and yell. My family was concerned.

Okay, let's get to typing.

3.5 slow miles. Hamstrings are still tender. 7 am start. Hot and humid, running through clouds of gnats. It's great to be home!

Also, We got an e-mail last night from a professional photographer that was on the Boston course @ 20 feet from where Spouse and the boys were camped. She sent us some great pics!

Some day, I'll post a race report. Gotta go to church, and thank some folks for praying for my family last week.

4.6 Miles. Ringling Bridge. 5:35 pm start. 85 deg. 67% hum. 71 D.P. Ran with Jury Duty Buddy for a while. 

4.6 Miles. Ringling Bridge. 5:40 pm start. 83 deg. 74% hum. 74 D.P.A guy wrecked on a waverunner under the bridge. Police and Ambulances everywhere. Yikes!