Getting back to Boston

Progression run on the ice at the Southside track tonight. Got about a half-inch of sleet this morning, then it snowed maybe an inch, but the wind blew most of the snow away. That's OK. The old screwshoes worked beautifully, very little slippage. I was even able to push the pace a bit as the run went on; pretty sure the last mile was GMP or thereabouts. I'm guessing because the Garmin died after one lap (weird, because my cellphone did something similar this morning, and both of them should have been fully charged last night).

Temp when I finished was 16, wind chill of 1, but I had enough layers on that it really wasn't an issue. Gloves, balaclava, tech shirt and tights under wind shirt and track pants. Maybe too many layers. Tech shirt was soaked when I finished. It's supposed to be even colder tomorrow. Maybe I'll run, maybe I'll go to Fayetteville to go to the Georgia game with T. We'll see how the roads look tomorrow, and whether I want to deal with the short night's sleep before work on Thursday.

Wasn't going to run tonight. Then I got POd at the end of the basketball game (hosejob by the officials) and decided I better run off some steam. So drove back over to SHS. A lot less ice there, but still plenty, and strangely it seemed a lot more slippery than last night. Didn't come near falling, but skidded quite a bit. Anyway, did four miles in 38:30, came home and put three more screws in each shoe. We'll see if it's still icy tomorrow (sunshine cleared a lot today even though it never got much over 20 degrees), and if so, if more screws helped.

Too much ice on the track to run without screwshoes, didn't want to mess with screwshoes again. So I sucked it up and went to Harbortown for a dreadmill session. No air flow as usual; couldn't get the AC to come on. Did 6 at about 9:00 pace, then the final 2 at 7.7 mph, which equals 7:47 pace. Hard, but I managed. The one thing I like about the Harbortown fitness room is that there's a shower right there, and I used it -- fullblown cold water for about a minute.

Progression run in the snow at SHS. Pushed the last two miles because I was tired of snow hitting me in the face, and the last two laps and change were GMP, or close enough for government work. Ran in the screwshoes in two inches of fresh stuff; it was actually kinda fun, except running into the wind in the homestretch, where my face got peppered with flying flakes.

Supposed to do 10 tomorrrow. Not sure that's going to happen, but we'll see.

Meanwhile, Max just knocked the cordless phone off the desk and is chasing it across the floor like a catnip toy. El gato esta loco. Muy loco.

After taking the weekend off from running, if not work, got in 16.4 today. Cold enough that dehydration wasn't an issue, but cramping was, at least after I finished. Three miles (total) of GMP, with 2.5 after the second lap of the golf course loop, and the last 0.5 pushed on the third golf loop. Then I went grocery shopping. I think walking around Walmart was harder than the last lap of the run. I thought it went pretty well for my first 16-miler in forever, especially throwing in some GMP.

Eleven laps around the lake at Carol Ann Cross Park. Real, real slow. Legs very sore and stiff after 16 yesterday. Garmin cutting out in mid-run, which is nice; will try to reset it and see if that fixes anything. Just a get-er-done run, as Larry would say.

Four inches of snow today and more coming down. Outdoor run just isn't happening, not unless Gellco is selling snowshoes. So I drove over to Harbortown for the dreadmill session. Got in there and realized to my delight that someone had turned the heater off, which made it much more bearable. Not that I still didn't send sweat flying everywhere for nine stationary miles, but it wasn't nearly as smothering as it could have been.

Hudson's plan today was 5 X 1 mile at 10K pace. Good thing about dreadmill intervals is that you can kinda force yourself to hit your pace, and I did. Set that mutha on 8.1 mph and off I went, well, after 1.5 mile warmup, anyway. Then I did 440 jog recoveries at somewhere between 10:00 and 11:00 pace, then a 1.5 cooldown at 9:45 or so. Had to take two pitstops after intervals 2 and 4, so I'd have to do math to figure out total time. Which seems to be about 77 minutes, give or take a few. That's OK.

Didn't seem to take all that much out of me, so hopefully legs will have some snap Saturday morning at Russellville. Assuming that Russellville happens, that is.

Four slow in the snow at SHS. Still probably 3 inches left on the track; it was really hard work shuffling through it until I got a path stomped down after several laps. Even at that, 10:00 pace was about all I could manage. It's supposed to melt before the 5K at Russellville, although not sure how much snow they got compared to here. All in all, just one of those runs you just get through and chalk up.

Three easy laps on the road loop around the tennis courts at Ben Geren. Garmin acting up, so used the old wristwatch for timing. I guess the pace was around 9:20; I just ran what felt comfortable. And for once, I wasn't along out there. Two women were out training circling the same loop in the other direction. Talked to one of them, who finished her 12-miler at the same time I finished my run. She said she was training for the half at Little Rock, and the other woman, who ran 20, was training for the full. Should have gotten her phone number, she was kinda cute. Married, I'm sure, though.

No idea what I'm gonna be able to do in Russellville tomorrow. First race since Toad Suck, so that's a long time out of the competitive saddle. I'll just try to run 7:00 pace and see what happens. Apparently the course is pretty flat, no traffic concerns, etc., so that's good. And the 12:30 start gives things a chance to warm up into the 40s.

Surprised heck out of myself. Drove over to Russellville for the race, and there's snow everywhere. Including quite a lot on the trails. I'm thinking, OK, my legs are a little sore from the tempo run the other day, and now I've got to dodge white stuff? This is not going to go well. Plus the Garmin was malfunctioning, so the pace would have to be by feel. Decided I wasn't going to worry about the time much, just run as well as I could and pass as many people as I could. There was chip timing, but no mat at the start, which is kinda screwy.

First mistake was lining up too far back. That was an issue because the trail was only about 10 feet wide, and there was no going off the edge to pass somebody unless I had snowshoes on. So there was a lot of dodging traffic -- and ice. I was really surprised to get to the 1-mile mark and see 7:09 (started my watch when I hit the line, not at the gun). By then, the field had thinned out and I only had to dodge frozen stuff, which wasn't too often once the course got out of the densest woods.

So now I'm just trying to pass people. Kids, adults, just pass people. But no women; the women's race was separate and an hour earlier. Did a good job too. Passed plenty, nobody passed me in the last two miles. I was not entirely happy with my effort (thought I could have pushed it a bit more), but was not too disappointed to hit my watch button at the line and see 22:37 (with no mat at the start, chip time would be 22:42). I was just about a minute slower than my goal, but as I said, I left some of my race on that tempo run Wednesday afternoon, and this was my first race in nine months.

I talked to Alex from the hospital and her husband for a few minutes, then ran the course again, slowly, to get in a few more miles. Get back to the start and they're beginning the awards ceremony. I thought maybe, just maybe, I might get some AG bling, so I hung around. Was surprised when a guy walked up beside me and said, "Are you Spiderpig?" Turns out he's a RWOL lurker from West Fork named Lance who is also training for Boston. Also turns out he's a lot faster than me; he won the 41-45 AG in 19-something.

So they're running through the awards, women, kids, then men. Lance collected his award. Then they get to the 50-54. He announces first, and I'm thinking, OK, I'm not TOO far behind that. Then second. Then third, and he calls MY name. I think I had to pick my jaw up out of the snow. I was really stunned.

After the awards, double-checked my time and the overall finish. I was 56th out of 126 men.  The main thing is I got the hardware, and a nice shot of confidence going into the last nine weeks of training.

Caught up on some sleep last night, or more accurately this morning. Got up at 7:15 to feed the cats, stretched out on the couch, and next thing I know it's 10:30. So went out after noon for a 12-miler. Tried out a new route, and a new gadget. Garmin's not working, so I downloaded an Android app called RunTracker that makes my phone into a GPS device. Seemed to be at least as accurate as the Garmin, and gives audio updates every five minutes (" time 19 minutes, 59 seconds, distance 2 point 06 miles, pace 9 minutes 29 seconds per mile."). Never had to get it out except to pause it while waiting to cross at lights, etc.

Since it was a new route, I wasn't sure of the distance, so the audio updates helped. Past Southside, down Old Greenwood to Phoenix, all the way down Phoenix to Rogers, back up Rogers to the mall. Wound up doing a lap and a half around the mall to get to the 12 miles I wanted. Legs felt pretty good until I started up the big hill on Rogers toward the freeway in the last three miles. Still wound up with a sub-9:30 average and a 60-mile week, so I did OK.

Hard progression run tonight at SHS after a full day of work. Stretched out for about 30 minutes, then went to the track. Started off at a moderate pace, felt pretty good, and decided to push it after two miles. Used the RunKeeper, which overestimated distance by about 4%. It was telling me I was well under 8:00 pace, but I didn't think so. Turned out my average for the 36.2 laps was about 8:02 pace; subtract the two warmup miles, which were probably about 9:00 pace, and that's just about where I want it.

I think the 5K on Saturday, regardless of hitting or not hitting the PR, was useful in that it signaled to my legs that it's time to pick up the pace; 9:40 stuff is not gonna get it any more. A month ago, this run probably would have been at 9:00 at the same effort level. Tonight was really not bad. I felt I could have maintained this pace for several more miles, and I didn't eat or drink anything along the way.

Now to catch up on the sleep I didn't get last night...

Recovery run tonight at Cross Park. Decided to run tonight and rest tomorrow night to watch hoops (although I might end up running anyway). Eleven laps, slow. Barely managed to finish in less than an hour. Legs really heavy, which is not exactly a surprise after three tough runs in three days. Got it done, though. Now to get some sleep...

(NOTE: THIS WORKOUT ACTUALLY TOOK PLACE THURSDAY, FEB. 17)

Planned three at tempo tonight. Legs didn't feel quite right, and got a mild twinge at the end of mile 2. Decided shutting it down was the better part of valor; jogged out to finish the total distance. No further twinges, but I still think I made the right choice. Pulling a hammy now is not what I need.

ALL OF THIS TOOK PLACE FRIDAY, FEB. 18

Miserable day at work. The patient that went south yesterday, died today. I've been beating myself up all day about the woulda/coulda factor. What could I have done differently? Don't know that anything would have made a difference. Talking to the family was horrible. They were all in the room when I declared her.

So tonight's run was self-therapy as much as training. Tweaked an old route to get 6+ out of it, then ran strides at the end. Even with the strides and recoveries, I finished nearly 7 miles in 1:03, so it was basically 9:00 pace. Didn't feel difficult, though. Didn't have much time to dwell on the patient; I was trying not to get run over by Friday night traffic, of which there was plenty.

I guess I just have to learn from this and go on. I hope I never get used to this, but I suppose I will if I stay in this job long enough.

OK. I see that I typed Thursday's workout in the Wednesday box and Friday's workout in the Thursday box. There was no workout on Wednesday. That is all.

Tonight was supposed to have been a tempo workout -- 2 at HMP, 2 at 10K. Almost got there. The first two was essentially MP, but the last 2, which I almost didn't run, went quite well and actually was at 10K pace. Total was 8.60 in about 71 minutes. I warmed up for 11 laps before I really decided to try intervals. First set was a bit sluggish, but maintained MP. Jogged for three laps, felt pretty good and went for it, and the pace went better. I was more comfortable doing 10K pace than I was at MP. Then jogged another mile to finish the workout. Even got the little post-workout glow.

Lot better day at work too. Nobody died, or went downhill rapidly, and only had to do two admits. So tomorrow shouldn't be too bad.

Out for a slow one after work (and a Mexican dinner). Two laps around the mall with a loop down by St E's and Cross Park in between. I thought the RunKeeper was overreading the mileage, but turns out it may have been just about right according to mapmyrun. Total of 8.89 at 9:21 pace. Didn't feel like I was going that fast. Managed to get almost 46 miles into a work week along with 84 hours. You have to be either really dedicated or really insane to train for a marathon and work this job -- unless you skip training every other week.

Easy four laps around the tennis courts tonight. Started getting into daydream mode, thinking about what it will be like to run past Fenway Park and the Citgo sign, down Commonwealth Avenue, turn onto Hereford and then on to Boylston to the finish. As usual when I do that, I start running faster. I'll be interested to see if the real thing provokes the same response.

Planning 18 tomorrow. After I got back from Ben Geren, I sat down to map a route I thought would be pretty close. Turned out it was 18.2 without any tweaks at all. Only thing I'd have to change is turning around just short of Wells Lake Road.

Our dose of early spring has gone away. It was in the 40s and falling this afternoon, and it's supposed to be below freezing tonight. That's OK. I'd rather it stay cold, as long as it's dry. That'll make tomorrow's 18 a little easier too.

Time to start doing big runs. Today qualifies: 18.2, nearly 300 vertical feet from low point to high point. Ran 9:15 average pace. Last five miles were brutal; trying to cramp, just hurt like heck. It wasn't all that warm, 50ish, but sunny and windy, so that dehydrated me more. Took two gels, drank at least 30 oz. of water. Not enough. And for some reason the tip of my right index finger is now numb (???) But I got through it. First 18 miler since April, I think, although I'd have to look. It was that run where I finished in the sleet in Springdale, whenever that was.

I tried to push miles 5-8 at something approximating MP, but without the Garmin, not really sure what that is. I'll call it three at MP, though.

Up in Fayetteville today to take Tyler to the basketball game. Got up here early and got in 8 on the trail while he was still in class, Still pretty stiff from yesterday for the first couple of miles, but loosened up OK. Pace for the outward part was 9:50, probably 9:30 on the return run. Warmer than I would like for late February, but carried water and got through it OK. Showered and changed at T's place, so now we go do a late lunch and go to the game. Then I'll go back to FS tonight. I'm tethered to those cats, but oh well. They keep me relatively sane.

Hudson had me down for ladders today. I was pretty sure that wasn't going to happen as soon as I got up this morning, and it didn't get any better as the day went on. Finally ventured over to SHS at 6:30, and for a while I wasn't even sure a decent recovery run was going to happen. Really took me five miles to get loose. But once I got loose, and Big Dog started playing some great tunes, I put the hammer down. I'm guessing the last mile and a half or so were about at MP. It felt like I was flying those last few laps. Still may or may not get any ladders done this week, but I intend to get the miles in anyway. Once I loosened, only real problem was forgetting the headband. Rained today, temp about 60, and it's humid. Real humid. Heat wasn't an issue, but vision was.

Well, I did a full set of ladders. Three, to be exact. Plan was for 3 x 1600 at HMP, 3 X 1000 at 10K, and 3 x 800 and 3 x 400 at something faster than that.

Let's see how I pulled this off. Had to take a notebook out there and write this down, because no way was I going to remember the splits without the Garmin to do it for me.

1600s -- 7:42, 7:23, 7:43. Don't know what happened on that second 1600. First one I was still warming up, last one was the last rep I ran (reversed the order on the last set). Ideal would have been roughly 7:30.

1000s -- 4:32, 4:35, 4:40. That's probably about right.

800s -- 3:37, 3:35, 3:42. Around 3:35 would have been ideal.

400 -- 1:40, 1:41, 1:39. If I strung 12.5 of those together, I'd get my 5K PR by about 7 seconds, so that's where I wanted it.

Took me two full hours. Don't think I've ever done two full hours of track work without a break, even when I was on the track team. Jogged the warmup, went into the reps, kept moving between reps except for two very brief stretch breaks (and to write down my times).

I don't want to look at the calendar and see if I'm supposed to do this again. I hope not. But I got this one done.

Very stiff and sore after the ladders last night, plus driving to Fayetteville today and sitting through a baseball game and dinner with Pam (nothing awkward there, no sir). Got out tonight at 9 p.m. for a few slow miles; took most of the run to get my average down below 10:00 (and get the stiffness out of the hips and hammies). Got it done, though. Pretty sure I won't be doing a tempo run tomorrow, though. Just get in 9 slow to get to a 70 mile week, probably, then think about a tempo run Monday or Tuesday. Or just bag that run and do whatever's on the schedule for next week, which will probably be just as difficult.

Finished off the 70-mile week with a slow 9 at Ben Geren -- golf course loop, then three laps around the tennis courts. GC loop was very slow; legs did not want to get going, and stopped twice to stretch. After that, they were better. Stopped back at the car to towel off and get a drink, then was able to go faster on the gravel trail. I'd say the last two laps constituted a moderate progression; I was probably down around 9:00.

Fifty days to Boston. Wow. It'll be here in no time. Knock on wood, once the AT and the sciatica or whatever it was subsided, I've been healthy. Just normal soreness, like I had today. Need to stretch more regularly, I think. Haven't decided yet whether to take tomorrow off or finish out the month with a few more miles. Probably just see how the legs feel after work. I think it would probably be prudent to take more days off in between hard workout instead of just mindless recovery runs over and over, or at least shorten those recovery runs.