Getting back to Boston

Starting off the new month low and slow -- three miles at almost 10:00 pace. Just work the kinks out, then some stretching, then early rack time before the 10K in Conway.

This 10K is darn important to me. No, a big PR tomorrow doesn't mean a darn thing when I stand at the line in Newport in four weeks (four weeks! wow!). But I need to know that I can translate all this training into something productive on race day. I had hoped that Hogeye would provide that afffirmation, but it didn't. Maybe I expected too much that day on a very hilly course. But I really feel like I need something in the 43s to validate what I've been doing, to convince me that I haven't been just training for training's sake. And tomorrow is my last chance to do that.

I needed a good run today in Conway to boost my confidence with a marathon in four weeks. I got one. I didn't run as fast as I had hoped, but I got a nice PR by 3:42. That in spite of running through a thunderstorm with extremely heavy rain and plenty of puddles to splash through. I started out too conservatively, due in part to tight hammies, as well as the failure of my Garmin to fully charge up this week; it quit on me on the drive up there. So I was flying a bit blind on pacing. My pacing was not too far off, just a little slower than I had hoped. I think the rain and lightning were bigger issues, at least psychologically. But by halfway, the hammies were loose and there was a downhill and I was ready to let it out. I'm prettty sure it was a negative split; the timer at 3 miles called 22:35 or something, so I ran the last 3.22 in around 23:19. Could I have run faster? Yeah, the first half was too conservative. But I got what I wanted -- a good time going into Newport.

Cut today's planned 18-miler short because of extensive flooding on the RT, plus some rather aggressive geese who thought I was running too close to their goslings. Went to the TM tonight to get the other 6. The legs feel a little heavier than I had anticipated after the 10K, whether that's because the water made me work a little harder, or because I didn't do my planned RR last night, or I didn't stretch enough, or all of the above, I dunno. Could be I'm right on the brink of overtraining, just as I was in early November last year; the taper was enough to get my legs back. We'll see how this week goes; I might dial back this week a bit if the legs don't snap back. Legs REALLY felt heavy on the TM for the first three miles, then felt a little better, which they never did this afternoon on the road.

Another of those runs where I seemed to get stronger as I went along, in par because I started out still sore from the weekend's exertions. Took about four miles to get loose, but by the end, I was kinda cruisin', and GMP for the last 400 was no problem. I felt like I could have easily gone another 4-5 miles -- but I'm glad I didn't. I have enough miles on the docket this week as it is.

I know it's a good idea to try to eliminate as many stressors in your life as you can as a big race approaches, but it ain't working that way for me. I have a son freaking out about graduation, a big trip upcoming, a coworker who just got fired, meaning I have to do two people's work, etc., etc. The good thing about that is it encourages me to get out and run to escape all the other crap. The bad thing is it doesn't help either my peace of mind or my sleep patterns.

Oh well, 26 days to go now. Six days to TAPER MADNESS. 

No running for me today. Tyler's academic awards assembly went from 6 to 8:30, we hadn't eaten, I was starved, and it was too late to eat, then run. So I bagged tonight's 8. Will get up early Wednesday and Thursday and make up those easy miles.

Happy Cinco de Mayo, amigos!

Up early today to make up some of the miles I missed Tuesday night. Easy 4 on the dreadmill at the club. Do it again tomorrow, maybe with strides at the end. Tonight, my interval session on the DM at the fitness room. Warmed up with 3.5, then 6 X 1200 at 6:35 pace with about 4.5 minutes in between, which generally worked out to two laps jogged, then about 2 miles of cooldown. It was hard, but doable, and I was whipped when I finished. But not because I'd taxed my cardio capacity. HRmax, according to the Garmin monitor, was 160. That's about 90% of my heart rate reserve and 92% of MHR. I continue to believe that if my legs ever catch up to my cardio, I might go sub-3 -- but that may never happen.

Double again tomorrow -- easy 4 in the AM, then 15 at night. Because, as far as I know, the trail remains flooded and there was more rain today, I guess I'll have to do it on the DM. Yuck. 

Another double day for me. Four easy this morning, although the jerk on the elliptical next to me was not making it any easier, then 15 tonight. Probably the 15 will be on the dreadmill as well. Oh well. Get through it and get to the taper in three days. Only 23 days to Newport!

Note to self after PM run: Do not do a hard VO2 max run and a medium-long run on consecutive days -- especially if you're also doing doubles on those days. The legs could hardly have been any more dead if I'd had them amputated. No life whatsoever. I had to really struggle to finish 13, and another 20 minutes of torture to get those last two miles didn't seem worth it, especially with a 22-miler in, oh, about 36 hours. So I shut it down and went in search of glycogen replenishment.

Skipped yesterday just to give myself a break, but today wasn't much better, starting the the weather. Huge thunderstorms came through between 4:30-6:30 a.m., so I postponed the run. Sure enough, rain had stopped by then, but there were other issues. Stomach still a bit upset after early Mother's Day dinner last night in Benton with my folks. Didn't sleep well because of the stomach issues. Legs still dead. And humidity was 100%. In spite of all that, set out anyway. First eight miles were OK. STopped at the car at that point to get some Gatorade. Next three miles rough. Humidity getting to me, legs really felt dead. Stopped again for fluids, decided I'd probably cut it off at 19. Then the stomach issues REALLY hit. Got about two miles up Kavanaugh on the second loop, turned around and headed back, and, uh, didn't make it... Wound up with 14.6.

Probably just as well I cut it way off. Another 6.4 wasn't going to make much difference in my fitness, so in essence I started the taper about an hour early :) I'm going to have to be more conservative over the next three weeks to get the legs back. The 20-40% cuts won't get it done IMO.

Taper is now officially underway. Did an easy 6 on the dreadmill after we got back from Camden. It was pouring down there this morning, but I couldn't have run anyway because the back locked up (again). In spite of vitually no sleep thanks to the not-my-mattress syndrome, the legs felt pretty good tonight, and the back loosened up finally as we drove home through the rain -- gain. Ouachita River, Saline River, vaious creeks all well out of their banks, and I'm willing to bet Burns Park is largely a lake. River Trail is probably out for the rest of the cycle, especially if it rains all week as is predicted. I have to really try hard to sleep better and eat better over the next 20 days. I do that, I'll be fine. I've done the work. The hay's in the barn. Get there healthy and well-fueled, and let 'er rip.

Back on the dreadmill tonight for another VO2 max interval run -- 5 X 600 at 6:30 pace (a tiny bit faster than usual). Run went well once the left hammy decided to loosen up, aided by a stretch break at 2 miles. The rest interval was one lap at about 8:30 pace, or a smidge over two minutes. Warmed up for 4.5, cooled off got 2600m after the last interval. Pretty pleased with it, and it seemed to be a bit easier than previous VO2 runs. Whether that's because the legs have had a little chance to recover, or because I am actually getting stronger, remains to be seen, but I think it does indicate improvement. Sure was quite a bit easier than the first one of these I did in this cycle, somewhere around March 1.

Not a bad day, all in all; got a decent night's sleep, work was not too stressful, run went well, and my shoes matched. Easy 6 at the AC, followed by a whirlpool session including some stretching, then shot hoops for about five minutes (5 of 10 on foul shots, 2 of 4 on three-pointers). Then came home to cook some spaghetti and do my blog. T-minus 18 and counting...

Last MLR of the cycle. Nearly 90 today, humid, and the trail is still flooded; thus, dreadmill time. Took two headbands and two bottles of Gatorade to the workout room and set out on my 14-miler. Slow progression at first, going from 9:50 pace to 9:15, then to 8:25, and the last two laps at GMP. Even threw in a bit of a hill at the end to simulate that little bump in Newport. One of those runs where the early/slow miles were a struggle and I felt better as I went faster. I hope that augurs well for having to start out on the 30th at a pretty good clip; I don't have the luxury of warming up in the first two miles at 9:30 pace or so. Anyway, happy with the way it went.

The big trip is close enough now that I can look up the advance forecast for Boston for our arrival: high 70, low 57 next Friday, sunny skies. Sounds like a good night to go to Fenway. It'll probably be a bit cooler at Chatham when we get there. I've been forewarned that it may be long pants and windbreaker weather the whole time. so be it. I'll still run in shorts...

Pushed a GA run on the DM tonight, sub-9 pace the whole way with strides at the end. Wound up with an 8:19 average overall. Legs do feel like they're snapping back with reduced mileage. So far, so good on taper madness.

Got in a very good 17-miler today after the thunderstorms cleared out (second straight Saturday that the boomers arrived here at about 4:30 a.m.). Started the run at 6:22, did an 8.5 mile loop, then did the same loop again. It never rained on me, and the sun even came out for a moment, but it was upper-60ish, damp and not too windy. Only issue I had with it was the old sweat-in-the-eyes problem on the first loop, but after getting my headband at the midway point, that went away. I've acclimated myself at least to temps in the 60s and low 70s with fairly high humidity, so if race morning in Newport dawns 40ish as history suggests, I should be good to go with that; 48 will feel like 35.

Anyway, I averaged sub-9 for the whole run, even counting a gel break and an answer-the-cellphone break (I'm on call until I get on the plane to Boston next Friday, so the electronic leash goes everywhere with me). Last two-miles plus were at GMP, even dodging downtown traffic, which was heavier than usual as the farmers' market is in high gear this morning.

Any blow to my confidence from last Saturday's lackluster run was erased today. The run went really well, and the acceleration in the last 2+ felt good. Took two gels during the run, and the first one at about 6 miles really picked me up; I felt the legs respond to a fresh dose of carbs. Also took about 40 ounces of fluid, which is really not enough, but it got me through. I tend to drink more if its readily available, such as at aid stations every two miles on the course. One Amphipod bottle on each hip does not constitute readily available to me; I go through those too fast. 

Cruise through the rest of the taper, one more VO2 max session, a dress rehearsal next week in Boston, and lots of sleep and carbs for the next 14 days. Exactly 336 hours from now (that's 14 days for the math-challenged; it's 10:30 a.m. CDT), I should be almost halfway through the race at Newport. Which means, I hope, that exactly 338 hours from now, I will have punched my ticket to Boston 2010. 

Nice run today, with the family involved. Sunday dawned gorgeous in central Arkansas -- zero clouds, temps in the lower 70s, just a hint of a breeze. Normally I do my Sunday recovery runs on the dreadmill, but it was just too nice not to go outside. So I got the family to come with me. We drove to the skateboard park and walked down to the quarry, about a half-mile walk. I started my run from there, going a mile and a half in each direction so as not to get too far away, while Pam and T explored the quarry. By the time I finished my 6-miler, they had made their way back to the car. Pam got some nice photos, most of which are on her Facebook page (and one of which is on mine -- my sweat stains on my shirt were, un, interesting). Legs feeling better and better. Even got (accidentally) to GMP for the last little bit of the run.

Last interval run -- 3 X 1600 at something approximating 5K pace, although at this point I'm approximating an approximation since I have no real idea what my 5K pace is. In this case I ran at 6:40 pace. Got a little confused; I forgot originally that I was supposed to do the 1600s and started out doing 6 X 600 instead. Realized during the second 600 that this was 1600s night, turned it into a 1000, then ran the last two reps as 1600s. Legs felt pretty good. Actually was not straining too much to maintain that pace, even with the TM cranked to 2% incline to simulate outdoor running. But I'm not sorry I won't be doing any more of those for a while, unless I decide in late June to start doing some serious 5K training.

 Race is close enough that I can look up the long-range forecast at accuweather.com -- low 45, high 62, clear skies. Might be a bit chilly at 7 a.m. in Oregon. In other words, darn near perfect; if there's about a 5 mph wind and a few clouds to keep me from squinting, it would be perfect. Maybe the fir trees will keep me from squinting anyway. Of course, the forecast has 11 more days to change.

Today is much more important to me than the four-mile recovery run I just finished. More important, in fact, than the marathon I'm going to run in 11 days, even if I do get that long-obsessed-over BQ.

On the afternoon of July 17, 1990, I was the first person to see my son, or at least the top of his head, as he crowned while my wife was in labor. A couple of hours later, we got to see all of him, all nine pounds plus. We had had a miscarriage prior to Tyler, and would have one after him as well, so he was the only child we would be blessed with. And he has been a blessing. A great kid. Never had to worry about if I was going to get that call from the principal that he was in detention, or from the police that he'd been picked up after going for a joyride. Main problem, in fact, has been getting him OUT of the house. He's had some health issues, and walking, never mind running, is difficult and painful for him, and will always be that way. But it makes no difference to me that he's not an athlete. He's my one and only and I'm proud of him, and I've enjoyed watching him grow and blossom, particularly after we returned to Arkansas in '06 and he got to be around his extended family much more.

Tonight, he gets his high school diploma from North Little Rock High. Honors graduate, top 10% of his class of nearly 600, winner of several academic honors, top American Government student in his class, academic scholarship recipient. It's a joyous occasion, but yet a sad one, because our little Ty-ty has grown up. Boy, has he grown up: 6-foot-5, somewhere well north of 250 lbs., size 16 shoes. He'll be in college this fall, at my alma mater, 190 miles away. It won't seem right to look in his bedroom every morning and see an empty, un-slept-in bed, or not see a stack of plates and glasses from his snacks. But he's reached the point that he's ready to fly out of the nest, as much as it pains us as his parents to let him go.

The trip to Boston on Friday is for him, too. He wanted to go there. It's fine with me; as a runner, Boston has been my goal, so I get a sneak preview of what I'll hopefully be a part of in 11 months. But my running will be a sidelight, at least until I get on the plane and go to Oregon next week. The only bad thing is, if I do BQ, he can't go with me next April because he'll be in the runup to finals for spring semester.

But there will be a few tears tonight with the cheers for my son. We love you, Tyler, and we are immeasurably proud of you.

My last treadmill run of the cycle (pardon me if I don't shed a tear). Seven miles, mostly at 8:30 pace, with 8 X 100 strides at the end. Felt strong; if my opening pace feels that easy, I'll be in good shape at Newport. Finished the 7 in less than an hour. Now I'm going to pack; my flight for Boston leaves in about 10 hours. Tomorrow night I'm in the bleachers at Fenway Park; Saturday morning I'll be running on Cape Cod. And I'm looking forward to the change in scenery, and getting ready to open a big can of BQ in nine days.

No running Friday, but boy, did I get a workout. Up at 4:30. At the airport a little after 6. Fly to Newark. Have to haul butt through the terminal to make my connecting flight; they were boarding when I got there. Fly to Boston. Stand around forever in the terminal; I can run 26 miles no problem but standing still for 15 minutes kills me. Wait for Pam's flight to arrive from Cincinnati. Stand around some more retrieving her luggage because she is in serious pain. finally get bag, catch the shuttle to the rentacar place. Stand around some more. get our car, drive into Boston and park at Government Center. Walk -- a lot. Catch a subway to near Fenway Park. Walk, and help Pam walk, to the ballpark. Have to change seats, twice, because of Pam's pain. Finally end up sitting behind the Mets' bullpen in great seats. Enjoy the game. Walk back to the subway station. Can't get all the way back to our original station because it's so late, so I have to walk about a half-mile, get the car and come back and get Pam. Then we go back to the airport and wait about an hour for Tyler. He finally arrives, we pick him up and drive to Chatham, arriving well after 2 a.m. Finally in bed at 3 a.m. Accounting for the time change, still a 22 hour day.

I've identified bike trails through Chatham and Harwich that will be good for my runs, or I can do short runs on the beach. Of course I still plan to do my dress rehearsal on part of the Boston course. It's Saturday afternoon as I write this and it's raining and 35 degrees cooler than it was yesterday in Boston. No problem. I'll get a 12-miler in this afternoon.

Well, the hay's in the barn now. I've done the work, the long slow miles, the MP miles, the strides, the intervals, the tempo runs. It's just a matter of resting, relaxing, recharging the glycogen stores and getting ready to nail one in about 160 hours in Oregon.

Seven days. After all these months, it's down to this. I'm more ready now than I was in December, that's for sure. As the football coaches say, now I just have to execute. I've got a good game plan, I've got the base built, I've worked on the speed. I just have to do what needs to be done for just under 3.5 hours next Saturday, and I will have necessitated ANOTHER change in the name of this blog.

When I started this blog last year, I thought I could break four hours, but I wasn't sure about BQ. Sasha convinced me I had it in me, but I had to make the commitment to get there -- meaning a lot more miles than I had been willing to put in to that point. Well, Mr. Pachev, I did what you said, and maybe then some, and I think I'm ready.

Today's run was on the bike path through the middle of both Chatham and Harwich, which are two neighboring towns on Cape Cod. If you look at Cape Cod on a map and see the resemblance to an arm, Chatham is the elbow; Harwich is the outer end of the triceps :) It was almost exactly a mile from our cottage to reach the bike path. I then turned east and ran into the middle of Chatham, past the airport and the high school and a bunch of boat yards (never saw the ocean, though, but saw some lakes) to the end of that path. Turned around and doubled back, then went over the line into Harwich, ran a mile or so into Harwich, doubled back again and went back to the cottage. Total time 1:51, averaging 8:29; ran the last two miles plus in sub GMP.

Good thing about this run is that it was sufficiently hilly that I had to work hard to maintain the pace, similar to what the miles in the late teens will be like in Newport, but because of fatigue, not uphills. Never ran a mile over 9:00, even early in the run when I was TRYING to run more conservatively, and if I hadn't had to wait on traffic at so many places where the trail crossed roads, I'd have probably been two minutes faster. Legs felt good, and should feel even better when I step to the line in Oregon.

No running today. Full day of touristy stuff in greater Boston, including the Revolutionary War swing of Lexington-Concord. Hoped to run when I got back, but the trip back took about four hours, finally arriving well after dark. That's OK. Hay's in the barn training wise. Missing a four-miler ain't gonna matter.

Pace-wise, probably the easiest run I've had the whole cycle. Effort-wise, not so much. Ran on the beach at Chatham, about a 1.2 mile section of beach that I ran back and forth on twice. Sand wasn't that much of a problem, since enough of it was semi-hardpacked that it wasn't too bad, but I had to scramble over rock jetties about every 200 yards, which slowed me down greatly and increased the work level. So the average pace was nearly 12:00.

Tomorrow I plan to do my dress rehearsal run; not sure if I'll go to Boston to do it or run on the bike trail here. My trolley ride yesterday took me down Boylston to the finish line, and we've walked past the Citgo sign which marks a mile to go, so I've seen that end of the Boston course. Might go to Hopkinton tomorrow, or maybe not. We'll see.

Dress rehearsal out of the way. Decided not to go up to Boston to run it; things like how to take a shower afterward entered the consideration, plus what the family wants to do for the rest of the day. So I did my run on the bike trail here in Chatham -- ran three miles to warm up, stretched a bit, then set off at GMP. Tried not to look at my watch too much, just establish a comfortable pace. Turned out that comfortable pace was about 7:40. Then slowed down to a GA pace and logged another three miles on the way back to the cottage.

Wow. Now we're down to four days (and one cross-country flight). The three time zone jump actually works in my favor, I think; I'll be inclined to go to bed early and get up early, so a 7 a.m. start Pacific time will be no problem (10 a.m. Boston time, 9 a.m. in Arkansas). Get up at 6 or 6:30 according to my body clock, and that's be PLENTY early to get to the start without feeling rushed.

I just feel like I'm going to have a really good race -- that I'll BQ with minutes to spare. Don't care if I get under 3:20, and probably won't unless I can actually accelerate in the final 10K, but sub-3:25 would be nice. I feel I can manage that if I manage the race well -- and get my carbs and fluids reloaded in the next three days. Anyway, a recovery run tomorrow, maybe a really short one Thursday before we go catch my flight, a few strides on Friday, then hammer it for 3.5 hours (or less) on Saturday, and hopefully my two years of work will pay off.

Day of messed-up plans. Whale watching cancelled because of bad weather. Didn't call the seafood store in time to get our planned lobster dinner. Didn't get downtown in time for Pam to pick up a birthday present for her mom as planned. But I did finally get my run in, a slow 4-miler through the Cape Cod fog.

Tomorrow, we try again to see the USS Constitution at Charlestown Navy Yard, then I go to the airport to catch my flight for Oregon, and Pam and T drive up to Vermont to visit a high school classmate of Pam's. I'm glad it's getting down to brass tacks. I'm getting antsy, and I'm a little grumpy, and so is the rest of the family. I want to get this race -- this BQ -- over and done with. No run tomorrow. I'll jog a little and do some strides Friday, then Saturday morning is the whole enchilada.

No run today; spent the morning with the family, the afternoon in the Boston airport, and the evening on a surprise nonstop flight. The original flight was delayed at least 90 minutes, maybe more, and I couldn't be sure to make my connection in Newark. So they found me a seat on another airline, nonstop, leaving three hours after the original flight but arriving an hour before the first itinerary got me here.

Spent much of the flight thinking about the race. Is 7:50 pace too slow? Is 7:45 too fast? Don't know. So I'll play it by ear, see how I feel on the course, and adjust accordingly. I still think I probably went out a few seconds too slow in Memphis, and it may have cost me the BQ. Maybe I'll be running 7:50s all day, maybe I'll be running 7:40s. We'll see.

Tomorrow, drive to Newport, hopefully drive the course, get my packet, and hit the spaghetti dinner before an early bedtime. Speaking of which, it's bedtime now.

Now the nerves are hitting. I've done everything I can. Train, taper, carbload, I've done it. Now I have to go out there and do something I wasn't sure I could -- run a marathon in less than 3:31. I know I can now, but I haven't done it yet. I have to do it. No excuses. The weather looks good, the course is favorable, no aches and pains, the dress rehearsal went well, the strides went well except for nearly getting tackled by a loose dog on the beach. But I have a deadline: Finish 26.22 miles in less than 211 minutes. Do that, and I'll be back in Boston next April. Fail... is not an option. I will be in Boston on April 19.

Not sure how soon I can get on here to post results or an RR. I'll try to get the time up quickly and do a detailed RR later when I can.

In about 15 hours, I'll know the answer.

No big race report here. Suffice it to say no BQ, bad cramping and a miserable last two miles. I was still under BQ at 24 miles, until the calves followed through with long-threatened full-blown cramp. Volunteers tried to get me to DNF after I finally picked myself off the ground after 2-3 minutes ono my back. Didn't quit, kept walking, then jogged the last .4 downhill to the finish.

Next up -- a major cutback on my summer mileage, a reassessment of my nutrition/GI issues to see why I keep cramping in races, and a fall marathon somewhere. Probably Memphis.

If anyone wants to read my RR in gory detail, go to the Runners World Online forums, Marathon Race Training, and click the sub-3:20 thread. I'm Spiderpig on there too.