Miles to date: 312
(Sidenote - WOW)
Much to discuss since our last update, lets dive right in.
Training has been coming along well. There have been some bumps and a lot of growing aches and pains but things are going as well as can be expected.
Roger and I tackled 20 miles last week. It was about as bad as one would expect. It took a little over three and a half hours to complete. The weather cooperated leading to fairly ideal conditions. That being said, there is no such thing as ideal conditions for 20 miles.
Roger played the role of motivator and tried to keep me moving. Despite his best efforts I was the one advocating for quite a few stops. At least now it's behind me (sortof, there is another coming up)and I can say I've done it.
Last weeks training runs were actually among the toughest to date as all the aches and pains that have been building up were only exacerbated by the 20-miler. I cut back on the runs and only did 4 on Tuesday and Thursday (Wednesday's run remained at 8).
This past weekend I put down 13 miles on Saturday morning. As much as I was looking forward to "only" running 13, it was a pretty tough run. The weather was much hotter and stickier than I was expecting and it made the run difficult.
I was expecting the run to go fairly smoothly considering all the distances above and beyond 13 I have put in; the reality was a little different. There were more walking breaks than I was anticipating but despite that I came in at a pretty decent time.
This weekend I am looking at my last real long run before D-Day. Roger, Steff and I are planning on running the first 20 miles of the Boston Marathon course. The plan is for Meghan to drive us out to Hopkinton and then we'll finish in the heartbreak hill area.
I can not wait for this to be over.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Getting Closer
Miles to date: 248
Much has happened since the last update. I have logged my two longest runs yet (a 17 miler on the 4th and an 18 miler on the 11th) and d-day is approaching with frightening speed.
We'll start at the most logical place: the beginning. After Earl came by and barely shook hands with the eastern seaboard, I went out for the 17 miler. Meghan was kind enough to agree to meet me at a few points along the run to provide water, food and a brief break. The run was a bit difficult as I got a terrible calf cramp at mile three that hurt like heck through mile six and then went away enough that I could manage to finish the run.
I felt strong through the majority of the course but hit a huuuuuuge wall around mile 15. The last two were extremely painful but I finished in about 2:45 and didn't feel like the world was ending after the run, which is always a positive.
Due to the aforementioned calf cramp, I was pretty sore for a few days after the run. So sore in fact that I opted to skip my Tuesday 5-miler. Never happy to miss a workout but sometimes it can be addition by subtraction.
Last weeks runs went fairly well. It's at the point where it is difficult to find the time to put in an eight mile run either before or after work though. Getting up at 5 to run for over an hour before work is not the ideal way to start my day.
This weekend I was debating doing the Nahant 30-K race with Roger and Steph, however due to some obligations on Sunday, I decided it made more sense to do the run on Saturday and just get it out of the way.
Finding 18 miles to run is not as easy as one would think. I finally decided to do a course from my house down to the Fresh Pond area in Cambridge and then looping around the esplanade from the Elliot Bridge down to the Museum of Science. The first half of the run went very well, once again Meghan was kind enough to meet me on Memorial drive and offer a brief respite.
Unknown to me, Saturday was the annual Heart-Walk along the Esplanade. What this means is that I spent over four miles trying to get around thousands of people taking up the entire path. I think I said "On your left!" more times in that 30 or so minutes more than I ever have in my life. That was the beginning of the end. After finally crossing the Elliot bridge and beginning the last two or three miles back I am pretty sure I lost my will to live. A water stop with Meghan at mile 16 helped a bit but then I had to start running for an uphill mile. At this point I realized that discretion is the better part of valor and declared that a little walking never hurt anyone. Once I finally crested the long gradual hill on Belmont Street I resumed a forward shuffle (it wasn't a run at this point) and finished in almost exactly three hours.
It is worth noting that I managed to avoid injury and calamity on both a 17 and 18 mile run but then managed to get enormous blisters on the back of my heels on Sunday while wearing boat shoes.
This week should be interesting as I try not to exacerbate that problem any further and not compromise my training schedule.
Much has happened since the last update. I have logged my two longest runs yet (a 17 miler on the 4th and an 18 miler on the 11th) and d-day is approaching with frightening speed.
We'll start at the most logical place: the beginning. After Earl came by and barely shook hands with the eastern seaboard, I went out for the 17 miler. Meghan was kind enough to agree to meet me at a few points along the run to provide water, food and a brief break. The run was a bit difficult as I got a terrible calf cramp at mile three that hurt like heck through mile six and then went away enough that I could manage to finish the run.
I felt strong through the majority of the course but hit a huuuuuuge wall around mile 15. The last two were extremely painful but I finished in about 2:45 and didn't feel like the world was ending after the run, which is always a positive.
Due to the aforementioned calf cramp, I was pretty sore for a few days after the run. So sore in fact that I opted to skip my Tuesday 5-miler. Never happy to miss a workout but sometimes it can be addition by subtraction.
Last weeks runs went fairly well. It's at the point where it is difficult to find the time to put in an eight mile run either before or after work though. Getting up at 5 to run for over an hour before work is not the ideal way to start my day.
This weekend I was debating doing the Nahant 30-K race with Roger and Steph, however due to some obligations on Sunday, I decided it made more sense to do the run on Saturday and just get it out of the way.
Finding 18 miles to run is not as easy as one would think. I finally decided to do a course from my house down to the Fresh Pond area in Cambridge and then looping around the esplanade from the Elliot Bridge down to the Museum of Science. The first half of the run went very well, once again Meghan was kind enough to meet me on Memorial drive and offer a brief respite.
Unknown to me, Saturday was the annual Heart-Walk along the Esplanade. What this means is that I spent over four miles trying to get around thousands of people taking up the entire path. I think I said "On your left!" more times in that 30 or so minutes more than I ever have in my life. That was the beginning of the end. After finally crossing the Elliot bridge and beginning the last two or three miles back I am pretty sure I lost my will to live. A water stop with Meghan at mile 16 helped a bit but then I had to start running for an uphill mile. At this point I realized that discretion is the better part of valor and declared that a little walking never hurt anyone. Once I finally crested the long gradual hill on Belmont Street I resumed a forward shuffle (it wasn't a run at this point) and finished in almost exactly three hours.
It is worth noting that I managed to avoid injury and calamity on both a 17 and 18 mile run but then managed to get enormous blisters on the back of my heels on Sunday while wearing boat shoes.
This week should be interesting as I try not to exacerbate that problem any further and not compromise my training schedule.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Goodbye Earl
Miles to date: 197
This weekend calls for 17 miles. This weekend also calls for Hurricane Earl to hit the Cape. The weather reports are varied as to the intensity, but there doesn't seem to be much debate there will definitely be lots of wind and rain.
So the debate is when exactly the run is going to take place. I toyed with the thought of trying to get it in today, but after the last three days of running, my body soundly rejected that idea.
It looks to be either Saturday or Sunday, depending on how bad the storm is tonight. I don't really feel like running an obstacle course for 17 miles.
There will undoubtedly be some updates after that run. Get excited.
This weekend calls for 17 miles. This weekend also calls for Hurricane Earl to hit the Cape. The weather reports are varied as to the intensity, but there doesn't seem to be much debate there will definitely be lots of wind and rain.
So the debate is when exactly the run is going to take place. I toyed with the thought of trying to get it in today, but after the last three days of running, my body soundly rejected that idea.
It looks to be either Saturday or Sunday, depending on how bad the storm is tonight. I don't really feel like running an obstacle course for 17 miles.
There will undoubtedly be some updates after that run. Get excited.
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