Lexington Run (wt 45.75)

After bugging him enough, Alex made good on his word and held another Saturday morning long run out of the store he works at up in Lexington – a branch of the Greater Boston Running Company.  What’s great about the run – besides the change of venue – is that the store owner, Steve Meinelt,(who ran the Olympic Trials for Beijing in NYC last October)  gives the running club 20% off all the merchandise we buy this weekend, so some runners load up on new gear, shoes and what not.

I picked up Caitlin from the Museum of Science – a convenient meeting place for the two of us – at about 7:30 and we headed up to Lexington, a drive that took about 25 minutes.  We chatted about how wonderful it seemed out – sunny and almost 40 degrees – almost perfect running weather.  We were some of the first ones there, but after a bit of a late start (around 8:20) we took off south east on Mass Ave (I don’t think it’s Massachusetts, but actually just Mass) with a good crowd.  Besides Caitlin and myself, there was Stephanie, Aleks (was that Aleks?), Marie-Claude, Sarah, Greg, Bill, Dani, Sriram, Mike Clark, and Alex himself joined us for a few.  The sun and warmer weather was gone, and the clouds had seemed to roll over while we were in the store, plus a wind had picked up; it was getting cold and we worried that it might start raining.  After a short but windy 2.5 miles along Mass Ave into Arlington, we hopped onto the Minuteman Bikeway and Bow street and would run the rest of the way along it.

The first water stop was right where we entered the bikeway, and the second one, which we missed was near Arlington Center.  By then though, I had warmed up considerably, and after a short stop to see where it could have been we continued on, since the next one wasn’t that far anyway.  The pace felt good but quick, and running with Caitlin forced me to work a bit harder than I would have otherwise.  When we got to the next water stop at Alewife, I checked my clock, and we were at about 7:15 pace! We moved onto the next leg – past Fresh Pond Mall, and the outdoor track we used this summer – over to the pond itself for a lap around the loop.

Caitlin had mentioned doing an extra lap around, because she wanted to go a bit further (I think she ended up going a bit over 19).  So, after the initial lap, I told her I would stretch at the entrance for 10 minutes, then she could use the rest of the trail back to track me down.  I figured that with the extra 2.25 miles she had to do, it gave me about a 5-6 minute head start on her.  I also thought it a good idea to get some time in running alone to force myself to train mentally and try to stay focused, so after the first loop, I stretched a bit and headed back.  We had actually picked up the pace a bit, with the average being about 7:12 or under to that point.

The run back was definitely tougher in some regards.  Without a running partner to keep me on track, I found my mind wandering and on at least two separate occasions, I needed to consciously refocus my efforts and keep track of my pace.  The latter was especially hard since I didn’t know the mile markers.  But, it was easier in some ways too.  I had been tracking people myself – first Marie-Claude and Sarah to Alewife Station, then again after it, since they didn’t stop at the water station, then Bill coming up to the last water station.  When I finally got the last water station, I caught up with Stephanie and Aleks, Dani and Sriram, and chatted with them for a bit, telling them about my plan to let Caitlin run an extra loop around the pond and then try to track me down.  Isn’t that her? somebody asked, and we turned to see her flying up the bikeway, having made up at least half the time on me.

As we headed back to the store, back on Mass Ave, the protection that the trees had afforded us along the bikeway was no longer there, and we had to push the last 2.5 miles into a bit of head wind.  I told Caitlin she was free to go with less than a mile and a half to go, but she let up a bit, and we tried to “cool down” a bit on our last mile.  By the time we were back in town though, she ended up pushing the pace again, and got more than a few strides in front of me. before cross the street.  I tried to respond, and on my attempt to cross the street, got caught in the middle of the two opposing lanes of traffic (Lexington has a fairly well used, but seemingly pedestrian-friendly downtown), and ended up trying to reel her back in while sprinting down the street.  I ended up misjudging the finish, and sprinted a bit to early, finishing about four store lengths behind her (she probably would have finished even further ahead, but there was a light she briefly got caught at).

I was surprised by my performance today, overall.  There was a good chunk of the middle where we hauled around Fresh Pond in under 7 minute pace, and the run, in all was 16.75 miles in about 2:02:25, or about 7:18/mile.  I clearly slowed down a bit on run back, maybe tacking on 10 seconds per mile, but I am, again, encouraged by the run.  Here is the approximate course we ran.  Next week I have a 20 miler that will be my peak before New Bedford, the week after, where I have outlines certain goals, which, apparently, I should make public.  I will be sure to do that in the near future.

After the run, we all headed home, and I went out after showering, with Jimmy to grab some pho and spring rolls from a Vietamese place.  We had been talking about noodle soups on the ride back – Mike is going to Tokyo for work next weekend – and I had been missing Mai’s, in Houston, lately (where else can I get late-night Vietnamese?) so it only made sense.  After getting my fill, though, Jimmy mentioned that he was planning on buying running shoes himself this weekend, so we headed back up to Lexington, to bring business to Alex and Steve, and Jimmy was able to cash in on the 20% discount on a pair of new shoes (Saucony Progrid Guide 2), some long running tights, and gloves and a headband.  I also got a new headband to replace the one I recently, and inexplicably lost.

What Comes Up (wt 29)

After my attempt a couple weeks ago to run the Crossroads Run with some people, I was hesitant to try it again.  I wanted to give it another shot, but after I sent out an email to some peeps about possibly joining me, and got reply, I opted to head out in the daylight and give the race pace piece a go alone.

I was in the mood to run somewhere besides the river and since I would have done the Boston Marathon course had I run out of Crossroads, I opted to head in that direction.  I ended up driving to about the corner of Commonwealth Avenue and Washington Street in Newton by the firehouse, parked my car and headed out.  I mapped my run prior to getting in my car this afternoon, and decided that I would do the hills on an out-and-back course.  I wanted to hit the hills at pace, and even though I essentially created a fake course to my own liking, I decided that I would run 3 miles along the course (to the top of Heartbreak from where I parked my car), then backwards from there for 5 miles, then back to my car for the last two.  I thought this meant that the worst hills would be from miles 1-3 and then from miles 8-10.  I thought that surely it meant that going the opposite direction would give me a bit of a respite, but it turns out there were some hilly sections when I went “backwards” too.  I guess you don’t notice the downhills so much when you’re on mile 17 or 18 in Newton.  Since the New Bedford Half Marathon has a wicked hill at mile 12, I thought it would be a good mental exercise as well.

I was worried from the get go – concerned that end- and front-loading the run with hills would make it difficult for me to loosen up and hit stride and pace in a timely manner.  Going up the hills during the first 3 miles were really tough, and I may have over compensated, summiting in slightly under where I expected to be.  After the turnaround, my legs loosened and my stride opened up, owing, I’m sure (and as I had planned) to the rolling downhill terrain.  When I reached my car for mile 6, I was feeling good, so I took some liquid that I had brought and pressed into the remaining four.

Though it was a bit windy, I was more concerned with staying even and smooth.  I was tired and thought that if I just made it to mile 8 by pace I could consider easing back up hill over I-95 and cool down back to where I started.  I felt good on the second turnaround, though, I opted to press into it, at least until the firehouse, where I could take a pee and then ease through the last half mile.

After the firehouse stop, I caught a crosswalk light perfectly, and hitched behind a guy who looked like he was carrying a good pace.  When I pulled along side of him, though, we turned a corner and I was surprised to see my car!  I checked my watch, and decided to make a mad dash up the last hill to get my time down as low as I could – 1:09:31!  Although my marathon race pace is 7:15-7:30, I was under 7 min pace for these ten miles!  While encouraging, I wouldn’t necessarily get to excited.  Because of the time I ran – I got started at about 4 pm – there was a lot of after school and rush hour traffic, which meant a lot of stop and go.  I’d like to think that without those briefs breaks, I would have still been at my goal pace.

Also, after remapping the route I took when I got home, I realized I was probably closer to 9.8 miles, meaning my pace feel somewhere between 6:57/mi and 7:02/mi.  Still, after yesterday’s tough workout with Gretchen, I’m counting today’s run as a victory.  I need every one I can take.  Wanting to go under 7 min pace in New Bedford, this piece is good news.

Two by Two for Tempo (well, almost – wt 19)

Something I’ve come to learn about Gretchen, that I really like, is that she remembers.  When I did the hydration test with her a few weeks back – what I called the Power Hour – my shins killed the first 15 minutes.  So much so that I had to stop and and stretch before finishing the last 45 minutes.  Gretchen remembered that my shins were bothering me and she brought it up (they’re fine; I was running flat-footed the first 15 minutes).  I guess I also like her workouts.  I emerge from them generally encouraged by my performance, and the extra structured day on the track is giving me something to look forward to.

I might have cheated slightly prior to coming to track buy taking the juice.  Don’t worry – I’m not taking about steriods – it was just a cup of decaffeinated coffee, which I drank at about 4:30 PM, that got me going.  I would not normally drink decaf – because it’s gross and I’m a purist who usually just has a small dark roast, black with no sugar – but it was getting late in the day and I didn’t want to be up all night.

Frank started the workout with drills and exercises to get us good and stretched out, and I did a 10-lap warm up before to get loosened up.  We did high skips, butt kicks, alternating sidesteps, accelerating mini steps, and exaggerated strides and then split into groups.  The workout that Gretchen set up was a 2 x 2 mile workout with 5 minutes rest in between.  I thought a pace of about 6:30 would be appropriate, which is a hair faster than 10K pace for me.  That would translate to about a 49 or 48 second lap.

I’ve learned that tempo means different things to different people, but that generally, it refers to a heart rate, and is meant to stall the build up of lactic acid…or maybe increase one’s tolerance to it?  Regardless, I also noted that Gretchen’s workouts, which generally are run at either tempo or 10K pace, are slowly increasing in distance, which is great, since I was hoping to be able to do that on my own, as per many sources’ advice.

Gretchen started us out in a group, but Greg P. and I had decided to be running buddies prior to heading off for our first piece.  Greg could easily run this workout at something closer to 6 minute pace, I bet, but he wanted to take it a little easier.  I told him that it might work well if I stayed in front of him for the first mile then he pulled ahead after that, but even after 12 laps when I mumbled to him “Go, if you have to go,” he was content on staying behind me (there’s no believing he was drafting, since he’s about 4 inches taller than me…and we’re indoors).  I ran the first of the two pieces pretty consistently, so I was happy about that, and my time for the 2 miles was exactly 13:00.

After the 5 minute break, I still felt a little winded, and told Greg as much.  I didn’t feel confident about leading the next piece, but Greg said that he was happy with the pace on the first one, that he was aiming to do that again, and that I maybe could still run with, just in opposite order.  I stayed behind him as long as I could, focusing on the logo on the back of his shirt, and not really counting my laps or looking at my watch, but in the last 6 laps I could tell that either he was speeding up slowly, or I was slowing down.  I kept playing this mental game with myself, saying that if I could stay with him for another 2 laps, I would consider it a good workout, and that got me through a good deal.  By the time he was 30 meters or so ahead of me, I thought I had only a couple laps left, and made it my goal not to lose sight of him around the turn of the track.  I finished my last lap with that goal accomplished – he was about 30-40 meters ahead of me – at about the same pace, but realized that I had stopped one lap short!  UGH!

Even though I skipped a lap, I’m happy with my workout (again, encouraging).  My pace was right where I wanted it to be, and I was slightly surprised I was able to handle it.  I’m also happy that I was able to stay with Greg for as long as I could.  I finished the night by cooling down with 7 laps to keep my mileage even.  Here are my lap splits.

1. 46.2, 49.3, 49.1, 48.9, 49.0, 49.2, 48.7, 48.9, 48.2, 48.4, 49.5, 48.9, 49.6, 50.3, 49.1, 46.7 = 13:00 (6:30/mi)
2. 47.2, 50.3, 49,2, 48.1, 47.0, 47.7, 47.9, 47.8, 47.9, 47.5, 49.6, 50.3, 49.7, 49.8, 53.5 = 12:13.5 (6:31/mi)

Gretchen also said that New Bedford will be a good indication of how I’m progressing.  I hope that I make both her and Brian happy with my performance!  I just need to remember all the encouraging work outs that I’ve been having, and stay positive and excited about the race, just like in NJ.

Tomorrow I have a long piece at race pace – 10 miles.  I was thinking of doing the Crossroads run again, but I am betwixt and between, because I know it’ll be hard after today’s workout, and it’s still dark at 6:30.  I emailed a couple people to see if they’d like to join me, but if I don’t hear from them by 3, I might just bite the bullet and do it myself at 4.  I wonder if it would be cheating if I ran the opposite direction.  Everything would be downhill, and it would be so great.

Accept It (wt 13)

Another Tuesday and another day of recovery on the roads.  I popped another episode of the This American Life podcast onto my iPod and took off a little after 4, while it was still sunny and a little warmer.  The temperatures are consistently over 30 degrees these days, and a day or two in the 40s or 50s isn’t as big of a surprise.  While I complain in my head that it’s chilly, I know that only a few weeks ago I was hoping for temperatures over 20 degrees.  I complain about the wind too, which seems to be relentless lately, but know that I just need to accept it as a sign that things are warming up.

There’s not much to note about the run today.  I did six miles at an easy pace – out to the Hyatt along Memorial Drive and back home.  I wasn’t really in the mood to do more than 4, but I wasn’t sure that that would be enough to loosen up my legs enough for what I’ve since found out will be a tough workout with Gretchen tomorrow.  I’m doing these recovery runs without a watch, but I’m guessing that the pace was on the slower side of 8:30/mile.  My legs were a bit tight, then tired, and the effort heading out into the wind really sapped me.  I’m still fighting the urge to go a bit speedier during these runs, especially when people pass me who I know I can out run.

I go back and forth about the relay race that I wrote about yesterday.  I could, feasibly do both the triathlon and the relay race, but if Jimmy’s down at the cape, there is obvious reason just to relax while I’m there.  On the other hand, it would be shortly after that, I would think, that we would begin our drive out west.

Milk Duds for Allan (wt 7)

On the slate for tonight’s track workout, Brian had runners do a Track BINGO set.  Essentially, we use a special BINGO card that Brian makes up, comprised of different numbers that corresponds to seconds for one lap.  There were candy prizes for the first BINGO (a straight line of 5), an X through the card (9 squares), and a blackout (25 squares).  The cards were labeled 36, 39, 42, etc, based on their fastest square, and we broke up into three groups of about 10 runners, so that Allison, Greg (McGowan) and Brian could each time a group.  I ended up running most of my laps with Amanda and Caitlin – I think Greg (Polumbo) was taking it easy, and Mike Clark and Trevor were in a different group.

After my warm up of 2.5 miles around the track (I asked the MIT Track/Field coach before I used it if it was ok – I think he thought I was a student), we got started.  I had selected the fastest one the last time we did this as well, but apparently Brian had increased the stakes, because the cards with a 39 had been the fastest, and this new 36 card was a bit harder.  I reached in at the beginning of the workout and grabbed a card labeled 36.  At that point, I heard some chick from the Liver Team say “Ooo…show off,” which is both annoying and indicative of their bothersome personality en masse.  I apologized to this unnamed person, in my head, for selecting a card that I thought would be best suited for my workout, but one shouldn’t flatter oneself with the idea that I’d be showing off to you.  Isn’t this all supposed to be fun and games, anyway?

We each try to aim for a speed that we want to finish the lap in, and since we all have different cards you can’t really run with somebody as a cheat.  We also weren’t allowed to look at our watches during each lap (though last time, Allison said we could check at the halfway point).  So off we went.  Brian’s goal in the workout is to really get runners to work on their pacing – my specific goal was a  little different: I just wanted to win a box of candy for the pride.

Last time we did this workout, Trevor was actually able to get a BINGO in the first five (or 6?) laps, which is great, so I was surprised that nobody got a BINGO before I did, since it took 7 laps!  So – I won the BINGO prize for the first straight line of five – a box of Milk Duds!  This is the second time I won a prize for this workout – the first time being a year ago, when I won Swedish Fish.  I hate Swedish Fish, so Milk Duds, even though I can’t eat more than 2 in one sitting, were much better (I ended up giving away most of the box).  After that, I opted to bow out and just run laps with the group to get some speed work in.  My laps varied from a 66, to help somebody get a blackout, to a 29, which I did for the last go around for “fun.”  Here’s a picture of my successful BINGO card.  The marks on the top of the page indicate how many laps I eventually ran that were no longer/never on the board.  Note that the BINGO I had was actually the only straight 5 I had.

So we ended up doing 32 laps, or 4 miles during the speed workout.  I finished it off with a half mile cool down to total the night at an even 7.  Tomorrow I have a recovery run of 6 miles scheduled.  The temperature should peak a little over 30, but it’s supposed to be windy.  I’m hitting fifty miles again this week, which I am surprisingly unsurprised about, since I was so amazed that I did 50 cumulative for the first time last week.

On another note, Robin brought up the proposed relay that she, Brian, and Sriram are trying to pilot this summer.  I told Brian that I would totally be into it, but that I was running the Hyannis Tri (which I’m really excited about) that weekend, and that it’s Janna’s birthday weekend.  When he found out that it was an 8 AM start he told me, with a smile on his face, that I could do it (since it was just a sprint) then meet up with Van #2 somewhere in CT or western MA.  The triathlon actually starts at 7 AM and he would start the race at about 10 AM, and when I told Janna, she played with the idea and said that she would do it if Brian considered her recovery and slated her slower (since Brian would ideally slate teams so that they’d leap frog back and forth).  The more I think about it, the more I really want to do it as my last race in New England before I move; it would be bittersweet (not that I’m trying to be emotional).  So now there may be a secret plan to go down to the cape on Friday, do the triathlon on Saturday morning, eat, clean up, drive to a disclosed location to meet the second van so that I would have one of the later legs, do the relay, then drive back to Cape Cod on Sunday afternoon, bake a cake for Janna’s birthday, get shnockered on Sunday night, and recover on Monday since David is planning on taking off.  That seems like a whole lot of excitement!  Too much, perhaps?

Oh, one more thing – Brian said tonight that he was giving me a bit of a hard time telling me to run a 1:26.  It’s funny that I can’t tell anymore.  He also said that I’m running really well these days, so I am glad that he is noticing and that the hard work seems to be paying off.

Rainy Recovery – Final Week Total 45

It’s after midnight again and again I haven’t written about the days run.  I guess after an uncomfortable run all I find myself doing is showering, eating an exorbitant amount of food and vegging out in front of my roommate’s monster 52" plasma tv (I seriously think some of the actors are going to eat me).

I finally got moving on my run today at 4:30, though I had the notion of doing so at 2, and plans to start at 3.  Consequently, the rain, which managed to stay away (at my will, I’d like to think) until about 1 or 2, was in full force when I hit the roads.  It could have been much worse, as the rain turned to wintry mix within the hour of my return.  I had worn my complete ninja outfit but broke up the black, knowing it’d be getting dark, with my crew jacket (this is germane, I promise).  Though I wanted to get in something closer to 8, the rain was a bit more irritating than I was willing to deal with, so I turned around at the 3 mile out mark, to total closer to 6 (I wanted to keep my mileage even and walked the last quarter mile home) – besides, I was listening to the latest podcast for This American Life, and I was sure it wouldn’t last me for 8 miles at recovery pace.  So I got my recovery run in, a bit annoyed, but it’s better than not.

I learned a couple of things.  First, while the touch control of an iPod – like the wheel (and presumable the track pad of a laptop mouse) – don’t seem to work with a gloved hand, they will sense your fingers if the gloves are wet (who knew?).  And second, I thought my crew jacket (by RegattaSport – I told you I’d get to it) didn’t breathe at all (because it was so waterproof that sweat always got trapped inside), but was surprised to learn that it did, in fact, allow moisture out, which created a white foam on various locations where I sweat the most.  Anyway, I finished the week at 45 miles, but I think I’m scheduled to hit 55 before my next drawback week, which is the same week as the New Bedford Half Marathon.

I had a dream last night about the New Jersey Marathon again.  I distinctly remember finishing, and looking at my watch and it reading 3:11:41, but then I got the official results and they read 3:11:21.  It’s odd that I would have dreams about being less than a minute within Boston qualifying, but it’s also odd that I’m thinking about it so much that I’m having dreams about it.  I don’t usually get stressed out about these things, and am finding it hard, obviously, to keep my “stay positive” attitude while training more assertively!  Janna tells me that she had a dream (and that she’s known for her precognition dreams) that I finished right after the elites, but I told her there were no elite runners at the NJM, to which she responded that I still finished so fast that she couldn’t keep up with me.  I think it very kind of her, but I’m trying just to think positively and not start freaking out about the possibility of qualifying this go around.  I am focusing on New Bedford during the next couple weeks and am starting to figure out my personal prize structure for performance.

A few of my friends ran the Hyannis Half Marathon today (I think before the rain started), including Erin, Stephanie, Mike Kelly, and Bill.  I ran it last year, sort of out of the blue (with John Warren’s bib), and finished in something like 1:40, mostly as a long training run, but decided against it so that I could really tru for a solid PR at New Bedford.  Today though, Stephanie finished in 1:36:43 – a great time that qualifies her for the New York Marathon!  Congratulations, Stephanie!  Here are complete results.

The Experiment or I Hate the Wind (& the Wind Hates Me – wt 39.25)

It seems like this entire past week it has been so windy out!  Since last weekend when I did 20 around the river, we seem to get no breaks.  I am appreciative that the snow through the season has seemed to concentrate itself over a few (horrible) days, and hopefully it is done and we can welcome in Spring, but the wind has been brutal and nonstop over the past 7 days or so.

Such was the case this morning as a small group of runners started out from Starbucks.  On the roster for the morning was myself, Mike Clarke, Goutham, Trevor, Connie, Daniella, Marie-Claude and this girl, I think, named Sophie (Sue asks later, “Is she the one who always wears the light purple top?”).  Along the way, there were various pick-ups, too, including Sue, who I ran into just before Heartbreak Hill, as well as Lynne and Robin who showed up a bit late (Mike, who did a mile more than I did, ran into them).

Starting out from Starbucks, the wind was noticeably tough from the get go, and my legs were a bit sorer than I thought they would be, leading me to question my decision to do a recovery 6 last night with the wind as strong as it was.  Into the first water stop by Boston College, just past the reservoir, and moving westward on Beacon to the second, it was probably the worst.  It didn’t help that I opted to charge ahead for the first couple of blocks, not realizing how bad it was.  With the wind and the hills I just don’t know how much I could take.  I was grumpy and annoyed that neither Goutham nor Trevor would take the wind, instead sheltering themselves for about 3 miles behind me or Mike, even though I was making it obvious that I wanted them to pass me, by slowing down or moving to the the left or right for them to pass.  Finally, after there was no movement by either of them, I opted to push into the pace a bit to get behind Mike until the second water bin.

At the second waterstop, Mike made it clear that he wasn’t in the mood to take all the wind, so Trevor offered to go ahead.  Trevor was doing the complete loop – a little more than 12.5 miles – but the rest of us were doing closer to 14, but we were to run together until the turning point at Washington.  I tightened up again at the second stop, and opted to let Goutham, Mike and Trevor (think of something clever to call that trio) pull away.  I tried to push it little by little, and slowly started make progress on them until the turn at Washington.  I couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t able to respond better, and started feeling down until, until I caught up to Mike and Goutham (Trevor had turned right instead of left), that latter of who informed me that Trevor had decided to take off at 6:20 pace.  Mike says that he was probably trying to show off a bit, knowing that he wouldn’t have the rest of us to keep him honest.  I try not to worry about other people’s performances of attitudes about things like that – showing off and whatnot – but it made me wonder about Trevor’s odd and seemingly interpolated (in the less commonly used sense) questions about Mike and Goutham running a sub-7 minute over half-marathon long run (it was actually slightly above it).  I was just happy to know I was hitting the pace I wanted to.  Goutham was closer to 6:50, so I was right on track to where I wanted to be, given the effort I had been putting in.

I should cut in now and say that I was running an experiment run (probably against Brian’s advice, had I told him) to  hopefully improve my outlook going into the New Bedford, which is three weeks from now!  I wanted to run a little quicker than I normally ran my long runs in an effort to be a more optimistic, but feeling the push of the wind during the first half, I wondered if it was going to happen.  The turn around point for me ended up being the base of the hill on Washington that climbs over 95, and I tried to hit the second half harder than I did the first, hoping that though I was a bit more fatigued that I wanted to be at that point, the wind on Washington and Commonwealth would be a bit less than on the first half.

It turns out that I was right, and with the diminished wind, I was able to fully appreciate the sun and clear skies, and actually began to warm up.  I dreaded the Newton Hills but pressed on – there were other runners from various clubs in sight, and that always gets me moving.  I started passing people left and right going up Commonwealth, though there did seem to be less people than there have been out on the roads, and caught sign of Connie who was doing the longest loop for, like Trevor, 12.5ish miles as well, and was less than 100 meters when I saw that she missed the third water stop.  I took the stop, because I wanted some GU, and let a group of about 5 or 6 people pass me standing there before charging on in an effort to track down Connie (who was running her first long run on the course).  The effort felt good, and I was pleased to think that I had more in me if I needed it; I was singing Supertramp to keep myself motivated.  I eased up when I did pass her, about a mile after the water, to chat a little bit, before spotting Sue a little ways, and deciding to go after her as well.  I made it past Sue by the bottom of Heartbreak, told her I’d see her at the top and reached the summit with less effort than I had feared while fighting the wind.

After stretching a bit to talk to Connie and Sue at the top of Heartbreak, I started to really feel the GU kick in and picked up my speed up and over the rest of Comm Ave, down Chestnut Hill Ave, and over to Beacon, where I pushed to the Star Market, trying to get as close to half marathon distance as possible.  I ended up doing about 13.25 miles in 1:36:27 or something like that, for a pace that felt even, though hard, at a little less than 7:17/mile.  Here’s the course I ran.

So the experiment went moderately well.  I managed to do the piece at “marathon pace,” or what Brian thinks is my marathon pace, and am feeling good about New Bedford, since that was a few minutes faster than any half I’ve run previously (though I’ve never really run a half for a time).  Hopefully, I can keep up my good spirits and strong workouts into New Bedford and New Jersey.  I hope to get a very easy 8 or 9 in tomorrow, but the weather looks like it’s trying to ruin my plans so I might log less.

Windy Recovery (wt 26)

Again, I am beat.  I don’t know if I’ve just not gotten enough sleep lately, or if it’s just colder than I’d like to admit, but the past couple days have seemed a bit tough.

Today I went out for a 5 or 6 mile recovery run, out and back to the Hyatt on Memorial Drive.  It wasn’t espeically cold, but feeling the wind pick up while I was out before hand while walking the dog, I opted to do the unorthodox and wear my rowing jacket during my run.  It ended up being a wise decision, as parts of the workout included rather strong head winds.

I finished the six miles, planning on doing an 8 mile recovery on Sunday after tomorrow’s long piece.  I’m thinking of doing 14-15, so my week’s total will not quite be 50 miles.  Still, I think that for my off week, 48 will be enough.

On another note, Robin sent out an email about Community Running organizing a relay race similar to the now famous (and now Nike sponsored) Hood to Coast run out in Washington.  I’ve done races like this before – the Green Mountain Relay with Robin back in June and the Lake Winnipesaukee Relay with some Community Running members in September.  Brian, Robin and Sriram are attempting to pilot such a race that would start in Rhode Island and travel through Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.  The idea would be to test the route this summer with a bunch of Community Running members and if it goes well to organize it officially.  I would love to run this pilot/trial race this year, but it turns out it’s the same weekend as the Hyannis Sprint Triathlon that I’m doing in June!  It’s too bad, because it would be a great farewell race before I leave the northeast for a while!  Hopefully, though, if it goes well, I will be able to come back and run it with some old (and/or new) friends!  In the meantime, if I’m in Washington, I’ll have to look into finding a way to run that Hood to Coast one.

Big Brother (wt 20)

I should preface this entry by saying that I’ve drank a few beers since my run tonight.  I went out with Davey to Cleary’s for Guerilla Queer Bar and had not so many beers, but still.

I’ve never actually read 1984, but popular culture has informed me enough to know that Big Brother was the ever watchful eye of the totalitarian dictator in the novel.  I guess the analogy doesn’t hold, but at fist glimpse, one would think it was appropriate.

After taking yesterday off (I was on a small vacay out in Provincetown) I wouldn’t say I felt guilty so much as I was disappointed in myself.  It’s a fine line to walk, I’ve realized, between making sure I’m having fun and being committed.  I’ve settled on going for a 60-mile peak week, with Brian’s approval, of course, but I need to accept that with higher mileage weeks, I’ll need to pull back during my off weeks and not be disappointed in myself about it.

I headed out with the intention of doing something between 8 and 10, no so hard, because I wanted to keep my mileage up.  After consulting the Marathon Sports Charles River Map, I decided that I would run to either the River Street Bridge or Western Avenue Bridge for a total of 9 or 9.5, respectively, including the two miles to and from Charlestown.  Again, I had decided that I would keep my pace easier than the planned race pace that’s usual for Thursdays, trying to go easy for the week, and even brought my iPod a long, which I usually only do to make sure that I’m not hitting the road harder than I ought to.  I did bring my watch, mostly because I was keeping my eye on the time, since I was planning on meeting Davey and needed to be diligent about the time.

I started off pretty comfortable, heading over the Charlestown Avenue Bridge to the corner of Land Ave and Charles River Dam Road for the first mile in under 7:30.  Feeling loose, I opted to try to split the run in two, and hit the first 4 miles in about that pace if I could do it comfortably.  Running westward, I could tell that I was moving into darker skies.  Gone was what little sunniness there was earlier in the afternoon, and it started raining pretty noticeably by the second mile.  I was still slightly under 7:30 pace by the third mile and felt lose enough to keep pushing it until at least the fourth mile.

It’s a little after this point where my drunken literary reference comes into play.  Coming around the turn off the River Street Bridge (I opted for the lesser one, but 9 miles was fine) I ran into Brian who waved a quick hello moving in the opposite direction with three others I didn’t recognize.  Look at the 7 mile loop from Charles River Dam Road to River Street Bridge, I realized later it was at pretty much exactly the halfway point that saw them (this is important later).  Brian had actually sent out an email a couple days before asking if anybody wanted to do a hill workout with him, and though I responded favorably, I never heard back from him (and opted to run and just get it over with), so seeing him on the river was surprising and coincidental.  I pushed the pace once I past him, deciding at the halfway point that I was fine to negative split the second part, and just try to get my average pace to be about 7:15.  I think the back half was significantly stronger than the first, and I may have been under 7 minute pace by the end, but when I finished, I realized that my watch had stopped at the halfway point!

I finished the eight miles past the Museum of Science, and was surprised to see Brian waiting at the corner.  I wanted to take the last mile as a cool down, and by then I was a bit too winded to be surprised, though I think I did have my classic skeptical look on.  He and is group of three other runners apparently ran the same route as I did, but in the opposite direction, and though Brian and one of the runners – Ryan Pace – had finished their second half faster than I did, I finished before the rest of his group (Steve and Stacey).  While I was waiting for the light to change so that I could cross and head back to Charlestown, Brian introduced me to his friends and informed me that I’ll be running with Steve during the New Bedford Half.  I thought that was funny, that he just decided like that who I’d be running with, but thought it even more funny when Brian told me that Steve runs about 1:26/1:27 for his half marathons.

Although I am starting to think that a sub 7 mile would be a good goal for New Bedford, 6:40 seems awfully quick.  I know I am training with a 5K pace of roughly 6 minute miles, but I wonder if I’ll be able to push into a 6:40 for the half.  We will see.  Of note though, when I told Steve of Brian’s plan (we ran back to Ctown together with Stacey – turns out they live about two blocks from my apt) he asked me to be sure to remind Brian of that one time in New Bedford where he beat Brian, and even mentioned the infamous Jeopardy/porn moustache video that seems to be floating around somewhere.  Anyway, though the half pace that Brian is asking from me does seem quick, I admitted to him that I’m pretty used to just doing whatever he tells me to at this point, so I guess it’s worth a shot.

I think a good indication will be this weekend.  I’m going to do a few recovery miles for Friday and try to hit 14-15 hard on the marathon course with Community Running.

A Bit Tired (wt 11)

It seems that as soon as I “decided” to increase my mileage a bit I got a bit tired.  Maybe though, my fatigue this morning (sleepiness, not mental fatigue) was due to an early wake up.  I say “early,” but I mean 10:30 AM.  Oops – it seems that my continued lack of a job keeps me up late doing strange things like requesting free samples of Tide and that leads to sleeping in later and later.

The early wake up call was specifically to run an easy recovery this morning.  Jimmy was driving over after his last late night shift and we were headed to Provincetown for a few days to relax (yes, I’ll be doing a run here…it’s hilly) but I had to get a move on because his mom was up visiting his sister in Newburyport and we all decided to meet for lunch.  So off I went with the iPod in hand.

Partly because I wanted to get on the road, but mostly because I was sleepy, I held my run at 4.5 miles – out to the Mass Ave bridge and back.  Brian gave me the go ahead to peak at 60 miles, but on this run today I thought that maybe I should truely keep it as a recovery week and go easy before ramping up again.  We will see.

I won’t be back in Boston until Thursday afternoon, so I intend on running out here in Provincetown tomorrow.  Brian sent an email seeing if people wanted to do a hill workout on Thursday.  I will consider it in lieu of the race pace run that’s on my schedule, especially if we do Bunker Hill, since it’s really, really close to where I live.