Swimming is Effin’ Hard

Several people have told me that my body is most suited to swim.  I understand what they are saying – my disproportionately long torso (evidenced by my arm span of 6′1″ – two inches more than my height) and subsequent short legs are ideal for swimming, and my people come from an island nation.  However, as I try to get a couple of water workouts in before this triathlon (a week from today!) I realize more and more that swimming is really hard.  At this point, I think I could run and run and run – easily 10 miles in one go – but even the prospect of 400 meters swimming in open ocean terrifies me a bit.  I just cannot be hurried to swim, and when you add in throngs of competitors trying to pass me by employing punches and kicks, and it might be more than I can handle.

So today I tried again to get some laps in.  I’m in Saratoga for the weekend and I went down to the YMCA (this branch, I know I’ve mentioned before, has everything) and got in a good 700 yard swim.  That’s a little shy of 650 meters, which is 250 meters more than I have to swim next week.  I think I’ve resigned myself to a strategy of swimming freestyle for as long as I can then doing breast stroke for the middle half, then just hauling in as need be towards the end.  The swim is my biggest concern and will probably be what’ll most keep me from breaking an hour.

Since the day is wonderfully beautiful, Jimmy and I are going to head out for a nice 20 miles bike ride.  Hopefully I can hit the middle 10 miles hard.

New Beginning

At some point I’ve had to get over the last training season and focus on what’s coming next.  Since my last post, a month ago today, I’ve had time to reflect on the marathon down in New Jersey, and realize that sometimes you just have days that things don’t fall your way.  I had a great training season, with a huge PR at the New Bedford Half, and a great 20 mile run at the Eastern States 20.  So instead of mulling over a missed opportunity, I am instead focusing on recovering well by getting in some easy runs.  After the NJM, I had a lot of stuff going on, having gone to a wedding down in Houston and coordinating my move away from Boston.  I left the Tuesday after Memorial day and am in New York visiting my mom between visits out to California and Nevada for the Reno-Tahoe Odyssey race (more below), the triathlon out in Hyannis, and my trip to Iceland with David Nutt and Rob Wydra!  After the latter, I should be getting ready to move out west for my next adventure: grad school!

Though I haven’t done over 10 miles in one go yet (I think I’m going to make my first attempt at it this weekend) I did have the Reno-Tahoe Odyssey out in CA/NV this past weekend and got in at least 12.8 miles (plus the extra mileage I ran with some of my teammates.  It was part of the annual Boston Stragglers relay team.  Last year I did the Green Mountain Relay up in Vermont and Robin was happy to have me back.  The team was made up of past members, like myself, Robin and Lynne, new ones, like Paige and Brian (who filled in for Adam who had to drop out last minute) and others from out in the Tahoe area.  Overall, it was a great team of people who were laid back and a ton of fun.  My leg was the first of the 12 and, as per my request of Robin, the easiest.  I knew that I would still be on recovery and didn’t want to push myself, which was good considering the utter lack of oxygen on the course which averaged over a mile above sea level.  I’ve put a couple of pictures up from the race and the hike that Brian, Paige, Robin and I went on during the following days.

I’ve also been running some intervals/speed workouts with the Rockland Road Runners, a small group of runners (about half the size of a CR workout group) near where my mom lives.  The group is super friendly, but I really miss running with Community Running already!  There are some quick people though; not many faster than I am right now, but the ones who are include a 40 year old woman who just ran a 1:21:59 at the NYRR Brooklyn Half.  These workouts are far more suited to those running 5Ks or 10Ks, but it’s enough to motivate me to get some intervals in so that’s good.

My next race is actually a triathlon, like I said, down in Hyannis.  I’m going to focus for the next couple of days on swimming and biking to compliment my running to see if I can do well during this race.  I’m a bit terrified of the swim part, and the chaos of a transition, but hopefully it’ll all be great fun!

I will attempt to recap more of the relay in the next couple of days, as well as my goals for the Summer and Fall racing seasons!  In the mean time, here are some cool pictures.

Super fun team!

I get to lead off! We started at 12:30, and I passed the guy in the orange twice. Once about 10 seconds after this picture was taken, then again after he cheated and skipped a turn! Jerk. He should have read the directions (like I am doing in this picture).

Fun hike! I couldn't tell what was harder though, the run or the hike...

Robin, Paige and myself with Lily Lake, Fallen Leaf Lake, and Lake Tahoe from fore to back.

2009 New Jersey Marathon

Another marathon down, and another miss at that elusive Boston Qualifier.  I can’t say I’m not disappointed, but I think that when all is considered, I could (should?) have been much more upset after the race.  During the run though, I think I was so mentally detached (restrained excitement was what I was going for) that I wasn’t phased one way or the other.  I didn’t want to even write today because I was annoyed but I think a bit of reflection always helps clear the air.

The race started about fifteen minutes late, due to a traffic accident near the course.  I had gotten up at 5 AM to eat and and get ready – the hotel was catering to the large number of runners staying there and had an early boxed breakfast for us (I took one for Albert too) – and woke Albert up at 6 AM so that we could head down.  The drive might have taken about half an hour, but we were prudent enough to look up a back way, and ended up being able to park right next to the course, instead of taking the shuttle like about 80% of the participants and spectators.  By coincidence, we ran into Bill from the running club in the parking lot, and I was happy that he made it, since he wasn’t sure about his hamstring even on Monday.  Robin also came as support, and Albert and I were able to meet up with her shortly before I had to line up.   I did a good warm up set before heading to the start and focusing myself mentally.

The day was gloomy from the onset, and though the weather wasn’t bad for most of the run, it was noticeably wet and parts definitely had rain that was getting in the way.  When we finally got underway, my biggest concern was to ease into the run at the right pace, then track down the 3:10 pace group, and I felt comfortable with my first mile split being over 7:30.  The next mile was faster – I think the pace groups wanted to make a little up then and there, and I after running slightly under 7:00, I opted to let the 3:10 group take off, and ride with the 3:15 group until I got my stride comfortable.  By mile 4, I was still moving behind the 3:15 group, and decided that my legs had loosened up and that if I wanted to try for a qualifier, I had to start running my splits at about 7:10, which was the plan.  I left the 3:15 group behind, and started to slowly climb back into what I thought was proper pace.

I knew from the get go, though, that it would be a tough battle – tougher than had everything gone right.  Maybe this was a huge mental distraction, but my legs just didn’t feel fresh from the start.  I remember before New Bedford, I was just amped up to go and my legs felt well rested, but even after I thought I had loosened up during the run, I never had that good feeling in my quads that they had recovered completely.  I kept my eye on the Garmin that Goutham had let me borrow, and my splits were even through the first half – I was about 15 seconds under 3:10 pace by mile 5, and slowly bringing that number down.  There were momentary flashes of realization that I wouldn’t be able to hit that BQ, but I hunkered down and fought it for as long as I could, and even when, responding to my heavy legs prior to the half, I knew it wasn’t going to happen, I was content on focusing on being somewhere around 3:15, which would still be a stellar PR.

I’m sorry to say (I’m sorry, Brian) that the most disappointed I felt was at mile 11 when I think I seriously contemplated stopping at the half.  Even though I was still close to pace – 1:35:40(?) – I knew that my legs were just getting tremendously heavy.  I tried to find solace in prior accomplishments, and reasoned that I was over 5 minutes slower than my half marathon PR and that I could make it to mile 20 with a PR there of under 2:30, but my mind had begun to wander, and the second loop of the double loop course started to get to me.

By mile 17 or 18 my splits had started to edge over 7:30 and 7:40; the 7:15 group had passed me again, and though I tried to stay with them, I also wanted to run the rest of the race in even splits.  By mile 20 I at about 2:32, a few minutes slower than the time I ran with Brian and Caitlin at the Eastern States 20, but I just tried to relax and focus on finishing.  I could still be under 3:20 if I really pushed, but my legs were tightening up even more, even though I was taking plenty of water and even what little salt remained in the packets I brought (the rain had dissolved a lot of it away).

In the last mile, I was finally picked off by the 3:30 group, which was pretty disheartening.  I tried to stay with them too, but couldn’t managed, and pulled myself together to bring the pace below 8 minutes for the last mile.  I crossed the finish line in about 3:31 (I don’t have official results yet), with a split differential of about 20 minutes!  I wish I had gone 20, 15, or even 10 minutes faster, because I know – in my heart, and logically – that I’m not a 3:31 marathoner anymore.  By all accounts I should have been under 3:20 to say the least, and a BQ should have been more in my reach than not, but it was still a PR by over 4 minutes, so I can’t complain that much about it, only look forward to the next one.  Oh, and for the record – the 3:10 pace was right on the mark.

So I’m trying to decide what my next one will be – I’m looking at the California International Marathon out in Sacramento, since I’ll be out on the west coast.  I also have a few more hours to figure out whether or not I want to put myself in the lottery for St. George’s again.  The advantages of CIM is that it’s later in the year (December 6) and I could probably use the mental break from the longer distances (I would do a couple of halves though).  While St. George is supposed to be wicked fast, and more in tune with my academic schedule (since it’s on October 4, I wouldn’t have to train during the school year) I don’t know if I’d be able to justify flying out to Las Vegas on a student’s budget.  All these things to consider, but as for now I’m on serious recovery mode.

Here’s one picture from the race, courtesy of Robin.  Though I wasn’t upset, I was faking enthusiasm at this point, mile 18:

2010 New England Relay!

I actually am faking enthusiasm.  Well, just a little bit.  I’ve mentioned the idea of the Community Running board (plus Brian) to host a relay in line with the growing number of them like Reach the Beach or the original, Hood to Coast (now sponsored by Nike).  I’m a little disappointed by the fact that I can’t do the pilot/test run, as it is the same weekend of both the Hyannis Sprint Tri 1 and my trip to Iceland, but I know the alternatives will be well worth it.  There’s always a chance I could come back in 2010 and run the first official New England Relay!

So in lieu of running the pilot year, today, to help Robin out and to at least think about running while I’m tapering, I offered to ride with her as she drove part of the course.  We ended up covering about 50 miles at the start of the proposed course (though, for logistics, we cut it down to 44 or so) with some nice, bucolic stretches of pretty, rolling roads to run on, and the fresh air and cute, tiny towns were a good change.

It was also really good talking to Robin, who I haven’t chatted with at length in a while.  She’s the captain of the team heading out to Reno for the Reno-Tahoe Odyssey that a bunch of us are doing at the end of May, and it’s always nice to chat about how training’s going or what seems to be working for her.  I got a chance to vent (that’s not really the right word) about the upcoming race in New Jersey, which Robin was actually going to run, until overtraining stressed her legs out a bit much.  She’s actually going to be coming down from White Plains the morning of the race and will be there to cheer me on!  I explained the continuing calm I am feeling leading up to this race, and the idea that I’m trying to ingrain in myself – that I’ve done the work, and if I look at the race like a job, and just go out and run my splits, it should all work out.  Like everybody else I’ve talked to, she seems to fully believe I can reach my goals on May 3.

So, as promised, I’m finally revealing my tiered set of personal goals I’m shooting for.  I was thinking about it more and more, and I realized that there aren’t any real rewards I could get myself as rewards, and that, like people have been telling me for a while now, that personal satisfaction might be the biggest prize.  In that vein, I’m opting to keep it purely based on that, because at this point, I think I can admit to myself that all the work I’ve done leading into this run should in itself be worth the mark I cross the line in – ie, to be redundant, reaching my goal will its own reward.  So instead, I am listing the corresponding levels of satisfaction or the most prominent emotion I will probably feel from various performances.

1. <3:11:00 (7:17.4 pace) – relief for getting under the wire but satisfaction for having done it
2. <3:10:00 (7:15.1 pace) – contentment
3. <3:09:00 (7:12.8 pace) – excitement
4. <3:08:00 (7:10.5 pace) – surprise

Oh, and I’ve decided to go with the bright green racing shirt.  See you after the race.

Complacent

I decided a while ago that I wouldn’t be stressed out about this race coming up in 6 days, but I think I might have gone too far.  That is to say I think I’ve gone beyond not being stressed out into the realm of complacency.  I feel that at this point I’ll toe the line on Sunday and think of it mechanically, just hitting my splits the way I need to and not worrying about anything else.

So today’s workout at MIT was a simple one for me – a 3 x 1 mile set at race pace with rest in between, just to get my body in tune with what it should feel like.  Brian gave me the pace of 7:10 – a little faster that qualifying pace – and I hit 6:55, 7:11, and 7:12, though the last one was with a Garmin.  I wonder if I shouldn’t have been eyeing my watch the entire time, but I did and hope that it won’t matter too much come race day.

Gouthan was kind enough to lend me his new Garmin 405 CX which will be a life saver when it’s time for me to race.  Scotty suggested putting the thing on its Virtual Pacer mode to tell me how far ahead or behind I am pace.  I hope, though, that I’ll be able to fully figure out how to use the thing before it’s time to go.

I finally asked Brian if he wanted to play the game where he guessed my finishing time.  He had guessed Ashley’s within 2 seconds (3:20:14) and Stephanie’s spot on (3:30:00), so I’m hoping that it’s all based on his highly fine-tuned running brain, because he had me pegged at a 3:09:40, which is, I think a solid goal.  I tell people that 3:10 is the magic number, but I would like to be under it, and not have to use that extra 59 seconds that the BAA lets people have.  Brian’s projection also falls in line with the personal goals I’m setting, which I will discuss in more detail in the upcoming days.

I leave for New York on Thursday morning, then down to Long Branch on Saturday afternoon with Albert.  We might go see the new Wolverine movie that night.  The weather is being forecast right now as a low of 50 and a high of 60 with a few showers.  This was pretty much what it was like last year when the weather was perfect.

Soaring (Temperatures)

The temperature on Jimmy’s car thermometer read 89 prior to heading out today.  Even though I’m pretty sure it errs on the higher side – it was probably closer to 85 today – I knew it was especially silly for me to try to get some miles in at 2:30 PM, the hottest part of the day.  Still, I had it set in my mind that I had to do my mileage today, so I set out to try to do eight, while Jimmy took his bike out for a 20 mile ride.

Yesterday, when the weather was perfect for riding at about 65 degrees, we took both our bikes out for a nice 22 miler (out and back) on the North County Trailway in Westchester County.  The whole path is about 22 miles in one direction, but we started at the access point in Millwood and went north from there.  It’s a really nice path that’s shaded with tree cover when the trees are blooming, but since that’s still a couple weeks away the sun was somewhat intense today.  Yesterday had been a different story, and the bike ride, which was at an easy clip for about 80% of it, felt good in the cooler temperatures.

From the access point, I ran about 3 miles north to a pedestrian trellis bridge that went over a reservoir.  Apparently the thing to do back in the day to leap from the bridge into the water, and with the heat like it was today I could imagine how wonderful it must have been (though swimming in a reservoir might be a bit risky).  Jimmy, who had biked a ways dropped off some Vitamin water shortly after and I took my time to really relax before heading back.  The heat was already getting to me, and even though my pace must have been about 8:30/mi I was exhausted and overheated.

The hydration put the wind back into me, and after I stripped down to only my shorts I tried to pick up the jog once more, but only made it about another mile before deciding that I’d rather not push myself.  I’m at the point where I think less is more, and at the risk of being tuckered out, I chose to walk the last two miles back to the car.  Even then the heat was something fierce, and only after a half a mile or so did I feel relaxed (though still warm).  The slight hangover I was feeling from the night before probably didn’t help, but I can only hope that the last forecast for next Sunday stays right where it is: high of 60, partly cloudy.  If anything, I could stand it being a little cooler, but I imagine that at 7:30 in the morning the low of 51 is more applicable and that the beach/ocean will help with that.

So I obviously had a lot of time on my run/walk this afternoon.  And, while I understood that many negative factors were preventing the workout from taking place, I did come to the realization that as much as I’d like to, being apathetic about the upcoming race (or ignoring it) probably isn’t the best idea since, it could easily lead to me rationalizing slowing down one way or the other.  I mean, it really is time for me to be emotionally and mentally invested in a race, even if it risks being disappointed at the finish line.  All I can do is remain positive about the situation and confident in my abilities.  

Today was one bad workout in the weeks and weeks that I have trained!  Looking back at the four months of this training cycle, I realized that it might be the only one that could even come close to being “bad,” (though obviously there’s a valid excuse.  If I were to have one bad workout or one bad run in all the months up to and including the race, I’d rather it be today than next Sunday.  And, as I move forward from here, I remind myself be rereading past entries in this journal that I have put in so much time and effort into solid, good, and even unexpectedly fast runs consistently through the season.  If, leading up to and on the date of the race, I can recall that effort and the feelings of accomplishment associated with each of the many fast long runs, or successful tempo pieces, or spot on pacing intervals, maybe I can be my own inspiration and reach my goals on May 3.

11 Days Out: My Biggest Concerns

I went out for my first run today, tacking on a recovery five two days after running the 20 to pace Amanda.  I was feeling a bit sore today – more so than yesterday, but I guess that’s the norm – and couldn’t decide whether or not to go out.  It was a balmy upper 50s day, and the humidity was like a warming blanket, so it actually wasn’t much of a decision – I hit the roads early for a weekday, at about 1 pm.

As always, the first couple miles felt unsure, but my legs loosened up pretty quickly, and as I told myself just to go easy on the recovery, I found my stride opening up even more.  Though I wanted to do 8, I ended up doing an easy 5, with the last mile at about 6 minute pace (the first 4 were more like 8:30).  Even though I wanted to get in a good sprint (I was envisioning the ending of my race) that was probably too fast, and I must remind myself to take it easy for the remainder of the time before New Jersey.

Wednesday marks 11 days before my race and as Brian puts it, the hay is in the barn.  I guess he means that nothing I between now and race day can positively affect my fitness level the day of the race (but there are a whole lot of things I can do that could injure me).  I’m starting to see things in a different light, and that’s helping me stay relaxed, but driven, about my goals while also making me concerned, or at least aware, of possible issues that can come up between now and then.  Of course I am concerned about things beyond my control, like weather, but I’ve found solace in that ability to change them (though I check the weather incessantly now), but there are also things that span from simple, realistic things, such as what if i get sick?! to other, less probably (and more frightening) things like, what if I’m on a recovery run and I get hit by a car?! I find myself being extra careful on my runs and taking my roommate’s echinacia pills, cough drops, and OJ more than usual.

I am worried though that I will just give up, especially when things get hard, as I imagine them to at miles 21-23 (and beyond).  I’ve come a long way since my first 26.2, and I think one of the biggest things I’ve learned this training season is how to press when things are going tough, and how to make it through an especially rough patch.  Running 20 with Amanda, too, I saw what it means to press and push ans really test yourself, so I hope I can put that much effort and will into a run and have it turn out the way I want it to!

It’s funny because even though I’m not, in other people’s words, the most rational person (I contend that, as a good friend, David put it, I have my own rules for logic that most people don’t understand that seem make things always workout for me), I can, and do, break down the situation for myself as rationally as possible.  I thought about this other day, because Brian is trying to work on my confidence before the race (more on that later), and when I look at it logically, it seems that I should be able to run below 3:10 at the race.  Like any other problem presented to me, I look at all the information I know: when I punch in my half marathon time at New Beford into the McMillan Running Calculator, a harder course on which I ran at about 90%, it produces a qualifier in the full; I’ve run all my training runs fairly comfortably at the paces Brian had on my training plan, or faster, also taken from McMillan; I’ve run as fast at 7:17 pace for over 17 miles without the taper I will be getting prior to NJ; I can pace with runners who just ran qualifying (Mike – 3:07) or near qualifying (Caitlin – 3:11) times on Monday.  There is no logical reason why I shouldn’t be able to do this.

So it’s really just a mental exercise, and I am warming up my brain as much as possible, being calm but aware of the last few days.  I secretly think that Brian is trying to help – he tells me that he thinks I’m a little faster than Caitlin (does he forget he told me the opposite a couple weeks ago?) – and the fact that he, and Amanda, and Greg, and Stephanie, and Marie and Mike, all think it should work out does help, but I am still working it out on my own, trying to focus on positive things and imagining my finish to be positive and happy and hopeful and fulfilling.

*****

Here are some pictures taken by Marathon Foto from the big race, of a couple people that Robin missed:

Just what everybody needs - a picture montage of me and Amanda running!

Vincent in the yellow guide jersey, leading Adrian, a really fast blind runner.

Action shot of Goutham, with Adrian to the right.

Ashley in bright blue and arm warmers. Hope she settled her self-tanner debate.

As always, Mike makes it look like a walk in the park.

Doesn't Caitlin look like she's going fast? Well that's because she is.

2009 Boston Marathon

The morning of the Boston Marathon went off with a BANG! That’s not to say there was a starting gun – if there was, I didn’t hear it – but rather, I’m referring to the sound my knee made when it hit the door frame my my bedroom door.  That was followed but a couple of explicatives and me jumping up and down for a while.  I was rushing around this morning, anxious to get my laundry list of things to do done, before heading out to catch a commuter rail train ride out to Ashland and meet Amanda at mile 4.  The train was leaving Back Bay at 8:56 and I wanted to be sure not to miss it so fed the dog, took a shower, had breakfast and got dressed to be out the door by 8 – with my bright pink but ugly sign in hand – and make it with plenty of time to spare.

The whole line at the ticket counter for the commuter rail was made up of people going to – and not really knowing to get to – various point on the marathon course.  There were annoying teenage girls, who didn’t seem to know how to read a map, a triathlete/marathoner who had 42 km tattooed on his calf, and a crackpot poser guy and gal team who loved to seem like they were big runners (DC is such a runner friendly city) but who wondered out loud how far 42 km was.  Such is life.  I eventually bought my ticket, grabbed a bottle of Vitamen Water for the 50 minute train ride, and boarded when the train finally got there.

I had been anxious, and even stressed, about the 20 miles I was pacing for Amanda, and couldn’t sleep well the night before, finally crashing sometime after 3 AM; I hoped the coffee I had before my shower would last me through the run.  On the train too, I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to push after the 16th mile with her, since Brian told me not to go faster that 7:30/mi, which she could want to do.  On the train I was nervous and jittery, but also thought it be better to use up all my anxiety during this race so I would just toe New Jersey without a concern in the world (and just like that, there goes all the anxiety, flying away like a bird).

The train was late, but I still got to Ashland in time to see the elite men run by.  The women, who started a bit earlier, had just zoomed by, I hear – something that was corroborated by Dire Tune’s water bottle lying on the sidewalk, having been thrown what I could only assume was minutes later.  I cheered personally for Ryan Hall, in the lead pack, and coveted the water bottle he tossed aside (some girl who appeared to just be walking down the sidewalk took it instead – not that I would have run with it), then a little later Brian Sell (who I think is way better looking anyway) before the first wave came along.  Standing at mile 4 I was searching for Brian, Greg, Mike Clark, Caitlin, Ashley and then Amanda, but only managed to catch Mike and Caitlin who both seemed excited and confused to see me standing there.  I screamed for them too, and undressed just to see Amanda about 100 yards away – enough time to drop the sign and take off with them.

The first 10-12 miles of my run breezed by – the pace was about 7:40/mile – and it was a lot of fun.  I worked to keep the pace at what Amanda’s pace chart gave her for each mile, using Marie-Claude’s Garmin, which she let me borrow, and ran water and Gatorade for both Amanda and Kristi.  For me, the pace was comfortable enough that I was talking the entire time, and we tried to keep the pace withing 5 seconds of the pacing chart to the best of our abilities.

The turn onto Commonwealth Avenue and the Newton hills proved to be rough for Amanda, who was doing everything she could just to keep it together.  I stayed with her, letting Kristi go, and we worked the pace at about 8:20 for a few more miles, before the wheels started to come undone.  We worked to together to keep Amanda’s spirits high and I know she was trying her best.  We walked a bit going up the last hill, and started to pick up again past BC, turning onto Beacon at about 21/22 on the course (or 18ish for me).  A little before mile 23, we ran into Brian, who was having a hard day himself, and I gave a few more suggestions to shuffle a bit through it.  By mile 23, I just wanted to get the workout over with, so knowing the Brian and Amanda were together at that point, I told them that I would take off, and that they were doing great, before picking it up hard for the last mile (which I ran in 6:50 pace).

Though Community Running wasn’t exactly at mile 24 ( I stopped and looked around), they were at the next block up, where Erin popped out, and I stopped, and said, I’m done, and I’m jumping the fence right before doing so.  It was great having a support team out there (Erin had a change of clothes I gave her…and tequila shots that Mike Clark drank) and it included Goutham, Connie, Robin, Erin, Chris Campbell, Cyrus, Greg McGowen and a few other people I didn’t really know. I stayed and cheered, seeing a bunch of people, some of who’s pictures are below.  Overall, the long run was good – it was a lot of fun, and it felt really comfortable through about 98% of it.  The hardest part for me, really, was having Amanda hit a wall – knowing how fit she is and how much she’s trained and how smart she ran the first half of the race, it sucks to see things fall apart for no discernible reason.  It gives me a perspective, and helps my mindset, in that I understand that somethings are just beyond my control.  If anything, my own performance left me feeling positively about my upcoming race, and boosted my confidence in myself to pace the race on my own.  It also helped in that Amanda showed me what it’s like to push through when things are getting rough.

On a brighter note, at mile 24, Robin had a long lens camera to take some awesome shots during the race.  Here are some of the best ones.

Coach Allison looking good while running as the anchor leg for a team of sight guides for Adrian Broca. They ran this last 12K leg in a speedy 42:45. Erin and Goutham (who ran the second leg) in the background.

Brian had a rough day, but he made time to chat with his cheering section.

Lynne did a great job too - pointing and waving as she glided past.

I love this picture of Stephanie - I think she was happily surprised when she saw us cheering for us. She hit her goal on the nose: 3:30:00

We missed Marie, but she saw us!

Alex sporting the porno moustache!

Sue had a hard time too, but she managed to sprint over to see us with a smile on her face.

Congratulations to all the runners today!

The Things You See

A beautiful day in Boston – mid to upper sixties for most of it – and I needed to get in about 8 miles easy.  I went mid day – at about 4 PM – wearing my brand new bright green Saucony racing shirt.  It was making its debut; the day was so nice I wanted to look cheerful and bright, and what better way than a bright green shirt.  I was going for an easy eight today, with plans to do about the same, or less tomorrow even easier.  I think it would be good to hit 50 miles including the pace work I’m doing for Amanda on Monday, but most of it, like I said, is going to be – and has been – at an easy pace.

Funny, because with the gorgeous day in front of me, and an easy pace on my legs (and no iPod) I was actually able to take a lot it – and boy was there a lot to see.  With the weather so nice, sure, there were a bunch of crazies out there, but I’ll skip the part where I talk about the shirtless guy in jean shorts biking down memorial and instead go on about my celebrity encounter.

I ran past the Royal Sonesta on my normal, eight-mile, out-and-back circuit, and noticed a guy standing around with a stopwatch – the kind you wear around your neck.  He was decked out in som running jacket, like one of the nice fitted ones you get at Boston or New York Marathons.  I found it odd, got a good look at him, and continued on my way.  Fifty yards later, two guys glided past me going east by the yacht club, and I couldn’t help but stare at the one on my left – he had an odd gait and kept his jaw slacked as he ran past.  Wait…was that Ryan Hall?  I’m pretty sure it was.  I seriously considered turning back and double checking, but it makes for a better story if I opt to think I was certain.  Besides, what was I going to do – ask for an autograph?  Yea, I probably would have done that.

Anyway, easy 8 tomorrow, off on Sunday then 20 on Monday.  Should be fun!  A big group of us went over to Vinny T’s for a carbo-loading dinner.  There were something like 25 of us in all (but no Marie, who’s feeling under the weather) and the restaurant was packed with people who had just come from the expo and number pick up.  I’m planning on going on Sunday after an early dinner with Amanda and her friends, and hopefully picking up some fun gear on the cheap.

Late Night Run

Well, not “late night” in the sense of things like Wendy’s late night, but it was late enough by the time I went out for a run today that it was dark from the get go.  Jimmy has been in town since Tuesday, and though I took yesterday off completely, I couldn’t really excuse two off days in a row with so few days before my race.  Still, with Marathon Monday quickly approaching here in Boston, I debated between going easy today, with a pace run tomorrow then easy again on Saturday, or a pace workout today followed by two easy days.  My biggest concern lately has been trying to feel pace, so after mulling about, I opted for a short pace run to try to find that magical 7:15 gait.

I ended up doing 5 miles, with the third one a bit easier, at about 8 min pace.  I’ve been having trouble trying to gauge my speed lately, like I said, so I’m craving the pacing work outs that Brian had us do endlessly a few months ago.  I ended up running the first mile at 7:28, followed by something way too fast, like a 6:54.  Though I felt the difference, I couldn’t tell which one was closer.  On the two miles ending the run, I was a bit closer with a 7:24 followed by a 7:01, but I’m still not confident about being able to hit pace exactly and am wondering if I should find a Garmin to borrow for New Jersey (cause I’m not shelling out 300 for one of my own).

What was good about the run tonight though was that though my legs did feel the mileage, I could tell what a world of good the one day off did for me.  It helped me realize that I’ll be better able to handle the run on May 3 after taking so many days off – that I’ll be stronger and not worn out, and that that should provide me with what I need to sustain a 7:15 pace the entire way.  I like to think about all the long, hard runs that I’ve done this season, while I’m racing because they help me get through tough times on the road.  It helps to think about past accomplishments, as small as they may be – and this season there have been a lot of small ones – but it also helps to think about how I ran them without the benefit of the rest period I’m going to get.