Mama Needs a New Pair of Shoes!

Ok folks, it is ON! At tonight's marathon team meeting, Rennie announced that whoever raises the most between this meeting and next (3/24) gets a $50 gift certificate to Marathon Sports.

Now, Running AHEAD's handy shoe tracker utility tells me that since the start of my training -- more accurately, since Dec. 15, the night we did the Boston Homeless Census -- I have put 211 miles on my"new" shoes. Running 30 miles a week, in 3-4 weeks they will no longer be marathon-worthy. So, if you've been waiting for the sign that it's the right time to donate, here it is!

From today's running log:

[winter hill down-hill repeats:] warm up 2 mi, 1/2 mi jog up, 1/2 mi run down. rinse, repeat.

hadn't done laundry, so had poor choice of socks (old, beat-out ultimax). got biiiig blisters. walked home from broadway in my socks.

Hyannis Half-Marathon

Just quoting directly from the running log today:

Don't ever go to a party (even a baby-shower) the day before a race again! Yes, technically you ate a lot of carbs, but they had more fat and dairy and less soluble fibre than your system is accustomed to! Not good. And hydrate the day before. 3 cups coffee and 2 cups tea is not a good start.

But... once I ran through the digestive woes in the first 5 miles, and accepted the fact that water/gatorade stops were not going to be every 2 miles (or even at regular intervals), I had a good race!

First, the Type A response: even with all of the above *and* a cold *and* a headwind, I was still only 1:19 behind my PR.

Second and more important: I planned my work and worked my plan. (Thanks, Horatio Alger.) 3 miles of warm up; assess; easy increasing pace to "comfortably up-tempo" until mi. 10; reassess; run as fast as feels reasonable for the remaining 3 miles. It worked, I had enough in the tank, and I was able to drive us home safely in the pitching rain (after consuming hot chocolate, a donut and 1/2 a bagel w/ peanut butter at the expo, followed by more choc, coffee, and a pancake & egg breakfast at The Egg & I).

Final chip time: 2:05:39.

Top 5?

I was having a conversation at a baby-shower today, and made an off-the-cuff statement that running Boston may be in the top five or 10 things I do in my life. I've been considering the accuracy of that statement ever since.

I don't think it's true in terms of "most useful/world-changing" things I have ever done. But in terms of peak experiences, I think it's accurate. So far, my peak experiences list would be:

5. Getting the letter telling me I was getting an "all expenses paid" final year of grad school
4. A particular dinner with my grandmother
3. Immersing in mikveh for the first time
2. My wedding day
1. Giving birth to my son

I think crossing the finish line of Boston could easily knock off the grad school thing.

The more important outcome of this thought process is the realization that finishing is the accomplishment. Galloway is one of many to report that less than one tenth of one percent of the population ever completes a marathon. (Here's the 2007 Marathon Report, if you want to see recent finish stats, times, etc.) And Boston is the grandmama of all marathons, both in history and difficulty. Whether I finish in 4 hours or 5 (the average for U.S. women), it will be an accomplishment.

I'm trying to keep this in mind as I prepare to run the Hyannis Half-Marathon tomorrow as a tune-up. I'm getting over a cold, and it's going to be 40 degrees and raining on the seaside course -- hardly optimal for a PR. I should probably not race, but I'll make the final pace decision in about 12 hours.

Current favorite motivational running ad: "No one has ever been humbled by jogging."

Slowing Down

I'm having some enforced rest, because my whole family has various stages of a yucky cold. Luckily, this is taper week before Sunday's Hyannis Half Marathon, so as long as I'm nominally healthy by then, it's ok to skip today's run.

Actually slowed down my last 2 runs considerably after reading Jeff Galloway's Marathon. The guy shouldn't quit coaching in favor of a literary career, but he has some sensible ideas about running as process v. product. He is probably the strongest proponent of the idea that every run has a purpose, and if you're pushing harder than necessary to achieve your goal, you're actually hurting yourself. If the goal of a long run is to build distance and stamina, that can be accomplished as well (or better) by going slow, even taking walk breaks. And while I will continue to do my speedwork at a higher pace than he recommends, the walk breaks prevent me from feeling trashed after my runs. (Note to parents: it's really not cool to come home after a long run and let your 3-year old play house by tucking you into his bed and bringing you stuffed animals!)

On longer distance races (marathons), Galloway claims that the energy saved by slowing it down and taking walk breaks early on will allow you to stay on pace and even pick up pace in the race's final miles. When I did the Martha's Vineyard 20-Miler, I went out too fast, felt great knocking out 8 min miles, and told myself I was "banking" minutes for later on. In the end, I had to slow down below my goal pace, felt awful for the last 2 miles and post-race, and still only barely made my time goal. So, I'm gonna try training myself to be more conservative this time, and hopefully learn something about not being such a "Type-A Runner" in the process!

Cheers & Jeers

Had an awesome 14-miler today on the Wellesley-Newton section of the course.

Props to:

• John Geraci of Spaulding Rehab's Race for Rehab team - chatted w/ him at Comm Ave & Centre St. Today was the first time he's ever gone 14 miles! And he looks like he needs some fundraising help, if ayone's looking to practice a random act of kindness...
• Gas station attendant at Daly's Service Station in Wellesley (by the Dunkin, just over 128...'cause "by the Dunkin" is really descriptive when giving directions in the Boston area!) - for letting me into the restroom even though it was clear that I was not carrying enough cash to buy anything.
• All the runners who weren't too cool to smile, wave, or grunt as we passed each other.

And... today's big middle finger goes to the passive-agressive residents of Newton & Wellesley who don't shovel their sidewalks along the course during training season, forcing hundreds of runners to either (a) risk cracked skulls and broken ankles on the ice or (b) run within feet (if we're lucky) of 45 mph+ traffic. Folks, you wonder why marathoners void their bodily fluids on your lawns every year?!

Schwag Update!

I'm in the planning stages of a fundraising party for mid-March. I'll be selling raffle tickets ($1 each or 6 for $5) in advance of the event for some great donated prizes, including:

• Banjo (kids) XBox
  
• Lips (teen) XBox
• Gears of War II XBox

• Age of Empires III PC
  
• Age of Empires III - The Asian Dynasties PC
• Free Year of Peet's Coffee
  

Contact me if you'd like to buy or sell raffle tix. (You don't have to attend the drawing to win.)

Origin of Charity Endurance Events?

Quoting for training log:

tired, tired, felt like crap. want to try to do my tempo work a little above 9:00 pace, but not sure if that's sustainable, based on how today felt. managed to zone out and just listen to music some, but it was hard work. probably could have had a conversation -- not *interval* hard, but stick-with-it hard. actually, maybe a conversation would've helped. worried i'm getting a little sniffly. gonna try to get extra sleep tonight.

While trying to distract myself, I was remembering doing the Crop Walk as a kid with folks from my congregation. 10 miles seemed so long! Crop Walks started in the late 60s to raise money for hunger relief agencies. (Incidentally, the concept of a "walkathon" which has now morphed to include running & cycling benefits, started during the Depression for personal gain. Couples got food, shelter, and a chance to win the purse if they were the last ones standing in these "dance marathons". The walkathon resurfaced in the 60s, with a more charitable bent.)

Buy A Mile!

Now that you've paid off your holiday bills and are hopefully awaiting a tax refund, it's time to buy a mile of my marathon!

Here's a mile-by-mile summary of the race. Check out a map& elevation profile here. Let me know which mile you want, and I'll dedicate that mile to you on race day. (And probably write your name somewhere on my body so I won't forget!) I'll be carrying an MP3 player w/ a mix matched to my goal pace, so feel free to send me audio love, too, and I'll add it at the appropriate point.

Mile # So What? Price Running for (your name here):

1. Descent from Hopkinton (-130') $20
2. Ashland - original starting line $20
3. The Biker Bar $20
4. Ashland – net elev. loss since start: 310' $20
5. First uphill of the course $20
6. Framingham $20
7. Framingham Train Depot $20
8. Natick (topography, finally!) $20
9. Henry Wilson Shoe Shop (he was Grant's VP) $20
10. Natick Center (pace check) $20
11. Welcome to Wellesley $20
12. Almost halfway $20
13. Wellesley College Scream Tunnel $50
14. Yeah! More than halfway there! $20
15. Buh-bye rolling hills of Wellesley… $20
16. Lower Falls - Biggest descent (150' over .5 mi) $50
17. Sing the Rocky theme across Rte 128 overpass $50
18. Big crowds and Power Gel at Woodland T $20
19. Start of Newton Hills. Don't drink the BC students' beer! $20
20. Slap Five w/ the Johnny Kelly Statue! $20
21. Heartbreak Hill $100
22. Terra incognita - I've never run this far before $50
23. Cemetary Mile. Keep lookin' for the Citgo sign $50
24. More hills?! WTF?! $50
25. Heading back to the barn now! $50
26. Kenmore Square/Citgo Sign $50
27. “.2” = 385 yards to go! Run, Forrest! $100

Splat!

I did speedwork on the treadmill today. Yipee. I myself did not go splat. But I wonder how many other fools did, after getting this month's Runner's World and deciding to try running backwards on the treadmill.

I admit, I tried it. I have been concerned about logging so many miles on the treadmill while training for a race that has some nasty downhills. No way to prep for that on a machine, except... run backwards! It is not easy -- I could jog along carefully at about 15:00 pace for about two minutes at a time, and it took a while to take my hands off the guardrails. But it gets you into that forefoot-striking, glute-engaging form! Don't know whether the sweat dripping down my face was from the challenge to my muscles or abject fear.

Sunday's long run was another thing entirely. So fun! It was about 40 degrees, so I went charging along entirely too fast. Ran from the house over to the marathon course, via Harvard, and did a loop of the hilly section between Coolidge Corner & Cleveland Circle. I wish I could make it over to Brookline more often, because there's something inspiring about running on the course. Also, lots of faster runners to chase, and slower runners to pass!