4:40:11

That's all, folks. So long, and thanks for all the fish.

I had a great time on Monday, and finished in 4:40:11. Sadly, chip time doesn't stop for the 10 minutes waiting to use the port-a-potty at mile 12, or the many diversions to high-five pre-schoolers and Wellesley girls. But even with those detours, I beat Jesse's PR by 13 minutes, and that's all that matters.

Highlights of the day:

1. Friends on the course. Thanks to everyone who came out, even those of you who I missed because I was, as Geoff says, "in the zone" when I passed you. Knowing that I had people at 17, 18, 21, 23, and 25 let me keep clicking along.
2. The crowds. The little kids, especially, kept me going. I tried to keep to the middle of the street and avoid the more rowdy folks at the end, though.
3. My teammates. Even though we got separated early on, Sean & Hector helped keep me cool before the start.
4. Knowing I put in the work. When I started feeling tired, I thought about the work I had done in training and in fundraising, and about all of the people who had supported me in both those areas. I knew that I had prepared, and that I would finish.
   
5. Bouillon cubes. Sounds gross, but when you finish a race looking like a salt-lick, it helps. (Thanks, coach Jesse.)
   
6. Wellesley. You really can hear them 1/2 mile away. And the "Kiss me, I'm ___" signs ae remarkably specific and diverse. My favorite, from a lone guy: "Kiss me, I'm male."
7. Running up Heartbreak Hill. All the way up. Past all the people who blew past me earlier in the day. I intentionally didn't race on Monday, but it was gratifying to have a moment of glory.
8. Not racing. For someone who is... how shall I say it... a little intense, it was a nice break to just run for the experience of being out there. I had fun, and I felt less trashed after 26.2 than I have after some shorter races.
9. Digging deep. Even without pushing the pace, 26.2 miles is a long way! From mile 22 on, I was out of energy, my legs were shot, I couldn't bear the thought of ingesting anything else, and I was overwhelmed by the crowds. Those last 4 miles were the "mountain-top" moment when I got to zone out, look into myself, and see who was there. And, lo and behold, there I was.
10. Hereford Street. In training, I had avoided running that last stretch, sort of like I never walked through the main gate at Harvard until I graduated. I'm glad I made a big deal out of Hereford Street, because that was where I started crying. By the time I rounded the next corner and could see the finish line, I had composed myself enough to really smile as I crossed the finish line.

Race-Watching Tips

I am resting up and getting ready mentally for tomorrow's marathon. After 2 weeks of taper (enforced by a calf injury), I feel rested and ready. It looks like we'll have near-perfect weather (by the standards of anyone who has trained through the winter in Boston, anyway!) -- 50 degrees and overcast. It will be windy -- normal for the course -- but rain should hold off until evening. I'm planning to run more conservatively because of the calf, but hoping to do 9:30-10:00 miles.

If you want to follow my progress, you can sign up for text or email alerts (you must be registered before the race begins). You'll get a message when I reach 10K, 13.1 mi, 30K and the finish.

If you want to meet me on the course, here's a map. I'll be starting with the 2nd wave, crossing the start around 10:30 a.m. My mom, Speedy & Jesse will be at mile 17/Woodland T, and MBHP is watching at Mile 25 on the Commonwealth Avenue Mall East (after the Mass Ave under-pass).

Thanks to your help, we've raised over $6,800 so far for Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership Inc. I'm still accepting donations.

Thank you for all of your support. I'll be thinking of you tomorrow form the course!

Gratitude

Ok, tomorrow's the day! Eeeee!!!!

I am so full of gratitude right now. Jesse wanted me to make a little speech at today's pasta party, so here's the blog version.

Since my injury, so many friends have given words of support, repeating back to me the mantra, "The hay is in the barn." Thank you for believing in me and never telling me that I should quit, or even slow down. Also, thanks to everyone who has listened to my incessant training rambling. I'm sorry -- I know you never wanted to know this much about performance underwear, glycogen recovery, or snot-rockets!

Sincere appreciation on behalf of MBHP staff and clients to everyone who has donated. It seems like the funding cuts keep coming, and you all are stepping in to provide some relief. You are also making a personal, caring connection to the agency and its clients -- something which the government and large foundations cannot offer. The sacrifices that some of you have made to donate inspire me to keep going.

I also want to acknowledge MBHP's staff for the work they do every day to end homelessness. They do it with love, courage, and humor. Special thanks to Barbara for challenging her friends to give, and to Rennie for all of her logistical support to the marathon team.

Shout-outs to my teammates Hector Cruz & Sean Caron for awesome training and fund-raising. The three of us have out-fundrasied last year's 5-person team! See you tomorrow morning, gentlemen.

Dawn at Massage Therapy Works, massage therapist Fatima Aguilar, and Nina Judith Katz of Meridians of Health have all gotten me back from points of serious pain throughout my training. Particular thanks to Nina for donating her time in support of MBHP, and for doing some truly magical work to get me back from the calf injury and ready to run tomorrow.

Mom, thank you for setting such a great example of toughness and stamina as a marathoner and as a mother. You're my hero. Thanks for always being there for us. I'm glad you could be here for my first marathon! Hope that tattoo doesn't hurt too much.

Finally, Jesse, my number-one fundraiser, partner in crime, and coach: I don't know where to begin. Thank you for keeping me positive; taking on house and kid duties so I didn't over-do it; searching out the right foods, music, bandages, medical advice to keep me going; singing my praises to everyone who would hear you (and to me, even when I wouldn't hear you!); planning the best pre-race party to keep my mind occupied today; putting up with my whining enough to let me vent, and then kicking my butt when it was time to get over myself; and never taking it personally.

So close, but yet so far...

When someone takes a week to post after their 20-miler, it's a good sign that something is wrong.

In my case, I have a strained/torn right calf muscle. I've been cycling through the stages of grief (cuss a little, cry a little, rinse, repeat...) but basically keep coming back to the concrete question: what can I do now to make sure that I finish in a good way on April 20th?

Current strategy:

1. Baby the leg! RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation) is tricky with a 3-year old and a house on three different levels, but I've been going down the stairs on my butt, to the delight of aforementioned 3 y.o.
2. Do stuff to feel like I'm still involved in my training/recovery. I'm doing a little swimming & pool running on my regular run days. Also seeking out every alternative therapy I can throw at one tiny body-part. Today, I lucked into a medicinal qi gong session with a friend at my shul. Trying to get in for sports massage & kinesiotaping, but apparently there are a lot of other runner in the same boat!
3. Think positively. I keep having to correct myself when I say/think "I'm training for Boston." Instead, "I'm going to run Boston next week."
   
4. Plan realistically. While I know I could "gut it out, " I have to be able to function as a spouse, mother, and designer after the marathon. If I don't have a race-day plan in place to rein myself in, competition and hard-headedness will get the best of me! So, I've dropped all time goals in favor of finishing safely.
5. When in doubt, fall back on all that theological training! Today at services, the leader pointed out that a lot of the psalms of praise aren't about giving thanks for good things. They're about the bad times, when we have faith that we'll have somthing for which to give thanks eventually. So, I'm having faith, and I'm also asking y'all to do whatever you do in the prayer/send-good-energy-into-the-universe department.

Worst case scenario: I know that I can walk 26.2 miles if I have to without laming myself. If I don't die from boredom, I will cross the finish line eventually.

The church at the finish line puts Isaiah 40:31 on a big banner on marathon day.
You may recognize the text from Chariots of Fire. Here's the full context (JPS trans.):

²⁷ Why do you say, O Jacob, Why declare, O Israel,
"My way is hid from [HaShem], My cause is ignored by my G-d"?
²⁸ Do you not know? Have you not heard?
[HaShem] is G-d from of old, Creator of the earth from end to end,
He never grows faint or weary, His wisdom cannot be fathomed.
²⁹ He gives strength to the weary, Fresh vigor to the spent.
³⁰ Youths may grow faint and weary, And young men stumble and fall;
³¹ But they who trust in [HaShem] shall renew their strength
As eagles grow new plumes:
They shall run and not grow weary, They shall march and not grow faint.

The Longest Week; Tattoos

This week will be the longest mileage of my training -- 42 miles, ending with Sunday's 20-miler. Ran a chilly 10 today -- started my workday at 5:45 a.m. to fit it in. Got to do a Marcel Marceau routine along the banks of the Charles because the headwind was so bad. Looking back at my running log for encouragement, I realized I've only had 4 non-running weeks in the last year. (2 of those were concussion-related!) Since December, I've done 330 miles of training for Boston.

With the help of that growing list of folks on the right, I've also raised over $5,000 for MBHP. Thanks, everyone! My mom has the best fund raising idea yet. In her own words:

Carolyn said incredulously "You would get a tattoo?! (Yeah, we've all got them, but still...)"

My response is: "Yes, I'll do it for a good cause..." Will y’all rise to the occasion?

Carolyn claims that I can probably handle it since I brought her into the world without drugs!

The tattoo, small, running related and in a discrete location, will happen IF donations made between today, March 23, 2009 and Marathon Day, April 20, 2009 get her to her goal of $6,500.00.

A picture of the completed tattoo will appear as my profile picture on Facebook and will be either emailed or snail-mailed to non Facebook donors. So…get the word out!

My co-worker Rick just read this and donated $25.00!
My running buddy Hal has donated $26.00
And my neighbor Katherine, whose son is a tatoo artist, has contributed $10.00

OK y'all get to work! Make it happen!

Yay, Cindy!

Today, I started my 18-miler at 7:30. At 10:30, I had finished a 15-mile romp through the hills of Arlington & Winchester, and met my family, friend Cindy, and her trainer, Judith at the starting line of the Ras na hEireann in Davis Square. Today was Cindy's first 5-K, and Jesse & I promised that if she registered, we'd run with her, even if we had to "poke her with sharp sticks all the way" (her words). It has been an honor training with her and seeing her progress from running a few seconds at a time to completing a 5-K. She is a true runner, who when her doctor said, "You know, you'd get the same benefit from walking," asked, "Why would I want to do that?!" And, where most of us finish our first race at a new distance thinking, "I don't know if I ever want to do that again..." (and then blessed amnesia kicks in and we do), she called Jesse this afternoon for a list of summer 5-K's to train for. My hero.

Yoni came with us in the running stroller, ringing a cowbell and giving us pep talks in a pirate voice all the way. (If you haven't read How I Became a Pirate, you're never too old to catch up!) He hopped out to run the last 1/10th of a mile, and was very "dis'pointed" that they had run out of medals when he came through the shoot.

Coverage

Jesse was checking email tonight and noticed in the Wicked Local news feed, "Hey, there's somebody with our last name. No, wait. Nobody else has our last name!" Sure enough, there was an article in the Medford Transcript on the Spirit of the Marathon fundraiser. Thanks to Beth for interviewing me and putting together such a nice press release!

Grosser than Gross?

It's T.M.I. time. We're at that point in training where it's gross, I'm tired and hungry all the time, and I've no filter left. You've been warned.

Today, the only time for speedwork was before a morning appointment. When I have to go to the gym and get cleaned up there, I pay a buck and get a towel from the enterprising little juice bar across from the gym. Only I guess I never noticed that they're not open early in the morning. I made this important discovery after I was already yucky from my run, raising the question: which is groser? Skip my shower and put clean clothes on a stinky body? Or shower and towel off using my now-sweaty running clothes? I opted for #2, and tried not to get to close to anyone for the rest of the day.

Also, since we're complaining: Mister man with something to prove, of all the treadmills in the gym, why do you have to pick the one next to me? Aren't you worried you'll get whiplash from your constant turning to check my speed? And don't you realize that no matter how much stinky cologne you wear, you're not going to impress a girl going a couple of miles per hour faster than you?

In Marathon training, no snow holidays - The Boston Globe

In Marathon training, no snow holidays - The Boston Globe

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Citgo Sign Hallucinations

Something is clearly going right with my mental preparation for the marathon. Today I was running on the treadmill, doing 1K and 2K repeats, and I saw it...a red triangle on the tv screen in front of me... and I felt my legs lighten! The Citgo sign! Almost there!

No, wait... sorry, that was actually the upside-down red triangle as CNN's ticker showed the Dow falling.

But it's ok -- I got my motivation back when I saw that John G. (remember him?) had given generously to MBHP, and that I helped him kick off a good fundraiser of his own. Go John!

"Spirit of the Marathon" Screening

Non-runners: If anything can make you understand why we're so crazy, this movie can.

Runners: Get motivated for your next marathon or your first race while raising money to prevent homelessness.

Spirit of the Marathon is an award-winning, feature-length film following six marathoners, from first-timers to pros, as they train for the Chicago Marathon. The good folks who made it are donating all proceeds from the screening to Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership.

Spirit of the Marathon Screening

When: Thursday, March 19, 2009, 6:30-8:30 pm

Where: MBHP, 125 Lincoln St., 5th Floor, Boston, MA

Register now to reserve your spot!

Advance registration required. $10 minimum donation. To pre-pay, include "Film" in the comment field to pay on-line via Firstgiving, or send a check to Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership, 598 A Main St., Medford, MA 02155. Paying at the door? RSVP to speedyima at gmail dot com.

Raffle after the movie! Prizes include a year of Peet's coffee, XBox games, and more!

I Ran to Woburn?!

Yep. When I mapped it, that's what I did. I don't think I even knew where Woburn was a year ago.

It's been snowing all day here, but made for a very pleasant 16 miles, especially compared the the nor'easter we're getting later tonight. Here's the log entry:

Great run! Actively snowing the whole way, and headwind outbound. Yaktrax worked well - no one shoveling yet except in Arlington Ctr. (Mm.. wet brick + yaktrax = running on glass!) Course selection was a good analogue for Boston course -- some long hills w/ 2-3% grade, and a steep downhill to the turn-around, then right back up! Felt good, though quads & knees are tired from supporting on the snowy downhills, and I think my lats will be sore tomorrow from same.

Best moment: Stopped at a pizzeria [Arlington Cafe, formerly Sapori] at mi. 12 for hydration -- no powerade, but they had Nantucket Nectars "Half & Half" (sweet iced tea + lemonade). So good! Had exactly $2 in cash, so the guy spotted me the dime for tax, then when he found how far I was going, offered me pizza, too. :-) I stuck to my chocolate Clif Shot, but did use a wad of napkins to wipe down my face.

In other news - thanks again to everyone who has donated! Comment if you want to reserve your mile of the course! And congrats to my teammate Sean Caron on his rockin' fundraiser last week. I was sadly too sick to go (but will still donate, of course).

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