Once again I have been slacking off and not posting anything. I didn't even get around to writing up a race report for the Boston's Run To Remember half marathon! I decided to run it on the spur of the moment after the marathon bombings and they extended the rate for an extra month. A nice way to show some support and I haven't done a half in ages. So here's the report in super summary mode:
It was snowing when I left for the race at like 4:30 AM. I wish I was kidding. There is a secret bathroom in the hotel that I camped out at until it was just time to start warming up. Even if you waterboard me I will never reveal the location of this bathroom, I consider it a state secret at this point. Out in the cold, ready to go, the politicians start 15 minutes of speeches. Fuuuuuuuckkkk.
Off we go and along with the start there goes my idea of running a "conservative" pace. Again. Mile 2, damn, gotta pee. Run run run!! Wheeeee!!! Mile 5ish, here comes the leader! Woo woo! And teh second place guy, um, somewhere; where the hell is the next guy? Oh there he is, 30 seconds behind. Damn that guy was fast. Mile 7, gotta pee. Damn. Ruuuuuunnnnnnnn.............
Mile 11, go time. Hammer down and I am flying! I want to hurl but I'm going so fast I can't stop. As I am virtually sprinting across the finish line the announcer calls my name and town (I do love that part) and I give a wave to the crowd. Many Gatorades and a free loaf of bread later I limp my way to the truck which seemed to have been parked way closer that morning. Numbers: 1:35:27 time, 7:17 pace, 291 overall. So yeah, a nice "conservative" race. Whoops.
Since then training for the Tri has continued. I thought I was doing alright but a hard look at myself has revealed that I was kidding myself. I haven't lost squat for weight (damn you E.L. Fudges!) and I've been struggling on the runs. Biking has been decent but a recent indoor threshold test left me less than impressed. Swimming has been ok but my criteria for swimming has been 1. don't drown and 2. try to do 1600 yards in less than 35 minutes. So far number 1 has been a rousing success and number 2 is accomplished more often than not.
One area that has been going great is my bricks, as few as they have been. This past weekend I did 40 miles on the bike and then did a quick transition into a three mile run and the end result was quite encouraging. I find that I am actually running much faster off the bike than it feels and my pace is 20-30 seconds per mile faster than I would normally run. Not bad.
But, disaster has struck recently. Ok, not really a "disaster" per se. I got really sick Sunday with what I thought was dehydration but I am now convinced it was more like food poisoning. It was pretty awful and hasn't really left yet. I did a 7 miler today which would be polite to call a disaster and spent the better part of an hour afterwards shivering and watching the color drain out of my fingers. So that has slowed my training down a bit. Hopefully this will pass soon because I ain't got time to be sick.
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Norfolk Runs 5K
Last week I decided to run the 7th Annual Norfolk Runs 5K. It's a smaller race with all the proceeds going to the local DARE chapter so I thought it would be nice to do. A good chance to see how my running was coming along and to just get out and race again. It also didn't hurt that it takes place in my town and that I was knew the course by heart.
Turns out that the weather decided to cooperate and it was a great day for a run. When it was time we walked up the hill to the start line (thank you for not starting it at the bottom of the hill!) and got ready to go. It was a bit odd that as I looked around at the people at the front with me there were like three women who clearly weren't in it to win and a bunch of 10 year olds. Ok, we'll just see how this turns out. The race began and what did the 10 year olds do? They shot forward as if out of a cannon. A few seconds later when they hit the wall I passed them and we began to settle into our pace.
A few people passed me early on but I was feeling good and running strong. about a half mile in the lead woman went by me but that would be it for the rest of the race. I had no idea what my pace was at this point; my Garmin was acting squirrely so I opted to go with the ordinary watch. We hit mile one and I noted the 6:14. A bit faster than anticipated.
Halfway and I passed Jackson on the side cheering me on. That buoyed my spirits and gave me a bit of a lift to get up the big hill that was waiting. It was just after that the downhill on the other side that I began to notice that that woman that had passed my not only wasn't getting any farther away but I was pretty sure that I was closing in on her. Hmm. Yup, I definitely was getting closer. A plan was hatched. Being familiar with the course I knew what I would do; I would continue to close on her up the slight incline and try to get as close as I could through the last hill over the railroad bridge. From there it was all downhill and I could hopefully power past.
I set the plan into action and ended up behind her a little too soon so I hung off her shoulder. After the bridge I turned on the jets, which I was surprised to find I still had, and made my move. At first I thought she may hang on but no, I was able to overtake her with ease. I made the last turn into the parking lot and into the chute at 19:53. Alright!
Jen and Catie were waiting for me so I went over to them and they told me I was 6th. Cool, I had no idea! Maybe that means I got an age group award. We waited until they posted the results and I excitedly ran up to see, could it be, maybe? No. Places 2 through 6 were all 30-39 year old males; I was fifth in my age group. Damn you 30 year old men! No worries. I ran well, I felt pretty good, and I was really happy with the results. All in all a good days run.
Turns out that the weather decided to cooperate and it was a great day for a run. When it was time we walked up the hill to the start line (thank you for not starting it at the bottom of the hill!) and got ready to go. It was a bit odd that as I looked around at the people at the front with me there were like three women who clearly weren't in it to win and a bunch of 10 year olds. Ok, we'll just see how this turns out. The race began and what did the 10 year olds do? They shot forward as if out of a cannon. A few seconds later when they hit the wall I passed them and we began to settle into our pace.
A few people passed me early on but I was feeling good and running strong. about a half mile in the lead woman went by me but that would be it for the rest of the race. I had no idea what my pace was at this point; my Garmin was acting squirrely so I opted to go with the ordinary watch. We hit mile one and I noted the 6:14. A bit faster than anticipated.
Halfway and I passed Jackson on the side cheering me on. That buoyed my spirits and gave me a bit of a lift to get up the big hill that was waiting. It was just after that the downhill on the other side that I began to notice that that woman that had passed my not only wasn't getting any farther away but I was pretty sure that I was closing in on her. Hmm. Yup, I definitely was getting closer. A plan was hatched. Being familiar with the course I knew what I would do; I would continue to close on her up the slight incline and try to get as close as I could through the last hill over the railroad bridge. From there it was all downhill and I could hopefully power past.
I set the plan into action and ended up behind her a little too soon so I hung off her shoulder. After the bridge I turned on the jets, which I was surprised to find I still had, and made my move. At first I thought she may hang on but no, I was able to overtake her with ease. I made the last turn into the parking lot and into the chute at 19:53. Alright!
Jen and Catie were waiting for me so I went over to them and they told me I was 6th. Cool, I had no idea! Maybe that means I got an age group award. We waited until they posted the results and I excitedly ran up to see, could it be, maybe? No. Places 2 through 6 were all 30-39 year old males; I was fifth in my age group. Damn you 30 year old men! No worries. I ran well, I felt pretty good, and I was really happy with the results. All in all a good days run.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
What if?
With the Boston Marathon bombings seemingly a lifetime behind us, it's amazing how fast life can move, I've had the time to ponder the question, "What if?".
What if I had ended up running the marathon? People keep telling me, "but you're much faster than the 4 hours the bombs exploded at". True, but, because I was injured I had started to modify my expectations. Up until three weeks before the race I was still determined to run. Since I had lost a few key weeks of training I figured I could run it in around 4 hours comfortably. I would start in the first wave and cross the start about two minutes after the gun. If I ended up being slower than I planned I could have been crossing the finish line right around the 4:09 mark.
Even if I had been there though, no runners were hurt by the blasts. But what if my family had been there to watch me finish? They could have been standing on the sidelines with all those other people when it happened. Or maybe I could have finished it a bit faster than expected and joined them at the finish to wait for our other friends. There are so many possibilities.
Or what if we had ended up sending the kids to school and just Jen and I decided to go in to town to watch the finish. That was something that we had discussed and it could have gone that way if we hadn't ended up wanting to bring the kids out with us. We've done that before so there is no reason why we wouldn't have this time.
In the end, none of that happened though. The problem with What Ifs is that they can never happen, they are only questions. I didn't run, I wasn't at the finish, and everyone I know is fine. Speculating about what could have been is a deep rabbit hole that can lead to dark places. It can never serve a good purpose.
I still wish I could have run that marathon, even knowing what took place, but I didn't. With all these What Ifs floating around, the fact that I didn't get to run maybe isn't such a bad thing after all.
What if I had ended up running the marathon? People keep telling me, "but you're much faster than the 4 hours the bombs exploded at". True, but, because I was injured I had started to modify my expectations. Up until three weeks before the race I was still determined to run. Since I had lost a few key weeks of training I figured I could run it in around 4 hours comfortably. I would start in the first wave and cross the start about two minutes after the gun. If I ended up being slower than I planned I could have been crossing the finish line right around the 4:09 mark.
Even if I had been there though, no runners were hurt by the blasts. But what if my family had been there to watch me finish? They could have been standing on the sidelines with all those other people when it happened. Or maybe I could have finished it a bit faster than expected and joined them at the finish to wait for our other friends. There are so many possibilities.
Or what if we had ended up sending the kids to school and just Jen and I decided to go in to town to watch the finish. That was something that we had discussed and it could have gone that way if we hadn't ended up wanting to bring the kids out with us. We've done that before so there is no reason why we wouldn't have this time.
In the end, none of that happened though. The problem with What Ifs is that they can never happen, they are only questions. I didn't run, I wasn't at the finish, and everyone I know is fine. Speculating about what could have been is a deep rabbit hole that can lead to dark places. It can never serve a good purpose.
I still wish I could have run that marathon, even knowing what took place, but I didn't. With all these What Ifs floating around, the fact that I didn't get to run maybe isn't such a bad thing after all.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Marathon Bombing Suspects
The FBI has released photos and video of the two bombing suspects. Please take a look to see if you can identify them.
Video
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Boston Marathon 2013
After a late night of riding my bike along the marathon course and a long morning cheering on the runners at Wellesley I had finally settled in to take a nap Monday afternoon when my phone started ringing. I promptly ignored it, but it kept ringing. And ringing. So I got up and checked the voice mail transcripts. At first I was surprised to see so many, but then I read what caused me to run downstairs and turn on the tv:
" My friend Betsy just texted me that the explosion at the windows of Marathon Sports"
I stood in front of the tv for ten minutes watching the same video clip of the explosion. Disbelief and shock quickly transformed itself and I began studying the video, looking for anyone that I may know. Having met Kim and Vin at the half-way point I knew what they were wearing so I scanned the footage looking for any sign of them. Finally convinced that they weren't there I confirmed with the BAA tracking that they never reached the finish and weren't scheduled to for some time. Facebook had become the source of information for most people so I updated everyone as I found out anything.
What amazed me was how quickly I went from the shock of seeing what happened to transitioning into crisis mode to start collecting, organizing, and disseminating information out to people. But through it all one feeling remained with me; anger. Anger at whoever did this. This is my marathon, the marathon I grew up watching, the marathon that got me into running. It stands as a testament to the countless hours of sacrifice and perseverance that runners endure to better themselves and their dedication to reach for a goal for which some may never achieve. The Boston Marathon is an event like no other. It is a race, a celebration, a party, a destination, a day of victory. It is history. I stood in anger as someone tried to take away all of that.
I'm still angry, but also resolved to not let these events change anything I love about the marathon. The anger may last for awhile but one thing I am certain of is that I have no fear. No one can make me afraid to be involved with the marathon that I love, no matter what they do. Because in the end it's not just about celebrating a race, it is about celebrating the people who make up the race. That is what makes the Boston Marathon so special, the people, whether they are running, volunteering or cheering it's the people who make the race what it is.
After watching hours of tv and internet coverage, hearing all of the stories, and making sure everyone I knew was safe there were still no answers to why. So I did the only thing I could think of to do, I laced up my shoes, and for the first time since suffering the injury that kept me from running that day, I went for a run.
" My friend Betsy just texted me that the explosion at the windows of Marathon Sports"
I stood in front of the tv for ten minutes watching the same video clip of the explosion. Disbelief and shock quickly transformed itself and I began studying the video, looking for anyone that I may know. Having met Kim and Vin at the half-way point I knew what they were wearing so I scanned the footage looking for any sign of them. Finally convinced that they weren't there I confirmed with the BAA tracking that they never reached the finish and weren't scheduled to for some time. Facebook had become the source of information for most people so I updated everyone as I found out anything.
What amazed me was how quickly I went from the shock of seeing what happened to transitioning into crisis mode to start collecting, organizing, and disseminating information out to people. But through it all one feeling remained with me; anger. Anger at whoever did this. This is my marathon, the marathon I grew up watching, the marathon that got me into running. It stands as a testament to the countless hours of sacrifice and perseverance that runners endure to better themselves and their dedication to reach for a goal for which some may never achieve. The Boston Marathon is an event like no other. It is a race, a celebration, a party, a destination, a day of victory. It is history. I stood in anger as someone tried to take away all of that.
I'm still angry, but also resolved to not let these events change anything I love about the marathon. The anger may last for awhile but one thing I am certain of is that I have no fear. No one can make me afraid to be involved with the marathon that I love, no matter what they do. Because in the end it's not just about celebrating a race, it is about celebrating the people who make up the race. That is what makes the Boston Marathon so special, the people, whether they are running, volunteering or cheering it's the people who make the race what it is.
After watching hours of tv and internet coverage, hearing all of the stories, and making sure everyone I knew was safe there were still no answers to why. So I did the only thing I could think of to do, I laced up my shoes, and for the first time since suffering the injury that kept me from running that day, I went for a run.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Bib numbers are out
BAA posted the bib numbers for the marathon. I got 2531, first wave, third corral. Basically I'm in the first wave of runners to start right behind the elites. Oh, I mean, I would be in the first wave if I was running. Which I will not be.
Can I just fly away to somewhere for the next month so I don't have to be reminded every single day about this? It's really putting me in an irritable mood.
At least my swimming is going pretty good. I've been hitting the pool as often as possible and just plugging along. I've never been a great swimmer so I am surprised that I am doing pretty well. Sunday I did two long stretches of swimming that came out to a total of 1.25 miles (2200 yards!) which is much farther than I though I could do. Now if I could just figure out how to swim fast I may do somewhat respectable in the swim portion of the triathlon. At least I'm pretty sure I won't drown at this point.
Can I just fly away to somewhere for the next month so I don't have to be reminded every single day about this? It's really putting me in an irritable mood.
At least my swimming is going pretty good. I've been hitting the pool as often as possible and just plugging along. I've never been a great swimmer so I am surprised that I am doing pretty well. Sunday I did two long stretches of swimming that came out to a total of 1.25 miles (2200 yards!) which is much farther than I though I could do. Now if I could just figure out how to swim fast I may do somewhat respectable in the swim portion of the triathlon. At least I'm pretty sure I won't drown at this point.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
FML - Redux, Apocalypse
So Boston is pretty much out at this point. Turns out it was my Psoas which suddenly decided to give up on me and I haven't run in over three weeks now. It seems to be getting better but it is going to be at least another 4-5 days before it may be able to handle a run (and that's being optimistic). At that point it would be almost a month of no running which means that the dream is dead. No Boston for me. With just over 5 weeks to go there is no possible way to get into any sort of running shape.
This whole situation totally blows, I worked hard to get into this race and now it's all for naught. That's pretty much all I have to say other than that this whole thing really hasn't been worth the trouble. Seriously, it sucks.
This whole situation totally blows, I worked hard to get into this race and now it's all for naught. That's pretty much all I have to say other than that this whole thing really hasn't been worth the trouble. Seriously, it sucks.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)