Savannah smiles

Or not. Down in Savannah for my sister's wedding. Not a very productive week. We arrived Thursday and I went out for a run to stretch everything. At 80-something degrees and 80-something humidity I didn't get too far. It was hot.

Saturday I planned on doing ten miles early in the morning. 9atie woke me up bright and early, but at least not 3:30AM like the day before, so I went out. I was still worn out from a lack of any decent sleep and had no clear route. Those two things led to problems maintaining a decent pace and generally not wanting to be out. I called it quits after 8.25 and went to breakfast.

I had a good workout Friday at the gym but other than that I'll chalk this week up to a rest week.

Stealth PR

Race weekend is over. Great showing at the 5K Saturday and a great half-marathon today. I went out pretty fast and felt really good, no soreness at all from the 5K. I planned around a 7:30 pace but found myself settling in around 7:15 or so. So on I ran, having fun, keeping a brisk but manageable pace.

So when was the fatigue going to set in? After all I did just run a race the day before. Round about mile 8 is when. The tendons or muscle or whatever around the back of my knee began to get sore. "Ah" I thought, "so it begins". But it still didn't slow me down. What's going on here? I may be able to set a PR I thought. But then I dismissed that thought, after all I wasn't being strict about my pace. A quick calculation showed that it was doable but improbable. So on I ran.

Then I hit mile ten near Charles St and saw a 1:13:24 on my watch. 1:13 with 3 miles left? 22 minutes to match my PR means 7:15 minute miles would beat it! This might happen. Now I was running determined. Keep up the pace. The leg didn't hurt much and the pace was being met. Sweet.

Mile 11. Getting tired. It was gonna be a fight from here on. We'd made the turn on Comm Ave and were heading for home.

Turning in to Post Office Sq I kept looking for the 12 mile marker. The buildings had messed up my gps so I was unsure of where I was, all I knew is that we were close. No mile marker in stie. WTF?

Atlantic Ave had arrived and I had 7 minutes left to match my PR. This could really happen. I dug deep and kicked up the pace. It had to be sub-7 minute from here in. Over the bridge and the end was in sight.

No wait, that's a fish restaurant. There's the finish. Dig hard, keep running. Damn that hurts.

1:32:00. Keep running. Finish is in sight. It burns.

1:33:00. So close. Watch out for the straggling 5-milers.

Run. Run. Run.

Finally, the finish. Hit the watch and look: 1:34:07. Holy crap. A new PR by over a minute. Where did that come from?

Race weekend concludes with a surprise finish and a whole lot of beer.

5K mania

Just finished the Joseph & Rose Gilio 5K in Norwood. Ran really well capturing the 10th spot with a 19:37. Started out a bit fast but it felt good so I went with it. I was still feeling good at the first mile with a 6:14 split so I knee it was going to be a fast race. Even the never-ending set of hills at the end couldn't slow me down. Real encouraging stuff.

I'm doing the half-marathon at the Run to Remember downtown tomorrow so we will see how this 5K has tired out my legs. Weather should be nice so either way it will be a nice run through town.

Ladies

As the warm weather returns to Boston some of you ladies out there have made your way down to the river and can be found lounging on the grass or the docks in your bikinis and what-nots. On behalf of all us runners, thank you. Good to have you back making our runs a bit more interesting. And to all you young ladies out there running in your tank tops and other sundry running-top-thingies, we thank you as well. Your passing is always a feast for the eyes.

Alright, time for a wrap-up of the past few days.

Saturday:
Went out with the club for just shy of 11 miles. Felt good the whole run except for some minor pain in the knee late in the run. Pace was good and the weather held out nicely. Got pretty tired and worn-out afterwards but that still didn't stop me from painting the running boards on my truck.

Sunday:
Rain. I was scheduled to head down to Plymouth for a 5K but with Catie being sick I wasn't about to drag her out in the rain. So I helped out Vin with moving the last of his stuff out of their old house and then hit the hot tub. That's the kind of training I need more of.

Monday:
I decided to do stairs. I found a garage where I could do five stories of stairs. Luckily that particular stairwell was mostly hobo-pee free so I didn't have to deal with that. Did about 7 or 8 sets without much difficulty so that was nice.

Tuesday:
Speedwork today. Got the notice that the Handicap Mile is a few weeks away so I figured I should get out and do some speedwork; I've been slacking a bit on that. Did 6.5 miles total. Starting at mile one I would do a quarter-mile fast and then a quarter recovery. Repeat until around mile 4 or so. Started off around 6:30/mile and worked it down to about 5:50/mile pace. Good stuff, but now I'm tired. Looks like I will be seeded at around 5:50/mile for the race so I better get out there some more so I don't embarrass myself.

Qoute of the day: "Follow your dreams. You can do it. I'm living proof. Beefcake!!"

Run for the hills

Got out and finally did some speed work and hills. The speed work went ok but I can definitelt tell that I have been slacking. It was a struggle to get down to a 6 minute mile pace. Gotta get serious here.

Wednesday I hit the hills. Did a couple quarter milers and then ran over to Beacon Hill to do something a bit steeper. That actually was good. I powered up the shorter hills. Meanwhile members of the club hit Blue Hills. Now that's a hill.

Clawing my way back

Three good runs this week. The knee continues to be a problem but it has decided to just settle into a pattern of constantly reminding it is injured but not being too painful. Unfortunately it is affecting how I run but so far only slightly. I have taken the route of working through it until it has healed. As if that has ever happened before.

Mt Washington continues to loom large and therein lies the concern. I know I can run a marathon with my knee like this but uphill is where it is weakest. Just another obstacle to overcome I guess. I have set a target finishing time for Mt Washington somewhere between 1 and 7 hours so I hope I can stick to that pace.

Warm weather is here. The locker room at work is crowded once more. Actual sunlight during runs is a real bonus. Happy days. Happy days.

Great Bear Run

Went over to Needham yesterday to take part in the Great Bear Run 5K. Planned on going out around 7:30/mile but as usual as soon as the race began I threw that out the window and and just ran what I felt like; around 6:50/mile. Which was quite good considering I have barely run since the marathon and I was afraid of injuring my knee more. Surprisingly the knee felt great and doesn't hurt nearly as much as I thought it would today. I certainly don't think that it is all healed up but this is the best it has felt in over a month.

Apparently I ran a bit better than I thought, came in 30th out of 190. That was a nice surprise.

After the run it was time for the kids marathon (26.2 yards). They split it up by age (0-1, 2-3, 3+) and had them run from one side of a field to another. When they yelled go Catie took off like a rocket and came running at me like an Olympian. Naturally she was the winner of her group and was rewarded with a teddy bear and a medal! (actually, all the kids get them but this is my story) I was afraid Jackson would freeze up like he has been known to do during races but that definitely didn't happen here. Off he went running like a maniac, all smiles and happiness. Everyone had a great time.