2017 Boston Marathon Race Report

Boston 2012 - 3:58:44, 1st marathon
Boston 2013 - 3:23:54, 3rd marathon, PR

Boston 2014 - 3:21:11, 5th marathon, PR

Boston 2015 - 2:58:08, 6th marathon, PR

Boston 2016 - 2:52:52, 7th marathon, PR

Boston 2017 - 2:50:58, 8th marathon, PR

Photo Courtesy of Douglas M Weisman

We passed the McNatt's at their normal spot, and Terry and Jon caught up to us to provide a couple small water bottles.  We held on to those to drink and douse ourselves - something we were doing at every water station (another smart strategy on this day).  And as we hit the Newton Hills, we were still running together and running well.  We passed Jenn and the rest of Neil's cheering section (he had a few of them!).  Then we passed the CSU crew in the middle with Julie/Gail/Del, then another group of CSUers in Ken/Dan/Stephen.  I'm pretty sure there were a few other pockets of CSU cheering sections, but my mind wasn't sharp at that point in the race - sorry!  I do remember passing Elizabeth, and tossing her one of my Gu's.  I only took one throughout the race, and didn't feel like carrying it anymore.  As is the case with each of my marathon's, having her out there at various points is awesome.  It's both motivating and helpful.  Helpful for taking/giving any gear or food that I may need, and motivating because I always want to avoid looking like death when I pass her!

At a minimum, I can be happy with that PR trend, but otherwise my running results in 2017 continue with one semi-disappointment after another.  In regards to Boston 2017...I can approach how I feel by asking the same question from two different angles:

On a scale of 1-10, how happy am I with my performance?
On a scale of 1-10, how disappointed am I with my performance?

Oddly enough, the answer is the same - somewhere around a 2 or 3.  I'm neither very happy nor am I very disappointed....but having run yet another marathon in less than ideal conditions leaves me frustrated and, somewhat oddly, motivated.  I was not happy with my build up, with the seeds for disrupted training being planted in the fall with a fluke sprained ankle on Battle Road.  Nonetheless, I put in some good mileage, had a few good workouts, and somewhat maintained fitness during a two week bout with tendonitis.  I felt capable on race day, if not a little nervous about my fitness.

For those that have run in the heat, Monday's high of ~74 may not sound that bad.  But, running in 74 degrees vs racing a marathon in 74 degree temps are two very different things.  My worries about my build up probably helped me in the early going.  The pace for the first mile was partly dictated by the packed crowds, but a cautious 6:34 on the initial downhill was a good idea.

Neil and I started to feel better and better during the next few miles.  During mile four I said to Neil that we should consider backing off just a little bit.  The 6:12/6:12 for miles two and three felt fine, but the 4th mile had us dipping into the 5:50 range, which seemed risky.  We backed off a hair to run 6:05, and then settled in nicely for the next 15 miles.  I would say we averaged roughly 6:20/mile for that chunk, and were running what I would consider a very smart race.

The one thing I noticed is that I never felt very comfortable.  Normally, I like to think, "this is the easy part," up until the Newton hills, but that was never the case.  I wasn't straining though, and thankfully I know the difference.

Heartbreak Hill - Courtesy of Kent Duckham

It was at the peak of heartbreak that I started to really feel like I was working.  Neil and I stuck together for a few more miles, and there was one section near BU that we hit a stiff headwind.  I think that was the point that Neil broke ahead and I had to really focus to keep it together.  Running together for ~23 miles was awesome though.  We had a great give and take with pacing and also keeping each other honest.

I'd had a blister on my right foot since Wellesley, and by this point, I also had a pinch in my left hip & hamstring, and a developing blister on my left Achilles.  The final 5k+ was a very controlled and challenging slow down.  I passed Jonathan somewhere around the 1m to go sign, and by then the blister on my achilles was gone, and getting worse.  I was trying to ignore the pain, but that was the worst of the little injuries as it became extremely raw and the heel of my shoe continued to dig and dig into the skin...whatever though!

Photo Courtesy of New England Runner Magazine

As seems to be the case every year now, I felt a big wave of emotion as I turned right onto Hereford and left onto Boylston.  That didn't last too long though.  I was caught off guard and passed by Shaun Dever (he was in corral 1, and I had passed him maybe 2m prior).  I did my best to go with him, but my stride had gone to **** and I decided it was more important not to cramp up.

After I crossed the finish line, my legs stiffened up and I was in danger of both calves and hamstrings locking up.  I started the Frankenstein walk, and began to make my way to meet Elizabeth.

I wish I could've gone with Neil and we could've finished together, but he had a lot more in the tank than I did and finished incredibly well.  Danny was just behind me, and also ran a PR.  So, three PRs on a very warm and sunny day...not bad for the gentleman of CSU!  I'm pretty sure that Dima, BillP, and StephenP were ok with how their races went as well.  Sorry if I missed anyone!

Impression of Frankenstein at 2:21:45
CSU Photos

Final time and splits via Garmin: 2:50:58

2017 Doyle's Emerald Necklace 5 Miler Race Report

2017 is not getting off to the start I was hoping.

If not for Scott Mason taking some kick ass photos and managing to get my good side in each one, then this race would get a big fat 'meh.'  But he did get those photos, so I'll have to chalk this one up to 'not bad, I suppose.'

Looking strictly at the Garmin splits, my second mile was a major issue with this race.  I went from a 5:20 first mile to a 5:42 second mile.  I'm not sure what caused the slowdown; there was a bit of a headwind...but not that much.  In any case, I was still in good position at that point, and should've been able to compete better than I did.

That third mile after the turnaround, I was still doing well running with Pickleman and another guy from the Cambridge Running Club.  They started to pull away between 3.5 and 4.25, and I'm really disappointed with the way I responded.  It's hard to tell if I could have responded or I wish I could have responded.  But since I can't say for sure, I'll just be safe and remain disappointed.

The final mile I counted off the gap that had created, then made a hard surge, and counted again.  No change.  So I started to back off, since I had little or no chance to make up the gap.  In the end, I have another race coming up that perhaps I'll be better served by not going to the well.  We'll see.

Results
Pub Series Men's Standings
Pub Series Women's Standings

4/2/2017 to 4/8/2017: Taper Begins Well Enough

This was an alright start to the taper.  Elizabeth and I came back from New Hampshire on Sunday, so my long run was pushed to Monday evening, but I think that worked in my favor quite well.

I somewhat absentmindedly did a bit of a special block.  For the morning, I found myself averaging 7:15/mile for the 8+ commute.  This isn't a brutal workout or anything, but it's not easy either.  On any other day it would be a "that felt good, I'm satisfied with that."  But I had planned to run long in the evening, so it was a bit quick.  In the evening, I decided to just go with it, and I did 10k at the same ~7:15/mile before dropping my backpack off at home.  I then headed over to Fresh Pond to do some traffic free MP miles.  This felt pretty tough, but I had done quite a bit of work and my left ankle was still a bit 'meh.'  In any case, 8 miles at ~6:15 or so left me feeling pretty happy about the full days work.  After a short cool down, I did some stretching and had 24 miles total for the day with all of the miles at a decent clip.

Wednesday's workout sucked.  Then on Friday, I did 5k at marathon effort into the strong winds coming off of the Long Island Sound.  That pretty much sucked too.

Anyways, all in all, it felt like a good enough start to the taper:

2-Apr		Off		0:00:00		0		AM: Off, drive home.
		Easy		1:05:33		8.05		PM: 8+ easy with Eli and Raleigh.
3-Apr		Moderate		0:59:27		8.2		AM: 8+ at 7:15/mile.  Felt pretty darn good.
		MP Workout		1:50:13		16		PM: 10k moderate, 8m at 6:15/mile, cool down.  Tot 16 at 6:54/mile.  Left ankle was ok to meh.
4-Apr		Easy		19:38:00		5.01		AM: 5m slow and easy.  Left ankle meh.
		Easy		0:40:20		5.04		PM: Slower and shorter commute.  5m at 8:00/mile.
5-Apr		Easy		0:40:38		5.12		AM: Another slower and shorter commute.  5m at 7:56/mile.  Legs feeling pretty good.
		Harvard Track		1:44:40		13.62		PM: Commute home then to Harvard.  (1200/600)x3, 8k and 5k pacing.  Pretty chilly, but eased into the workout nicely.
6-Apr		Easy		0:41:00		5.01		AM: 5m easy at 8:11/mile.
		Moderate-ish		0:38:07		5.13		PM: 5m at 7:26/mile.
7-Apr		Easy		0:00:00		0		AM: Off, up at 4am to drive to Long Island.
		5k @ MP/Effort, Strides		0:34:15		5		PM: 5m total with 5k at marathon effort and 4 strides going slightly uphill.  Averaged 6:51/mile for the whole thing.
8-Apr		Easy		0:33:26		4.01		AM: 4m very easy with Raleigh.
		Off		0:00:00		0		PM: Drive home.

Splits:

1200-4:15.2

600-2:00.0

1200-4:10.1

600-1:58.0

1200-4:09.4

600-1:54.7

Total: 80.19

3/26/17 to 4/1/17: Not a Bad Week & 2017 An Ras Mor 5k Race Report

So, I'll start off with a short recap of An Ras Mor...

I ran along the Charles down to Central Square to get in a sufficiently long warm up, test the ankle, and pick up our bibs.  An Ras Mor is the first Pub Series race, and I was trying to balance getting in some miles in preparation for Boston as well as running a respectable race.

The first mile, I felt like I was going much faster than my split - not a great sign.  The first mile goes gently uphill and faced a reasonable head wind.  Still, I expected to be about 10 seconds faster, but this wasn't terrible considering my recent injury struggles.  Mile 1 in 5:22.

The second mile has quite a few twists in turns to start, and I was navigating those well, while both pulling away and catching up to a few runners.  After getting onto Putnam Ave, however, I was mostly in a holding pattern.  Mile 2 in 5:24.

The third mile, I had my eyes on two runners up ahead that I really wanted to try and reel in.  Both TJ and Lee were un-catchable (as if I ever had a chance), but I wanted to minimize the damage within the Pub Series standings.  The brutally long stretch on Brookline Street was a lesson in closing the gap without frying the legs.  Also during this time, I could hear a runner reeling ME in.  Not cool!  Luckily, we all seemed to converge as we turned towards the home stretch.  I was hurting, but thought that if I kicked all out I might catch the guy ahead of me, and at a minimum I would hold off the runner in pursuit.  Fortunately for me, I timed it perfectly and for the first time ever out-leaned someone at the line (as evidenced by our identical times in the results).  Mile 3 in 5:23.

Final time of 16:31, good for 12th place.  Total miles for the morning ~10m.

Results
Scott Mason Photos
Ted Tyler Photos

After minimal post-race enjoyment (ie, beer), I got home and rested up.  Unbeknownst to me at the time, I had a mini special-block on tap for the day.  At around 4:30 or so I wanted to do a shakeout and told Elizabeth I would be across the street for roughly three Fresh Pond laps.  Since my ankle was feeling pretty good, I got out the door a bit quicker and after a 6:40 first mile I decided I would maybe do a fast lap...well, that turned into 4 fast laps and I ran a 10-mile tempo averaging 6:27/mile.  Not quite as good as some of my other 10m tempos, but I was happy to get this one done simply because the last two weeks have sucked.

The ankle seems to be hovering at 80-90%, but I'm able to get in the miles lately, so...onward!

26-Mar		An Ras Mor 5k *Pub		1:18:30		10.5		AM: Longish warm up then An Ras Mor 5k in 16:31, good for 12th place.  An ok race.
		Skipping Soup Run		1:04:34		10.01		PM: 10m tempo at 6:26/mile.  Really pleased to have this done.  Ankle was spotty, but I didn't take any ibu so that's a positive.
27-Mar		Easy		1:02:11		8.02		AM: Back to the standard 8m commute at 7:45/mile.  Ankle was alright.
		Easy to Moderate		1:16:41		10		PM: 10m at 7:40/mile.  Ended up slightly quicker at the end.
28-Mar		Easy		1:04:00		8		AM: 8m at 8min per.  Sluggish.
		Easy		0:50:42		6.29		PM: 6+ easy at 8:04/mile.
29-Mar		Easy		1:03:54		8.1		AM: 8+ at 7:53/mile.  Meh.
		Harvard Track		1:46:54		14		PM: 10k home.  2m@90%/1000/1200/1600.  Was planning on 3 x mile or more, but the ankle flared up and I held back a bit.
30-Mar		Easy		0:43:16		5.15		AM: 5+ very easy.
		Easy		0:32:50		4.09		PM: 4+ very easy.
31-Mar		Easy		0:48:35		6.02		AM: 6+ very easy.
		Easy		0:40:00		5.3		PM: 5+ at 7:32/mile.
1-Apr		15k Cancelled		0:00:00		0		AM: Race cancelled.  Drove up to the White Mountains.
		Off/Ski Trip		0:41:46		5.13		PM: 5+ on some great hills.

Total: 100.61