Easing into Summer Training

Day		Date		Description		Pace		Distance		Notes
Sunday		28-Apr		Big Sur Marathon		0:07:51		26.20		3:28:35. Get healthy and train harder.
Monday		29-Apr		Rest				0.00		Legs feel great. I can walk downstairs!
Tuesday		30-Apr		Rest				0.00		If not for getting in at 1am, I would've done a run today. Legs feel fine. Amazing.
Wednesday		1-May		Easy				4.67		HM training run. Legs felt pretty good. Ankle is still tender.
Thursday		2-May		Intervals		0:08:14		8.84		800/400x4/1600/400x2 - no pep in my step
Friday		3-May		Rest				0.00		Rest.
Saturday		4-May		Fresh Pond				3.94		Fresh Pond in 15:11. Man did I feel slow. Myrtlx2 and a back workout in the evening w/Corven.
Sunday		5-May		Easy				6.00		Easy run at Battle Road with Corven.
Monday		6-May		Double		0:07:14		12.72		Three hill route at lunch - 7:15/mile for ~7m. Doubled up w/~60min in the evening easy.
Tuesday		7-May		Intervals				10.30		800x7 - what a shitty workout. I felt really horrible the entire time. I thought I'd have to shut it down early, but I take satisfaction knowing I stuck with it. Stomach felt bloated, and I had dead legs.
Wednesday		8-May		Recovery				6.00		HM Training run. Tired legs. Did a few strides during my jog home.
Thursday		9-May		Hills				7.99		Hill repeats in Arlington. Felt pretty strong, but I couldn't open it up and accelerate to finish the set. Still a very good workout.
Friday		10-May		Cross Training (Stability)				0.00		(Eccentric calf raises, resistance band, elevated trail leg lunges)x2
Saturday		11-May		Fresh Pond				4.58		Fresh Pond in 14:53. Felt slow still, but not nearly as slow as last week.
Sunday		12-May		Day off				0.00		Didn't have the energy after a long drive back from the surprise party in Plympton.
Monday		13-May		Double				7.48		Three Hill route at lunch, and a light jog in the evening.
Tuesday		14-May		Intervals				11.54		800, (1000/200)x4 - felt ok. Might need a day off as my left shin is tender.
Wednesday		15-May		Day off				0.00		Rest.
Thursday		16-May		Killer Bee's				9.49		~3.5 to and from Ultimate. Wore the Garmin during the game, which should ~2.5m.
Friday		17-May		Day off				0.00		Drive in traffic. Good Solstice dinner though.
Saturday		18-May		Strawberry SC 10k				9.82		40:37, 10th place. Shit race. Good effort.
Sunday		19-May		Recovery + Barefoot Strides		0:08:05		6.49		Easy run w/Raleigh. Eight barefoot strides after the run.
Monday		20-May		Killer Bee's				5.06		Jogged 4m to the game, then Garmin died during play. Probably another ~2miles ran during game time.
Tuesday		21-May		Intervals				10.02		1200/600/1200/600/300/400/300/600 - it poured during most of the workout, but pretty decent.
Wednesday		22-May		HM Training Run		0:09:19		6.27		Easy miles w/the group. Calves a little tight today.
Thursday		23-May		Easy				2.08		Easy run w/Raleigh. Calves still pretty tight so I kept the run short. Also got in an after-work nap.
Friday		24-May		XT				1.02		Jog to and from the gym. 7.5m on the bike. Myrtlx2 w/calf raises. Heavy quads after the bike.
Saturday		25-May		Fresh Pond		0:05:59		2.46		14:44 - 2nd place. Continued improvement.
Sunday		26-May		Medium Long Run + Barefoot Strides		0:07:45		10.67		Medium long run and finished w/10 barefoot strides in the grass at Fresh Pond.
Monday		27-May		Recovery				7.05		I was going to do a workout at Harvard, but the track had commencement crap going on. Just got in some fairly easy miles instead.
Tuesday		28-May		Killer Bee's				10.00		Ran to and from, and kept the Garmin on for the game.
Wednesday		29-May		Recovery				3.14		Went to a group run and there was no group! For the best though, when I got home both shins felt tender - decided not to go back out for more miles w/Raleigh.
Thursday		30-May		Killer Bee's				9.00		Just under 3 to and from the game, ~88 degrees tonight and muggy.
Friday		31-May						0.00		Day off. Right shin is tender.
Saturday		1-Jun						3.00		4x200 - mid 90's, would have liked to do a few more repeats, but my only intention was to run a few very steady and fast reps.

Thursday May 2nd:	Tuesday May 7th:	Tuesday May 14th:	Tuesday May 21st:	Saturday June 1st:
800-2:59	800 - 2:56	800-2:50	1200-4:21	200 - :29
400-1:26	800 - 2:56	1000-3:44	600-2:00	200 - :30
400-1:26	800 - 3:07	200-.37	1200-4:23	200 - :32
400-1:26	800 - 3:02	1000-3:40	600-2:03	200 - :30
400-1:25	800 - 3:05	200-.37	300-.57
1600-5:51	800 - 3:03	1000-3:38	400-1:18
400-1:24	800 - 3:05	200-.34	300-.56
400-1:22		1000-3:41	600-2:02
		200-.36

Nothing great happening recently. Actually some fairly crappy running, and random shin pain continues - I need to reestablish my XT routine.

Big Sur Marathon Race Report

Back in the fall, running the B2B (Boston 2 Big Sur Challenge) seemed like a challenging and fun adventure. More than that though, it was simply an excuse to go to Big Sur - a place I've wanted to visit for 10 years. When I trained myself into a stress fracture in December/January, I considered it a long shot that I would be able to run Big Sur after Boston...but thankfully I was able to toe the line.

The days before the Big Sur Marathon were awesome. San Francisco for 3 days, and Big Sur for 5 - with two notable highlights being a daylong bike throughout San Fran (including a ride across the Golden Gate bridge), and a kick ass 6 mile trail run in Big Sur. Without getting into too much detail - the trip exceeded my high expectations.

An interesting and stupid note: the trail run was 3.5 miles up, 2.5 down. By no means an easy run, but made even more difficult thanks to a turned ankle a half mile in. Eli was able to avoid the loose rock hidden behind a fallen tree, but I was not so lucky. With three days until my 2nd marathon in a two week period, I was lucky to avoid anything more serious.

The morning of the race I woke up at 3AM to catch a 3:30 bus to the starting line (FUN!). When I woke up I grabbed my Garmin (plugged in all night) and it immediately read 'low batter'...I'm not happy with the charger on the FR210 - it's a low quality POS. It ended up shutting off around mile 10 of the marathon - so sorry, but no mile by mile splits.

The starting area was very crowded, cold, and damp. I was shivering way too much for my liking - wasting precious energy, but time passed quickly and before I knew it I was on the starting line. The first few miles are fairly downhill before leveling out, with the forest on both sides. After ~3 miles I was out of the forest and running with 'mountains' to the right, farmland to the left, and the ocean just a bit past the farms. The further along we went, the less farmland between the runners and the ocean. So far it was easy running and I was running between a 7:30 - 8:00 minute pace.

There was a very solid hill around mile 8, but from looking at the elevation profile prior to the race, I knew that the real challenge lay ahead. Climbing over 500 feet over the course of two miles and peaking at Hurricane Point miles 11 and 12 loomed large.

With my Garmin dead at mile 10, I ran to Hurricane Point based on effort and unaware of my pace. It was a solid effort made even more difficult because Hurricane Point has it's name for a reason - the wind was brutal. But I kept the leg turnover going without worrying about hitting a certain pace, and when I finally started the descent I was able to open it up a little bit and hit the half in 1:43:43.

The day before the marathon, I got word that an old friend had a family art gallery along Highway 1, so Elizabeth and I went to check out the Hawthorne Gallery and met ended up meeting my buddy's younger sister. She happened to be running the marathon as part of relay team to raise money, and we all figured to meet up after the race for a beer. But quite randomly I happened to be running at almost the same pace as her team, and I was able to finally run with someone from mile ~16-22. My legs felt pretty banged up, but shooting the breeze with a new pal was a welcome reprieve from focusing either on sore quads or how my feet felt like brittle rocks.

From mile 22 to the finish I was feeling pretty good, with random spurts where my calf and quad would spasm and threaten to seize up. Luckily, I'm slightly more experienced with the distance now, and I could tell that I was unlikely to hit the wall - so I held my pace. I had been passed by another runner wearing a Boston Marathon jersey earlier in the race, and he was about 150 yards ahead of me with a mile to go. So in the spirit of competition, I made it my goal to pass him. I ended up making up that ground and putting 11 seconds on him in the meantime.

The last mile or so I finished extremely strong, and I'm happy with my finishing time of 3:28:35. Even better - I was barely sore the following day.

My hope is that the two marathons serve as additional building blocks to a solid aerobic foundation. I feel like I haven't been getting faster for the past year+, and it's about time I start setting some respectable PRs. We'll see this summer.

Boston Marathon Recap

...I've had something written (deleted, re-written, etc.) about this for awhile and debated on whether I should keep it or not. I don't want this post to seem like I have been impacted more than those who were truly affected - so this is simply my "race report" for what it is.



Starting a marathon dodging and weaving people is pretty annoying. Especially when those people are dumbly sprinting at the START of a marathon. But that's a small price to pay for being able to run 26.2 miles with spectators cheering you on 99% of the time.

I passed both CSU cheering spots feeling great, and even able to make a lame joke that, "I thought I had already passed Wellesley college!" That was the Newton Hills, and I imagine my horrible joke got a pity-laugh.

Around mile 23 I passed Kathleen & Steve feeling good and I was glad to see friendly faces. Well into the city, I went under Mass Ave wondering if my legs would get wobbly on the small uphill as they did last year, but they didn't and I held my form well - ready for the finish. I kept an eye out for Elizabeth, Mike, Katherine, Mary and Annie - hoping that my mind was sharp enough to catch them in a crowd. Just as I was turning onto Hereford I heard, "Uncle Patrick!" I immediately smiled and waved to the Bugbees of Boston holding up the (hopefully annual) cheering sign from Mary & Annie.

At that point I assumed I had somehow missed Elizabeth, and so I hugged the corner and turned onto Boylston. Seeing the finish line and feeling strong I gave a few high fives before settling in for the finish until I heard "PATRICK!" and saw Elizabeth leaning over the fence with a big smile waving toward me. After returning the smile and the wave, I continued on and crossed the finish line in a just a few more strides.

I ran a time of 3:23:54. After months of almost entirely cross training to recover from an injury I kept an even pace.  I didn't cramp.  I didn't crash.  And I didn't slow. I finished at around 2:15 in the afternoon and the bombs exploded around 2:50.  It frightens me and amazes me how very easily I could've had a bad race and slowed enough...

I was about two blocks away with Elizabeth, Mike, Katherine and the girls when we heard the explosions.  Groups of people came from the side streets.  I walked back onto Boylston to ask the baggage check if my cousin's bag had been picked up yet.  It hadn't, but he was ok.  I asked a news truck if they knew what happened, and they said that they think that bomb(s) went off.  I looked down Boylston and saw the smoke, then looked back at Elizabeth who was still standing at the barrier.  I was torn as to what to do, but Elizabeth put out her arms as if to say, "what are you doing? get back here."  We ended up going to Elizabeth's work on Beacon to get online and let people know we were ok.  Then we walked across the Mass Ave bridge to get picked up by Kathleen and head back to our place where we met up with Doug & Kristin and we all sat around watching the news.

The next day I went for an easy jog at the Harvard track, and the day after that I went to the Marathon Sports in Cambridge for the weekly 4-mile Half Marathon Training Run. I took Thursday off, and then was inside that Friday.

I received a phone call from my Aunt in early morning telling me to wake up and make sure my doors were locked as "they are throwing bombs out their car window."  That felt so over the top I thought it couldn't be true.  But living just over a mile from the boat in Watertown, we could hear just about everything.  We heard the gunshots in the afternoon along with the flash grenades - then heard them again, seconds later, on the TV. A short while later it was unconfirmed that the one idiot who survived might be going to Mt Auburn Hospital.  So Elizabeth and I put on running shoes and ran there. We weren't the only ones with this idea, as the streets were crowded with cops, news trucks, and people who were gathering around.  He ended up somewhere else, but it was a worthwhile experience as everyone seemed to be in a similar state of mind.

It was an exhausting and sad week, but seeing those injured maintain positive attitudes, and the overwhelmingly positive response from the city and country has been encouraging. Hopefully, out of this tragedy people can maintain the positive vibes, but the cynic in me expects people to go back to staring at their phones and nearly hitting runners on a regular basis.

Last Hard Workout

Displaying the new CSU singlet after a long workout consisting of:
-11 miles easy/moderate
-2 miles half marathon pace
-400 meter jog
-1 mile half marathon pace
-400 meter jog
-1 mile half marathon pace
-2.5m home as a cool down
18 miles total

The goal was to simulate quicker miles on tired legs, and also work on my endurance. It was successful and encouraging.

Staying Healthy

The past week ~two weeks have gone pretty much as well as I could have hoped. With such a shortened training cycle, I can't hit any of my long term goals at Boston, but recent runs have me hopeful that I'll be able to run a solid time.

20-Mar				5.75		All slow miles, plus another 3/4 of a mile walking. Legs felt fresh. Sweet potato fries and beer tasted good too! LIPUSx3.
21-Mar				11.00		1600x4/400/200. Workout went really well and I felt very smooth. The 400 and 200 were add-ons and were tough, but it was good leg turnover. Resistance band in the afternoon. LIPUSx3.
22-Mar				0.00		Day off. LIPUSx3
23-Mar				0.00		10min bike, foam rolling, 20+min of drills and stretching, Myrtlx1, LIPUSx2.
24-Mar		0:07:48		22.62		Soup run….basically went way better than I could have hoped.
25-Mar				1.56		Light swim, jacuzzi, rolling, LIPUSx3.
26-Mar				1.58		30min bike, 30min swim, Myrtlx3, single leg squatsx3, runner's touchx3, eccentric calf raisesx3. LIPUSx3.
27-Mar				5.35		HM program - all slow miles. Legs felt pretty good. LIPUSx2.
28-Mar				8.50		1000x3. Cut the workout short - my right calf was tightening similar to 3/14. Resistance band.
29-Mar				0.00		Rest. Resistance band, LIPUSx3.
30-Mar		0:07:21		12.61		Battle Road. Was initially targeting a longer run, but between internal distress and some lingering soreness from Thursday, I kept it short. 'Honest' pace though...
31-Mar				0.00		Rest.

March 21: 1600 - 6:24, 1600 - 6:18, 1600 - 6:23, 1600 - 6:11, 400 - .78, 200 - .35

The long run on March 24th is huge. I was gassed at the end of the run, but I didn't have any soreness that worried me and felt good the following day. In retrospect I would have preferred to stick to XT for the following two days. Even though it was only a mile and a half slow jog home, I would have been better served staying off the pavement. I followed up that quasi-dumb move by cutting my speedwork short on the 28th. It's always tough stopping a workout, but the calf tightened up and we're a little too close to game time to try and push through.

All in all, the numbers look good considering the ~3 months that preceded it.

3/17 to 3/23 Weekly Mileage: 36.75
3/24 to 3/30 Weekly Mileage: 52.22

New Bedford Half Marathon & Recent Training

I'm not going to call this a Race Report, but it's definitely a highlight for my recent training. I approached the New Bedford Half Marathon hoping I could run a fast time - but I knew that would be a long shot. So I did a ~2 mile warm up and felt pretty good. No aches, no pains. Always a good thing. But I knew this is not my goal race, and while still recovering from injury I needed to be careful. Eye on the prize...

The race started, and I went out holding about a 7:05 pace. My plan was to hold this pace for ~two miles and assess how I felt after that. Unfortunately, during the third mile I could tell it wasn't my day. My quads were already starting to feel beat up by that point. I've been able to start  running a bit more lately, but I have had a lot of time off and my legs are not used to the pavement. And in retrospect, they were not remotely recovered from my last two workouts. They felt really beat up, and since I was only ~3 miles in, I knew that I would have to back off and just use this race as a "long run with company."

I'm a bit torn about how I feel about the weekend. On one hand, I would've loved to be able to attempt a fast race, perhaps even PR, and I'm really bummed I couldn't get after it. On the other hand - this was my longest run in 12 weeks. That's a long time. And so in recent days I've tried to look at the bright side: I ran 16 miles for the day, and I held a ~7:21 pace for 13.1 miles on really beat up quads. With ample recovery, this will serve as good preparation for a shortened marathon training schedule. (Repeat: ample recovery). The more I think about it - this was my longest run in 12 weeks. Don't be stupid. Eye on the prize.

Here's some recent training:

				Pace		Distance
Monday		1-Jan				0.00		Resistance band. Eccentric calf raises. Single leg squats. Foam Roller. LIPUSx3.
Tuesday		2-Jan		0:08:10		2.00		2m easy - felt good. Eccentric calf raises. Resistance band. LIPUSx3.
Wednesday		3-Jan				0.00		33min bike w/hard intervals. Resistance band. 180 pushups. Core work (short). LIPUSx2.
Thursday		4-Jan				7.00		800/1200/1600/1200/800. Did not intend to run this workout, and was ready to stop at the slightest hint of a twinge. Really happy. LIPUSx3.
Friday		8-Mar				0.00		30min bike, 20min swim. Arm workout & core. LIPUSx2.
Saturday		9-Mar						Resistance band. LIPUSx3.
Sunday		10-Mar		0:07:46		12.11		Hosted CSU long run. Felt good. Quads got beat up, and right calf was really sore (definitely muscular) - but the pace was solid and the lungs were fine as well.
Monday		11-Mar		0:09:01		2.00		Myrtlx2. Foam Roller. LIPUSx3.
Tuesday		12-Mar				0.00		45min elliptical, 45min pool. Arm workout, eccentric calf, resistance band. LIPUSx3.
Wednesday		13-Mar				5.06		HM training program. Slow miles. LIPUSx3.
Thursday		14-Mar				8.90		6x800. Ran 2:54 for most of the repeats, and felt comfortable. The last two were bit more difficult than the rest, but still solid. LIPUSx3.
Friday		15-Mar				0.00		30min bike, 30min swim. LIPUSx3.
Saturday		16-Mar				0.00		Rest. LIPUSx3.
Sunday		17-Mar		0:07:21		16.00		New Bedford HM. Quads felt toasted by mile three. So it was a disappointing race, but I'm satisfied with the ability to hold that effort while in pain for ~10 miles. Warm up and cool down brought me to ~16. LIPUSx3.
Monday		18-Mar				0.00		30min bike, 20min swim (solid effort), Myrtlyx3, calf raises x 3, runner touch x 3. LIPUSx3.
Tuesday		19-Mar		0:07:45		4.00		4m run, 30min bike. 10min rolling, 10min stretching, resistance band. LIPUSx3.

The 7 miles on January 4th was my first workout back, and I consider that the turning point in my healing process. I had numerous days of 2 hours on the elliptical, or an hour on the elliptical/bike followed by an hour in the pool - and I couldn't be more happy to be done with that. I will continue to use all of that good stuff for cross training during the recovery period, but now's the time to put the feet to the pavement.

Boston 2013. Big Sur 2013.

600 Meter Interval Allowed to Live

The past 8 weeks I have had to miss all of the Thursday night workouts through the speedwork program at BU. Each Thursday morning I would get an email with the workout options for that night, and every time I read it - I would simply sigh, knowing hours of boredom in the pool and on the elliptical were awaiting me after work. I was diligent, and I was dedicated, but I was not satisfied.

A few weeks ago, while staring at my reflection in the blank tv screen in front of the elliptical, my mind became completely detached. I had apparently had enough two-hour sessions, and off it wandered. Normally, I'm not big on motivational sayings, but for some reason - once my mind returned, I found myself repeating the same thing over and over again:

I will be fast. I will be fit. I will be strong.
I will work hard. I will train smarter.
I will race my f___ing guts out.

I must have repeated that for 45 minutes straight. And while I'm sure it sounds a little lame, my pace quickened, and my heart rate elevated. It served its purpose.

...All of this brings me to last nights workout. My shin had been feeling much better, and I've gone out for a few 2 milers here and there. So when I received the email showing the workout: 800/1200/1600/1200/800/600
I decided I'd show up to at least do the warm up, drills, and strides.

I kept my clunky trainers on and ambled along at my own pace for a good 25 minutes. I lined up, and I did the drills. And all along I had no pain. I did the strides, and opened it up a bit on the straightaways. Again, I felt good. So I decided I would let the group I normally ran with start the workout, and I would go on my own, ready to stop at even the slightest twinge, pull, or tug in my shin.

The first 200 meters of interval number one, I listened to the shin. I heard nothing and finished the first 800 - 3:02. A little slower than what I remember, but considering I was easing back on the workout - not bad. I walked the recovery to let the adrenaline settle down and again listen to the shin for any barking. Still nothing. And so it remained.

Onto the 1200 - 4:30. Next up the 1600, be careful with this one - 6:00. That felt smooth. Keep it easy. 1200 - 4:31. Legs are there, but don't push it. 800 - 3:05.

Each interval felt strong, but I was nervous. I had been putting plenty of time in at the gym, but nothing but 2 milers up to this point. Just under 3.5 miles worth of intervals in addition to a ~3 mile warm up?...not what I was planning, but I wasn't pushing it too hard and I was ready to stop at any time. Only I didn't need to...And so I had one more interval to go - the 600.

Not often do I give a lot of thought to any particular workout, but up to that point - I felt like I was killing it. My first workout in two months, and I felt strong and in control. But I'm happy to say that I did what I believe to be the smart thing. I left the 600 on the track. I may have been killing it (at least for this hack), but I would let the 600 live for another workout.