Winter Weather Workout(s): Part One

AM: 2 mile w/u + strides
Target: 10k tempo @ 35:45-36:30
Actual: 36:21 (5:51 pace); 18:18/18:03
1 mile c/d
Total: 9 miles

Last year, two and a half weeks out from Philly, I executed arguably my most difficult (and most impressive) workout(s) ever, consisting of a morning 10k tempo followed by an evening 10-miler at MP. Jordan, fresh off an injury, joined me for both efforts--and I dropped him on both. Having never outrun Jordan once in my life, much less twice in one day, this workout served as a huge confidence booster and solidified my fitness for what would be a breakthrough marathon performance a few weeks later.

With only 14 days separating me from my next 26.2 endeavor, it was time to attempt this workout again. Unfortunately, the weather had other plans.
 

Picture perfect conditions on tap for Sunday morning

I saw this abysmal forecast less than 24 hours before the first part of this workout was to begin and promptly started freaking out. I called Jordan, who was on the road, and we started running through our options. Unfortunately, delaying the workout wasn't one of them, as we'd be flying out for Thanksgiving on Monday evening, and anything after that would be much too close to the race. Could we try a treadmill? Certainly more favorable, but I unequivocally suck at treadmills and highly doubted I could run sub-6 pace for more than three consecutive minutes. I floated the scenario by Carly and Terry, who came up with the perfect solution (at least for Part One): the Harvard indoor track! Why didn't I think of that?? Oh wait, maybe because it meant I would be running 50 laps?!? But still, it was by far my best option. The next step was trying to recruit someone crazy enough to do this with me. I put out some feelers to the BAA with no success, and by Saturday night I'd all but tucked myself in on Sarah's futon (she lives so close to Harvard!) and resigned myself to doing this solo. Then, around 9:30pm, I received an email from a GBTC member named Charly Allan who'd heard of my plight and offered to help as part of his long run. Needless to say, I jumped at the offer and prayed he would actually show up the next morning.

Sure enough, just before 8am, my new BFF arrived as I was in the midst of my warmup jog counterclockwise along the perimeter of the eerily quiet facility. The weather prediction had been spot on, and as the gusts of wind howled around the outside of the building I knew I'd made the right decision. Before long, Charly and I were toeing the imaginary start line. The plan was simply to take it out conservatively, tuck in behind him and gradually crank the pace down during the second half--all without losing count of our laps. I was just as intimidated by the mental challenge as I was the physical one, and was beyond relieved that someone else was there to do the heavy lifting for me. I just needed to relax, zone out, fall into a rhythm behind Charly and trust that the pace would come naturally.

The first few laps felt clunky and awkward, both of us adjusting as strangers in a strange land. After the first mile or so I settled in, feeling comfortable and eager and trying not to clip his heels. The pace seemed slow, a little too easy, and I was unsurprised when we came through 5k a touch off the target. "Let's hold this until four, then gradually pick it up for the last two miles," I requested. He was happy to oblige, and before I knew it the invisible lap counter was down to single digits. We dug deeper (or at least I did) for the final mile, and I felt like I was working for the first time in 30 minutes. As we crossed the finish line to the applause of exactly no one, I was ecstatic--not just that the workout had felt relatively easy, but that I hadn't allowed the adverse weather conditions to thwart my carefully laid plans.

Actual weather at go time. Meanwhile, inside was pleasant and wind-free!

 At least, not yet. There was still an afternoon tempo to contend with, and the frigid winds showed no signs of abating. Time to go home, recover, and plot my next move... 

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(Down) Week(s) in Review

4/29 - 5/5:
68 miles
14-15 mile long run
1 day off
3 days sick

5/6 - 5/12
45 miles
14-mile long run
3 days off
5 days sick 
5 days with pinkeye

As the above stats indicate, the past few weeks have been pretty disastrous as pertains to my health, fitness and overall state of well-being. I caught the cold and/or virus from hell shortly after returning from my amazing trip and felt so terrible on Friday that I actually took my first day off from running since Nemo in early February. I salvaged a few decent runs on the weekend, including a hard solo 20k around the Neck on a picture perfect Saturday afternoon and a fun 1:45 with Carly in Cambridge on Sunday, but by Monday morning I'd coughed myself hoarse and was reduced to pantomiming or acting out most of my sentences. It didn't help that this was the busiest week at work in quite some time, with 10+ hour planning sessions each day, so when I woke up with my left eye swollen shut on Wednesday I just assumed my illness was invading more innocent body parts. That notion was dispelled 36 hours later when my bosses all but pushed me out the door to the minute clinic, where I discovered that I had somehow managed to contract conjunctivitis (i.e., pinkeye) in both of my eyes. Was this related to being sick? No, the nurse practitioner told me as she failed to mask her revulsion at my monstrous visage, just a delightful bacterial coincidence. 

Oh, and did I mention that something is going on with my shin? Apparently I've got some burgeoning soleus issue that has reduced me to limping down the stairs and uncomfortably shuffling (even more than usual) through morning runs. I was certain that three days off earlier this week would nip this in the bud--the irony that I'm on the verge of celebrating one year of injury-free running is not lost on me--but unfortunately it still remains an increasingly major inconvenience. If I didn't have the US Half-Marathon Championships looming on the relatively near horizon I would shut things down for a full week, but that's a luxury I simply don't have right now. Instead I'm strengthening and sticking and epsom salting and compression socking and doing just about everything I can think of to manage the issue. As it stands, I've done nothing faster than a jog since my race in Italy, so I need to get this under control enough to attempt a workout or two next week. Fingers (and toes) crossed for a return to good health sooner than later!

To my left, Marblehead harbor view from the causeway leading to the Neck. No filter!

To my right, ocean view. If you look closely you can see the Boston skyline in the background.

If there's one silver lining to this shitstorm of a week, it was the opportunity to cheer on the three fastest ladies I know at the New Balance Boston Twilight Meet on Saturday evening. Abbey D'Agostino, my NCAA champ training buddy from earlier this winter, crushed the women's 800, while Kim Smith and Molly Huddle mixed it up with the boys (and beat a good number of them) in the 5k and 3k respectively. It was great to catch up with each of them on their cooldown jogs and then to enjoy a highly meat-intensive dinner with Kim and Molly after the meet. Hoping some of their speed will rub off on me (as opposed to, you know, my pinkeye infecting them). If nothing else, their performances have definitively motivated me to put my life back together and get in shape!

Kim on her way to a 15:02 world-leading 5k

Molly tucked in with the boys en route to an 8:57 3k

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Half-Marathon Boot Camp: Workout #3, or "30k For Emily's 30th"

Target: 30 min. easy, 30 min. tempo, 30 min. steady, 10x30 secs. hard for 30k total
Actual: 35 min. easy, 30 min. tempo @6 min. pace, 30 min. jogging around looking for Terry, 30 min. steady @~6:20 pace, 5 min. easy for 30k total

For her 30th birthday, Emily wanted to do something epic. Or, at minimum, epically symbolic. So after her initial plan of running the entire Boston course was scrapped due to, well, common sense, we enlisted Jordan to come up with something long and challenging but still fun and manageable, all in honor of the milestone of entering one's 30th year of life on this earth. He came up with the target workout above, which looked daunting enough on paper (especially considering it would be my longest run since Philly and my third workout in six days). Fortunately, Emily recruited others to join and help dissipate the suffering, including her former college teammate Christina and a rare joint appearance of Carly and Terry (made possible by Emily's mom, in town for the b-day celebration, virtually leaping at the chance to play surrogate grandmother for a few hours).

The group assembled at Emily's just after 9am, eager to get the run underway and even more eager to finish it up so we could return to a brunch feast that Emily's husband Matt had been slaving away over all morning. In fact, the toughest part of the run was forcing ourselves out the door with the tantalizing scent of fresh coffee and rising frittata wafting down the hallway behind us. Once out the door, however, we fell into a relaxed rhythm on the bike path in the direction of the arboretum. I'd never run there before, and in hindsight I'm glad that was the case, because if I'd known in advance how hilly it was I probably never would've agreed to run the entire tempo portion there. But from a logistical perspective it made perfect sense, since we could all work out at our own appropriate paces and still start and finish together. We prepared to pick it up, agreeing to meet back at our starting point 30 minutes later, and then set off to tackle what would be the toughest part of the run (even more difficult than leaving the kitchen behind, as it turned out). Almost immediately our group split into three natural pairings: myself and Jordan, Emily and Carly, Terry and Christina. As the two most unfamiliar with the territory, Jordan and I made a few wrong turns and came to a few dead ends before settling into a reliable loop, and as a result somehow ended up running the opposite direction as everyone else. This actually ended up being helpful for me, as I knew that every few minutes I would pass Carly and Emily, then Terry and Christina, and no matter how badly I was hurting I couldn't allow myself to get completely dropped at the risk of embarrassing myself in front of them. (That said, my increasingly pained facial expressions couldn't have done much in the way of making a good impression). Our pace fluctuated wildly, dictated by the undulating terrain, and every time we trudged up one particularly grueling hill I felt sure that  mile couldn't be faster than eight minutes. These are the times when I'm glad I don't wear a Garmin. Sometimes it's better not to know.

Somehow, I kept it together for 30 minutes, and shortly after finishing we were rejoined by Carly and Emily. Certain that Terry and Christina were close behind--after all, I'd just seen them less than 10 minutes prior--we dawdled around a bit near our meeting point, finally starting to jog in the direction from which we'd come after standing around became unbearably cold. Fully expecting to see them approaching at any minute, none of us were initially alarmed, but as the minutes ticked by it became clear that they simply weren't there. While I wasn't necessarily worried, I was definitely perplexed. If I know one truth to be constant, it is that Terry never, ever deviates from a plan. If we said to meet back in 30 minutes, he'd be there at 29:55 with a detailed mile-by-mile itinerary for the rest of our run. And yet, inexplicably, he wasn't there.

After another few miles of jogging around the arboretum, we agreed that the only logical explanation was that they'd somehow, for some reason, decided to forego the meeting and head back to Emily's. (Perhaps they were hoping to get a jump on the brunch buffet.) We'd already been on our feet for over 90 minutes and were growing more chilled with each step, so the only logical course of action was for us to do the same. Carly, clearly worried, began to pick up the pace. ("I hope he didn't have a heart attack," she said at one point, only half joking. I resisted the urge to respond with, "Don't worry; we would've heard the ambulance." Somehow I doubted that would provide much comfort.) Before I knew it, we'd crested the two-hour mark and were running uncomfortably close to my previous tempo pace--fortunately on a flat bike path this time, but my legs didn't seem to register much appreciation of this nuance.

Finally, mercifully, the run came to an end, and with it the discovery of nothing but good news: 30k was surpassed, Terry was fine (and somehow hadn't even heard the original "meet back in 30 minutes" plan), none of us received a parking ticket and at long last it was time to eat our collective body weight in brunch. Happy birthday, Emily!  

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Week in Review, or "That Time I Ate a Donut in the Middle of a Long Run"

85 miles
3 doubles
3 runs in Boston
3 runs with Emily

This post could've just as easily been titled "That Time I Ran 386 Laps Around the Harvard Parking Lot with the BAA," or "That Time Emily and I Found Out We Aren't As Out of Shape as We Thought." All three of these monikers are equally accurate, and all three effectively comprise the main takeaways from this week's key runs:

Sunday morning: 15-15.5 miles easy on the Boston Marathon course from Cleveland Circle with the BAA ladies (plus Jordan). About an hour into the run, the group had splintered into a handful of different groups, leaving Jordan and Emily and I standing in front of a Dunkin' Donuts somewhere in Newton. What can I say? Nature took its course, and the next thing I know the three of us were passing around a dense, gooey, double chocolatey frostedy donut while still running. It may have gotten a little messy, but no worse than when I clumsily try to rip open a gel packet during a race (and far tastier). Heartbreak Hill didn't stand a chance thanks to the ensuing sugar rush.

Saturday morning: ~13 mile progression run with a huge BAA crew around...the Harvard parking lot. Or, technically, the "Sheatock loop," so named for (or by, or both) the BAA's fearless leaders Carly and Terry. Given that the river path wasn't remotely frozen I'm still unclear as to why we insisted on spinning like an army of deranged hamsters around a 1200-meter loop, but at any rate the company was worth it.

Wednesday night:   
2 mile w/u
Target: 6x1000 w/1:30 jog @3:35 (5:45/mile pace); 4x500 @faster w/1:30 jog
Actual: 6x1000 @3:33, 3:31, 3:25, 3:26, 3:24, 3:21; 4x500 @1:39, 1:41, 1:38, 1:39
1.5 mile c/d
Total: 8.5 miles

Jordan pulled Emily and I through this workout on the Sheatock loop, and I think it's safe to say all of us were pleasantly surprised at how well it went considering we were basically dodging cars in the dark in the middle of a glorified parking lot. Excluding a baby fartlek last week I haven't worked out in over a month, and as per usual Emily claimed to be "terribly out of shape" after an extended trip home for the holidays. Fortunately we were able to average 5:30-5:40 pace on the 1000's with relative ease; only when I transitioned into the 500's at the end did I feel the telltale ragged breathing and burning legs that signify a dip into uncomfortably difficult territory. During one of our recovery jogs, Emily made me vow to hold her accountable and guilt her into working out for the remainder of the winter. It's always worth it once we're out here, she added. Tonight was a great start.     

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Week in Review

~60 miles
2 days off
14 laps on the Lowell track
1 unicorn pinata

After dropping out of the 10k, I was understandably frustrated. Fortunately there was plenty of activity to divert my mind, namely the baby shower that I was helping Emily host for Carly the following day. You would think that by 12 hours before a party you're throwing for 19 people, preparations would be largely under control. Instead, Jordan and I headed straight back to Emily's after the track meet and stayed up into the wee hours drinking wine (me), baking yummy treats (her) and singing along to our favorite song from "Rent" (both of us). 

The following morning, despite the promise of gorgeous sunny weather and good company, I opted out of the two-hour Lincoln Woods trail run in favor of resting my increasingly tender foot. I spent those hours pouting, assisting the baby shower sous chefs (aka Emily's husband and brother) and finishing up last-minute party prep. I was bummed to miss the run but quickly distracted by the afternoon's revelry and merriment, including but not limited to eating tasty food, puff painting ambiguous animal shapes onto onesies and teeing off on a BAA-themed pinata. If there's more to be desired from a baby shower I can't imagine what it might be.

Lovely running ladies in non-running clothes for a change.

Yup, that happened.

Looking ahead, much of next week is a big foot-shaped question mark. I've got a month until the US Half Championships and, despite repeated performances to the contrary, I'm confident in my fitness right now. That said, I could still use a few more solid workouts and longer tempos to really wrap everything up nicely--but only if I'm 100% healthy. Sigh. I'm definitely going to play the next few days by ear and cross my fingers that my foot will cooperate.

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Charles River Tempo Run with the BAA

2.5 mile w/u
Target: 6-7 miles uptempo; first 4 easy with group then pick it up
Actual: 6:35ish, 6:20ish, 6:08, 6:08, 5:52, 5:56, 5:36
3 mile c/d + strides
Total: ~13 miles

As is becoming fairly routine for Saturday morning when I'm not out of town, I met up with Terry and Carly and a solid BAA contingent at the Harvard track. I was pleasantly surprised to also see Teresa for the first time since her kick-ass 10k at Stanford, and was also glad to finally be formally introduced to Caitlin's good friend Liz. After a relaxed warmup filled with stories and conversation, the morning was already off to a great start.

Trotting back over to the starting point of our familiar 4.2-mile loop, I'd already decided to tuck in for the first few miles since I knew some girls wanted a conservative pace. (As a side note, multiple people have told me that this is the "slow" tempo loop on the river as opposed to a different, faster course that the BAA also sometimes uses. All I know is I've joined them at least a dozen times and we've never once worked out on the "fast" loop. Terry, I know you're reading this--stop holding out on me!) Teresa felt the same, seeing as she's fighting a troublesome hip and attempting her first workout since Stanford, so we just settled in at the rear and spent the first few miles chatting. I could already tell that all of us felt worlds better than when we'd done a similar tempo two weekends ago (which was so abysmal I didn't even bother to blog about it), and just knowing that gave me the confidence to hold back early and save up for a strong finish.


I should also mention one other factor that led to me restraining myself today. After several weeks of waiting, I found out yesterday that I was accepted into the 10k field at the Penn Relays next Thursday (yes, five days from now). Jordan and I will already be there on Karhu business, so I reached out to the meet director with the mindset that I had nothing to lose by using this as a rustbuster in preparation for next month's BAA Twilight meet. Now that I'm officially in, I'll need to strike a careful balance over the next few days of still striving for fitness gains while not overdoing it so I can be fresh come Thursday night.


Back to the tempo and the start of the second loop: at this point our group began to string out a bit, with Teresa and I naturally taking up the charge. I felt a little strained but overall still comfortable opening up my legs a bit with Teresa. Considering that she just ran 32:50 for 10k a few weeks ago, I fully understand that I wouldn't have any hopes of staying with her on a normal workout, but today I had a lot of fun trying (and failing miserably) to emulate her form and match her long, loping strides. Opting for only six miles, she pulled away from me midway through the second mile of this loop and powered to the finish. At this point I was surprised to see Melissa Nash, another BAA girl, sticking close and then sprinting around me to finish her own six miles quite strong. I was definitely hurting now, but I also knew the third mile of the loop was the fastest and would offer me a gentle tailwind. I pushed as hard as I could for the next five minutes and was rewarded with a 5:36 final mile. I'll take it.


The hard part over, I continued jogging the loop until I met up with Carly and we finished up the run together. A few more laps on the track with Terry, a few strides and then it was time to enjoy breakfast and the beginning of a relaxing weekend at home.

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Marathon Monday

From the moment I awoke on Monday morning and glanced out the window, I knew the prognosticators had been right. It was going to be a hot one, perhaps even record-breaking. It may seem a bit paradoxical to say I was filled with equal parts excitement and dread, but that's exactly how I felt about spectating the race. On the one hand I was thrilled to be experiencing Marathon Monday as a fan of the sport and friend of many of the race participants. On the other hand, it was almost a certainty that every single person I knew, regardless of fitness level, would miss their goal times. At best, many of them would resign themselves to this irrefutable fact early on and adjust their game plans. At worst, others would struggle stubbornly against the elements until the elements mightily, emphatically won. It would not be pretty.


But first, before any of the carnage unfolded, Emily and I had our own run to tackle. We met up with Carly in Back Bay and carpooled up to Wellesley, where we planned to camp out several hours later. As we drove up Comm Ave through the Newton hills, tracing the marathon course in reverse, it was hard not to get swept up in the magical feeling that is Marathon Monday in Boston. Even now, hours before the race was to begin, the road was crowded with cyclists, runners and walkers, volunteers, police officers and even incredibly dedicated spectators who'd already staked out their prime viewing spots. (The fact that several of them were obviously sunbathing already only further reinforced the absurdity of the weather situation.) Arriving to Wellesley at 8am meant we got an ideal parking spot in the downtown train station parking lot, steps away from the halfway point on the course but still with easy access out of the lot and back to the highway. For the next 90 or so minutes we meandered around the nearby soft surface trails, concerning ourselves more with the next available water fountain than the pace. While we were having a great time frolicking around in the woods, we were also getting hot. In particular Carly, our pregnant companion, noticed how much stronger and more intense the sun felt than any other day during her pregnancy. The three of us grew somber with the realization that if we were struggling now, before most racers had even toed the line in Hopkinton, the situation for everyone from elites to charity runners was going to get real in a hurry.


Thanks to excellent strategic planning (Terry would be proud), we made it back to the car with plenty of time to towel off, grab a few key belongings, dash the spirits of several drivers hoping to snag our parking space, and secure a spot on the edge of the race course with minutes to spare before the elite women came by. We also had in our possession a cooler and large bag filled with several frozen water bottles of all shapes, sizes and varieties. Carly had pre-arranged a handoff with several BAA sub-elite runners, and I'd let Jay know I would have one ready for him as well. For what was probably only a few minutes but seemed like an eternity, we had nothing to do but hurry up and wait. The crowds swelled as we gradually found ourselves surrounded by several hundred other ebulliant fans, all of whom were just as nervous and excited for their daughters and sisters and fathers and friends as we were for ours. For now, in those expectant moments, the only aura was excitement. As we would learn, for many the dread would soon follow.


The elite women passed first, and once the lead African pack had passed it became apparent that most were already struggling. None were walking--yet--but not a few of them had already been reduced to a shuffle. For the three of us, I think that was the first moment of the day that was actually sobering, a harbinger of things--and people--to come. The men's elite field came by several minutes later, looking markedly better but still incredibly, absurdly hot. We stood quietly, nervously, craning our necks off into the distance in hopes that the yellow and blue BAA jerseys would materialize soon. Shortly thereafter several did, and the next 30 minutes or so passed in a flurry of activity as we busied ourselves with handing out the water bottles. Technically, this type of behavior is against the rules of this and any other major marathon. Today, I would've defied anyone to stop us. It's probably telling of the situation at hand that we earned bursts of cheers and applause for our efforts, especially on the handful of occasions when we had to toss the bottles into the road and, miraculously, every time they were snagged from midair by their intended targets. Around the 1:17 mark I saw Jay's familiar loping form in the distance, and several seconds later he was right by my side still looking fresh and strong. I handed him a bottle and some words of encouragement and then watched him stride ahead, his two Urban Athletics teammates close behind. The next familiar face we expected to see was Betsy's, but as the minutes passed and the masses thickened we began to grow concerned. Instead, the first woman we saw approaching from the mass start was Emily's friend (and our other housemate for the weekend), Meredith. She was grinning from ear to ear and easily looked the best and most comfortable of anyone else we knew. Similarly, Elle passed by shortly thereafter also beaming. (Side note: I'm certain Dalena Custer from Charlotte must have also gone by during this time as she finished right between these girls in the final results, but I never saw her. Must've been going too fast!) Over the next few minutes I spotted several jerseys I recognized, from CRC (go, Caleb Boyd!) to Trak Shak to Charlotte Running Company to TrySports, but still no Betsy. We were just about to abandon our post and book it to Heartbreak Hill, our second destination, when Emily spotted her. I quickly grabbed a bottle of water and sprinted after her, knowing with a sinking heart that she was already struggling in the conditions. Like hundreds if not thousands of others, today was not meant to be her day.


Once I rejoined Carly and Emily, it was time to embark on a race of our own to Heartbreak Hill. We made it there in remarkably good time and located a stellar parking spot, which meant we'd still have an opportunity to see most if not all of our friends. I hoped to catch Jay, but he must've already passed--which for him was a good thing!--so I would estimate we arrived just in time to see those who would ultimately finish in the 2:45 to 3:00 range. You know, those who typically look fit and spry and sprightly. Today, in sharp contrast, I doubt there were more than a few 7-minute miles among them. As Allen said with painful eloquence in his own tortured race recap (which, by the way, is still hilarious and incredibly well written because--SPOILER ALERT--he managed to not die from heat stroke), most of their hearts had been broken long ago. The minutes ticked by at an agonizing pace, as did most of our friends, some looking far better off than others, and after a while it was honestly too difficult to watch. We left, shaking our heads in disbelief and awe at the throngs of racers pushing themselves to--in some cases beyond--their limits, with a dogged perseverance and tenacity that no doubt embodies the true spirit of the Boston Marathon. As much as I respected them all, I have never in my life been more grateful to not be competing in a race.


The rest of the race was a bit anticlimactic, at least for me. By the time we arrived back to Emily's and made our way to Boylston Street, the crowds were too dense to allow us many good views of the finishing stretch. I'd once again missed Jay, who held on strong to finish remarkably close to his PR. We did see Meredith bounding by, still looking as fresh as ever in 2:55, with Dalena (who I finally saw!) and Elle soon to follow. By that point Jay and most of the BAA guys had already passed, but many of our other friends would still be quite some time. Having spent the past six hours out in the sun myself, I felt as tired and salty as if I'd just finished my own marathon. We decided to head back to Emily's, only then hearing reports that both the men's and women's winners had run the slowest Boston winning times in years. Last year's champion, Geoffrey Mutai, had dropped out due to heat-related cramps. The returning women's champion, Caroline Kilel, was rumored to have been seen walking somewhere near Fenway, another victim of the extreme conditions. One of the most prestigious sporting events in the world had been reduced to nothing more than a quest for survival.


And yet, miraculously, everyone did survive. I say that with no facetiousness, given that hardly a warm marathon goes by anymore without one unfortunate report of death. I think it's a testament to the efforts and organization of the BAA, coupled with the general level of fitness and preparedness that most Boston runners take with them to the race, that mercifully resulted in today not becoming another statistic. I'm relieved that all of my friends made it out of there only slightly worse for the wear, and I have nothing but the utmost respect for everyone who toed the line today knowing it would be tough and embracing the challenge anyway. As for myself, I leave Marathon Monday the same way I approached it, feeling excitement tinged with dread. I know for certain that I never, ever want to run Boston if it means experiencing conditions like today's. But I'd also be lying if I didn't admit that a part of me pictures myself out there next year, tearing up Heartbreak Hill and sprinting for the finish down Boylston. Either way, one way or another, I'll be back for Marathon Monday in 2013.

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Week in Review/Weekend Review

90 miles
4 doubles
7 days at home (!!)
16 miles with Jay
4 AFDs

All week long I'd been waffling about my plans for a Saturday workout. I briefly entertained the idea of doing a four-miler with prize money, but the relatively small purse in relation to the amount of driving required made my ambition wane with each passing day. Similarly, a solo hard effort on one of the same loops I do every single morning held little appeal. Then I received a passing message from Jay saying that he and Josh (two of the three J's, for those of you who remember my male escorts from last weekend's half-marathon) and another friend from NYC were contemplating a whirlwind trip to Boston to check out the race course. Naturally I jotted down a quick email to Terry, and naturally he wrote back with minute-by-minute bulletpoints of exactly how everything was going to go down. I'm learning to expect nothing less from this master logician--I'm not sure if that's a word, but in my mind it means a magician of logistics, which is precisely what he is--but he then proceeded to go above and beyond by not only planning their entire trip, but facilitating it. He offered to pick them up from the train station, drive them midway down the course, drop them off, park the car farther toward the city, run a few miles with them to talk race strategy, then pick them up at the finish line. With such an overwhelming outpouring of generosity from someone who didn't even know them, I felt like the least I could do was join in on the action. The fact that this offered me a convenient excuse for avoiding the previously outlined workout options was just a bonus.

That said, I still harbored some intentions of tempoing part of the run. In the end, that idea sort of fell to pieces thanks to the weather--drizzly, at times sleety and into a direct headwind--and the brisk pace established practically from the outset. Though Jay insisted that all three of the boys were looking for a "really easy run," I suppose the excitement and emotions of the course got the best of them. After an initial mile hovering around the 7-minute mark we immediately dropped into the 6:40s. It wasn't difficult, but I knew it wasn't exactly 7:30 pace either. After eight miles of this comfortably hard running I attempted to launch into an uptempo section, only to split a rather underwhelming 11:45 for two miles (one of which was considerably downhill). About 400 meters into my half-hearted third mile I encountered the one tricky interstate crossing on the entire marathon course, and several frustrating stop-and-go minutes were all I needed to pull the plug on the entire thing. Less than a minute later I ran into Terry coming from the other direction, so we turned around and jogged back to the rest of the guys before soldiering on together to the Newton hills. From this point onward I felt pretty horrendous and almost got dropped several times on Heartbreak--although it does make me feel better to subsequently learn that we split sub-6:30 on this extremely tough mile--and when I had the choice a mile later to either stop at the car with Terry or continue on to the finish line, I didn't hesitate. I'd covered almost 16.5 miles in 1:48, quick enough to count for something even if it wasn't quite the "workout" I'd envisioned. Even better, of course, was the chance to spend time with Terry and Jay and his friends and relish some of the exhilaration that is Boston in marathon month, even when it is a cold and soggy and entirely unromantic day.

Sunday, in contrast, dawned beautifully sunny and clear. After dropping Jordan at the airport for his weeklong trip to the Carolinas, I traveled back in the same direction I'd come from the previous day to meet some of my BAA friends for a group run starting at Brett's house in Natick. She and Matt live steps away from some great soft surface options that weave through Natick and Wellesley and the surrounding areas, and the miles fell away easily thanks to the easy chatter and group comradery. At the 90 minute mark Matt split back for the house with Jenn and Justin, which left Brett, Carly, Emily and I with a beautiful and scenic wooded loop around historic Wellesley College. As we passed within yards of where the marathon course will cross in just two weeks time, it was utterly impossible to imagine this quiet reverence shattered by hundreds of screaming voices and cacophonous shouts. I guess it's one of those things you can't truly imagine until you witness it. Today the only voices heard were ours as we trotted together back to Brett's house. For the next few hours we over-ate a delicious homemade breakfast (most of us), drank fancy beer (only some of us) and had a great time socializing (all of us). As per usual, this is my favorite part of the Sunday long run!

Looking back on this week as a whole, I only logged a few more miles than last week, this time on 11 runs instead of eight. There was no great strategy involved there--although I'd be interested in hearing the arguments from either side on why one approach is better than the other--rather, I was just following the mandates of my schedule. Last week I was traveling and working long hours but with later start times, while this week I was back in the typical office routine of early mornings and relatively early evenings. I had plenty of time to double at night, so I did. Next week promises more of the same uneventfulness (not that I'm complaining!), so I'll likely adopt a similar schedule. I continue to feel stronger and fitter every day, which means I just need to keep doing what I'm doing!

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Week in Review

87 miles
1 double
17 mile long run
4 days in NYC
5 AFDs

This week's mileage was right back where I want it to be thanks to a solid long run on Sunday. Although I was exhausted from working the 13.1 event, racing and then driving home on Saturday night, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to join Terry, Carly, Betsy and Elle in tracing the first half of the Boston Marathon course. We carpooled up to Hopkinton together in spite of the cold and dreary weather, toed the fading but still visibly painted starting line and set off in the direction of the finish line. Predictably, my legs felt stiff and tired from the previous day's effort, but fortunately for me Carly is knocked up and therefore amenable to not pushing the pace. We got dropped by the other girls more or less immediately but then were joined by Jenn Donovan and her fiance for a few miles. After they turned back for home, Carly and I were alone together to finish out the run. To be honest, the first 10 or so miles of the course are completely unremarkable (and relatively unattractive). It isn't until you reach the well-manicured lawns and quaint storefronts of Wellesley that it begins to look like anyplace you'd actually enjoy spending a bit of time. What is noteworthy, however, is the almost constant downhill grade. I could very easily see myself setting a new half-marathon PR en route to a huge implosion if I weren't prepared for the terrain. Fortunately Elle and Betsy are much smarter than me; they both cruised through the first half today and then crushed the Newton hills en route to a solid 22-miler. Carly and I called it a day at 17 and opted to get bagels and coffee while offering them moral (and vehicular) support. This wasn't one of my better or more enjoyable long runs from a physical perspective, but I had a blast with the group and am definitely glad I went.


The historical Hopkinton start line

With a big training weekend behind me and a much less stressful travel schedule ahead, I'm eager to continue to push my limits in the coming weeks. I'm also excited to report that I've added another goal race to my schedule, this one even comfortably farther away than the New Balance Boston 10k. I'll be joining Caitlin, Camille, Alana and many other familiar faces at the US Half-Marathon Championships in June. This race is held in conjunction with Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, MN, and utilizes part of the same lightning-fast course, so I'm very excited to see what I'll be capable of running there. For now I just need to keep doing what I'm doing, training hard and staying healthy. It's easier said than done but I'm up to the challenge!

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Weekend Warrior

On Friday night, I went to bed at an embarrassingly early hour, excited to get a good night's rest and then head into the city for a reasonably long, reasonably hard run with Emily. I woke up at 6:30 on Saturday morning to this:


Beautiful, yes. Motivating, not so much.

In an instant all my aspirations vanished, and I could think of nothing more enticing than the prospect of brewing a hot cup of coffee, retreating back under my warm covers and spending the morning tucked into a good book. Instead, I got dressed and hit the road in the hopes that the deluge of snowflakes would subside by the time I reached our meeting point at the Harvard track.Sure enough, I arrived to chilly air and a blustery wind but only a few flurries. Along with Emily I was greeted by Jenn Donovan, a New Balance Boston runner training for the 10k, and Elle Pishny, a Duke alum and fellow Trials qualifier who's preparing for Boston next month. We set off down Comm Ave. in the direction of Heartbreak Hill with only vaguest plan for how the run would unfold. The first 10 miles passed effortlessly as we chatted, passing scores of other runners all logging miles on the Newton hills in preparation for next month's race. At some point we turned around and returned the way we came so we could drop Jenn off at her house, leaving Emily, Elle and I only a few miles from where we'd started but desiring at least another hour on our feet. At that point Emily and I agreed to commit to 20 miles, since that's what Elle's long run schedule dictated. I was feeling great and still harbored intentions of picking up the pace, but I only had a general idea of where I was geographically and besides, what's the fun in running hard by yourself when you can click off the miles while enjoying good company and conversation?

Instead of attempting a full-fledged workout, we all compromised by subtly picking up the pace for the final 45 minutes--or, should I say, what I thought was the final 45 minutes. We rejoined the Charles River path around the 2:15 mark, and just as I was about to congratulate myself for finishing off a strong 20 miler, I heard Emily's far too chipper voice saying, "We've only got another two and a half miles from here!" Uhhh, excuse me? Did you say two and a half minutes or miles? And thus I proceeded to complete pretty much my longest run ever, excluding marathons. (I was mildly worried that Coach JSK would be angry at me for overdoing it, but I quickly dismissed the thought after realizing that he would have (and has, in fact) done the exact same thing in my situation.) Of course we still finished hard and of course Emily still dropped me toward the end, but all in all the three of us were very pleased with our efforts. As a reward (not that we wouldn't have anyway), Emily and I treated ourselves to a delicious brunch at Sofra as we made plans for a repeat outing Sunday.

Oh, and as for the snow, had I not seen it with my own eyes a mere six hours earlier I wouldn't believe it ever happened.


Nothing but waves and blue skies when I returned home in the afternoon.

Less than 24 hours later and only slightly groggy from springing forward we were back at it. I was excited about this run because 1) Jordan was finally back in town and healthy enough to join; 2) we were taking a field trip to a new (for me) venue--and soft surface!--called Battle Road in historic Lexington; and 3) the pace was advertised to be relaxed and slow. The group consisted of Jordan and myself, Emily, Carly (the cutest and fittest pregnant lady I know), Brett (my new friend from the Trials) and her husband Matt, and another BAA runner named Katie. As promised, the trails were terrific and the pace was nice and easy, and before I knew it over 14 miles had elapsed. I wasn't exactly planning on a 37+ mile weekend, but with great company and several new venues I certainly wasn't complaining. I'll be out of town the next few weekends for work, but I'm already excited about rejoining these ladies again soon.

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Week in Review

65-66 miles
1 double
15 mile long run
8 mile "uptempo" run
1 hour yoga

By Tuesday of this week, I could tell that my body was finally starting to come around. My stride and cadence began to feel more natural, my breathing more controlled and my overall level of fatigue significantly reduced as compared to the previous week. On Friday I was feeling ambitious enough to attempt an 8.5ish mile uptempo effort--albeit with no real concept of splits or pace--and when I checked my watch at the end of the run I was pleased to see I'd covered the loop about three and a half minutes faster than I had the previous day on a not-slow "normal" run.

As if that development weren't exciting enough, the week was further improved when Jordan went out for a tentative tester run on Saturday and ended up covering a full 10 miles with me after proclaiming his back/SI joint felt 100% better. The fact that he will be as sore as if he'd raced a marathon afterward is of small consequence when compared to this mental and physical transformation. Though both of us have quite a bit of travel in the coming weeks, his return will definitely make it easier for me to resume my early morning run schedule and, just as importantly, significantly reduce his level of grouchiness.

Though the highlight of most red-blooded Americans' weekend is undoubtedly the Super Bowl, for running nerds like myself the prospect of a football game pales in comparison to attending the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix on Saturday night. Tickets were already sold out when I checked the meet web site on Friday morning, but two of my kind and generous friends who also happen to be employed by New Balance hooked us up big time. It was great fun to cram into the stands like sardines with several thousand of our closest friends (including some of our actual friends like Jeff and Melanie, Teresa, Emily and her mom, and Tom and his girlfriend) and enjoy a competitive running event purely as a spectator. We capped things off by spending the night at Emily's and joining in on the BAA Sunday long run, where we once again traversed the Boston course and lamented the placement of Heartbreak Hill before finishing off the run with a few soft surface loops around the reservoir. Oh, and did I mention that Emily's husband Matt made brunch? After two weekends in a row of great runs and even better breakfasts, I could get used to this routine.

So now that my body feels like it actually belongs to me, I suppose it's time to think about resuming "normal" training. I'll probably try to increase my mileage into the 70s this week and I'm actually returning to Mercedes Marathon, home of last year's OT qualifying run, to attempt to recreate that magic in the half. Considering that this morning's 6:50 pace run felt like 5:50 pace for the final few miles, I'm less than optimistic about blasting a huge PR like I'd rather naively envisioned when I signed up for this a few weeks ago. Regardless, I do hope to get in a long, hard effort and at the very least revise my embarrassing official half-marathon PR of 1:19:58. (For those of you who aren't math majors, this time is about 30 seconds off of the half-marathon pace I ran twice in a row at the Trials. Pathetic.) Whatever happens at Mercedes, the important thing right now is that my body truly feels 100% and I'm finally mentally excited about running again. It's a great feeling!

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(Recovery) Week(s) in Review

1/23 through 1/29:
55 miles
0 days off
0 doubles
0 workouts

1/16 through 1/22:
0 miles
7 days off
2 hours elliptical
5 days in SLC
4 airports (BOS, DEN, SLC, JFK)

As promised, I took an entire week off from running. Eight days, actually. My first run after the Trials didn't occur until Monday afternoon, shortly after arriving on a red-eye flight from Salt Lake City after an exhausting week/weekend of working the Outdoor Retailer show. I don't know what I was expecting from that first run back, but what I got was one of the most humbling experiences of my entire life. Simply put, it was awful. Every stride felt slow, awkward and incredibly unnatural, almost as if I'd never run before in my life. Really? I asked Running. I've given you so much of myself, day in and day out for the past however many days, and this is how you choose to repay me? By making me feel as though I couldn't run one single mile at my marathon pace right now if my life depended on it? How rude.

Fortunately, my runs got better, albeit only marginally, as the week progressed. By Saturday I felt ambitious enough to embark on my first double digit run, bolstered by excellent company. Emily and Carly drove up from the city and I took them on a few loops of the Neck before returning to the fort for a gourmet breakfast whipped up by Jordan. (While I truly hate that he's not running right now, I always appreciate a well-crafted flapjack.) On Sunday I reciprocated the drive by meeting Emily, Carly, Teresa, Terry and some new (to me) BAA faces for a "long" run on part of the Boston Marathon course. They planned to do an 11-mile loop twice, but once was more than enough for me at this stage in my recovery. Though it was ridiculously windy and my legs felt pretty terrible climbing the Newton hills, I was definitely glad I made the trip. I look forward to many more runs and workouts with these guys as I return to serious training.


What I've been doing in the evening instead of doubling

For now, however, I definitely plan to take it easy for another week. I may throw in a baby workout on Thursday or Friday if I'm feeling frisky, but I plan to keep the mileage where it's at and really listen to my body. It's silly to jeopardize some potentially great spring performances by rushing back into things now. I've got big goals for 2012, and it's important to keep the big picture in mind. So instead of training my heart out, I'll just live vicariously through my friends and training partners as they knock out some great workouts and races. Life could be worse!

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