2:37:13 Official Time!!!!

I had a great race on Monday. I don't have time now, but will post more later. Here are my splits:

mile 1: 6:10
mile 2: 5:51
mile 3: 5:50
mile 4: 5:47
mile 5: 5:55
mile 6: 5:51
mile 7: 5:56
mile 8: 5:58
mile 9: 5:57
mile 10: 5:57
mile 11: 6:02
mile 12: 5:51
mile 13: 5:54
mile 14: 5:48
mile 15: 6:01
mile 16: 6:05
mile 17: 5:57
mile 18: 6:13
mile 19: 6:18
mile 20: 6:02
mile 21: 6:27 "Heart Break Hill"
mile 22: 5:57
mile 23: 6:00
mile 24: 5:56
mile 25: 6:06
mile 26: 5:56
last .2: 1:16

Total: 2hrs. 37min. 13sec. ( 131st place overall)

I'm Ready!

Happy Easter!!!

17 weeks down and 1 to go!

I did my last medium distance run today of 12 miles with Jerry Ross on my hilly Boston route. Since it was Easter morning we decided to run a little earlier at 8 am. It was a cool 28 degrees and the wet spots on the roads were still icy. It was actually nice knowing that this was my last longer run for awhile.

I am ready to race this Marathon. I put in the training. My confidence is high, but I'm also aware that thing can turn bad during a race, so I need to be smart and pay attention to certain details during the race. I was telling Jerry this morning that my goal is basically a 2:37-2:40 range marathon. I'm also going to commit to 6 min. pace right away. I will run the 1st mile a little slower (6:15-6:25 pace), but then get after it. I have the confidence that I will be able to keep this up for the marathon.

I have committed 4 months of my life to Boston. I was a college wrestler and I have put just as much effort (if not more) into this race. I'm 35 years old, but I still consider myself an athlete. I am not scared to fail. Last year I ran really conservative and had a good race and I'm proud of my 2:44, but I could've ran faster. This year I'm going to see how fast I can run a marathon. If I fail, then I know that I went after it. Like I said, it's not always about the end result its the process and the road to get their that we sometimes need to be proud of.

Here is the week of 4/6-4/12 (Taper week #2)

4/6- Off (1st Day off in 113 days)
4/7- 9 miles (8 X 100m striders)
4/8- 6 miles
4/9- 9+ miles ( 3 X 1600m @ 5K pace w/ 2 min. rest) (5:03, 4:59, 4:57)
4/10- 5+ miles
4/11- 7+ miles (8 X 100m striders)
4/12- 12 miles

Total: 48 miles

Boston: Here I come!

No Running Today!

No running for me today. I've run 113 days in a row (6 miles or more) and its time for a day off. I'm on the taper phase for Boston and I just want to make sure my legs are going to be fresh for race day. I didn't plan on having a running streak, it just sort of happend this year. I was in a great groove and I like to stick to a plan. The plan had me running everyday and I wanted to make sure I stuck to it. Last week I managed 70 miles and would like to take it down to about 45-50 this week. 2 Weeks until Boston!!!!!!!!!!

Boston Course Preview

Another week of training in the books. Even though I began my taper this week I still managed to get 70 miles in. I had a couple of good workouts too. Yesterday tempo run was very encouraging to me and today was a great long run.

Jerry Ross and I ran around Lake Hood and then ran the totem run out by the airport for a solid 18+ miles. We ran at a pretty good clip too. We progressively got faster during the run and we probably averaged about 6:30-6:40ish pace. We doubled back on the totem run to be able to work the hills some more. We picked it up on the uphills and downhills and ran a little Marathon pace too. I believe it was the perfect amount of effort 2 weeks out from Boston. Plus, it was really nice outside. The sun was shining and the roads were dry. It's nice to actually be able to see the roads for a change.

As they say, "All the hay is in the barn. The work is done. Just need to get to the starting line ready to roll."

Here is my mileage for the week 3/30-4/5

3/30- 6 miles
3/31- 10 miles
4/1- 13 miles
4/2- 7+ miles
4/3- 6 miles
4/4- 10 miles (5 @ Tempo) Tempo miles ranged from 5:36-5:20 range
4/5- 18+ miles

Total: 70 miles

Next week I'm probably going to take it down between 45-50 miles. Suppose to be in the 40's this week too. I hope that is true!

The Hard Work is done

I just finished my 15th week of training and 106th straight day of running. Most of the hard work is done for Boston and now it is taper time. I need to do everything I can to feel fresh and energized when I toe the line on Monday, April 20th.

I had a great confidence booster workout today. Yesterday Anchorage received a little dusting of ash from Mt. Redoubt (volcano) so we decided to do the whole workout in the sports dome (Indoor 400 meter track). Here is the workout:

3 mile warm-up
2 X 2 miles @ Tempo (5:40 pace) w/ 400m jog in between sets
7 miles (6:45-6:50 pace)
3 miles @ Tempo (last mile was at 5:22 pace)
3 miles cool down

Total: 20 miles

This workout gives me a lot of confidence to run well at Boston. I was able to run some pretty good miles toward the end while I was tired. Just like I'll have to do in Boston. This workout teaches you to run fast while you are still tired. We were also able to run some of the warm-up and 7 mile portion on the indoor turf field. It was nice to be able to mix it up and not do the entire run on the track.

Here is my mileage for the week 3/23-3/29

3/29- 20+ miles
3/28- 11 miles (6am/5pm)
3/27- 7 miles
3/26- 17 miles (13am/4pm)
3/25- 12+ miles (6 X 1200 @ 5K pace w/ 2 min. rest) 5:08 pace
3/24- 11 miles (6am/5pm)
3/23- 10 miles (6am/4pm)

Total: 90 miles

Now that the Race Preparation phase is finished I now move into the final phase which is the Taper phase. I'm going to try and get 65-70 miles this next week, then 45-50 miles the following, then it's RACE WEEK!

Ready to Race!

I've been training for awhile now and I'm ready to race. I've been serious about preparing for Boston now for 15 straight weeks. Am I getting burned out? I wouldn't say that, but I'm definelty ready to move on from this high mileage and taper down for the race.

All the hard work is almost done and I need to make sure I get to the starting line healthy and ready to run. Sometimes it can be hard to find the motivation to put on the shoes and run. I felt this a little last year too, toward the end of my Boston training. I hear it is normal though to have these feelings. I really have no problem getting my runs in because I have set a good goal for myself and I know I need the mileage.

I am really excited for Boston this year. I've prepared correctly and I'm going to have a great race. I truly believe I will run under 2:40. My good friend Jerry Ross told me that their really shouldn't be any big suprises if you are ready to run on race day. If you did all the training you should have a good estimation of what your time will be on race day. Of course things out of your control can pop up like the weather or illness, but I can't worry about those things. I've learned that through my long runs and Marathon Pace workouts that I should be able to run right around 6 min. pace.

Today, my legs feel pretty tired from the last couple of days. Wednesday night I ran 12 miles at the dome (6 X 1200m @ 5K pace w/ 2 min. rest)and yesterday I did 13 miles in the morning on my Boston route and another 4 super easy on my treadmill in the evening for a total of 17 miles. So, today I will run an easy 8 miles on the treadmill because it's snowing pretty good outside. Sunday will be my last hard effort before I start to taper down. Sunday's workout should look like this:

2 mile warm-up
2 X 2 miles @ Tempo
10 mile run (outside)
3 miles @ Tempo
2 mile cool down
Total: 21 miles
This is a workout I did last year that gave me a lot of confidence leading to Boston. It showed me that I can still run fast when I'm tired.

Well, I'm almost to Boston!

100 Days in a row!

I started my journey to Boston on Dec. 14th and I've run every single day so far, which gives me 100 days in a row. It isn't one of my goals to run x amount of days in a row. Its just that my marathon training program called for it, so I followed it. I've also been really lucky to not be injured or super fatigued to miss a run. As long as you take your recovery days correctly or slow, it isn't that hard to run everyday.

Today was just a recovery day. I ran 6 miles in the morning and 4 more miles in the afternoon. Both runs were done on the treadmill.

On another note Mt. Redoubt finally erupted last night and we have been very fortunate that the ash isn't blowing toward Anchorage. It would be a bummer to have to run everyday inside for awhile.