Boston Training Week #8

 













February 16-23

M - 8 with Charlie before departing Westmoreland State Park

T - AM 8, felt tired still from Saturday workout. Noon: Gym. PM: Bob Weir.

W - PM 13.5 ... met up with Patrick and Evan on the hill and we ran down to Hains Points for a 3-mile pickup. Felt great on the D.C. side heading out but boy did we get crushed by wind after we made the turn. Took turns sharing the lead, running single-file. 30 minutes after the pickup I did two pretty forgettable mile pickups in the neighborhood, then jogged it in.

Th - AM 10 with Patrick and Evan

F - 11 - met up with Capitol Hill Distance Project

S - 9. I had a really busy week at work (with a Bob Weir show tossed in, to be fair). Even after a good night's sleep on Friday, I was still feeling really rundown: had a cold coming on, had inflammation creeping back into the foot. I got going with a new pair of Brooks Ghost 6. For months, I had been ordering the Ghost 5 (a shoe I really like) online because I tried the 6 once and wasn't a fan. Now the 5 is getting pretty hard to find - 'Maybe the last one was just a dud,' I thought. Nope; my foot felt terrible. So, after a block, I returned to my place, put on a 5 and carried on, feeling much, much better. Except, I still didn't really feel like running. In short, I was complaining a lot. Then ... I bumped into Luke, who has the best, most easy-going attitude ever (made the Olympic Trials, too) and his girlfriend Hilary. We ran past RFK and looped around Kingman Island for a while. All was suddenly well.

S - AM 17 - We took a GRC crew for the first time to the RRCA Club Challenge in Columbia, Md. It was the first time we had ever fielded a team for this and we all really enjoyed the way it was both kind of low key with some fun club competition thrown in. Plus, it's a very tough course and great for some hard training. 

Luke led the way for us: We were 1, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 19, 55, 68. In the overall, which includes 9 scorers, we lost to Falls Road by a point . In a different division with 4 scorers (1-39), we won with 22 points. 

My goal was to get some more marathon work in and I mostly accomplished what I set out to do. The rolling course had a faster opening half. Working with Patrick, I went through 5 miles in 27:30 - about 30 seconds faster than planned - feeling very comfortable, then tried to pick it up. I felt in control, and, maybe because I was able to pull away from the people around me, felt like I really was picking it up. Turns out, I wasn't, perhaps partially because I started moving on a hill. Nonetheless, I felt pretty good out there, like I always had something extra in the tank, which leads me to believe I am moving in a solid direction. Patrick pulled up next to me in the last half mile and we ran the rest of the way together, finishing 11th and 12th in 56:37 - 2:28 marathon pace. I'm glad that, with Boston coming, I am doing a lot of my harder running on up-and-down terrain. I love surging a little on the gradual downhills, but steep ups and downs are still trouble for me. 

These are the splits I had: 5:25, 5:32, 5:42, 5:41, 5:32, 5:53, 5:34, 5:55, 5:48, 5:41.

PM - 6 easy with Luke.

Total - 83 

The 8 days off (two lost weeks, essentially, since it started on a Thursday) have certainly thrown a wrench into things. I missed some key workouts and, with 8 weeks left, haven't cracked 90 MPW. Still, I feel fine with where I am right now - I just need to really focus, stay healthy, and do things right the next five weeks before taper hits. At DC RnR, in three weeks, I think I'll need to give it a good hard run and get a brutally honest assessment of my fitness. A couple light track workouts, I can tell, will do me good right now. I'll also, if the marathon gods will it, will work in 16 at goal MP after RnR - three weeks out from Boston.

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After every race, the first thing d’Elia did was to remove her shoes and thank her feet for taking care of her. Then she would have a beer. She enjoyed introducing running to first-timers, teaching them to love the sport first before getting competitive. She viewed running as a friendship that requires nurturing.

“I view running as a necessary tool to help get me through life, so I do everything I can to nurture it, take care of it, and appreciate it. I want to hold on to my friend for as long as I live.”  --- Runner's World's obituary of Toshiko d’Elia, the first woman over 50 to break three hours in the marathon.