All afternoon and night, my family and friends were calling, emailing, texting, and Facebooking me to make sure I wasn't at the race. Much to their relief, I didn't decide to run Boston this year. But I did know about a dozen people who were. I couldn't believe what had happened. Very few fatal attacks of terror have been executed successfully in the United States since I've been alive, and while this certainly doesn't lessen the horror of attacks in places where violence is more common, it has a particular shocking value if you're not used to it happening so close to home. I managed to track down the people I knew who were running yesterday, but I was lucky. There were all sorts of families who couldn't reach their runners for hours, since the gear-check bags were not available to be retrieved until today. Many people were left without phones or wallets or plane tickets without access to their bags. I guess I've been freaked out by the closeness of it all. I knew people who were within a few blocks of the explosion. Many of my friends are runners, many of whom have been to Boston. I started the race last year.
That being said, I've decided that if I alter my life in any substantial way, the terrorists win. So, let me only say that my thoughts go out to those affected by the bombings yesterday in Boston, and more generally the people injured by acts of terror worldwide. I've also decided if I don't give the Eugene Marathon my all, the Terrorists Win. So I plan to give it my all (even if the Terrorists don't notice).
Watching the race yesterday was also really exciting. The womens' race was the most exciting race I've seen in a long time. A big pack of women went out quite cautiously, with a pack of 4 women about 15 seconds ahead at the 5k. Their first 10K was in just 35:50, which equates to a 2:31, despite several of the women in the field having PRs about 10 minutes faster. Eventually, the lead pack thinned a bit, and a gang of four went out for it. Portugal's Caballero took the lead at around 11 miles and put 30something seconds between herself and the chase pack. It was super-strange: the weather must have been perfect and windless, or the road must have been very slanted, because the rest of the pack spread all across the road rather than drafting off each other. I've never seen elite runners do that before.... and the men's race (which I admittedly paid less attention to) did the same thing at roughly the same spot in the course.
At about 15 miles, another Portugese runner, Ana Felix, plays catch-up and takes the lead from Caballero. The rest of the chase group held back at this point. Felix looked really strong, and Caballero let her lead. She put well over a minute between herself and the chase pack between 15 and 20 miles, and while she looked strong in terms of her stride and form, she kept glancing back over her shoulder, wondering when the pack of women were going to catch back up.
And catch back up they did! A pack of 5 women starts to pick at her lead at about 20 miles. Rita Jeptoo, the Boston Champion from 2006, Shalene Flannigan, Meseret Hailu, and Sharon Cherop come and get her, dropping the hammer with a few 5:10ish miles in a row. They cut a 1+ minute lead in just 3 miles: Rita Jeptoo overtook Felix at 23 miles. The last few miles were gutwrenching: watching these women who had run a much more strategic race than I've ever watched before, vied for place. Kara Goucher and one other female runner are a bit back. Then, the final turn onto Boylston street, and the group of four lead women separates. Rita Jeptoo pulls away from the other women, Hailu keeps her sights on Jeptoo but doesn't have the leg strength to get her back, Cherop follows shortly behind, and Shalene Flannigan comes in fourth. Shortly thereafter, Kara Goucher finishes 6th, with a time of 2:28. The race was won in 2:26 and change, which is about 5:00 slower than Jeptoo's personal best. As I mentioned, it was the most strategically interesting marathon I've ever watched: the race went out very, very slow: the first mile was just 6:01, despite the winning time averaging a 5:38. A bunch of women were freaked out at various points about the pack not cutting the pace down fast enough, and took the lead with a strong pace. That turned out to be an error: that effort left both women too tired to pick up the pace when the pack caught up with them.
Anyway, I've had 2 weeks without posting, so here have been the workouts:
Mon: Off. Rest day from Cherry Blossom (30 min cardio)
Tues: 4 miles easy
Wed: Dreadmill. 2 mile WU, 4x1 mile at MP, 400 at 7:00, 4x 800 at MP, 400 at 7:00
Thurs: 4 miles easy
Fri: 9 mile progression. 3 easy, 3 at 6:50, 4 at 6:40
Sat: 4 miles easy
Sun: 20 miles. 10 easy, 10 at 6:40-6:55. No real labor allowed, just keep it below 7.
All of the workouts were pretty good... Wednesday was sticky and on the treadmill. As usual, I scared the random people walking and watching E! network on their televisions by running fast on the treadmill. Friday was miserably humid/rainy on the track, where I did 5 miles at marathon pace. I didn't really go 6:50 for the second three; it was more like marathon pace for 6 miles.
Saturday night, L, J2 and myself got together and watched Without Limits. Every time I watch that movie, I get so pumped up by Steve's amazing moustache:
Mon: 4 miles easy
Tues: 0-6 miles easy
Wed: 9 miles easy, 4 miles at marathon pace
Thurs: Rest
Fri: Random Distance run
Sat: 4 miles with 4x20" strides at ~6:00 pace
Sun: 2 mile WU, 2x3 miles at MP.
Finally, a week that looked like a taper week! I explicitly told my coach that I wanted at least 1 day off this week, and at least 2 days off next week. Throughout this training cycle, I've had the fewest days off I've every had. I used to take a day or two off every week, then eventually that led to one day a week off, then over the summer/fall I was taking a day off every other week, or two out of three weeks. Since Tim started coaching me, I can remember each day I've had off. I had one day off at the end of January after our ridiculous All-Day run, wherein L, The Russian, J2, M, and myself (supported by many awesome teammates along the way) literally ran all day (this entire 40+ mile debacle was my idea, as you might imagine). I had two days off sometime in March, when I explicitly asked for them so I could carry a 30-pound pack 10 miles each day after cramming 60 miles into 4 workdays. The first night of Passover, I ended up with a day off because I flew across the country and my plane left at 5:55 AM MST, and I didn't get in until almost 7 pm and then had Seder that didn't end until almost 11 EST. I took the day off after Cherry Blossom, and I took Thursday off.
After each of these days, I felt pretty awesome when I went out for my next run. The short-term fatigue from the previous workout was sometimes still there, but I felt like a little bit of the constant monotony and dragginess that came from running 7 days a week with 3 workouts seemed to subside. So, I asked for some days off. Because I'd much rather over-taper than under-taper for a marathon.
The week in general felt good. Each of the workouts went well, though I tweaked my left ankle on my run today. It feels pretty ok at the moment, though, so I'm not going to worry about it. I also have another massage tomorrow, and a day off of running!
For all you runners out there, don't let the Terrorists win. Taper enough for your distance, sleep enough, eat well, drink water. After all, "The best pace is a suicide pace, and today is a good day to die."--Pre
But seriously. If you're racing a full you shouldn't feel that way until like 2/3 of the way through the race or you're screwed. In the last 10k, though, if these words don't echo your sentiment, you're doing it wrong.
At about 15 miles, another Portugese runner, Ana Felix, plays catch-up and takes the lead from Caballero. The rest of the chase group held back at this point. Felix looked really strong, and Caballero let her lead. She put well over a minute between herself and the chase pack between 15 and 20 miles, and while she looked strong in terms of her stride and form, she kept glancing back over her shoulder, wondering when the pack of women were going to catch back up.
And catch back up they did! A pack of 5 women starts to pick at her lead at about 20 miles. Rita Jeptoo, the Boston Champion from 2006, Shalene Flannigan, Meseret Hailu, and Sharon Cherop come and get her, dropping the hammer with a few 5:10ish miles in a row. They cut a 1+ minute lead in just 3 miles: Rita Jeptoo overtook Felix at 23 miles. The last few miles were gutwrenching: watching these women who had run a much more strategic race than I've ever watched before, vied for place. Kara Goucher and one other female runner are a bit back. Then, the final turn onto Boylston street, and the group of four lead women separates. Rita Jeptoo pulls away from the other women, Hailu keeps her sights on Jeptoo but doesn't have the leg strength to get her back, Cherop follows shortly behind, and Shalene Flannigan comes in fourth. Shortly thereafter, Kara Goucher finishes 6th, with a time of 2:28. The race was won in 2:26 and change, which is about 5:00 slower than Jeptoo's personal best. As I mentioned, it was the most strategically interesting marathon I've ever watched: the race went out very, very slow: the first mile was just 6:01, despite the winning time averaging a 5:38. A bunch of women were freaked out at various points about the pack not cutting the pace down fast enough, and took the lead with a strong pace. That turned out to be an error: that effort left both women too tired to pick up the pace when the pack caught up with them.
Anyway, I've had 2 weeks without posting, so here have been the workouts:
Mon: Off. Rest day from Cherry Blossom (30 min cardio)
Tues: 4 miles easy
Wed: Dreadmill. 2 mile WU, 4x1 mile at MP, 400 at 7:00, 4x 800 at MP, 400 at 7:00
Thurs: 4 miles easy
Fri: 9 mile progression. 3 easy, 3 at 6:50, 4 at 6:40
Sat: 4 miles easy
Sun: 20 miles. 10 easy, 10 at 6:40-6:55. No real labor allowed, just keep it below 7.
All of the workouts were pretty good... Wednesday was sticky and on the treadmill. As usual, I scared the random people walking and watching E! network on their televisions by running fast on the treadmill. Friday was miserably humid/rainy on the track, where I did 5 miles at marathon pace. I didn't really go 6:50 for the second three; it was more like marathon pace for 6 miles.
Saturday night, L, J2 and myself got together and watched Without Limits. Every time I watch that movie, I get so pumped up by Steve's amazing moustache:
and his insane drive, work ethic, and will to put himself through incredible amounts of pain. I had some trouble falling asleep that night because I was so ready to go running and work my ass off. Sunday, I did 10 miles easy and 8 at marathon-ish pace. I was accompanied by The Russian for a good part of the faster stuff (also S for the first bit of it). I decided to back off a couple of miles early, because I realized I was two weeks out from my race and wanted not to beat myself up too badly. I got a sweet massage later that afternoon, which really seemed to help me recover.
Mon: 4 miles easy
Tues: 0-6 miles easy
Wed: 9 miles easy, 4 miles at marathon pace
Thurs: Rest
Fri: Random Distance run
Sat: 4 miles with 4x20" strides at ~6:00 pace
Sun: 2 mile WU, 2x3 miles at MP.
Finally, a week that looked like a taper week! I explicitly told my coach that I wanted at least 1 day off this week, and at least 2 days off next week. Throughout this training cycle, I've had the fewest days off I've every had. I used to take a day or two off every week, then eventually that led to one day a week off, then over the summer/fall I was taking a day off every other week, or two out of three weeks. Since Tim started coaching me, I can remember each day I've had off. I had one day off at the end of January after our ridiculous All-Day run, wherein L, The Russian, J2, M, and myself (supported by many awesome teammates along the way) literally ran all day (this entire 40+ mile debacle was my idea, as you might imagine). I had two days off sometime in March, when I explicitly asked for them so I could carry a 30-pound pack 10 miles each day after cramming 60 miles into 4 workdays. The first night of Passover, I ended up with a day off because I flew across the country and my plane left at 5:55 AM MST, and I didn't get in until almost 7 pm and then had Seder that didn't end until almost 11 EST. I took the day off after Cherry Blossom, and I took Thursday off.
After each of these days, I felt pretty awesome when I went out for my next run. The short-term fatigue from the previous workout was sometimes still there, but I felt like a little bit of the constant monotony and dragginess that came from running 7 days a week with 3 workouts seemed to subside. So, I asked for some days off. Because I'd much rather over-taper than under-taper for a marathon.
The week in general felt good. Each of the workouts went well, though I tweaked my left ankle on my run today. It feels pretty ok at the moment, though, so I'm not going to worry about it. I also have another massage tomorrow, and a day off of running!
For all you runners out there, don't let the Terrorists win. Taper enough for your distance, sleep enough, eat well, drink water. After all, "The best pace is a suicide pace, and today is a good day to die."--Pre
But seriously. If you're racing a full you shouldn't feel that way until like 2/3 of the way through the race or you're screwed. In the last 10k, though, if these words don't echo your sentiment, you're doing it wrong.
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