Last Run11.1 mi 01:42 /09:09 pace I'm as tired as I've ever been. Run #3 kinda blew up on me this afternoon. Legs were dead from the start. Reach the Beach was a blast, t... posted 2 days ago
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I’ll put a full Reach the Beach recap up tomorrow but for now, just a brief note that I have survived. Next up, Boston’s Run to Remember next Sunday. Hopefully CNHB will be over her ick before then – she’s done this one before (several times?) but I’ve never. Song of the week, courtesy of emergency use of my phone in non-headphone speaker mode during a low period of leg #3, Blue Orchid by the White Stripes (with Jack White channeling his inner Burton’d Depp).
No race for me this week. Honestly I’m glad for time off, I feel as though I’ve been dragging since New Jersey. Next week is my Reach the Beach ultra so it will be a short week of work for me as I’m taking Friday off. So while I didn’t have anything going on (other than a TMIRCE meetup run Saturday) there are still three races I want to mention. 1) YJP ran her first trail race today and reported live-in-race that she saw a snake. Which is awesome. She’s prepping for a trail half, new territory. 2) A friend from work who is young and too fast for his own good ran the Cox Rhode Race marathon down in Providence today. This past week he mentioned he was doing this so I gave a half-thought to signing up but found it sold out already. I just now went and looked up his time – 2:55, placing 18th of 1200+. An average 6:42 split. Unbelievable. Congrats John. I’ve no idea if he’s happy with this but personally I would be thrilled. 3) The other thing I considered doing today but ultimately didn’t was the Gil’s Athletic Club Mother’s Day 6 hour trail race. I need to do a long trail run (or, several) to get ready for my TARC 50. Which frankly is giving me a massive panic attack when I think about it, leading me to quite rationally stick my head in the sand whenever it comes up. My mileage was a bit short of my weekly goal but with RTB next weekend I think I’ll manage to average up to 40/week for the month. Lastly, and most importantly, Happy Mother’s Day! Both to my own (who is excellent) and my sisters (almost as excellent), as well as to assorted other moms in my world. It’s a tough job, I wouldn’t want (or be able) to do it. Song of the week, Yo La Tengo’s Our Way to Fall.
A few notes on the 2013 New Jersey marathon.
Dinner was had at some rando Italian place that was packed with seniors at 6pm. I lost my headphones in Bethesda earlier in the week so we stopped by Target to grab a pair – they didn’t have exactly the right kind of cheapo Sonys but the ones I got are close enough. This week’s race started a bit later than last week’s, so I slept until 4am. Up with coffee, trying not to step on either YJP or Turtle, both of whom were condemned to sleep on the floor of an otherwise fairly nice hotel room.
At 8am, we were off. I was supposed to be in corral B but think I started in C as my group was the third to go. Somehow I was behind the 3:50 pace group, it was not my intention to start this far back. The first seven Miles were winding around neighborhoods, pretty zig-zaggy. I worked my way up to the 3:30 pace group, faster than I intended to run for the day. I saw YJP at mile 5.5, a good thing. No signs this week, but this one crossed my mind. I couldn’t see Turtle at first but realized she was staked out in a median grass strip. For miles 7 to 11 were spent slaloming around the slower half runners/walkers. Mostly this was fine, less so at some water stops. So yeah, definitely unsure about the logic of sending them first. At 11 the full course split off and headed south. At 12 I saw YJP again. Again, a good thing. At the half mark I was at 1:43:34. This is pretty quick for me for the first half of a full, 40+ seconds faster than I was last week in Nashville where I set a new marathon PR.
The bottom of the course did a bit if weaving around various water obstacles, Deal lake, Wesley Lake (which was really more of a canal). Some parts of the course was on small footbridges, they had volunteers specifically in place to warn of footing issues, step down, etc. At mile 17 I made eye contact with someone along the course – he says, “You look fanTAStic Nathanael!” There’s no way this is true but it’s appreciated, really nice to have direct support coming straight to you at a moment of weakness. I like having my name on my number. Somewhere around here in Asbury Park the course passes what looks like a couple of interesting venues. There’s the Wonder Bar (presumably unrelated to the Allston dance club), and also the Stone Pony, where I learn that Limp Bizkit still exists, and is playing Monday night. A band on some porch is covering Michael Jackson, Billie Jean. I like these informal spontaneous bands a lot.
I see YJP again at 22, she’s all supportive but I’m really hurting here. My splits for the last four miles are all in the 8:30-9:00 range, and I decide not to push. Christine had sent me a text the night before asking me not to kill myself and I agreed, telling her my goal was sub-3:40, so I try to stick with that number and recalibrate my math. The last few miles are head down focus & finish. The sun has coming out and I’m losing a steady stream of water off the brim of my hat. These miles are along the waterfront, to my right I can see where the boardwalk used to be – for all the “Boston Strong” stuff I’ve heard down here (which, don’t get me wrong, is appreciated) it’s easy to forget that Hurricane Sandy really hit this area quite hard only six months ago, killing 37. The marathon shirts here say Run * Restore * Rebuild for a reason.
I see YJP one last time in the crush of people at the finish (no idea how she got there so fast) then pull through to the end. Sweet medal. My finish time is 3:39:38, an 8:23 split, almost six minutes slower than last week. The sun is out in full force and is really too bright for me at this point – I’m sick, nauseous for a solid 45 minutes or so before we stumble back to the car to find a Mexican place for Cinco de Mayo & the long ride back to Baltimore. I’m so very glad I don’t have to drive.
This was my third marathon of the year – I’ll be taking a break from this distance for a while to work on some different things. Next up for me race wise, a Reach the Beach ultra relay in two weeks. I’ve really been looking forward to this race. Song of the week, Wagon Wheel, the Old Crow Medicine Show version from a 2010 Mixcorp mix. I only learned just prior to this race there’s another version of this song by Darius Rucker – who I further just learned is a member of the Grand Ole Opry. Those two facts are officially TMI about Darius Rucker. For exhaustiveness sake, here’s the original Bob Dylan version as well.
The original idea to run Nashville came from YJP, as part of an extension of our Austin plan. Timing being fortuitous, we met up at the airport and headed to the expo. This is a Rock ‘n’ Roll event which for better or worse leads you to expect a certain consistency. Which was what we had. No surprised. Shirts were white and IMO boring, which seems to be a trend in this race series. I haven’t worn the New Orleans or St. Louis shirts since those races, and don’t see myself wearing this one either. The hat Christine bought me, however, is pretty sweet. My family has a few relatives living south of Nashville so Friday afternoon was spent down there. Our Louisiana cousins drove up as well, a sort of semi-impromptu family reunion. I was glad to see everyone but at the same time happy to be able to call it an early night, heading to bed at my hotel around 7pm. 3am, up and at it. My hotel was freezing. I checked out the window, rain seemed to be gentle. Ok maybe this won’t be bad.
Mile 4: I see Christine & my mom on the left side, I’m over toward the right if a fairly wide course that’s still fairly dense so can’t make my way over. Not thinking much about pace at this point. Mile 9: I see them again here – this time I get a high five. I tell Christine I’m feeling awesome, which is surprising given the rain. Which remains heavy. There’s a mat at 9.9 miles for some reason, later I’ll see I’m under 8:00 splits.
The course from 17-20 winds up through a quite nice neighborhood. I know there’s a chance mom & Christine will be at 20 when I get there but they’re not – this is fine, actually the thinking about it serves a purpose of occupying the brain whether I see them or not. Mile 21-25 is a loop around a big park with a lake in the center – it’s raining quite heavily here and most of the paths are flooded, it’s hard to say where the lake ends and the park begins. YJP told me later she saw ducks padding on the grass, I completely believe that.
The one downside of getting so cold from sitting in the rain is I didn’t get to wait at the finish line for YJP. I think she forgives me, kinda, but it’s not 100% certainty. I’ll have to figure out a way to make it up to her. We took a bonus day in Nashville the day after & visited the Grand Ole Opry, bought some new boots, went line dancing, the works. I liked this, hanging out a bit instead of flying home immediately, legs cramping. A small luxury. And Nashville totally is an interesting place that deserves future exploration. Song of the week & a reliable member of my long run mix, An Argument with Myself by Jens Lekman.
Running achievement of the week – I drove up to Marblehead on Sunday and ran the Ring Around the Neck 5 miler. Not a PR for me, but I placed 24th of 400-some, 8th of 54 in my class, and first overall finisher from Boston (there’s a completely made-up category for you just to make me feel better about myself). I’ve been sick ever since the bombing at the marathon. I’m not entirely convinced that they’re not related. My immune system has been trying to work through it, but I’m running out of time. My next marathon next weekend in Nashville is getting closer and while I’m not exactly panicking, I am concerned. I’m not hoping to break any records at this race but still I’d like to run strong and do myself proud. I haven’t given much thought to to security situation down there – I don’t particularly think marathon attacks are going to be a recurring ‘thing’, and they’ve announce increased security checks and regulations, both for the event and the expo. But last week’s bombing is still pretty fresh in my memory. I’m really not sure how I’ll feel once I’m down there, but I’m hoping it will be a positive experience.
Song of the week, Old Fashioned by Ruby Red Fox. I don’t think there’s a video for this, but you can get listen to it here or buy it as part of the Allston Pudding Boston Marathon Relief Mixtape (name your own price, supporting the One Fund).
Two weeks from yesterday is my next big thing, the Country Music Marathon down in Nashville. I think I’m going to wind down the mileage (or at least the effort levels) this week & next to give my body a mini-taper. Song of the week, Lost in My Mind by The Head and the Heart.
This was a pretty good week for me despite a rough start with my left knee. I’m three weeks out from the St. Jude’s Country Music Marathon down in Nashville and feel fairly well ready for that. I’ll probably do one more ~20 late next weekend before starting a short taper*. Other quick notes of potential interest: 1) A week from today is the BAA 5K (here’s our team last year). I’ve never run a “good” 5K time (sub 7:00 split), and am not sure the BAA is really the right race to do so in (so crowded!) but I’m giving it another shot. 2) The day after the 5K is the Boston Marathon. I’m not running it but a bunch of my extended running community will be doing it (Marc, Vihann, Jay & Karen at the least). Cheers and good luck to them all, I’m hoping to bounce out of work early enough to at least see the finish. Someday it’ll be my turn to take a shot, hopefully as a qualifier. 3) I think my Reach the Beach ultra team has found it’s 6th member, which is very good news. We’re going to meet up for a social type engagement sometime after Boston so we call all meet in person before the race (May 17th-18). 4) My seventh marathon of the year has been booked – I’ll be running Marine Corps Marathon in October down in the DC area. I’m raising money for St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital for that race. I’ve hit $400 of my $1200 goal and I am hopeful & optimistic about reaching the rest sooner than later. Please consider making even a nominal donation if you’re able. Song of the week, The Ladder by Andrew Belle. *Two bonus links on the topic of tapering: Jacqueline Klemond on taper madness, not something I particularly experience myself but an amusing read nonetheless. And Sean Newall on his pre-half taper fail (“tapering is another Runner’s scam”). This, I understand.
A big training week for me as I broke the 50 mile barrier for the first time. To get there I did two longish runs this weekend, 14+ yesterday and another 13.1 today. Legs are a bit tired tonight. My next big race is in Nashville on 4/27, four weeks away, so I’ll probably two more normal weeks followed by some kind of taper. The weekend after Nashville I’ll be down on the shore running the New Jershey Marathon. Song of the week, the excellent My Girls by Animal Collective.
I felt strong through the first 13.1 but things started to go poorly after that. In the last few miles I find myself checking my watch far too frequently. I happen to glance down right as it hits 17.76 miles, which beyond being a nice historic number is in a curious coincidence the length of a Marine Corps Marathon qualifier event held just recently [actually, 17.75km -ed]. As I think that, I’m also aware that the Marine Corps Marathon itself has its registration next Tuesday but at this moment I’m starting to bonk and the absolute last thing I want is to register for anothe race.
I didn’t run with headphones today, my longest ever run without. So no song of the week (I’ll spare you the unfortunate Meatloaf tune I had stuck in my head for the last 10 miles). A few more photos here.
My next race is two weekends hence, the Eastern States 20. After that is the BAA 5K and seven weeks from today, on to Nashville for the Country Music Marathon. Song of the week, Psalms 40:2 by The Mountain Goats.
Not a great week, personally, professionally or running-wise. Right ankle pain is back and most of this week’s (stupid low) mileage has been slow and low energy. Rationally I know that the lows reset our baseline for subsequent highs. But I’m not feeling very rational these days. One week to the Half of Quincy, eight weeks to Nashville and the Country Music Marathon. Song of the week, Rufus Wainwright’s Oh, What a World.
This week has been a little bit of a recovery week, stepping slowly back into things as the marathon pains fade away. Notable runs of the week – Thursday I met up with some people I’m planning to run a Reach the Beach ultra with in May. They seemed pretty cool. Yesterday I did a solid 7.3 mucking about with iSmoothRun Pro (more on that once a bit more testing is done). And today I met up with Hondo for the middle part of my snowy long run. My mother (normally a wise woman) said yesterday that she thought winter’s back was broken, but after having spent a few hours today with snow blasting me in the face, I’ll have to disagree. Hey and speaking of marathons, the Country Music Marathon in Nashville is 9 weeks from yesterday! Let’s hit it YJP. Song of the week, The Official Ironmen Ralley Song by Guided by Voices.
Five miles is an interesting distance – long enough to catch a grove and short enough to burn a little anaerobic at the end. It’s probably the most common distance I train on outdoors, as it’s the exact distance from my house up around the BC reservoir back to Harvard Ave. My best prior time at the distance was a 34:32 at the Ring Around the Neck in Marblehead last summer. Today I was able to go considerably under that at 33:25, a 6:41 pace. So a new 5mi PR, and at the fastest pace I’ve run in any race to date. I placed 78th overall (of 1187), or 21st of 172 in my age group. So not quite top 10% of the group, but getting there. Maybe the best part though was Team HB (including the two little dudes) came down to cheer at the finish, and we met up after with the ex-Walthamites for brunch at the Cambridge Brewing Company. Cheers to Superbowl Sunday day-drinking & the Super Sunday 5! I’ll hopefully get to run it again next year.
Mileage this week was good, just over 40 where I’d like it to be. Only two more weeks until the Austin Marathon, almost time to taper.
I had a big (for me) race this week – the Boston Prep 16. Last year VK ran this with me but this year he’s too busy having a baby or whatnot so I drove up to Derry alone. It was bitter cold but I wore my new black longsleeve top which has some magic flocking inside it so I was pretty much alright once we got moving. My water did freeze near the end of the race though, which was unfortunate.
Mileage this week was pretty decent. Austin Marathon is three weeks from today.
The Pats lost in the AFC championship today to the Ravens, of all teams. But that’s ok because YJP & CNHB joined me for a good portion of today’s long run which was a decidedly good thing. Four weeks til Austin and the Livestrong Marathon. Song of the week, Got Some by Pearl Jam (“new stuff”, circa 2009).
I started the week with a few post-Ragnar wind-down days in Key West and have ended back home in Massachusetts, a considerable contrast. Sun & islands & pelicans vs snow remnants & slush (& work). I’ve added a few new races to my “spring” schedule – now that Ragnar’s over and we’re safely into 2013, here’s what I’m planning to do over the next few months.
That seems like a lot when I write them all down at once. I’ve been having a fair amount of right ankle pain (almost entirely when I’m not running) and I’m not doing a very good job of balancing resting & healing that vs training. The good news is the IT band trouble I had with my left leg seems to have resolved itself. Song of the week, Sweet Life by Jonah Matranga.
Can you find Santa? Merry almost Christmas all!
I thought this would be the week I would break 2000 miles for 2012, but Friday I realized the total reported in my Daily Mile widget thing includes the hiking & biking miles I’ve idly logged along the way this year. My running total was much lower than expected, around 1920. Fortunately with two weeks to go, there’s still enough time to get to 2000, it’ll just be a lot tighter than I realized. Hopefully the snow will hold off for another week or so. Less than three weeks to go until Ragnar Key West! I’m very excited about this trip.
Song of the week is Tenuousness from Andrew Bird. The version below isn’t on my playlist but it’s quite nice.
Odd week. My good ankle’s been hurting. Once I hit 2000 miles I’m going to take a solid week off. Song of the week, D.A.N.C.E. by Justice. |
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