Week Recap: 2 to go

The closer we get to race day, the less exciting these recaps will become. That's not to say that any of these weekly rundowns have been particularly thrilling. With two to go, it's all about the taper.

Monday - Off completely. I got a massage instead and it was glorious.

Tuesday - Miles: 11 Course: Central Park Lower Loop. Workout: 2x1387.5 @ VO2Max. The workout actually called for three repeats, but Jerry pulled me out after I hammered out the first two a sub 5:00 mile pace. I was pretty much on my own for this one, and feeling fairly refreshed from the day off. I could have done three, but it was probably wise to make it an abbreviated effort.

Wednesday - Miles: 10 (6:44 pace) Course: West Side Highway. I ran to Harlem and back immediately following a disastrous day at work. I probably should have eased off the gas a little bit, but I had a lot of steam to blow off.

Thursday - Miles: 11.42 (6:56 pace) Course: Central Park. I had originally scheduled an AT Tempo for today, but when I got to Urban, all I needed was one minimally persuasive word of discouragement. My legs felt terrible when the run started, but got better as Josh, Kevin and I clicked off the miles.

Friday - Miles: 10.7 Workout: 3 mile warmup, 4 miles at AT tempot, 3 mile cooldown. Course: Central Park Lower Loop. Ten days prior to the race is the last day you can expect to gain any benefit from a workout, so I wanted to capitalize. I ran 3 miles to the park then launched into a challenging, but not draining pace. The miles were 5:36, 5:35, 5:38, 5:35 and all on the lower loop of the park. I ended up being too far away from the exit of the park so the cooldown went a little long. I actually stopped and walked home to prevent running too many miles.

Saturday - Miles: 10 (7:08 pace) Course: Brooklyn Bridge Loop. This was a pure recovery run. Very leisurely pace into Brooklyn and back.

Sunday - Miles: 13.18 (6:44 pace) Course: Central Park Bridle Trail. It really was the perfect day for an Easter long run. Didn't get out the door until 8:45 because of a late night at work on Saturday. Ran solo through the park with the ipod. Legs felt very fresh. Ice bath after the run.

Mastering the Taper

I think tapering is the hardest part of marathon training. Hear me out. Consider that you have to chose the length of time you taper, the number of miles you reduce your volume by and the intensity in which you do those last few workouts. Every mile and every day makes a difference. Did you make the right choices? You'll find out around mile 20 of the most important race of your season.

You could say that about all facets of your program, but the taper is the one where I find myself doing the most second-guessing. That's because unlike a week that was too hard or too easy in the middle of the program, there is little or no time to fix a mistake made in the taper portion.

As the cycle for my fifth marathon draws to a close, I am taking a new approach to the taper much like I did at the end of my fourth, third, second and first marathon cycles. This taper, which began a week ago today (so, it's a 15 day taper) calls for low volume and moderately high intensity. It takes some methods from Pete Pfitzinger, some from the Hansons and some from my past mistakes, all of course with the approval of Jerry. Prior to Boston and Richmond in 2010, I only backed off my average weekly mileage by 20% and did marathon pace runs of 10 miles nine days before the race. In Boston, I blew up in the final 10K of the race. In Richmond, despite running a 3 minute PR, I felt flat and tired from mile seven to the finish and my time was not indicative of what I was trained to run.

Pfitzinger preaches that the last day a runner can really gain fitness applicable to the marathon is 10 days before the race. He recommends a 2X2 mile workout at half-marathon to marathon pace while the Hansons call for a 5-10K effort at marginally slower than 10K race pace. I did four miles at slightly slower than half marathon pace (5:35, 5:36, 5:38, 5:35) with a very easy warm up and cool down. From here on out it is all about rest and recovery.

The most important thing about tapering is adjusting your priorities. During the entire marathon cycle, getting in the miles and the workouts trumps almost everything. But, during the taper, running falls to a distant third on the list between sleep and food (although those items were always a very close second to running). I have forced myself to sleep through runs just to get the required slumber. Monday, I skipped an easy run for a massage. Friday night, I stopped and walked home after I realized my run was getting a little longer than I intended. Last Tuesday, Jerry pulled me out of an interval workout after two of the three prescribed intervals. I felt like I had more left in the tank, but he saw another interval jeopardizing this critical rest period.

Yes, tapering is frustrating on more than one level. It's not just because it's the farthest thing possible from an exact science, but it also flies in the face of every endurance runner's instincts. You spend months pushing your body to the brink of complete breakdown and then you spend a couple of weeks preventing yourself from even coming close to finishing a run where you are wheezing with your hands on your knees. You feel lazy, you feel sluggish and worst of all, you feel just as hungry as you did when you were at the peak of the cycle.

Let me be clear about one thing. I am not saying the tapers I have done in the past were wrong. I am saying they were wrong for me. Perhaps they were only off by a day or two, or a mile or two. It was enough to prevent the perfect race. That said, the only person that can prescribe the perfect taper is the runner themselves. It is the most individualized part of your training. If you are lucky enough to find one, stick with it. Many very smart, mature and dedicated runners are still looking after five, ten, even twenty marathons. I hope this is the taper that leaves me feeling rejuvenated on race day. I'll know somewhere around Newton.

To Boston and back

The animosity between sports teams from New York and Boston and sports fans from New York and Boston is well known and well documented. There is no love lost between the Red Sox and the Yankees, the Celtics and Knicks, the Rangers and the Bruins or any of their loyal followings. But, unlike those stick, ball and puck sports, I have always found that distance running is fraternal no matter what city the runner happens to be from.

Let me go back to the birth of this wild idea. A few weeks ago at an Urban Athletics workout, Josh, Kevin and I were warming up when one of them suggested we go run the course in Boston as our last long run of the marathon training cycle. We all agreed it was a great idea, but logistically, it could be tough. The first problem was, none of us have cars. Solution: We take the bus. The second problem was, the bus drops people off in downtown Boston. Getting 20 miles outside the city would be contingent on the commuter train schedule lining up with the bus schedule, which it did not. The third problem was, unless we planned on only bringing what we were running in, we would need a place to stash our stuff. We mulled over taking cabs or paying off a hotel bellhop to hold our bags, but the trip was looking to be more trouble than it was worth.

That all changed when I casually mentioned the undeveloped idea to Meagan. Meagan mentioned our plans to Terrence Shea, assistant coach of the Boston Athletic Assocation, and he emailed me with a detailed and meticulously-planned solution to all of our problems.

Saturday morning at 6:30, the three of us boarded the Bolt Bus outside the Tic Toc Diner on 34th Street and 8th Avenue and settled in for the ride. We arrived in a cold, rainy Boston three and a half hours later, well-rested and ready to run. Terry and Meagan met us outside the bus station and drove us all the way to Hopinkton so we could take a glance at the starting line. Then, we drove six miles of the course into Framingham where we got out, laced up our shoes and applied the necessary Body Glide before Meagan, Kevin, Josh and I started the journey to Boylston Street while Terry drove to mile 20 to park the car and start running toward us.

We started at a pedestrian pace, but that only lasted a mile. By mile two, we were clicking off 6:40s. I wanted to ease off, but for the first time in two weeks, I was feeling pretty good. Of course, this was the easy part. Miles 6 through 15 of the Boston Marathon are relatively flat, and I wondered if we would be able to maintain when we got into Newton and started climbing the hills.

We met Terry around mile 16 and the hills began. Terry, who ran 2:20 on the course last year, was a great guide, telling us the elevation of each of the four famed hills, and how many seconds per mile we should expect to lose as we tackled the most challenging part of the race. As the run got harder, our pace got quicker and we ran the hardest mile of the course, the one that includes Heartbreak Hill, in just under 6:30 pace.

Meagan and Terry split off at mile 22 to go back to the car, and the three of us out-of-towners were on our own to make it to the finish line. Maybe it the was excitement of the upcoming race, maybe it was vibe of Boston, or maybe it was just that we wanted our last long run to be over, but with each mile the pace got quicker. When we finally crossed the spot on Boylston Street where the finish line is painted (Kevin actually crossed it, Josh and I ran on the sidewalk), we were going 5:50 pace. The hard part of training for the World's Most Prestigious Marathon was over, and the countdown to race day could now begin.

After the run, we ducked into Marathon Sports where the sales associate let me call Terry from the store phone and he and Meagan came to get us. We grabbed a bite to eat at a nearby Panera then went our separate ways. The three of us searched for the Sam Adam's 26.2 Brew, but despite promises on the internet that it was on tap at several local bars, we found that not to be true. Raeanne and Katie both swung by on a moments notice to say "hello" and share a beer, and Katie was kind enough to take us to the train station. We caught the 5:30pm bus home and were back in New York by 9:45pm. All in a day's work.

I know I speak for all three of us when I say I could not be more appreciative of Terry's generosity. To roll out the red carpet and sacrifice an entire day for three runners he's never even met goes above and beyond what any of us expected. He not only made our trip worry-free and left us with an insider's look at the course, if it weren't for his help, this trip wouldn't have even been possible. Perhaps the Yankees and the Red Sox can learn something from us weekend warriors.

Week Recap: 3 to go

It is April and April is also the month during which the Boston Marathon occurs. That said, the priority list has been rearranged with sleep and rest now coming before mileage and speed. This is the point in the process where you can no longer afford to be running with a tired body and heavy legs. Last week was my last chance to push myself to the limit and I tried to make the most out of the opportunity. Unfortunately, I felt stale and uninspired until the weekend logging some forgetful miles and some less than stellar speed work. I ran every run in the evening as my body was too worn down to log 4am miles.

Runs: 7 (no doubles)

Mileage: 90.6

Workouts: 2

Long Run: 20.3 miles (Boston Marathon Course)

Hours: 10.36

Monday -- Miles: 12 (6:49 pace) Course: Central Park. Knowing that the New York metro area was under a red flag warning, I tried to limit my time along the Hudson, using the West Side Highway just to get to the park and back. But, there was no escaping the wind. Even in the park it was like running into a wall. My legs are still a little sore. I wore calf sleeves.

Tuesday -- Miles: 12.25 Course: Central Park. Workout: 5X400 All out. Despite the length of this workout, I really struggled to make something of it. I still have dead legs and that brought my already slow pace to a crawl. I fell off the back of every repeat even though I was working really hard. Intervals were 67, 67, 67, 67, 66 with a jog back to the start. I did 5 miles at just under 7:00 pace to cool down.

Wednesday -- Miles: 15 (6:57 pace) Course: West Side Highway. I met Josh about 4 miles in along the West Side Highway and we headed toward Battery Park. It's starting to sound like a broken record, but my legs are still sore and a massage is badly needed. Unfortunately, I won't have an opportunity until next week.

Thursday -- Miles: 13. Course: Central Park Great Lawn. Workout: 2 miles @ MP, 5X800 @ 2:30. The workout only called for the 800s, but I tacked on the two miles at MP solo just to get the legs moving. The challenge was keeping to marathon pace and not dipping too far below. I ran 5:38, 5:42 then shut it down and jogged back to the store. The 800s were a challenge. I don't particularly love doing repeats on the great lawn because although it is fast, it really tears up my legs. Did 2:28, 2:27, 2:26, 2:29, 2:30 with 400 jog as rest. I considered dropping out of the last one, but at the last minute, went for it anyways. It hurt. The thought of a taper felt really good when this was over.

Friday -- Miles: 7 (7:10 pace) Course: West Side Highway. I haven't felt this bad and uninspired on a run in a long time. I felt like I was carrying cinder blocks. Getting in a solid dinner tonight and hoping this is the end of the slump.

Saturday -- Miles: 20.3 (6:42 pace) Course: Boston Marathon from Framingham to Boston. Full recap here. We started at a slow 7:10 pace, and quickly dropped into the mid to high 6's. Legs finally felt GREAT and the scenery and company of Kevin, Josh, Meagan and Terry made this run fly by. By the end of the course, we were in the low 6's. Successful last long run of the training cycle.

Sunday -- Miles: 11 (6:55 pace) Course: Central Park Lower Loop. Other than a slight soreness in my left quad and the driving cold rain, this was a surprisingly good run. I waited until 5pm to step out the door to give my body as much time as possible to recover from yesterday. I am going to keep an eye on the quad and get a massage tomorrow. Time to start the taper.

Just a brief thought

As I near the summit of the Boston Marathon training process, the taper is in sight, but the path to the downhill is not without its obstacles. This is the final grueling, 90 plus mile week.

I had planned a four mile shake-out this morning; something I do a couple of times a week just to wake myself up. I don't wear a Garmin or concern myself with the pace. The alarm went off at 4am and while I rarely pop out of bed with a spring in my step, this morning's wake up was particularly tough. I shuffled into the kitchen and ate a handful of mango gummy snacks from Trader Joes. I checked the weather. 34 degrees. Blah. As I was pulling the appropriate attire from my drawer of running garb, my body was showing no signs of being ready to exert itself. It's normally not until about a mile into the run that I am fully awake, but usually the process of adjusting to the living world has started by this point. I stood in the living room for a few seconds contemplating the pros and cons of skipping then run, then put my PJs back on and got back into bed.

Training for a marathon involves walking a fine line between pushing yourself to the limit and pushing yourself too far. It takes a lot of miles and a lot of practice to learn the difference between quitting and abstaining. My experience has led me to believe that the extra hour of sleep I got this morning will mean more than four slow miles when I get to the starting line in Hopkinton in 20 days. But I, like most of us, am still figuring out this marathon thing.

Week Recap: 6 to go

With last week’s training marking six weeks to Boston, I am thought I would chronicle the countdown to the big race by doing weekly recaps. After the race is over, we will know whether it is a guide to what to do, or a guide to what NOT to do when preparing for a PR.

Runs: 10

Mileage: 95.4

Workouts: 2

Long Run: 17 miles

Hours: 11.01

Monday – Miles: 12 (6:55), Course: West Side Highway. I ran four on my own before running into Josh and heading back in the opposite direction. Wind from the North was strong and slowed down the pace. The legs felt good despite running a 15:51 5K the day before. Doing an 8 mile recovery run in the afternoon after the race was probably a good move.

Tuesday – Miles: 12.4, Course: Harlem Hills. This was a hill repeat workout with the Urban Athletic team. We started at the base of the Harlem Hills section of the park loop at the traverse, ran 1.13 miles to the other side of the traverse, then jogged a quarter mile back as a rest. Times for the repeats were 6:02 (5:27 mile), 6:02 (5:27 mile) and 5:50 (5:14 mile). Going into this workout, I wasn’t expecting to work hard, but it ended up being much tougher and therefore much more satisfying than I anticipated. The Harlem Hills are no joke and I’ll need to tackle them in the upcoming NYC Half Marathon.

Wednesday – AM Miles: 9 (7:15) Course: West Side Highway. The only thing notable about this run was the size of the moon and the noticeable lack of other people on this popular running spot at 4:20 in the morning. Also, the SXSW Preview Show on “All Songs Considered” introduced me to some awesome new bands. My legs felt surprisingly good despite the hard workout just hours before. PM Miles: 5 (7:00) Course: West Side Highway. This was just an easy shakeout. The weather was beautiful, but my stomach was not enjoying my lunch choice.

Thursday – AM Miles: 5 (7:16) Course: West Side Highway. All I wrote in my log for this one was “ugh”. I think the 4:25am start was a little harder to handle than yesterdays. PM Miles: 13.5 (6:52) Course: Central Park Big Loop. With a workout planned for Saturday, I skipped the team workout and just did a medium long run with Josh and Kevin for a few miles before he split for the workout. My quads were pretty torn up from the hills, but that was to be expected.

Friday – Miles: 5.0 (7:11) Course: West Side Highway. This was my third straight day of running during the 4am hour. Fortunately, it was planned to be a much deserved easy day. With a flight to Charlotte in the evening, this would be my only miles of the day.

Saturday -- CHARLOTTE! AM Miles: 11. Course: McAlpine Creek Greenway. This was the much anticipated and already recapped workout with Paul. The workout called for 2 miles @ 10:30, 4x400 @ 75, 2 miles at 10:30. Although it was billed by some as the battle between USA and Britain, we really worked together to hit the prescribed times. The results were right on target. We ran 10:26, 73, 72, 72, 75 (running into the wind) and then 10:27. The effort was draining, but always good to share some tough miles with Paul. PM Miles: 5.5 (7:32) Course: Providence Road Area. Afternoon shakeout run with Paul and Aaron. It was so awesome out. The run was very easy and more for catching up than anything else.

Sunday – CHARLOTTE Miles: 17 (7:17) Course: McAlpine Creek Greenway. This kind of run is what I miss most about Charlotte. There was a huge group at McAlpine at 8am on a Sunday morning, ready to run. I was able to back Caitlin into a corner on this one. She wanted to run at 9, but since she was my ride and I wanted to run at 8, she had to get up earlier. This long run was a little slower and a little shorter than previous weeks because of the upcoming half marathon.

On deck: A down week capped with the NYC Half Marathon!

Ahead by nearly a century

As Boston gets closer, the mileage gets higher, the workouts get harder and I get hungrier. Nearing the end of a February that includes three consecutive weeks of 85, 98 and 95 miles. I am struggling to remember a time when I was thoroughly stuffed. This week, the seminary at which we live hosted a free pancake breakfast. They probably didn't bank on my appetite as they prepared the feast. Two plates piled high with hot cakes, fruit and fresh whipped cream and I still had room for M&Ms when I got home. (Side anecdote: Lauren and I took Julie and Brian to the M & M store and could not resist the allure of the wall of milk chocolate in a candy shell. We now have enough M & M's to sustain us through Christmas...or maybe next week. Who knows?)

Since my last post, which was about movies and not running, things have progressed quite nicely on the fitness front. Minus a disastrous attempt at racing the mile at the Armory, I've finished every run at workout satisfied. The day after the track disaster, I put in a hard 7 mile tempo in the park , solo at 5:38 pace. I can thank the frustration hangover for some of that speed. That run was followed up by a moderately paced 20 miler with Josh and JR over the George Washington Bridge and onto the steep hills and switchbacks of the Palisades Greenway before heading back into Central Park.

The next week was a grind from start to finish. At Tuesday’s UA workout, we hammered 400s around the Great Lawn. Although, I should point out that hammering is relative. My 12 repeats ranged from 65-70 seconds and the rest was generous. During the faster ones, my face contorted in a twisted grimace and my arms flailed wildly. People with actual speed can go much faster and look much more graceful. I have always lacked both grace and speed. It took me two days, three runs and 30 miles to recover. I also am learning that the high mileage requires me to run in the morning and with my current work schedule that means 4:30am. If I ever go months without updating this blog, assume that I was kidnapped by a wandering drifter somewhere along the Hudson river during one of those runs.

Once recovered, I hit the Central Park 4 mile course last Friday to attempt a solo effort at 3X2 miles. The course is moderately hilly, but so are all the races there, so workouts like these provide a good simulation of race day conditions. The times were 10:50, 10:37 and 10:43 with a three minute jogging rest. I would have liked to run the last one a bit quicker, but even with a 5:17 closing mile I had gone out too slow to dip below 10:40 again.

Because Julie and Brian were coming into town Saturday afternoon and I didn’t want them to waste part of their trip here waiting for me to run 22 miles, I planned to do another quick turnaround. I was out the door by 7am Saturday morning, ipod loaded with some of my favorite recent records and headed South down the Hudson. I covered 14 miles with only rare glimpses at the Garmin before meeting up with Meagan, also visiting, at Paragon Sports in Union Square so she could keep me company for the last 8 miles. By the end of the run, I had traveled nearly 23 miles at an unintentional, yet very comfortable speed of 6:45/mile. Getting the long run out of the way allowed for a worry-free Thai feast later in the evening with Meagan, Jordan (who is nursing an injury) and Julie and Brian. The next day, which was supposed to be an easy run with Meagan and Heidi, turned into me running with about 9 women and feeling like the creeper of the group. We kept the first 9 miles easy, but then Meagan and I picked it up heading down the Hudson River so she could make engagement. My legs were toast when I got back home.

I believe if you are going to run high mileage, run it consistently. One week at 90-100 miles is wasting your time. I train on a three weeks hard, one week easy schedule. I could not be more excited to be coming to the end of this current three week block. Last night’s team workout again focused on speed and turnover, and I don’t have either. I was able to hang on with the front pack from the duration of the ladder which started at 400 and climbed to 1200 before descending at a faster pace, but I wasn’t turning any heads. By the final 400, my legs felt like they were going to come out from under me. It’s easy to get disappointed when you are pushing harder than your times reflect, but I am trying to remember that you sometimes sacrifice that gear you need to hammer a 400 for stamina in the marathon.

One more long run tomorrow. 20 miles with the last 6 at marathon pace or faster, then a week to take it relatively easy for a 5K race. I hope 5000 meters is long enough for me to stick my nose in the competition.