Boston

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Boston, Boston, Boston

Summer, I have decided, is not a running season – at least for me.

Yesterday I had a run where I had to constantly remind myself why I am doing this.  Some days are wonderful and it feel like I can run a thousand miles.  No runs this week have been wonderful to me.

I hesitate here because I don’t want to sound like I am complaining on this blog.  I write it for me to remind myself from where I have come and where I hope to go.  FYI, I come from a 5’9″ 278 pound man and I hope to qualify for the Boston Marathon this September (i.e.: 278toBoston.com).  That is what I had to keep reminding myself yesterday as I ran.

I started my run in my old Saucony Mirage 2 shoes.  Not old in mileage – they only have 78 miles on them.  They are the shoes I loved before I got my Saucony Fastwitch shoes that I have been using during my achilles recovery.  Why did I switch yesterday?  Mainly because they are heavier and have more support and I thought that they would help me not push as hard as I did the day before.

I got less than a mile into my run and felt a sharp pain in my achilles.  I thought to myself, “run relaxed and keep your form”.  As I ran a bit more – another sharp pain.  I thought at this point that perhaps I should head home and change shoes.  By the time I got home (5 minutes later) I had 2 more sharp pains.  Ugh.  I don’t want to have this problem again.  I just felt like I was getting over it.

I went inside and put on my Fastwitch shoes and headed back out.  After that point, I had one more minor pain and then I was pain free.  Well, I thought to myself, I guess I have another pair of lawn mowing shoes (thinking of the Mirage).

I don’t know what he difference is between the shoes except that the Mirage is stiffer and pulls more on my heel.  Either way I was elated that I could continue with my run (which didn’t go much better after that).

It was hot outside again.  The heat index was 90.  At least there was a breeze.  Then it rained.  Not a bad thing, but it rained just enough to get the road wet and then the sun came out again.  The sun and heat radiating off the road shot the temperature up at least 10 degrees.  I made it to 7 miles with a 9:12 average pace. My last mile was close to 10:00.

I’ve decided it is going to be a long hot summer and I had better get used to it.  I run in the afternoon because I leave for work at 5:00am and just can’t get up early enough to get my mileage in.

So, I guess I did complain some.  It was actually one of the roughest runs I’ve had in a long time.  I run one more time today and take tomorrow off to get my body ready for the 5K on Saturday.  Then it is marathon training until September.

Boston, Boston Boston.  I have to keep my eye on the goal.  Summer will eventually turn to fall and then I can have some fun.  Then the Spring and hopefully Boston!

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Run through the pain? Not this time!

Yesterday I wrote, “lessons learned” and then in the afternoon I had a chance to prove that I learned a lesson.

I have found that it is important to run even when I don’t “feel” like it.  If I don’t run when I’m tired or a bit sore, I’ll never run.  That isn’t good and I would never meet my goal of qualifying for Boston.  On the other hand, I have had to learn the lesson that sometimes it is important to listen to your body.  Some aches and pains or even just being tired is a sign that things aren’t going in a good direction and perhaps I need to pull back some on training or even take a break.

Yesterday was great running weather.  I had only run once for 5 miles since last Thursday because my achilles was hurting. But my 5 mile run on Sunday went very well and I had no problems yesterday during work, so I was excited to hit the road running.  I  don’t have a run plan this week, but just a “see how it goes” plan.

I got 1/2 mile into my run and I felt that pain in achilles.  Ugh.  I realized that I was so looking forward to my run that I started too fast.  I slowed down and ran relaxed trying to make sure I wasn’t pushing off my feet, but allowing gravity to move me forward. It was too late.  That pain, not severe pain mind you, but still pain, was back and I couldn’t get past it.  I ran for a total of 2.2 miles and decided to walk home.

It was disappointing to me that I had done a stupid thing and started too fast, but in the end, looking back, I’m excited that I showed that I had learned a valuable lesson.  I know that I shouldn’t push past pain all the time.  I know that it isn’t a bad thing to stop a run in the middle.  I learned that if I act wisely today, then I’ll be able to run tomorrow.

I’ve learned that there are runs that you push through the pain and meet your goal and there are runs that need to be stopped and you go home and rest.

I’ve learned lessons this past week that I hope I continue to remember.  I’ll probably never be a “great” runner.  But with consistency I can be a good runner. However if I don’t run with wisdom, I won’t be a runner at all.

I’d rather walk home from a run, then finish it and have to stop running.

I hope I remember this lesson next time.

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2014 Boston Marathon – Is it possible for me to go?

Ahhh, the long run day.  Today is where the rubber hits the road, so to speak.  I am all ready to head out, but I must say that getting up at 5:00am on a Sunday morning is not my thought of fun.  However as my long runs get longer, I am going to have to sacrifice sleep on the weekend for running.  In the end, it will be worth it (I can’t believe I just wrote that).

I am trying something new this week (yes, there is something new from time to time in my routine).  I took Saturday off from running rather than Monday.  I will see how this works out.  I really need a day off before my long run as I do better after a day off.  However that will have me running non-stop into the week and my workouts.  I know… I could take 2 days off – but who would be that crazy!!!

I haven’t mentioned Boston since Tuesday as I wanted to give some time before I talk about running next year.  I’ve noticed news articles this past week on how interest in running the Boston Marathon has skyrocketed since the tragedy last Monday.  Notice the image below.  Talk about skyrocketing…  Click the image to read the story (but not until you finish my post, of course).

Huge Interest In Qualifying For Boston 2014

I have some mixed emotions about this.  One side of me says, “Great!  Look at all that support and how people are coming together after a terrible tragedy”.  But the other side of me says, “Now with so many people wanting to qualify for Boston, I probably won’t make it for 2014”.  I’m not trying to be selfish, just honest about what I am feeling.

I am very encouraged by the response to last Monday.  Personally, I’ve had many people that have sought me out to say that because of this blog and my goal, they thought of me after what happened.  It is nice when people are so thoughtful.

So my eyes are set on a goal.  I’d rather not have to wait until 2015 to run Boston and I’d also like to support the marathon the year after the tragedy.  I have 5 months to train and to run my first marathon under 3:30 to qualify.  What are the chances of a 50 year old who will have only been running for 18 months being able to do that?  Not very high.  But I am going to try.  This was a personal goal from the beginning, long before last Monday.  Now it is even more important to me.  I will work hard to qualify for this marathon one day.  Maybe this year, but if not, then next.  If not next year then I’ll keep trying until I cannot try anymore.

I am still praying for those affected by the events last Monday.  So many people are hurt, afraid, confused, etc.  Some wounds, even time can’t heal.

Here is to Boston!  We are with you.  We will support you.

I hope to see you soon. 🙂

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After the tragedy, we pray and then we run

I am a runner.  I think I can make that declaration now.  I have been running over a year.  I run between 40 – 45 miles a week on average.  I have run over 1,200 miles in the past year.

Why do we as runners run?  Why run 5, 10, 13.1, 26.2 miles.  Why do people put their body, mind and spirit into running?

I run because of the challenge.  It is about the goals.  It is about the ups and the downs.  It is making my body do what I never thought it could.  It is about doing what no one thought I could ever do.  Like most runners, I am determined.  It is a part of my life now.  My off day form running is misery, not the days I run.

I have a goal.  I put that goal in the url of my blog so that I would keep it before my eyes.  In some ways, in just a short period of time, it has become part of my identity.

Boston

Yesterday was beyond belief.  I really have no words to express my shock and sadness that something like that could happen.  When tragedies that that occur, it seems to take away something from us as people, as a nation and now, as runners.

Life is about the finish.  When we run a race, we run for the finish.  When we see that line in front of us and we are exhausted and tired, wether a 5K or a marathon, we push harder.  The finish is the goal for the race.  What happened yesterday at the finish line  turns everything on its head.  The finish of the Boston Marathon went from victory to tragedy in a split moment.  Lives where changed forever, not in the way people had thought earlier that day, the way of victory and joy, but in the tragedy of those blasts.

I am praying for those who were hurt, those who lost loved ones.  Those whose lives will never be the same.

We are runners whether we run 1 mile a day or 10 miles a day.  We will continue.  We will persevere.

We will pray for everyone affected and then…

We will put on our shoes and run.