7 Days to Boston...

It's another slow night here at Seton....currently 3:30am, and I've come to the realization that in one weeks time, I'll be running my first Boston Marathon! Never mind those hard pace runs, nor the sunday 20+ milers, or the sometimes two-a-day workouts, I'm just happy to be apart of a long standing running tradition and finish with the best of them. Many have asked me what I expect to run that day and my answer is, I have no expectations. Can I run 2:45? After running 1:16:07 at 3M, I think I can. However, I want this one to mean something more and if I feel good, I'll go with it and if not....the day is not lost and I'll remember what got me here to begin with. I think it's important for all us to remember the 'joy' that running brings and not only to ourselves, but our family and friends as well. When Boston is complete, I'll be glad to finally be able to focus on running internationally again....something I've put aside lately. I'll be returning to Panama/Columbia in August and then racing in Mexico in September. For those of you who don't know it, Mexico has many huge races all over the country.....very cheap entry fees, great organization, and better talent then in the U.S.
Anyhow, this will be my last blog for awhile but I'll seeing many of you in the days to come.

Wednesday Pace Run

It's been awhile since I've written one of these so here's what's going on with me.
Today was my weekly pace run; this one being the TLT 10 mile loop. Left the house at about 4pm and started at around a 6:50 pace. Two miles in, I upped a notch to 6:20s and then to 6:10s. I went through mile 7 in 6:02 and mile 8 in 5:53. Mile 9 dropped off a bit as I slowed to about 6:10 again and then a "nice" 6:15 last mile. Finished the loop in 1:06 and some change.
On Tuesday, I ran from the house to secret hill and did 5 strong repeats with a recovery run back to the house. (12 miles total)
Monday was the usual scenic loop from Runtex....11.5 miles at a moderate pace.
Thursday will be a 10 mile recovery run, after which, I'm making the drive to El Paso to see family and friends. I'll take advantage of the altitude (3500 feet) and run an 8 mile hill loop I used to train on while I was living there. Saturday will be a long 16 miler along the Rio Grande river and sunday a slow 6 mile recovery run. Weeks mileage should be at around 73 miles or so. Last week was a 64 mile week and next week, I plan on upping a bit to 85. Ever since my fallout at M2M, I've regrouped and really started training seriously. The increase in mileage, faster pace efforts, and running with Africans has all helped and I'm feeling the strongest I've felt ever. In 4 weeks, I will make my return to international racing as I will be traveling to Cabo San Lucas on the 17th of Jan to race the Half Marathon there along the Pacific coast. Afterwards, I will set Boston in my sights and plan on doing some 90 mile weeks in preparation for a sub-2:50.
On another note; I wanted to say thank you to a some of the veteran runners out there.....Peter, Woo, Fletch.....know it or not, you inspire me to train faster, work harder, and keep believing. See you on the streets guys!

Day of Defeat...

I've never dropped from a race before. Even my days as a triathlete, there were some bad times, but not once did I fail to finish a distance. This was my second start of the M2M marathon and I felt this was the marathon (my 4th) to go sub-3hours. Peter and I did'nt waste any time as we flew through the first mile in 6:03. We both looked at each other and decided this was probably not wise. At mile 2, we were at 12:45. There was a constant head wind from mile 2-12 that was just brutal, especially on the hills. Peter and I stayed together until about mile 9. I started feeling a side stich which started to slow the pace. Peter slowly inched ahead....about 20 seconds or so. I went through the 10 mile marker at 1:06. I really felt I could run through the stich and just relax and it would go away. I've had these before, but, this one was stubborn. Mile 13.1 came at about 1:28 and I could feel the other side starting to cramp. At mile 14, things started to really go bad for me. I was sucking air as my whole chest just started to feel really tight. My pace slowed to about a 7:10 and now I could barely see Peter in the distance. I managed to keep going through mile 15, 16. At mile 16, I really started to slow and was clearly not in good shape. I looked behind me and could see the third and fourth place runners closing in. This dappened my spirits even further as I just began to feel helpless. I managed to make it to mile 18 where I stopped to walk around. Clint came running by at that moment and yelled for me to keep going but I could give no response. I was broken. Clearly, this was not my day. Clints wife was keeping tabs on her husband in the car and noticed my condition. It was then that I decided to call it a day and thus, she gave me a ride to the finish. Watching Peter come in at 2:53 was both great and disapointing at the same time. Great to see Peter win....fellow teamate, friend, and good person. Disapointing in that I was supposed to finish with him. Needless to say, the drive back to Austin was one of deep reflexion. All I can think about is how much work I put in....
One day later, I feel hungry for redemption. I've decided to try again in December either at the Marathon at the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach, or the Cayman Island Marathon. Until then, I will use my experience at M2M to strengthen myself as an athlete and hopefully, gain the wisdom I need to accomplish my future goals. Thanks to all the gazelles who supported me....I'm sorry I let you down.

Fourteen days and counting...

Well, it's been awhile since I've written one of these so here's an update. Marathon2Marathon is now just 14 days away and I have never felt this strong before a 26. This will be only my fourth marathon, my last being a 3:05 at ATT. The last two months, I've lived like a runner....peaking in the upper 60s in weekly volume while at the same time, managing to average 45-50 hours a week at work. It helps when thiers no girlfriend/wife/kids, etc! This past tuesday, we did 2000m repeats at zilker....mine all were under 6:50. This morning was my weekly pace run....the 7 mile loop solo at 0730 (44:01, 6:18 avg. pace). Tomorrow is a 16 miler with the return trip at MGP and firecracker the last 2-3. I feel confident I have what it takes to run 2:50. This time, I'll be racing against a fellow gazelle (Peter Rauch) who has a PR in the 2:40s and alot more experience then I have. Although I respect his abilities and remind myself not to underestimate him, I feel this burning desire to be the best that I can be. Should make for an unforgettable race......Good Luck Peter!! In the end, it feels wonderful to know you've worked hard towards something you love to do. Running is a gift that each of us makes happen everyday. Often we are unaware of this until an injury pops up or perhaps a change in life that disagrees with your training schedule. I've come to realize, in order to be the best, you must eat, sleep, live, love, what your doing.....everyday beacause if your not, somebody, somewhere out there, is.

8/25 21 miler

Well, it was time for my first 20 miler since ATT and I was feeling a little nervous as my legs were still tight from Thursdays intervals. And, having only ran 16 miles in the weeks before, I was optimistic on how the body would handle the milage increase. I started with a conservative pace and ran solo until 35th street where Fletcher and Dick Beardsley caught up with me. At the time, I did'nt know this guy with Steve was Beardsley thus, I was running with a marathon legend and not knowing it!! We ran as a group until after Shoal Creek where Steve decided to do a 20 minute surge. I decided to let them go and stay with my consistent pace strategy and run the last 3-4 at MGP. I caught up with Fletcher and Beardsley again at about mile 9 and ran with them until the 10.5 mile turnaround and back. It was not until about mile 12 or so that I finally realized who this guy was and I told him what an honor it was to run with him. I broke free from them at the shoal creek aid station as I wanted to step it up a little. Actually, I was feeling pretty good and ran the last 3 miles at a 7:10 pace. Afterwards, I rewarded myself with a dip in Barton Springs and then a smoothy from Whole Foods. Great run and only one more 20 to go before Marathon 2 Marathon.

Total miles for day: 21, 2:42
Miles for week: 63

Monday Pace Run

This morning was to be a 10 mile pace run for all fall marathoners and since I don't get off work until 7am (night shift), I ran this one solo......for the most part. Started with Bernard at 0730 and managed to keep a 6:30 pace for the first 5. I started feeling a little tired at that point, perhaps from the Grove run two days before so I told Bernard to go on so I could slow 10-15secs/mile. Reached the Mopac bridge at about 57min at which point I began to find an extra surge. Ran the last two miles in about 6:15, 5:45 respectively. A strong run overall, although at the time of this writing, my legs are tired. Total time: 1:08:23, 10.1 miles.

Thursday evening Intervals

Today, Gilbert wanted us to focus on leg turnover as we focused on form and speed. We were told to do between 2-5 sets of 1x600m, then 1x400m, and 1x200m with 200m jog between and 2minutes recovery between sets. I chose to do 4 sets with tomorrow morning being a pace run for me. The weather was much cooler thanks to the rain coming in from the coast. First set: 1:58, 1:17, 35sec....Second set: 1:59, 1:19, 38 sec.....Third set: 2:01, 1:18, 36sec.......Final set: 2:00, 1:17, 34sec. Felt relatively good but a little tight from the pace runs earlier in the week. I've been meeting with Bernard lately in the mornings at 0730 and I told him yesterday I was going to run with him on Mondays and Wednesdays. Hopefully, this will get me the speed I desire to run well at this years M2M marathon in October. I'm disapointed after what I would call a half ass performance in Panama. My goal was to run 1:20 or better and with a 1:22, I know I did not run aggressive enough in the first half.
Total miles for week: 30.....7mile pace run scheduled on Friday, and then 13.5 grove run on Saturday.