The 120th Boston Marathon

I haven't felt like there is much to say lately, nothing worth reading anyway.
"How ya' doin'?" "How ya' been?"...
These are the two hardest questions for me to answer lately. Can I even say "I'm injured.", just smirk and say thanks when someone expresses some empathy? The worst kind of injuries are the ones that seem to just linger or morph in a way that leaves you still able to run, albeit slower and shorter distances than you'd like.
I'm trying to figure it all out. Medical treatment isn't in the cards for me currently, considering all things financial. I know I can't complain too much, lots of people have worse circumstances than I do. But running well makes me happy, so I am a lot less happy.  That's it, that's what's real. 

It took me a while to decide if I wanted to do a write up about my 6th time racing the Boston marathon. I just felt less and less motivated as the days went by afterward and I am simply floundering in its wake. Yeah, it's July now and I'm running some easy miles and riding my bike some. No racing, no workouts. The cycling has been a fun change from everyday running. After these photos there is a bit more, so don't go quitting on me just yet, read on.

Fancy trinket of which I am quite proud

People feeling out the last 100m by the finish line on Boylston St

Me letting out everything that was left in the tank heading to the finish. As you can see, I had some company creep up on me. It was on the telly, proper famous now I is.

Walking away from the finish line post race, exhausted. To my left, good pal, Geraint Davies.

The GF and I doing the tourist photo op thing.

Twins

 My performance was better than average, but could have been so much more. I know there are still great races in me, but damn it; I need to get healthier to make them happen.  The winner of the race was 2:12:xx, this race has had top finisher 5-9mins faster. I'll tell myself, it was a hot day and I didn't execute entirely that well and was stricken by a classic pit stop around mile 9, certainly costing me 2mins. If I can speculate a 8min faster time than the 2:42:18 that I finished with, it exactly matches my PB. I still believe in myself, there is still plenty of time to achieve my lifetime goal in marathoning. It isn't that far away.

The race itself went like this:
I lightly jogged up to the starting corrals with teammates and friends, had my last visit to the Porta-john (before the race), and went into the 2nd corral where I was assigned. It was too warm already, we thought we would have low 60's, it was already 70.  Standing among the hundreds of other great runners in that corral I found a few who were simply beaming with excitement about being there and knowing that they were about to embark upon their goal of "running the Boston Marathon". I wished luck to anyone that surrounded me where I stood. The jets flew over as the national anthem was sung and applauded. Volunteers dropped the ropes separating the corrals and we walked forward about 10m to blend into the back of the 1st corral.

The race was started and we were off! I moved to the edge of the road when possible to find open ground to run; having decided that keeping pace with Will Appman would be a fine idea...if I could just find him in the thick of the 1st mile. Luckily, I caught him after about 1/2 of a mile and we stuck to 5:48-5:52 per mile. Jeremy Klapper ran along with us for about 5k, deciding to back off once the downhills were completed; ultimately finishing ahead of us both in 2:38. My GI tract was not on board with running 26.2 miles non-stop, so I bid Will a farewell and stopped for about 2mins at a Porta-john around mile 8-9.  This was a bit of a downer, I had trained a lot with Will this past winter and had hoped to run much of the race with him to shared success. Ultimately, Will ran a 2:40.

After I got back on the road, I simply struggled to maintain a sub 6 pace. I was in the low 6's and feeling decent. I was passing people, but I just couldn't go any faster. Running past Wellesley College was a fun experience as always, kisses for luck, why not?! I worked up the hills the best I could and held back from speeding down past Boston College. But sure enough, the higher than normal temps just started to hurt me too much. The Newton Hills were nasty as ever, I passed teammate Tim Seeley, and that was a double bummer. I could tell he was having a terrible time by that point (near mile 18 I believe), I caught and passed him with suddenness. We expected him to be our lead man, I've been in his shoes, it's a hard thing to finish a marathon when the wheels are coming off. Credit to him, he finished it up. I have to say that Tim trained better than any of us, and his consistent excellence in training motivated me to stay honest in training and not slack. After climbing all the Newton hills my pace faded a bit, the last 2 miles were verging on ugly, last mile in 6:53. Once I had calculated a sub 2:40 was not salvageable, I was definitely less motivated.

Yet, I saw some friends along the way at Cleveland Circle and the crowds just before turning on Boylston St were so thick with screaming fans, you just can't NOT run faster. I turned it on, gave what was left when I knew it meant I wouldn't collapse before finishing. So, now, this is the first time I have managed to run this race 3 consecutive years, hoping to keep the streak going. I was glad it was over, very happy to have another shiny medal to add to the collection. Later, I celebrated with my girlfriend, Anna, Will, Jeremy, various friends and everyone's supporters. Anna and I bumped around town to see some old historical stuff, got some Cannoli and just enjoyed the sunny spring day.

I hope this can inspire you, the moment you read this, that is drives you a bit; gets you to step outside when you are procrastinating for too long or feeling tired or sore. There are going to be good days and bad days, right?

Coming soon: Attempts at rehab for mysterious un-diagnosed injuries and prepping for XC!

The Philadelphia Marathon: My first Love in the Marathon

Many runners in NJ/PA/NY, have sought the big city excitement of a road marathon when they decide to run their first.  The idea of running with thousands of other runners and having thousands of spectators cheering for you is an enticing thought to the newbie.  I'm not going to bullshit you, that was part of the draw for me too.
 
I may have yapped about this story in part before but, I have to give credit to a guy I've known a long time and did a fair bit of running with, Mike Daigeaun, he suggested Philly, as it was his first as well, and he was also running it that yr coincidentally, two weeks after a bad run in the NYC marathon(Daigeaun does stuff like that). He gave a great pitch, I was sold.  So, I twisted the Mike Dixon's arm, and convinced him that this is how we would qualify for Boston.
I was so focused on the idea of getting to Boston that I didn't think much about Philly being a chance at a great experience, and truth be told, I've had a BLAST in Philly a bunch of times, with or without a marathon! Boston's nice too, but in 2006, what the heck did I know? I'd never really spent much time in either place. So I've run seven marathons now, and I think back on the two that I ran in Philly, and I appreciate the city and the event more today than I did on the day of either race.

Fun in Philly!

 I wanted to run a fast course, and blaze through some streets where you'd otherwise normally be run over by a bus.  I wanted to see how I could place among a lot of runners, of course-qualify for Boston, I wanted to see what "hitting the wall" felt like. Philly provided ample opportunity for all of this. I face planted into the wall...yes, I did.

Today, I was working at the marathon expo, selling discounted running apparel, accessories, and shoes.  I was also at the NYC expo a couple weeks ago(too bad about that whole thing eh?)  And, I suddenly realized, how much I enjoy being around runners who are excited about their "big race".  It is very meaningful in the lives of each of them.  I like hearing people telling me, "It's my first, I'm excited...and nervous."
Now, I like to pick on Eagles' fans a bit when they lose, and I like seeing the Devils beat the Flyers, I don't give a damn about basketball...but I like Philadelphia for the sort of place that it is.  I enjoy the murals and mosaics you find alongside random buildings in the city. Most of the buildings aren't obnoxiously huge, has good bars with great beers! There are a whole bunch of historic things there, and I don't feel lost in the frenzy of consumerism there so badly. You really won't notice a whole lot of that stuff unless you studied up on where everything is, and that's why I am more excited about being there to see it again(now knowing the city better). Philadelphia, is a cool city with a lot of character.

 It will always be the city I ran my first marathon, and I so I'm excited to go see my teammates Ken Walsh and James Lothian run it this Sunday.  These guys are going for a sub 3hr run, and I'm looking forward to seeing them do it! I was born in NYC, but I Love Philadelphia, and I probably always will.