M'kay

Boston Marathon - 2011

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Location:

Eatonville,WA,USA

Member Since:

Nov 01, 2007

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Age Division Winner

Running Accomplishments:

Short-Term Running Goals:

Regain consistency.

Build up slowly and come out strong.

Regain "speed" (relative)

Finish WR50 again.

Improve at Cascade Crest. 

2013 Races:

  • Capital Peak Mega Fat Ass 17M (1/19) - 2:48:48
  • Yakima Skyline Rim 50K (4/21) - 7:16:20
  • Grey Rock 50K (5/13)
  • White River 50M (7/27)
  • Cascade Crest 100M (8/24-25)

 

Long-Term Running Goals:

Find my true running potential, then exceed it.

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Hoka Stinson B Lifetime Miles: 982.34
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Altra Torin Lifetime Miles: 380.08
Hoka Bondi 2 Lifetime Miles: 706.15
Hoka Mafate 3 Lifetime Miles: 81.12
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
135.9544.160.003.88183.99
NB 860 - Black Miles: 69.09NB 760 Miles: 50.30NB 860 - Black #2 Miles: 44.54
Night Sleep Time: 185.50Nap Time: 2.50Total Sleep Time: 188.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.290.000.000.008.29

LM warmup, 8.29 miles in 1:06:55, 8:04/mi, HR 143 & stretching.

Felt pretty wretched the entire time.  Pace reflected the feeling. 

NB 860 - Black Miles: 8.29
Night Sleep Time: 9.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 9.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

Just wasn't feeling it today.  Body felt wornout, legs beat, and my right knee had a niggle that I didn't like, so it was really easy to push back today's long run to tomorrow.  Plus, Boston's on a Monday, so shifting everything a day to the right this close to the event is probably a good thing anyway.  Finally, tomorrow is a 20 miler with 18 miles at 10% off MP....in other words, a long hard run (to quote the Brad Hudson book).  Need to get my game face on.

Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 2.50Total Sleep Time: 10.50
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
20.060.000.000.0020.06

LM warmup, 20.06 miles in 2:23:49, 7:10/mi, HR 158 & stretching.

Was still feeling pretty crappy this morning but after lounging around the house for a few hours, got down to business.  Plan was for 1 mile warmup, 18 miles @ 6:40 + 10% = 7:20/mi pace (terrain adjusted), 1 mile cooldown.   Things actually went better than that.....after lurching through the first mile, the body responded to the increased effort and I wound up hitting the half marathon mark at a 7:14/mi pace overall.  Grabbed some gatorade and a GU and pushed through the last 7 miles (including what was supposed to be the cooldown mile) to bring the overall pace down to a 7:10/mi average.  Felt pretty cooked by the end of the run but satisfied that I held it together for as long as I did, especially given the not-so-flat course.  Starting to feel a bit better about Boston.

Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.00
Comments(2)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.090.000.000.008.09

LM warmup, 8.09 miles in 1:07:54, 8:23/mi, HR 134 & stretching.

8 slow, rainy, cold miles.  Yesterday's run took nearly everything out of me, so today was truly a crawl.  Under-dressing didn't help.  Neither did the GI pit-stop. 

NB 760 Miles: 8.09
Night Sleep Time: 9.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 9.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.800.000.000.000.80

LM warmup, 0.8 mile run in 7:40.

Started the run outside in a cold, light rain.  In less than 100', the rain started increasing and the wind started to blow.  Another 100' and the rain was becoming horizontal.  Another 100' and the rain was nearly completely horizontal and the wind was roaring.  By 0.4 miles, I'd had more fun than I could stand, turned around, and ran back to the house.  It poured the remainder of the day, which I spent inside trying to dethaw my legs. 

NB 860 - Black Miles: 0.80
Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
6.380.000.003.8810.26

LM warmup, 10.26 miles in 1:19:59, 7:47/mi, HR 154, w/ 2 mile warmup, 6 x Strides, 2 x Drills, Fartleks: 12 x 2 min on/off, 2 mile cooldown, core workout & stretching.

After yesterday's weather debacle, I monitored the weather radar and got myself out the door during the first sizeable decent weather window.  So of course it rained and hailed, but not too badly.  Legs were dragging after a really slow Monday followed by almost no running yesterday.  The workout was supposed to be 10 x 2/2 @ half marathon pace, but I wound up running 12 @ 5-10K pace.  I think I just needed to get a hard workout in the legs today and should feel better tomorrow. 

NB 860 - Black Miles: 10.26
Night Sleep Time: 9.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 9.50
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.000.000.000.008.00

LM warmup, 8 miles in 1:02:25, 7:48/mi, HR 150 & stretching.

Took a while to warm up but then things were pretty decent. 

NB 760 Miles: 8.00
Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
5.048.000.000.0013.04

LM warmup, 0.5 mile un-timed, 12.54 miles in 1:32:09, 7:20/mi, HR 164, w/ 2 mile warmup, 2 x 4 miles @ MP w/ 5 min rest, 2 mile cooldown & stretching.

Ugh.  A gorgeous day with sun and decent temps.  Too bad my legs felt so dead and this workout was such a butt kicker.  First 4 mile @ MP section was in 7:24 (up), 7:38 (up), 6:47 (rolling), 6:13 (down).  I was ready to quit right there.  My legs were tired and I was working way harder than I should've been for the last couple of miles.  After regrouping during the 5 min rest period, I went into the second 4 mile @ MP section and ran those in 6:29 (down), 6:29 (down), 6:31 (down), and 6:41 (rolling).  The last 2 cooldown miles were a real slog.  Compared to the last time I ran this workout in a marathon taper (3.18.2010), this plain sucked.  Time to wad this memory up and throw it away.

NB 860 - Black Miles: 13.04
Night Sleep Time: 8.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.50
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

Tired.  Took advantage of taper and decent weather to cross-train.  Mowed half the lawn.

Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.003.000.000.0014.00

LM warmup, 14 mile progression run in 1:43:36, 7:41/mi, HR 154, w/ last 3 miles @ HMP/MP (6:17 down, 6:18 down, 6:36 up) & stretching.

Still feeling very worn out.  2 GI pit stops.  Run went better than I figured based on how I felt.  The last (uphill) mile was pretty rough.  Ready for the taper magic to start so I can start feeling better. 

NB 760 Miles: 14.00
Night Sleep Time: 9.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 9.00
Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.100.000.000.008.10

LM warmup, 8.1 miles in 1:01:20, 7:34/mi, HR 147 & stretching.

Sun, rain and hail.  One GI pit stop.  Tired but run started okay and slowly became pretty good.  Was able to stride out a bit on the downhill.  Garmin decided it doesn't want to upload data for the 2nd day in a row, so looks like its time for a hard reset. 

NB 860 - Black Miles: 8.10
Night Sleep Time: 8.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.50
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
4.304.960.000.009.26

LM warmup, 9.26 miles in 1:07:30, 7:17/mi, HR 159, w/ 2 mile warmup, 4 x 2K @ MP - 15 sec w/ 60 sec rest, 2 mile cooldown & stretching.

Nice weather again.  The 2K repeats were pretty good, but after #3, I had to make another GI pit-stop, so a much longer rest between 3 and 4.  Plus, I was dealing with abdominal cramping throughout most of the repeats, starting out mild with #1 and growing to severe at the conclusion of 3, back to mild to moderate for 4 and the cooldown.  Later in the evening the cramping got worse again.  Tomorrow is my dr's appointment (finally) with the GI doc.

NB 860 - Black #2 Miles: 9.26
Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.000.000.000.008.00

LM warmup, 8 miles in 1:02:54, 7:51/mi, HR 149 & stretching.

Made it through the entire run without a GI pit-stop and only mild cramping.  Got some meds from the doc while they run some tests to help with matters, but I'll be testing them the next few days to make sure they don't cause other issues.  Legs were a bit stiff and sore from yesterday and moving a pile of woodchips that got delivered today. 

NB 760 Miles: 8.00
Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
6.080.000.000.006.08

LM warmup, 6.08 miles in 47:36, 7:49/mi, HR 151 & stretching.

Not quite as easy as I would've liked.  Lousy rainy and cold weather.  GI distress was back. 

NB 860 - Black Miles: 6.08
Night Sleep Time: 9.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 9.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
3.082.000.000.005.08

LM warmup, 5.08 miles in 37:20, 7:20/mi, HR 160, w/ 2 mile warmup, 2 miles @ MP (6:31 - down, 6:55 - up) & stretching.

Blah.  HR way too high for the effort.  Effort a bit too high for MP.  Just feeling a bit whipped, but on the way to Boston tomorrow, so between taking tomorrow as a rest day and keeping things low-key on Sunday, perhaps I'll perk up by Monday. 

NB 860 - Black #2 Miles: 5.08
Night Sleep Time: 9.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 9.00
Comments(2)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
4.000.000.000.004.00

LM warmup, 4 miles in 31:44, 7:56/mi & stretching.

Easy run before raceday.  Pleasant weather felt warm and humid.  Effort higher than it should be at this point.  Believe it's a combination of health, fitness, and medicines I'm taking for the GI issues.  Tomorrow will be interesting.  Need to remember that it should be fun too. 

NB 860 - Black #2 Miles: 4.00
Night Sleep Time: 9.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 9.00
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Race: Boston Marathon - 2011 (26.2 Miles) 03:06:22, Place overall: 2339, Place in age division: 370
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.0026.200.000.0026.20

Official splits:

  • 5k - 21:02 
  • 10k - 42:26
  • 15k - 1:04:43
  • 20k - 1:28:25
  • Half - 1:33:05
  • 25k - 1:50:16
  • 30k - 2:12:39
  • 35k -
  • 40k - 2:57:14
  • Finish 3:06:22

How not to sound disappointed?  Of course I would've loved to keep my one PR streak alive....always running a PR at each marathon I race, but it was not to be, despite the fantastic weather and a great support team.  Not the race I wanted but definitely the race I had in me that day.  As I expected, the GI problems I've been dealing with prevented me from arriving at the starting line as well trained as I've been for my last couple of marathons and forced me to make some adjustments during the race.  Having said all of that, this was one of the most enjoyable races I've ever run and I'm already reconsidering my "run one and done" attitude towards running Boston.  What an event.

Okay, I could do without the expo (not a big crowd fan), the early wakeup for a mid-morning start, the long bus ride, the cold winds in athlete's village and the multi-hour wait to move to the start corral for another long wait.  But...knowing I was racing with the likes of Ryan Hall, Joan Benoit Samuelson.....later finding that the fastest marathon ever run by a human (two really) was run that day....hearing the cheers from the crowds all the way from Hopkinton to Boyleston....it was an indescribable experience.

My game plan was to run what I could....of course given the epic weather I was hoping for some race day magic and some 6:40s.  But after visiting multiple port-o-lets in athlete's village I knew my GI issues would be a factor.  At the start, I ran what felt comfortable.....and got passed left and right despite hitting 6:40s for 4 of the first 6 miles.  Unfortunately, that was pushing my HR up about 15 notches higher than it should've been at that speed.  Shortly after 8 miles, I made my first bathroom stop and lost a minute without much relief.  I continued from there knowing a PR wasn't in the cards and I tried to nail what I'll call GImax.....similar to the pace just before lactic acid accumulates but in this case GI distress.  A second longer pit-stop at 11+ miles wasted over 3 minutes but was the last I needed for the race, but by that time I was content just to enjoy the race and put in a good solid effort.

So from there I got to enjoy the crowds and the day.  My parents and Dianna were there to cheer me right around mile 17 and their presence was a boost.  The Newton hills actually weren't that terrible...certainly not when compared to some of the local hills in washington...and a 7:38 was my slowest mile at mile 21.  Coming into downtown Boston for the last 10k was really something......the thick crowds thickened and got louder.  I actually fed from their energy and picked up the pace a bit for the end, ticking off the last 5+ miles at a sub-7 pace and picking off several runner every quarter mile.  I was tired but almost didn't want it to be over at the finish.

Got to celebrate afterwards with my family and took the next several days completely off, touring coastal Maine and vacationing before returning home to WA a week later.  I plan to return to running at the pace my body accepts and focus on getting my GI house in order so I can get serious about racing again.  At least I have a few months to decide whether or not a return to Boston next year is in the cards... 

NB 860 - Black #2 Miles: 26.20
Night Sleep Time: 7.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.00
Comments(3)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
6.310.000.000.006.31

LM warmup, 6.31 miles in 51:38, 8:11/mi, HR 155 & stretching.

First day back after vacation following the Boston Marathon.  Appropriately easy.  GI issues remain. 

NB 860 - Black Miles: 6.31
Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
4.030.000.000.004.03

LM warmup, 4.03 miles in 33:36, 8:20/mi, HR 153 & stretching.

Rainy.   

NB 760 Miles: 4.03
Night Sleep Time: 9.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 9.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.110.000.000.008.11

LM warmup, 8.11 miles in 1:01:33, 7:35/mi, HR 162 & stretching.

Rain again.  Actually a decent run.  Still a bit sluggish on the uphill but not quite as bad.  Pushed the downhills a bit and the effort was a bit higher but decent.  Quick pit stop at mile 5.5 but otherwise fine. 

NB 860 - Black Miles: 8.11
Night Sleep Time: 8.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.50
Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.180.000.000.008.18

LM warmup, 8.18 miles in 1:03:45, 7:47/mi, HR 161 & stretching.

Managed to out-wait the hail and snowstorms.  PS @ mi 7.  Feeling yesterday. 

NB 760 Miles: 8.18
Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.100.000.000.008.10

LM warmup, 8.1 miles in 1:02:26, 7:42/mi, HR 161 & stretching.

Sunny and pleasant.  No pit stop needed today.  Perhaps its because I skipped lunch. 

NB 860 - Black Miles: 8.10
Night Sleep Time: 8.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.50
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

8 hours of grass cutting and bagging.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
135.9544.160.003.88183.99
NB 860 - Black Miles: 69.09NB 760 Miles: 50.30NB 860 - Black #2 Miles: 44.54
Night Sleep Time: 185.50Nap Time: 2.50Total Sleep Time: 188.00
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