AZ Run Dad

AM: 10 miles easy around the neighborhood. Actually felt nice to be back running my loop. My version of comfort food. 7:06

PM: 4 miles + 6 x strides in the grass. No watch.

AM: 12 miles with an AT Wave workout/tempo. Warmed up a little over four miles with some drills and strides then did 8 x 1k w/a 200 float. Averaged about 3:33 for the k and 48-50 for the 200. When it was done I had run 6.02 miles in 35:07 so about 5:50 pace. Pretty much a tempo run. I cooled down a couple miles to finish the run. Felt okay but not great. The quicker 200 float kind of made this one harder than I thought it was going to be. 

PM: 4 miles easy at Freestone Park. Last one of the cycle!

12 miles in Fountain Hills with John, Ricardo, and Ron. Nice and easy today.

20.2 miles w/16 at marathon pace was the plan today. Met the Boston crew in Fountain Hills and we warmed up about 4.25 miles mostly uphill then we all started our faster segments. Ariana Hilborn ran 10 with me and my coach john ran a few with is in the middle and I was on my own for the last 6. Much of the 16 faster miles were downhill with a couple of up hills in the beginning. Ariana and I were probably about 5:46-7 pace for 10 and then I ran the last 6 faster probably averaging 5:43. I was 1:32:06 for the 16 which is 5:45 pace. I felt great for a large portion of the run but I was weakening toward the end with some miles in the low 5:40s. After this run I feel like I can definitely run 5:50 pace in Boston but5:45 pace will require a near perfect race. I will error on the slow side.

Faster portion of the run: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/474253473

10 miles easy around the neighborhood. Considering yesterday's run I felt great this morning. Weather was perfect and I finished as the sun was coming up. 

8 miles around the neighborhood. I feel pretty good after Saturday's long run. I feel almost 100% recovered already. Nice sign so close to the marathon.

10 miles with some strides in the last two miles. Getting bored already with no doubles. Super excited for Boston!

10 miles with 10 x 1 min on/jog at 5:15-5:30 pace. Felt good to go quicker. Perfect weather. 

12.15 miles in Fountain Hills: Met the group at 4:45 for our last Thursday hill run before Boston. I've really enjoyed these runs and although they've mostly been easy I think adding hills has really helped me this cycle. 7:12

10 miles with small VO2 max workout: Warmed up usual 2.85 miles with drills and strides then did 6 x 1/2 mile with 2 min jogs. Splits were 2:30, 2:29, 2:30, 2:29, 2:31, 2:31. I actually had 10 on the schedule but I was already grinding so I called it at six. I think cutting it was much smarter than struggling for four more reps. 10 would have bee a big workout anyway so it's probably a blessing that I was flat today. Cooled down 3 miles. Last fast stuff for a while.

12 miles with the Phoenix Free Soles. Basically we did the last 6 miles of the Mountain to Fountain course in reverse. Mostly easy with a moderate push on the big hill. I got my Phoenix Free Sole singlet that I will wear next Monday. Everything feels good physically so I know I'm ready for Boston. 7:05 

8 miles around the neighborhood.

No run today. Taper. 

Last workout today. 5 x 3/4 mile between HM and M pace with 1/4 mile jogs. Splits were 4:08, 4:12, 4:13, 4:12, 4:10. Felt comfortable but not easy. These last workouts never feel easy. It was nice to get some turnover with killing myself. I woke up with a cold this morning so hopefullly that doesn't get too bad.

8 miles: felt good. Leaving for Boston in the morning. Couldn't be more excited!

6 miles easy along the Charles River in Boston. I did two miles at marathon pace then watched my wife get a PR in the BAA 5k. There is a ton of excitement and fan fare for this race. The downside is that it's tough to do anything because it's so crowded. Quite an experience to say the least.

Easy shakeout and some strides along the Charles River. Just me and a few hundred others out early for a shakeout.

Not want I wanted today but I don't have any regrets. I was very content with going out slow as everything I had heard was don't go out too fast. I started with my coach John in the huge crowd. I did have time and space for the Lunge Matrix and leg swings but there was no room for any warmup. I didn't mind because I knew that would make us go out even slower. First mile felt like a complete jog and it was hard to move there were so many people. I thought it would thin out quickly but it didn't. We ran the first mile in 5:56 and the second mile in 5:42 (garmin splits). My watch was way off from the mile splits so I should have just hit lap at the markers but I didn't. It was hard to run the tangents correctly because there were so many people that you couldn't move over that easily. I felt pretty good in the first few miles and they went by quickly. 3 and four were 5:48 and 5:47. I got a bottle from my sister at 6.6  and carried it for a while sipping on electrolytes. Miles 5,6,7 were 6:00, 5:54, 5:51. I was really happy that I was executing and felt well within myself. I hit another 6 flat at mile 8 and I checked in with John and he said he felt blah. He was gone after that. I was still feeling good and there were still a ton of runners around. The crowds were literally nonstop the entire way. It was kind of surreal. Miles 9 and 10 were 5:55, 5:56 and I noticed some fatigue setting in at this point. One of my training partners from home had a friend who lives on the course around 10.75 and I had planned to get a bottle from him. I heard my name being yelled out but it was behind me so I ran about 10 seconds back to get the bottle because I thought it would be worth it. At that point I saw my buddies from home who were all trying to run about 2:36. I was happy they were right there and I could run with them. We ran together through half with splits of 5:59, 5:55, 5:57. I was feeling good again and thinking I would crush the last portion of the course because of my slower start. We hit half way in 1:18:10 and we lost Ricardo from our group shortly after that. The screams for Phoenix (on our singlets) were non stop and motivating. We ran 14,15, in 5:54, 5:52 and we lost Bret. It was just me and my buddy JT now and I knew what was coming with the hills. 16 has a big downhill in it and we hit that in 5:46. Now it was time for the hills. I hit the first one and I didn't feel good but not horrible yet. Mile 17 was 6:04. At that point things began to fall apart. JT left me and was surging up the hills in a hurry (he ran a negative split 2:35). 18 and 19 were 6:05 and 6:06 but insided I knew my body was failing me. Just keep pushing, keep moving I told myself. 20 and 21 were 6:13 and 6:35. After Heartbreak Hill I was pretty much in hang on mode. Miles 22 and 23 were 6:14, 6:23 and I was barely hanging on where I thought I would be killing it. I was getting passed left and right it was very humbling. At 24 my friend Brett passed me but he didn't have much left either. Mile 24 was 6:28. The crowds were deep and terrific but I felt so bad and was so focused on just keeping moving that I didn't enjoy them. I saw the Citgo sign but it seemed so far away. I was dissppointed in myself but I had a new challenge which was to finish the best I could and I wanted to accomplish that. No walking, no quitting. Mile 25 was 6:31 and 26 was 6:34. I did enjoy the final straight down Boylston and played to the crowd a little bit. I was finally there! I passed my friend Brett and actually close half way decent. I was relieved to cross the finish line and proud that I didn't quit mentally. It's not easy to stay postive and motivated when things fall apart. When I crossed the line my legs were 100% gone. Shortly after I crossed I saw reporters around Meb and I went over and told him thank you. He gave me a high five  and soon all the runners were giving him high fives as they heard he had won. Pretty cool. I'm not sure what happened to me. I thought I was in better shape than my performance and nothing went wrong. The weather was pretty good, no injury, no GI issues, I went out conservatively. I still fell apart though. The marathon is just really hard to knock out of the park. Thanks to all those who support me!

40 minutes on the eliptical. Still some slight soreness in my legs. I'm going to run until Monday. Mostly annoyed at my Boston performance and I'm eager to train again. However, I plan on being smart about and not rushing things.

5 miles around the neighborhood: First run since Boston. Felt fine. My plan is to run easy next week then resume training for the half marathon. 

6 miles easy. Still felt a bit akward for a few miles. Weird how not running for 5 days can make you feel.

6 miles again this morning. Felt more fluid today. 

8 miles around the neighborhood. Felt normal. Even had a couple miles under 7 min.