Boston Strong

9 min pace

8:41 pace hills

3 hours  hills

9:38 pace hills

Last 4 days:  4 sunsets, 36.6 miles, 9 river crossings, 6 hours, 2300' of elevation gain. Bring on the Newton hills!

http://pages.teamintraining.org/ma/boston16/jgillette

Went out for 5 around 5, had been snowing all day, but wet snow so probaly 3 ".  Too much fun to stop, so kept running to City Isand where I proceeded to run 20 400m interval on the snow covered metal grate bridge ... which is 400 m long.  Finished with a couple loops aound the island before heading home.  15 miles, new long run in this cycle .. and it is a good thing beacuse it is going to be 10 degrees this weekend!

Island loop recovery run

So, a teammate from my U14 soccer team saw a post I made on the Capital City 10 miler site, reached out & we met up for a run along the river & ate lunch at Dukes.  Wind was brutal and numbing on our face, so we immediately headed for the alleyways to Italian Lake   A solid 3 mile tempo run at a 8:00 min pace into the wind, we headed back on the river with the wind at our backs.  So great to reconnect with a friend from 35 years ago ... the plan is to train together on Thursdays.

Mile repeats  8:20, 7:23, 7:08, 7:08

2 mile cool down

Negly Park hill route, 850' el gain/drop, 8:45 pace, 46 degrees with light mist.

Ran in Hokas ... so I was an inch taller today.

Highest mileage month in two years.

To Infinity & Beyond.

Ironton Rail Trail: 4x4x4 Workout ~ Crushed it!
29:58 ~ 7:19, 7:37, 7:31, 7:31 mile splits
29:14 ~ 7:40, 7:31, 7:16, 6:47 dropped hammer
32:50 ~ 8:05, 8:06, 8:25, 8:14 cool down miles
First 8 miles in under an hour ~ 7:24 avg pace
Last time I ran under an 8:00 pace was July 2014.
8 more weeks ~ Boston Strong ~ 4.18.16
Running for a Cure!

Kicked of 36 mies of running in Boston at Midnight Thursday, so even though Garmin says this is a Friday run, still Thursday in my mid!

Staying at Westin Copley Square, Hedaed down Commonwealth, couple loops around the Gardens, over to the river with a couple bridge crossings, & then back up Commonwealth the Citgo sign, so I could run the last mile to the Fininsh line ... not too much traffic out at 1:30 am.  :)  

Easy pace of 9:45, just shaking out the legs after driving 7 hours!

At 4:30 pm I headed for the Newton Hills.  Parked near Cleveland Circle & ran 5 miles to Newton Fire Station & back - I ran this same section in December surprising myself with an 8:08 pace, so this would be a good fitness check.  In my excitement, and rushing around to get out there, I forgot my Garmin!  So, I quickly downloaded MapMyRun & was off at 5:05 ... I would be finishing in the dark ... but a nice sunny, brisk day.

Nice thing about using phone app, is I just hit start, put it in my pocket & ran on effort.  Very consistent splits, it was a hard effort, but did not feel like I was pushing as hard as I did in December.  Finished with a 7:54 avg pac, super excited, as that equates to a 3:27 marathon, & I have 6 more weeks to prepare.

At midnight I went out for a quick cool down run ... ended up with 9.9 miles ... parks, river, bridges, Fnish Line!

13 easy miles with my Team in Traaing teammates, bringing my 36 hour Boston total to 42.5 miles.  Headed tpo my brothers in New Jersey for food & sleep, then off to Philly Sunday to watch Alex at a college soccer tryout.  Great trip!

Back home with a 9 mile loop visit to Negley Hills ... 52 miles in 3 days

Easy hour trot-a-long

Solid out & back tempo run on Lebanon Valley Rail Trail.

8:30 pace out, 8:15 avg. pace back, closing Mile 18 with a 7:45.

2-1/2 hours, no gels, just carried a gatorade & a water.

Started at 3:15, finished at sunset, awesome traail through farmland

20 miler in 3 weeks with the Team, we will get bussed to the start, run first 20 miles of course, then get bussed back to Wellesly Community Center, which is where they meet for weekly training runs on the course.  This will be my third and final traing run with the Team.  The following week I am racing the Capital City 10 miler in Harrisburg & then I get to rest for two weeks before the big day!  4.18.16  :)

Starting to feel like I can go after a BQ ... with a litte race day magic!

Went out for a 4-5 mile shakeout run at 6 pm after going long yesterday.  For some unknown reason, I hit the lap button at 2.5 miles & busted out a 6:47 mile.  Relaxed on a park bench overlooking the river, then had an easy mile cooldown jog home.  Long day, got up at 4:30 as I had to be at a mtg in NYC this morning ... got home to sun & 62 degree weather ... woot woot!  Hitting 74 on Wednesday ... can anyone say golf?  :)

Got 4 in at daybreak.  I took a 2 week+ break from running at an unusual time, mostly out of fear of pf and possible stress fracture in foot ... you have to arrive at the starting line healthy.  I did have some beneficial training in there though ... back to back days walking 18 holes on a hilly course.  Back to back days reffing 11 U-17 & U19 soccer games, basically 8 am to 4 pm both days, non-stop games.  The following weekend I reffed 6 U-17 games, all afternoon in the snow which caused Sunday games to be cancelled & a day of rest I needed!

About to head to Boston to run from Hopkinton to Boston college, my first & last 21 miler!  :)  There will be about a 1,000 runners doing the same, this is the weekend all charity teams do their long run on the course, there will be buses involved and everything!  I am thinking start out easy and chat a little with some teammates, hopefully after 5 easy miles someone will break away with me ... I would like to run the last l6 around an 8:15 pace, ending at the top of Heartbreak Hill.

Looking forward to a great weekend, just need to pack & go!

Life has been a bit of a whirlwind the last 16 months, running Boston in under 4 hours was a magical milestone.  Sixteen months earlier I was diagnosed with Mantle Cell Lymphoms & underwent 18 weeks chemo to acheive remission in mid-June.  On August 2nd, I still could not run 2 miles.  Somehow by the grace of God, I completed the Erie Marathon six weeks later in 4:30.  Six weeks after that I ran Peak 2 Creek in 4:36.  This was probably not wise, but more or less shock therapy to my body ... I hurt if I ran & I hurt if I didn't run so I decided to just run far.

Running Boston with Team in Training was an incredibly inspiring experience, I made it up to Boston for three of the training runs including the 20 miler 3 weeks before the race, when I started walking at 19, mostly from hip pain.  I was hurting all over ... I know how important it is to arrive at the starting line healthy, so walking the last mile made more sense than potentially aggravating something further.  Somedays just are not good running days, but this performance definitely eased my race day expectations, clearly I am not ready to race 26.2 yet ... I signed up for Big Cottonwwod 9.10.16 to get my 2017 BQ ... for the first time in my life I think I am going to retain a ooach, even though I have learned more knowledge about running on this blog that made me a successful runner to begtin with.  I need someone locally to help hold me accountable to consistent training and push me on targeted workouts.

Back to Boston ... my mind just naturally wanders to running a BQ when I think Boston.  But the charity component is a big part of Boston too, and I was incredibly honored to run for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Socity, as that is the jpurney I am on!  It was an awesome weekend starting with a Friday night fundraising celebration, Saturday Inspiration luncheon, Sunday realaxation, and a truly magical Monday ... followed by a victory celebration Tuesday & a trip to my brothers and NYC to celebrate turning 50 on Wednesday ... well really it was like a 6 day celebration of life.

As soon as I walked into the athletes village I ran into a friend from Atlanta, imagine that ... I was feeling good vibes.  I joined my TNT teammates, and not too long after we were starting the walk to our 11:15 start time.  It was about 70 degrees with the sun getting higher, not uncomfortably warm, but enough so to welcome an easy pace start, it was clear that hydration was going to be critical ... so happy I run with my trusty handheld!

There were a few of us who wanted to run a sub 4 if the conditions would allow it, and I was lucky to be in a pack of 4 that started out conservatively as dictated by starting in Wave 4/Corral 4.  Wearing the purple TNT jerseys made it relatively easy to stick together through water stops.  Around Mile 8, we lost Paul, I was not sure if we just got separated or if he just slowed a little as he had been batting injuries & it was warm ... by this time we had dropp.ed down to a pretty consitent 8:20 pace.  Around 3 miles later, Chris dropped back, but he finished strong in 3:51.

At this point I was just sticking with my teammate Nora, ironically she is also a Lymphoma survivor & a very strong runner.  I felt pretty comfortable and it really helped to have settled into a solid pace with her.  We crossed the half at 1:52:52, I was thrilled that I had some time banked for a sub 4.  My fastest 3 miles were 12-14, running 8:10, 8:16, 8:11.

At around 14.5 miles, I realized that pace was not sustainable, so I wished Nora well, and went into conserve mode.  I had been taking in lots of liquids, so I dashed off behind some cypress trees, which helped get me out of race mode.  Right after getting back on the course, I ran into my TNT coach who joined me for about half a mile with some encouraging words, before I sent him off to catch Nora, as she was not too far ahead.  Sonn after, Chris reappeared running strong, so I fell in step with him for about a mile which got me to the Newton Firehouse, where my brother was waiting with a friend.  I stoppoed, refueled, got a hug, and announced I was done racing and going to just enjoy the rest of the journey.

My plan all along had been to bank some time & then take it easy through the Newton Hills, so I could run the last 5 miles hopefully free of excrutiating pain.  I averaged around a 10:40 pace over the next 4 miles with some walk breaks & also was joined for a while by the other Team coach ... again with well timed words of encouragement ... and news that the temperature was about 5-10 degrees cooler in downtown Boston.  There was also a headwind most of the day, which really helped keep cool, there were only a few places wher it was strong enough to feel like it was fighting against you.  I was happy to have the tradeoff & stay comfortable.

Upon reaching the top of Heartbreak, I was feeling pretty good with no real major discomforts, so I reengaged a 9:00 minute pace & reveled in the cheers of the crowds ... although I will never understand why some try to knock you backwards with a simple High 5!  The people of Boston sure do know how to bring out race day magic though!

My brother was at the corner of Hereford screaming me on, and let me tell you, I was pretty darn happy to be on the home stretch!  I tossed him my water bottle from about 20 yards away and took off up the short hill.  As I turned onto Bylson I was a little overcome with emotion ... I stopped took my hat off, said a prayer and shared a breif moment with my Mom ... then took off for the final straight away! 

Sprinting down Boylson Street ... living the dream!  Now ... on to get that BQ!  It has been a helluva journey, but I think alas my body is ready to tackle an 18 week training cycle ... and get some of my speed back!  Cheers

Great 5 mile progression run to kick off my new training cycle.  Psyched to see those paces after basically a month of rest recovering from Boston.  Very encouraging with 16 weeks to prepare for a 7:38 pace marathon with 5,000' of drop ... it will be all about how quickly I can turn my feet over the first 18 miles of descent!

8:27

7:51

7:39

7:33

7:07

5 miles in 38:39, 7:44 avg pace, 1.2 mile cooldown includingrunning Capitol steps

Easy recovery miles.  Instituting a Sunrise run rule, 5 miles every day

109 days to BQ at Big Cottonwood Marathon in SLC.

A Goal:  Sub 3:20

B Goal:  Sub 3:25

C Goal:  Sub 3:27

<BQ is sub 3:30, but we all know 3:29:00 won't get it done!>

5 mile easy progression run in morning, did close with a 6:30 half mile just for fun.

6 easy with Dave along Yellow Breehes - we did climb one 1/2 mile long steep hill, which I raced back down at 5:50 pace ... that was not comfortable ... the rest was flat along creek & well shaded from the 85 degree temps.  I closed with a 7:07 mile, just for fun.  Well, really I just wanted to get to the cooler in the back of my truck .. a couple cold Canadian Lagers to celebrate Dave turning 49 ... we played soccer together 35 yers ago.

What an amazing scenic run down Cottonwood Canyon!  I signed up to attempt to go after a BQ, but after concerns of stress fracture earlier this year, I decided it was best I take the summer off from training, with just occassional liesure runs.  Therefor ... I came out here as more of a vacation, not concerned about my time.

While I was on pace for around a 3:45 at Mile 18 where the out & back on Wasatch Blvd starts, I made a conscientous decision to switch to a leisurely walk/run, so as not to destroy my body and help my recovery.  Glad I made this choice, as although obviously I have some soreness today, I am mobil and can better enjoy the next few days.

Hopefully with the arrival of Fall temps, I can enjoy getting back to a graduated training schedule and work towards some time goals ... instead of just signing up for marathons and completing them!  This is the 4th marathon I have completed since acheiving full remmission from blood cancer last June, just 15 months ago.