T-3: This Is It!!!

Oh man I have the friggin' jitters!!! The marathon is Sunday... this Sunday. I'm going to wake up tomorrow, pack my stuff, and go to Vegas for the marathon.

I did my last long run on Sunday... a measly 10 miles. I maintained a 7:58 pace with ease, even though I felt absolutely exhausted and more than a few pounds heavier. I stretched like crazy afterwards.

Yesterday, before flying back to Boston, I did my last speed workout. I think the point of this speed workout was just to keep the muscle memory active in my legs. I was supposed to do this:

10 minute warmup
5 x 400m @ 1:35
10 minute cooldown

I felt like I was possibly coming down with a cold, so after the 3rd lap I decided that I'd do one more and cut the workout one lap short. The damage I could do with one lap too many is far worse than the lack of fitness one lap too few will cause.

I decided that since this would be my last speed lap for a while, and I really wanted to know what I was made of, I'd just sprint the whole lap. The last time I did that I hit a 1:20 400m. This time, I pushed myself even harder, and was panting for air and doubled over at the end.

My time was a 1:13. That's by FAR the fastest I've ever run a lap... It's the pace I'd have to maintain to run a 4:52 mile, something I probably won't ever do, but at least I know what it feels like to run that fast.

So that was cool, and this morning I did a nice little bike cross-train. My legs feel pretty strong, even though there's a little residual tiredness from the 10K and the 10 miles. I know that by Friday my legs will be back to 90%, and by Sunday they should be damn near 100%. For the next few days my goal is to do everything possible to make Sunday the best possible scenario for a good time.

I've worked my ASS off for this. I'm not sure I've ever applied myself so diligently to anything before. I know that, no matter what happens on Sunday, I've definitely caught the running bug in a bad way, and this marathon is merely one of many more that I'll be running. I will definitely be aiming for that 3:10 as soon as I can get my legs to move a little quicker, and who knows? Maybe this time next year I'll be 10 pounds lighter, running 19 minute 5K's, and heading to Vegas to try and qualify for Boston. I no longer doubt that I have the capacity to do it, it's just a matter of kicking my ass a little more.

I'll probably post one more time before the big day. Thanks to everyone who has kept up with me thus far.

T-9: Thanksgiving Update

So. Full. Of. Food.

I ran the 10K in 46:40, which ends up being a 7:46 pace. My first two miles were 8:30 and 8:00, so that means the last 4.2 miles were run at a 7:11 pace. It was a little bit more than the program called for, but it was definitely a nice way of reassuring myself that my legs work. My little bro ran an 8:00 pace, which is fantastic.

My friend Jason made me lift weights with him today, which was awful, but at least I burned off some of the estimated 3800 calories I ate last night. The problem is that after working out, we binged on Mexican food, so I probably still have about 3000 extra calories to burn off from this week. Tomorrow I'll do something to sweat a little, and then Sunday will be a nice 10 miler.

This is it, the home stretch.

Happy Thanksgiving all.

T-11: Strangest run of my life.

I really wish I'd written this post as soon as I got home from my run. The memory would have been a little clearer, and already I'm started to wonder if I'm remembering this correctly.

I woke up at 6:00 am to do my speed workout, the last one I'll do in Boston before the marathon. It was just bitterly cold outside, so I bundled up and headed out the door. As I jogged down to the track, I said to myself, "I'm insane... the sun is barely out, it's 33 degrees, and I'm running outside in shorts."

I got to the track, and started my workout. Here was the plan:

10 minute warmup
5 x 1000m @ 4:03 pace
10 minute cooldown

That's a pretty easy workout for me these days, but the cold made it a little tricky. My legs took a while to warm up, and my lungs were burning from the cold, but my first repeat only took 3:53 to complete. My pace was essentially a 6:00 minute/mile.

The second repeat took 4:01... I got really tired at the end of this one for some reason.

The third repeat was 3:56. The fourth was 3:54.

I was consistently running a little slower than a 6:00 min/mile pace. This is pretty fast considering where I started with my speed workouts, but lately I've begun to have these crazy thoughts like, "I wonder if I could run a 19 minute 5K. I wonder if I could train to run a 5 minute mile."

These thoughts are dangerous, because I tend to be impatient when it comes to my running goals, and both of those goals would require some serious training, but I've started to get the speed bug, so my next conquest might be speed, not distance.

Anyway, I started my last 1000m, and after one and a half laps I suddenly realized that I was about to run my last lap on the MIT track for a while.

I know this is stupid, but for some reason that really resonated with me. That track has been the site of some epic training runs that have put me in the shape I'm in today. I knew I'd miss it out there over the next couple of months, so I decided to go out with a bang and sprint the last lap.

Up until the sprint, I was on pace to hit another 3:53 or so. I began to imagine what it'd be like at the end of the marathon to see that clock ticking down to 3:30 and me needing to sprint the final 400m. I hit the gas and started to fly around the track... and then something WEIRD happened.

This is where it's going to be tough to explain...

After about 20m of sprinting, I felt my body go almost completely numb, and I got tunnel vision. It freaked me out because I had a similar sensation a couple years ago when I almost passed out from heat stroke. This sensation, however, was a little different in that my vision didn't go dark around the edges, I just stopped paying attention to my periphery.

I became aware that I was in a dead sprint... probably running as fast as I've ever run in my life, and yet my legs didn't ache, my lungs didn't burn, and I really felt as though I could keep up the pace all day long. The sound of the wind kind of died down, though I still felt it blowing on me so I knew that my hearing had changed. About a quarter of the way around the track, I had the distinct impression that I was watching somebody run really fast... I can't really explain why it felt that way, but I definitely thought that I had stopped running, and someone else had taken over and was just watching now.

The last half-lap was just a movie for me. I couldn't hear anything, and I was just watching the interesting scene unfold before me... the ground just FLYING by. I had a little moment of panic like, "This is not normal... what's happening... am I in danger here?" The thing was I just felt so peaceful, and this was so easy so I just let who ever was doing the running at this point finish the lap.

When I got to the end of my run, the world started to fade back into existence, and my body came back under my control. I didn't feel tired, I felt AMAZING. My breathing was slow, as if I'd been walking, and my legs felt as fresh as when I'd started.

I didn't need to look at my watch to know I'd done something nuts... and when I looked....

3:46.

I'd have to guess I ran that last lap at a 5:20 min/mile pace... that's insanity. The nuttiest part was how easy it felt, although I still feel like I wasn't the one that ran it.

This probably sounds ridiculous, and I swear that I'm not making anything up. Maybe I just had a HUGE surge of adrenaline on the last lap and it made me feel funny. Maybe I had an out-of-the-body experience... maybe I had some spiritual revelation...

So that was the weirdest run of my life... I have never had anything even remotely like this happen to me, and I don't know if it was actually just a brain aneurysm or something equally sinister.

Oh well... I'm off to Texas tomorrow. Tapering is going well, I've been trying to keep up my carb intake, and I'm still pumped as hell for December 2.

T-12: All Downhill From Here...

I ran 13 miles yesterday, marking the last time I'll run more than 10 miles until December 2nd. I just tried to run smoothly and easily, and at the end of the run my legs felt great and my GPS said 7:54 pace. The goal was an 8:00 pace, so I'm good to go.

I only have to work two more days and then it's time to relax and focus on the race. I'm starting to get those nervous pangs that make me think, "Have I built this up too high? Am I too cocky? What if it's windy again? What if I have a bad run?"

Tomorrow is a speed workout, 5 x 1000m. It'll be tough because it's freezing outside, but other than that it'll be no biggie. It's my last run that I'll be doing in Boston for a while, so I'll try to make it a good one. It's warmer in Texas, so I'll be a little more comfortable doing my LT run on Thursday at the annual Turkey Trot.

I've done all I can do training-wise. My fingers are now crossed!

T-14: I need SLEEEEP!!!

I ran my LT run last night. I would have run it in the morning, but I didn't get to sleep until midnight the night before, so I slept in. I've had a pretty wacky week in terms of work, so I haven't been getting enough sleep, which worries me. I really need my legs to be 100% on the 2nd, and right now I'd say they're only 50%.

My LT run was fine, I ran 6 miles like this:

1 mile @ 8:20
4 miles @ 7:24
1 mile @ 7:14

The pace felt easy. My lungs were having no problem keeping up, my breathing was 3 in / 3 out the entire run, but my legs were protesting. They are certainly not over the beating they took last Sunday when I ran my last 20 miler. I think that I need to be very careful about pushing myself over the next 2 weeks. I need to sleep... alot. Luckily, I'm headed home to Texas for Thanksgiving, and then I pretty much go straight to Vegas for the race. I'll have plenty of time to relax, stretch, and sleep in the days leading up to the marathon.

13 miles tomorrow, and then my legs can really start to rest up.

T-17: Exploding Chest Part Deux

Wow... this morning's speed workout was DEVASTATING. I was caught totally off guard.

Basically, after Sunday's performance I figured the next two weeks would be a breeze. When I checked my workout schedule last night, I was in for a little surprise:

10 minute warmup
8 x 800 @ 3:13
10 minute cooldown

Uhm... WHAT!? I just ran 20 miles, and now I'm supposed to run 6400m at my speed pace? AAAARRGGHH!! My legs were certainly not 100%, and I woke up an extra 20 minutes early at 5:40am to get this awfulness out of the way.

First of all, it was in the 30's when I got outside. There was ice on the ground. I was wearing shorts.

Second of all, my legs felt like they'd been shot up with Novocaine. They weren't really sore anymore from the long run, but they definitely hadn't recovered fully. It really takes about a week for me to feel 100% after a 20 miler.

Third, I decided to eat cheese ravioli last night... you know what that means.

So I jog down to the track, and usually by the time I get there I've warmed up and I'm ready to go. Not today. The cold air made my whole body stiff, and I had to jog a few laps around the track to get going. Finally I figured I was good to start the speed workout.

My first couple of 800's were fine, I ran them in 3:05 and 3:11. I didn't feel fast at all.

In the middle of the third 800, I found it REALLY hard to keep up the pace. My legs just wouldn't obey my brain's orders to RUN. I finished the third 800 in 3:12.

It's been quite some time since I've had trouble maintaining the pace in my speed workouts, so this was a little demoralizing. After four 800's, I felt the call of the ravioli.

Once that was taken care of, I had to face four more 800's. My legs were cold and shaky, and I really thought I might not finish the workout.

Somehow, I just zoned out and did the rest of the runs, making it just under 3:13 each time. I jogged home and just about collapsed.

I think that this workout will end up being one of the most important workouts of this whole training plan. I just ran 20 miles a few days ago, and I was still able to push myself to pretty insane levels of hurting and survive. I think that when I'm at mile 22 or 23 in a couple of weeks, and every cell in my body is screaming at me to STOP, I'll be able to dig down a little bit and keep my legs moving through it.

Friday will be an LT run of 6 miles... no biggie. Sunday will be a 13 mile long run at my marathon pace, but I'm not even a little worried about that. I'm already thinking ahead a few months, trying to figure out what I need to do next to reach my ultimate goal of qualifying for Boston. Training for a 3:30 has given me a pretty good idea of what it takes to get faster, and how much more potential I have than I ever thought possible.

My marathon pace for a 3:30 is 8:00 minutes per mile.
To qualify for Boston I need to run 7:15 minutes per mile.

What's 45 seconds?

T-19: I'm Tapering.

The hard part is over. I've pushed myself harder than I ever have before, I've sacrificed a lot, I've given up partying and constant burrito-eating for this one goal, and now I've arrived at the end of my training. The next two weeks for me will involve some decent speedwork, some easier LT runs, and two long runs of 13 and 10 miles. I'll be going home for Thanksgiving the week before the race, which should be a perfect opportunity to relax and mentally prepare for December 2.

Saying that my final 20 miler went well would be a huge understatement.

I was actually looking forward to this run all week. That, by itself, is very strange. I normally DREAD the 20 miler, as I know that it is just a big mental and physical drain that will end in leg cramps and limping. However, lately I've been able to kind of zone out during these runs. I feel like I can basically set my legs on autopilot, start running, and then "check in" from time to time and make adjustments if I need to.

I have started thinking of my running in terms of driving. I can be running, and mentally checking different things about my body during the run. How do my legs feel? How is my breathing? How's my pace? Am I hydrated? Do I need carbs? Should I increase my stride length or turnover? It's similar to driving a car on the highway. You are constantly making little adjustments to the steering wheel, hitting the gas, braking a little, keeping an eye on the speedometer, checking the gas levels, etc... You do it almost unconsciously.

Yesterday my goal was simply to run 20 miles at a constant pace and feel good afterwards. The program called for an 8:15 pace, and I really did try to run at that speed, but after the first 6 miles I found that I had to work much harder to run that slow than I did to just run my "natural" pace, which seemed to be around 7:59.

I felt incredible up until mile 19, when the fast pace started to take its toll, but even at that point I was so focused that I maintained my crazy pace right up until the end. My average pace was 7:58.

I'm ready, I'd run this race tomorrow if I could. For now, I'm going to focus on eating right for the next 2 weeks (except Thanksgiving, that day is a free-for-all) and resting my legs up. In 19 days, I'll be on fire to run a marathon.