The Streak is Over, Sucker!

It was nice while it lasted. I'm no Cal Ripken, Lou Gehrig or even Brett Favre for that matter, but here was the streak:

8/08 - Windrunner 10K - 43:54
9/08 - Chicago Half - 1:38:34
10/8 - Chicago Marathon 3:29:54
11/08 - Lincolnwood Turkey Trot 10K - 41:48
3/09 - Shamrock Shuffle 8K- 33:30
4/09 - Ravenswood Run 5K - 19:09
8/09 - Windrunnner 10K - 39:07
9/09 - Chicago Half - 1:28:25
10/9 - Chicago Marathon - 3:05:14
11/09 - Lincolnwood Turkey Trot 5K - 18:42
3/10 - Tom King Half Marathon - 1:26:56
4/10 - Boston Marathon - 3:03:41
7/10 - Bastille Day 5K - 18:32

That was 13 PRs in a row. Wow. I wanted to get the streak up to 16 with a couple tune-up races before October 10th. Unfortunately, it came to an unceremonious end this past Saturday at the Champions 10K.

I posted a 39:58, 51 seconds off of my PR. I was hoping to come in around 38:15 or so by running a progressive 10K that had me starting at a 6:20 pace and ending at 6:00 even. Here's how it shook down.
Mile 1- 6:20 Perfect. Felt effortless and I had to hold back a bit.
Mile 2- 6:18 Pretty damn close. Still feeling strong.
Mile 3- 6:50 - WTF? Somewhere around mile 2.4, I missed a turn and had to double back. It cost me a tenth of mile and broke my spirits. It was a poorly marked course that was open to the public at the same time the race was going on. I'm pretty sure some people did the same thing I did, but didn't go back and ran a short course.
When I saw the 6:50 at the third mile marker, I couldn't get through it mentally. I tried to stick to the plan, but as I kept doing the math in my head and it wasn't making sense to me to have to work that hard to run a 39:00.
Mile 4 - 6:16. I'm cutting corners on this crappy course, looking for any break I can get. But I'm still doing the math in my head and I am really pissed about the mishap back in mile 3. I basically mentally throw in the towel and run Miles 5 and 6 in 6:31 and 6:32. I see 38:50 on my watch as I hit the 6 mile marker and decide to try to give it all I have to come in under 40 minutes.
I run the last .2 in 1:08 and come across the finish line in 42nd place (out of 435) with my 39:58. My HR got up to a robust 206. What a shit show. My finish in the top 50 did net me a gift card for $45 at a suburban running store. Yippee!

I didn't have my best stuff on Saturday as my HR was through the roof on my warm-up run to the race, but I'm pretty sure I could have muscled out a PR by 20 seconds or so if I hadn't blown the race by missing the turn. Oh well. I can't do anything about it now besides focus on my next race, which is in about a week.

***
A couple of weeks ago, I was running a strange 18 miler when I ran 10 miles with 8 at GMP and then followed it up with 8 in the jogging stroller with Isla. I was about 2.5 miles from home when I was passing an old folks' living community. It's a pretty well-kept place, is right on the path near my house and sits pretty close to a Panera, Borders and Starbucks. Anyway, as I'm passing the building, I can see there's a woman going the same direction as me pushing some type of cart. It looked like one of those carts people in the city use to haul groceries around, but I can't really see what's in front of her.

As I get closer and closer to her, I start to slow down a bit. There also happen to be some bikers coming towards us moving at a pretty good clip. They pass the old lady a couple seconds before me and wouldn't you know it, the lady has a little dog on a leash that starts chasing after these bikers. I immediately try to bring the stroller to a halt (I was running at about an 8:45 pace) so I don't run over this dog. I stop just short of it and push down hard on the handle to lift the front tire so the dog can run by. The old lady lets out a scream, as if someone just stabbed her in the back.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
I am now even with her and am looking her in the eyes. "Are you okay?" I say.

"You almost hit my dog! You need to be more careful," she angrily replies.

I respond, "You need to get better control of your dog, lady. You're lucky I didn't hit him."

Apparently calling her lady was the wrong thing to say because she's now livid.
"You don't talk to me like that, SUCKER!" she shouts.

Whoa. This 70 or 80 something year old bat just called me sucker. Kind of awesome, kind of ridiculous. I haven't heard someone called "sucker" in a long time (circa the 1989 VHS release of "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka.") Check that. I have never been called sucker. And I certainly have never heard it uttered by an angry 80 year old woman.

I tell her she needs to pay closer attention to her dog and decide to keep going. At this point, I don't know what's going to happen next and I'm unsure of what this crazy lady might do or say. And I have a frickin' jogging stroller in front of me with my then 18 month old in it. As I am running away, she's still shouting at me saying something about an old lady. I give her a parting shout because I am now a little agitated as there are people in the parking lot watching this lady and me exchange pleasantries.

"Have a great day!" I yell. I am not going to swear at someone's grandma. Well, I probably would have if I had stuck around much longer because this woman was insisting I was wrong.

I haven't seen her since, but I have tried to incorporate "sucker" into my everyday vocabulary. It's harder than you think.

Boston. That's it, Boston.

Where to begin...

I loved Boston. Loved the town, loved the people, I even started loving the Red Sox despite them sucking when we were there. As a Cub fan, there's kind of a bond you can share with Red Sox fans, minus the 2 World Series titles they have picked up in the last 6 years.

Love the Boston Marathon...not so much. That's a little harsh. It's a great event. But it really kicked my ass. Here's how and why -

Background
I know there may be some newer folks reading this so here's a quick recap. I ran a 3:05:18 in Chicago in October of 2009. You can read that epic race report here. It was a race that I'll fondly remember forever. Everything just seemed to click that day. I signed up for Boston shortly there after and had loosely set my sights on going sub 3 in Boston.

I tried to just keep the fitness and ran just enough through the holidays. I prepared to start a 12 week training program at the end of January. I tried to get a nice base of all easy running in the three weeks prior and hit 40,44 and 61 miles the week before training really started. But those following 12 weeks of training were the most inconsistent I've ever had. Here are the miles by week: 51, 30, 60, 65, 70, 58, 36 (Half marathon was this week), 56, 70, 49, 46 and then a pre-race week total of 25. It seemed like things just kept popping up that made it really tough to get the running in that I wanted.

After the 1:26:57 Half in mid-March, I kind of let the sub 3 dream go. But the next couple weeks (after taking it easy the immediate week after), I started making some gains with my heart rate. I saw enough improvement in my heart rate and runs generally became easier, so I figured I was close enough to going sub 3 that I may as well go for it.

The Trip
I am very lucky to have a supportive wife and daughter. We made the trip together and had a great time. Also joining us were my mom, brother Nick and sister-in-law Jaime. I can't thank all of them enough for their love and support of my marathoning. We went to the Red Sox game on Saturday night and just tried to enjoy the city the other days.

I also got to see a bunch of my running friends - some new friends, some old friends and some in between. There really is a special vibe in Boston with all of these runners everywhere. I don't know if it's like that in Chicago or not, but I'd guess no. I have never stayed in any place but my own home for Chicago. There's a certain quaintness about Boston that's hard to put a finger on. You also get that feeling that the Boston Marathon is just as special to the people of Framingham, Hopkinton, Wellesley, Boston etc. as it is to the people actually running it. Most places we would go, people would ask if I was running the marathon. And every one of them would wish me good luck.

I got a couple of runs in Boston in before the race. On Saturday morning I met Steve, Brian, Kevin and Kevin's dad as we ran along the Charles River. It was very cool and something I'll remember. On Sunday, I went out for a short shake-out run and ran through Boston Common. My legs were feeling okay. Not great, not terrible, but I have learned to never put too much weight into those last couple runs.


The Race
Isla did great in Boston. However, she didn't sleep really well the night before. I think I fell asleep at 12:30 or so. Not really ideal, but I usually sleep like crap the night before anyway. I think I slept pretty well for 3-4 hours or so and my alarm was going off before I knew it. I showered and shaved down to a mustache. I looked at myself in the mirror and shook my head. No way. I looked like an asshole. One who liked to give candy to children or possibly even impersonate a cop. I shaved everything off at that point and proceeded to get ready. I said my good byes, grabbed my bag and headed down to the buses. After waiting a bit, we got on and make the long trip out to Hopkinton. Plenty of good, solid conversation on the bus, a lot revolving around race strategy as my bus buddy Chris was also shooting for sub 3. I also ate a half a bagel from my pal James. I think he had like 30 bagels with him.



We finally arrived in the Athletes Village and made our way to the tarps that Ron and Steve had laid out. Everyone joked around a bit, helped each get ready (taping pacebands, writing on arms, taking pictures) and before you knew it, it was go time. I was walking to the bag buses with my buddy Walter, a fellow Chicagoan. He was also shooting for a sub 3 and we were in the same corral. Somehow I lost him and before I knew it I was making the trek to the starting corral all alone. I struck up some conversation with some dude before I finally came up on some people I knew. We shot the breeze for a few and them it's off to Corral 3. I make my way up there and am looking for some familiar faces and come up empty. I settle in and out of nowhere comes John King, wearing his Macho Man sunglasses. We talk for a bit as we're inching closer to the gun going off. I brought along my empty 32 ounce bottle of gatorade in case I'd need to go to the bathroom. I get the urge, ask John for some coverage, he obliges and I take care of business. I get done and about 20 seconds after, some dude comes up to me and asks me if he can use my bottle. You know, the one I just put about 20 ounces of urine in. I said, "Sure, pal, it's all yours." John asks me if I knew the guy and I say, "Nope, do you?" He said no. That wasn't weird at all.

With a few minutes before the race was supposed to start, Mike, another friend from Runner's World comes up. We introduce ourselves (he saw me because I had ZAB on the back of my shirt) and decided to give 2:59 a whirl together. Very nice. I was hoping I could find someone to pal around with for the next 3 hours. Shortly after that, the gun sounds and we're off!

Miles 1-3 7:07, 6:43, 6:45
Everything I had heard was to not take the first mile too fast. Mike and I were on the same page, but we actually went a little too slow. It was pretty congested those first few miles. Things felt pretty easy early on as the downhills helped keep the effort level in check. Mike and I are just getting to know each other a bit here and keeping each other loose. I'm hearing "Balls" and "Balls on the Table" in some nice New England accents from the get go and it couldn't be any more awesome. This continues the whole way.

Miles 4-6 6:50, 6:55, 6:41
More of the same. It's not feeling super easy, but it's not feeling tough. I was feeling pretty good with where I was at. Mike was wearing a Greg Maclin pace band (accounting for the terrain) and we were pretty close to that throughout. Our Garmins seemed to be a little off as sometimes his would be reading in the 6:30's and mine would be in the 6:50's. We'd just take the middle and go with it. Note to self: Boston's water and Gatorade stops are much shorter than Chicago's. Sometimes there were only a few people handing out Gatorade and I'd end up with water when I wanted Gatorade.

Miles 7-9 6:51, 6:50, 6:52
There we go. Settling into a great pace. Took my first Gu Roctane at mile 8. I'm feeling pretty good at this point, but my heart rate is climbing a little higher than I'd like. I hit an AHR of 171 at mile 8, about 5 miles earlier than I was hoping to hit the 170 mark. I tried not to think about it too much and from this point forward, I think I will not look at my HR during marathons until the last couple miles. Mike and I are still having solid conversation and we're bumping into a few other guys hoping to hit 2:59's. I am not sure why, but they were asking us if we were on pace.


Miles 10-12 6:50, 6:51, 6:41
Great miles, but I start to feel like I am working too hard. AHR now in the mid 170's. If I was a little smarter, I may have started to back it down a touch, knowing the Newton hills are looming over me like an albatross. But, I don't. I think I can power through it and use my mental toughness to hang on.

Miles 13-15 6:53, 6:46, 6:57
Still hanging on, holding pretty steady. AHR was 178, 179, 179. That's just about 90% of max with 11+ miles still to go. Oh boy. Here comes a downhill mile before the hills. I take my second Gu at 15.

Miles 16-18 6:37, 7:04, 7:00
This actually wasn't too bad - time wise, anyway. I saw my support team just before 17 and it was a huge boost. I can't really say how awesome it is to see 5 people there rooting me on in Boston. This was actually my first marathon that wasn't in Chicago since December of 2005. It's definitely a different feeling not being familiar with every mile, where the mile markers are, etc. I knew my legs were pretty well trashed after the downhill on 16 followed by the first hill. But, I am thinking, you know what? If I can get through 21, I still have a shot. I'm telling myself, "Just...get...through...the...hills."


Mike (in the green) and me


Miles 19-20 6:43, 7:03
Solid. The downhill-ish 19th mile was a nice break. Still feeling it in a bad way, but pushing on. Just trying to mentally get through 21 and over Heartbreak so I can run again. But 20 was a struggle. AHR was a 189, 94.5% of max.

Mile 21 7:31
I lose Mike in this mile. I can feel him pulling away and my legs aren't working like I want them to. I can see him looking over his shoulder for me and then yells, "Zab!" I yell back, "Go!" He gives me a fist pump and pulls away. I finally crest Heartbreak, see my split and know how my legs feel and know I'm toast. I'm pretty much out of gas. Damn. It's been a long time since I have felt like this in a race. I'm trying to mentally pull myself together because I'm a mess physically. My legs are shot. The point in a race where your goal slips through your fingers is tough to comes to terms with. In the back of my head, I am still thinking I'll get my legs back, I just need a little bit of time. AHR was still at 189. Also took my last Gu here.

Mile 22 7:07
Wow! Not bad, but I'm running on fumes. And I am having fueling issues. I am starving. I'm grabbing anything and everything spectators are handing out to runners, namely water bottles and slices of oranges. Those oranges tasted amazing.

Miles 23-24 7:36, 7:44,
I'm pretty sure I saw both wheels fall off and roll right by me here. I'm still grabbing all kinds of oranges and water bottles from the crowd. I'm just focusing on finishing and looking over my shoulder, hoping to see some of my pals that were shooting for sub3. I never saw them. Oh, and I'm getting passed like a son of a bitch. The crowd is cheering me on, but I'm just mustering thumbs up to them. In the back of my head, I'm thinking, come on, you can still PR and give the finger to those people who told you that you don't PR in Boston, let alone your first Boston. I'm also thinking how much I hate marathons and I'll never run this course again because I just got my ass kicked like it has never been kicked before. And I still have 2.2 miles to go.



Mile 25-25.2-26.2 7:38, 1:35, 7:19
I get a boost in between 25 and 26 near Fenway. I get a second wind and decide to embrace the crowd and I get them cheering like a bunch of drunks for me as I'm raising my arms up and down. I'm yelling, "Come on, get up!"And they are loving my shirt. I'm giving out high fives and feel like I am running freely for about a quarter of a mile. Oh, I see the one mile to go mark and I retardedly hit the lap button. Yep, the 0.2 comes after mile 25 in my race today. Anyway, I'm pretty much giving it all I have left (which is not much) and realize I'll be coming in with a 3:03 something. The crowd is really awesome here. I make the last couple turns and try to position myself for a good finish line photo. Seriously, that's what I am thinking about. I raise my arms, hit the mat with a 3:03:41, a PR by 1:37. Thank you, God. It's over. Quick side note: the ironic thing is there is no finish line photo of me on marathonfoto. Unbelievable.

I am actually moving pretty well after I cross the line, unlike most of the people around me. I go over to the spot where they're handing out medals and I make eye contact with one of the volunteers. She tells me to come on "ovah." In her Boston accent, she says to me, "I have been waiting for you. Great job out there. You earned this medal." I am not sure why, but I almost started crying when she said that. Again, the kindness of the volunteers shining through. I told her thanks and I appreciated it very much as she put the medal around my neck. She said some more nice things and I went on my way through the corral.

I am walking faster than everyone, grab my Mylar blanket, bag of not-so goodies and finally make it to the bag pick-up. I grab it and the the end of the finishing corral is right in front of our hotel and I finally see Tiffany, Isla and my mom. I give them all hugs and kisses and they were all so happy and proud of me. They also seemed to be concerned that I was going to be upset that I didn't go sub 3. The truth was that I wasn't at all. I was really happy to see them and I was just exhausted - and the 2010 Boston Marathon was officially in the books.

Post-race Thoughts
I am really proud of my time and I really did the best I could. I was really on the fringe of going sub 3 and if I knew then what I know now about the course, I would have called myself slightly crazy by going for it. My training cycle was far from ideal and I definitely made a few mistakes from fueling (how could I forget my breakfast staple- Peanut Butter! and the later start messed with my eating schedule) to a lack of hill training (not that I can truly simulate that here in Chicago). But if I would have run it a little more conservatively in the first half, I maybe still could have ended up with a 3:01 or 3:02. In my mind, who cares? I went for the 2:59 and ended up with a 3:03. I'll put my balls on the table every time when that scenario comes up.

Garmin total: 26.43 miles, 3:03:42, 6:57 pace, 169 AHR (although my HR battery seemingly crapped out on me the last few miles, so I am guessing that number is closer to 175.) Splits of 1:29:41/1:34:00.

Thoughts on the Rest of the trip

• I'm really lucky to have such a supportive and loving wife and family. There weren't many other families from out of town that came to support their runners.
  
• Boston cabbies don't like it when you pay with your credit card.
  
• On the flight back home, we sat next to a guy that bandited the marathon. He claims to have taken the green line(D) out to mile 16 and cabbed it out to Hopkinton. He showed up 2 hours late and proceeded to still run it in 5 hours from when he started. The best part is that he was really impressed with my 3:03. He seemed to think I would have no problem setting a new "PBR" in Chicago in the fall. Yes, that's right a "PBR." The hybrid of a personal best and personal record is apparently a Pabst Blue Ribbon, so PBR me ASAP.
  
• The "T" is pretty solid, although it does get a little crowded at times.
  
• If you like Dunkin' Donuts, you'll love Boston.
• Congrats to Mike for bringing home a 2:59. Great job and thanks for keeping me company for 20 miles.
  
• Boston is kind of like a smaller, cleaner version of Chicago...with awesome accents. Everyone was really nice. Tiffany and I definitely want to go back for a visit sometime.
• Here's a link to our family blog that features more photos from our trip.
  

That's about it. Thanks for reading and for your athletic support.

All Systems Go!

We're now a week away from the big day and I have to say, I am feeling pretty good with where I'm at. I could continue to talk about how the training cycle didn't go exactly as planned, but I have decided to take my own advice and accept it. I can't change it, so I may as well embrace it for what it was/is and get ready to race.

I have had a pretty solid last couple of weeks training. I was able to get most of my planned miles in and was pretty close to where I needed to be for my key workouts. I had been doing a lot of comparing of this cycle versus the last fall's Chicago over the last 12 weeks or so. Somewhere in the middle of those 12 weeks, I stopped doing it because I was just getting frustrated. Well, just for shits and giggles I looked at a few of my last runs and wouldn't you know it, it looks like I have actually made some gains. My HR the last three weeks has been slightly lower on comparable runs from last fall. And sometimes faster, too.

Here are a couple comparisons:

• 10/4/2009 - 46 degrees, 13.44 miles, 8:24 pace, 137AHR
• 4/11/2010 - 48 degrees, 13.07 miles, 8:24 pace, 132AHR

Basically the same run a week before the marathon in nearly identical conditions and I wasn't working as hard to do it.

• 10/1/2009 - 45 degrees, 7+ miles with 3x1600 @ 6:00, 6:04, 6:07 with AHRs of 179,181,181
• 4/10/2010 - 56 degrees, 7+ miles with 3x1600 @ 5:54, 6:01, 6:02 with AHRs of 168,173,175

Same run, with the more recent run being in warmer conditions, faster and a lower AHR.

These are great signs. The biggest downfall in the last 12 or so weeks has been my inability to run as much as I wanted. My average miles/week is right around 56 versus 62 for Chicago. Not a huge difference, but I did have the luxury of an 18 week cycle last fall as compared to a 12 weeker this time. Anyway, as I said in the opening, it's done and let's get this sucker on.

I have pretty much decided to give myself a shot at a sub 3 marathon in Boston, assuming the weather is agreeable. That means running the first 16 or miles in the 6:45-6:48 pace range, toughing it out out through the hills (miles 16-21) and going for broke/hanging on after the hills are gone. I'm interested to find out what I have left after the hills...assuming they don't kill me. I kid, I kid. It's pretty interesting to hear people's take on the Boston hills. Some make them out to be mountains, while others say they aren't a big deal at all. There's really only one way to find out.

If my attempt at a sub 3 comes up short, I'll set my sights on beating my best time of 3:05:18 from Chicago last fall. And if for some reason it's really not my day and the shit really hits the fan for some unforeseen reason, Boston becomes a celebration of making it there. I am really excited to get out to Boston with Tiffany and Isla. Plus, I'll have a cheering section of my mom, Nick and Jaime (my bro and his wife), who are making the trip out to Beantown to enjoy the festivities.

I can remember just a couple years ago people asking me if my ultimate goal was to run Boston. I always told them that I thought that there was a chance that I could make it when I was old enough to be in the 35-39 age bracket and slowly chip away at my time and run a 3:15. It's hard to believe that the fast forward button worked (along with lots of hard work) and I'll be toeing the line to run the Boston Marathon in one week from today.

I'll try to get some pics of the race day gear on here before we leave for Beantown. I also weighed in yesterday at 159. That's 2 pounds lighter than I weighed four days before Chicago last year. I'll step on one more time on Thursday before we leave to see what the final number is. Good stuff!


Tracking info:
TEXT - Simply text the word RUNNER to 31901 using your US mobile phone. You will then receive an sms text response with instructions on how to submit a runner’s bib number. My bib is 3733.

What's Up, Tom King?

This is not what I had in mind for my initial post on this blog. I had fully intended to document my Boston Marathon training, but things have been a little hectic the first part of the year.

The title of the blog is a saying I have kind of adopted as my running mantra over the past 9 months or so. It's about going for it. Having confidence in your abilities, training and will power. Pushing yourself further when the shit is about to hit the fan. I could go on, but I am having a hard time finding time to write this as it is, so we'll get back to the idea behind balls on the table at a later date.

The Trip
Two weekends ago, we took a trip down to Jackson and Nashville, TN. The half marathon was on Saturday. After a pretty successful 8 and half hour drive down, we pulled into Jackson. Isla got a little feisty the last hour to hour and a half, but all thing considered, not bad for a 13 month old being strapped in car seat for all but a half hour - when we stopped for lunch. Tiffany deserves all of the credit in the world for pulling out all the stops to try to keep Isla sane in the car.

We basically relaxed Friday night. Isla decided she wasn't going to sleep in the Pack-N-Play, so she slept in Michael's bed with us. He was kind enough to sleep on the couch and give us his bed. She actually slept in it by herself until we came to bed. She was a little sick earlier in the week, so the sleep hadn't been good for much of the week as it was. Fun times!

Saturday, I went out for 3 miles with some strides by myself and then Michael joined me for another 2.25 with a few more strides. Jackson features some nice rolling hills, which would be awesome for training. However, the sidewalks and streets were a little rough, so you take the good with the bad, I suppose.

We left for Nashville a little after 1 and got there in about 2 hours. We checked into the hotel. Our La Quinta room, a mere 3 doors down from Michael's would been more appropriately called La Crappa. I wouldn't have given Bosley a bath in that tub. His room was much nicer, complete with a microwave and refrigerator. Then we headed to LP Field (home of the NFL Tennessee Titans) to pick up our race packets and spent a little time downtown along with thousands of drunken SEC fans. The SEC Hoops Tourney was in Nashville that weekend also. Great timing. After getting out of downtown, the search for food for dinner became a bit of a challenge. We eventually found a suitable place after some wayward driving.

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel and took care of a few things. This was Michael's debut race. I had devised a training plan for him that started in early January and peaked around 32 miles two weeks out from the Half. He was basically starting from scratch so it was slowly building a mile or so every week, typically on the long run. Throw in a cutback week every 3 weeks or so and hope for the best.

I checked in on his race wardrobe selection and offered up a couple of spare items of mine I brought along for the trip. He said sure and wore the running shirt and shorts I gave him. Good move.

The race started @ 8:30 on Saturday morning, so we headed downtown and got there in plenty of time. It was a little raw outside. It had rained the night before and was a breezy 45 degrees. Not great conditions, but not terrible. Shortly after that, we said goodbye to Tiffany and Isla and I got in about a mile and half warm up run. Legs felt fine and I made my way to the start line. I realized I forgot my Gu at this point also. I could hear some bagpipes for some reason, so I thought the race may turn out to be pretty good after all. Michael found me in the corral and I offered up a few last minute tips to him: Don't go out too fast, take it easy the first mile or two, and above all, have fun.

The Race
The gun sounded and we were off. I saw Tiffany and Isla about a 1/4 mile in, gave them a wave and smile and began the trek.

I had to pass a decent amount of people early on as we started about 30 seconds back. It wasn't bad at all though, because I had a pretty clear path on the left edge of the course. My idea of a goal for this race was if things broke right, to be somewhere in 1:25's, which is close to the 6:30-6:35 pace range. I wasn't really sure I was in shape to run that fast, but decided to see how the race was going to play out and just see how I felt. If nothing else, I wanted to PR which would have meant running better than 1:28:25.

Miles 1-3
I wanted to make sure I didn't go out too fast, so I was pleased to hit the first mile marker at 6:39. I felt fine as we headed into a gritty mile of Nashville before hitting a path that ran along the river. Somewhere in this mile was the first water stop. Some dude who had clearly gone out too fast - arms were pumping quite a bit, cuts over from the right side of the course and reaches out for a water in front of me. Ok, no big deal, I can get around him. He proceeds to float back to right, slow down and start drinking his water. I give him a nice shove to the right shoulder and pushed him out of the way. I may have yelled "Heads Up!" to him also. Pretty sure there were no profanities used.

There was a gradual hill in mile 2, so when I hit "lap" at the 2nd mile marker and saw 6:38, I thought I was doing pretty good with the hill thrown in there. We picked up the path/trail in the third or fourth mile. I hit mile 3 in 6:40. Okay. At least it's consistent. Maybe that's going to be today's pace, I thought to myself. I thought I increased the effort a touch over the last mile. Didn't translate into anything on the Garmin though. The path went over a few wooden bridges. They were a little slick from the rain and a little bouncy. Had a brief inner ear/vertigo-type feeling near the end of the first one. More good times.

Miles 4-6
I decide to try to pick it up a little bit in the 4th mile. To my delight, there's some Vanilla Gu being handed out there. Why not, Gu it up. I down the Gu and some water. Shortly after that, I hit the mile marker and I see another 6:39. Damn. Okay, let's try this again for mile 5 - 6:39. Hmmm. I guess this is the pace today. I am passing people with regularity during these miles, so I guess pacing is an issue for them. During mile 6, I can start to see some of the runners coming towards me after the turnaround. I yell a few encouraging words to a few of them, including a couple dudes wearing official Boston shirts. I hit mile 6 in 6:33. Better.

Miles 7-10
I was trying to count how many people were in front of me. I stopped at 50, thinking it would be too hard to keep track after that. I would guess by the time I got to the turnaround around mile 6.5 or so, there were 70. I hit the turnaround and tell the volunteer I was going to take his Coors Light on the table. In his best Tennessee accent, he says "go fer it!" Mile 7 is a 6:36. I see Michael looking pretty good in the next mile and shout a little something to him. Mile 8 is a 6:37. Mile 9 is 6:35. I know I am working harder as my HR is now in the mid- 180's. I am still continuing to pass a fair amount of people each mile. Among them are two girls in mile 9, one with "Mudy" on her back. More on her shortly. I know the path essentially ends around mile 10. There's also more water, so the free Gu I grabbed back around mile 8 was calling my name. I down the Gu, the water and am late hitting "lap" by about 5 or 10 seconds. Mile 10 says 6:48, but I know it should be a 6:38 - 6:43.

Mile 11
After the late lap button, I know 11 should be a good one. We hit the same hill from the second mile. For some reason, I am not getting good speed going down the other side. I was expecting to see 6:10's-6:20s on the downhill, but much to my chagrin, it was staying in the 6:30's. The wind had become a factor as we were now back in the open. That's not an excuse though. I was starting to break down. Mile 11 was a 6:48. But I passed a handful or more of people. They must have been slowing down more than me. Crap. Right around there Mudy flies by me. Flies.

Mile 12
I try to pull it together, but the wind isn't helping and I am running out of steam. And I have no one around me anymore. A guy 50 yards behind me and a guy 100 yards in front of me. Damn. Mile 12 is a 6:38. With a good last 1.1 and just under 1:19:48 on my Garmin, I can still go sub 1:27.

The last 1.1 miles
I decide to give it all I have. I feel like I am working hard. The course makes a couple turns outside the stadium before hitting the steep declined entrance. It was really steep. My quads were on fire as I am trying to figure what the hell I am supposed to be doing to make it hurt less. It goes away as it eventually flattens out and I run onto the field. As I exit the tunnel and hit the grass, I raise my left arm and point, as if I'm the guy everyone was there to see. Pretty funny, I know. I hit the grass and realize I am going to have to hit this pretty hard to come in under 1:27. The football field seems pretty small when you are running on it like this. I make the second to last turn and am humping it. I make the final turn (think - coming out of the end zone) and have 50 yards to go. I see the camera man while I am taking the turn and give him a solid point. With about 25 yards to go, I see Tiffany and Isla and give them a wave and a smile. I hit the finish line strong (7:08 the last 1.1) and the Garmin reads 1:26:56. An overall pace of 6:38 and some change. 7th in the Age Group and 44th overall (of 1120 something)

Splits:6:39/6:38/6:40/6:39/6:39/6:33/6:36/6:37/6:35/6:48*/6:38/6:38/7:08(last1.1)
AHR: 168 /174 / 173 / 176 / 177 / 181 / 182 /183 / 184/ 184 / 184 / 187 / 191 (peaking at 197)

I meet up with Tiffany and Isla and we see Michael come in shortly after that in 1:43:08, an awesome debut. He looked good making his lap inside the stadium.

Mudy finishes as the third overall female, beating me by exactly 2 minutes, so she snapped off a couple of 5:30 miles to close out the race.

Some Post-race Thoughts
I don't know what to think of my performance. It was a PR by 1:29, so that was solid. The wind didn't help my abilities to turn it on the last 3 miles, as I had hoped to do. It could be a pretty accurate reflection of where I am at right now. My Boston training cycle has been very up and down and very inconsistent, due to a variety of factors. I didn't have a killer "I need to run a 1:25" attitude, so I just ran it by feel and tried to run the best race I could on that given day. I originally had intentions of cracking 3 hours in Boston, but I am not sure I have put in the work to do it. Perhaps my lack of confidence in my training made me hold back a little bit, knowing that blowing up in this Half could be far more detrimental for me mentally than playing it safe and running 6:38's most every mile. The irony is that in the first post of "Balls on the Table," I talk about a race in which I didn't put my balls on the table.

I ran an 8K last year at this time in iffy conditions that netted me a 6:44 overall pace. So, it's all relative. If you would have told me last March I would run a 1:26 half in 12 months, I would have laughed in your face. I know and realize I have improved a ton and I am grateful for that. McMillan says a 1:26:56 equals a 3:03:21 full, which is about 2 minutes faster than my Chicago time.

I am going to work my ass off these next couple of weeks before tapering 2 weeks for Boston. I wouldn't put my chances of going sub 3 in Boston very high. 20% maybe? I am not completely giving up hope on it, but at some point reality does call and you do have to pick up the phone. I am thinking of seeing how things go in Boston and if I am feeling good that day, than I'll give it a shot. That would mean a half time of 1:29. Boston's hills in the second half most likely set you up for a slightly positive split. This would also possibly mean running a type of race there that people say to avoid - don't go out too fast or the hills will kill you in the second half. If you look at a bunch of people's splits from last year, the second half is much slower than the first. I always tell people that when you set a goal that possibly overreaches your abilities, you have to come to terms with yourself that the result could end up ugly. If you accept that then by all means, go for it.

I'll do my best to post weekly from now until Boston.

To see more pictures from the trip, go here