Six Days to Cleveland

Weekly Training Summary
Unseasonably cool temperatures and lack of sunshine aside, it's been a good week. I'll dispense with the usual day-by-day narrative this week, mostly because I am bored with the monotony of "On Monday I...then on Tuesday I..then on Wednesday I..." The daily mileage totals are as noted to the right, and the total for the the week was 67 miles. I did a my speed work, but opted for 800's at around 2:47 - 2:50 pace, rather than my usual 1 mile repeats. My legs are still not back to 100%, but getting closer. The Saturday trail run was the most fun I had all week. Splashing through creeks is much more pleasant in May than in December.

Cleveland Goal - Strategy
My goal for Cleveland is 2:58, which is a 6:47/mile pace. Cleveland being a relatively flat course, I'll try for a fairly even pace through-out. See my wrist band at left for target times for each mile.  I'll be taking electrolytes (Endurolyte) every half-hour to prevent the cramps that cost me minute or so in Boston. I'll take a Hammer gel at mile 12 and another at mile 18. I'll take a vivarin at around mile 19 or 20, depending on how I feel.
I am disappointed that I have not been able to locate any information on the marathon website regarding tracking runners during the race. If I find out that this service is available , I will post the link here on my blog before Sunday.


Dancing Machine
Against all reason, I tried to get into the spirit of the post-marathon party in Boston by dancing. Thankfully, this was only captured in still photos. Video of this would have gone viral in hours, and I would have had to change my identity and move to different continent.  

Barb and I groovin', old-school, showin gthe kids how it's done.


Amie looking for anyone else to dance with. I can't explain the expression on my face.

What am I doing here?

Mile Pace Analysis Boston V Cleveland

First, I want to thank everyone who posted or e-mailed encouraging words. I know I should be happy with a new personal record in Cleveland, and I am. Thanks for pointing out that I need to stop dwelling on the negative.

And an additional thanks to those of you who read the title and did not immediately close your browsers. I thought it would be interesting to compare my mile by mile pace for the two races, as represented by the chart below.



At first look, I the races have remarkably similar profiles. In both, I was hanging around the low 7 minute, high 6 minute area through around mile 15 (far too fast to sustain), then slowing and cruising into the finish with whatever I had left. You can see the effect of the Newton Hills and Heartbreak in Boston, in miles 17 through 21. The Cleveland pace for those miles did not drop off nearly as much. In both races, miles 23, 24, and 25 were almost identical, with Boston slower by only 1 second, 2 seconds, and 7 seconds respectively.

What do I take from this?

• I went out too fast again in Cleveland, and didn't leave anything in the tank for the end.
  
• I need to settle into a reasonable pace early.
  
• I need to put in more training miles. Specifically, I need to do a few more long runs, and pick up the pace for the last few miles to train myself to run faster on tired legs.
  
• I should not have blindly followed the 3:10 pace group in Cleveland. I should have trusted my own time keeping and backed off when the pacer was taking us on 6:40, 6:51, and 6:55 miles All but one of the first eight miles were well under the 7:15 pace we should have been keeping.

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In other news, I have registered for my first ultra-marathon, the Buckeye 50k. This will be a lovely 31 mile jaunt along the Buckeye Trail in the middle of July. Let's all hope it's a really hot and muggy day! Sounds absolutely fabulous.