Just a few days until...

The Akron Road Runner Marathon is just few days away as I write, and I have already started to taper. Down to just 60 mile last week, and nothing too challenging. No racing or pacing. About the most aggressive running I did was the Tuesday speed work at the track. After the mandatory 2.5 mile warm-up and 6 x 100 stride-outs, I did my 3 x 1 mile repeats at 5:28, 5:34, and 5:31. Pleased but not satisfied. I could have run the second mile faster, but let myself follow the pace of another runner instead of paying attention to my own pace. Saturday's 13.5 mile run through the woods was good. Steve G took us on section of trail which I have not run before. Always good to see some new scenery. See the map below.

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Here is a high-speed video of the Akron Marathon course. There is a brief commercial at the beginning, but the rest of the video is commercial free.

If you want to track my progress as I run the Akron Marathon, here is a link where you can register for automatic updates to be sent as e-mail or text.

Akron Marathon Runner Updates

Boston: Prediction, Training, Tracking

Prediction

Anyone who has run Boston knows as the race approaches, your fellow runners will inevitably ask...

• "What time are you aiming for?"
  
• "What do you think you're going to do in Boston?"
  
• "What's your prediction for Boston?"
  

With a week to go, I cannot dodge the question any longer, so here is my prediction for Boston...cloudy, low in the mid-forties and high in the mid-fifties, with a 20% chance of precipitation.

Seriously, I don't know how I am going to do in Boston, so I am not going to make a prediction. My most recent real test was the half-marathon in Youngstown last month, which I ran in 1 hour 31 minutes. To me, that indicates a marathon time of about 3:06. That of which of itself would be a huge improvement over last year, and would not be likely unless the wind and weather conditions are good. I have been hearing lots of noise about trying for sub-3 hours, but the idea that I can knock 17 minutes of my time last year seems improbable. A sub-3 hour marathon would require that I average under a 6:52/mile pace. For perspective, last year my average pace was 7:30/mile, and my fastest single mile in the whole race was 6:51. To go sub-3 hours, I would have to run all 26 miles at that pace this year. See my point?

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Training

It was a good, 58 mile, taper week. After a Monday recovery run, I was forced indoors for the speed session on Tuesday, due to the snow and cold. The treadmill only goes up to 6:00/min pace, so I did three 1 mile repeats at that pace. I followed that on Wednesday with 6.5 miles at a 6:50 pace, then a moderately paced 6 and 7 miles on Thursday and Friday respectively. Saturday, the usual crew ran a muddy, wet 11 miles. I had to hose-off before going in the house when I got home.

On a cold Sunday morning, I decided to make up for Tuesday's less than full-out speed session by running the first six miles aggressively. Fortunately, I hooked-up with Kam, and we ran to the water stop together. Those first six miles went like this: 7:34 (took us a little bit to warm-up), 6:46, 6:38, 6:26, 6:26, 6:35. After that, I backed off the pace, and finished the 13.76 miles at 7:23 average pace.

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Tracking My Progress on Race Day

On the morning of the race, Monday, April 20th, click on this link, Boston Marathon, before the start of the race at 10:00 AM. Follow the instructions. You will be asked to enter my name or bib number, #4438. My time and pace will automatically be updated as I cross the sensors, which are at 5 kilometer intervals, and at the finish line.

A Sighting of the Rare Tapirus Bostonus

Today, for the first time in a year, the reclusive Tippie Tapir has emerged from his home deep in the Cuyahoga Valley. Yes, it's that time again, time for my Boston taper. No more 80 or 90 mile weeks...this week was a reasonable 75 miles. Tippie arrives around the end of the first week of April every year to remind me to back off the mileage a little and let me legs recover from the tough winter training miles of the past four months.

It was another good week with the usual recovery runs on Monday and Thursday, plus an additional recovery day on Friday, just because. Tuesday, for the first time this year, we had a big group at the track. I was glad to have someone to push me a bit. I ran with Steve G. and Mike Boyer. I did 3 miles of warm-up and 6 x 100 yard stride outs, before we started our 1 mile repeats. My first mile was 5:39. I cannot remember when, if ever, I have run a mile under 5:40. I followed that with a 5:38 and another 5:38. Really. I check with Mike to confirm the times. It hurt and it felt great. Saturday, I ran a very wet and muddy 11 miles with the Lock 29 group. I must say I really love sloshing around in the muck. There is something in that mud that is very therapeutic. It is a miraculous stress-reducer...makes me glad to be alive. Sunday, I did 18 miles, with a slow few miles at the start, followed by a fast 15 miles, and a cool-down mile. Overall, the average pace was 7:30.

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The Boston Marathon will be run on Monday, April 20. I wil be running in the first wave, which starts at 10:00 AM. You can track my progress by logging on to the Boston Athletic Association website, and keying-in my bib number: 4438. My status will be updated every 5k.

Chicago on the Horizion

I guess you could say I feel good going into Chicago. The litany of injuries I suffered through at Boston and Cleveland are gone. I got all of my training mile in with nothing more than minor dings and aches. The taper is going well. I ran 12 miles of trails with the Lock 29 group on Saturday, and 12 miles on the road on Sunday with the SERC group. The next six days will be very low mileage, with a bit of light speed work.

I'll write more about the race weekend schedule later this week, but I do want to give you the runner tracking link now. Just follow the instructions, and you'll be sent e-mails or text messages as I pass each of four points on the course.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention some very cool news. I know I said I would was going to run Chicago in my Nike Free's, but that plan might be changing. For a few months, I have been looking at the new Nike Lunaracer, and on Thursday I made the purchase. They are super light-weight, (5.5 ounces per shoe) and the construction is unique. They use thin filaments (flywire) which provide super-light support and allow Nike to remove most of the weight from the upper. Also, they use a new foam cushion which they call Lunarfoam, which is lighter yet provides better protection. After much research and consideration, I purchased a pair of Lunaracers.



Here is a brief review from Hyperbeast:
Nike's insatiable appetite for making things faster and lighter has seen them push the performance envelope time and time again. New for this year was the creation of Lunarfoam, a space age material which offers uncompromising weight and responsiveness relative to Nike's previous most lightweight material, Phylon. Coupled with the weight reducing Flywire material, the Lunaracer has the makings of an incredibly featherweight but highly supportive piece of footwear engineering.

Needless to say, I would like to run Chicago in these. I am concerned that new shoes typically gnaw at different abrasion points on your feet, and need to be broken in over a few weeks before you can trust them in a marathon. I have run twice in the Lunaracers, an 8 mile tempo run and 12 miles on Sunday. Although I have not had any problems so far, that is hardly conclusive. Still, with only a week left, and a low-mileage taper week at that, it will not be possible to do this by the book. I'll bring my back-up shoes and make a decision later...probably on race morning.

Chicago Marathon Taper Time

This morning, I ran my last longish (19 miles) run before the Chicago Marathon, and so begins the pre-marathon taper time. If you have been following my blog for a while, you know that means only one thing...it's time for our official taper mascot, Tippie Tapir. For those unfamiliar with the term 'taper' in the context of running, it is the period, usually two weeks, prior to a race, in which you gradually reduce your mileage. For those unfamiliar with the animal 'tapir', here is an excerpt from Wikipedia.
Tapir: (pronounced as "taper") A large browsing mammal, roughly pig-like in shape, with short, prehensile snout. Tapirs inhabit jungle and forest regions of South America, Central America, and Southeast Asia. Their closest relatives are the other odd-toed ungulate mamals, including horses, rhinoceroses, and marathon runners.

I have given some thought to a target time for Chicago, but am not ready to commit to one yet. I think I'll try to run smarter than I did in Cleveland. If you remember, in Cleveland I tried running with the 3:10 pacer for as long as I could. I did end up with a 3:15 marathon, a couple of minutes faster than Boston, but I paid a price. The last six miles of that race were the worst I have ever experienced. I was very close to hitting the wall in that race. It might be smarter to try to keep a 3:15 pace, and if I have anything left in the last few miles, try to pick up a minute or two.

On Saturday, I ran 13.15 miles on the trails with the Lock29 group. Again this week, the group was sparse as many area distance runners were participating in the Akron Marathon. Congratulations to all of our SERC runners who ran Akron, but I have to make special mention of Barb Broad. She won the women 55-59 age group with a 3 hour 33 minute time, twelve minutes faster than the second place women in her age group. She is phenomenal...dedicated, hard working, disciplined, and flat-out fast. She is also warm, kind, and always positive and supportive. She is one of the reasons I am proud and happy to be a member of Cleveland Southeast Runners Club.

The Return of Tapie thte Taper

Just seven days until the Buckeye Trail 50k, so it time for our favorite pre-race mascot, Tapie the Tapir. Last weekend,I was out of town so I missed the last of the BT familiarization runs, a 22 miler. Instead, I ran a 22 miler in in the Milburn-Oranges area of New Jersey. I hit the trail by 5:45 AM because we were going into the city for a walking tour of the Greenwich Village (specifically a food tour of the west village), so I had to be home, showered, dressed, and ass in car seat by 10:15 AM. We drove back on Monday, and I didn't get a run in.
On Tuesday, I biked to work. On the way home, I was trying to beat a massive thunderstorm that was chasing me from the northwest. I almost made it, but about a mile from home the storm caught me. The winds were bad but the rain was worse. It fell so hard and heavy that I couldn't see more than ten feet in front of me. I have been in swimming pools and stayed drier. Luckily, I made it to the side streets and out of the worst of the traffic, and got home safely. Tuesdays are suppose to be speed work days at the track, but that was not happening. If the rain and wind weren't enough, the lightning convinced me that I should stay off the track. To make up for the missed speed work, I did an aggressive tempo run on Wednesday, but kept it to only 8.5 miles (It is taper time, remember.) Thursday and Friday were both 6 mile hilly runs, both at an easy pace.

I was anxious to get one last trail run in on Saturday. Thankfully, Steve Hawthorne was there, so I knew it would be a great morning. We ran the to path to Boston Store, then took the BT through Pine Lane trail back. It was only 10.5 miles, and at a moderate pace, which made Tapie the Tapir very happy.
I am getting psyched about the race. I think I'll try for about five and a half hours. Paul R., who has been hurt and was seriously considering skipping the race, asked me if he might try at least running the first half with me. Of course! He's a great runner, and I strongly suspect he'll change his mind again by race day and decide to do the whole thing. Regardless, it would be great to have him to set the pace. I hope he has a good, restful week and feels good by next Saturday.

Two Weeks to Go: Tapir (sp) Time

Here is my mascot for the next two weeks, Tapie the Tapir.
The tapir (pronounce as "taper") is a large browsing mammal, roughly pig-like in shape, with a short, prehensile snout. Tapirs inhabit jungle and forest regions of South America, Central America, and Southeast Asia.

15 days until Boston, and the last of the long training runs is done. I did an uninspired 19 miles today, gimping into home with a sore left knee and right Achilles. The plan calls for a gradual reduction in miles over the next two weeks. I hope the reduced workload will allow my legs a chance to recover before the race. I don't expect to be magically healed by running fewer miles, but I'll take whatever I can get.

I bought the Endurox R4 recovery drink per Wayne's recommendation. It has a 4:1 ratio of carbo-hydrate and protein. I bought the flavor which they call 'Tangy Orange' but would be more accurately named, 'Tangy Orange Mixed in a Blender with Pork Pork Fat'. I like it.