Mar 22 Vanity Spoils an Otherwise Fine Day...

After the monsoons ended, which had us round the clock in my mother in law's basement manning wet-vac's and submersible pumps to stem the rising tides, the milder temperatures improved through the week and made for some nice running outside. I found a great little loop in Derry, NH; not too far from my office and got some nice runs in there about 6.5 miles - good middle of day distance, though one day I started too late and ended up in the dark at the end. The legs were a little tired heading into Saturday, but I've been injury free and a little dead legs syndrome was just OK with me. Saturday we had a DFMC team run from Wellesley up through the Newton Hills and back, an 18 miler, wasnt sure if i was doing the full 18 or turn around at Centre St for 16. That got sort of decided for me. Earlier in the week, the email went out today was "photo day" so wear your DFMC gear and get ready to tell why you're doing this to anyone who should care and goes on the Dana Farber site. So I got up at 7AM and threw all the Dana Farber gear I had on, including the new Adidas training shirt I got for running all the training runs at Lexington this year.

The run started out innocuously enough, few rolling hills and I was running a good pace (for me - 10's and 11's are a good pace) and though my legs felt a little tired with calves/quads alternatively tightening as I pounded down Rte 135 onto 16 and the Boston course. The hills were killers today and I labored up them, but as I hit the crest I saw the water stop at 6 and knew I run through there, get a quick water and a snack, I should be good. Then, I saw the camera - pointed right at me. And, that's where things went terribly wrong. I didn't want to look like the tired guy running in, so I decided to pick up the pace and get a good opportunity. About 4 powerful strides later, *POP* went my right calf muscle, and I pulled up about 30 yards short, and limped it in to there. It was a sharp pain, but I didnt think it was serious. Jack took a look and confirmed, it was probably a pulled muscle and I cursed myself for a good 5 minutes trying to rub out the tightness and stretch. I was able to put weight on it and after consulting with Jack, I decided to go on, but no steep hills. They say in misfortune we look for opportunity, I decided this was a good oppty for me to build the left quad (I run more right leg dominant I find), so I guess that was the only saving grace. It was a beautiful day out on course and like all the stupid things I've done so far, a learning experience, which I hope to carry to race day.

Without further ado, I'd like to add some important people to my GENEROUS DONORS LIST for the DFMC: Gloria and Jim Cuddy (and prayers go out for Jim, who was diagnosed with lung cancer recently - Jim I run for you too, and your cure!), (Aunt)Clare Brown from FL, Mary Lord (My Mom's oncology nurse and a good friend to our family), Therese Chamberlain (Ruth's daughter and a good friend), and my mother and father in law, Jim and Theresa Doherty (who found time to write a check with all they had going on. Jim is also a cancer survivor of a debilitating benign cancer called VHL - Von Hippel Lindau syndrome and is an inspiration to us all)

March 15 Week MAYBE a Runner, Finally...

I would have to say before this week, I thought I could complete the Marathon but not sure if it would be one of those ugly, halting, gasping affairs or something better. After this past week, I feel more certain it will be something better. The week prior was quite ugly as I outlined in my March 8 post, so I was determined to have a good week this week. I was able to get 3 very good outdoor runs in and the last, on Thursday, I chose a hilly golf course where I ran the cartpaths in succession running up from my hotel via the access road. This one was a gasser, about 6.5 miles, for me and it was good and for the first time, I felt better the next day from a run, more energized and healthier. As the weekend was approaching, I wanted to have a good performance at the DFMC run on the Lexington bike path, of course the rainy weather was rolling in, so it was hard to know about conditions. We had a good team meeting, Jan (the director) passed out pairs of running gloves to all that have raised $5K for DFMC so far (quite a few!), and got some more data on Marathon day logistics (wow!). Finally at 8:30, we started our run, I had made sure to get a good carb dinner and drank a liter plus of water before, I felt good, and I went the first 6 miles at a good 10:30 pace which was good for me. I actually enjoy running with a light rain, even with the temps in the 40s. The next 3-4 miles were still pretty good, but I needed a better effort and I was dragging up the hills. I could feel the wind picking up and as I hit the water stop at 10, I was no longer celebrating the weather but I wasnt complaining either. The wind really picked up the last 4 and as I hit the last stop and talked to Jack and the unbelieveable volunteers (it's one thing to run in the rain and wind, usually blocked by trees; it's another to stand behind a table usually exposed more and try to fill water and gatorade cups and others with a 25 mph wind in the rain -- bravo and thanks Volunteers!!) I could see how the weather was changing. The last couple miles were challenging and I tightened a bit, but I still felt good coming back in to Lexington center with my longest run to date - 14 miles, and feel even better that the next 4 weeks will take to the right level to have a more credible and real marathon experience.

Now to my GENEROUS DONORS of the week: Jane Daun-Tremblay, Larry Golob, Zita Scippa, John Burke, and Dave Ahern. Muchos Gracias to you all, and the good work continues thanks to your efforts and generosity!!

March 8 Week: One, Two, Three, BONK and Lessons Learned...

As I started training, my three pronged strategy has been pretty simple - to increase distance/endurance weekly, to increase strength and build muscle both in upper body and my legs, and to lose weight gradually (thereby experiencing a big lift in taking my now stronger legs who are used to pushing a 220 lb. version of me to greater heights when it's only 200 lbs.). Unfortunately, this week I learned a rather painful lesson when my desire to drop a few pounds collided head on into strategy 1, during our long DFMC run. "Bonking" or "Hitting the Wall" as it is called is defined as a " a condition in endurance sports where depletion of glycogen stores results in sudden and severe fatigue...". Basically it translates to your body saying, "Hey Idiot!! If you want me to perform this extreme task of carrying you 10 plus miles, you might want to fill my tank and eat something!!" Bottom line, I ate poorly the 2 days prior to the Saturday run and it did not go well. At about the 5 mile mark, it all broke down and it was limp back to the shed time, and not meeting my weekly goal. Thanks to Jack Fultz who tried to wave me down from his car to drive me back to base twice, but I wanted this lesson to sting a little bit so I finished it out. I'm compiling a list of my "commandments" or lessons learned from all this training, I'll share next time.

For now, I want to recognize ... My very generous DONORS this week... Barbara and Kevin Connearney (Regina's aunt and uncle, sister in law to Ruth Sullivan), Billerica neighbors Debra and John Laquidara and Larry King, former elite marathoner and now mom and good friend Cheri Sukhia. Thank you all, you're all making a difference today!!!