Looking forward...

180 days until the Boston Marathon.

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Yesterday I registered. I wanted to be sure I got in, and attempted to register as soon as the online site opened. It wasn't working, and I retyped my details on the entry form, submitted them, and had them erased repeatedly. I could see from the twitter feed that others were having the same problem - likely the Boston Athletic Association's servers were pretty busy.

Eventually, after more than an hour, my wife was able to get my form submitted. I see this morning that registration is full, so this effort was worth it. Can the race be full already? Wow.

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The two weeks since the Loch Ness Marathon have been pretty light, running-wise. I did 5 or 6 miles in total the week after the race, and then caught a stomach bug that was working its way through my family. I didn't run for 5 days, perhaps the longest break I've taken from running in a year or so (excluding my backpacking trip). I ran this past Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, getting in about 19 miles all told.

The Loch Ness Marathon

The horn sounded and the race began. Nearly 2,500 runners were behind the starting line, and I was between the signs for the 3:00 and 3:30 estimated finishing time runners.

I shed the garbage bag that I’d been wearing over my shirt as shelter from the drizzle and the cool morning temperature. I’d had my arms tucked inside the bag, trying to keep warm. I crossed the starting line. Music blared through large speakers: and I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more...

Mile 1 was a fairly steep descent, and I ran it in 7:06. This was fast, but it was due to the terrain.

The slope eased in mile 2. Runners streamed past me, at what seemed like a 10K race pace. My plan was to take it easy in the first 6 miles, and treat them almost as a warm-up. I’d learned a hard lesson about running out of energy in the Edinburgh marathon. I wanted to fool my body into thinking it wasn’t running yet in the first miles of this race. My time for mile 2 was 7:42.

There was more descent in mile 3, and it came in at 7:31. It was raining, and my shirt was wet. I settled into a more even pace and ran 4, 5, and 6 in 7:47, 7:45, and 7:46. As I had in my training runs, I snacked on a brownie between miles 5 and 6, and took a swig of sports drink at the drink station.

During mile 8 I felt a rock in my shoe. I stopped and took my shoe off, shook it, and then put it back on. This was my first mile over 8 minutes, at 8:01.

I was tiring slightly, but ran 9 under 8 minutes. I was pleased to get to double-digit miles at the 10 mile marker.

In miles 11 and 12 I started to flag. I hadn’t even done a half-marathon yet, and I was feeling tiredness in my legs. I ate more of my brownie, and took some water.
I fell in with a friendly runner from Ireland named John. We chatted as we ran and the miles slipped by. 13, 14, and 15 were at or just under 8 minutes per mile. The rain had stopped now, and we had occasional expansive views of Loch Ness. I’d finished my food now, and was running without carrying anything. Eventually, I slipped ahead of John.

Miles 18 and 19 held a large climb. Unaccountably, I started to feel good. 18 came in at 8:35, and 19 was 8:11. Although these were slower that my goal pace, they were hill miles, and I was encouraged to be this late in the race and still feeling o.k.

Near mile 20 I fell in with a runner doing the race for “Help the Heroes”. He was running a decent pace, and I slipped in behind him. Mile 21 came in at 7:47.

There was another climb in in mile 22 and by 23 I began to seriously tire. My pace slipped above 8 minutes/mile once more. I knew that it was only a 5K left, but my energy was depleted.

I just kept moving in mile 24. I wanted to stop. As my pace involuntarily slowed, I knew that I was unlikely to qualify for Boston. I was in the first stages of hitting the wall. I wasn't there yet, but I couldn't hold my pace any longer. 24 came in at 8:42.

At 25 I knew that it was only a mile and a bit to go, but I couldn't speed up. My watch read 3:19:33. Ten minutes to run 1.2 miles, but my pace was already above 8 mins per mile.

I fixated on the legs of the guy in front of me, and made that my whole world. I imagined that there was a rope between us and that he was pulling me. I thought of Joe Simpson crawling from back to his camp with a broken leg in Touching the Void. He didn't focus on camp, but on the next rock outcropping, and dragged himself towards it.

I just kept this guy's legs in view. We crossed a bridge over the river, and even the slight incline of the bridge was exhausting. The sun was out as we headed toward the park and the finish line.

26 was 8:48. I knew there was only a lap around the track left, so I began to sprint. I saw a large , inflatable Loch Ness Monster, and thought that this was the finish line. It wasn’t. I put in one more burst and heard the announcer say my name as I crossed the finish line.

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I finished in 3:29:48. I’d qualified for the Boston Marathon.

The Linlithgow 10K

My next attempt to qualify for Boston is in 5 days.

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There was no starting gun at the beginning of this year's race, just a loud tone from a starter's microphone.

M., my friend from work, went out fast. I wanted to hang back just a touch, and then pick up the pace later in the race. I didn't want to be out of breath in the first 200 meters of the race.

It was a sunny, cool September day, with no wind. By 2 km in, I caught up to M. We ran together for a bit, and then at 3 km I eased past him. Through these 3 kilometers, our pace was almost exactly 4 minutes/km.

The course went uphill in the fourth kilometer, and my pace slowed a bit. At 5 km, the course was flat again as it went along the loch. This was familiar territory, as it was part of my regular "town" running loop.

By the loch I could hear the familiar footfalls of G., a running friend from town, behind me. He eased past me, and I stuck on his heels. We'd run together many times, and although he could beat me, I was usually able to stick with him.

G. passed a few runners and I stuck with him.

After the loch, the route was uphill towards a farm. Here G. slowed a bit, and I passed him.

At 7 km the route began a slight downhill, and I picked up the pace. I didn't look at my watch.

I wasn't tiring yet, but I was going almost as fast as I could. I tried to pick off runners one at a time.

The last kilometer seemed long. We rounded the final turn and headed towards the finish line by the palace. At the "100 meter to finish" sign I started sprinting, and caught a woman just before the finish line.

I finished in 41:43, probably a personal best for the 10k distance. (Probably, because I'd run a 41:34 7 years earlier, but the course was mismeasured and just under 10k). I was 54th out of 512 runners.

Fall is here

There are 7 days until my next attempt to qualify for Boston.

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It's been a good, consistent week of running. After my long run on Tuesday (last post), I did 2 easy miles on the track on Wednesday, 5.4 miles through town on Thursday, 4 miles on the track on Friday, and 3.5 miles around the loch yesterday.

Today is my local 10K.

After feeling ok on my long run, my confidence for the marathon has been much restored. Also, my training is essentially done - I'll just be doing easy runs this next week - so there's nothing more I can do at this point.

The lesson I've learned in preparing for this marathon is that running consistently seems to help a lot. I feel stronger on my Sunday long runs if I've run the 5 previous days, even if some of these runs aren't particularly long. Perhaps my body just gets used to the fact that it has to run nearly every day, and adjusts. This agrees with something I'd heard of Bill Rodgers' training - he didn't run excessively hard, but did run consistently.

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The weather has turned much cooler here at night. This morning it was 32 degrees (0 c), and there was frost on our deck table and chairs. It might be difficult to see it in the picture, but it's there. Summer is over.

Hopefully, the weather will be similarly clear and cool next weekend.

A better long run

11 days until my next attempt to qualify for Boston.

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Yesterday I went for my last long run before the marathon.

I treated the first 5.4 loop through town as a warm-up. I took it nice and slow. I wanted to fool my body into thinking that it really wasn't running yet.

The second lap was good. I had a niggle in my upper legs, but overall I felt good, and my pace was faster.

My third loop, up to 16.2 miles, was encouragingly. Instead of feeling gutted at the end of it, I felt like I still had energy reservers. There was some tiredness, but I was still running. Now it was dark, so I ran with my flashlight. I had a sports drink and brownie hidden in a tree at the start of each lap, and I sampled both at the end of each lap. It was a mild evening, and I ran in shorts and a synthetic t-shirt. I sweated.

On the final lap, I felt o.k. I was able to hold my pace for the most part, though I slowed on the climbs.

Near the end of the run, I stopped because a man had apparently collapsed on the pavement (sidewalk). He was older, overweight, and semi-conscious. A passer-by phoned for an ambulance.

So, my final long run of this training session was encouraging. I'd run 21.6 miles in 3:02.

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Earlier in the day, before my wife returned, I took my children to a local castle. The children had been there before, and enjoyed showing me where the dungeon was, and how the bathrooms were just holes leading to the sea next to the castle walls. In the former dining hall, there was a nice picture of what a medieval meal may have looked like.

I'm not ready for the marathon

16 days until my next attempt to qualify for Boston.

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I know I'm not ready. I did a long run this past weekend and suffered. Even with a run:walk strategy, 8 mins run: 1 min walk, I was reduced to shuffling at the end of my 21-miler.

That's the endurance I possess right now.

My only hope, delusional as it is, was that this was just a bad run. I was jet-lagged. I definitely had a cold. I'd not run the week before.

I've tried to get in a reasonable week of running this week, but my wife is out of town for for days this weekend, so I'll be taking care of the children. Perhaps I can run around the playground while they are there or something, but I won't be getting in any serious distance.

My plan is to do one last long run on the day she returns. Hopefully it will go a little better. After that I'll do some maintenance runs, and then my local 10K the weekend before the marathon. After this, I'll do some easy runs (5 miles or less) in the week before the race.

Perhaps this is a little light in terms of tapering, but I've found that I seem to recover from runs quickly. Also, a lesson I've learned in training for this marathon is that I tend to feel strongest on my weekend long runs when they've been preceeded by a consistent week's running.

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Fall is in the air here. It was 44 degrees this morning (about 8 degrees celcius), and the house was a bit chilly. The trees in our garden (backyard) are starting to colour a bit and shed their leaves.

A training interuption

23 day until my next attempt to qualify for Boston.

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I was away for the last 10 days, ran only 2 of those, and feel well behind with my marathon preparation.

My interuption was a long-planned backpacking trip to one of the most spectacular backpacking areas in the world. I went with some family and friends, and because of an injury to one of our party, our 5-day backpacking trip was curtailed. In the end we did 2 days of backpacking, 1 day of hanging around our camp and swimming in a crystal clear river, and 2 days of day-hiking.

I'm counting some of this as cross training. We were at elevation for much of the trip, and on some of the hikes we climbed a good ways.

But all of this isn't running.

So, now I have four weeks left before the marathon. All I can do is get in four good weeks of training. Of course, I want to taper in the week before the race, so I really have three weeks of training left.

My plan is to get a good week in currently, and go for a 20-miler this weekend.

Next weekend will be disrupted as my wife is out of town, and I'm on child-care duty. Should I get a baby-sitter so I can go for my long run? Maybe take the plunge on a treadmill? At the moment, I'm just planning on postponing my long run until the Tuesday that she returns.

The weekend after this I have my local 10K. It's also the weekend before the race, so I can't really squeeze in another 20-miler. Then some easy runs. Then the race.

So, that's where I am. I'll do two more 20-milers, maybe, and try to run consistently - that is, every day - for the next 3.5 weeks. I'm hoping that at the end of this time I'll be feeling confident.

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But I am haunted by the woods. As I take the busy train to work, or drive on the rainy highway, I keep going back to wilderness through which we backpacked. I want to go back - to spend more nights in my tent, and more days on the trail. We just scratched the surface of what was there. I look at my map of the area and devise alternative routes, temporarily suppressing the knowledge that I won't be back for a while.