Here we go again. The mileage is starting to stack-up. This past weekend I ran a 15.75 mile out and back course from Watertown, MA to the Longfellow Bridge in Cambridge, MA. It was supposed to be a 17 mile course but it wasn't but who cares. I felt great after the run -- the weather was pretty awesome and there were actually water stops. Next Saturday will be an 18 mile course (yet to be determined) but it will probably be the course listed above with an extra leg around the Science Museum to the Boston side of the Charles near MGH.
I purchased a new pair a shoes (which will be my official Chicago Marathon Shoes) and started the painful process of breaking them in this morning on a 3 mile run. October 7th is approaching quickly.
Wish me luck, or at least click the title link and donate some money to my cause...
Showing posts with label marathon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marathon. Show all posts
2007-08-21
2007-05-23
Chicago Marathon Fundraising
I am writing to tell you of a personal challenge I have taken on. It's a challenge of physical endurance -- a challenge of making a difference in my community. I will be running for the Arthritis Foundation as a member of the Joints in Motion training team. Our team will be joining Arthritis Foundation teams from across the country to support arthritis research and community-based education programs for men, women and children affected by arthritis. We hope that you will help.
Please visit my web page to join my team or make a secure, online contribution to help me reach my fundraising goal. Arthritis doesn't discriminate -- it affects one in three people, including men, women, teens and even children. People turn to the Arthritis Foundation for information, support and resources -- you and I can help. The Arthritis Foundation has made it easy!
Your generosity ensures that the Arthritis Foundation continues leading the way toward prevention, control and cure of the number one cause of disability. Contributions through special events are vital to providing these services. Together, we can make a difference.
Thank you for your support!
--Mike
Please visit my web page to join my team or make a secure, online contribution to help me reach my fundraising goal. Arthritis doesn't discriminate -- it affects one in three people, including men, women, teens and even children. People turn to the Arthritis Foundation for information, support and resources -- you and I can help. The Arthritis Foundation has made it easy!
Your generosity ensures that the Arthritis Foundation continues leading the way toward prevention, control and cure of the number one cause of disability. Contributions through special events are vital to providing these services. Together, we can make a difference.
Thank you for your support!
--Mike
2007-05-09
Marathon, Part Deux: The Race
As much as I would like to spout off about training for the marathon, it's just not very interesting -- just a lot of me bitching about long, dark, cold runs in January and February. Not Pulitzer Prize winning subject matter to say the least.
Race Day. OK, night before, strike that, week before, race day. I am all nerves. (Cue Italian Grandmother saying, "STOP acting like a jackass, you know what you're doing to my nerves? Roll up the window, you'll get an ear-ache!") Manuela wants nothing to do with me -- I am pacing around, not doing anything around the house for fear of getting injured (I milked that one to the bone) and being a general pain in the ass.
Manuela suggests that it would be better if I went out to my buddy Craig's house in Hopkinton the night before the race -- alone. Fine. So I go out to Craig's house and hung out with him and his wife and ate pasta and kvetched about what I was going to wear for the marathon. The weather forecast was for 20mph head winds, pouring rain, and the temperature was to be in the low 40's. I could deal with the rain and the temp, but not the head wind.
Anyhow, God steps in, stops the wind and the rain and raises the temperature to a balmy 45 degrees. Awesome. I mosey out of Craig's house around 8AM to walk the mile or so to the muster point in the pouring rain. I know I said it stopped, but it really hadn't, yet. Besides, I had a 30 gallon Hefty bag over me, so I was dry -- except for my feet.
Get to the muster point and am directed to the Middle School Gym where it's warm and dry. Wait, you say, weren't most of the people out in a field freezing and getting soaked? Why yes they were! You see, it pays to know people. I got my bib number from a friend who works at one of the sponsors of the Marathon and as such I was technically a VIP runner. One of the benefits of being a VIP was having a dry, warm place to hang out before the race starts.
I'll skip the bagel eating and water drinking and excess urination part and skip to the race.
It's a little daunting being with 20,000 people about to run 26.2 miles. I felt a little boxed in while moving from the gym to the starting line. Everywhere you looked there were people - fat people, skinny people, hot girls, not-so-hot girls, athletes, and people who were like me - first time marathon runners whose friends still don't believe they could run a marathon.
The pack moves forward toward the starting line. I cross it at about 10:41 AM and am off. Off to what, I don't quite know. It's hard -- everyone is jockying for position and there's nowhere to go.
The hardest part about running for a long distance is keeping your mind occupied. An unoccupied mind will taunt you, try to get you to walk, or worse, quit. I wasn't going to let that happen.
Here's a mini-diary of what my mind was doing at various points in the race:
All in all it was an incredible experience. So much so that the next day after the marathon, I registered to run the Chicago Marathon on October 7, 2007.
Am I nuts?
--Mike
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention...I still don't have my Daring Fireball T-Shirt. Mr Gruber is now officially on my shit list. (Unless, of course, he provides me with a non-cotton Daring Fireball T-Shirt to wear in the Chicago Marathon.)
Race Day. OK, night before, strike that, week before, race day. I am all nerves. (Cue Italian Grandmother saying, "STOP acting like a jackass, you know what you're doing to my nerves? Roll up the window, you'll get an ear-ache!") Manuela wants nothing to do with me -- I am pacing around, not doing anything around the house for fear of getting injured (I milked that one to the bone) and being a general pain in the ass.
Manuela suggests that it would be better if I went out to my buddy Craig's house in Hopkinton the night before the race -- alone. Fine. So I go out to Craig's house and hung out with him and his wife and ate pasta and kvetched about what I was going to wear for the marathon. The weather forecast was for 20mph head winds, pouring rain, and the temperature was to be in the low 40's. I could deal with the rain and the temp, but not the head wind.
Anyhow, God steps in, stops the wind and the rain and raises the temperature to a balmy 45 degrees. Awesome. I mosey out of Craig's house around 8AM to walk the mile or so to the muster point in the pouring rain. I know I said it stopped, but it really hadn't, yet. Besides, I had a 30 gallon Hefty bag over me, so I was dry -- except for my feet.
Get to the muster point and am directed to the Middle School Gym where it's warm and dry. Wait, you say, weren't most of the people out in a field freezing and getting soaked? Why yes they were! You see, it pays to know people. I got my bib number from a friend who works at one of the sponsors of the Marathon and as such I was technically a VIP runner. One of the benefits of being a VIP was having a dry, warm place to hang out before the race starts.
I'll skip the bagel eating and water drinking and excess urination part and skip to the race.
It's a little daunting being with 20,000 people about to run 26.2 miles. I felt a little boxed in while moving from the gym to the starting line. Everywhere you looked there were people - fat people, skinny people, hot girls, not-so-hot girls, athletes, and people who were like me - first time marathon runners whose friends still don't believe they could run a marathon.
The pack moves forward toward the starting line. I cross it at about 10:41 AM and am off. Off to what, I don't quite know. It's hard -- everyone is jockying for position and there's nowhere to go.
The hardest part about running for a long distance is keeping your mind occupied. An unoccupied mind will taunt you, try to get you to walk, or worse, quit. I wasn't going to let that happen.
Here's a mini-diary of what my mind was doing at various points in the race:
Mile 1: WTF am I doing?
Mile 2: No really, WTF am I doing?
Mile 3: 23 more freakin' miles of this?
...
Mile 8: Framingham is a dump.
Mile 10: Natick is not a bad town...16 more miles.
Mile 12: Wellesley College... (each and every girl hot or not had a sign saying "Kiss Me" so I did.)
Mile 16: ouch. 10 more miles.
Mile 17: hey, that's my brother up ahead... (caught up with him and ran the rest in thus killing my time as he was a shell by mile 20)
Mile 18: the hills begin.
Mile 21: the hills end...Boston College has some hot girls...
Mile 23: Dooger jumps in and runs along with my brother and me.
Mile 25: Let this shit end!
Mile 25.69: Zoltan yells out encouraging words...sort of.
Mile 26: Manuela jumps in and runs the last .2 miles with me, dooger, and my bro.
Mile 26.2: The End
All in all it was an incredible experience. So much so that the next day after the marathon, I registered to run the Chicago Marathon on October 7, 2007.
Am I nuts?
--Mike
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention...I still don't have my Daring Fireball T-Shirt. Mr Gruber is now officially on my shit list. (Unless, of course, he provides me with a non-cotton Daring Fireball T-Shirt to wear in the Chicago Marathon.)
2007-04-23
I promised, now I deliver (part 1)
I promised that I would write more about my marathon experience. Basically the key to running a marathon and finishing it is practice. Without getting the miles on the feet there is no way in hell to finish 26.2 miles and still be alive. I decided back in September 2006 that I would run the Boston marathon in April 2007 -- that's 7 months. Mind you, I don't think I had run more than 2 miles in 10 years, seriously. After a little research, I found a web site with a number of training regimens for beginner runners -- all of which seemed a bit, no extremely, daunting. Where was I going to find time to run 4 days a week?
The program was 18 weeks long, so I counted back 18 weeks from marathon day and found that my real training was to start in late December -- oh joy cold weather. However, before I could even start the real training, I had to get into shape. The key here is to start slow, really slow. I started by running 2 miles on the treadmill 2 times a week. Walking is ok. Walking is expected. Walking is welcome. A few weeks later, I decided to try and do 5 miles -- out to the Nahant circle and back. I got out there doing a walk run combo and came back all walk. I just kept at it until I could run the full 5 miles.
Take it slow, build on it and the next thing you know, 5 miles is nothing. However, you still dread the coming long runs. First long run was 8 miles. Then it was 10 miles. Then 15 miles.
At this point it becomes a mental game. There's not a lot to do while running except run. And think. And ignore the pain and that voice on your shoulder asking you what the hell you're doing. My longest training run was 21 miles and that was in March.
That's all for now.
Part 2 will come along in a while...
The program was 18 weeks long, so I counted back 18 weeks from marathon day and found that my real training was to start in late December -- oh joy cold weather. However, before I could even start the real training, I had to get into shape. The key here is to start slow, really slow. I started by running 2 miles on the treadmill 2 times a week. Walking is ok. Walking is expected. Walking is welcome. A few weeks later, I decided to try and do 5 miles -- out to the Nahant circle and back. I got out there doing a walk run combo and came back all walk. I just kept at it until I could run the full 5 miles.
Take it slow, build on it and the next thing you know, 5 miles is nothing. However, you still dread the coming long runs. First long run was 8 miles. Then it was 10 miles. Then 15 miles.
At this point it becomes a mental game. There's not a lot to do while running except run. And think. And ignore the pain and that voice on your shoulder asking you what the hell you're doing. My longest training run was 21 miles and that was in March.
That's all for now.
Part 2 will come along in a while...
I really can't believe it!
One week ago I was nervously walking around the middle-school gym in Hopkinton, MA waiting to be shuffled through the pouring rain to the start of the marathon. I promised back on 4/16 that I would write more about my experience and I will, just not now. I've got a sick kitty at home to take care of and my better half is leaving for France for a week and the Yankees got swept by the Sox.
I might as well provide a non-update on my Daring Fireball non t-shirt experience. The update is...there is no update.
--Mike
I might as well provide a non-update on my Daring Fireball non t-shirt experience. The update is...there is no update.
--Mike
2007-04-16
It's over...
I finished my first marathon in 4:45:47. Not too bad. I would've done better if I didn't wait for my brother to catch up all the time. All in all it was a fun time. I know, who thinks running for almost 5 hours could be fun? More later.
--Mike
--Mike
2007-04-12
Bib Number 21452
That's right - I have an official number for the 111th Running of the Boston Marathon this coming Monday, April 16th. The weather should be downright CRAPPY. I am not too worried - it would be a lot worse for me if it were 85F and sunny as I have trained for this race in the freakin' New England cold. Running when it's 15F out kind of sucks.
For those of you interested, I will NOT be wearing my Daring Fireball T-shirt as I DO NOT HAVE ONE YET (and it's cotton so it would suck to run in anyway.) Jeez, K-Tel didn't take this long to deliver my hits of the 80's LP.
For those of you interested, I will NOT be wearing my Daring Fireball T-shirt as I DO NOT HAVE ONE YET (and it's cotton so it would suck to run in anyway.) Jeez, K-Tel didn't take this long to deliver my hits of the 80's LP.
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