Random Question #327

Why the hex am I running another effing marathon in ten days?

Boston Roll Call

My blood blister burst over the weekend. I am still sore but was able to get two runs in this weekend. Pancho is calming down from his separation anxiety. And like most of us, I have to a five day work week coming up. In other words, the dust from the Boston Marathon has finally settled. My summary is in the post below. For more stories...

Nasty Nate summarizes his race. Open letter to the Nasty Man: you are too hard on yourself. I think we all tend to second-guess ourselves after a race. Outside of the winner, all runners tend to analyze and deconstruct their race. We find things we did wrong or wish we did differently more than we celebrate what we did right. Bottom line: you ran a fine race.

I for one am already wondering what would have happened if I had been more aggressive after the first three miles.

So I admire Nathan's race in that he ran aggressively yet intelligently, compared to my "hedging my bets" style of running.

Awalt has a nice recap of how connected we feel to those who follow us from afar and some nice tidbits that explain why Boston is such a special occasion. And I agree, there is something emotional about crossing the checkpoint mat every 5k. You'd here the mat beep and you know your split time was being posted on the web for all your family and friends to see. I felt suddenly connected to my running friends here, Emily, and my family in Texas every time I heard that beep.

No Handle Chad summarizes his race here, talks about what makes the Boston crowd special here, and highlights the women's' trials and, well ME (sort of) here.

Fancy Kirk deconstructs his 2:55 and ends up feeling just as happy with his time as I did mine. Open letter to Fancy Kirk: your take that Boston is essentially for the 40+ year-old marathoner with disposable time and income is a good one.

Tall Colin has some pictures of me, Mr. Nasty, and Mr. Fancy, along with a story of why the Boston crowds are different than any other. A good read for sure.

Running to The Walking City

Well, now I know why the Boston Marathon is such a big deal. It truly is special. There are runners who have tried for five years to qualify and finally did. And there are others who love the city and the race so much they have been there for the last 20 years. But no matter what, every runner is more excited to be at Boston. I feel lucky to have been a part of it all.

And I feel extremely lucky that we had ideal weather for the spectators and runners.

Here are the nuts and bolts of the race: I ran a 2:55, good for a PR.

I ran the (mostly downhill) first half of the marathon in 1:29 and I followed that up with a 1:26 second half. Somewhere between the 35k mark and the finish (42k), I must have thrown in an 18:00 5k.

So basically I sandbagged my way to a PR. I sat in the weeds for 16 miles. Halfway up the first Newton hill, I decided to start pushing it. Maybe not the gutsiest way to run a race, but it has to be the only comfortable way to run that course.

Now, onto the pictures, taken by Emily around mile 24.


Fancy Kirk, on his way to a 2:55 of his own. We had two very different races. Two guys who run a 2:55 in a marathon can have as much in common with their race as two golfers who both shoot an 85 in 18 holes of golf. Bottom line is, Mr. Fancy "schooled me" by 18 seconds, good for 5th fastest among Twin City marathoners.



Emily said I looked really happy when I passed her. This picture offers photographic proof to the contrary.



Duel of the Bald Guys.

What a race. The crowd really is unique in Boston. There is a connection we the runners have with the spectators that you can find nowhere else. From the families handing out sponges and water in the early towns, to the drunk college kids in Boston, and the rabid marathon lovers as we head into downtown, you really felt the crowd. They were just as much a part of the race as we were. They weren't just there to cheer on their friends and family. Instead they were there to cheer on the entire field.

No Handle Chad and and Tall Colin both did an excellent job of capturing what the Boston crowd is like.

And it was awesome to be a part of it. Here's to Boston 2009.

One Week Out

The Boston Marathon is one week away. Emily and I will be flying out first thing Friday morning, assuming the FAA and American Airlines will have their shit together by then. The race is Monday and we fly out the next day.

This isn't a marathon I really have a lot of goals for. I assume I will accomplish my basic goal: be healthy enough to start the race. After that, I'd like to finish, break 3:00, and anything beyond that is gravy.

No matter what happens in Boston, I already accomplished a huge goal, and that was to be in good shape at the start of spring. And I had a lot fun along the way, training with Fancy Kirk and Nasty Nate.


This picture is from the Run the Valley 5k/10k two Saturdays ago. The close observer will note that Fancy Kirk and Nasty Nate are both sporting champion's medals. I have an equipment bag. I was bascially their water boy. Kirk won the 10k, Nathan won his age-group in the 5k, and got beat by an Olympian. Me? I got to hold their Gatorade.

One of the highlights was doing our lone 20 mile run with Minnesota's most famous blogging marathoner.

Throughout the week, all four of us (myself, Fancy Kirk, Nasty Nate, and Chad the Blogger) will likely be updating our week of anticipation. Obviously, I'll stop after Thursday since I'll be in Boston and not blogging. Check in afterwards for full reports.

Click here for Fancy Kirk's blog. He already got up at 4 a.m. yesterday because of his marathon fever.

Click here for Chad the Blogger's updates. I see Chad once a month now, but thanks to his blog, it's like I see him every day.

Click here for Nasty Nate. If the shape of the Minnesota gets him fired up, imagine how hard he'll be typing on the keyboard, USING ALL CAPS, and lots of exclamation points as we get closer and closer to next Moday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111

The Zen of Regression

Like oops. The Frozen Half Marathon didn't go nearly as well I had hoped. Last year I ran a 1:20:30 good for 10th place.

This year I came in 20th place and according to what source you use, I ran anywhere between a 1:22:00 and and a 1:23:45. No matter what, much slower than a year ago.

The way I can't figure out my time makes me feel like one of those people born in more agrarian times, who isn't exactly sure what year he was born.

So why the discrepancy? Well,that's all that interesting. But I will say this: I have to rely on three differing sources for my time because I never actually used a watch to time myself. I don't normally wear watches when I run, even when I race. In fact, the only races I do wear watches for are the half-marathon and the full marathon. It is probably no coincidence these are by far my two weakest distances as a runner. Maybe I need the watch as a security blanket in these distances where I'm less confident.

So to break the habit of using a watch, I never used mine for yesterday's half marathon. To borrow a quote from The Spirit of the Marathon movie, I am trying to be a "zen runner," which is a runner who doesn't get caught up in numbers like pace, time, or distance.

Am I a zen runner? I don't know. I do know it doesn't really bother me that I don't know my time. Well, I do know it was slower than last year's. I also know I placed twice as low. It would be very disingenuous of me to suggest that I'm not bothered by either one of these tidbits.

But overall, I feel okay about the race. I could tell by mile five it wasn't going to be my day. And I have a good idea of where I'm at fitness-wise. I don't have any goals for the Boston Marathon other than to have fun. When the summer racing season heats up, then my zen running will fade away and be replaced by a desire for fast times.



And in the meantime, look how cool this year's mug is. It features a ceramic spoon that fits into the handle. This is my third Frozen Half Marathon, and I like the collection of mugs I'm getting from it. I'm sure someone out there has the full collection from every year. But I'm too zen-like to get hung up on material posessions or collections like that. I'm joking of course.

Busman's Holiday

Holy crap. Kirk already posted how we have less than three months before the Boston Marathon.

I have two days until the Frozen Half Marathon, which for me, is the opener to my racing season.

I am not exactly overly-prepared for both. In my defense, it's been absurdly cold. Like many Minnesotans I have been relegated to the treadmill during this cold snap. Emily joined Lifetime Fitness a few weeks ago, and last I joined her. So I haven't been running outside in over a week.

But tonight I am going to see this movie. So if I can't train for the marathon properly, maybe I can just perfect the art of watching a movie about a marathon.