Last (Only?) Long Run Before Boston

Today was pretty much my last opportunity to do a long run before the Boston Marathon.  Last night, I was actually looking forward to the run for a couple of reasons.  Reason #1: I was going to be running farther than any training run I've done this year.  (Kind of sad actually.)  Reason #2: I was going to be doing the entire run by myself, which I rarely do these days.  

The run went rather well, except for the pit stop I had to make after 4 miles.  Last night's sushi wasn't sitting well in my stomach.  I basically did about 6 miles in the the Washington Heights/Inwood Hill Park area.  Then I went from the Hudson River bike path down to 59th Street.  From there, I went into Central Park and did the 5-mile loop.  

I had originally planned on running all the way to Battery Park and up the east side of Manhattan if I felt good.  But have I mentioned that I hate running in straight lines?  It always makes the run seem longer than it really is.  

I'm still not dead set on a goal for Boston.  When I first knew I was going to run Boston, I had planned on trying to run a 3:05.  But then I got injured and wasn't able to train properly.  As of today, I would say my goals look something like this:

Safe goal:  3:30

Modest goal: 3:25 (would qualify me for next year's Boston, not that I want to run another marathon.)

Reach goal: 3:15.  (Weather would have to be perfect.  I would have to feel great.)

I'm going to save my PR attempt for Chicago in October.  Hopefully, I'll be done with "racing" marathons after Chicago.  

Boston Panic???

I've never been one to panic, but maybe now is the time to start.  Let's recap the last 5 months.  In November I decided to run the Knickerbocker 60K.  I finished but proceeded to injure my knee.  I spent 2 weeks trying to run on it, 4 weeks staying of it, and another 2 weeks gingerly getting back into running.  By mid-January, I thought I had gotten past the injury.  It never felt 100%, but I was able to increase my mileage through February and March.

Team RunNYC fluid station.  Pic by Teresa DeVera

I ran the NYC Half Marathon a couple of weekends ago.  The race went surprisingly well.  I was hoping for a sub-1:28 and ended up running 1:25:08.  The problem was that I seemed to have aggravated my knee injury.  It was bothering me all last week.  That was frustrating because I was planning on doing one of my few long runs this past weekend.  (The longest runs I've done since that 60K were a couple of 15 milers a few weeks ago.)

So now I've come to a crossroads.  Should I still try to do a long (18 to 20 miles) run before Boston, which is only 3 weeks away?  I've already decided that there is no way I try to PR Boston.  Yet, I was still holding out hope that I could re-qualify for next year's Boston by running sub-3:15.  But, now, even that seems a bit optimistic.  

I've decided to try a little voo doo for my knee.  

Club Night

This past Thursday was the NYRR's Club Night.  I didn't attend, but Heidi, Alfonso, Benny, and Denie showed up to claim WSY men's 2nd place Open B team award.  It was our best place ever, so we're all very proud.  

I am now 5 weeks away from the Boston Marathon.  I've been having trouble fitting long runs into my schedule.  I ran 15 miles yesterday, and it was only the second time I've run that far in four months.  Needless to say, I'm a little worried about how Boston will go for me.  I'm resigned to the fact that I won't be running a PR there.  But that's OK.  

This Sunday is the NYC Half Marathon.  It will be a good indicator of what kind of shape I'm in.  Today, my brother emailed me and asked what my best half marathon was.  I realized that I knew my PR, but I couldn't remember too many of my half marathon races before 2008.  So I looked them up.  

1:21:09 (6:11/mile) 1997 Staten Island Half.
1:21:41 (6:14/mile) 1998 Staten Island Half
1:22:26 (6:17/mile) 1996 Brooklyn Half
1:22:32 (6:18/mile) 2012 Brooklyn half .
1:22:45 (6:19/mile) 1995 Brooklyn Half
1:22:58 (6:20/mile)  2002 Grete's Gallop
1:23:08 (6:20/mile) 2008 Grete's Gallop.
1:23:09 (6:20/mile) 1995 Queens Half marathon
1:23:33 (6:23/mile) 2012 NYC half.

It was interesting to note that it seems there was a gap from 1998 to 2008 where I didn't really run quality half marathons.  I should also say that I stopped running marathons between 2000 and 2008.  So maybe, that has something to do with it.  Anyway, it's nice to see that my times haven't dropped off too much.

Year of the Marathon

I signed up for the Chicago Marathon!  I somehow managed to do so rather painlessly.  Instead of waiting until 1:00 p.m. for registration to open last Tuesday afternoon, I went online 5 minutes early.  I was able to avoid the gridlock that seemed to affect everyone else who tried to register.

Only once in my running life have I ever run more than one marathon in a year, and that was the year I ran the Long Island Marathon and the NYC Marathon in the same year.  Waaaaaayyyyy back in 1995!  This year, I'm signed up for 3 marathons, Boston, Chicago, and NYC.  Why the sudden fondness for marathons?  Well, I've been signed up for Boston ever since I deferred running last year's Boston.  I signed up for NYC because last year's NYC was cancelled, and I figured I would run this year's for fun.  I signed up for Chicago because I will try to PR there.  I had planned on trying to PR at Boston, but I know I won't be in the best shape for that race.

I hope I won't regret running all these marathons.  My knee is still bothering me from the 60K back in November.  Some people tried to convince me to sign up for the Philly Marathon so that I would qualify to be a Marathon Maniac.  Three words for them.  Not gonna happen.

I had fun pacing Tiffany for the second half of her NYCRUNS Half Marathon.  I also ran about 5 miles with Rey who was running the marathon.  I did 15 miles total.  The soreness in my legs makes me more than a little concerned about my Boston training.  Fifteen miles is really not much, but it's the farthest I've run in 3 months.  I am NOT ready to do 26!

Pre-race fuel

A Setback

So, my knee had been about as good as it's been since I injured it in the NYRR 60K back in November.  Unfortunately, I made the mistake of running 11 miles last Saturday and immediately followed that up with the Manhattan Half Marathon on Sunday.  I woke up the following day with more soreness in my knee than I've felt in a long time.  I had visions of a cancelled Empire State Building Run-Up (ESBRU) and Boston Marathon.

My knee bothered me all week.  I took a day off yesterday, did a run/walk of only 3.5 miles this morning, and will take tomorrow off.  I'm hoping that will be enough rest so that I can participate in the ESBRU  and resume marathon training next week.

Slowly but Surely

I ran 11.5 miles on Saturday with Carol, Denie, and Benny.  It was my longest run since the 60K back in mid-November.  My knee held up, but the rest of my legs didn't fair so well.

Today, I did my favorite stairs 27 times.  The goal was to be able to walk up the stairs 20 times.  I actually walked up the stairs 19 times and ran up the last 8.  I think I will be ready for the Empire State Building Run-Up if I can do one or two of these stair workouts each week.

I must have watched about 9 hours of football this weekend.  I figure my 11.5 miles and my stair workout, combined with all the laying around on my sofa watching TV kind of balance each other out.

If I do well in the Empire State Building race, I will be grateful that I live near these stairs.