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.