I am in Boston!!!!!

I ran 3:15:13 in Traverse City and qualified for Boston. I will give the full details of the race very soon. Aaaah, I did it!

Update

I am feeling good. My legs feel great and am already drinking a lot of fluids. The weather forecast is not very good, it looks like its going to be warmer than I expected so I need to make sure that my body has the necessary fluids coming race day.

I have never been this relaxed before running a marathon. I am not sure if that's good or bad. I just know that I trained very well and that am ready to race in less than two days.

I will be on the road for the next day or so (first to Kalamazoo and tomorrow to Traverse City) but will try to update the blog.

Race week!

It’s race week! After enduring a very cold winter and some very hot and humid days, I am ready to run in Traverse City this Saturday. I really can’t believe that the marathon in is in 4 more days! I have reduced my weekly mileage and my body and mind are feeling it. My body is in better shape, well rested and recovering from the most difficult training regime that I have ever done. My mind is ready to race, knowing that I have done everything I could to endure the 26.2 miles and finish in style. Last week was not easy at all, my legs were very tired and still adapting to the lower miles. I had a couple of short marathon pace runs and it was very difficult to get into my ideal pace. My muscles were very tight and achy. So I decided to get a massage on Friday. The massage really released the tension from my muscles and they are feeling very relaxed. I am feeling much better. I did a short marathon pace run yesterday and I felt great, despite the hot and humid weather.

Last week I only ran 41 miles, the shortest in a long, long time. The week ended with a 5.5 mile run on Thursday, a 3 mile easy run on Friday and a 10 mile run on Saturday (3 miles easy, 5 miles @ marathon pace, 2 miles very easy). I didn’t feel very good on Saturday. The weather was hot and humid and the massage got my muscles tired. Running those 5 miles at marathon pace was difficult. After that, I decided to do 2 very easy miles ( well into the 10’s). I wanted to enjoy the last miles as much as possible. I don’t know how I will run this Saturday, but I am very happy with my effort in the last 4 months. I notice the difference. I have never felt this great before a marathon and I hope to have a good day in Traverse City. The wait is not easy, it’s killing me!

Yesterday (Monday 24th), I ran 7 miles (2 easy, 3 @ marathon pace, 2 easy). It also was hot and humid. I am not a fast runner in humid weather. But this time my legs felt great. I am going to do a very easy run today. Then 4x600 tomorrow, off Thursday and 2 very easy miles in TC on Friday.

May 19

I have recently read that several friends have posted a message against domestic violence in their facebook profiles. Running gives me the opportunity to think about many issues and I have thought about this message several times. My conclusion is that I could only applaud all of those who stand against this despicable act and support them. The message couldn't be more accurate so I would like to share it with you:

"While you SCREAM at your woman, there's a man wishing he could whisper softly in her ear... While you HUMILIATE, OFFEND and INSULT her, there's a man flirting with her and reminding her how wonderful she is. While you HURT your woman, there's a man wishing he could make love to her. While you make your women CRY there's a man stealing smiles from her..."

Isn't this true? I have always thought that REAL MEN always treat women with respect and honesty, not with insults and punches. REAL MEN do not lack self confidence, so they do not need to control or abuse their significant others to retain them. Perhaps, abusers should be aware of this message and read it every time they want to hurt their women... If you agree with me, spread the word and stand against domestic violence.

Now to my running... mmmmmm, I didn't have a very good run today. 12 miles total: 7 easy miles+4 @ marathon pace+ 1 easy mile cool down. I was sluggish in the marathon pace miles, the easy miles were fine. My legs are pretty tired, they need more time to recover. Tomorrow, the workout will be easy. 5 miles, recovery+core.

I decided to get a deep tissue massage. Scott recommended me a good massage therapist and am going to call her tomorrow to make the appointment. Hopefully, it will help and I will feel like a million dollars next weekend!

May 18

Two easy days to give my right ankle some rest. It's not feeling very good and am not sure what is wrong with it. I can run without problems but I don't want to risk anything. This week is an easy one (compared to the previous 10 or 11) and the next one is going to be easier. I am thinking about getting a deep tissue massage tomorrow or Thursday. I have read that it helps a lot before important races but am not sure f it's a good idea. An important rule before any marathon is not to try anything new as the race approaches, so am not convinced that the massage is a good idea. I will decide tomorrow after my marathon pace workout.

Monday: 50 minutes spinning+3 miles easy running (treadmill)+easy core.
Tuesday: 7 miles, easy pace. The ankle bothered me a little bit, but is feeling ok now.

I have another marathon pace workout tomorrow... Hopefully, my ankle is going to be ok!

Taper time!

12 days and counting… May 29th is almost here and I’m almost ready for the Traverse City Marathon. It’s been a great training period with several quality workouts, many miles and, most importantly, very few injuries. Marathon runners usually question their training in the last weeks of training. I can’t do that! I have been disciplined and driven in the past 4 months. One could always do more, but am not sure if doing more would dramatically affect my chances to run a PR. I am going to Traverse City with two objectives. First, I would like to run under 3:20:00. The icing on the cake would be running a Boston qualifying time (3:15:59). The big objective of this season has always been the Chicago Marathon (October 10th). I began the training for Traverse City thinking about building a solid base for Chicago. But as the weeks progressed, I kept feeling better and better and began to think that I had a decent chance at qualifying for Boston, for the first time in my running life. So the focus and dynamics of my sessions changed. I concentrated on using the quality workouts to the best of my ability. Qualifying for Boston is not going to be easy but am going to try!

I didn’t do a lot of miles last week (in the mid 40’s). However, I had two very good quality workouts with marathon pace miles in the middle of each run. The rest of the week was:

Wed: 5 miles easy, 5 miles @ marathon pace (7: 43, 37, 23, 20, 27), 2 miles easy. Total 12 miles. Difficult run, the weather was not good (very windy, cool). Finding the marathon pace was not easy but I eventually did it. I finished very strong.

Thu: 6.12 miles, very easy, recovery run.

Fri: 45 minutes, bike.

Sat: 4 miles easy (8:07, 12, 10, 04), 9 miles marathon pace (7:38, 32, 39, 20, 20, 20, 27, 18, 05), 1 mile cool down. This workout is very encouraging. It was a very solid run and the finish was excellent. I like that I can finish very strong with no major problems. My right ankle s bothering me a bit and I hope it heals completely before TC.

Sun: 45 minutes, bike.

Mon: The taper begins

Mon/Tue

Two easy runs on Monday and Tuesday. I will do a difficult workout tomorrow (Wednesday): 5 miles easy, 5 miles @ marathon pace and 2 miles easy for a total of 12 miles...

Monday: 5.5 miles, very easy
Tuesday: 65 minutes, easy run. 10x60 mts. strides.

2 weeks in one post

The blog needs an update! The week after the kzoo half-marathon was not easy. My legs were tired and the recovery took some time. I introduced two changes into my training schedule: my tempo run was shorter and I took a day off in the middle of the week. That week looked like this:

Wed- Tempo run. 3x10 mins (2 mins recovery). Total 7 miles.
Th- Off
Fri- 6 miles, easy
Sat- 19.25 miles, easy
Sun- 5 miles, easy

Total: 54.75 miles (88 kms.)

Last week was better as am recovering my legs. I wanted to run a 25 k. race in Grand Rapids but decided against it because the weather was not good on Saturday. Here is a look at my training:

Mo- 8 miles, under 8 mins./mile
Tu- 7.25 miles, easy
We- 1 hr easy+ 6x1200 mts (1 min recovery). Total 12 miles. It was a difficult workout but I liked it. My endurance is good.
Th- 6.12 miles, recovery run
Fr- off
Sat- 6.12 miles, easy+strides
Sun- 18 miles. Easy long run in a decent weather. I liked my pace and felt very strong throughout the run. This is the last long run before the marathon. It is all downhill from now!

Total: 57.5 miles (92 kms.)

The hard work is done… I need to recover and get ready for Traverse City!