New purchase...

18 days and counting.  That's all, only 18 more days.  Well, my longest pre-marathon run is complete, and this weekend, I have a "tune-up" race.  The Oleksak Half Marathon in Westfield, then it's all 3-6 mile runs until race day.

Saturday during my 20 miler, I had a problem with my Garmin GPS.  The battery had almost run out.  Now it's supposed to have a 6 hour battery life, but it was dying after a 3 1/2 hour run.  "Great", I thought, "How the heck is this thing going to last 4 1/2 to 5 hrs in Boston?"  Well, I talked it over with Brenda & we decided it's time for me to get a new one (just to be safe).  After a little bit of research, I decided on the Garmin 310.  This is basically what I already had, but with a heavy duty battery.  Expected battery life is 20 hours.  It's actually designed for Ironman training.  A little more than what I need, but as Tim Allen always said... "More Power!!"

I'll try it out tomorrow on a 3-5 mile run, and I don't think there'll be a problem.

The Longest Run...

To quote the Eagles "You can go the distance, We'll find out in the long run".  Today was the day.  The LONG run.  This was the final test before Boston.  A 20 mile run along the Norwottuk Rail Trail.  This would be a bigger challenge due to my PT test yesterday.  Sore abs from the sit-ups, and how would my legs respond after the 11:06 mile and a half.

I met my friends Rob & Chris at the Northampton end of the trail, and proceeded to run the distance to the Belchertown end (10 miles) and back.  Taking a couple of walking breaks (one at an hour, and one at two) I made it through the first 15-16 miles with no problems.  The last 4-5 were a bit tougher.  3:26:45 later, and I was done.  Both literally and figuratively.  Once I got back home, I spent an equal amount of time on the couch before I could muster any energy to move around the house.

After taking a shower, and waking myself back up, Bren & I watched the ESPN 30 for 30 special "Into the Wind: The Terry Fox Story".  If you ever get the chance to see this, it is one of the most inspirational stories that I have ever seen.  My 20 miles seem like a drop in the bucket compared to Terry's run.

R.I.P. Little Piggy

With the St. Patrick's Road Race in the rear view mirror, it's time to continue on the road to Boston.  Two easy runs this week (5.1 & 3.0), followed by my P.T. test on Friday, and on the weekend will be the "big one".

It's with a heavy heart that I mention the loss of this past week, Little Piggy #2.  Unfortunately this little piggy couldn't stand the pounding of the long downhill in Holyoke, and the nail decided that it was time to go wee, wee, wee all the way home.  I'll miss you my friend.

Out of respect for anyone reading this, I chose not to include a picture.

Holyoke St. Patrick's Road Race

This weekend started the spring race schedule for Western Massachusetts with the Holyoke St. Patrick’s Road Race.  An icon in the area for running, it’s one of the two “must run” races every year.  Now in its 37^th year, and bigger than ever.  Saturday afternoon, the race had a record breaking 6005 finishers for the 6.2 mile course, and the weather was nearly perfect… Overcast and about 50 degrees (the sun came out to play after the running was complete, and the festivities began.)

Now this year, I had conflicting thoughts on what I should set for a goal.  Should I try to beat my time from two years ago (was I ready for this), or should I pace myself for about a 9 minute mile?  As the start was approaching, I made the decision to just go with what feels good.

Many of my friends/co-workers were also running the race, so I started with a group of about 6, and with the crowds, that quickly faded to two of us.  By mile marker one, I was by myself (as far as knowing anyone around me).  My time was 8:36.  This is where the 2.5 mile uphill began, at mile two, I was still at a 8:39 pace, so I thought “let’s see if I can hold this until the top of the hill, and try for an 8:30 pace overall.

I actually picked-up the pace for mile 3 and 4, and now came the downhill.  I relaxed and let gravity help me (later to find that I ran mile 5 in a 7:22).  One more small uphill, and then it’s down until the finish.  I pushed the hill, and relaxed again.  Turning the corner to see the finish line with one more push into the finish.  As I neared the finish, I could hear names being called out over the PA system, and I heard my name.  The feeling was incredible.

My official finish time was 51:19.1 (8:16 / mile) – 4:15 better than 2010, and I finished 1429 out of 6005.

With another St. Pat’s Race under my belt, it was time for the post race festivities.  Erin go bragh.

St. Patrick's Eve...

I'm sitting here tonight contemplating the week that just passed.  Talk about highs and lows.  Monday, I ran a personal best distance of 17 miles (well at least since my return to running).  As a reward, Bren & I went to Hooters for dinner.  My stomach was a little upset, and I was barely able to eat four wings.  Then that night, I was hit with the stomach bug that's going around.   Boy did that suck! 

I spent literally half of the day on Tuesday sleeping it off, and by about 6:00 at night, I was feeling better.  I guess it truely was a 24-hour bug.  With "respect" to the bug, I didn't run on Wednesday as I had originally planned.

There was no was that I couldn't run until Saturday's race, so Thursday it was an easy 3-mile run just to stretch the legs.

That brings us to tonight, the Eve of the Holyoke St. Patrick's Day Road Race.  This is a MAJOR event in western Massachusetts, and now in it's 37th year averages about 5000-5500 runners a year.  Tonight was the race bib & t-shirt pick-up.  The organizing committee was trying something new this year, and creating a more party like atmosphere.  Live bands for free, and beer for a fee!  Joining in with five others from work, we all had a wee pint or two...

Here's to a great race tommorrow.  And as the blessing goes... "May the road rise up to meet you, May the wind always be at your back..."

Norwottuck Rail Trail

Big run today.  After a weekend of “trying” to rest, I had a long run planned for today, 16-17 miles.  Got in touch with my running buddies last night to see who was in.  Only Kyle was going to join me. 

The plan was to run the Norwottuck Rail Trail (Northampton, MA to South Amherst, MA) about 8-8.5 each way.  Kyle would park his truck at one end, ride to the other end with me, and we would run back to his truck.

The weather was cooperating, as well as New England weather does on a March morning.  35 degrees to start, and clear skies (of course it was 65 when I finished about 3 hours later.)

This was the first time either of us had run the trail, so we had only a small idea of what to expect.  The trail didn’t let us down.  Passing through farm land, and the edge of the University of Amherst, the run was very scenic.  Most impressive were the views of the Mount Holyoke Range (aka the Seven Sisters).  The trail was rather busy for a Monday, as we passed walkers, runners, bikers, dog walkers, and even a group of bird watchers (I also got to see two hawks along the run).

As we made it to the parking lot at the far end of the run, I left Kyle for my return leg.  Now came the challenge.  The longest run that I’ve done so far was 14 miles.  This was one would total 17, and the last 8.5 was solo.

The nice thing about this trail is there are no major hills, but it seemed like the whole trail was uphill (both ways).  At about 15 miles, I began to get real tired (not sure if it was more physical, or mental), but kept pushing on.  Then, the railroad bridge came into sight, and I knew I was almost done…  Only another half mile.  Finally I was done!  For about 10 minutes, I just sat in the back of my SUV, and took it all in.  Another personal milestone.

Easy does it...

Today I had another "easy" day of running.  3 miles in the wind, with tired legs.  I have the next two days to rest the legs, then I've got another LONG run on Monday.  This one should be 16-17 miles, but it'll be on a pretty flat course.  More on that in Monday's blog.

Tomorrow, I'm heading over to Fast Feet to hopefully secure my transportation for Boston.  The bus still has a couple of seats available, and it looks like I'll be all set.  I always worry about these thing, until I'm actually paid, and on the list.

With a little more than a month left, I'm starting to feel a little more confident with each run.  Of course my calendar is getting filled as it always does this time of year.  Next wekend is the Holyoke St. Patrick's Road Race, two weeks after that is the Oleksak Half Marathon, and two weeks after that is Boston.  Time to get down & dirty, time to Duck & Run. 

You've got to be kidding...

Getting ready for my run today, I grabbed my Garmin & headed out the door.  The plan was to run an easy three with three of my co-workers.  We started down the road, and I noticed that my Garmin wasn't working right.  There was this message on the screen.  Of course, I had no clue, because I can't read crap without my glasses (Yes, it sucks to get older).  Taking off the watch and handing it to Chris, I found out that the memory in my watch was full.  Really... You've got to be kidding me.

So I ran the half mile back to my office, put on my glasses, and quickly figured out how to clear the memory while keeping the last 3 months of data.  This would've really sucked if I didn't upload the info on a regular basis.  Luckily today, we were just doing one mile loops, so back out the door I went, and caught the group as they finished the first one.

Three laps down, with tired legs from Monday, and I'm done! (3.29 miles, even though I probrably did closer to 4.)  Now... How can I find out how to check the Garmin before I have this happen again.

The Best Laid Plans...

Friday’s run was a nice easy 3-miler, just something to shake off the stress from another long day at work.  Then came the weekend…  another Air Guard weekend.

This weekend’s long run was supposed to be a 16 miler, but there was no way that I could get that in while working.  Luckily, I had Monday off, so I adjusted my schedule a little, and on Sunday morning, I ran 1.5 miles with some of my co-workers that needed help with their fitness test.

So, this morning, I went to Southampton to meet up with Chris & Kyle.  The two of them are newer runners, but they have been right there helping me with all my training since the summer.  Our plan was to run the Manhan Rail Trail from Southampton to The Oxbow in Northampton & back for about 10 miles, and then I’d run the first 3 out and back, solo, for a total of 16 miles.  When I arrived, both of them were looking and shaking their heads.  The trail was still covered with snow from last week’s storms.  Crap!  Time to do some quick thinking.

Thanks to whoever developed the “maps” app on cel phones.  We quickly picked out a route that we could “start” with.

The first part of the run was about 6.5 miles, and then we were nearly back to the cars.  At this point, we parted ways, and I was venturing out on my own, on roads that I haven’t been on in years.  This was nice, aside from the weather (29 degrees w/10-15 MPH wind).  I had some time to be alone with my thoughts on the “rolling” hill roads of Southampton & Easthampton.  When I got back to the car after this second loop, I was only at 14 miles.  Good enough.  I say only, because I had planned on 16.

Once I got home, and uploaded my Garmin, I looked over my activities and to my surprise, this IS my longest run since I started back running three years ago!  Maybe I just wasn’t meant for 16 today.