Easy Gait

111 miles last week. The legs and lungs are starting to return just in time for some serious marathon prep to begin. This is my first week of actual marathon specific training so I should have an early marker on my fitness.

Here is my build phase of the Boston Marathon Training.

Steady climb in the intensity and volume of the work-outs as well as a good steady climb in mileage with no crazy jumps my body could not handle. I think the key to getting a good build phase is to make sure your body can take the weekly jumps. Just because you can run 105 miles the first week doesn’t necessarily mean you should.

Saturday was a pretty busy running day. Fresh pond five with H, Mario, Brad, and Ian as well as many others but that was our group. There was a nice snow on the ground for effect. I have data written down on a scrap of paper but can’t find it at the moment. I will post numbers as soon as I locate the splits.

Found them

5.26
5.26 10.52
2.27 13.20
5.18 18.38
5.22 24.00
2.25 26.26

These splits don't mean much sense so it obviously is not true 5 miles. We should have been somewhere around 26:40 so it must be somewhere in that last half that is only .42 or something. I am going to take a wheel there one of these days and try to put down some artie marks.

Saturday evening, for those of you who missed it, was the best indoor track meet I have ever seen or heard about. The Boston Indoor games was a record smashing festival of fast people. The best race of the evening was the women’s 3k in which Shalane Flanagan of Marblehead, MA ran a smoking 8:33 taking a 6 second chunk out of the old steroid tainted record. Very exciting race.

Raytheon successfully defended the Sprint Medley Corporate Relay with a time of 3:50. I blew the chance to get the record by not running a very inspired 800. I have not gotten split yet but it felt like 2:06. There was no competition this year and the race was decided long before I got the baton. It was fun none the less and I enjoyed it. Probably my last relay effort for Raytheon because I am getting old and every year a new hire comes in with some serious speed. The corporate stuff is a lot of fun and I urge anyone who is reading this thing who works in a cubicle farm or any company and enjoys running to throw a team together and participate. However bad you think you are, it is not as bad as it seems. Fear of not doing well is no excuse.

Sunday was my longest run of the year with 19 miles in 2:07:56 throughout the trails and refuges around my house. I have given up trying to name long run routes because I modify them every week and take different twists and turns in the various trails. I don’t believe I have run one long run loop the same since I moved to Hudson.

If anyone is looking for some wacky fun on a Saturday night and does not care too much about how silly they look singing outdated synthesized music, allow me to recommend 80’s night at Game On. It is a good time.

That’s all I got.