the local 3

I've been to a lot of fund raising events this season, but the biggest so far was Shifter's road race: The Local 3, to benefit Dana Farber.

Katie, Aimee, Fred, and I gathered a bit before the race to do 9 miles (our long run for the week was meant to be 12). The first 4 miles over the Newton Hills were hot and sunny, but as soon as we turned into Brighton it got windy and rainy! Luckily Aimee had the strength and fresh legs to drag me along the last 5 miles back to The Local.

Fred, me, Katie, and Aimee before our 9 mile warm up

Ten minutes, a quick change of clothes, and a lot of hellos later, we lined up at the starting line for The Local 3. A lot of Dana Farber teammates were there, along with family members and friends, and some other charity runners.


"quick chicks" (thanks jack): Laurie, Aimee, me, and Katie

Running a hard-ish 9 miles and then trying to run an even harder 3 miles was quite challenging...Katie and I joked afterward that we felt like we were moving backwards when the starting gun went off! But all in all, the race was a good little push at the end of a long run. Now that track is over and that race is complete, the tapering can REALLY begin!

Photos from the after party at The Local......

22 days to go, 22 miles this morning: a coincidence?

At the Hopkinton starting line, ready to run the 22 miles back to Boston!

Today's epic charity run by the numbers:

6am - wakeup
7am - bus to Hopkinton
1 - group picture with friends from DFMC, Joints in Motion, and the Liver Foundation
2 - running buddies for the first 12 miles (Aimee and Katie)
12 - peanut m+ms
5 - water stations
2 - bathroom stops
11 - shot blocks
3 - running buddies for the last 10 miles (Aimee, Katie, and Sarah)
6 - towns (Hopkinton-Ashland-Framingham-Natick-Wellesley and Newton)
4 - pictures taken of us during the run
3 - big hills
1 - trip up Heartbreak Hill
8:15 - pace per mile
tons of red DFMC training shirts
handfuls - volunteers on the course
hundreds - other charity runners
and
21.5 - miles run!

And now, let the tapering begin...

in jack we trust

"In Jack we trust" is a phrase spoken often on the DFMC team: in response to hard workouts, injury advice, long runs that end up being longer than they should, race strategies, etc.

And I can't remember where I saw it, but I once read a quote by our coach, Jack: "To get something you've never had, you have to do something you've never done."

True. And sometimes the truth hurts. Case in point: last night's track workout. Legs feeling a little heavy after the weekend's 20 miler, and a little tight after two days off, I wasn't really looking forward to track. (Does anyone ever really look forward to running in circles? Not likely.) But, if I really want to run a strong marathon on April 20, track is the name of the game.

Jack's workout was a version of the Yasso 800s -- the idea that if you do a lot of repeats of 800 meters, the pace should be a good predictor of your marathon potential. For example, if I run my 800s at 3:20, my marathon time could potentially be 3 hours and 20 minutes.

Jack's workout was 12 x 800 with only a minute recovery in between. YIKES. Definitely hard. Definitely a step up from the three or four 800s that we used to do in high school track. hah! I knew I was in trouble when the fifth one started to hurt...it would still be a long way to 12.

"Just make it to 6" I told myself. "Then at least you did half of them."

Okay, 6 repeats done.

"Just make it to 8" I told myself, "then you can stop. Your legs are tired from the 20 miles anyway."

Okay, 8 repeats done. And everybody else out here tonight has tired 20 mile legs too.

"Just make it to 10" I told myself, "then you can feel good about doing most of the workout."

Most??? Since when am I happy with doing mostly a good job?

So, legs burning and mind virtually a swimming pool, Aimee and I took turns pushing each other and leading the pace. It was definitely a struggle to maintain the 3:22 pace we started at...but as I was pushing through # 10, 11, and 12, all I could think was "to get something you've never had, you have to do something you've never done." To get a qualifying time for next year's Boston Marathon (under 3 hours, 40 minutes), I have to push my body to it's limit now, and put all these good workouts in the bank. Come Marathon Monday, I want to line up in Hopkinton feeling like I did everything I could--and that hopefully the training will speak for itself. In Jack, I trust.

a huge 'yay moment'

This weekend's long run was a HUGE yay moment...we did a 20 mile run on the marathon course, and I felt fantastic!!!

This was the first 18-20 mile run in which I did not feel like I was going to die, like my legs were going to fall off, or like I would never be able to walk again. Instead, although I was a little stiff and tired for the first 8-9 miles, I finally eased into the pace around mile 9. I never thought it could take my legs 8 miles to warm up...but maybe they are adapting to this endurance training?

The goal for the day was to run negative splits (for you non-runners, that means running the second half faster than the first). This is something I need a lot of work on. Running with Aimee and Katie, we eased through the first 10 miles and shed plenty of clothing along the the way. When we started pushing the pace on the way back, I couldn't believe how great I felt--less than a week after a hard half-marathon, and my legs felt like they actually had something in them! In fact, our last few miles were run at a sub 8:00 pace. We finished the second ten miles a full 2:30 faster than our first ten...mission accomplished!

This was a huge yay moment for a few different reasons:
1. I have never before felt good on a 17+ mile run. I nearly always want to cut my legs off at the hip somewhere around mile 16. So this was a welcome change. yay!

2. I finally ran a long run with negative splits. I am far from an experienced runner, and I tend to make the beginner's mistake of going out way too fast, then slowly losing steam. yay!

3. Katie, Aimee, and I make a good running trio. We take turns leading the pack, pushing the pace, and keeping each other entertained and motivated...especially up the Newton Hills. yay!

4. This gives me a lot of confidence for the marathon. We held a pace of about 8:18/mile, which is close to my goal pace for the marathon. yay!

5. This was the first good run I've had in over a week. YAY!

Here are some pictures from after the run, during our DFMC team breakfast in Watertown.

Katie and Aimee, and Aimee and me

bare legs and bloody marys

No, this post isn't about my wild spring break adventures. Rather, it's about a pretty nasty run and some pretty sweet post-run activities!

Today was our long run day with DFMC, and I tackled 18 miles with Katie and Aimee. We ran from Wellesley towards Boston to the top of Heartbreak Hill, then turned around and did it in reverse. After starting the run with Ben, Gordon, and Laurie, we continued on to the 6 mile waterstop as a pack of six. That's when the speed demons took off, and Aimee, Katie and I stuck to our own 8:05-ish pace. The three of us finished the back nine miles together, though I had a rough last three miles and pretty much wanted to die.

BUT, it was a PERFECT day for a long run: 40-something degrees in Boston and a little bit sunny. It was the first time I've worn shorts on a run since the Chicago Marathon (!!!), and the melting snow and puddles meant that I had a hard time getting the mud and salt off my calves in the shower afterwards! And speaking of showers...

BEFORE...

me, Aimee, Laurie, Katie, and Kristan
(i promised them the "before" shot
would be small, so you all couldn't

fully see the grossness! read on...)

After showering and not washing our hair, Katie and I headed down to Newbury Street with Laurie, Kristan, and Aimee for some bloody marys, appetizers, and hair appointments. This was probably the coolest DFMC fund raiser I've heard of: two girls organized a salon on Newbury Street to give $30 haircuts, with all of the money going to DFMC! And we obviously needed to be fixed up from our post-18-mile-grossness. Here is the photographic evidence :)

...AFTER

Much better!
me, Aimee, Laurie, Katie, and Kristan

And who else was there getting his hair cut? (He graciously informed me that men don't get their hair "done", they simply get it "cut"). None other than Jack, our fearless DFMC leader (and winner of the '76 Boston Marathon). I promised him that I wouldn't put the pictures on Facebook...but he didn't say anything about my blog!

This was the perfect end to a very busy week with a lot of miles...notably, the most miles I've ever run in a week (45)!