And the racing season begins.. (Read 828 times)

Good luck with your first marathon! You've got your long runs in, you've been training hard, you're all set. One thing to get used to is the taper--the last week, especially, will generate "taper madness". If you get it, just know that it is normal. You may question your preparedness, your health, whatever. I average three marathons a year, and get it every time. With me, it's always "What's that twinge I feel?" "What's that new ache?", etc. Generally, it's nothing, but your head can play games with you the week before a marathon. BTW--do you have a projected finish time?

Gooooooo George! We are anxious to hear about your races. I agree with Pron8r's comments on taper madness...it gives you lots of time to GO NUTS! Good luck, Lynn B

Colonial Half Marathon: Huge Success. I ended up getting 9th place in 1:13:53. The day began cold and windy... temperature during the race rose up to about 40-43 degrees, but coupled with 15/20mph winds, it was pretty rough out there. The leaders took off way faster than me and I started the race in about 20th place. I eventually worked my way up to a pack and a lot of guys fell apart early. After about mile 4 I had dropped everyone I was running with and was stuck alone, but I was able to reel in a really hurting kenyan dude which was pretty cool. But that was at mile six, so after that it was solo time the rest of the race. I ran pretty much even splits the whole way too... you guys can check out my running log if you'd like and see the entry. I also took GU at mile 10... it felt pretty good although I couldn't get it open cause my hands were so cold so I had to use my teeth. But I didn't litter, I handed it to someone who was giving out water and asked them to throw it away so that was cool. Anyways, I'm on an endorphin high right now so I'm going to take a shower, otherwise I'll write a novel on here. Thanks so much eric for making such a great log and thanks everyone else for the advice and support. Keep it real everybody!

Hey George, That's a fierce PR for the Half, Congrats!!!! I just ran my first race of the year and first Half on Sunday at the Hyannis Half Marathon with a time of 1:20:27. I was really shooting for around 1:18ish but the bitter cold and huge gusts of wind really put a damper on that plan. Despite the weather I felt strong the whole way, went out a bit conservative and picked up the last half of the race. I felt like I could've kept going at 6min. pace for another 5miles at least, so that is definitely a promising sign for my next half and then Boston. George, I noticed in your race entry you list your shoe as the Asics 2100! Did you really race a 1:13 in trainers!?! Also, what is the difference between a maintenance run and an easy run? I don't mean to pry but I think this sharing running log feature is a great way to learn from others' training. With your fierce PR, I was definitely interested in viewing your training Rock On, Matt

Hey, thanks a bunch guys, I really appreciate it! I accidentally listed asics 2100s... I actually wore the asics gel tiger paws which I just changed on my log. That would be pretty crazy to run that fast in trainers . In terms of Maintenance runs and easy runs, sometimes I forget to change it over, but the intention is that on days where I'm really only looking for recovery (today) and not pushing at all, I call it an easy run. Sometimes I run with my girlfriend too, so we usually take it easy together (she's incredibly fast though) so I call those days easy days usually. Most of the time if I feel like I'm sufficiently recovered beforehand I'll just call it a MR. Since I'm running 70 miles per week for the first time in my life these past few weeks, and I used to take one day a week off, I don't quite have the time anymore, so I try to fit in an easy run instead of a day off to get the mileage done with for the week sometimes. As for number of people... I'm not quite sure. I think there were around 1000 to 1500, not sure though. Part of the course you run back and there are tons of people that are still coming the other direction and it's really a crazy feeling seeing so many people telling you good job. It's really intense stuff. Congrats on your half marathon, Matt, that's great! Definitely great luck to all those who are running boston and other races this spring. Let's definitely keep each other posted on the details. Pax, George