Have a great trail race.

im waking up to light snow, so I'm going to run easy down to the gym and run 5 at race pace on my friend the treadmill.

happy Sunday, A

We are rooting for you guys! i'll have to sneak peak online at the office tomorrow. Good luck!

 

Sounds like fun. Well done

Oh then perhaps I misrepresented it...Here's the long version:

It was really HARD and my legs are very sore today. By my Garmin, I achieved my goal of 2:20; but it was hard won. The beginning was quite unusual because as we waited, the wind gusted and it began snowing!!  They had bussed us to the start which  was at 1600 ft elevation. Everyone was FREEZING! After much mental debate over what to wear, I had chosen shorts - eek!! and here it was 30F and snowing for the first mile and a half! As we came down in elevation, the snow turned to rain that lasted for the whole race.  I started out trying to keep up with the "fast girls."  I tailed them for about 4 miles and that just wore me out. I couldn't keep up and struggled to keep my breathing under control and not get a sideache. Long before the halfway mark, they'd left me in the dust. I had a mini meltdown of discouragement - my legs have been tired all week and had absolutely no spring in them; my left hamstring has been problematic lately and was really painful at that point along with a myriad of other leg pains. I was a mess! I regrouped and decided I would just try to "jog it in." Well once I relaxed and quit straining, it seemed things got easier.  The trail was flooded in many areas (mud-puddle lakes) which meant a lot of leaping across, leaping sideways, high-stepping through, jumping up on the banks to skirt around, that sort of thing. I think  that recruiting all the extra muscles and tendons took some of the workload off the "straight ahead running" muscles and most of my pains subsided. Plus I confess to walking around some of them because I didn't have the energy to jump. My very fatigued legs were working as hard as they could go. I ate a couple caffeinated Shot Bloks which gave me a boost. There was a surprise hill - short but very very steep about 1/4 mile before the end - at which point I let go of my time goal. Three guys with drums were there to provide music with a marching beat which helped tremendously!  Then it was about an eighth of a mile flat stretch to the finish line. I actually felt strong as I cruised in and was happy to stop my watch on 2:20 - yippee! Honestly though, I was so happy just to STOP.

Even though I've run this trail many times before, with all the water on the trail and the rain and the stress of trying to run it fast, some of it it felt a "new" trail to me.

There was a fun outdoor after-race party complete with hot food, beer (wine for me), and a couple of fire pits. Everyone was very social and I had a good time talking to people I had never met before. It was quite nice. So it ended on a good note, but still...it was flat out hard!

Happy, my number is 12799, with a 10:20 start. The weather should be pretty ideal, 40-55. I've already BQ'ed for 2014 so I don't have any pressure but I'd like to turn in a 3:40-3:50, a hard effort to give the race the respect it deserves but should still be able to enjoy the ride.

This really is the Super Bowl of marathons, even compared to NYC. It takes over the town, and every other person walking down the street is wearing a Boston Marathon Jacket (including my wife). The expo was crazy.

As far back as college I dreamt about running this race and tried for 6 years to qualify, even gave up a couple of times, so this one is really special, I might need sunglasses when I turn onto Boylston Street and spot the finish line.

If you're not familiar, the Citgo sign in my avatar is at mile 25, near Fenway Park.

Those half splits look great! Keep on trucking!

A

Good to hear you are ok Russ.  We are fine too.

That is great to hear, I was worried for you both.

Thanks for checking in!!  My coworker just came back from lunch and told me the news. What a relief to hear you are both okay.