Race Day
Marathon recap: Back in the fall, I established 2:32 as a realistic goal at Boston this year. However, the week before the marathon, I decided to try to break 2:30 if conditions were favorable because my training went so well leading up to the race.
Conditions were great on marathon morning and I thought 2:30 was possible. I spent the first mile picking my way through the pack looking for some teammates so we could run as a group. I joined a nice pack between miles 1 and 2 and tried to settle into 2:30 pace, 5:43 per mile.
Around mile 3 another runner approached me and asked if I was Roger from the BAA website. I said yes, and he asked if he could run with our group. I had no problem with that so we talked for a bit. I became a little worried when he said he was hoping to break 2:40 and maybe run 2:30 because that's a large range for a course like Boston, where going out too fast can lead to a world of hurt. Anyway, I hope the Steve that introduced himself during the race is the one that ran 2:32 and if so, great job.
After that, the first half was uneventful and I breezed through the half in just under 1:15--right on schedule. I concentrated on keeping the same rhythm through Wellesley and into Newton. Once I hit the Newton hills, it became harder to judge pace because people who went out too fast started dropping back, so I tried to maintain the same effort level. My legs started feeling some unfamiliar aches and pains, which is typical for Boston. This is where training on the course became a huge advantage because I was used to the extra wear and tear caused by the course.
Things started getting a little hazy on Beacon St. I could feel my upper body tightening up in this stretch, yet every time I looked at my watch I was running under 5:40 pace. I was able to manage a slight kick down Boylston St. and finished in 2:28:56.
I was obviously extremely pumped up with my performance. It's extremely rare to have a great marathon buildup followed by perfect racing conditions, and I'm happy I was able to take advantage of those circumstances and run a huge race.
Race Week
Weekly Total: 44 miles.
Monday, April 11: 44 minutes easy. 6 miles.
Tuesday, April 12: 2.5 miles warmup. 5 x 1000m with 2 minutes jog. 3.5 miles cooldown. 10 miles.
Wednesday, April 13: 43 minutes easy. 6 miles.
Thursday, April 14: 2.5 miles warmup. 2 miles on outdoor track at marathon pace. 3.5 miles cooldown. 8 miles.
Friday, April 15: 35 miles easy. 5 miles.
Saturday, April 16: 36 minutes easy. 5 miles.
Sunday, April 17: 30 minutes easy. 4 miles.
Week 2
Weekly Total: 60 miles. This was the first week of major tapering. Other than Tuesday's workout, most of the running was done at an easy pace. On Tuesday I ran most of the repeats slightly under 5:00/mile pace and it felt good to run a workout with shorter, faster repeats. Hopefully my legs will start recovering from the work I've done over the past few months. My final week of training will include one track workout with the BAA and one run where I stop at an outdoor track and run 2 miles at marathon pace.
Monday April 4: 45 minutes easy. 6 miles.
Tuesday, April 5: 2.5 miles warmup. 3 x (800m, 600m, 600m) with 90 seconds. rest after repeats and 3 minutes rest after sets. 4.5 miles cooldown.
Wednesday, April 6: 44 minutes easy. 6 miles.
Thursday, April 7: 63 minutes with 8 x 100m strides. 9 miles.
Friday, April 8: 44 minutes easy. 6 miles.
Saturday, April 9: 58 minutes easy with 8 x 100m strides. 8 miles.
Sunday, April 10: 1:31 easy. 13 miles.
Week 3
Weekly Total: 69 miles. I tried to start reducing the training load last week after running the New Bedford Half Marathon and a long training run at marathon pace on consecutive Sundays. On Tuesday, I ran the repeats in 5:03, 5:03, 5:03 and 5:00, which is where I should be 3 weeks out from a marathon. I ran Sunday's workout between mile marks 16 and 17 of the marathon course and ran back toward Wellesley to the 13-mile mark before turning around and running to the marathon finish. That run was done at a comfortable pace except for a few spots where I tried to run faster up some of the hills.
Monday March 28: 45 minutes easy, 6 miles.
Tuesday, March 29: 4.5 miles warmup. 4 x 1600m w/3 minutes jog at 5k pace. 2.5 miles cooldown. 12 miles.
Wednesday, March 30: 43 minutes easy. 6 miles.
Thursday, March 31: 1:31 easy. 13 miles.
Friday, April 1: 43 minutes easy. 6 miles.
Saturday April 2: 63 minutes easy w/8 x 100m strides. 9 miles.
Sunday, April 3: 1:58 easy with more effort running uphills. 17 miles.
Week 4
Weekly Total: 79 miles. I tried to take it very easy during my light days this week because of the difficult runs on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. My times for Tuesday's intervals ranged from 3:04 to 3:10. Sunday's long run started in Hopkinton and ended at the 21-mile mark. I averaged 5:49/mile pace with most of the slower miles coming at the start. That run was a good confidence builder because I did a similar workout last year at 6:05/mile. Yesterday was colder but not as windy as last year.
Monday, March 21: 44 minutes easy. 6 miles.
Tuesday, March 22: 4.5 miles warmup. 8 x 1000m w/2 minutes jog. 4.5 miles cooldown. 15 miles.
Wednesday, March 23: 45 minutes easy. 6 miles.
Thursday, March 24: 1:45 started off easy, tried to gradually speed up over the second half of the run. 15 miles.
Friday, March 25: 42 minutes easy. 6 miles.
Saturday, March 26: 1:11 easy with 8 x 100m strides. 10 miles.
Sunday, March 27: 2:11, 4 miles easy (28:00) and 16 miles at marathon pace (1:33:09). 1 mile cooldown. 21 miles.
Week 5
Weekly Total: 77 miles. This was a very good week. On Tuesday, I ran the repeats between 3:04 and 3:10. I felt that workout in my legs for a few days so I tried to take it easy on Wednesday and Thursday in preparation for the New Bedford Half Marathon, where I ended up running 1:10, which is a PR and two minutes faster than I ran last year. I wore the miCoach pacer during the race and set it to free mode to record data. My pace was in the red zone for nearly the entire race. The hilly parts of the course really spiked my heart rate, but I was still able to run those segments at around 5:50/mile. The downhill slope near the finish line helped me run the last quarter mile around 5:00/mile. While this was a successful race, I felt pretty wasted afterward so I'll have to keep the intensity low this week because this will be my last high-mileage week of this training cycle.
Monday, March 14: 43 minutes easy. 6 miles.
Tuesday, March 15: AM - 29 minutes easy. 4 miles. PM - 3 miles warmup. 8 x 1000m w/2 min. jog. - 2 miles cooldown. 11 miles.
Wednesday, March 16: 43 minutes easy. 6 miles.
Thursday, March 17: 1:33 mostly at an easy pace. 13 miles.
Friday, March 18: AM - 44 minutes easy. 6 miles. PM - 29 minutes easy. 4 miles.
Saturday, March 19: 1:03 easy with 8x100m strides. 9 miles.
Sunday, March 20: 3 miles warmup. New Bedford Half Marathon. 1.5 miles cooldown. 18 miles.
Week 6
Weekly Total: 82 miles. Tuesday's workout went well. I ran 6:27, :24, :23 and :22 for each 2k repeat. On Thursday I ran up Summit Ave. in Brookline, which is one of the larger hills in the Boston area, during a 15 miler. When I looked at this run on micoach.com, the large spike in the run's heart rate graph made me laugh. The graph showed my heart rate went from 131 bpm to 167 bpm in about one minute. Sunday's workout was a challenging run along the marathon course. The first portion of the run was run at a steady pace and then the pace dropped at the 15-mile mark. My training group ran from 5:40-55/mile pace during that segment.
Monday, March 7: 43 minutes easy. 6 miles.
Tuesday, March 8: AM - 30 minutes easy. 4 miles. PM - 4.5 miles warmup, 4 x 2000m w/3 min. jog, 4 miles cooldown. 13 miles.
Wednesday, March 9: 44 minutes easy. 6 miles.
Thursday, March 10: 1:44, 1:10 at regular training pace and last 34 minutes at marathon effort. 15 miles.
Friday, March 11: 1:11 easy. 10 miles.
Saturday, March 12: 46 minutes with 8 x 100m pickups. 6 miles
Sunday, March 13: 2:23 from marathon start, 15 miles at around 6:40/mile pace and last 7 miles at marathon pace, turned around at 18.5-mile mark and ended at 15-mile mark. 22 miles.
Week 7
Weekly total: 69 miles. I cut my mileage down this week after three hard weeks in a row. Tuesday's workout felt good. My pace for the intervals was between 5:00 and 5:10 per mile. I decided to run the Black Cat 10 Miler in Salem on Sunday and ran 53:35 for 10+ miles. The course was a little long and I had 50:05 on my watch at the 10-mile mark. I ran conservatively for the first 3-4 miles before getting my Sheen on focusing on winning. I was able to drop my pace under 5:15/mile for most of the second half of the race. Based on what I've been running in workouts, I was surprised at my final time but it was the first time in a while I didn't need to wear pants, a jacket and a hat for an outdoor run.
Monday, February 28: 45 minutes easy. 6 miles.
Tuesday, March 1: 2.5-mile warmup. 1600m, 3 min. jog, 3200m, 5 min. jog, 1600m. 4.5-mile cooldown. 11.5 miles.
Wednesday March 2: 42 minutes easy. 6 miles.
Thursday, March 3: 1:33 with last 30 minutes at marathon effort. 13 miles.
Friday, March 4: 57 minutes easy. 8 miles.
Saturday, March 5: 66 minutes w/8 x 100m pickups. 9.5 miles.
Sunday, March 6: 2 miles easy, 10-mile road race, 3 miles easy. 15 miles.
Week 8
Weekly Total: 80 miles. This was a tough week of training. Tuesday's workout included shorter intervals than we've been doing lately and it felt good to change things up. After running the first 800 in 2:32, I averaged slightly under 5:00/mile pace throughout the workout. It's been a while since I've run that fast. Sunday's long run was a BAA group run that started in Hopkinton. My goal was to average 5:50s for the marathon pace segment, but the conditions made that impossible and I was happy with finishing that 12-mile segment in 1:12.
Monday, February 21: 45 minutes easy. 6 miles.
Tuesday, February 22: AM - 29 minutes easy. 4 miles. PM - 2-mile warmup. 3 x (800, 400, 800). 4.5-mile cooldown. 11 miles.
Wednesday, February 23: 45 minutes easy. 6 miles.
Thursday, February 24: 1:38 with last 20 minutes at tempo pace. 14 miles.
Friday, February 25: 51 minutes easy. 7 miles.
Saturday, February 26: AM - 70 minutes easy w/8 x 100m strides. 10 miles. PM - 28 minutes easy. 4 miles.
Sunday, February 27: 1:54 with first 4 miles easy, next 12 miles at marathon pace and last 2 miles easy along marathon course. 18 miles.
Week 9
Weekly Total: 82 miles. This is the most mileage I've run during this marathon training cycle. Tuesday's workout went well. I averaged around 5:07 for the repeats, which is an improvement over some of the workouts I ran in December and January, and closed faster than I started,. On Sunday I ran along the marathon course from Ashland to Coolidge Corner and tried to push the pace on the downhills to get used to running downhills at closer to marathon pace. As a result my leg muscles were a little sore on Sunday afternoon.
Monday, February 14: 44 minutes easy. 6 miles.
Tuesday, February 15: 30 minutes easy. 4 miles. PM: 2-mile warm-up. 5x1600m with 3 min. recovery jog. 2-mile cooldown. 10 miles.
Wednesday, February 16: 45 minutes easy. 6 miles.
Thursday, February 17: 1:45, first half of run at an easy pace with second half slightly faster. 15 miles.
Friday, February 18: 1:24 easy. 12 miles.
Saturday, February 19: 50 minutes easy. 7 miles.
Sunday, February 20: 2:29, started off at an easy pace for 2-3 miles, then ran about 6:45 pace until the 2:00 mark, then tried to run around 6:00 pace for last portion. 22 miles.
Week 10
Weekly Total: 73 miles. I was traveling on vacation in Florida early last week so I fit my runs it when I could. I didn't have time to find many good places to run workouts so Monday through Thursday ended up being easy days. On Friday I ran a fartlek run back in Boston but I didn't want to make the workout too difficult because I was planning to run hard on Sunday. The 20-miler on Sunday felt decent. According to the miCoach pace I settled in at 6:30 pace early in the run and dropped the pace under 6:00/mile for the last 3-4 miles.
Monday, February 7: 52 minutes easy. 7 miles.
Tuesday, February 8: 50 minutes easy. 7 miles.
Wednesday, February 9: 70 minutes easy. 10 miles.
Thursday, February 10: 1:11 with 8 x 100m pick-ups during run. 10 miles.
Friday, February 11: 1:28 with 4 x 2:00 fartlek at 5k pace during last half of run. 12 miles.
Saturday, February 12: 51 minutes easy. 7 miles.
Sunday, February 13: 2:16 at a steady pace with the last 20 minutes at 10k pace. 20 miles.
Week 11
Weekly Total: 64 miles. My mileage was a little lower this week because of poor weather in Boston and traveling. Tuesday's workout felt very relaxed. My times for the intervals were 10:34, 10:29 and 10:25. The other highlight of the week was Sunday's long run, which I ran in Florida. I started out at a very easy pace (8-9:00/mile) for about 55 minutes, then I dropped the pace to around 6-6:30/mile for 30 minutes and 5:40/mile (this is the red zone according to the miCoach pacer) for the last 30 minutes. It felt good to run on an ice-free surface so i was able to get into a good rhythm.
Monday, January 31: 46 minutes easy. 6 miles.
Tuesday, February 1: 2.5-mile warm-up. 3 x 3200m at 10k pace w/90 sec. jog. 2.5-mile cooldown. 11 miles.
Wednesday, February 2: 45 minutes easy. 6 miles.
Thursday February 3: 1:17 with 6 x 100m pick-ups during run. 11 miles.
Friday, February 4: 56 minutes, 40 minutes very easy and 16 minutes at recovery pace. 6.5 miles.
Saturday, February 5: 53 minutes with 8 x 100m pick-ups. 7.5 miles.
Sunday, February 6: 1:55 progression run. 16 miles.
Coaches Comments
Comments after nine weeks of Boston Marathon specific training (and 11 weeks to go) from B.A.A. Head Coach Michael Pieroni:
"Having the ability to train on the Boston Marathon race course is a nice element which Roger has incorporated into his training. He recently took advantage of it with a marathon tempo effort of 5 miles over the Heartbreak Hill section. Despite a few small early set backs (which he handled properly), he now has established good progression with his training. By listening to his body and input from the miCoach trainer, he will be more easily able to fine tune his upcoming work load properly."
Week 12
Weekly Total: 74 miles. I was unable to make the B.A.A. workout on Tuesday night so I ran a fartlek workout outdoors on Tuesday morning. I used the miCoach pacer for Friday night's tempo run. The fastest pace during that run was 5:40/mile. Sunday's run was difficult because I ran the stretch of the marathon course from the Newton firehouse to the top of Heartbreak Hill twice and tried to work the uphills.
Monday, January 24: 46 minutes at an easy pace. 6 miles.
Tuesday, January 25: 20 min. warm-up; 5 x 5 min. at 10k effort with 2 min. recovery jog; 18 min. cooldown. Total of 1:12. 10.5 miles.
Wednesday, January 26: 1:10 at an easy pace with 6 x 100 pick-ups at the end. 10 miles.
Thursday, January 27: 45 minutes at an easy pace. 6 miles.
Friday January 28: 1:41 with 45 minutes at tempo pace. 14 miles.
Saturday January 29: 51 minutes at an easy pace. 7.5 miles.
Sunday January 30: 2:22 mostly along marathon course. Ran Newton hills section twice and tried to push pace through that stretch. 20 miles.
Week 13
Weekly total: 69 miles. I was pleased with Tuesday's and Sunday's workouts. I felt strong through each of them. The weather is starting to make it difficult to train. The cold is an irritant, but the major problem is the conditions of roads, sidewalks and running trails. Most trails are covered by snow and there are icy patches all over the place.
Monday, January 17: 44 minutes easy. 6 miles.
Tuesday, January 18: 2-mile warm-up. 4 x 1600m with 3 min. recovery jog; averaged 5:10. 3.5-mile cooldown. 10 miles.
Wednesday, January 19: 45 minutes easy. 6 miles.
Thursday, January 20: 1:38 with two 20-minute chunks at marathon pace. 14 miles.
Friday, January 21: 1:12 in the snow. 9 miles.
Saturday, January 22: 56 minutes with 6 x 100m pick-ups at the end. 8 miles.
Sunday, January 23: 5 miles at an easy pace; 5 miles on the marathon course at marathon pace; 6 miles easy. 16 miles.
Week 14
Weekly total: 73 miles. This is very good considering I missed one day due to a blizzard. Tuesday's workout was encouraging because I averaged about 3:08 on the repeats but ran the last repeat in about 3:05. I normally try to speed up during an interval workout as I would during a race. Sunday's long run was run at a steady pace because last week's was more intense than normal.
Monday, Janurary 10: 45 minutes easy. 6 miles.
Tuesday, January 11: 4.5 miles warm-up. 7 x 1000m with 2 min. recovery jog. 5 miles cooldown. 14 miles.
Wednesday, January 12: Off. Blizzard.
Thursday, January 13: 1:11 at an easy pace. 10 miles.
Friday, January 14: 1:31 mostly at an easy pace but picked up the pace the last 3 miles. 13 miles.
Saturday, January 15: AM: 45 minutes easy. 6 miles. PM: 32 minutes easy. 4 miles.
Sunday, January 16: 2:21 at a steady pace. 20 miles
Week 15
Total: 72 miles. This ended up being a tough week of training. The Tuesday workout was a little slower than I would have liked because I was still getting over my illness from last week and I didn't want to push it, not to mention that a 16-lap repeat on an indoor track is always a mental grind. I had a lot of energy later in the week and was able to average 6:23 during the Sunday long run according to the miCoach pacer. That's probably a little too fast for this spot in my training plan and I'll chalk it up to running with a group rather than by myself. I'll need to take it easy on my recovery days this week.
Monday, January 3: 45 minutes easy. 6 miles.
Tuesday, January 4: 28 minutes warmup; 1 x 1600 (3 minutes jog) 1 x 3200 (5 minutes jog), 1 x 1600 at MIT indoor track. Times: 5:16, 10:34, 5:14. 25 minutes cooldown. 12 miles.
Wednesday, January 5: 56 minutes easy. 8 miles.
Thursday, January 6: 1:20, picked up pace last 20 minutes. 11.5 miles
Friday, January 7: 40 minutes easy. 5.5 miles.
Saturday, January 8: 70 minutes with the last half at a steady pace. 10 miles.
Sunday, January 9: 2:03 with B.A.A. training group on marathon course. 19 miles.
Week 16
Total: 23 miles. I had to take some off days last week because of weather and a head cold. I was feeling a little better by Sunday but I decided to skip my usual Sunday long run in order to recuperate. One thing I noticed this week after uploading my workouts from the miCoach Pacer is how often I'm forced to slow down during runs. Most of the time I have to slow down to cross intersections, but my pace drops noticeably rounding street corners as well.
Monday, December 27: off (blizzard)
Tuesday, December 28: 42 minutes easy, 5.5 miles.
Wednesday, December 29: 61 minutes easy, 9 miles.
Thursday, December 30: off
Friday, December 31: off
Saturday, January 1: off
Sunday, January 2: 58 minutes easy, 8.5 miles.
Week 17
Total: 60 miles. The total is a little low because of the off day on Christmas. However, I've built my long run up to about 17 miles and did two other runs of 10+ miles this week. Now it's time to bump those runs up to 12-15 miles and continue lengthening the long run. Tuesday was my first interval workout of this training cycle. I like being able to run indoors once per week because it's good to get out of the winter weather.
Monday, December 20: 43 minutes easy, 6 miles.
Tuesday, December 21: 5 minutes warmup, 4 x 1600m with 3 minutes jog at 5:06/mile pace, 17 minutes cool down. 7.5 miles.
Wednesday, December 22: 1:16, picked up pace during last 20 minutes. 11 miles.
Thursday, December 23: 46 minutes easy. 6.5 miles.
Friday, December 24: 1:27 at an easy pace. 12 miles.
Saturday, December 25: off
Sunday, December 26: 1:53 at long run pace. 17 miles.
Week 18
Total: 63 miles. I started using the miCoach Pacer this week in both miCoach and free modes. I used it in miCoach mode for the tempo run on Wednesday. The device is responsive to changes in pace and directed me to run slower during my tempo run when I started dropping the pace too much. I decided to run a 5K on Sunday and 16:10 is a good time for me considering I've done very little speed work in the last two months. That will be my last race for a while--I probably won't run another one until next March. It's time to start building up the base for Boston.
Monday, December 13: 45 minutes at an easy pace. 6 miles.
Tuesday, December 14: 52 minutes at an easy pace. 7 miles.
Wednesday, December 15: 1:10 with 35 at tempo pace. 10 miles.
Thursday, December 16: 48 minutes at an easy pace. 6.5 miles.
Friday, December 17: 1:24 with 8 x 100m pick-ups at the end. 12 miles.
Saturday, December 18: 53 minutes at an easy pace 7.5 miles.
Sunday, December 19: 63 minutes easy. 5K race in 16:10. 15 minutes easy. 14 miles.
Week 19
Total: 65 miles. I'm still building back up to my normal mileage. The cross country race was very hilly and my first speed workout since October. It was good to get out of my comfort zone.
Monday, December 6: 40 minutes at an easy pace. 6 miles.
Tuesday, December 7: 54 minutes at an easy pace. 7.5 miles.
Wednesday, December 8: 70 minutes at an easy pace until last 15 minutes at around tempo pace. 10 miles.
Thursday, December 9: 41 minutes at an easy pace. 6 miles.
Friday, December 10: 1:16--Ran easy for first hour and picked up pace last 16 minutes. 11 miles.
Saturday, December 11: warm up for 3 miles--3.6 mile Assault on Mt. Hood XC race 20:13--2-mile cool down. 8.5 miles
Sunday, December 12: 12-minute assessment run with miCoach Pacer plus 1:45 at an easy pace. 16 miles.
Week 20
Total: 58 miles. I feel like I'm getting back into base-building mode fairly quickly. The long run felt taxing for the last half hour or so but I felt normal the rest of the day on Sunday.
Monday, November 29: 35 minutes at an easy pace. 5 miles.
Tuesday, November 30: 61 minutes at an easy pace. 9 miles.
Wednesday, December 1: 41 minutes at an easy pace. 6 miles.
Thursday, December 2: 40 minutes at an easy pace. 6 miles.
Frday, December 3: 70 minutes at an easy pace. 10 miles.
Saturday, December 4: 50 minutes at an easy pace. 7 miles.
Sunday, December 5: 1:45 at an easy pace. 15 miles.