Yesterday was my last big run as I prepare for my first marathon on April 20th in Boston. The run was sponsored by the Hopkinton Running Club and it was a 21 mile run from the starting line to the Boston College campus at mile 21. The running club charged non members $12 and it included 4 water stops on the route and transportation back to the start line. The event was very well planned and I would definitely do it again.
So, around here it was a beautiful day on Saturday with clear skies and temps in the 50’s to 60’s. As I ran my weekend errands it was great to hear everyone say “enjoy the day and the weather because nobody in there right mind wants to be outside tomorrow” and all I could do was ignore the comment and watch my wife snicker under her breath because she knew one fool that would be out there with Noah and his ark on Sunday.
I got up at 3:30 AM on Sunday to fuel for my run by eating my unsweetened applesauce, my banana while watching TV and sitting with my “Snuggly” that my son bought me for my birthday. I had to pick up my friend Aimee at 6:30 to be at the start for 7:00 AM and other then being up at that time all went well. I decided to go with running pants over shorts and I am glad I did that, I also left my new New Balance 769’s at home and took out my older shoes for a good soaking. I wore my windbreaker and my running cap which helped keep the rain off my face and the jacket did the best it could to keep my dry. The smartest thing I did was grab my running gloves as they saved my life on the run.
The start of the run was in a steady mist and soon picked up to a light rain by the time we got to Framingham. My goal was to not run any faster then a 10 minute pace for the first 16 miles and to finish with hopefully a 10:30 pace or better. There were 4 of us who started off at 7:00 (Matt, Carl, Aimee and I) and it soon became apparent that Matt and Carl were going to run a faster pace then I wanted to so Aimee and I let them go ahead. Once we got to Natick the rain picked up and it rain pretty steady through to Wesley. We tried to avoid the puddles but at a certain point that just became a useless thought since our shoes were soaked.
The run through to mile 16 went well and we were running a 10:10 average and then we started the hills after Newton Lower Falls. I had run to this spot once before and so anything after this was uncharted territory for me so I had no idea what the hills would be like. These hills were demanding but not as bad as I thought. We never stopped to walk the hills and we managed to pick up the pace on the climbs and I actually liked that there was a short level stretch after each climb. Since I had never run or driven up “Heartbreak Hill” I had no idea where it was so when I finished the hill and got to our buses I was happy to stop and get into dry clothes but I wasn’t wiped out and if I had to I could have kept going.
We ran the 21 miles at an average 10:15 pace and my fueling through the run worked fine, no “bonking” and no cramps. My only real issues were that I didn’t follow 100% my pre-run fueling plan of limiting fiber and solids the day before and that caused the need to stop on the route (thank God there are at least 200 Dunkin Doughnuts on the course with restrooms). So I need to address this before race day because I don’t want to have to do that on the course again. I was very happy to get back on the school bus and get into some dry clothes. It was funny to see 50 strangers opt for warm clothes and disrobe on the bus full strangers, most of us lost any sense of shyness or humility at mile 17 in the rain. I never wanted to get out my clothes faster in my life. We had a great ride back to Hopkinton sharing war stories about the run, prior races and marathon tips. As much as I like to share my love of the sport with my friends online it was nice to talk face to face with other obsessive compulsive people who would lace up there shoes on a raining day and run 21 miles instead of staying in there pajamas watching Meet the Press….
Also, thank you for those of you who heard me on the Runners Roundtable and dropped me a line, I haven’t listened to it yet so I don’t know how bad I sounded. I would be honored if you followed my blog and my progress on Patriots Day. If you have time drop me a line with your bib number if you are running Boston so I can check your status when I get home. I am also up for meeting for lunch on Saturday the 18th in Boston for anyone who wants to meet?
Cheers,
Tim Doiron
Monday, March 30, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Compete versus Complete
I had the pleasure yesterday of being a guest panelist on the Runners Roundtable podcast (http://runnersroundtable.com/) and the topic was about race fueling and the main was guest was Anthony (http://runbikeorswimtoday.blogspot). I really enjoyed being part of the show and I know I will cringe when I listen to it on my next run and wonder why I made a fool of myself.
I was on the show to offer a different perspective on fueling since as a Type 2 diabetic my needs are different then others. The one thing from the discussion that I can’t get out of mind is the comment on the needs for runners “who run to compete versus those who run to complete”. Now I know the comment was NOT made in a derogatory manor and it wasn’t made in any manor that lessens the accomplishments of those who run with the sole goal of “finishing” the 26.2 race, but it did strike a nerve for me.
As a new runner I have always viewed the marathon as task that was beyond my reach because prior to November 2008 I didn’t run, thus I would never fool myself into thinking that a marathon was something I could do. When I began running I set small goals, being able to finish a 5K, then a 10K and then a half marathon. Once I completed my first race the thought of running a marathon for my 40th birthday did pop into the back of my head. Thanks to the help of some friends, that new a lot more then me about running, I was able to set the realistic goal of a half marathon first then the full marathon. It was also with the help of guidance from a lot of people that I learned that running to “complete” was an appropriate goal and that I needed to get the notion of time out of my head. Now I am a competitive person by nature, so this has been a tough pill to swallow.
I am now training for my first marathon which will be the 113th running of the Boston Marathon, I am running for a charity but that doesn’t lessen my right to be there. I am training like everyone else; since this is my first marathon I am fortunate to know that I am guaranteed a PR in this run so I have no expectations of a specific time I need to get. When I put my toe on line in on Patriots day (I am in corral #23 so I am hoping it is still Patriots Day when I get to cross the starting line) I am competing in every sense of the word. I am competing with all of those people including myself that said I couldn’t run, I am competing with myself for the strength to stand behind my training and not retreat, I am competing for my family. Now my family is going to love me regardless of my time, so I don’t need to impress them with a sub 4 hour finish, I just need to follow through with what I told them I was going to do which is run a marathon. So again, I know that the comment wasn’t made in a way shape or form to downplay the goals of runners it was meant to describe the goals for fueling but I just need to clarify that I am competing in the Boston Marathon by preparing to complete it.
Thank you to all of you who said I couldn’t do this, I hope to prove to you on the 20th that I can. If you want to follow my progress on that day my bib # is 23714.
I was on the show to offer a different perspective on fueling since as a Type 2 diabetic my needs are different then others. The one thing from the discussion that I can’t get out of mind is the comment on the needs for runners “who run to compete versus those who run to complete”. Now I know the comment was NOT made in a derogatory manor and it wasn’t made in any manor that lessens the accomplishments of those who run with the sole goal of “finishing” the 26.2 race, but it did strike a nerve for me.
As a new runner I have always viewed the marathon as task that was beyond my reach because prior to November 2008 I didn’t run, thus I would never fool myself into thinking that a marathon was something I could do. When I began running I set small goals, being able to finish a 5K, then a 10K and then a half marathon. Once I completed my first race the thought of running a marathon for my 40th birthday did pop into the back of my head. Thanks to the help of some friends, that new a lot more then me about running, I was able to set the realistic goal of a half marathon first then the full marathon. It was also with the help of guidance from a lot of people that I learned that running to “complete” was an appropriate goal and that I needed to get the notion of time out of my head. Now I am a competitive person by nature, so this has been a tough pill to swallow.
I am now training for my first marathon which will be the 113th running of the Boston Marathon, I am running for a charity but that doesn’t lessen my right to be there. I am training like everyone else; since this is my first marathon I am fortunate to know that I am guaranteed a PR in this run so I have no expectations of a specific time I need to get. When I put my toe on line in on Patriots day (I am in corral #23 so I am hoping it is still Patriots Day when I get to cross the starting line) I am competing in every sense of the word. I am competing with all of those people including myself that said I couldn’t run, I am competing with myself for the strength to stand behind my training and not retreat, I am competing for my family. Now my family is going to love me regardless of my time, so I don’t need to impress them with a sub 4 hour finish, I just need to follow through with what I told them I was going to do which is run a marathon. So again, I know that the comment wasn’t made in a way shape or form to downplay the goals of runners it was meant to describe the goals for fueling but I just need to clarify that I am competing in the Boston Marathon by preparing to complete it.
Thank you to all of you who said I couldn’t do this, I hope to prove to you on the 20th that I can. If you want to follow my progress on that day my bib # is 23714.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Who doesn't like the beach
On the 15th of March, I turned 40 and as a present my family took me away to Wells Maine for a little “family fun time” at the beach and pool. My wife loves the beach so even if it is to cold to play in the waves once you get my wife near the salt water she starts thinking of any way possible for us to move to the ocean. I can’t really blame her since we both grew up in Maine and were never that far from the ocean being in Northbridge (which is landlocked) is tough. So we do what we always do when my wife gets to the beach, we look at houses we would buy and we bought a lottery ticket and played the “what if game” all weekend.
We drove up after work on Thursday and settled in to a nice resort for the weekend that was pretty empty. The goal of the weekend was to relax and enjoy the time together and since the hotel came with food vouchers I decided to do my long run on Friday instead of Sunday so that I didn’t have to spend the entire weekend watching what I ate to make sure I didn’t have issues on the 20 mile run scheduled. Also, I would have spent the whole weekend driving my wife nuts as I planned out the run so getting it over on Friday made the most sense.
The alarm clock went off at 4:30 AM on Friday and I rose to start the fueling plan of applesauce as usual and relax for my 7:00 departure. I was out the door at 7:00 AM and took off from the hotel on Route 1 South to Ogunquit and then left on Shore Road past Cape Nedick to the Route 1A intercept then turn around and head back. The run on Route 1 was fine, there was traffic but the road was wide enough that I had no issues. I enjoyed Shore Road and running parallel to the ocean but Shore Rd was not as flat as I thought it would be and it was more rolling, similar to my runs around my house. The elevation wasn’t a problem for me as I wanted to stick to a 10:30 pace and did so for the entire run. My fueling was fine and I really enjoyed the run. I did the 20 miles in 3 hours and 29 minutes and other then some minor cramping in my inner quads upon stopping I was fine that day and the next.
I was so glad I did the run on Friday as it was nice to eat what I wanted for the rest of the weekend and rest on Saturday. On Sunday, the day we were checking out, I awoke at 4:30 AM and got out at 5:00 AM for a 7 mile run. I ran right along the water and it was nice and FLAT and being able to hear the waves and watch the sunrise was really beautiful.
Overall another great week of running with close to 40 miles logged in and “knock on wood” no injuries. I am looking forward to doing 21 miles on the race route this coming Sunday as my final test of my training. I want to run this at my MP to see how it feels.
Cheers,
Tim
Bib # 23714 for Boston
We drove up after work on Thursday and settled in to a nice resort for the weekend that was pretty empty. The goal of the weekend was to relax and enjoy the time together and since the hotel came with food vouchers I decided to do my long run on Friday instead of Sunday so that I didn’t have to spend the entire weekend watching what I ate to make sure I didn’t have issues on the 20 mile run scheduled. Also, I would have spent the whole weekend driving my wife nuts as I planned out the run so getting it over on Friday made the most sense.
The alarm clock went off at 4:30 AM on Friday and I rose to start the fueling plan of applesauce as usual and relax for my 7:00 departure. I was out the door at 7:00 AM and took off from the hotel on Route 1 South to Ogunquit and then left on Shore Road past Cape Nedick to the Route 1A intercept then turn around and head back. The run on Route 1 was fine, there was traffic but the road was wide enough that I had no issues. I enjoyed Shore Road and running parallel to the ocean but Shore Rd was not as flat as I thought it would be and it was more rolling, similar to my runs around my house. The elevation wasn’t a problem for me as I wanted to stick to a 10:30 pace and did so for the entire run. My fueling was fine and I really enjoyed the run. I did the 20 miles in 3 hours and 29 minutes and other then some minor cramping in my inner quads upon stopping I was fine that day and the next.
I was so glad I did the run on Friday as it was nice to eat what I wanted for the rest of the weekend and rest on Saturday. On Sunday, the day we were checking out, I awoke at 4:30 AM and got out at 5:00 AM for a 7 mile run. I ran right along the water and it was nice and FLAT and being able to hear the waves and watch the sunrise was really beautiful.
Overall another great week of running with close to 40 miles logged in and “knock on wood” no injuries. I am looking forward to doing 21 miles on the race route this coming Sunday as my final test of my training. I want to run this at my MP to see how it feels.
Cheers,
Tim
Bib # 23714 for Boston
Monday, March 16, 2009
Looking back at my first year
Last year I ran my very first road race ever last March on my birthday (the 15th). It was a great day, I had never run a race before and I went with my wife and son. The course is suppose to be 4 miles but it is about 3.73 and there is a hill at the start and then a really steep and nasty hill at the end. This was by no means a well organized race but I will always think highly of this race because it was my first race. I ran the course last year in 33:44 and had to stop on the last hill to walk a portion but if you had asked anyone who talked to me that day, I was on top of the world. On that day I also had the pleasure of meeting Steve Runner from the “Phedippidations Podcast” (http://steverunner.com/) who lives in the town of Oxford where the race is run. I have been a big fan of Steve’s podcast and I was excited to find out he lived two towns over from me and that he was going to run the same race that I was. So we met for the first time last year and talked before the race and the nicest thing happened, he waited at the finish line to cheer me on as I crossed. I know it is corny but my wife and son cheered me on but that is to be expected, I was surprised to see someone I had just met an hour before do such a thing.
After the race I have stayed in contact with Steve via annoying “What if” emails for the last year and he has always taken the time to answer my dumb questions. I still follow his podcasts and look forward to listening to them on my long runs each week. So this year when I found out he was running the Clara Barton again I really look forwarded to meeting with him again. So on Saturday of this past week I headed to Oxford for a beautiful spring day and to challenge myself to the hills of Oxford again. When I spoke to Steve this year I told him my only real goal was to be able to cheer “him” on he crossed the finish line…
After the race I have stayed in contact with Steve via annoying “What if” emails for the last year and he has always taken the time to answer my dumb questions. I still follow his podcasts and look forward to listening to them on my long runs each week. So this year when I found out he was running the Clara Barton again I really look forwarded to meeting with him again. So on Saturday of this past week I headed to Oxford for a beautiful spring day and to challenge myself to the hills of Oxford again. When I spoke to Steve this year I told him my only real goal was to be able to cheer “him” on he crossed the finish line…
The thing I like about Steve Runner the best is I can relate to him since he is very similar in age and ability. Sometimes getting advice from those that are just so far better then you in skill makes it hard to relate. In the case of Steve there is all this information from someone who is like me a middle aged, middle of the pack runner. If you haven't had the chance to listen to his podcast please do you will not be disappointed.
So the race went well and I finish strong with no stopping on the hills and a 4:56 minute pace sprint to the finish for a time of 31:37. Most importantly Steve was ever as kind as to slow his pace down to come in about 2 minutes behind me, again his generosity amazes me. The one thing I just found out is that I registered as a 39 year old because I wasn't 40 till Sunday and if I had registered as 40 I would have come in 2nd in my division, this is a point that my wife finds very humerous...
After the race I went home and prepared for my Sunday long run of 15 miles. I was looking forward to this weeks run to redeem myself from last week. This week I ran with Matt, who is also running for the Respite Center and after him getting lost we met at 7:15 in Northbridge to head out. The goal was to run no slower then 10:30 pace and we stuck to a 10:00 pace for the entire 15.25 mile run. So I redeem myself during my rest week with some nice quality runs and I am looking forward to my last two 20 mile + runs before the taper.
As I look back over the year of my running it is hard to believe I have run over 10 races including 2 half marathons, I have built my conditioning up to handle 20 mile runs and at the same time loved every moment of this journey. I am grateful for the support my wife and son have given to my obsessive compulsive behavior and my quest to run a marathon, I grateful to have met people like Steve Runner and call him a friend and a resource and I am thankful for the ability to run and the fact that at 40, I am now in the best shape of my life and I am starting to think that I might have a chance to finish Boston.
Thank you everyone for helping me get to be 40 and to look forward to the journey ahead.
So the race went well and I finish strong with no stopping on the hills and a 4:56 minute pace sprint to the finish for a time of 31:37. Most importantly Steve was ever as kind as to slow his pace down to come in about 2 minutes behind me, again his generosity amazes me. The one thing I just found out is that I registered as a 39 year old because I wasn't 40 till Sunday and if I had registered as 40 I would have come in 2nd in my division, this is a point that my wife finds very humerous...
After the race I went home and prepared for my Sunday long run of 15 miles. I was looking forward to this weeks run to redeem myself from last week. This week I ran with Matt, who is also running for the Respite Center and after him getting lost we met at 7:15 in Northbridge to head out. The goal was to run no slower then 10:30 pace and we stuck to a 10:00 pace for the entire 15.25 mile run. So I redeem myself during my rest week with some nice quality runs and I am looking forward to my last two 20 mile + runs before the taper.
As I look back over the year of my running it is hard to believe I have run over 10 races including 2 half marathons, I have built my conditioning up to handle 20 mile runs and at the same time loved every moment of this journey. I am grateful for the support my wife and son have given to my obsessive compulsive behavior and my quest to run a marathon, I grateful to have met people like Steve Runner and call him a friend and a resource and I am thankful for the ability to run and the fact that at 40, I am now in the best shape of my life and I am starting to think that I might have a chance to finish Boston.
Thank you everyone for helping me get to be 40 and to look forward to the journey ahead.
Monday, March 9, 2009
some runs are better then others
Well after a great 20 mile run with Aimee the previous week I was looking forward to another great 20 mile run, but things happen….
Thanks to day light savings time my desire to be on the road for 7:00 AM, I had to wake up at 4:30 AM which was 3:30 AM. I had my normal pre long run breakfast and I thought everything was fine and headed out. I changed up my route this week to start at Plumbers Landing and run up to Quaker then School then to Grafton and up Ferry to Hill then DOWN Sutton Street which is a 2 mile decent to build my quads then 122 to Uxbridge and then back to Northbridge via the golf course to Main street and finish with a ½ hill climb and then back down.
I just couldn’t get into the 10:30 per mile pace and stuck to the 11:00 per mile pace which frustrated me. It wasn’t because of a high HR or fatigue I just couldn’t settle into that pace on all the ups and down. I also started running into stomach issues at mile 2, 7 and 9. Since I changed my diet on the days before and the day of the long runs I have been fine so this was really frustrating and just mentally beat me up. I refused to quit and got to the top of Main Street and decide 18 was enough for the day and to skip the last hill part and of course this 2 mile shortage is still eating at me. Overall I had a good week with close to 40 miles.
I am looking forward to this week since it is my pullback week. I will still do my four 5 mile runs but one of them will be a 4 mile race on Saturday and Sunday’s long run will be 15. I want to get quality runs in this week with control of the target pace. I need to get ready for the final two long runs of over 20 miles that take place 3/21 and 3/28.
This week I went into Boston to the BAA Charity seminar and it was very informative. I cam away with the understanding that I need to “PACE not RACE” Boston and that this will be the event of a life time. I am also thinking that the amount of time needed to train for a marathon might limit me to one a year and then run some half marathons in addition to the one marathon. It isn’t that I don’t have time it is that my family doesn’t have time and I need to keep there needs in mind.
On a funny note I got home yesterday to find my son lounging around relaxing and when he asked how many miles I ran and I said 18 he immediately responded “I thought you were going to run 20”. And you wonder why the 18 bugged me all day….
This week I am just going to enjoy running my last few miles as a "thirty something" man...
Thanks to day light savings time my desire to be on the road for 7:00 AM, I had to wake up at 4:30 AM which was 3:30 AM. I had my normal pre long run breakfast and I thought everything was fine and headed out. I changed up my route this week to start at Plumbers Landing and run up to Quaker then School then to Grafton and up Ferry to Hill then DOWN Sutton Street which is a 2 mile decent to build my quads then 122 to Uxbridge and then back to Northbridge via the golf course to Main street and finish with a ½ hill climb and then back down.
I just couldn’t get into the 10:30 per mile pace and stuck to the 11:00 per mile pace which frustrated me. It wasn’t because of a high HR or fatigue I just couldn’t settle into that pace on all the ups and down. I also started running into stomach issues at mile 2, 7 and 9. Since I changed my diet on the days before and the day of the long runs I have been fine so this was really frustrating and just mentally beat me up. I refused to quit and got to the top of Main Street and decide 18 was enough for the day and to skip the last hill part and of course this 2 mile shortage is still eating at me. Overall I had a good week with close to 40 miles.
I am looking forward to this week since it is my pullback week. I will still do my four 5 mile runs but one of them will be a 4 mile race on Saturday and Sunday’s long run will be 15. I want to get quality runs in this week with control of the target pace. I need to get ready for the final two long runs of over 20 miles that take place 3/21 and 3/28.
This week I went into Boston to the BAA Charity seminar and it was very informative. I cam away with the understanding that I need to “PACE not RACE” Boston and that this will be the event of a life time. I am also thinking that the amount of time needed to train for a marathon might limit me to one a year and then run some half marathons in addition to the one marathon. It isn’t that I don’t have time it is that my family doesn’t have time and I need to keep there needs in mind.
On a funny note I got home yesterday to find my son lounging around relaxing and when he asked how many miles I ran and I said 18 he immediately responded “I thought you were going to run 20”. And you wonder why the 18 bugged me all day….
This week I am just going to enjoy running my last few miles as a "thirty something" man...
Monday, March 2, 2009
20 is a magical number
After last weeks half marathon in Hyannis I set back into my normal four 5 mile runs through the week and things went well. In looking at the weather report for the upcoming weekend I decided to move my normal Sunday long run to Saturday because of the pending show storm coming in on Sunday. I teamed up this week with a new runner, Aimee, she is also training for Boston and had 16 scheduled for the week. So to accommodate her needs and mine, I simply met her 1.5 miles into the run and plan to run 16 with her then head home for 19.
We had great weather, about 35 degrees and some headwinds but overall very pleasant. I committed this run to stick to my fueling religiously and not add any additional fuel and that worked very well. My second goal was to run this between 10:30 and 10:45 pace and I was able to do that. So due to some bad mapping on my part the 19 turned into 20 and the last three was UPHILL so with 20 miles in 3:29:39 I was thrilled with the run and the progress made with training. Then the best reward came on Sunday when there wasn’t an alarm clock in the house turned on and I could sleep in.
So another good week of 37 miles on the books and I am looking forward to this weeks training (I know I am sick in the head)…
Cheers
Tim
We had great weather, about 35 degrees and some headwinds but overall very pleasant. I committed this run to stick to my fueling religiously and not add any additional fuel and that worked very well. My second goal was to run this between 10:30 and 10:45 pace and I was able to do that. So due to some bad mapping on my part the 19 turned into 20 and the last three was UPHILL so with 20 miles in 3:29:39 I was thrilled with the run and the progress made with training. Then the best reward came on Sunday when there wasn’t an alarm clock in the house turned on and I could sleep in.
So another good week of 37 miles on the books and I am looking forward to this weeks training (I know I am sick in the head)…
Cheers
Tim
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