So what is this chunky runner up for next...

So the marathon was 4 days ago and I am already starting to plan what I want to do next. This list is still growing and I am still working on the specifics but here is an overview:

Ranked according to my perception of importance:

1. Get down from my current 215-220 weight range that I am fluctuating in to 195 pounds. I know what I need to do from a diet perspective and that is EAT the calories I need to loose weight which means eater more of the correct proportions (Carbs/Fat/Protein) that will both fuel my training and help me loose weight. I can only think that my next long race at 195 will be easier on me then my current weight. I also for once in my life want to "look" lean and for my body structure and height 195 should do it. I don't need to loose any more weight for my diabetes or high blood pressure but I want to for my own sake.
2. Add cross training into my running to work different muscles that I might not use if I just run and to help improve my aerobic conditioning while taking away some of the stress of just running. So I want to add lap swimming and cycling into my weekly routine.
3. This uncoordinated man who is as flexible as crowbar needs to learn some Yoga. I am terrible at stretching and I want to get myself into a daily routine that I can do to stay limber and improve my running.
4. My running goals are simple: Sub Two Hour 1/2 Marathon, Get back to my pre-calf injury 5K PR of 24:35 and do my summer 4 miler in 30 to 31 minutes. In regards marathons I want to train for another one and do it at the 4:30 pace I was shooting for in Boston and meet that goal.

So how do I put this plan into effect? Well I first off going to start using the Zone Diet method for my fueling needs. This method is not much of a calorie restriction plan as one of eating to %'s that are closer to what my Diabetes needs to function best. Also in the past I have been able to loose weight and maintain my training with this plan. I know exactly how many calories to consume to maintain my weight and to loose weight and to factor in training but the Zone allows me to easily break this down into blocks that I manage quicker. I just don't have the time to count every calorie or macro nutrient but that is what I need to do to make sure I eat enough. See for me the problem is I tend to not eat enough and my body goes into starvation mode and thus I am at the plateau that I am at.

In regards to training I first have to get back on the road for some runs and I will be doing that on Sunday for a leisurely 5 mile run. I next am planning on following through with my promise to SneakerSister to take the Half Marathon Circuit Challenge http://sneakersister.blogspot.com/search/label/HM%20Circuit%20Challenge

I am hoping to get my legs back and do this maybe next weekend.

So there is a lot more on these subjects to come, if any of you have feedback on using the Zone or workout plans such as Crossfit or P90x, I would love to hear your opinions.

Cheers,
Tim

Hey guess what I did on Monday....

THIS WILL BE A LONG POST, SO BE WARNED….

Ok, so it has been two days since I ran the 113th Boston Marathon and things are starting to get back to normal. My quads and knee joints are still considering litigation against me for excessive abuse….

So let’s take a look back at the event starting with Friday the 17th.

Friday the 17th:

I took this day as a vacation day to go into my son’s Kindergarten class and for him and my wife and me to go into the Expo at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston. I had a lot of fun at my son’s school and his whole class made me a giant card wishing me well and to enjoy the race. It was a great way to start the weekend.

After attending the class the family headed to the Riverside MBTA Station to take the Green line into the Hynes Convention Center in Boston. It only took me about 1 minute to find someone else riding the train in for the same purpose and we had a great conversation on the way in. Once we got off the subway we made our way to the Expo and since it was day one of the Expo and we got there at 2:30 I had no idea of what to expect. The crowds were big but not over crowded and I was like a kid in a candy store. My goals for the Expo were the following:

* Buy my finishers Jacket.
* Buy a SPIbelt (http://www.spibelt.com/) to wear during the race to hold my bib number and my cell phone.
* Buy a pair of orange (that is my color) MOEBEN arm sleeves (http://www.moeben.com/).
* Pick up the official poster from Adidas that has all of the runner’s names on it.

So we went off to go shopping and we were able to get the jacket and find a line that wasn’t wrapped around the block. The SPIbelt that I got was great, I hadn’t seen those in the store only online and I didn’t want to pay shipping for it. It works as described and didn’t move or shake during the run. It cost me $22 but it is a nice gadget to have.

My next “had to have” was my arm sleeves. I had gone online and looked at the MOEBEN product and checked out there website. I liked the style and the UV protection so I emailed the owner to see if they came in orange and she said they did and she would have them at the Expo. So when I came upon the booth I enquired about them and spoke to the owner Shannon and she remembered my email. It turns out she made the orange just for me and was having them shipped to the Expo. I did a little more shopping and then came back to the booth just as they were arriving. The orange was great and they would match my orange Craft running shirt so I would be “color coordinated” and highly visible to friends and family in the sea of runners. Since these were a new color Shannon has offered to name the color after me so the orange will now be known as “Derv Orange” and it turns out that she sold out of that color within minutes of putting them out at the Expo. I wore them during the race and they were amazing. It was nice to be able to roll them up at the start of the race when it was cool and then as I warmed up roll them down. Also with the headwind we had coming into Boston they saved my life since it went from cold to hot real fast.

If you check out this clip (about 20 seconds in) you can see me wearing them as I do a shout out to my wife and son (http://wbztv.com/video/?id=75681@wbz.dayport.com).

So, if you are in search of the versatile gear for those in between runs take a look at Shannon’s website (http://www.moeben.com/) and just think how “styling” you would be wearing a pair of the “Derv Orange” arm sleeves. I know I was, and at mile 13 when all these college girls at Wellesley wanted to kiss just me it was because of the Moeben arm sleeves.

After leaving the Expo with 6 bags and the great feeling of personally having stimulated the economy the family headed out for Faneuil Hall in Boston for dinner. We had a great dinner and then ventured back to Riverside after a very long day. My only complaint with the Expo was that the concrete floors killed my back but that is to be expected.

Saturday the 18th:

Well Saturday was a day of last minute errands, t-ball practice, Respite Center Runners Picnic and my Carbo Loading dinner with family and friends. It was great to get together with all of the families that depend on the Respite Center to get motivated for the run on Monday. The Carbo loading dinner was a great time with good wine and friends.

Sunday the 19th:

This was my day of rest and the only thing I did besides riding the couch was take a ride to the starting line in Hopkinton. I live two towns over (20 minute car ride) from the starting line. So my wife, son (Alex) and my brother-in-law Barry drove over to check things out and get some pictures. I just thought that on race day it might be hard to get some pictures of me on the starting line. After we checked that out I went home to put my feet up and relax for the day. Since this was the day before the race my diet for the day was limited to a big breakfast and then real bland food for the remainder of the day and no solids after 7 PM. My goal was to avoid my common pitfall of having pizza or something else before going to bed the night before the race and thus having “issues” once I get into the run. I have had problems in the past were 4-6 miles into the run my body thinks it needs to visit the bathroom and I really wanted to avoid that at all cost for Monday. So I stuck to my fueling plan and limited my solids and it worked. I went to bed at 9:00 PM and set the alarm for 3:30 AM and it did take me awhile to fall asleep, go figure.

RACE DAY:

Morning routine:

3:30 AM wakeup and quality time eating 3 ½ cups of unsweetened applesauce while watching infomercials in my Snuggie. The rest of the family awoke at 5:00 AM and we dropped my son off at his friend’s house for the day at 6:30 AM and then off to Hopkinton.

6:50 AM we arrived and parked in Hopkinton and I jumped on the runner’s bus and my wife and Barry took the spectator’s bus. The spectators went right to downtown and I headed to the athlete’s village to drop off my bag. The athlete’s village was cool and it looked like a “squatter’s town” and it took me about an hour to drop off my bag.

8:00 AM I had dropped off my bag and walked to the Respite Center to hang out till it was time to get into my corral.

Starting Time:

Well I went to the corrals and lined up in the 25th corral with my friend Aimee and the start was very smooth and it took me 8 minutes to get to the starting line.

Once we crossed the starting line it got a little pushy and the flow of people pushed the crowd into a 9:50 pace. I just tried to not get run over and not run to fast. It was very funny to see the rush of people to the woods on the left to “water the plants”, I myself waited till mile 3 to do the same. My pace through the first 5 miles was MP minus 10 seconds. I overall felt great through the first 15 with an average pace of around 10:20, it was about then that I ran into issues with cramping in my legs. It felt like I was about to get a “Charlie horse” so it forced me to stop and walk it out. This run, stop right before the cramp hit, walk and then repeat followed me through to the finish line.

Here are some of disappointments of the day:

Didn’t maintain my target MP pace. I wanted a 10 minute pace and my prior runs on the route were MP+10 for 16 and MP+15 for 21. The difference in those runs from race day was weather, nerves, and my race time had breaks excluded from the time.

The cramping. I drank water at each stop so I thought my hydration was good but I should have kept track of “how much” I consumed. I am also the type that once things start to happen I tend to let it get the best of me. I need to work on the mental part of this sport.

Having to WALK the hills, I didn’t have to do this in my run in the rain.

Now, don’t read into this that I don’t appreciate what I was able accomplish in my short running history and for my first marathon. I am very proud of myself and the fact that I FINISHED MY FIRST MARATHON, I am just my biggest critic on what I need to do to improve on this for my next race.

What went well and what memories will I always cherish:

Having the pleasure to run the 113th running of the Boston Marathon and share this experience with friends and family.

Raising over $6000 for the Michael Carter Lisnow Respite Center in this tough economy.

Being part of the wave of 26,385 registered runners leaving Hopkinton with the same goal and love of this sport.

Meeting up with my wife and brother-in-law at mile 17.

Meeting up with Mary McManus and her daughter at mile 19 and being inspired that if she can run with Post Polio then what do I have to complain about.

Getting kissed by the Wellesley college girls.

Seeing the CITGO sign as I approached Kenmore Square.

Turning left on to Boylston and running for the finish line with the crowd cheering.

Righting my name on the front of my shirt and having strangers yell “Run Derv Run” for 26.2 miles.

Finishing in 4:57:23 miles with the resolve to do this again.

The respect for the distance, the jump from 21 to 26.2 miles was huge…

Over the next couple of weeks I will further dissect parts of the race and things I did well at and things that I know I need to do differently at such as cross training and yoga for flexibility. At this time my quads are still very mad at me but once they forgive I will get back out for a short 3 mile run. I want to start working on my goal to get to 198 pounds and prepare for some 5k and 4 mile road races in June and July.

So thank you for all of you who followed my progress it meant a lot to me.

Cheers,
Tim

Brief note

Hello,

I wanted to just let everyone know that I completed the 113th Boston Marathon in 4:57:23. I will go into to all the details later this week but overall it was a great race. I am happy to have finished and other then some leg cramping on my inner quads for the last 9 miles it went well. I will not lie to you it was a hard run and I learned a lot.

So more to come.

Tim

Quick update

Hello,

I will go into more detail later but I just wanted to let everyone know that I am READY....

I went into the Expo yesterday and if I can recover the pictures from the camera I dropped I will have some great images to share.

I have some nice products to tell you about and I look forward to sharing this with all of you.

Tim

P.s. I met up with Steve Runner and John Ellis.

Tim

Last run in the training plan

One week to go, and I am really looking forward to the day. My training began in November of 2007 when I first stepped on to the treadmill with my iPod and hit the play button on week 1 of 9 for the PodRunner podcast for the “Couch to 5k” program but the actual training for this marathon began on December 15th of last year. I followed a program that I created with the help of an experienced runner friend to allow me to run for 60 minutes four days a week and a long run. This was the only schedule that would allow me to keep my job, stay married and not forget my son.

Since the start of this training here are my totals:

72 runs
Average duration of 1:10:38
Total time spent running of 83:36:02
Average Pace of 10:25 minute mile
Average Distance of 6.8 miles
3 runs of 20 miles or greater
6 runs of 15 miles or greater
Total miles of 487.9 miles

When I look back at this it seems so minor compared to those that run 50-70 miles per week but I can tell you as someone with a family, job and a life outside of the running this was a major time commitment. I am very happy with my training and I believe I am prepared to lace up my shoes and run next week.

For those of you following me online the day of the race I will be thinking of you, for those of you running or watching on the race route I will be the big guy wearing Orange, and for those watching on TV just look for the lead pack and then count back 20,000 runners and that should be me…

As I ran my last run this weekend, I snapped this picture to show everyone that I am smiling and that I am prepared for this journey.

Tim

not a bad night

So I went to see Dr. Ledesma at Central Mass Podiatry and had some x-rays taken of the right foot and nothing was found for breaks. He was able to adjust my orthotic with some foam on the inside to see if we can make it fit better. He thinks it is a soft tissue problem on the outside of the foot from over training. So I am just going to suck it up and put my toe on the line in Boston and ignore the pain. 

Then tonight I went to the local High School with my wife and son (Alex) and Gracie the bulldog. I ran along side my son as he did the .35 mile loop on his bike. I did a nice 2 mile jog with no issues/pain. The highlight of the night and my training to date was when my son asked to run with me and him and I ran the .35 loop together. He had to stop a few time, but didn't we all we just started out, I did.

It was nice to look down at him and think that I hope that we will be able to do this together again for years to come.

Have a good night and hug your kids if you can because it is a tough job that is 24/7 but the simple things make it worth the effort.

Tim

Interview with one of my running consultants

Video Update #1

Here is my first try for a video update on training:

Let me know what you think of these.

Tim

Beware of Youth...

Ok, so on Sunday I had planned to do 15 or 16 at a relaxed pace of 10:30 and if I felt up to it maybe run the middle 6-8 at a 10:00 pace. Well, that was the idea and if I didn’t run with a twenty something runner for the day I might have stuck to it. I ran with Matt C and we just couldn’t find that slower pace and we ran the 15 miles at a 9:45 pace. I don’t know if it was the faster pace or the fact that I didn’t get my normal 20 miles in during the week or that my body is getting tired but the hills on the route just seemed bigger yesterday and my feet seemed to be heavier. Prior to this run my issue with the right foot had subsided and I wasn’t feeling any discomfort but 3-4 miles in I started to feel like I was running with some strange object under my right arch. Now I have orthotics because I am flat footed and have no arches and I have 250+ miles on these orthotics without any issue, and the left foot feels fine so I don’t know what the issue is.

I finished the run and the pain is less then the week before but I am going to try and rest over the next two weeks. I plan on only running once or twice this week and substitute the other runs with some rowing or elliptical work. Next Sunday I have 10 miles scheduled but I am going to cross train for two hours instead. I want to maintain my conditioning but I don’t want to risk aggravating the foot more then I need to.

Here are the details from the 15 miler:

Mile 1: 9:34
Mile 2: 9:39
Mile 3: 9:57
Mile 4: 9:57
Mile 5: 9:35
Mile 6: 9:41
Mile 7: 9:32
Mile 8: 9:41
Mile 9: 9:37
Mile 10: 9:44
Mile 11: 10:00
Mile 12: 10:03
Mile 13: 9:47
Mile 14: 9:55
Mile 15: 9:45

My next update will be a look back at the preparation to date for this marathon and the lessons learned.

Cheers,
Tim

Paranoid...

If you have ever been injured in this sport or another you always have that injury in the back of your head. Before running I wasn't active and a sports related injury was when my remote control finger fell asleep on me and I had to switch to an alternate finger. So when I started running I got an overuse injury on my right calf that kept me off the road for 8 weeks then a stress fracture in my left foot while running the Portland Half Marathon took me out for 4 weeks. Since those two injuries if I get swelling on my calf due to a bug bite I start thinking it is a calf issue and I am out for another 6 weeks....

So after my 21 mile run in the monsoon this past Sunday my right foot started to bother me when I walked similar to the stress fracture I had, so the PARANOIA was really bad. I was smart though, I decided that I had more to gain from rest then 3-4 short runs through the week and thus rested on Monday as I normally due and swapped my Tuesday and Wednesday 4-5 mile runs with some time on the elliptical machine (thanks for the advice Mr. Ellis).

I was not feeling any pain today or yesterday so I went out today for a 3 mile run around my office and felt great with NO discomfort. My goal is to get in 5-8 miles tomorrow and then my scheduled 16 mile long run on Sunday. I am going to try and run the first 4 miles @ MP+30 then the middle 8 at MP or faster and then the last 4 @ MP+30.

So the morale of the story is that I am getting old and sometimes my body needs to remind me that for 38 of my 40 years it was use to riding the couch and that I have asked it to do a lot in the last 2 years. I don't have the heart to tell my body about my plans for my50th birthday, I am thinking 50 miler is a good goal or to qualify for Boston....

Cheers,
Tim