FitCorp Training Run #6

Today I'm going to share with you some of my thoughts over the 2+ hours it took to run almost 15 miles. You'll notice things get "funny" as the run goes on.

First, there was the bit of panic when I thought I left the house late. Lucky for me, I drive like a bit of a maniac and had the last Cult CD on so I made great time into Boston and was in FitCorp with plenty of time to lock up my back and use the restroom.

A nice surprise was seeing Alicia in the lobby before the run began. Alicia also did the FitCorp training series last year and ran/is running the marathon in support of MEEI. In this small world that is Boston, Alicia is also married to the college roommate of one of my co-workers. Welcome back Alicia, I'm glad you are feeling better.

After the instructions of today's course all of the runners stream outside to start. This is when I start up my Garmin 405 GPS watch so I can track my run information and post it here for you all to enjoy. The Garmin was a gift from my wife Karen after last year's marathon and I have developed a love/hate relationship with it. When it works I find it as amazing as the iPhone. I love that it tracks heart rate, pace, and when I get home I can review all of this data. I may even get the footpod at some point. But sometimes the Garmin is temperamental. Such was the case today.

When I went outside today and flipped the Garmin to training mode it began to start to look for satellite signal. This process normally takes about 20-30 seconds. Today it felt like playing games. Up the indicator went, and then back down. It played this game a couple of times. Plan B time, which is to shut off the GPS and turn it back on. At this point all of the runners are out and on their way, and I'm still there playing with the Garmin. But it appeared plan B worked, so I hit start timer and I'm off. Until I get to the State House and notice that according to Garmin I've haven't gone anywhere and I have no speed. We play plan B a couple of more times before finally having success. This is NOT the way I like to start a long run.

On the other hand, I do. Starting last lets me play a game I call chase. This is where I try to catch up with runners in front of me.

The stretch of Beacon Street from FitCorp to Kenmore Square is always interesting. First there are the nice places along the Common. At Charles Street there is a Starbucks on the corner where last year some guy outside wished me good luck for the marathon. I still recall that every time I run by that Starbucks, so thank you whoever you are! Next up is the pub that inspired the show Cheers. Yes, each and every time heading out I think "That is the pub from Cheers." On the way back I think "Why aren't they outside handing out beer??" Next is what I've taken to calling the flats, it is the stretch of Beacon from the Common to Kenmore Square. On this stretch I spend a large amount of time trying to:

1. Not get run over my cars coming out of side streets.
2. Trying to figure out which place is Tom Brady's.

I spend a much smaller amount of time noticing the Scientology place and the collection of Frat houses. Today I had the added distraction of trying to keep my fingers warm. Last week the new mittens kept my hands nice and toasty. This week my fingers were starting to look frost bitten. I decided to blame the Garmin since I had to stand around in the cold for so long. Finally you get to the over passes that mark the entrance to Kenmore Square. The good news is that by this time I had caught up with the tail end pack of runners. The bad news is my plan to try for a negative split today was shot to hell.

There is not much to love about Kenmore Square, lots of traffic in the street and distracted people on the sidewalks, leaving almost no place for a runner to go. But I do love seeing all the college kids taking the "walk of shame". Once getting through Kenmore and over the Pike things quiet down for a bit. At this point I'm still trying to focus on technique and keeping my speed down. Up ahead the water stop at the Holiday Inn in Brookline.

There was a large pack of runners at the water stop, so my game of chase worked out well. Drink down some Gatorade, avoid the ice in the driveway, and start up the hill to Brookline Center.

Brookline Center is busy by now and you spend a large amount of time dodging people. What do I think about going through here? It usually goes along the line of "I think I can get around that person on the left," "Coffee sounds good about now," "Hey, that is the place that is suppose to have good cakes," "That would look good on Karen," and finally on the way out there is a store that has Russian items in the window which reminds me that all of my high school Russian is gone. Next up, the stretch to Cleveland Circle and BC.

The stretch of Beacon from Brookline to BC seems to have be all Dentist and Temples. The dentists get me thinking about how Katrina will be getting braces soon. The temples get me thinking about my dad's side of the family, which always leads to thoughts of grandma Frankie. I couldn't tell you how many years it has been, but I still miss her.

In Cleveland Circle there is a burrito place which gets me thinking about food again.

Once across the street I start preparing. I start preparing for the wind that is usually whipping across the water, the hill that follows the curve, and finally mentally that now is the time to settle in. Today, no wind! I approached the hill the same way I always do, which is with a version of the Beatles song "Here Comes the Sun" My version goes:

Here comes the hills
Do, do, do, da
Here comes the hills
and I say
It's alright!

For some reason it helps. Once up the hill it is on to Newton Center and the next water stop. During this stretch I thought about not slipping on the ice and trying to remember the route. At the intersection of Beacon and Centre Streets was the next water stop and today it was hosted by the Team Brigham coordinator. This women came prepared! In addition to water and Gatorade she had glide, vasoline, pretzels, and trail mix. Thank you! Time for a Hammer Gel, glass of water, some trial mix and then I was on my way down Centre Street.

A right on Commonwealth and boom! you are right in the middle of the Newton Hills. How did I forget this?!?!? But I love the hills. Back to my Beatles and up the hills we go. I actually love this stretch because it seems every marathon team in Boston is there. You see runners who are much slower than you are (I rock!), runners who are much faster (They Rock!) and all of the people there to keep them fueled up. At no other point in the course do I feel more a part of the marathon than the hills.

The bad news is starting down the hill something felt wrong with my left foot. To me it felt like a pebble or like the sock bunched up. Since the water stop was right ahead I resolved to fix it there. Shoe off, tapped it against the wall a couple of times, straighten the sock out, put it all back together, drink of Gatorade and I'm off. From here to Cleveland is all memories of previous marathons and why I keep doing them. Thank you Grandpa Rufus for the inspiration.

By Cleveland Circle I began to think about a restroom. Boston Running Center lets runners use their bathroom, so I decided to hold off until then. Needless to say, the stretch to there my thoughts were completely about my bladder. Except when I got there they weren't open yet. Oh well, the Holiday Inn is only another mile or so.

During that mile I began to realize something. There are always Labs and Goldens out for walks. But today I was noticing a marked increase in the number of other breeds. Most notable - Grayhounds, at least 4, and Standard Size Poodles, of which I saw 3. When was the last time you saw 3 standard size poodles in one day???? Are they making a comeback? Should I get one?

Running though Brookline Center I decided the item I thought would look good on Karen was all wrong. Usually that store has good window displays, but today's were not as good as usually.

Finally the Holiday Inn. As I head down to the restroom I took my hat off. As I did I felt something cold. Would you believe it was cold enough today that an icicle formed on it? Anyhow, once business was taken care of it was upstairs to the water stop. A Hammer Gel and water and I was on my way.

The run back is always strange. It is only a 5K from the Holiday Inn to One Beacon Street but it might as well be another 10 miles. Everything you see going out you see coming back and most of my thoughts are similar. For today I decided I was going to kick it over the Mass Pike overpass. Success!

I tried to keep my pace from Kenmore to the Statehouse hill with mixed results. You can see One Beacon Street for most of the way, but like the final marathon stretch along Boylston, the distance is deceiving. I have a constant battle with myself to keep pace but to try and save something for the hill. Today, success!

It was very slow, but I managed to run up the State House hill. I even gave a little victory yell at the top. From there it is downhill to One Beacon Street.

Some stretching, a shower, and I was on my way!

You can view this week's run by clicking here

Thanks this week to Marie Larose for sponsoring me and supporting the Eaton-Peabody Lab. Don't forget, you can donate by clicking on the Firstgiving link on the right. Clicking on the ads on this page also produce a small amount that I will be giving to MEEI and the Eaton-Peabody.

Thanks for hanging in there for a long post.