Boston...the sequel

Seth Harrison wrote:

Michele "1L" Keane wrote:I forgot to ask you where your daughter ended up for college. We can commiserate.

Dylan ended up at SUNY Buffalo State, which ironically is where I started (two years there before transferring to RIT).
I see your daughter 's at BU. What year is she?

Shannon is a freshman. I know SUNY Buffalo as I have often eaten at a great diner that is on the edge of campus - I'm blanking on the name, but it has great breakfast. In the summer I'm 1.5 hrs from Buffalo, so we often race there or bring our bikes up to ride along the river and falls (since it is flat and Chautauqua is not).

Shannon loved RIT by the way - it was her 3rd choice after BU and Northeastern (I raised a Boston lover).

Looks like a good running week for you! Glad that the craziness has settled down some. We were back to craziness in my little area this week...again.

dot520 wrote:Looks like a good running week for you! Glad that the craziness has settled down some. We were back to craziness in my little area this week...again.

Yeah Dot, I'm very happy that's all in the rear view mirror now. I actually felt comfortable turning the volume back up on the ringer on our home phone since we're no longer getting phones in the middle of the night.

Today's run was good news and semi-not so good news. The good news is that I did 14 miles in Central Park with 7 under marathon pace. Even better was that the faster pace miles, which averaged about 10-15 seconds under MP, didn't feel very fast. Furthermore, as you can see by the elevation profile below, Central Park is a brutally tough course, with lots of rolling hills. Exactly the type of training I feel my legs need for Boston. The downhills can be punishing, just like in Boston.
Now for the not so good part of the run...Due to those rolling hills, my right calf started tightening up at about mile 6 or 7, and got worse as the run went on. I had planned on a total of 15 miles, but cut it just one mile short due to the calf. On the other hand, I had originally only planned on doing 6 miles at MP, and I ended up doing 7 faster than MP.
I'm very familiar with this calf tightness. It's almost chronic, but it's not cause for tremendous concern as far as the training goes. I had done two 20 milers in the last three weeks before this week, so the legs were definitely not fresh, and definitely not used to such a hard course. I'll get at least one, hopefully two more long runs in at Central Park, with the hope that this will leave my legs very prepared for the Boston course.
Today's run:

Nice work, Seth. Take care of that calf.

A friend and I drove to the hills here on the east side of Cleveland, and the profile we ran looks a lot like yours! except we are actually at 661 ft at the start and climb to 1008 ft and then go up and down! Wish I knew how to post.

Michele "1L" Keane wrote:Nice work, Seth. Take care of that calf.

A friend and I drove to the hills here on the east side of Cleveland, and the profile we ran looks a lot like yours! except we are actually at 661 ft at the start and climb to 1008 ft and then go up and down! Wish I knew how to post.

These hills in Central Park aren't nearly as long as the hills I run in the preserve near my house, but it's much more rolling up and down, making it much harder on my legs. It's also asphalt as opposed to trails. As I said above, I think a few of the runs like the one I did today are essential Boston training.

Tested the calf out on Tuesday with 4 mile treadmill run, and it's still tight. This comes during an easy, step-back week, so I'm making it a bit more of a step-back to give the calf some extra time.
I swam a little over a mile this morning. It was bitterly cold out, but the pool at the Y was like a bathtub, which was nice. Covered the distance in the pool comfortably, if not very fast. After Boston, I'll turn my attention back to getting faster in the water.
If I get off of work early enough, there's a spin class that I'll try to get to tonight.
At this point, I'll probably wait until Saturday to run. That should give the calf some extra time to get better. A week from Saturday is my third 20-miler, so I want to make sure I'm good to go by then.

Smart move Seth - I was out for 2 mos a few summers ago by pushing a calf injury to the limit. By the way, I ran 6 miles in Central Park the other day (my TM uses Google maps and there was a 6 mile route for Central park) and those hills are tough. I ran a 15K in the park years ago (1984) and I vaguely remember those ones to the north - well, I remember them now. Definitely good Boston training. The google maps show you the buildings and streets on the TM display which is also quite fun as I ran by the museums and with taxi cabs.

Michele "1L" Keane wrote:Smart move Seth - I was out for 2 mos a few summers ago by pushing a calf injury to the limit. By the way, I ran 6 miles in Central Park the other day (my TM uses Google maps and there was a 6 mile route for Central park) and those hills are tough. I ran a 15K in the park years ago (1984) and I vaguely remember those ones to the north - well, I remember them now. Definitely good Boston training. The google maps show you the buildings and streets on the TM display which is also quite fun as I ran by the museums and with taxi cabs.

So you ran in Central Park you didn't call to see if I wanted to join you, huh! :-)...that was my initial thought when I read what you wrote!
The six mile loop is the course I run (see the elevation profile above), and as you found out, it's pretty tough, especially the downhills. The hills at the northern tip of the park are the worst. They're called the Harlem Hills, since the top of the park is in Harlem. The other option for running in the park is the bridle path, which a lot of people use. I haven't run on it, since I get all the trail running I can handle closer to home.

After missing over three weeks of training due to a very strained calf and peroneal, I think I'm finally ok to resume training. For the past week, I've been getting EPAT treatments by a new doctor (new to me). EPAT is a sound wave treatment that can best be described as sounding and feeling like a jack hammer to the affected area. The interesting thing about it is that while it can be very painful while it's being applied, there is (unlike Graston for example) zero residual pain or soreness once it's over.
In the doctor's office yesterday, he had me do a ten minute treadmill run at a 10% incline to give the calf a good test. No problem with that. So today I did an easy 4 miles for another test. Again, no problems. Tomorrow I'll get the fourth and final EPAT treatment. The plan will be for a medium long run in the 10-13 mile range on Friday. As long as everything continues to go well, the following weekend will be my third and final 20 miler. There's nothing I can do about missing over three weeks of training, and it will certainly force me to rethink what's realistic for Boston, but assuming I get through the next few weeks injury free, I should be in reasonably good shape on April 15th.

Hey Seth, It's been awhile. I'm sorry to hear that you developed an injury on your road to Boston but at least you're back at it now. Best of luck!

Glad to see you back, Seth, and remember it is just about finishing anyway.

Thanks Tim and Michele.
I've been cross training constantly over the past three weeks (swimming, elliptical, stationary bike, spinning), so hopefully I maintained cardio fitness reasonably well. While the pie in the sky goal has been to get in under 3:30, which would earn me another BQ (even though this will very possibly be my last marathon) and come close to a PR, this layoff will probably mean being content with redeeming myself after my first Boston, which was my slowest marathon.

Sorry about the injury Seth. Hopefully come race day everything comes together and you have fun throwing down a great time.

Alex Kubacki wrote:Sorry about the injury Seth. Hopefully come race day everything comes together and you have fun throwing down a great time.

Thanks a lot Alex! I'm still hoping it all comes together for a pretty good day.

Today was the first workout since calf injury. I've missed about 3 1/2 weeks of running. I did 11 miles with at
least 5 at or better than MP with two good hills repeats at the end. The soleus is a little sore, but otherwise ok. Legs are tired,
and I definitely lost a significant amount of fitness. Assuming the calf holds up, which is not a given, it's gonna be interesting.

Drat! Sorry about the injury, Seth. I hope your cross-training carries you through, and that your calf behaves for the race.

Well Seth - nobody can ever say it all has come easy to you! Hang in there buddy and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you...

Wow, lots of injuries going around. Sounds like you may be over the hump and on your way back, hang in there. The cross-training should help, so I'd say don't abandon the goals quite yet. Even so, Boston is a wonderful experience to just soak in even if you aren't 100%, which by the way, most of us aren't coming out of winter training. Hope to meet up with you and other 365's in April, luck-o-the Irish to ya!

Mark, John and Steve, thanks guys. Steve, I'm hoping we'll have a gathering at some point in Boston, either before, or over beers afterward.
I haven't thrown my A goal out the window, but with this being the longest stretch on the shelf I've ever done in the middle of a training cycle, in the end I may have to just be happy with running a decent race and redeeming my first rotten Boston (my finishing time, not the whole experience which was awesome). I'll have a better idea about where I stand after this weekend's last 20 miler.
Today was 8 miles 5 under MP and about 4 1/2 at a decent tempo pace (about 20-25 seconds faster than goal MP). As with Friday's 11 miler, I was aware of the lost fitness, but I'm fine with how things went today. The leg felt pretty good throughout, and feels fine as I sit here 5 hours after the run.
Here's the splits from today:

Solid 9 mile progression tempo run. I ran on a new course today about 20 minutes from my house. It's a 3 mile loop at Purchase College (State Univ. of NY). In the direction I went, the first 1 1/2 is mostly downhill, and the back half is rolling with one pretty steep uphill. I maintained the paces I planned on pretty well, and the leg held up fine.
Cross training for the next two days and then the third and final 20 miler on Saturday.
Here's the elevation profile and the splits from today:

Last really long run before Boston. It was hard but productive long run. I ran about half the run on hilly trails and half on rolling pavement. So there were a good amount up and down hills plus a good deal of wind. A very good pre-Boston run. I couln't hold MP (sub 8:00/mile) for
very long so as I figured, I'll have to adjust my goal for Boston. Missing 3 1/2 weeks of training definitely cost me. Nothing I can do about that now. I had no problems with
the injured area (mainly right soleus), but both quads and calf are pretty beat up from the
pounding afterward.
Splits and elevation below:

Splits look very similar on my 20 miler today. Little bit less hilly here. I deliberately cruised the couple man-made hills on the lakefront, one being a sledding hill. Seems like you are doing fine right now. I wouldn't worry about holding MP on this run since the distance is where you gain the benefit, save the MP for the MR, hang in there, Seth.

fostever wrote:Splits look very similar on my 20 miler today. Little bit less hilly here. I deliberately cruised the couple man-made hills on the lakefront, one being a sledding hill. Seems like you are doing fine right now. I wouldn't worry about holding MP on this run since the distance is where you gain the benefit, save the MP for the MR, hang in there, Seth.

Thanks Steve. I'm still using 8:00/mile as the goal MP as I finish up the training. The final thoughts on the goal will be almost a last minute decision based on several factors, not least of which is how my fresh my legs feel on 4/15.
Today was a fairly easy 8 miles with some hills on the trails, with 3 a bit under MP. The quads and calves are still tired, and my hip (more accurately the top of the ITB is a little sore as it often gets). I may get a massage next week after this weekend's last medium/longish run
Today's run:

You're training post-interruption is looking good, Seth. Don't throw that 8:00 MP goal yet. It looks like you slipped into sub-8 territory pretty easily today even after grinding up a decent-sized hill. Keep it as a race-day decision.

A massage sounds very nice. Goodness knows, you've earned it.

Redemption is yours, Seth! Just check out what the day brings you and make your decision then.

Thanks Mark and Dot!
I finished up the training for Boston with a solid, hilly, 12 miler today, with the second half averaging well under whatever I decide is my marathon pace. The legs have recovered from last week's long run and held up nicely today. Now it's on the to the taper...