Looking Forward, Looking Back

With 6 weeks until race day, I have made it to the part of training that feels a bit like having tunnel vision. This week, my mid-week run lead to the first 18 miler of the training cycle. I start with a 6 mile tempo run tonight followed by 1 mile repeats later in the week. On Sunday, my wife and "Coach Speedy" will act as my crew as I run 18 miles on the earlier part of the Boston Marathon course.

The 18 miler is a fairly exhausting task. It is run 30 seconds per mile over race pace while preparing my legs and cardio system for the intense work of race day. Mentally, this is a good opportunity to prepare for the discomfort that the last miles of the marathon brings. Luckily, I will have this run and the 20 miler a few weeks later as the last of my real long runs. The key is to take your body to the edge with enough time to recover for race day.

In preparing for the upcoming really long runs, I have found myself looking back and the past weeks of running. Last week, I knocked out a 9 mile tempo run and had a track workout where I managed to run at a 6:30 pace during the interval portion. That left me pretty excited for race day. In addition, here is this year's Top 10 list:

Top 10 Things About Training for the Boston Marathon:

10. Talking to a 1st grade class at Solomon Schechter Jewish Day School about my run
9. "He is eating again" jokes from my co-workers
8. High fives from small children while running through Cambridge on a long run
7. Coach Speedy cheering and clapping when I get back from long runs
6. Fantastic dinner parties to raise money for MBHP
5. A client trying to donate $5 to my marathon run
4. A random man in Arlington stopping me at a red light to find out why I am running the marathon - and having a cold gatorade and $5 donation when I arrived at the same light 30 minutes later!
3. 4am runs in the rain and snow
2. Having an duck boat "Quack Quack" for the runner (me) in downtown Boston one Sunday
1. Knowing that I will hit the $10,000 mark thanks to your help