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

Boston Marathon Course Preview

For those who haven't seen it, here is a great video preview of the Boston Marathon course with a little Bruce Springsteen to get you going!

Training with "Coach" Speedy

When my wife and I first heard our son's heartbeat while she was pregnant, we were shocked at how rapid a baby's heartrate is. He instantly gained the nickname "Speedy" and has never lost it. Recently Speedy, who is now 4, has decided he is going to "coach me" for the marathon.

A few weeks ago I was reading a Runner's World article about getting core workouts done while balancing family life, running, etc. I pulled one of the ideas to test out and it went someting like this:

Step 1: locate a full deck of cards, including jokers if possible
Step 2: have toddler or other small person who can tell the number or card type pick a card
Step 3: select an exercise (sit-ups, push-ups, supermans, etc) and do the number specified on the card. Then, help your small person learn to count backward by doing the number of exercises again
Step 4 (A Coach Speedy Special): If your small person pulls a jack out of the deck, you have to do 10 jumping jacks and then 10 more as they count backward.

Here is an example after this weekend's 14 miler on hills:

I returned from my run and began to stretch while Coach Speedy got his handy, dandy deck of cards. He asked what exercise I would do first. I chose sit-ups (front, left side, right side as one rep). He took the top card and told me it was a face card. This means sit-ups 1-10 as he counts. Then I had to do the same sit-ups again as he counted backward. Effectively this gives me 1 set of 20 sit-ups. We switched exercises and this went on for another 10 minutes or so. Then, he hit a jack and got a big smile on his face. "Time for your jumping jacks Abba. I hope your legs aren't tired yet!" Cue the pre-schooler singing his version of "Gonna Fly Now" from Rocky as he jumps up and down while I do the jumping jacks.

You get the idea...Coach Speedy struck again this morning as I rollerbladed him in the running stroller (combined weight of 60 lbs for 3 miles). "Faster Abba, you are going too slow. You can't win the race if you go this slow!" Lucky for me he sang a different tune with his teachers..."Do you know how we got here? We skated. My Abba skated me to school - he's so cool!"

Thanks Coach Speedy!

5 weeks down, 11 more to go!

With 5 weeks of "official" training and fundraising down and 11 weeks left until race day, this is where things start to get interesting. The excitement of starting the training cycle is beginning to wear off. Waking at 4am for a 8-10 mile training run is feeling a bit harder. My body is significantly stronger than it was after the Philadelphia Half-Marathon in November but this is the part of training where it starts to warn you about the dangers of over-training. A sniffle here, a tight calf muscle there - these are the things any runner starts to pay attention to in training. A delicate balance as my grandmother would say. I realized after my run that one of the things that helps me win the mental game is regular check-ins, blog comments, facebook wall postings, and donations with fun messages from friends, family, co-workers and complete strangers who have heard about my run from others.

In the past week, I have bounced back from a cold to nail all 3 of my running workouts plus 3 days of intense cross-training. I did mile repeats on the track this past Friday and am growing to enjoy to track (much to my surprise). The marathon course was packed with runners on Sunday morning! There was a strong 18 mile per hour headwind heading outbound from Brookline and it was fairly cold. The return trip up and over the Newton hills was warmer with no wind. I managed a quick pace through the hills with a focus on the mental images I need on race day - strong stride, good arm movement, relaxed shoulders. Overall, a great 13.1 mile run at 9:15 pace!

There is a mental game for fundraising at this point as well. I have raised $3194 to date - just over 30% of my goal. I am excited and grateful to everyone who has contributed. A good friend is hosting a dinner party fundraiser this weekend and it is sure to be a great time! I need to begin focusing my energy on getting fundraising letters out and pulling together an event here in Boston. My 34th birthday is just a few weeks before race day and I would like nothing better than to hold an event raising $3400 to celebrate.

Why I run

This training cycle feels very different than any I have done before, largely because I have spent more time reflecting on why I run and why I run to raise money for MBHP. I regularly have people ask why I take on challenges like the marathon and not infrequently, I struggle to answer them. So, here is my answer:

Not so long ago, I didn't have a stable place to live. After head injuries, repeated knee surgeries and other injuries from domestic violence, I made the difficult decision to leave my parents home - even if I wasn't sure where I would be going. I kept a job and went to school despite staying on couches and sometimes outside, ignoring health issues and the need for better quality food - in short, surviving. I was lucky enough to have someone cut me a break and provide a stable couch to sleep on as long as I needed it. I was slowly able to pull my life back together, save money to pay for start-up costs for an apartment and address some of the health issues that I had been neglecting.

10 years ago, I moved to Boston. 6 years ago I had the last of 14 knee surgeries and as a joke my surgeon said I could go run a marathon, so here I am. I am here because someone took a risk and helped me get my life together. Someone said, you are smart enough to survive on your own and you are going to do good things in the world. When someone asks me why I am running for MBHP, the answer is now easy for me to articulate...the men, women and children we help at MBHP deserve that same chance. They too are smart and surviving despite the difficult decisions they face daily- choice between food and medication, rent or an empty stomach, time with their kids or an extra shift at work. I run because I had the chance to not only survive but to thrive - my clients deserve the same thing.

Is $10,000 going to end homelessness - no. But raising $10,000 gives someone in the 30 cities and towns MBHP serves a chance to thrive and not be afraid of not having somewhere to sleep safely tonight. Join me in giving them that chance. For those who have been wondering, this is why I run.

Thanks to Ryan and Sara Hall

I want to take a moment to thank Ryan and Sara Hall for donating items to raise money for Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership. These items, donated through the Hall Steps Foundation will allow MBHP provide outstanding service to thousands of low-income folks throughout the Greater Boston area. On April 19th, we will be one small step closer to ending homelessness 26.2 miles at a time thanks to their generosity!

Stay tuned for auction and raffle details!

Critical Elements #2: Shoes

I am officially back on the streets after taking a week off to battle a cold that felt more like the plague. While I was becoming reacquainted with my pillow, the box containing my new Asics Speedstar 3 shoes arrived! I have run each of my previous races in Asics GT-2100 series shoes and been thrilled. I had always wanted a slightly lighter shoe for training and racing but never been quite fast enough to try it - until now!

I took the bright yellow and black shoes out for a run by the Charles on the way home tonight and it was 5 miles of pure, light weight joy! My smart brain is telling me that I have to alternate these new, beautiful, happy feet shoes with my current shoes (a pair of orange GT-2120s that I can't seem to find in my size anymore) but my "I want to be fast" runner brain just wants these puppies glued to my feet for the next 75 days.

And, to top off the joy of running in my new shoes - I am almost positive I got passed by Ryan Hall today.