I haven’t posted for a while now, so I thought I was a little overdue for some catch up. I won’t bore you to tears, but the highlights are this:

-After my last race (my March Half Marathon) I was hobbled for more than a week. My wife convinced me to finally go see [...]]]>

I haven’t posted for a while now, so I thought I was a little overdue for some catch up. I won’t bore you to tears, but the highlights are this:

-After my last race (my March Half Marathon) I was hobbled for more than a week. My wife convinced me to finally go see the doctor again and as I suspected I had another stress fracture.

-During the course of the MRI workup I also learned that I have a benign tumor in my tibia that is about the size of a pea. This scared the crap out of me at first, but it turned out to simply be an incidental finding and not anything to really worry about.

-I was forced to sit on the sidelines for 14 weeks, and unlike the last time I had a stress fracture a few years ago, I had a nagging pain in my leg that lasted about 8-9 weeks into this recovery.

-My wife says that I was much more tolerable to live with during this injury. I chalk this up to my cross training (bike trainer in living room) and to simple fatigue from my grad studies. I moved out of the classroom phase and I am now doing clinicals in the OR and getting up at 4am (Yuck).

-Two weeks ago I started running again and I’ve been taking things very slow. I’ve purposely kept my pace 8:30 or slower. I wouldn’t say that I’m paranoid of getting injured again so much as I’m just trying to be smart.

During my off time I had a lot of time to consider why I suffered a second stress fracture in 3 year’s time. My nutrition was good. My training plan was gradual. My cross training was adequate. I think where I went wrong was my frequency of high intensity runs. I was racing 3-4 times per month, including multiple half marathons per month.

So, this year I’m keeping my eye on the prize and only racing once per month leading up to my Fall marathon. My schedule is this:
July 24 - BJ Williams 10K - Longmeadow, MA - I’m racing with some friends, including a few first timers who are doing the 5K. I’ll have the girls in the double stroller, so this should be a fun day.
August 15 - Falmouth Road Race - Falmouth, MA - Joining nearly 9,000 other runners to run this storied beautiful course with my best friend Justin. The 7+ mile course goes from village to village and follows the coastline and passes the lighthouse. Justin and I are running to raise money for a charity that develops technology for teachers, families, and children with autism (more to come on this).
Sept 19 - Warrior Dash Northeast - Windham, NY - Five families are trekking up to the Catskills to run this 3 1/2 mile trail race complete with 13 obstacles (mud crawl, river run, cargo net, fire jump, etc). This is one of those races more about having fun with your buds than seriously competing and I am looking forward to a weekend getaway very much.
Oct 17 - Amica Newport Marathon - Newport, RI - My Fall marathon. More on this later.

Anyway, I’m still alive, still running, and still loving life.

First, before I get to the race, I just want to catch you up a little on what has been going on with my training. I’ve been dealing with some left tibia pain since mid-January. As a result my total [...]]]> Word of warning to the reader - this is a longer than normal post.

First, before I get to the race, I just want to catch you up a little on what has been going on with my training. I’ve been dealing with some left tibia pain since mid-January. As a result my total weekly mileage and long run of the week mileage have been way down. I managed to run a half marathon on Feb 21st, but it was a lackluster performance and I could barely walk for the following week. Two weeks ago I finally relented and went to the doctor. I had to argue with her, but she agreed to order an xray. And while it didn’t show a new stress fracture (xrays don’t always catch stress fractures) it did show a callous on the shaft of my left tibia exactly where the pain is. This location corresponds with the fracture that I sustained in 2008. So, what I surmised from the exam was that my fascia, muscle, or tendons in the area of the old fracture are getting irritated by the repetitive motion over the callous.

This past week, I stopped running all together and focused on cross training, which I needed to do anyway now that triathlon season is here. I swam and cycled quite a bit. I’ve been throwing the kitchen sink at this injury (ice baths, massage, rest, stretching, strengthening exercise with the resistance band, Kinesio tape (see below), and OTC pain medicine.

Kinesio Tape Job

Today, I ran for the first time in 10 days. I had signed up for the 2010 Holyoke St Patrick’s Day Road Race and this race was a test for me to see if it was even possible to continue with my Providence Marathon training plan. My marathon is on May 2nd, and I am many weeks behind in my training plan. My leg felt better and the Kinesio taping helped. The sensation is still there, but it is much more tolerable and I am actually going to try to do my long run of the week tomorrow (16 miler). I’m slightly more optimistic about my chances of finishing Providence, although I predict my time will be slower than my last marathon. Anyway, on to today’s race.

I was going to write about this race as soon as I got home today, but decided to wait. I’m glad I did. I had a chance to talk with Justin (Mangorunner) and I also got some feedback from dailymile friends that helped put this race in perspective.

The Holyoke St. Patrick’s Day Road Race is a big local tradition. This year almost 5,000 people signed up to run and many of those runners, I suspect, only run this one race every year. The streets are lined with people from the neighborhoods and many have set up impromptu watering stations. This year two kind souls were nice enough to spray runners down from the garden hose as we ran by (It was in the mid 70s). And a special thank you to the family at mile 5 who set out a “FREE BEER STATION”. I am indebted to you for that sudsy goodness. After the race, runners and drinkers pile into temporary tents and have their fill of Irish music, pub food, and beer. Good times.

Now, the bad part - I was running late, as usual. It seems like I always do, especially when I’m bringing the girls. Note to self - allow extra time for doing their hair in the future. By the time I got to the race, the pack had already formed and I got stuck in the VERY BACK of the pack with all the other strollers. When the race started, we didn’t even move for 2 minutes. It took me 5 full minutes just to get to the starting line. I’ve been stuck in the back because of the stroller in the past and I always hate it. I end up spending the first 10 minutes weaving through walkers and runners, but today was CRAZY. I was weaving through people for the entire race. I got stuck behind families shuffling 4 abreast. I got cut off as runners streaked across the entire road to catch a watering station they missed. I had people come to a dead stop unannounced right in front of me. I had spectators step off the curb right in my path. I had more headphone blaring runners than I can count drift right in my line, completely oblivious to everyone around them. And my personal favorite was the kind gentleman just before mile 1 in the Pierce Celtics jersey who saw me coming up behind him and stepped shoulder to shoulder with his buddy so I couldn’t pass and then said loud enough to hear over his own headphones, “F%$# him, I’m not getting beat by a jogging stroller.” Not a lot of running etiquette out there today.

OK, now the good part - I have never seen so much spectator support for a 10K race. Most people were genuinely warm and supportive. I heard bagpipers, cowbells, and college households blasting their stereos for the runners. I already mentioned the Free Beer Station, but let me say again how cool that was. The whole downtown was alive. I met up with Diane and her family after the race and hung out for a bit before heading back home. Both of the girls were passed out by the time I pulled into the driveway.

Lessons learned - show up earlier next year. Get a sitter and run this race without the kids. This would be a fun race to run and then find a pub in which to carb load.

So, how did I do? This was the slowest 10K of my live. I ran it in 57:21 (compare that to New Year’s Day’s race time of 46:26). I did just get a bit of good news though. When the results were first published I found my name at 2420 out of 4844. Despite the stroller, the congestion, the tibia pain, and my time I felt like I ran better than that. Then I noticed that the place is by gun time and not chip time. So I looked at all the racers who placed ahead of me, but had slower chip times and found out that I got a 522 place bump. I actually finished at 1898, not 2420. That means that in 6.2 miles I passes almost 3000 runners. Just for fun I figured out that on average, over the 10K course, I overtook 1 runner every 11 feet. That’s a lot of weaving and bobbing.

Now, I know that’s not the right mindset for this type of race. This was a fun race, and not an ultra-competitive one but I think it’s funny and helps illustrate what kind of running I had to do with the stroller. Next weekend I’m running a half marathon in Westfield with the stroller. Let’s hope that race isn’t quite so congested.

Until then, have a good training week everyone and enjoy the pictures below (click to enlarge):

PS - Forgot to mention the second half of the story with the Celtics jersey wearing guy who dropped the F bomb in front of my kids - after blocking me and swearing he and his buddy sped up a bit. I caught up with him again on the hill shortly after mile 3. He was huffin’ and puffin’. As we passed him, I yelled “Hey, you want to jump on and catch a ride?” Oh, sweet vindication. I realize that wasn’t very sportsman like of me, but next time watch your mouth in front of my kids.

Before the race

Action Shot from the race. Photo Credit: Ted Tyler

Proud Finishers - Diane and I

Kids playing with a worm

McKenna with her favorite babysitter

Aubrey with THE LOOK

I run and they are the tired ones Go figure

Probably one week after the Cape Cod Marathon last October I started looking for my next marathon to run. It was then that I found the Hyannis Marathon scheduled for February 28th. So, I went about picking a plan, started my training (which admittedly has NOT been [...]]]> This has never happened to me before.

Probably one week after the Cape Cod Marathon last October I started looking for my next marathon to run. It was then that I found the Hyannis Marathon scheduled for February 28th. So, I went about picking a plan, started my training (which admittedly has NOT been going quite as smoothly as my training for the CCM) and began counting down the days to my next marathon. This past Friday marked the early registration deadline for the marathon. Registering after that date would mean a price bump of $5. So Friday night I went on to the Hyannis Marathon website and was rudely met with a big black box message stating that the marathon, half-marathon, and marathon-relay were all full.

How does that happen? How do all three distances fill up on the exact same day? How do more people (2000 limit) register for a marathon in February than in October (only 793 marathoners)?

Needless to say I was miffed, bummed, melancholy, WHINING…

When I was much younger and in between girlfriends, one of my friends said to me, “Nothing gets you over the last one, like the next one.” At the time I thought that was pretty callous advice when referring to girlfriends, but when it comes to races it might be just the thing. So, I jumped on CoolRunning.com and started looking for similar races around the same time. Mango mentioned that he saw something in Runner’s World about the Half at the Hamptons.

So…I am now signed up for (read as “PAID and REGISTERED for”) the Half at the Hamptons. I was looking forward to running on the Cape, but from the course reviews and race reports that I’ve read about the Half at the Hamptons, it might be a blessing in disguise. The course sounds beautiful and past runners have commented about how well organized and executed the race was.

Probably the coolest thing is that I am now going to complete the “Will Run for Beer” Race Series. I already completed the “Hangover Classic 10K” on New Year’s Day and it turns out that the “Half at the Hamptons” is the second race in the series. There are six races between now and June 6th and if I can compete in 5 of them 6, then I’ll get the series jacket. I looked ahead at the schedule and the only race I will not be able to do is the one on May 2nd (day of my Providence Marathon).

So, assuming all goes well with my training, by June I’ll be sporting a new series jacket. The series looks like fun too. There is one 5K (series finale), one 4 miler (April Fools 4 miler), one 10K (Hangover Classic that I already did), and two Half Marathons (my current favorite distance).

Needless to say, I am no longer bummed about Hyannis. Although I have learned my lesson about signing up earlier than usual for races now. Justin was bumped out of the 2010 Boston Marathon too. It just seems like there are more runners than ever and races are filling up earlier and earlier.

I took a long hard look at my last marathon time and tried to come up with a training plan that addressed my weakest areas. Without rehashing my whole race report from the marathon, suffice it to say that I held it [...]]]> …well, actually, not such a thin line. It’s actually 8 lanes wide.

I took a long hard look at my last marathon time and tried to come up with a training plan that addressed my weakest areas. Without rehashing my whole race report from the marathon, suffice it to say that I held it together for the first 19 miles only to blow up at the end and just barely squeak out my back-up goal of a sub-4 hour marathon.

I wanted to come up with a plan that balanced my desire for more long distance stamina with my desire to get faster on my average weekend 5 and 10Ks. I was successful, I think. Problem is, now that I have that training plan, I actually have to stick to it and do the work.

My training plan calls for 4 days per week of running (one long day, two “easy” days, and one speed day - either mile repeats, or tempo runs.) Today was a speed day which meant that I had to head to the high school track for mile repeats. Perhaps the only thing I hate MORE than running on a track is running on a “dreadmill.” But, if this is what it is going to take to get to my goal, then I’ll do it.

Track workouts suck

As far as the actual workout went - not too bad I guess. I ran an 800m warm up and warm down with three mile repeats with 800m recoveries in between. My mile repeats were pretty consistent (6:58, 6:53, and 7:01). I’m not going to lie though, the satisfaction of a good workout only partially mitigates my overall disdain for track runs. Good news is that tomorrow I have a nice 12 miler scheduled.