Mar 30, 2009

Almost April

3 weeks until Boston, which for me means 1 more week of hard training before I back off the mileage . The plan is to do between 75-80 miles this week, culminating with a 20-22 miler on Saturday morning. Highlights of the past 4 weeks include an indoor 18 miler (never again)... back-to-back 12-milers done at planned marathon pace, back-to-back "fast-finish" runs, the first being 8 miles easy, 4 miles at 6-minute pace; the second being 5-miles easy, 4 miles at 6-minute pace. Runner's World says these runs yield the same results as 18-20 slow miles. I hope to come out of this week feeling mentally and physically prepared. Hill workouts have been notably absent from my training, which I'm afraid will keep me from my "A" goal.

Mar 3, 2009

Running Ducks

Just under 7 weeks remaining until Boston. I'm trying not to obsess but it's getting more difficult with each passing day, especially those days when it feels like spring. I've been obsessively checking Bill Rodgers web page daily waiting for the 2009 line of adidas Boston Marathon clothing to appear and it finally did earlier this week. The jackets are the traditional blue and yellow colors of the BAA. There's a really cute kids shirt as well, featuring a running duck and the words 'Just Keep Running'.

Training is going great. I've nailed every key workout in the last 6-8 weeks, including weekly LSD's, pace, tempos, and intervals. I'm averaging about 40-45 quality miles a week. I'll bump that up to 55-60 in the next 3-4 weeks, which should leave me feeling very confident as April 20th approaches. Found a geat link on the internet to a spreadhsheet written specifically for developing a pace strategy for Boston's course. I plan on starting moderately fast, running an even effort (rather than pace) and allowing for maximum fade at the end (is there really any other option?). The last time I ran Boston in 2006 I was familiar with but not intimate with the course. I truly think knowing the course in and out and having a plan on how to run each section is key. Time will tell!