Saturday, January 8, 2011

Saturday, January 1, 2011

MMX est mortuus.

Wow, what a good year.

Looking back only two things happened all year:
1.  Abe.
2. Running.

I set PRs at every distance in 2010.
I Boston Qualified.
I won some AG awards.
I'm not even close to being satisfied.

I don't want to spend too much time looking back at the year that was, because that doesn't matter.  It's all about 2011, and on to the next one.  So without further adieu...

Team Fast Punx 2011, "Murdering Time"

The goal in 2011 is murdering time, murdering PRs, murdering the asphalt, and murdering the competition (in a friendly way of course!).  

I really see 2011 as a "bridge year" of sorts.  I feel this year I'm still building miles, still learning how to run, race, train, & recover.  I'm looking at 2011 as getting me to where I want to be in 2012, that being said... I don't plan on wasting this year at all.  Here is what I set out to do...

-The Marathon:
Boston Goal : Have a blast & PR*
     Fall Goal (Philly?): 2:55

-The 10k:  36:59
 Not sure where (maybe Beach to Beacon, probably Lobsterfest) but that will happen.

-The 5k:  16:59
Some goal 5k races may include Sea Dogs Fathers Day, Breakaway in Old Orchard, and whatever the hell else I feel like doing.

*denotes that I might be full of shit and still bring the muthafuckin ruckus in Boston en route to a 2:59!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

snow work.

You might remember this from about 10 years ago, I still love it.

I'm sitting here sipping some coffee waiting for the plow truck to go by one more time before heading out for a nice 12.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Mr. Chainsaw..

I'm so thankful my wife has not divorced me this week, how can anyone live with an injured runner?

Visit to Kennebec Valley Chiropractic has me feeling pretty good this morning, I COULD  run today, but I gave the Doc my word I'd wait until I see him again on Monday (his wife is a good friend & fellow marathoner, so I'm assuming he is fully expecting me to not live up to my word).   Dr. Lawson adjusted my foot, a little bit of cuboid sublaxation is what we are thinking... arch is very sore, but we ruled out any plantar fasciitis (thank heaven/hell).

Hoping to get back to some mileage next week, don't fret... Boston is still on track homeboys & girls..

Sunday, December 12, 2010

..the end of the beginning..the beginning of the end...

Today would be the final "freestyle" run before the 18 week plan for Boston starts tomorrow.  Wow, Boston is seriously 18 weeks away? 

After taking a complete week off after Portland, I was around 40-50 for a month, then Abe was born, which totally screwed up my running (but I'll let is slide).  The past 2 weeks I had been hovering around 50 miles again, with no real plan... I'd just get up and run however I felt. 

Thinking I'd still like to hit 55ish this week, I woke up early this morning planning on 17-20 miles before chilling on the couch, drinking some Gritty's Christmas Ale, and watching the Bears beat the crap out of Tom Brady and the Patriots.  Well, 3 miles into my run I started to think about Abe and my wife home, nice and toasty on the couch, and I literally started to tear up on how much I missed my newborn soon, whom I just kissed 20min. ago.  I tried to focus on the run, thinking about Boston, or how I ate a bit too much sushi last night that I needed to burn, or how much of a wimp I'd be if I went home... but then it hit me.  Fuck it!  It's MY run!

Somewhere around 3.5 miles, I turned around, threw in some speed-work as I ran home at half-marathon tempo.  The thought of spending a real Sunday morning with my family gave me an extra gear, and as I walked through the front door, Brianne looked at me with a horrified look in her eyes (as if expecting I was injured, or something was wrong) "why are you home already?!?"

I smiled, took off my shoes and went straight into the living room to grab my son.  I'm immensely thankful for the clarity I received today.

My son, and beautiful wife are the most important thing to me, sorry running... you take 3rd place.

Tomorrow starts my official training for Boston, I'm looking at 18 weeks of the highest mileage I've ever run, but for today... I got my family

Oh, and I still got that beer....

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Murdering Time...

The post title is a line I always thought was clever from an old Alkaline Trio song (actually it's from this Skiba solo track)  




     What I meant, was I'm killing a bit of time this morning before I head out for a long-run, somewhere between 16-20, we'll see how I feel.  But then, I started thinking about my whole philosphy of running, and planning for next season.  "Murdering Time" will be the motto of 2011.
     Murdering every PR, murdering the course, murdering the soles of my shoes, and murdering the rest of the 30-34 year olds around here on the roads...

     I've been thinking a lot of what to make of 2010, and although I try to live within every moment (how Zen huh?) it forces me to think about 2011.  I had a great 2010.. really, I did.

     I've decided to follow the Pftiz 18/70 plan en route to Hopkinton in April.  During the last cycle I maxed out just over 60mpw (and only twice), and not only really love the Pfitz structure, but I think moving up to a more "advanced" schedule, will yield the result I'm looking for.

     Well, that raises the question... what am I looking for?  2011 goals will be posted 12/31.

  

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Newborns hate running...

on 11.4.10 I became a dad. 
Also, that day I stopped sleeping.. so the past 3+ weeks of training haven't gone "awesome".  
(Bob, I don't know how the hell you're able to do what you do, with C&C.. )


nothing better after a 17 miler than this..

I've been able to keep my mileage around 40-45mpw, and getting in at least one run of 13+, so I'm pretty pumped on that.  The more I figure this father thing out, the easier it will be to get miles in, as I've got about 2 weeks left of base mileage until I start ramping up for Boston.

With Thanksgiving comes those "Turkey Trot" races, and yes.. I got sucked into one.  I decided to hit up the Portland 4-miler because the field is faster, the course is better, and basically I went to Gardiner, so screw Cony!  Having not done a step of speed-work since September, and no quality runs in about a month I wasn't expecting to run well at all.  Somehow I was able to keep sub 6min/miles at a surprisingly easy effort though, and although I slowed a bit towards the end, still finished in a respectable 24:01. 

So, a PR is a PR, even if it's a slow one.