Central Park Reservoir - 8 miles

In New York this weekend for the Matzevah (tombstone unveiling) for Barbara's late father Julian. His apartment finally sold and closed early this month, so we're staying in a hotel in midtown. There's a great view of the Empire State Building out our hotel window. Ran about a mile north to Central Park this morning. Weather was overcast, but temperature was perfect - probably high forties. Took the roadway around the park, but detoured when I got to the Central Park Reservoir. If you've ever seen the old movie Marathon Man with Dustin Hoffman, he does his training on the running path around the reservior. It's a gravel path about a mile and a half long. I did one and a half loops and returned up the west side of the park and back to the hotel to make 8.33 miles. Kept a respectable 7:47 pace, considering I had to stop for traffic a number of times between the hotel and the park.

Could feel the knee acting up a little during the first half of the run. Guess I will have to take a few weeks off to let it heal, but I wanted to finish out the month and to break 500 miles for the year to date, both of which I did today.

Did a few other runs in the past week which I didn't get around to blogging:

Thursday, April 28
Gang From Work 5.65 miles

Tuesday, April 26
First Summer Weather Run 7.16 miles @ 7:35/mile

Sunday, April 24
Home From Rittenhouse Square 2.28 miles
Jog With Paul 3.77 miles
Run to Paul's 3.01 miles

Boston Marathon 2011

Target: 26.2 miles @ 3:30:00 (8:00/mile)
Official: 26.2 miles @ 3:25:08 (7:50/mile)
Garmin: 26.42 miles @ 3:25:06 (7:45/mile)

Stats from the BAA race day results website:

Bib	Name	Age	M/F	City	St	Ctry	Ctz
10651	Warnock, Murray	47	M	Philadelphia	PA	USA
5k 10k 15k 20k Half 25k 30k 35k 40k 0:23:30 0:46:12 1:08:56 1:32:07 1:37:06 1:55:22 2:19:35 2:45:59 3:13:49 Finish: Pace Proj. Time Offl. Time Overall Gender Division 0:07:50 3:25:08 6257 5323 765

Started the day at 5:30. After I got dressed and walked out into the hall, there was Doug, standing in the dark, waiting to wish me a good race. What a great kid!

We are staying with bro-in-law Jeremy and his partner Geoff in Newton, MA - a pretty Victorian suburb about 4 miles from Boston center. Jeremy gave me a ride out to the race start in Hopkinton. Although we didn't have good directions, we found the dropoff with no problem. Had to wait about three hours before the race start, and it was cold! Temp was in the forties, but it was the heavy wind that really made it chilly. I had a sweatshirt, but was one of the very few people who didn't wear some sort of long pants to cover up before the race.

Did not have the nerves that afflicted me so badly at the Philly marathon. Ate 1.5 PB&J sandwiches and a quart of Gatorade. Sat in on a sports psychologist talk for about half an hour, and I think that helped keep positive thoughts.

Was happy and psyched once the race started at 10:20. Although the first mile was crowded, with a lot of jostling, we finished in under 8:00. The weather was beautiful - sunny, and the wind that was so frosty at the staging area was now at our backs. There was lots of downhill for the first half of the race, and after 13 miles, had averaged 7:21/mile. Fastest mile was the fourth at 7:08.

Was a little concerned with the pace, but did not feel like I was straining at all, and thought that the downhill would be balanced by uphill for the second half of the race. Was looking for Barb, Doug, Jeremy and Geoff, and saw them at mile 17. By this time was starting to feel tired - the uphills had just started, and it was great to hear their encouragement!

After mile 19, the hills began for real, and I realized that the fast pace had taken a toll, even though it had been downhill and felt effortless. Reached my limit during mile 21 and had to walk .3 miles to catch breath and finish a hill. That was the slowest mile - 9:48. Had to walk twice more briefly before the end of the race, and it was all I could do to keep at an 8:30 trot for the last three miles.

After crossing the finish line, was able to keep on my feet OK and grab a water bottle, but almost completely lost vision for a couple of minutes - everything went white, and could only see the outline of figures. Chris texted me with the official time, and I found a curb to sit on. Was overwhelmed by support and good wishes while still catching my breath - text messages from Chris, Raminder, Tony, Paul, Colette, Larry and Yancey and email from Mom, Dad and Bob. After half an hour of recovery and finding my way through the crowd, met up with the family.

Final time was 3:25:08 - 7:50/mile pace and halfway between my stated goal of 3:30 - Boston qualifying time for my age - and fantasy goal of beating 3:20, which would be about 7:35/mile. Knee didn't bother me at all during the race, although I could sure feel it afterward. Sent Dr. Sennett, Dr. Gay and PT Jeff O'Neil thank-you's after the race for their care.

We all went out for a seafood dinner - I had the lobster - after the race. Have a couple of black toenails, and it is painful going down stairs, but otherwise I'm in good shape.

Many thanks to all friends and family who were generous with support and indulgent listening to all my running talk. This was a much tougher race than the Philly marathon and I really could not have made it without your help.

Week Minus 1 - Last 2 Workouts

Wednesday - Intervals (7.48 miles)
Target: 10-20 min warmup; 6X400m @1:35 (400m RI); 10 min cooldown
Actual: 2 mile warmup; 6X400m @1:22 (400m RI); 2.5 mile cooldown

Thursday - Tempo (5.26 miles)
Target: 3 mile run: 1 mile easy, 2 miles @ 8:00/mile
Actual: 5 mile run: 1 mile easy, 2 miles @ 7:12/mile, 2 miles easy

Got the last two workouts in before the race. Would have preferred to do them earlier in the week, but didn't feel like going out in the rain and wind Monday & Tuesday.

Yesterday, I went out from work with Chris and Raminder, then took off on my own for the two tempo miles. Those were supposed to be at marathon pace, and I was trying to feel for a pace that felt slightly aggressive, but sustainable over a long period. The 7:12 I ended up with was probably faster than I'll want to go, but it was nice to feel that I have a little slack to play with. I have been warned that the first few miles of Boston are slightly downhill, and it is easy - especially with all the excitement and other runners - to start out too fast. So I'll have to keep an eye on that. It can be difficult to slow your pace, especially during a race.

Had my last session with the physical therapist Wednesday morning. He taught me some dynamic stretching exercises that he recommended for warming up for the race. He said that the current thinking is that static stretching immediately before a race can hurt your performance and that warming up is much more important for performance and avoiding injury.

Got a busy day ahead as I'll be off work next week for the Boston trip; after work have to get home to pack and prepare the house. We'll take the train up tomorrow morning, and spend the next three nights with Barbara's brother Jeremy outside of Boston. We'll spend Tuesday and Wednesday in central Boston and see the sights. Kathy, any recommendations? I want to see the stained glass atlas ceiling in the CS Mother Church, which we only saw from the outside last time we were there.

Have gotten emails and phone calls from friends and family in advance of the race. Thank you guys - Dad, Kathy, Hallie, Yancey - so much for your wonderful support. I'm feeling like I can go into this race relaxed and without nerves and just enjoy the fruits of all the training.

If you want to look up results on race day (Monday the 18th) before I've gotten around to posting, I imagine there will be a "results" link at the Boston Marathon website. My bib number is 10651. The race will start for my wave at 10:20a.m. EDT, so I hope to be finished by 1:50p.m.

Week Minus 2 - Distance (10 miles)

Target: 10 miles @ 8:00/mile
Actual: 10 miles @ 7:35/mile

This last double-digit run before the race is supposed to be at marathon pace. This program is for an 8:00 pace (or 3:30 total marathon time), but I've been trying to keep about :30/mile under all of the tempo and distance times. The goal is to train for a 3:20 marathon, and be satisfied with any time between 3:20 and 3:30. So I'll be satisfied with a 3:30, and very happy if I can break 3:25, and have bragging rights if I can break 3:21, which is my brother-in-law Joel's best time!

The run went fine, had only a banana beforehand, and did not feel low-energy. Mile 10 was the fastest at 7:14. One interesting thing about Boston is that there is a long uphill stretch from mile 19 to mile 21. That's a key stage of the race - the first marathon I ran, I wasn't 100% sure I would make it until after mile 20.

Week Minus 2 - Tempo (7 miles)

Target: 6 mile run: 2 miles easy, 3 miles @ 7:14/mile, 1 mile easy
Actual: 7.23 miles: 2 miles easy, 3 miles @ 6:32/mile, 2.23 miles easy

Good run with no knee pain until afterward. Really concentrated on speed for the three tempo miles - first one was 6:13. Weather was nice - bright sun and in the 40s, but windy. Had the wind to my back for the fast mile.

Week Minus 2 - Intervals (6.3 miles)

Target: 10-20 min warmup; 5X1000m @4:03 (400m RI); 10 min cooldown
Actual: 2 mile warmup; 5X1000m @3:45 (400m RI); walking cooldown (no mileage)

Have been feeling worn out lately, but managed to get all the sprints in before knee suddenly started having sharp pain when starting cooldown jog. It didn't hurt walking, so got back to the office and iced it. It's been OK since.

The intervals went well; managed to keep well under the target times without really max-ing out the effort. Mileage is going down this week; and next week are only two token short workouts before the marathon on the 18th.

Scenic Saturday Jog

6.42 miles

Paul and I jogged from his place down to the river path. It was a beautiful day, although only about 40 degrees, and lots of people were out on the path. Lots of crew boats out on the river - looked like there was going to be a regatta later. We jogged down the Benjamin Franklin Parkway on the way back, and stopped to get these shots of the Civil War Sailors and Soldiers Memorial and the Swann Memorial Fountain. There is no water in the fountain yet, so I got to see some of the statuary close up. These sculptures were done by Alexander Sterling Calder, the father of Alexander Calder, modern sculptor and inventor of the mobile, and son of Alexander Milne Calder, who created the famous statue of William Penn that stands on top of City Hall.

Week Minus 3 - Distance (13 miles)

Target: 13 miles @ 8:00/mile
Actual: 13.02 miles @ 7:37/mile

After a couple of days of cold rain, and even some sleet this morning, it stopped long enough for a run at lunch time, I tried to push it just a little, to find my fastest sustainable pace for the marathon. Started at under 8:00 pace, and kept at about 7:40 for the first half. Sped up a bit for the second half. Last mile was fastest at 7:24. I think I should be able to sustain a 7:45 pace for Boston. That should buy me some slack for the uphill section of the race between miles 19 and 21. If I can finish with an overall 8:00/mile pace - 3 hours, 30 minutes - I will be satisfied.