time to get going

On Monday, December 15, I will start my marathon training program, as Boston will be "only"18 weeks away. On the one hand, it doesn't seem like enough time for me to be in the shape I want to be in. On the other hand, since this is Marathon number 11, I know that somewhere in March I will be begging the marathon to just come already. I will try not to whine about that, keeping in mind that my friend Kristina had to deal with getting pneumonia the week of her November 23rd marathon, which she correctly bagged, and is continuing her training for January 18th's Phoenix marathon, which she correctly terms the" longest marathon training season evah ." ( We love that dirty water, and the accent).

First, a little about me, and I acknowledge that one of my shortcomings is that I can talk about myself far beyond the tolerance of any normal human being's interest, so maybe it won't be just a little, but I will try. I just don't think I am going to be able to cure myself as long as I am a runner, for telling long stories actually makes me a desireable companion on 20 mile training runs.

I have always loved sports, both watching and participating, and while I was a decent skier, my accomplishments in other sports were limited by a lack of natural talent and a lack of conditioning. I have known both sides of that running t-shirt I sometimes see that says "My sport is your sport's punishment." I did enjoy running a few miles now and then, but I did not know any family members who exercised consistently, and I continued the same pattern of frustration, starting up again for a few months, then off again for an even greater period of time.

I did, however, know family members who had heart attacks. When I was just not yet 23, my dad had one, when he was age 51, and a triple bypass a year later. My uncle had his at age 55, and their dad had died of one at age 55. Since my body type tends towards my father's, I had and have plenty of reasons not to gamble that I inherited my mother's genes.

Still, the year's went by without change on my part, and at the age of 42, in December of 2000, I finally was ready, and with my wife buying me a gift certificate, I started going to a personal trainer twice a week. Having an appointment made all the difference in fixing the inconsistency issue.

Southeastern Connecticut, where I have mostly lived from nursery school through the present, is blessed with a lot of great runners, starting with Boston Marathon winner Johnny Kelley who then coached Boston Marathon winner and Runner's World Editor Amby Burfoot. There are too many others to mention, but my new trainer had won the Hartford Marathon in the 1990's and gone to the Olympic trials. And I had always thought that one day I would be a runner, like every time I was at a friend's house and saw a picture of them racing hung proudly on their refridgerator. So in June 2001, at the age of 42, I ran my first 5k, at the Mystic Aquarium, where I had worked one summer as a kid. I also ran the course the week before since I wasn't even sure I could finish with the hilly terrain, but I did, in over 32 minutes as I recall, and I loved it immediately. I found our running community very supportive of beginners and all ability levels.

So I started training and did my first half marathon in Hartford in October of 2001, and now here I am with 10 full marathons and 10 half marathons on my resume.

My range of marathon times range from a worst 5:09 in Boston 2007, with wind, a torn calf and torn quad and two visits to the medical tent, to a pr of 3:54:03 in Chicago in October, 2006. At my current age of 50 I need a 3:35 to qualify for Boston. It will be tough, but not impossible, but it won't happen in April in Boston. However, if I can do a 4:00 Boston, on a hilly course which is not my friend, then I think I might give it a try and go for the 3:35 later in the year on a favorable flat or downhill course. If I have a terrible Boston, I am going to type some word that appears here, and you will immediately forget that you ever read these goals. God I hope this Hypnosis for Dummies book is on the level.

When I first started with marathoning, I used Hal Higdon's training programs. I loved his conversational style of explaing what you were doing each day and why. However, I did my pr in Chicago using the Furman University 3 day a week running program. It requires you to make your own pace for the different runs based on your best 10k time. I think it will be easier to tell you what I am doing each week, but here are my thoughts about the program. The old school of running said, that in order to get faster you needed to put in more mileage. I am sure that works, if your body can handle it, and the older you are the less likely that is. But the old school also says, quietly, that there really are just 3 important runs a week, a speed workout, a tempo run and a long distance run, the other mileage is not to be run as hard. Furman just has you do cross training instead of those nonhard runs, whether it is spin class, yoga, swimming etc, which are things I like to do anyway, and keep me from getting a little sick of running during the training period. So I don't think the Furman program is that radical, although some old schoolers would beg to differ.

This program also gives me five 20 mile runs, which I find works for me, rather than the three of some other programs. And there is no easing into it. Here is my schedule ahead. My first run, on December 15th, is a speed workout, with a 10- 20 minute warm-up, and running a total of twelve 400 meters runs ( that is a quarter mile, once around the track), at a 7:15 per mile pace, with a 90 second rest in between the twelve sets, then a 10 minute cooldown. Now, there is no way I am going to be able to do all twelve at that pace, but that's ok with 18 weeks to go. The goal is to get to as many as possible as well as I can. Then, on Wednesday the 17th I am supposed to do a 6 mile run, with the first 2 miles easy, then 3 miles at 8:15 pace, then 1 mile easy. Again, I will have to get somewhat close to that 8:15 pace, but don't expect to be there this early. Then on Saturday, the 20th, I am supposed to run 13 miles at 9:25 pace. Well, I expect to be at 10 minute pace for the first 6 or 7, then slower than that, and may not even make it to 13, but again, I am ok with just pushing myself to get there, even though I am not there yet. I reserve the right to change or modify this program if I find I am not catching up.

Even though I have not been running a lot, mostly 6 to 8 miles for my long run of the week, I am still optimistic about my chances of a good run, because I have been working hard at getting stronger, and feel like I have corrected some of the weak points in my body that prevented me from doing better.

Well, that is one long post to make up for my absence. I will try to start posting more regularly, and give you a little more in the way of yucks. Until next time, feel free to comment away.