Joshua Grzegorzewski: the RunningBull Blog

Training is going well, finally joined the SRR

Joshua G — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 02:15:50 GMT

I have recently been able to get back into the swing of things with my run training and have brought my weekly mileage back to the positive side of 50. Which is a good thing since today marks the first day of my 16 week training plan / countdown for the JFK 50 Mile Memorial (my first official ultra).

Of course saying that I learned just yesterday of a nice low-frills marathon / 50 mile race not too far from home in Ipswich, MA that occurs two weeks sooner. I am considering contacting the Race Director to see if the 37.5 mile option will be available again this year, as it apparently was in years past. I know, it probably isn't the best idea considering I will be racing the Marine Corps. Marathon two weeks before and pacing two others between now and then, but I am a little anxious about the distance having never run more than 30 miles (in just over 5 hours) before. Combine that with the fact that I have only participated in one race (last Thursday's ++" in which I finished 4th overall, same as last year but with a time 35 seconds faster over the 5.2 mile course) since July 4 and I am starting to get a bit antsy.

Which is why I am glad that I finally took the plunge and joined my local running club, the Somerville Road Runners (www.srr.org), so that I can undertake some structured workouts with other competitive runners - many of which are much faster and more accomplished than me. I have only attended two of the weekly track workouts but am already feeling a better sense of place while also learning better control of my faster paces. Though that is much easier to do on a measured oval than on roads and trails so I am waiting to see how it carries over into my long runs and tempo runs.

Blackberry Curve Urban Challenge Finals - results

Joshua G — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 18:37:39 GMT

I was gently reminded that my previous post related to my Boston experience with this event was technically off topic and unrelated to the larger purposes of this blog. Therefore, I will post my detailed comments regarding this event and my team's finish to my MySpace blog: myspace.com/therunningbull (hopefully before Friday of this week).

Unfortunately, only about 6 of the 28 photos that I took during the event and emailed to myself before turning in the borrowed Blackberry Curve 8330 after we finished actually got delivered to my email inbox. Oh well, that is still 6 more than I had from Boston's event.

Sad to say, we did not Win, Place, or Show in the Finals so my anticipated fundraising efforts for RunningBull's Run took a mighty hit which may impact my ability to fully participate in the scheduled events for this fall.

I guess I didn't tell everyone yet afterall

Joshua G — Thu, 15 May 2008 21:04:32 GMT

I realized that my email distribution list wasn't as inclusive as I thought when I was asked today about my experience from last weekend's Blackberry Curve Challenge event in Boston. It was hard, it was tiring, it was amazingly fun. And I am not just saying that because my team finished in the top 30, therefore winning a Blackberry Curve 8330 smartphone for my 3 1/2 hours of effort.

I am saying that because the scavenger hunt clues were difficult, the check point challenges were...um...challenging, and the need for speed and efficiency paramount to score highly and finish well; all things that matched well with my expectations of the event and my own competitive nature. Unfortunately, we probably made things harder on ourselves by not taking some time early on to make sure we fully understood all of the directions and all of the clues. But hey, looking back I just appreciate that I was still able to get my hill work in afterall from running up and down 4 times before we solved the previous clue and were allowed to enter the monument...and run up more than 250 stairs to reach the observation platform at the top of the narrow spiral staircase.

Then it was off to visit the planets in the Community Solar System, with a detour through Harvard Square, a tour of the Back Bay, and a trip to the oldest baseball park in America. Then we got to bob for apples in a lobster tank and complete a couple of obnoxiously difficult physical challenges.

But you know what? It was an absolute blast and I am really looking forward to doing it all again in San Francisco as the winners of the Boston competition. Yeah, I know, not the best photo.

Boston Marathon: remastered

Joshua G — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:51:06 GMT

Now that I have finished telling the recap of my entire day for the 23rd time to my coworkers and immediate family I can write a quick and simple little update for everyone else...Yes, I finished the Marathon on Monday.

I finished it in style too, setting a new personal record (PR) of 3:10:36 which bested my previous PR by 39 seconds and was a 22 minute improvement over my previous best time for the Boston Marathon course. The weather was near perfect for running and the crowds were thick and extremely supportive. The only things that could have made it better would have been to have a tailwind and some cloud cover. But at least my sunburn is mild and only on one side of my body, the benefit of a point-to-point course.

I had one minor muscle cramp episode that did of course impact my ultimate finishing time, but not by too much and fortunately wasn't enough to keep me from qualifying to compete again next year. It happened just after cresting the infamous Heartbreak Hill as I entered the water stop in front of Boston College. I pulled off to the right hand side of the road, reached out for the cup of Gatorade, and quickly pulled up short in a staggering hop between two of the volunteers who were very concerned with my well being (Thank you for that). Fortunately, I was able to quickly massage my left hamstring into a more user-friendly condition and carry on with my down hill journey through Brookline to Boston and the finish line. However, other than that setback, everything went according to plan and my even effort pacing remained right on target from start to finish. I even accounted for enough time to stop and give thanks to the Wellesley Scream Tunnel prior to the mid-point of the race.

I brought a disposable camera with me on the run and hope that at least one or two shots come out useable. I guess we won't know until they come back from being developed. However, I now have these two photos from the weekend of events to share. The first is me working at the Expo on Friday evening distributing Runner's bags (with T-shirts). The second is of me preparing to depart the Athletes' Village for my starting corral at the Hopkinton Common.

Oh sure, my legs hurt, my sunburn hurts, and I have remained tired and worn out for the past 49 hours, but in a good way! I will still be running at NikeTown tonight and giving thanks for the post race massages and Ben & Jerry's they had for us yesterday.

Taxes are finished, now it's time for some taxing races

Joshua G — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 02:30:17 GMT

I don't have any good excuses as to why I haven't been able to keep to my weekly schedule posting to this blog, but at least I have been able to stay 90% faithful to my training routine, even slipping in a couple of yoga classes this past week to keep me loose.

My only explanation is that St. Patrick's Day, Easter, volunteering with WGBH TV, and the aforementioned 1040 and Mass Form 1 all received higher priority attention than for a blog which never receives any comments so it feels like it doesn't really matter to anyone (except me).

I just got in from 9 miles of random hill work around Somerville at my tempo pace. I feel pretty good except for some slight twinges in my calves that I expect are the result of partial dehydration and excessive pounding on the asphalt roads up and down these hills in the dark. Oh sure, just because it is going to be about 30-degrees warmer on Sunday for my race in the desert at about 5000 feet more elevation than I live and train is no reason to think that maybe I should rethink my goal time of 3:20. Actually, my goal is to finish in the top two places of my division (light civilian male) to bring home a medal to show my disabled veteran father upon my return. Based upon prior results I will have to knock out an awesome personal best finish to achieve that goal, but you never know what you are capable of until you try.

I must thank New Balance (and the Miami Marathon) for the shoes I was provided in exchange for leading the pace group in January. Those NB 1223 shoes have been great for me on my long runs, on these technical runs, and even for mile repeats on the track. By using these shoes I have been able to stretch the life of my other shoes by rotating through them more often, which means that some shoe retailer is going to be very happy with me sometime around August or September of this year.

Okay, time for me to wrap this up and try to get at least 6 1/2 hours of sleep tonight. I am so glad that I am not crazy enough to even attempt to catch any of the Red Sox opening day game from Japan at 6am tomorrow. Nope, I'm only crazy enough to try running 3 marathons in 7 weeks, when my previous minimum recovery time had been 4 months between races. At least I am smart enough to delay donating blood until after that third marathon.

First 60+ mile week feels remarkably unremarkable

Joshua G — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 03:39:22 GMT

I didn't realize it until I was filling out my running log after today's long run around the Charles River and through the Back Bay Fens out to Jamaica Pond but I not only surpassed 55 miles in one week, but also passed 60 for the first time. I ran just over 25 miles today which, when combined with my other runs through the rain, sleet, snow, wind, and just general February in New England of this past week bumped me out to greater than 50% more weekly mileage than I had run all of last year. And my muscles and joints are not protesting in the least.

Oh sure, I can feel that I should probably rest tomorrow by just focussing on some weight training instead of running, but my body is actually accepting this increased mileage. Which of course makes me a lot more confident going into the first of my 3 marathons in a five week period, before the real test of my new fitness and ability at the Western States Endurance Run Training Camp over Memorial Day weekend. Running hills through the snow today and Friday has at least given me some idea of what to expect from the New Mexico sands at the end of March, though there isn't much more I can do about preparing for the altitude, heat, and sun in my neighborhood.

1st time Marathon Pace leader - Mission Accomplished

Joshua G — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 19:29:18 GMT

This past weekend I participated in my sixth career marathon, the 6th annual ING Miami Marathon, but more importantly it was my first time leading a pace group for ANY type of race. I was tasked with escorting any and all runners who wished to complete the 26.2 mile course, or the 13.1 half-marathon course, from the pre-dawn start, along the beautiful tour of the Miami neighborhoods, and through the finish line in an 8 minute/mile pace (which equates to 3:30 for the full 26.2 mile marathon).

This pace is roughly 10% slower than the pace from my all-time best finish (3:11:15) and was in no way, shape, or form "easy" for me. But at the same time, it wasn't necessarily "hard" because I was absolutely buoyed by the hopes and dreams of the runners I was pacing towards their target time. The conversations held on the run coupled with the sight-seeing experience from crossing the causeways, following Collins Ave, snaking through Coconut Grove, and the pure exhilaration of passing through the "scream tunnel" just made the miles melt away. However, this New England boy made sure to take full advantage of every single one of those 22 hydration stations, the Clif Shot gel stops, and the random orange slices and bananas because the 72-degree race temperature was a long way from the 30-degree conditions I had been (and continue) training in back in Boston. I was a mobile salt-lick by the time I reached mile 16 and was very thankful for the short walk between the finish line and my hotel room at the Intercontinental Miami so that I could rinse off and change into some dry clean clothes before celebrating with the other runners.

It was a great experience and I look forward to my next opportunity to pace at the New Jersey Marathon on May 4, 2008 (13 days after the Boston Marathon).

How to prepare for that 1st Marathon

Joshua G — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 12:52:53 GMT

First and foremost, take it slow, start small, and accept that your windows of free time are going to be closed down dramatically if you are starting from scratch (like I was). If you are currently participating in zero physical activity, start doing something, anything really, that will get your body used to exercising. Take a cardio-class at a local gym, start building some base mileage on a treadmill, walk/jog around the neighborhood, take the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator, bicycle, swim, just do something more than you currently are. This worked for me. I was able to learn how to fit exercise into my daily schedule, how to make it part of my routine, and how to get my joints and muscles used to the new demands I would be placing on them.

I began walking the 1/2 mile to and from my local grocery store, which is also more environmentally friendly than driving, when I did my shopping. I enrolled in the twice weekly 45-minute cardio-fitness class at my office gym and started running 15-20 minutes on the treadmill. I subscribed to Runner's World magazine for education and inspiration on running. I bought some running specific technical apparel and got fitted for appropriate footwear based upon my biomechanics.

I started participating in more local events as both a runner and a volunteer to gain better exposure to the running community and to learn tips on good locations to run, groups to run with, clubs to join (which I still have not done), and other events to participate in. After about a year of this I felt ready to test myself with a Half Marathon, the 1st annual Boston's Run to Remember in March of 2005. It wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it was going to be, even with the fresh snow and ice turning the course threaded through downtown Boston and the industrial port area into an especially fun filled treat. When I finished I found that I was only about 7 seconds per minute off pace for my age group to qualify for the Boston Marathon. I was completely amazed at how far I had progressed and how attainable my goal seemed to be. I say "seemed to be" because those 7 seconds per mile combined with an additional 13.1 miles were not quite as automatic as I had thought that wonderfully blustery March afternoon. A fact that would become all too clear 7 months later in Hartford, CT.

Why would someone elect to run 26 miles (or more)?

Joshua G — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 19:07:12 GMT

Family, friends, and co-workers seem to be almost constantly asking me some variation of this question and the truth of the matter is that there are literally countless numbers of reasons to either do or not do anything. So why should running be any different?

As I previously mentioned, running long distances had absolutely zero appeal to me for the first 28 years of my life. As an example, I remember my sophmore year in college chatting with a rather attractive young lady who mentioned that she and I shared many of the same classes, had similiar interests, and that she was also a runner in high school. Now remember, I attended Georgia Tech, an engineering school with a rather dismal ratio of men to women so pretty much any opportunity to spend non-class time with a member of the opposite sex was relished. However, when she started talking about joining in on her afternoon 5 mile runs or her weekend long runs...excuses to be elsewhere couldn't come too fast and that was pretty much that.

So what happened to change my perspective? In 2003 I moved from Atlanta to Boston. In Atlanta, outdoor running was not even an option during most of the year given the heat, the humidity, and the horrible air quality - at least not for a beginning runner. But in Boston, we actually get noticable seasonal variations in the weather that allowed me to get outside more during the day. Plus the area is just so much more pedestrian friendly with a true urban core and a functional transit system that it encourages one to do chose not to drive from home to work to shopping mall to big box retailer to...you get the point. So when I saw the advertisement for a night time Halloween costumed 5k fun run through the Boston Common and the streets of downtown I wasn't quite as apprehensive as I would have been in Atlanta. Sure, I had only run that distance that one time before, but that was in the heat of early summer as opposed to the chill of late October. And we were all a bunch of adults running around in costumes (I was a pirate with an eye patch and a cutlass) through the streets of a city. I finished without having to stop or walk, granted I have some serious doubts about the accuracy of the course length, and the post race party was a blast. So I learned that running a couple of miles wasn't necessarily hard and could actually be a lot of fun.

Fast forward 5 months to April, 2004 and the days leading up to the 108th Boston Marathon. The City and the whole region were all abuzz with talk of the Marathon. Stories about the Marathon were everywhere; in the paper, on television, around the office, and on the train. I learned that it is the oldest annual marathon event in the world. I learned that it is the only such event, besides the Olympics and World Championships that requires the participants to qualify for acceptance. I learned that since it is held on a state holiday (Patriots Day) most businesses are closed and hundreds of thousands of people line the 26.2 mile length from Hopkinton, MA to the finish line in front of the Boston Public Library. I learned that the Red Sox arange their schedule so that they always have a home game that day timed to let out as the racers come by, adding thousands of additional cheering spectators to the streets. But until the day of the race I didn't know what any of this really meant.

Watching 3 time Olympian, 2 time Boston Champion, and 61 time participant John A. Kelley sing "Young at Heart" before the start of the race, watching Rick and Dick Hoyt battle the hills of Newton, and watching the crowd shots along the course on TV was enough to get me off the couch and on the train to experience this in person near the final mile at Kenmore Station. It was only here, in the heart of the crowd nearly 25 miles from the start that I could witness the dedication, the determination, the agony, and the ecstasy of the runners, where I could literaly feel the energy coming from the crowd to support runners over an hour behind the winner. I had never experienced any truer expression of love of sport in my entire life and I had attended college bowl games, experienced the NCAA Final Four, attended a World Cup soccer match, and even Michael Johnson's world record gold medal runs at the 1996 Olympics.

I wanted to be a part of this. I wanted _this _experience for myself. Right then and there I vowed to qualify for and compete in the 111th Boston Marathon, to be held in 2007. It was time to start training because my qualifying time as a male under 35 years of age is 3 hours and 10 minutes. This equates to a 7:15/ mile pace over 26.2 miles.

Next time: 0 to 26.2 in less than 3 years, not too difficult. Covering 26.2 miles in less than 3:10, now that's a bit harder.

and so it starts...

Joshua G — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 03:25:11 GMT

I am a runner; it seems that I always have been. In elementary school I was one of the fastest kids on the playground and I just enjoyed any chance I could get in those silly made-up recess games and gym class exercises to test myself against the other kids. Things weren't quite so easy for me in high school where I played on the basketball team and ran sprints in track. I was pretty much out matched by the upperclassmen in pure sprinting, so the coach directed me to the hurdles where I eventually became League Champion in the 400m intermediate hurdles during my senior year. At college I toyed with the idea of walking on to the track team, at least until I saw the times being put up in my event by guys already on the team. Plus I just couldn't dedicate enough time to running to fit in with Derrick Adkins and Angelo Taylor (400m hurdles Olympic gold medalists in 1996 and 2000 respectively) while still trying my best to get the education that was my first priority. So running went away...for a long, long time.

Twelve years later I saw an ad for the Friends of the Atlanta Opera 5k and decided that it was a cause worth supporting and the t-shirt included with the registration was just too cool. So I trained for a couple of weeks and even got up to 2 miles on the treadmill at the community center. I thought that I was ready to run 3 times further than I had run at one time, even as a 17 year old athlete low those many years gone by. About 5 minutes into the run and I felt like I was going to die! But I didn't, so the experience didn't sour me from ever running again. But I still didn't try again until almost 18 months and one 1,300 mile move later.

Next time: How one goes from getting demoralized by a couple of 11 year old girls in a local 5k to challenging the Boston Marathon in 3 easy steps.