It must be as we get older we're easier mislead. I kept clicking on Sparerib's October post and couldn't figure where the latest posts had gone. Did it for 2 days...

I'm still taking it easy on my heel, 3 slow miles a day...

Sorry I haven’t been able to get anything down on my run since getting back but holy crap have I been busy since getting back from New York.  Both at home and at work…crap I’m in over my head…help!   But I digress so let’s get to the weekend:

After a fairly restless sleep, I tossed and turned all night and really didn’t sleep very well at all…oh well…I got up at about 5:15 showered and had breakfast, a bowl of oatmeal, a slice of banana bread and a cup of OJ.  Then I prepared a bagel with peanut butter and a banana to take along with me for later and our friend drove Brian and I over to NY to the Park Central Hotel where we met up with the buses for the NYPD running club which then transported us to the starting area.  Once at the starting area we had a nice private area with a private porta potties, a tent with some refreshments and a warm bus!  We hung around for awhile and about 45 minutes prior to the scheduled start figured we should head over to the corrals.  Well to make a long story short this is where the day started to go bad for me.  When we get to the start (about 9:15 for our 9:40 1st wave) we were told the 1st wave had already left for the start and we weren’t allowed to proceed any further, although many runners argued and some took off, I’m just not into that.  So that relegated us to starting in the 2nd wave, and they wouldn’t even let us move to the front of that wave…oh well.  We finally got to head to the start about 10 minutes after hearing the cannon for the 1st wave.  Just prior to that I had removed my throwaway sweatpants and sweatshirt and had on black Adidas running shorts, white short sleeve dri-fit shirt with NYPD singlet over it, red sunglasses, white Boston 2008 running cap, Asics 2110 running shoes and of course my trusty Garmin 305.

Once the “start” sounded for us at about 10:00 we were off and damn what a crowd, this was tough trying to run through this crowd on the bridge was just difficult to say the least and we logged an 8:19 1st mile.  The next mile was much better as we began to get into a rhythm and cruised to a fast 6:42 2nd mile which we knew was too fast and consciously pulled it back as we cruised through Dyker Heights headed for Bay Ridge.  We hit the 3rd mile at 6:56 still too fast and once again really pulled back as we knew that we were feeding of the crowds and needed to gain control.  Much better after this and we continued to cruise along through Sunset Park and our 4th mile came in at 7:12 and we were feeling much better about that, but it was here that I got my first hint of trouble.  My left hamstring was “niggling” a slight little twinge every now and then kind of letting me know that “hey, you push me and bite you hard”!  I told Brian about my hamstring just to let him know that I wasn’t sure what would take place and we continued on…our pace was fine and we really were cruising and hit mile 5 at 7:13, ok I have to say we were now coming up on runners from the 1st wave and having some difficulty maneuvering through as many were stopping dead in their tracks and walking, taking pictures or stopping to take water etc. instead of moving to the far left or right…this was really bothersome for both of us.  We did our best and cruised through Boerum Hill and hit mile 6 at 7:41 a little slow but we knew it was due to the crowded streets, hey maybe it work to our advantage.  We continued on and hit mile 7 at 7:20, nice back to a more reasonable pace…OW…that hamstring is getting more insistent that I back off!  Damn I feel so good right now, well let’s see how this plays out as I ease up just a bit and know that we can.  We hit mile 8 at 7:27 and I can still fell that pain but maybe it’s better…yeah right…mile nine presents a little bit of a hill but we manage it in 7:30 still rolling right along.  Ahhh mile 10 how sweet and we hit that in 7:21…only 16 to go Bob.  I’m not sure what happened over the next two miles as we slowed to a 7:37 and 7:36 pace respectively at miles 11 & 12…probably my subconscious trying to do the right thing.  OK the Pulaski Bridge is just ahead and we’ll be heading into Queens and the halfway point.  We hit mile 13 at 7:32 still cruising along pretty good, but I am slowly beginning to realize that I’m in trouble as my hamstring is beginning to scream louder and louder and more often.  We hit mile 14 at 7:28 and other than my hamstring I feel great.   I have taken fluids at every aid station and fueled per my schedule but nothing is helping my hamstring and I am going over my options as we continue on and hit mile 15 at 7:53 as we climb the Queensboro Bridge and hit mile 16 on the other end at 8:01, not bad it’s a pretty significant climb.  Now we put it back on cruise control and hit mile 17 at 7:34 and then mile 18 at 7:39 and YOW…ok ok I hear you, my hamstring has made it clear that it is now or never dude…you keep pushing me and putting you down you hear me!    I reluctantly let Brian go as I reel it in knowing that this is the right decision, but still quite disappointed as I know I have that 3:15 in me…just not today Bob.  I just couldn’t risk seriously injuring myself and who knows what kind of set back that would cause…so this is where I simply drop back and roll along not even worrying about my time with one exception…if at all possible I would still get in under my BQ time of 3:35:59.  Well without dwelling on those final miles I strolled in at a relatively pedestrian pace and finished with a BQ time of 3:32:21…and you know what?  I’ve surprised myself with how happy I actually am at my decision and my time.  It shows just how far I’ve come with this running stuff…especially the marathon!

And the best part of all…I don’t even feel like I ran a marathon, I have absolutely no residual effects in my legs etc.  The only thing I still have is that little “niggle” in my left hamstring which had actually been bothering me a bit for a few weeks leading up to this past weekend.

Oh and my running friend Brian had a great race and finished with a PR of 3:18:27!

Nice report and a wise decision Bob.  I looked at your time Sunday and saw you were running well and then slowed and was wondering if it was injury or bonk.   If I recall you've run quite a few good quality races lately.  And didn't you just run a marathon a few weeks ago?    So at our age it's not suprising to have a "niggle" or two once in a while.   Glad you pulled back so you can run a good Boston.   I'll give you my cell number later and maybe we can't meet sometime in April.

10 miles of hills today 1:19:00.   Felt old, sluggish, and heavy.  I think I've gained about 5lbs since my trip to Hartford and NYC.  Have to work on that.

It sounds like you did the right thing Bob.  Better to finish the race on your feet than to injure yourself and ride the subway to the finish.  By the sounds of it you would have made your time goal, and no doubt will do it next time.

It snowed a bit here last night, so I was out on abut an inch of fresh stuff, with a very slippery base underneath.  I managed a tad under 6.5 miles, with the final 2000 meters on the track; all at about 10 minute per mile pace.

Smithers HS XC team will be racing in the BC HS Championships this weekend, in Surrey.  There are two girls here who could finish in the top 10, and one boy.  I'm looking forward to the results!

Bob, did you ever find out when you should have arrived at the start to be in the first wave?  It's too bad you weren't aware there was a time limit.  At any rate, you've had a great year of running and did the right thing by backing off.   If it's any consolation, I'd take your marathon time even with a niggle.  I enjoyed your report.

I'm thinking I should change my name here to "The guy with no miles." 

Wednesday, beautiful weather in NH today and I couldn't take advantage of it, other than to walk 3 miles...

TM this morning, watching CNN go on and on and on and on about how everyone feels after the election.  We've got 30 channels at the mine and believe it or not, that's the only thing worth watching at 4 AM.

Thirty min warmup walk at 8%, followed by 30 min run at 2%, followed by 30 min walk at 8%.  A final 10 min cooldown walk. 

Yesterday I helped the Smithers HS XC coach shovel a path around the track for his teams' final workout before the BC high school XC championship races, this weekend in Surrey.  Smithers has a strong girls team and should be top 5.  Boys may not do as well, but will place top 10.

I've thought many times about entering one of those giant races, but I always chicken out when I try to visualize running with 40,000 people and all the logistics issues of trying to make it to the starting line feeling half decent. A friend of mine who is in top shape just ran NY and had what was a slow race for him. He ran 5 minutes faster at Chicago in the heat last month.

I'm running Clarksburg 30k on Sunday. If I come out of it ok I'll be trying CIM on Dec 7 to wrap up the long ones for a while. You should try CIM some day, Bob.