Day # 86: 4.03+ Rainy Miles in 32:48

I recovered amazingly quick from yesterday's 24-hr bug thanks in part to lots of rest, lots of fluids, and taking Zithromax. Driving home in the rain I knew I had to get in a run after doing nothing the previous day due to feeling sick. So, when I got home I changed and hit the streets for a 4.5 mile trek down along Storrow and then I cross over the bridge near Fenway and followed Beacon St. back to Charles St. A little over 4.03 miles in 32:48.

Day # 85: Zero Miles - Sick as a Dog

I never quite understood the analogy of "sick as a dog" but nonetheless that is how I felt today. A little after noon I started getting the chills at work and was feeling light-headed. Also, my throat was a bit sore. I think this is all attributable to watching the US soccer game last night at Gillette Stadium in the cold temps, wind, and pouring rain. I took my temp when I got home and it was 99.9 degrees. I have spent the entire night (6pm-10pm) in bed, and now plan to fall asleep. I hope this is a 24-hr bug, otherwise this will be a major obstacle in my marathon training.

Day # 84: 4 Treadmill Miles in 31:22

With the deluge of rain the past few days and for the rest of the week, I took the greatest show on earth (my marathon training) indoors to the Gold's Gym today. I arrived at Gold's at 7:15 and proceeded to run 4 miles on the treadmill in 31:22, burning 534 calories in the process. After the run, I cooled down with a 2 minute walk, did 200 situps, 1 shoulder exercise, and headed for the shower. The run felt good today and my muscle soreness is wearing off. The only thing that made this morning's run difficult was the high temperature in the gym and the lack of a fan near me.

Weight = 167

Day # 82: 1 Mile Recover Run in 7:32

When my dad came home from Otis tonight, I took the opportunity to drive the car to his parking garage so that I could run home in an attempt to loosen up my leg muscles. It worked pretty well as I jogged the mile home in 7:32. . There is no doubt that there is still significant quad soreness, but at least I was able to loosen up the lactic acid that has built up since yesterday morning. Tomorrow I'll try to for a longer run or at least get on the bike so that I don't lose valuable training days trying to recover from yesterday's half marathon.

Day # 81: Boston Half Marathon (13.2 miles) in 1:44:15

Wow. The running conditions were tremendous for today's race (low 60's and rain) as the gun went off to start the 5th annual Boston Half Marathon. The race was an exciting experience and I had the opportunity to talk with some good spirited fellow runners along the way. It was a 6.5 out and back loop starting at Fenway Park, heading out to the Franklin Zoo, before coming all the way back to Fenway. The course featured a few gradual rolling hills with the same hills going downhill on the way back. I took a GU gel at mile 8 from the race volunteers and tried to jog slowly through the water stops to get down at much fluid as possible. In the last 2 miles (12 & 13) my quads were really starting to hurt, but other than that I felt great as I crossed the finish line. A tremendous thank you to Sara for putting up with my nervous energy, the rain, and then my blabbing after it all finished. You truly are a keeper. Mile splits are as follows: (8:12, 7:36, 8:07, 7:35, 7:48, 7:55, 8:05, 7:52, 8:04, 7:57, 8:06, 8:06, 8:02, :43) for a total of 1:44.15 for 13.2 miles---Making my pace 7:58/mile. After seeing the complete results online, I also finished 563rd out of 3,073 runners.

http://tinyurl.com/a9h7e