Monday, May 2, 2011

Boston Marathon 2011: Boston with Pride!



I am writing a mile-by-mile look into the Boston Marathon adventure a couple weeks back!  It was one of the greatest days of my life to accomplish #1 on my bucket list and fulfill a lifelong dream, all while helping to make a difference in kids lives through Team CYCLE Kids!  

This is a visual look at the journey!  Thanks again to all those who supported me along the way!  Cheers!

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Family Featured in the "Boston Globe"!

Boston Marathon 2011 in the books folks!  Check out the Team CYCLE Kids BLOG for a quick write-up and pictures!

Well I haven't had time to sit down and really do a full fledged write-up of the Boston Marathon as it will be a long one!  The experience was the ultimate dream.  The time wasn't what I was shooting for and the late mile hills really tore up my legs after the long downhill pull on the calves and such....but late in the race I decided to simply back it off and take it all in!   UNREAL folks....the greatest event I have ever and will ever do I am sure.

Another really cool thing was seeing the Team CYCLE Kids folks and my family (Ape, Bethy, Dad, and Betsy) at the 25-26 mile mark @ Kenmore Square near the famous Citgo Sign and Fenway Park!  Check out the write-up the family got in the "Boston Globe: Marathon Coverage Section"!

Friday, April 15, 2011

the B.O.B. heads to Baaahhhhston!



Tomorrow morning we head off to Boston!  The time has arrived for the B.O.B. to overtake the northern city!

Today was a whirlwind of running around the Queen City to make sure all the odds-n-ends were squared away so the trip out of here would be smooth.  Yet, to top the evening off I got a visit from the one-woman going away committee who decided to appear in full uniform..............no more introduction needed........





The line up for the weekend will go as follows:

Saturday = Queen City Departure
  • Arrive mid-day Saturday in Boston via US Airways,
  • Grab some lunch at "Leagal Seafood",
  • then time to head to the John Hancock Boston Marathon Expo,
  • then time to relax with the fam!
Sunday = Eve of the 115th Running of the BostonM
 Monday = Race Day!
Well the bags are packed and we are out!  Stay tuned to facebook for updates as Ape will be posting mileage updates as the day goes by!  Thanks for all the support folks and will see you on the flip-side!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

the R4YL Boston SendOff Bash!

This past Saturday it was time to get the mind right and hit the ole Run For Your Life Dilworth store for the official R4YL Boston SendOff Bash!  The best of the best when it comes to anything running; Tim Rhodes and the folks at R4YL are always gracious and know how to keep the Queen City pounding out miles!

The group got a chance to hang out, enjoy some bagels, water, and Sam Adams:Boston Lager (if you so chose) and then we got to hear a firsthand take on the ins-and-outs of the Boston Marathon from R4YL owner and Charlotte running community friend Tim Rhodes.


I wasn't part of the training group as the schedule of the B.O.B. is typically always a bit hectic, but if you look close you can see the B.O.B. just right of the sunglasses rack.  Big thanks to Kim @ R4YL for putting the get together....together.  Good luck to all those that are R4YL fans in Boston!  Thanks to Run For Your Life for putting the Boston SendOff together!

In the words of our friends from Brooks: Run Happy folks!

Sunday, April 10, 2011

A Week of Tune Ups!

Time:  4:28:04
Distance:  35.99 miles
Pace:  7:27 avg

Well after a few stellar weeks of good solid mileage, I decided to dial it back a bit, but also toe-the-line at 2 local "tune-up" races.  I wanted to use these to simply get my mind right, play that mental game and get back in the groove of grabbing a bib number, pinning it to the shirt, and hitting the line with the masses.

The week consisted of a few training runs that saw the last double digit day on Wednesday where I put in a good 15 miles; 10 of which I did at timed pace and felt pretty good:  the Big Geezy Route.

Then Friday night I hit up the "Celebrate Your Health 5k" in downtown Charlotte and then got up early and headed over to the "Elizabeth 8k" on Saturday morning.  The ultimate goal here was to run each race a bit faster than "race pace" and really try to hold myself back and not push it too hard...........after all it is time to start mending the legs for the long haul in Boston!


 Celebrate Your Health 5k 
Time: 22:21 Pace: 7:12
*course seemed long per the Big Geezy so with the adjusted numbers I figured Time: 21:15 Pace: 6:50

Elizabeth 8k 
Time:  36:33 Pace: 7:23
*goal here was to hit in the 38-40 minute mark and keep the pace steady.


All in all the races went pretty good, although on Sunday the legs did feel a bit tired, so I rested them and will hit some slow miles this week in prep for Monday the 18th!

Next up BostonM baby in a little over a week!

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

the Final Distance TuneUp!

Today was the last double digit attempt before the big race in 12 days!  I decided to head out on the Greenway near the crib and hit up 10 miles on the clock and another 5 between warm-up/cool-down.  The Big Geezy (aka the Garmin) didn't have a ton of juice left, so only tracked the main part of the run .



Time:  1:14:58 / 1:58:17
Distance: 10.01 miles / 15.23 miles
Pace:  7:29 avg / 7:46 avg
the Route

All-in-all the run felt pretty good, the legs felt pretty peppy and body felt pretty good.  So the goal was to run it at comfort level!  As the nerves start to get in my head knowing that my running career thus far will hit it's all-time plateau in less than 2 weeks seems crazy! 

As I sat down at the Casa de B.O.B. and began to think of the past months all culminating to this one "Bucket List" event here soon!  It's been a crazy 20 weeks though one with my second running career injury that nagged for a good while, some crazy stomach bug thing that knocked me out and sent me back to square one training wise less than 2 months out.
This whole process has been unreal....5 years of applications to charities involved with the BAA and interview and app fees....finally coming to life this year with Team CYCLE Kids and the great folks up there in the Boston office.  Along the journey that started about 20 weeks ago; a wonderful support group of friends, family, and donors who have fully thrown all their love and support my way.  A killer Gin Mill Charity Night event and great support from the folks at the Gin Mill and our out of this world entertainment at the event from The Three Amigos: Chad York, Matt Gourlay, and Phil that raised an astonishing $1,500+ in a single night!

As I reflect back those are the pillars that will cary me mile-by-mile on Patriot's Day from Hopkinton to Hancock Square! It's a different approach than my other marathons, where I went out wanting to hit a certain goal time or pace along the way......yet with Boston so much thought has been in it for me (someone who just plan isn't fast enough to qualify time wise, but dreamed about just toeing the line one day) so when I hit that line in Wave #3 and Coral #5 on the 18th of April I will go out and take it all in.  I want to not try to set a goal time or pace, I want to enjoy it, take in all the history of the race, enjoy the mass of spectators, and all-in-all soak it all up...........as this will be a once in a lifetime deal for me I know!

To those who have helped me along the journey, supported by asking how training was going, thrown a few dollars my way to help me raise funds, and/or been to a charity event to support me.........THANK YOU!

Monday, April 4, 2011

the Last Big Week for the B.O.B.

The little lady (aka Ape) headed off to Europe and I was around with lots of time on my hands so it was time to log some serious miles and get my last killer week or training in before a few tapper runs and tapper races (5k and 8k this coming weekend).

This week was about PACE and PACE only, as I wanted to run some consistent splits and keep the pace at 7:30+ as to get my body in the "learning mode".  Too many times I have gone out and been done by mile 16-18, then trudged in slowly only to have a terrible last 10k of the marathon.  Since I am looking at this as a "fun, enjoy yourself" marathon I really would like to have some more consistency this go-round!

So after a week of tallying up and watching the Big-Geezy (the Garmin) the numbers are in!

Time:  6:05:50
Distance:  48.65 miles
Pace:  7:31 avg