New York Marathon

NY was very nice. I stayed in Jersey City. Subways were a little confusing but on race day found 2 people who helped me get to the Staten Island ferry. The ride over was fun. We wait a short time for the bus and off to the park to wait for the race.
I met people from the UK, Denmark, Germany, and Italy. They made the announcements in about 20 different languages. That was really cool. I'm glad I had several plastic bags with me to keep warm. I got a space to lay down on the grass.
The race was a little frustrating; it took 18 minutes to get to the start and I ran past people the whole race. But it was FUN the entire way. The bands were awesome!!! The Verrazano-Narrows bridge was cool; a great start to the race.
Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx and then back to Manhattan to finish in the park. Running into the Bronx I talked to a guy from New Zealand. Very cool.
When I got to the Park I was running strong and ran past 100's of people. The picture is of me in Central Park. I finished in 3:48 which was a little slow but overall a great time. We ate at Virgil's after the race. Great food and reasonable prices. It was recommended by 2 friends.

Chicago Marathon

Chicago was great! Everyone was sooo nice. From the minute we met up at the airport. A women who worked for the MTA helped us buy a pass and wished us well in the race. We got into town and I was confused where to go to get to our hotel. My son realized we had to go down to the subway. I asked a young women directions and she gave us a map. She said she was flying to Miami and she helped us find our exit point. We came up from the subway and took the bus to our hotel. We arrived at the Marriott and was informed it was the wrong Marriott. There are at least 7 in Chicago. The young women who helped us said not to worry our hotel was just a few blocks away. She also wished us good luck in the marathon.
We got to our hotel and settled in out room. We went out to eat next door at a bar. Many TVs lots of sports and some good beers. The patrons were into the jukebox; a lot of good tunes. We told them we were running the marathon and I asked if they knew of any place we could get whole wheat pasta for dinner Saturday night. The waitress said you would like whole wheat? She came back a little while later and said they had ordered it and they would have it for us tomorrow. They had flyers made and several of the runners from our hotel were there to eat on Saturday night. That was so nice of them.

My son ran his first marathon here. It was extremely hot. It hit 91 by mile 13. My legs stared to cramp at mile 17 even though I took water/Gatorade at every stop. 1/2 of a banana 3x's too! The picture is of Chinatown. My legs were totally cramped by then, but I was having a great time. Finished in 3:42 with both legs cramped up to the waist. Fabulous metal.
Both my son and I had a great time running and a great time in the city.

Update.....

Since no one reads this I write it as a running log so... here is my update for the last month.
6/30 12 miles 1:10 at 8:45/mi. for 8 miles last 4 in 7:45/mi. Simone 1:11 8 miles 8:52.5/mi.
7/1 17.9 miles 2:43:10 9:06.9/mi. Steve 13.1 2:05:40 at 9:35.6/mi. Total for week 43 miles
Next week total 46 miles ending Saturday 7/7
Next week total 40 miles (on vacation in Virginia at Williamsburg GREAT time!!!)
7/2 20.1 miles 7:51.6/mi YEA!!!!!!!!! Gel Nimbus 7 Total for week 55 miles
7/3 10.4 1:31:00 at 8:45/mi. Steve 10.1 1:32:00 at 9:00.6/mi.
7/28 14 miles 1:54:00 at 8:08.6/mi. Total for the week 44 miles
7/29 10.5 miles 1:29:00 at 8:28.6/mi. Gel Fortitude 2 seem heavier than Gel Nimbus. The other shoe I'm running in right now is Asics 2100 (I kept a pair around) which seem to be the lightest of the 3. I will run the Kelly race in New London next Saturday. I have also decided to run both the Chicago and New York marathons this year since my company has sponsored me for both. Hopefully, Chicago will be fast (under 3:30) to keep me in the Boston and New York for a few years.
During the week at work I am running with several people and I run between 3 and 10 miles.

June is Getting Hot

I ran Sunday (11.5 mi.) and Monday (6.7 mi.) but I took the rest of the week off. I walked about 4 miles Tuesday and Wednesday and biked over 16 miles on Thursday. Took Friday off so I would be fresh for the weekend. Saturday ran 11 miles for just 29 miles for the week. But Sunday I ran 16 miles in 8:14/mi. I felt great!!! M-Th 6.26, 5.32, walked 4, and 3.15. Off on Friday. Saturday I ran 23.6 miles in 8:20/mi. 13.1 was in 1:50:00 and I actually got faster for the last 10 miles. No left calf cramping!!! I drank at 4mi, 7 mi. (Gu), 10 mi. 14mi. (Gu) 17 mi. (16oz. water) 19 mi.(Gu) and 22mi. This week it is really HOT, 85-90F at lunch. Sunday I ran 10 miles in 8:45/mi. great for me after running so much the day before. Monday 5 miles. Tuesday too hot, ran 6.2 miles but not enough to drink. Wednesday I walked 5.66 miles. Today I hope to run about 9. Stay tuned.

Keep You Posted

I have been running outside near work for 2 weeks. LOTS OF HILLS!!! I bought a pair of Asic Gel Nimbus awhile ago and found they were too bouncy for the treadmill. BUT the are perfect on the road. I continue to get 2 massages a week and I am feeling good. Here is a summary of my last few weeks with highlights:
5/20 - 5/26 44 miles (7 mi. in 8:31, 8 mi. in 8:27, 11.6 mi. in 8:37)
5/27 - 6/2 43 miles (6.2 in 7:48, 5 mi in 8:36)
6/3 - 6/9 47 miles (8.3 in 8:26, 9.56 in 8:44, 11 in 8:43.2/mi., 1:35:55)
One hill is just over 1.8 miles but it rolls up and up and up and up so it helps my overall fitness.
I'm still running with my 2 friends; Steve has run 8:58.7/mi. for over 8 miles and Simone has run 7.2 mile in 9:16.9/mi. Both are doing a great job getting ready for the Hartford 1/2 marathon.

Update Since Boston

I took the week off after Boston. I now take a week off after each marathon. I usually gain a little weight too. I think it's good for me. I run in Asics Gel Fortitude 2 outside. It gives my toes more room than the Ascis 2100 or the 2120. I have been getting 2 one hour massages each week also.
Here is a summary of my weekly miles since Boston:

4/22 - 4/28 24 miles
4/29 - 5/5 33 miles
5/6 - 5/12 44 miles (hilly 7 miler on 5/13 in 8:31.7/mi.)
5/13 - 5/19 41 miles (10 miles on 5/19 in 7:46.0/mi.)

This is the first time since last July I was able to run consistently under 8:00 minutes per mile.
My first mile was 7:56, second 15:51. It was drizzling and 48 degrees F when I left. I really do run well in the rain. I felt great, strong and able to go the speed I wanted to run.
Today I'm taking off. My legs are a little tired and I don't want to keep pushing and then have to take a few days off in a row.

Boston Marathon

Wow what a day! I was dropped off in Hopkinton around 8:30. I stood in line awhile and finally got on the bus to take me to the runners village. They took a different route this year and I finally got to the village by 9:38. I ran to the bus to drop off my bag and raced down to the porta -potties near the start. I made it into the corral as the announcer said 1 minute to the race. Off we went 5 minutes later (my #7771).
On the bus I met Helmut from Vienna Austria. He told me about some of his 25 marathons. This was his first Boston. He is running Stockholm in June and said Italy (Rome, Florence) was a great place to run marathons.
The race went well through 25K then my left leg was hurting. My left calf cramped at the top of heartbreak and then from mile 25 to 25.5. It went away at the top of a small hill. When I saw the finish I just told myself to keep going and it would be over soon. I was really at my end. I glad it wasn't another mile I'm not sure if I could have kept running.
My legs hurt a lot standing in line after finishing, more than any of my last 4 marathons. This was much harder than Boston last year.
On reflection it felt good to finish in 3:39:08 although I was looking to finish faster.

Update!!!!!!!!!

It's been a long time since I added to this blog. January I ran a total of 165 miles including the ING Miami Marathon. I ran a 3:50:46. I was 425 overall. It poured at the start and I was standing in 2 inches of water at the beginning. Temperature 76 degrees and 76% humidity. Not ideal conditions. Miami may not be the best place to run for a PR. I drank too much beer (my son and I stayed next door to the Gordon Biersch brewpub) and felt full the next morning when I got up at 4:30. I was 13th in my age group just like in Vermont in 2006 where I ran a 3:18. BUT Miami was great!!!
In February I ran 138 miles total not as much as I had hoped to run but Connecticut can be a tricky place to run in the winter.
March was a good month I just broke in a new pair of orthotics which help me recover unlike my old orthotics which seemed to drain my legs of energy. Total miles for the month of March: 181.
April Boston Marathon in 9 days. I can not describe how great it is to run Boston. I hope everyone who runs marathons gets the opportunity to qualify and run. I hope I finally got my speed back; I ran 53:46 for 7 miles this morning (7:40.9/mi.) I have been tapering for 2 weeks and will take it easy for the next week.