2014 Boston Marathon & BAA 5K Recap

Let's put things into perspective first: A little over a month ago, I could hardly run. I had just taken three months off. The Boston Marathon was supposed to be somewhat of a pinnacle event for me, yet the prospect of running it was almost completely lost due to injury. While trying to recover, I started to allow some very light mileage... a mere 20 miles a week. I had about three weeks there. As I gradually felt better, I decided to up my mileage slightly and make an attempt for a 3-1/2 week push so that I could consider running this year's Boston Marathon.

Fast forward to last week: After my mini-binge, I was not necessarily fit for any sort of competitive race, however, I decided that I was fit enough to run the BAA 5K and complete the Boston Marathon. Importantly though, I was running pain free. The main goal became to run it and do it so that I did not re-injure myself.

Here's how they both went down:

The BAA 5K

This was my first real test at any fitness. I had no clue what to expect, especially considering I haven't really had any real quality or quantity in my running. I simply wanted to use this as a way to gauge what I might be able to run in the marathon. Such as, if I couldn't handle a certain pace or I fell apart in the 5K, then I would have to adjust my expectations for the marathon. 
I came away pleasantly surprised.

The 5K started and finished in the Boston Commons. The second part of the race course actually traced the final mile of of the marathon. Very cool. The 5K has grown over the last few years. It's now an incredibly crowded and competitive race. A hefty purse produced 10 guys that ran sub 13:45 this year! Anyway, getting into the corral was annoying. I didn't have lofty goals so I didn't position myself too close to the front of the race. It easily took 5 seconds to cross the starting line. I got elbowed right in the chest while trying to cross the line (and not lightly either). I saw a guy fall down about 50m into the race (not sure if he tripped or was shoved). Lots of pushing going on! So as I said, very crowded and aggressive!

The first half mile was spent fighting my way around slower runners. It pretty much sorted after that though. A few of the other TTAU guys were racing and Michael was out in front of me. Knowing very well that I wasn't going to be able to hang with him, I still used him in the distance to help pace me. I hit the first mile at 5:27. I went out a little hot, but not ridiculous. I calmed down a bit in the second mile and regained some composure. There was also a couple underpasses that made for some small hills. Mile two was 5:38. The third mile was awesome - it was a straight rip down Boylston Street, then a turn into the Commons at Charles Street. I felt good, so I started to get a little more aggressive in there. The best part was that my body actually allowed me to do it! I passed anyone reasonably close to me and pressed right to the finish. Surprisingly, I even had a nice kick.

Overall, I finished in 17:05. Placement was horrible because the race is somewhat jacked, but that didn't matter. I was very pleased with this outcome. Those were the fastest miles that I've run since probably October, and I was able to keep some decent splits. My confidence was boosted a little by www.mcmillanrunning.com's calculator to see what I might be able to handle in the marathon.

5K Split recap:

1 - 5:27

2 - 5:38

3 - 5:28

.1 - :32 (about a 5:00 pace kick)

Total: 17:05 Place: 71

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The Boston Marathon

After 17:05, I was able project a mid-2:40s race. There was no way in hell I was going to shoot for that! Flat out, I just wasn't comfortable with my endurance level and I didn't want to risk injuring myself. But, I initially wanted to target 3:10 and this helped to push me towards a 3hr run.

A large group of TTAU teammates were also running, so I was able to work with other guys for chunks of the race. Weather was decent, even a touch warm, but nothing horrible. A very tiny SW wind that didn't work against the race and helped to give the occasional cool breeze. Things were lined up so that I could enjoy the race.

The pre-race rituals were all pretty standard. Shakeout then stayed off my feet the day before, a huge pasta dinner, somewhat reasonable sleep, the Hopkinton bus trip, absolutely flooding my body with Gatorade and water, countless trips to the bathroom... blah blah blah.

When it came down to it, I was in the corral with teammates and I decided to run a chunk of the early work with Justin Jackson. We stuck with a similar plan to our NYC Marathon back in the fall. We made the pact to go very easy for the first 10K, and then reassess. If things worked out well, it would turn into a negative split race.

We kept things nicely under control as the hoards of people passed us in those early down hills. 7:02 pace in the first 5K, then 7:06 in the next 5K. Very smooth. It felt slow... but that was the idea. It was incredibly how many people were flying by us! It was as if we were standing still. I'm pretty sure that by the 10K mark, no fewer than 5,000 people were in front of me. All I could do was laugh and joke about it... probably to an annoying and antagonistic point. I just knew that that I'd eventually consume most of them back as road kill (obviously not all, but certainly a few thousand of them). With every person that I was gonna pass back, I wanted to say, "Welcome to Boston, bitch!"

Right around 10K, a few of the TTUA guys from a later corral caught up. They were shooting for mid-2:50's, and running around 6:45's. I felt good at that point and the course had flattened out, so I decided to go and play with them for a while. Justin chilled out and did his own thing.

That was just what I needed to get my wheels going. I hung fairly close with them for about four miles. We averaged 6:48 from the 10 to 15K mark. Still smooth and comfortable. I squeezed the trigger ever so slightly from there, and I went from being passed to passing chunks of people. Without much effort, I started chopping away at the other runners. Annoyingly though, this had me zig-zagging for pretty much the entire rest of the race. I'm not used to these crowds of runners, so at times it became very frustrating. You can't just pass 3,000 people in a straight line!

From 15 to 20K, I ran 21:38... but that included my first ever marathon pit stop. It was getting hotter out, and the sun was beating down. I was drowning myself in Gatorade and taking some from every single water stop; I knew I was going to need the hydration. However, I paid the price and had to piss. Given that I didn't really care too much about my time, I was inclined to remove this discomfort. The pee break added about 40seconds... otherwise I averaged around 6:45s in that stretch.

I crossed the half at 1:31:12... averaging about 6:58 after the conservative 10K. I realized that if I just maintained my effort in the mid-6:40's then I would go sub-3hrs. I knew I would be very pleased with a sub-3 given my training, and it felt perfectly doable.

So from there on, I pressed. Not a single mile phased me either. The race became incredibly fun as I was now an aggressor and passing swarms of runners. I went through the entirety of Wellesley College hitting every single hand I could see... that's nearly a mile! I chickened out when it came to kissing one of the girls (I ain't a slut!)... but it was still fun to hi-5 all of them and get them screaming!

20-25K was 6:38's.

25-30K was 6:46's, which is where the hills started.

30-35K was 6:49's, includes Heart Break and a sharp downhill.

The hills didn't bother me at all. In fact, I actually welcomed the change in terrain... On the back side of Heart Break Hill, I went very very easy for the sake of saving my legs. I then lit up the final 7K of the race. My pace got more aggressive as the course flattened out. 35-40K was 6:21 average. I blazed the 24th mile, which was reasonably flat to down-hill at a 6:12ish pace. I continued to zig-zag as all the chumps were now crawling or walking. Nobody was passing me. Regardless of my training, this is apparently what happens when you put a wolf amongst a bunch of sheep (-or a rabid rabbit, whatever you want to call it).

The final 2.2K includes the dreaded Rte 90 overpass, the Comm-Ave underpass, and a slight incline on Hereford Street. Each of which are not really complicated obstacles, but when you're 26 miles deep and then combined them, they still add an element of pain. I pulled back just a touch to about a 6:30 in the 26th mile, then let it rip on Boylston Street. I passed everyone possible. I was even rapidly approaching a couple TTAU guys in the final steps, but ran out of room when it came to passing them.

The long story short for all this, is that I turned the Boston Marathon into a gigantic playground and a progression run. It was awesome! 2:58:02 overall. 1:31:12 out, 1:26:50 back. 4:22 negative split, and I had plenty left in the tank at the end of that thing. I easily could've continued a few more miles. In hindsight, I completely sandbagged it and certainly could've gone faster - but that wasn't the goal. I merely wanted a decent time, to have fun, and live to run another day.

I'm still amazed that I was able to run like that on such little training though. Apparently muscles do have memory...!? Best of all, I'm unscathed and really not even that sore afterword. Actually, my biceps are among the more sore parts of my body just from all the damn hi-5's!!

So where does this leave me? Spring is here. I'm not fit enough to race much right now, but I can get it back with a good month of basing. I think it's safe at this point to start getting back into a groove of things. It'll be nice to not have to force anything for a little while too. Soldier Field 10 or Lemont 10 at the end of May could be a good next step. Otherwise, it's safe for me to now set my sights on Berlin in September.

I'm back, ya bish!!

Marathon Split recap:

Dist -- Split -- Lap -- Pace

5K - 0:21:52 - 21:52 - 7:02.3

10K - 0:43:55 - 22:03 - 7:05.8

15K - 1:05:02 - 21:07 - 6:47.8

20K - 1:26:40 - 21:38 - 6:57.8

25K - 1:47:16 - 20:36 - 6:37.8

30K - 2:08:17 - 21:01 - 6:45.9

35K - 2:29:28 - 21:11 - 6:49.1

40K - 2:49:13 - 19:45 - 6:21.4

42.2 - 2:58:02 - 8:49 - 6:27.9

1st Half: 1:31:12 - 6:57.4

2nd Half: 1:26:50 - 6:37.4

Total: 2:58:02 / 6:47.4

Place: 1948

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A few random pix from the weekend:

TTAU at Boston Commons after BAA 5K

Redcoats spotted in the Commons

TTAU at the Marathon Finish-line

Marathon Shoe Porn at the hotel room

Bib 446 out of 35,000+

It was crowded right up to Boylston Street. You can't see it here, but I was going by these guys like they were standing still.

At least a couple straws of hay are in the barn...

Taper time!! Yaaayyy!! Well not really. I'm basically running through Boston... but I am gonna allow tomorrow off. Why taper, when I just started training a few weeks ago? Ugh.

Well a few good things with this week's running: I'm still sitting on about 65 miles in the last 7 days... basically a week and a half up there.  I've also had 3 up-paced runs this week:

- Monday included 5 miles of tempo @ 6:00ish (more like my typical MGP).

- Wednesday had 4x1000 @ 3:10ish + a bunch of strides (might've been short?).

- Tonight had 13 miles progression. I didn't wear a watch, so I have no idea how fast I was going, but I'm pretty sure the last 3 were roughly 6:20, 6:10, sub-6. I felt strong the whole way.

And with that, I can say that my 3-1/2 week mini-binge of running is complete. Most importantly is that I survived relatively unscathed... a little tight and sore, but that's to be expected after this ramp up.  Otherwise something I never thought would be possible a little over a month ago.

So Friday will be a recovery day. Saturday, I'll run the BAA 5K... who knows what that shit show will look like... but it'll give me an idea of what to expect in the marathon. Sunday, I'll shakeout a couple miles with guys on the team. Monday, a 26.2 mile jog from Hopkinton to Boylston St.

Patriot's Day in One Week.

Well I made it through the weekend. That was a key test. And if I was able to get through that, then I still get the go-ahead for Boston.

I ran 9 miles on Friday, 20 on Saturday, and 6 more on Sunday. That made for a 67 mile week, and I haven't taken a day off in a week and a half.

Importantly, I made it through this stretch without any problems and I'm not feeling overly beat up. Actually, my abs/groin/hip flexors are all much better with each run, and I continue to gain fitness. I'm still a little cautious, but in general I feel OK.

The 20 miler wasn't easy. It's to be expected anytime that distance is crossed for the first time in a training season, but this one was definitely a little more difficult than other 20's in the past. We kept a reasonable pace of around 7:00 for most of it. Some miles a little faster, some a little slower. One thing that probably hurt the later miles was not getting any hydration in the first 7 or 8 miles. It was a little on the warm side. Braulio had to drag me through the last couple miles... though we still kept the pace.

Obviously, I'm still lacking some endurance and strength. That's what I get for training for a marathon in three weeks after taking over 3 months off! Well it's still not easy to digest. I do fear this thing. Newton Hills suck regardless, but it's gonna super-suck this time around!

Boston will be a different kind of race this year. It's easy to see in the running community, with my teammates, and from some of the marketing / hype that the event is receiving. To run this thing will truly be special. 

Just yesterday, 60 Minutes had a piece on this year's marathon and Shalane Flanagan. It was a nice boost for my motivation, and a good reminder of why I'm choosing to put myself through the pain on such pathetic training. She expressed much of the feelings that many of us had last year. (Here was my own 2013 race recap).

So regardless of whether I'm fit enough to roll a 2:38 or merely gut out a 3:10, I will run Boston in one week from today.

Keep Calm, And Run On

This advertisement is at the LaSalle/VanBuren El station near my office. I just noticed yesterday. I can't help but get a little excited when I see it.

I'm trying to keep cool about Boston. I know I'm not in tip top shape right now, but I am getting stronger every day, and my adductors/abs/hip flexors don't feel like total shit while running anymore. Not 100%, but very runable.

10 miles tonight with Braulio. It was a pleasant surprise that I was able to hold a nice 7:00 pace and conversation... and last all 10 without being very phased. On the heels of that one, I need to be careful and not go too hard or get too excited. Just keep on keep'n on.

I can't believe it... Boston is still a go.

A couple weeks back, I laid out an IF/THEN plan suggesting that if everything works out alright, then I might be able to still run the Boston Marathon... albeit merely as a fun run.

This is all somewhat ridiculous, since it has me training for a marathon in less than 4 weeks. It's not even really training either... it's more just getting my legs underneath me and then running a marathon.

The plan seems to be working for now. I'm not 100% healed yet, but I'm feeling less pain with each of my runs and slowly getting a little conditioning back. Most notably, I had a couple of moderately paced runs last week, a 15 miler on Saturday, and my first "tempo" since early November. The tempo was 4 miles at an average of about 6:00 pace. I eased into it and hung on to the pace.

All this being the case, I feel good enough to push the mileage just a little more this week. I'll shoot for the mid-50s. Saturday will become my next key run: 20 miles. After that, I'll have one final week to pull myself together. There will be no taper.

This isn't the ideal situation, but I really do want to do Boston. After all that happened last year with the bombing, I think it'll be an interesting, exciting, and very symbolic experience.... and what the hell, maybe it'll even be more symbolic for me since I'm coming from nothing and still being able to produce something. Plus I have a whole bunch of friends running it. So hence, you can see how I've convinced myself that to choke this thing out. Ugh.

I'm either an idiot or just very talented. Regardless, this fucker ain't gonna run itself.

Back to work

I've been running garbage miles for the last handful of weeks, and seen Dr Hancock for about 3 weeks now. He's done graston, ART, and recommended a series of self-PT exercises.

All of this added up, and I'm gradually feeling less like complete crap. I'm not 100% yet, but there has definitely been improvement. If I actually take Motrin, I do feel 100%. Obviously, I don't want to survive that way.

I had a really great test this past weekend, where I skied for three days at Mont Tremblant. After only a few runs, I realized I didn't hold back on the skiing. Lots of moguls, trough runs, and a ton of core work. The key is that I survived; I'm feeling probably even a little better than before the weekend.

OK, so now what? The Boston Marathon is in about a month from now. I am over weight (~150ish lbs). I still feel out of shape. But for some reason, I still don't want to say no. The question has entered my mind with a bunch of "IF/THEN" scenarios.

• IF I can bump my running up towards 40 miles this week and not feel like total crap,
• THEN I will try to bump my miles up towards 50 miles next week.
  
• IF I can survive the bump to 50 next week,
• THEN I will try to run into the 50s the following week.
  
• IF I survive running into the 50's after those two weeks,
• THEN I will try to run into the 50's a third.
  
• IF all of this happens and I keep a relatively strict diet for the month,
• THEN I'm sure I'll shave at least 5 lbs of excess garbage weight.
  
• IF I can feel good after that... or no worse than I feel at the moment,
• THEN I will jog the Boston Marathon and have a blast doing at least part of it.
  
• ELSEIF any of this doesn't come together,
• THEN I just continue with maintenance miles and completely forget the above plan.

It wouldn't be fast and it might hurt a little, but it could be possible for me to run Boston. And I actually think I might be able to run a 3:10. The likely hood of this happening though is still slim and I fully accept that. Regardless, it's time to get back into control of my life. The holiday's are over.

Osteitis Pubis, and knowing is half the battle!

Forget taking time off. I'm running. And I actually feel a little better doing light mileage than doing nothing at all. I think the inactivity was needed to try to heal at first, but at this point it's no longer helping the healing process. I'm also doing strengthening with each run.

Mind you, I haven't been doing a ton of miles. It's only 3 weeks. Week 1: 8mi, Week 2: 15mi, Week 3: 22mi. I think I'll keep it mid-20s for a little while, just to see how things go. I'm still horribly out of shape, but at least the runs are now less painful than initially.

On the flip side, I'm now on to my 3rd doctor. At the suggestion of a couple teammates, I'm seeing Dr. Darren Hancock. He's at Chicago Sports and Chiro. Basically, he's a chiropractor, acupuncturist, PT, sports med doctor, jack of all trades. He comes highly recommended, works with a lot of high end athletes including pros and via the USOTC.

I also have a little better understanding of my injury. It may not necessarily be sports hernia aka Athletic Pubalgia. It appears to be more along the lines of Osteitis Pubis, which is an extreme inflammation of the pubic symphysis and bone. A basic description can be found here or here.

My right adductor has been the cause of all this, and it remains balled up or somewhat strained. Hancock is doing Graston. Like the dry needling, it is targeting adductor and the inguinal ligament. Ideally, if those can chill out then the symphysis can calm down. Anti-inflammatories help a lot. I haven't received any injections (yet). I'll give it a week before I start banging on that door.

All in all, it still feels like someone kicked me right in my pubic bone (not my junk... in the joint itself). But at least I know what that means now.... and as a wise man once said, "Knowing is half the battle."

First run of the year!

I ran today... and it is was a complete bust.

It was my first run in about 2 months and aside from being completely out of shape... I'll say that it felt pretty much no different than back in mid-December, which felt no different than back in mid-November... which felt no different than the couple days after the NYC marathon in early-November.

No matter how many times I might've thought I was seeing some improvement, or hoped for some progress over the last couple months... I have to honestly say, it's probably been a waste of time, money, and my youth. (I say youth because I have this horrible feeling that I will never be able to get back into top condition again, as I was just a mere 4 months ago... and I fear that my running days are altogether over).

Anyway, my sports-hernia rehab conclusion is this: I have spent thousands on physical therapy and massage work over the last couple months, and I've taken almost 4 months of downtime. It has not had an ounce of effect on my ability to run. The only noticeable changes in my body are that I now weigh more than I ever have in my life, and I am now more out of shape than I have been in the last 10 years.

I pulled the plug and made a doctor's appointment for next week. Between now and then, I'm making a full on effort to run and engage my core. Obviously I'm not going to go overboard, but I need to see how my body can respond to physical activity. My body is clearly not responding well to rest. How it responds to a knife and implant, I have no clue.

Sports Hernia or not... Needles or Knives.

Quick update here...

I had my doctor's appointment, MRI and brief follow up. The MRI showed an "irritated pelvis". Something tells me that's actually a proper medical term, but it maybe the kind way of saying that I might-could-possibly-not have a Sports Hernia. I have all the symptoms though, including some material inflammation around the attachments and bone, but no breaks and no major tears.

In other words, I have to completely rest and if I'm not better by mid-February, then I'll likely go under the knife to get treated as sports hernia. I'd have some nasty, non biodegradable mesh shoved into me to help reinforce the soft tissues that attach to the pelvis. There is no guarantee that it fixes the problem and it likely comes with side effects down the road. Fantastic! Well clearly I'm going to avoid this if at all possible.

In the mean time, in order to fix my Sports Hernia AKA so-called Irritated Pelvis, I'm into my third week of seeing a PT twice a week. The treatment has been dry needling. It's a rather intense form of acupuncture. It is one needle at a time for about 15 seconds each. Maybe a total of 10-15 needles through out my adductors, abs, hip flexors, and glute. While the needles are in, they're stimulated (ie, jabbed, stabbed, flicked, tweaked, electrified, whatever) in order to get the targeted muscles "reset". Actually this process is fucking excruciating, but a few needles are far better than a knife! The hope is this forced resetting leads the muscles to chill out and allow for this irritation to calm down.

I've also been getting a deep tissue massage every week or two. Otherwise, complete physical shut down has been ordered. I can't do anything right now. Over loading the core muscles would likely impede the healing process. And unfortunately, that makes sense as you're almost always using your core muscles. I need to limit that load. This is probably the most frustrating of all, because I'm dying to at least do something in order to not fall completely apart.... my endurance is gone, my muscles are withering away, and I've gained about 10-12 lbs since the Chicago Marathon.

It's a long, slow, and mentally agonizing process. I'm supposed to be fit and training for the Boston Marathon at the moment, and instead I'm on the brink of pulling that plug. My only glimmer of hope is that as of today, for the first time in over two months, I officially recognized that I'm feeling just a little better than I was just a few days ago. I haven't seen that up until today.

They say it's always darkest before dawn. I just maybe have passed that darkest moment. Only time will tell.

2634 or 3146? Doesn't matter, still busted.

In 2013, I hit 2,634 miles.

That was a PR in terms of total miles in any given calendar year. However, I only ran about 10 months in 2013. I've hardly gone a step since the NYC marathon in early November, which was now two months ago.

If I look back to the stretch between training from Philly '12 through Chicago '13, I peaked out at 3,146 miles in a 12 month period. I had a span of nearly 6 months where on any given day my trailing 12 month mileage was over 2,900. Now that was running!

Of course, look where I am now. Got me all banged up. All because some tiny muscle balled itself up and never let go. My problem started in my adductor and has spread like a cancer to my hip flexor and lower abdomen. Obviously training on it didn't help, and my final marathon only made it that much worse. I found my limit and exceeded it. It's probably somewhere between the numbers 2,900 and 3,146.

I'm not trying to be a drama queen and chalk my career up just yet. Don't worry. But whatever is going on with me is not pleasant. As it stands now, this is gonna my biggest break from running in over 10 years. Each passing day is like a new fat-boy PR. At least when I had my stress fracture, I knew what was wrong and how long it would take to heal. This is totally different. Whether it is sports hernia or some soft tissue tear... Two months later and any small workout or run I attempt puts me back to square one. My own self PT has not helped. It just won't heal.

Anyway, I drew a line on January 1st, and am now going to see a doctor and PT. I have a Dr appointment tomorrow with some guy that I'm sure wants to cut me for a lot of money. I've already been screened by a PT... he's given me some comfort that it might not be all that bad. He's my hope. I've also had some massages, which have offered some temporary relief.

SO, 2014 here we are! My primo condition is pretty much gone. Yet I am signed up for the Boston and Berlin Marathons. Boston is most likely a DNS at this point... a miracle would be needed to make that happen. Hopefully I'll find out in the next week if miracles are possible.