Decisions,Decisions

Another photo from Boston from Saturday's race,this one from the infield as the gun went off,kudos to Tom"just call me Mr sub 4.40 mile"Fitzpatrick for sending me the link to the photo from Let's Run.Com,seeing Kent Lemme almost take a header now I know where the bump on my right came from!,props for making a recovery to finish 5th in 4.30.6.

There was never a question I'd go out and run today,sure it was 32 degrees when I set off but frankly when I ran two weeks ago at 23 degrees I blew through any excuses not to run that day,tomorrow isn't going to be much warmer plus by running today I can have tomorrow off as a rest day b4 my 800m on Thursday.
Running today was a no brainer,there are much harder choices in life than run or rest,Chicken or Beef?,Red or White?,Cream and Sugar or Black?Blonde or Brunett?Soup or Salad,I could go on but frankly having a rest day b4 my race even if tomorrow might be warmer than today wasn't even a consideration.I can take it easy tomorrow and get some r&r and maybe clear some shows off of my dvr including Espn 2's coverage of the Boston meet and see if I can catch any glimpses of me during my race during the intros.

Onwards

Following a late nite I was up at 7.30am to conduct my 11 miler w/ Francis.
The sidewalks of Boston were like ice rinks at times but thankfully neither of us fell,there were a few slips and close calls but we managed to stay vertical.
Using Francis's GPS we worked our way from our hotel to Cleveland Circle and then Commonwealth Avenue,anyone who's ran the Boston marathon or knows the Boston marathon will recognize those land marks,after 3 Boston marathons it was unique to run the Newton hills from the other direction this time out.
11 miles for the morning,50 for the week and then the drive back to New York b4 the bus ride back to Philly.

Having spent the weekend away from home I took the day off today to play catch up on a Andrex bog roll list of"to do things" but all of them had to wait till after my run,a 10 miler along Cobbs Creek Parkway.
The temperatures over the last few days have helped melt the snow which means providing there's no new snow/ice fall between now and Saturday a track repeat could be on the cards,failing that a hill repeat at the least,the fact I've ran two 4.33 miles in just over month but haven't been able to do any repeats since Dec 24th underlines my"the need for speed"
Another 10 miler on tap tomorrow b4 a rest day on Wednesday and then my first 800m of the indoor season.

Weekend In New England

Big shout out to Ocean Eversley for the starting line photo from Saturday's race,hip #s were given alphabetically ergo the line up{Burdett,Cakouros,Elliot,Fitzpatrick,meself,Lemme,Kern,Livingston,Millner,apologies to the rest of the field who didn't make the photo}

When planning my indoor season in late Nov/early Dec this was a race I considered but wasn't sure if the logistics ie $$$ would allow a trip to Boston,however kudos to Francis Burdett and Armando Oliveria for the ride up and back to Boston via New York.
We arrived at Reggie Lewis by 4.30pm and had 25 mins b4 being called to the athletes holding area,conditions outside Reggie Lewis were more a kin to the TD Bank Center when the Bruins have a home game so Francis and I jogged around the gym for 10 mins b4 making out way to the holding area behind the media area.
The mood was lighthearted as we stripped down to race gear and took to the track for our warm up,of the 17 man field I knew/had raced 7 of the field and had recently befriended Dave Millner a few days pre race.

Leading up to the race I had visualized two race plans,one w/ Charlie Kern in the field,one w/out as there were conflicting reports as to if he was running,turned out he was but my hopes of being able to get close enough to him to be pulled along to a fast time proved as optimistic as Krystal Forscutt being my valentine next week!!!
I did get a good reaction to the gun which in a 17 man field proved crucial and dispite a little bumping going in to the first turn I emerged on the back straight where I wanted to be.
35 seconds at 200m and I think 65 at 400m.
Charlie Kern had taken out the race at breakneck pace w/ only Lance Elliott able to go w/ him and Tom Nohilly just behind followed by Keven O Neil,Sean Livingston,Jason Cakouros and myself,as best as I remember I came through 800m in 2.14.

At some point Kent Lemme went by me dropping me to 8th on his way to 5th place but to be honest the laps and splits were just rolling by,I recall 4.00 at the bell and knew it was time to go,finding another gear I moved back in to 7th coming off the bottom turn as I overtook Jason Cakouros but was unable to close the gap on 6th place Sean Livingston,7th in 4.33.0.
A mild improvement on Jan 6th's 4.33.7. and my 13th fastest mile of all time, last year I didn't clock a 4.38. mile till Indoor Nationals at the end of March so I'm ahead of schedule based on last year.

Post race I managed a mile cool down w/ Charlie,Lance and Keven b4 enjoying the rest of a cracking track meet,it was neat to be a part of such an event,I hope we put on a good race for the fans,it was fun to run it trust me.
Post meet a group of us got together for dinner,nothing like a good burger and a few iced teas and alot of laughs,masters track....it's a bit like the priesthood,once you're in you're in for life!

Giving It Large At B.I.G.*

*Boston Indoor Games
Just a quick word on yesterdays race,the Masters Mile at the New Balance Games at Reggie Lewis in Boston.
7th out of 16 runners in a respectable 4.33.0,a more detailed account of the race and the weekend to follow tomorrow,I'm still in New York City on my way back from Boston.
Oh yeah, even though it was 1.45am when I got home I was out by 8am to run 11 miles this morning to keep my 50 miles a week streak going.

Shipping Up To Boston....Via New York

"Shipping up to Boston,whoa,shipping up to Boston whoa,I'm shipping up to Boston to find my wooden leg ' Shipping Up To Boston-Dropkick Murphy's. An easy day today,no work which is always a plus and a lie in{yea} up by 9.30am and out to run by 10.30am. Nothing fancy this morning an easy 6 miler to put me at 36 for the week as I got my last chance to visualize the race b4 the gun goes off at 5.20pm at Reggie Lewis in Boston. Boston has been very good to me over the years,b4 I switched to track I ran three sub 3 hour Boston Marathons,2.54 in 91,2.56 in 02 and 2.59 in 05 and then after switching to track I've ran track there each year since 07,my first two Indoor Nationals were little to write home about b4 last year when I got a silver and two bronzes,but it's in my one off races at Masters Invitationals that I've had my most success there, a pair of runner up spots in 07 at 800m and 09 at 1,500m....is tomorrow third time's a charm?

No Deposit No Return

You can tell it's getting close to a trip to Boston when Boston's finest Dropkick Murphys make an appearance in my blog,trust me the ipod is loaded and I'll be kicking it on my way up to Beantown this weekend.
Easy 10 miler today,the conditions underfoot were much better today than yesterday,where as yesterday saw me contend w/ slushy ice underfoot today saw a lot more of Cobbs Creek Parkway sidewalk available to run on and the ice that was still out there was a lot more solid and easier to run on.
Having said that I knew two days b4 a race,ice or no ice that taking it easy was the watch word of the day,take an extra few steps to avoid ice if need be,don't be hung up on pace just get through the run in one piece,mission accomplished.

While surfing through the net this morning I came across some stuff on Jim Spivey,back in the day when the USA had several top milers Jim Spivey was my favourite of the bunch that included Steve Scott and Sidney Maree,if you don't include Bernard Lagat on the grounds that he was originally from Kenya Jim Spivey was the last American to win a medal at Worlds in 1987 in Rome when he won bronze in the 1,500m.
Anywho while reading up on what he's been up to since he retired from running I discovered he coached at the University of Chicago and one of his mantras to his athletes was"No Deposit No Return" and I totally get that today was a classic example of that,I could've bailed citing the risk of catching a cold given it was at freezing,could've said it's icy maybe I shouldn't risk it so close to a race,any nunber of excuses but if I want to log 50 miles this week I had to get out there and run today,No Deposit No Return,granted today was more about keeping one eye on my weekly mileage total than keeping the engine ticking over for Saturday but in running as in life if you want both you can have them,you just have to be smart about it.

W/ that in mind tomorrow is an easy 6 miler to keep things ticking over w/out taxing myself prior to the race but also leaving myself w/ an easy target to compleat 50 miles either side of Saturdays race and Sunday and then it's off to Boston via New York.

Groundhog Day

"Slip sliding away,slip sliding away,you know the nearer your destination the more you're slip sliding away"
Slip Slidin' Away-Paul Simon

The less said about yesterday the better.....let's put it this way had I've ran and blogged the working title for my blog entry was either "BOLLOCKS!""Talking Bollocks As Usual" or "A Load Of Old Bollocks" yep it was one of those days,the fact a simple 50 minute commute took twice as long meant even though I left work at 3.10pm it was 5pm when I arrived home and then to compound my day I experienced technical difficulties w/ my pc so I couldn't get on line last nite,thank christ Groundhog Day is today not yesterday as if I had to relive that day I'd end up wearing an orange jumpsuit doing roadside detail somewhere on a chain gang!!!

Thankfully today wasn't repeat of yesterday,at work,the commute home or w/ the weather,look at me batting a thousand...w/ Spring Training just around the corner.

Since I'd secured an early departure.....everybody....early bird special I was home by 3.55pm and out on the road by 4.05pm,given my early start and the fact sunset is now 5.15pm I figured why not hit Cobbs Creek Parkway for my out and back 10 miler,it's closer to home and I wanted to do a recon mission for tomorrow if I get out early again{the way this week has gone it's a good chance!}and for my 6 miler on Friday.

At times the course was akin to a bad ice rink ice,slush water,nothing like a shoe full of icy water early on in to a 10 mile run but at least I was out running after having to shelve yesterday,frankly I think I got the better end of the deal w/ today,any time I can don my shades in February it's a good day!!

10 miler taken care of I'm still on course for a 50 mile week and I snagged a rest day prior to the race in Boston on Saturday,the weather should allow another 10 miler tomorrow and an easy 6 miler Friday on my way to Boston via New York.