BQ by 40

7.1 miles in 65 minutes… that’s good for 9’10″ per mile.

Training Begins Again
I ran a day after Thanksgiving Day run last week downtown, but this is the second day of the start of my recovery and build-up to the next marathon, some time in the spring. Goal time: sub-3:30. That will require a peak mileage of at least 60, and an 12-week average mileage of at least 50 miles. That program will start in earnest around January 1st with the Hangover Classic, putting in about 50 miles the first week on the new year. I plan to follow a similar build-up to last year:

In the meantime, I’ll do a quick ramp-up in December including this weekend’s Santa Sprint and Stroll 5k and probably next weekend’s Reindeer Romp 4k (if I can PR in the 5k, then an easy 4k PR will bring me to 10 PRs this year.)

Turkey Day / Marathon Taper and Recovery Bloat
I went from 166 pounds on 11/18/2008 to 172 pounds yesterday, after Flying Monkey Marathon recovery (and eating) and Thanksgiving Day/weekend eating. Dropped down to 170 pounds this morning, so maybe I’ll be in the mid-160s by the end of the year. To help facilitate this progress, I’m back on the wagon tracking calories–it works for me.

• What has been the difference between my first and second marathons? Mileage - up to 60 miles early, March Triple Crown (a real pain at the time, but kept me in tune with my capable speed). Weight - I weighed between 15 and 20 lbs heavier last marathon. Pacing - Learned to pace towards even run, pushing negative splits for......
• Bluegrass 10000 Race Report I noticed something this morning preparing for the race: I had received what appeared to be a seeded bib despite last year's 57:27 time in this event.In registering, I'm sure I might have had some lofty goal such as 45 minutes... about 1:26 off my 10k PR... but nothing seed-worthy.......
• Day 38 of the streak #twit2fit I've run 27 miles in 5 days, and today's run truly felt like miles 23 - Finish of a marathon that I had not properly prepared for.  I guess part of the lesson here is that I've run most of the last week too fast. 3.25 miles in 31:57 (9:50......
• A journey of 5,000 miles begins with one mile. 1,189 days ago, on April 24,2006, I began a quest that was doomed to fail like so many times before. I weighed over 220 lbs. At some point during the preceding winter, I weighed over 230 lbs (at just under 5'8").  That's a BMI of 35.5--obese. Something was different this......
• Because I can't--qualifying for Boston #twit2fit We all do things because we're supposed to be able to, because we were "born to do it." I know a lot of runners who were accomplished cross-country runners in high school who have failed in their attempts to qualify for the Boston marathon. Some of them fell out of......