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Boston Marathon – Registered!

First things first. Registration for the 2008 Boston Marathon opened earlier this week and I got right to it. My goal at the New York Marathon last year was to run a sub-3:10:59 and qualify for Boston. I missed that goal by 2:09, but, after a careful reading of the qualification rules, I realized that qualification times are based on a person’s age as of the date of the applicable Boston Marathon – not the date of the qualification marathon. Therefore, even though I was 34 at New York (and thus needed a 3:10), I “age up” (to the 35-39 age group) before the 2008 Boston Marathon and just need a 3:15:59 or better. Booyah!

This week was entirely unspectacular from a training perspective – which is a very good thing. My hip is feeling pretty much 100% and my foot, while still achy, isn’t bothering so much that I’m worried about it. I think I’ve got the swelling generally under control with a combination of stretching, ice and anti-inflammatories. I’m headed to Rhode Island tomorrow morning for a quick “boys weekend”/fantasy football draft. Because of the trip, I won’t be able to do my scheduled long run tomorrow – so instead, I did it this morning. In order to still get to work close to on-time, that meant getting my butt out of bed at 5AM. But I did it – I ran from home to Central Park and then ran about 9 miles inside the Park. I stayed off the usual loop and ran through the middle parts of the Park – the Bridle Path, the “trails” in the North Woods, the Reservoir. It was a great run – and neither my foot nor my hip were an issue. In the coming weeks, I’ll need to start doing more of my long runs on actual trails. There’s really nothing close to home, so I’m going to have to do some traveling. But I’ve done some research and it seems that there are a fair number of good trails that are just a train ride away.

Swim – September 4
Distance: 3,000 yards
Time: 55 minutes

Run – September 5
Distance: 3.2 miles
Time: 25 minutes
Average heart rate: 137
Treadmill run, with simulated hills

Run – September 6
Distance: 3.25 miles
Time: 25 minutes
Average heart rate: 143
Course: West Village
Conditions: Overcast, high-60’s

Bike – September 6
Time: 1:00
Average heart rate: 122
Indoor ride

Run – September 7
Distance: 17 miles
Time: 2:20
Average heart rate: 149
Course: To Central Park, all over the Park, including Bridle Path, Reservoir, North Woods “trails”, etc. and then back
Conditions: Sunny, very humid, mid to high-60’s