Baystate Marathon Training is complete

My final marathon of 2014 is less than two days away. All of the training is done and there is only one more long run to complete.

Looking back over my spreadsheet for 2014 I’ve been training or injured for most of 2014. I started out strong on January 1st with the Hangover Classic 10K and kept at it very consistently until my injury on January 19th.

I had to take about five weeks off from January 19th until February 16th when I went on my first Sunday Long Run. I only did the half course that day.

My next run after that was the Half at the Hamptons on February 23rd. I managed a 1:52 finish which isn’t too bad for only doing about 4 miles a week on an elliptical for five weeks.

From there I built up my weekly miles and managed to get in 344.99 training miles for the Boston Marathon. My back of the envelope plan was for 542 miles, but injury and sloth got in the way.

I managed a Boston PR time of 4:04:15 which was 26 minutes and 32 seconds faster than my 2012 Boston Marathon which was a Boston PR also. I know I did it but as I type those numbers, it blows my mind.

Since 2012, I’ve changed my training and added a lot of stretching and leg strengthening exercises. But 26 minutes!

I have to thank Lois for teaching me some basic yoga. That relieved a lot of hip pain that slowed me down late in my marathons. I also have to thank my buddy Jeff for showing me how to run until you feel like you’re going to throw up. He passed this knowledge during an April Fool’s 4 miler, but I’ve applied the lesson to each race since.

Lois helped me move the limit, Jeff helped me learn how to push through the limit. I learned these lessons after 10+ years of running. As a runner you never stop learning.

Bay of Fundy International Marathon

I took 8 days off after Boston and trained for about six weeks for Bay of Fundy. In those six weeks I ran 105.15 miles including the Boston’s Run to Remember Half where I ran a 1:51 half. I trained less than 20 miles per week.

Bay of Fundy is all hills as soon as you climb over the International Bridge to Campobello Island. Twice the hills of Boston. Just hills. Lots of hills. I ran 4:02:59! Not a marathon PR, but I bested my Boston time on a course that is much more difficult.

Once again, I was shocked. When I went over the finish line I really did not believe the time on the clock. If you want to test your medal, head for Lubec next June.

The Adventures Continue

The week after Bay of Fundy I ran the BAA 10k and Smuttynose 5k on the same day, June 22nd. On June 24th I ran the JP Morgan Corp Challenge 3.5 miler at a PR pace. The weeks before and after July 4th I took off. It was time for a break.

Baystate Marathon Training

Training for Baystate started on July 7th for me. Officially I only count the miles from our first Sunday Long Run on July 13th. After JP Morgan I did not race again until September 27th at the Granara-Skerry 5K.

By the end of June I had run a boat load of races including two marathons, two halfs and a 20 miler. The desire to race waned.

I did all of the Sunday Long Runs and kept up a good schedule during the week. Between July 13th and October 14th I have run about 388 miles. That’s about 43 mile more than I ran for Boston.

As I write this post, my legs are a little sore and tired. I felt like crap on my last run.

The weather is supposed to be on the cool side this Sunday. The course is flat for New England and I’ve trained harder and more consistently than I did for Boston. I knocked 26 minutes off of my Boston time this year. I ONLY need to knock off 17 minutes at Baystate to get a BQ.

I think it can be done.

See you in Lowell!

Andy