Boston Marathon Training Continues

It has been three weeks since my February Wrap Up post. It has been an extremely busy three weeks, but I have managed to get a few miles of training in.

Taxes are not due until April 15th, but I had to get mine done early so that I could complete my daughter’s FAFSA paperwork. For those of you without college-age kids, that’s the financial aid application that must be submitted to be eligible for college financial aid.

As many of you know I’m working on a start-up company. Since everything is new I made a few mistakes on last year’s tax return and had to file an amended return. I had to file the amended return before I could file my 2015 return. I had to file my 2015 return before I could file the FAFSA.

So as usual for me, there was a series of tedious tasks that needed to be completed in a particular order. I had to make sure my daughter would be eligible for financial aid and I had to train for Boston. I also had to go to work and sleep once in a while!

With all of those priorities, blogging took a back seat for a few high-intensity weeks.

March for Homes

As many of you know, on February 18th I found out that I will be running the 2016 Boston Marathon for FamilyAid Boston. They have been helping families find affordable housing in Boston for the past 100 years.

After the mortgage melt-down a few years ago many families were forced into the rental market. This drove up demand which in turn drove up prices. Most new housing projects in Boston are luxury apartments and condos that most middle and working class families cannot afford.

As affordable housing is displaced by luxury developments and the cost of “affordable” housing responds to market conditions, more and more families find themselves in dire straits.

The 2016 Boston Marathon fundraising goal for FamilyAid Boston is $100,000 to celebrate their 100th year of serving Boston’s most vulnerable families.

My modest goal is to raise $5,000. I have a page on Crowdrise where you can make a donation to FamilyAid Boston. I’ve never done fundraising before and could really use your help.

If you are still doing your taxes, you know how important those charitable contributions can be to reducing your tax bill. What better time to make a donation than tax season?

Pizzeria Regina Fundraiser

On March 30th I will be holding a fundraiser at Pizzeria Regina at Station Landing in Medford. This is a Wednesday night so it’s a great time to pick up some pizzas on the way home from work or go out for a relaxing dinner at Pizzeria Regina!

Pizzeria Regina will donate 20% of your food bill to FamilyAid Boston. You can dine in or take out. All you need is a special coupon from me. When you pay your bill give the coupon to your server. They will staple it to your slip and Pizzeria Regina will send the donation to FamilyAid Boston.

I will have coupons on me for the next few weeks, so don’t forget to ask! I will also be at Pizzeria Regina on March 30th starting at 5PM. I hope to have my FamilyAid Boston running shirt on and will wear my 2016 Boston Marathon hat. You won’t be able to miss me!

March for Homes Training

Before I had a number for Boston I was running the short course on the Sunday Long Runs. I managed to run almost 81 miles in January and 72 miles in February.

So far in March I have run 79.82 miles including the An Ras Mor 5K in Cambridge. I never wrote a race re-cap on that one. I ran 16.28 miles the day before that race at Fresh Pond in Cambridge, so I didn’t expect much.

I managed a 7:41 pace and a 24:19 finish. Besides being a Cambridge race, this race was also a USATF event. So that meant many qualified runners. My finish time landed me in the bottom 25% of finishers in my age group. I didn’t expect much, but the bottom 25% bracket with a 7:41 pace was a bit surprising.

The after race party was at The Middle East. The food was awesome and plentiful and the beer was cold and flowing. I didn’t see anyone from my club so I just talked to everyone! Overall, I had a great time!

Training with Injuries

I had several issues before I started marathon training. It’s difficult to recover from injuries when you’re increasing your miles. But with a marathon you have to increase your miles. After many conversations with runners I came up with a modified training plan.

I only had 8 weeks to get ready for Boston. If I had been healthy, a quick ramp up could have lead to an injury. Trying to recover while training is nearly impossible. The body needs rest and relief from the stresses of training.

My modified plan is to run three to four times week. For the Sunday long runs I decided to not run the complete full route. The week we ran 20, I did 16.4 at Fresh Pond. Last week the full course was 16 and I ran 11.

This week the full course was 17.8 and I ran 15.52. I also ran with my friend Rowena at a reasonable pace of 10:11. It was a good run and when I got to the point where my knee was acting up, we were able to cut back.

I was able to get in the miles and not beat up my body too much.

The rest of the modified plan is to run two or three times during the week but only 6-7 miles at a time. That is enough to get my weekly mileage around 30 miles and not beat up my body too much.

It’s a compromise to avoid making things worse. But I’m a little bit concerned with how this plan is going to work on Marathon Monday.

Run well my Friends!

Andy

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