Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Fun run
Wow, picasa2 software makes uploading pictures so easy. We had a fun 10 mile run/hike out at Limstone late yesterday afternoon. You can see the Limestone sicks in the background.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Tendonitis again?
Seems like it's one injury or another, but who ever heard of ischial tuberosity tendonitis? It's tendonitis of the sit bone or more commonly called a pain in the ass. It's actually inflammation of the tendon attachment of the hamstring to the sit bone. Just when I thought I had experienced every running injury possible, I come up with another one. The cure is the usual RICE or rest,ice, compression and elevation. I'm not sure about how I can apply compression to it although squeezing into some butt hugger jeans might do the trick.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Boston 2008
I ran my 2nd Boston marathon a couple of weeks ago and it was a fantastic experience. Highlights of the week included having dinner with two of my first cousins and their husband and fiancé, respectively. I also enjoyed seeing a play with Meredith, a day trip out to Concord and Lexington as well as two group dinners with some friends from the South Coast Roadrunners.
We arrived in town on Wednesday evening the 16th so we had four days pre-race for me to relax and catch up on my sleep after finishing a grueling tax season. Thursday and Friday we did some sightseeing and I did a couple of easy runs. I ran a 5 miler along the Charles on Thursday and I ran a portion of the Freedom trail from our hotel near the Finish Line over to the North End where I lost the Trail amidst the Italian Restaurants of the North End. The Trail is marked by a red line down the sidewalk but they apparently repaved the sidewalk in the North End and didn’t re-paint the line. Saturday we rented a car and headed out to Concord and then Lexington. After spending some time at the historic sights, I drove down to Hopkinton to drive the course. The hills were more plentiful than I remembered adding to my pre-race anxiety. On Sunday morning, we watched the US Women’s Marathon Olympic Trials on a loop course in town. Other than spending too much time on my feet it was an exciting morning as the racers passed by us several times on the loop course through Back Bay and Cambridge. Sunday afternoon we took the T down to Government Center and then walked across the Charles and to see the US Constitution, America’s oldest battleship. By the time we got back to the hotel at 6pm my feet were sore from all of the walking.
On Race morning I met up with Jane and Amy and we headed over to the Common to catch our bus to Hopkinton. More standing in line before we got a seat and headed out of town. Our bus was held up in traffic for a good half hour at the freeway exit so we were glad to finally arrive in Hopkinton. After arriving, I stayed at the athlete’s village for a half hour and then began walking the mile to the start hoping to get there in time to see the elites and the start of the first wave. Unfortunately, I was late and heard the gun when I was two hundred yards from the starting line. After the first wave headed out, I had no trouble finding a porta-potty and I relaxed for a few minutes before the second wave runners started to fill the corrals. The temps were a comfortable 50 and the skies were mostly cloudy. I qualified to run in the first wave but since I planned to run a leisurely race I opted to enter in corral 16 with the 3:45 runners. Nothing eventful happened over the first 13 miles but the crowds were very enthusiastic. I ran as slow as I could down the hills and I walked the steeper down hills to save my quads and I covered the first half in exactly 2 hours. When I finally hit the hills, the sun was out and the temps were up into the 60's but the slight headwind kemp me cool as I slowed down quite a bit including mile 15 at 9:45 and mile 16 at 10:00 and then got back on track around a 9 minute pace. After Boston College the fun starts as the course heads downhill again and I picked up the pace as I weaved through the masses toward the finish. I ran a few sub 8 minute miles between miles 20 and 25 and then I stopped briefly at the 25.5 mark to see Meredith and then made off to the finish. I felt pretty good at the end for just run/walking a marathon and my finish time was 3:55. See pictures below.
We arrived in town on Wednesday evening the 16th so we had four days pre-race for me to relax and catch up on my sleep after finishing a grueling tax season. Thursday and Friday we did some sightseeing and I did a couple of easy runs. I ran a 5 miler along the Charles on Thursday and I ran a portion of the Freedom trail from our hotel near the Finish Line over to the North End where I lost the Trail amidst the Italian Restaurants of the North End. The Trail is marked by a red line down the sidewalk but they apparently repaved the sidewalk in the North End and didn’t re-paint the line. Saturday we rented a car and headed out to Concord and then Lexington. After spending some time at the historic sights, I drove down to Hopkinton to drive the course. The hills were more plentiful than I remembered adding to my pre-race anxiety. On Sunday morning, we watched the US Women’s Marathon Olympic Trials on a loop course in town. Other than spending too much time on my feet it was an exciting morning as the racers passed by us several times on the loop course through Back Bay and Cambridge. Sunday afternoon we took the T down to Government Center and then walked across the Charles and to see the US Constitution, America’s oldest battleship. By the time we got back to the hotel at 6pm my feet were sore from all of the walking.
On Race morning I met up with Jane and Amy and we headed over to the Common to catch our bus to Hopkinton. More standing in line before we got a seat and headed out of town. Our bus was held up in traffic for a good half hour at the freeway exit so we were glad to finally arrive in Hopkinton. After arriving, I stayed at the athlete’s village for a half hour and then began walking the mile to the start hoping to get there in time to see the elites and the start of the first wave. Unfortunately, I was late and heard the gun when I was two hundred yards from the starting line. After the first wave headed out, I had no trouble finding a porta-potty and I relaxed for a few minutes before the second wave runners started to fill the corrals. The temps were a comfortable 50 and the skies were mostly cloudy. I qualified to run in the first wave but since I planned to run a leisurely race I opted to enter in corral 16 with the 3:45 runners. Nothing eventful happened over the first 13 miles but the crowds were very enthusiastic. I ran as slow as I could down the hills and I walked the steeper down hills to save my quads and I covered the first half in exactly 2 hours. When I finally hit the hills, the sun was out and the temps were up into the 60's but the slight headwind kemp me cool as I slowed down quite a bit including mile 15 at 9:45 and mile 16 at 10:00 and then got back on track around a 9 minute pace. After Boston College the fun starts as the course heads downhill again and I picked up the pace as I weaved through the masses toward the finish. I ran a few sub 8 minute miles between miles 20 and 25 and then I stopped briefly at the 25.5 mark to see Meredith and then made off to the finish. I felt pretty good at the end for just run/walking a marathon and my finish time was 3:55. See pictures below.
Boston 2008 Pictures
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