Over the last week ( coincidentally since I made my race plan public), about 20 friends and acquaintances have asked me if I’m ready, and half a dozen of those have even asked me if I’m going to achieve my goal, if I believe, etc. Heck, after going over my plan with Coach Sisson, he asked: I like your plan Mike, my question to you is… are you going to hit it?
Here’s my answer to his question:
From my Boston 2010 race report… But then, with 2.2 miles to go, although fitness wise I’m ready to attack, it’s simply too much cramping in both calves to handle. They just don’t want to cooperate. I’m pretty heartbroken over the next couple of minutes. I ran well, I got myself out of the mental gutter and back into contention and now a stupid hydration error has derailed the train. Do I keep fighting and just run hard until the legs blow up big time, or do I ease up, take a nice Personal Record in Boston? Either way, I’ll walk with my head held high, but I know what a full lockdown can mean. I’ve been there before. I’ve added 45 minutes to a marathon because of cramps. Pretty quickly, I remember where I am, and what this is about. “This is freaking Boston. Look around, Mike. It’s mile 24, people are 4, 5 6 deep in the sidelines cheering you on. Enjoy the moment as best you can.” I take off my headphones(not like I could hear the music anyway) I slowed down to what felt like a crawl after going sub 7 minute miles for ever. I’m trying to soak it all in as I’m struggling to keep the tears in check. I am going to be a Boston Marathon finisher. These people are here for me and I’m high fiving many of them as I go, gently turning over the legs… pushing them to go faster as best I can. I know I shouldn’t but I want to look at my watch, I keep looking at it, and doing math. I just have to. It’s the competitor in me. I want to see the watch go from 2:59:59 to 3:00:00. I look up as this happens, and take a mental note of where I am on the course, because I already know that next year, I will be back to fly right by that spot.
300 meters to go or so, you turn onto Boylston, and there, in the distance is the finish line. The road feels like it’s 10 lanes wide. People are blowing by me like a sandstorm. I’m just happy and trying to process the bittersweet emotions. I decide to run smack in the middle of the road. I’m overwhelmed, the crowd is so noisy, but it’s quiet. I don’t want this moment to end. I run most of this last stretch holding my thumbs up in the air to thank the people. 40, 30, 20 10 yards to go, why does this have to end? I cross the finish and raise my hand high high up as a winner. My watch says 3:03:08, the official time ends up being 3:03:06.
Before I’d even reached the finish line last year, I already wanted a do-over, and knew I’d be back to redeem myself and get my sub 3 in Boston.
I took a few weeks off, then left the roads and went to tackle some Ultra-marathon training and racing. I love trail running and had some goals I wanted to achieve, and I also knew that running dozens of 4, 5, and 6+ hour trail runs over the 7 months would increase my endurance and stamina.
I ran a strong 60km (37mile) night trail race where I finished 2nd overall. I then had a fantastic 50mile trail race on Halloween weekend finishing 3rd overall, on a very rugged , rocky and tough trail, to build more toughness towards my “A” race of the ultra season. But then in that race I just collapsed mentally. I made a big mental mistake going in over confident and under focused… thinking back, I’m still mad at myself for failing and walking off the course, but I learned a huge lesson to never even toe the line of a race if I’m not truly focused on the task at hand.
I returned to road running and worked hard to rebuild speed, increase turnover, adjust my large running base towards speed on roads, and worked my ass off to catch back up with my road buddies’ speed/pace and find my road legs again.
I got injured on Feb 22, and after a few days of rest knew there would be no quick fix. I immediately hopped in the pool, and continued my training with hard hard Aqua Running workouts in the pool to keep the fitness and turnover alive. Every single run, every single mile I’ve been able to run since my miracle doctor has got me back on the roads has been run with a smile. I have rediscovered how truly lucky I am to be healthy enough to get to run, and that is invaluable.
I ran two “race preps” (race simulation runs 24 and 28 miles respectively), the first one while still very injured. I discussed with my coach and we agreed there were two runs I had to do. I knew I just absolutely HAD to nail these two runs if I was going to have any shot physically and mentally at Boston this year. I ran these under quite a bit of quad/knee pain but as the quote I recently read (If your body says NO, don’t argue; if it just give you a dirty look, then get after it.) pointed out, I just ignored the “dirty looks” until my mind numbed them away, and refused to fail at the runs. A solo 24 miles with 20 miles at 2:52 marathon pace, and a 28 mile run with a hard, fast, and non-stop 6 miles on the track to finish the workout.
I went and got a 2nd, then as recently as last Friday I got a 3rd opinion on my quad/knee issue and by the time race day comes along, I will have gotten 11 separate knee rehab sessions.
I’m highly competitive with myself and those who have the experience of running with me, know that although I’m one of the toughest and most determined runners out there when I need to be, I also run with a smile, and make sure that every run is fun. Even the shortest little warmup run to the track must be enjoyed and a laugh must happen.
We are a week away from race day, and there’s nothing more I can do to increase fitness, and all that’s left are some maintenance runs to keep the turnover going and the legs fresh. I feel as focused as I felt when I ran the California International Marathon to get my first Boston Qualifier 17 months ago. That was easily the best race I’ve ever had in my life. I never once doubted what the end result would be and I nailed that race. It was as close to a perfect race as I may ever have.
My quad/knee feel good enough and I can handle the pain that comes and goes. I have 3 doctor opinions that all agree there’s really no long term damage I can do, and the worst that can happen, is that I can possibly re-strain things and end up back to the pool. That’s a no-brainer of a gamble.
Sure there are plenty of unknowns… did I lose too much endurance while I was in the pool for a month? Will this quad/knee cripple me? Will some other physical issue cause a problem? I don’t know the answer to any of those, but I do know that I have no control over those, and I really don't care.
So with all of the above in my mind, my answer to my coach was: “Barring a physically crippling event, you can take it to the bank.” Don’t mean to sound cocky, but that is truly how focused I am on making this happen. All I have left to do, is get out there and give it everything I have, and boy do I have plenty to give.
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