April Recap

Yes, I have been oh so negligent in updating this blog.  Boston and Toledo have both come and gone, and now I'm back into recovery and base training again.  As a quick recap, Boston went well.  The entire weekend was wonderful and it was great to see old and new friends and share the race with two of them.  Since the weather was not great on race day (45F and raining), I already have a BQ for 2016, and my training this past winter was not stellar (missed long runs and days due to some fatigue), I decided to have a fun time and run with Mary Pat and Nick for as long as I could.  The private bus that John hooked us up with was awesome especially with the horrid weather as we stayed dry and warm, and then we took on the course and simply had a great time.

Saturday before the race.

Nick & I freezing after the finish

Joe, Laurie & I celebrating with a Sam Adam 26.2

Nick and I finished in a respectable 3:57:55 (official - 3:55:32 on my watch due to an early pit stop and layer shedding).  We ran well through those hills (Thanks to the Hinckley hills) and slowed down when Nick's hamstring started to act up, but we finished strong.  Once again, Boston was finished and a great time was had by all.

A week later, Denine, Chris, Anne, Cathy, Chuck, and I ventured to Toledo to represent Cleveland at the Glass City Half Marathon.  Not sure what to expect a week after Boston and having a "fun" hotel experience (we left the first hotel and got our $$$ back as it was the grossest place on earth - note to self: Grande Plaza Hotel downtown next year), but the weather turned out to be perfect, the course was great with just enough up/down to make it not totally flat, and I ended up running a 1:43 and placing 3rd in my AG.  I also felt great and realized that my fitness for a half was indeed great (even if spotty for a full) and that I certainly didn't beat myself up at Boston.  This bodes well going into the summer for base building and then the fall for an attempt to run/race a fast(er) marathon at Columbus followed by a fun time at New York.

Up next is the Cleveland half where I'll just be running at training pace and hoping to go back and catch Mike and/or Elaine at mile 22 and run them in.  As usual, it is predicted to be warm for the Cleveland race which is I guess what happens when you move a race to mid-May in NE Ohio.  Of course, this morning it was 39F but this past Monday it was close to 90F.  My plan is to take my current fitness and build with a lot of base miles this summer and then peak in mid-October.  I'm also hoping to continue to run (and race some) a half marathon in every month with one already planned for June (Hill Yeah! for fun), Presque Isle in July, the new Rock Hall Half (where I am pacing the 2 hr group) in late August, and either the River Run or Akron in September.   

As for now, back into training............