Boston Half Marathon 2007 « Arun Shanbhag

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Boston Half Marathon 2007

October 7, 2007 by Arun Shanbhag

Boston Half Marathon 2007
time: 1:49:31
pace: 8:22/mile (5.11/km)

Was a minute 56 secs slower than my Feb Half Marathon in Hyannis. And my pace was off by 9 seconds!

In Feb for Hyannis, I was in training for the Boston Marathon and at the top of my training. This half marathon was to be a practise run for the New York City Marathon in Nov. But I did not get into the NYC lottery, making it difficult to get motivated. And I suffered from heel pain all summer (now you know why I wrote all those heel pain articles) and could not run on my heels for most of my training. Today was the first time in months that I ran any distance on my heels ~ and transiently felt a stab of pain at about mile 6.

And wow, what a scenic but tough course! The course runs through Boston’s Emerald Necklace, a chain of nine parks linked by parkways and waterways. See interactive tour here. My friends who ran it last year had correctly warned, “it is very hilly!” At the halfway, we run through the Franklin Park Zoo, past the giraffe pens, birding area, tropical animal trails and the alligator area; before turning back around. Sorry did not pause to enjoy! :-))

Enough excuses!
A fabulous run and I am very pleased. In this off-season, needed to maintain form and was expecting to do better than a 9:00 minute pace. And did way better than that! Now I rest for a few months and restart training in Jan for either the Boston or London Marathon in April 2008! Yaay! Run ARUN Run!

Posted in Boston, Fitness, Marathon, Running | 16 Comments

16 Responses to “Boston Half Marathon 2007”

on October 8, 2007 at 7:32 am1 Asha

Beautiful badge, good for you. I have never ran a Marathon.Too caught up in daily life.
Good luck for your next run, sounds great!:))
on October 8, 2007 at 8:02 am2 Arun Shanbhag

Thanks Asha!
I think you could easily do a half and then a full marathon; all you need is energy and discipline and you have BOTH in ample supply!
And yes, that was the beautiful finishers medal we all got!
on October 8, 2007 at 10:53 am3 lakshmi

hmm - now you guys make me want to do a marathon!!
on October 8, 2007 at 11:54 am4 Arun Shanbhag

Ofcourse, you can!
Go for it! You could do it!
I can be your cyber coach!
There is the Mumbai Marathon (half marathon, 10K etc) in mid-January!
on October 9, 2007 at 5:16 am5 lakshmi

thanks for volunteering to be my cyber coach - i’ll do a half marathon sometime end of next year and will catch hold of you then. i had a ligament tear in my ankle sometime back and dont want to take any chances for a few more months.
on October 9, 2007 at 10:11 am6 Arun Shanbhag

Ouch Lakshmi - absolutely no running for some time! But make sure you don’t lose flexibility (and strength); so keep walking and doing exercises for your ankle!
and any time you are ready, you know where to find me
on October 9, 2007 at 10:59 am7 sia

wow arun, congrats for completing ur half marathon. one day even i am gonna do that and dont ask me when
u doing london marathon??? if so just drop to our home
on October 9, 2007 at 2:44 pm8 Arun Shanbhag

Sia - OK!
If I get to do London, we will definitely drop in for your Jolada Roti Oota! Sounds exciting!
… and I can get you out running for a small maybe!
:-))
on October 10, 2007 at 1:32 pm9 bee

woohooo!!! great job.
on October 10, 2007 at 2:44 pm10 Arun Shanbhag

Thanks bee! it was fun!
on October 15, 2007 at 7:47 am11 lathanarasimhan

I should learn from you to enjoy life!:)) I toomake list of things I love todo and try doing them. When we had been to Dhanolti I was exhausted by trekking. On my recent trip to Otty and Kunnoor I was much more comfortable as I did some warming up before the trip. Some prsctice is required before taking up marathon.
The badge is lovely!:)) Great achievement!:))
on October 15, 2007 at 4:27 pm12 Arun Shanbhag

Latha:
Arrey yaar! In addition to all your family work, your are a phenomenal and tireless contributor to your blog and the broader food blog community. That in itself is a major accomplishment.
and you still get the time to go travelling and trekking? WoW!
Don’t be too hard on yourself.
And I think different types of stretches to warm-up the muscles is a fantastic idea. you can do it on a daily basis and it helps maintain strenth as well - That is Yoga! I have been doing that twice a week now and I just love it!

And thanks for your greetings on the half marathon! That was a beautiful medal we all received. Adds to my collection!
on October 23, 2007 at 4:27 am13 Rachna

wow great achievement… i cant even run around the block…:(… how do you train??
on October 23, 2007 at 4:30 pm14 Arun Shanbhag

Hi Rachna:
I only started running long distances last year at the young age of 44! So, there you see, anyone can do a marathon.

There are several online training programs that you follow - these really guide you on a day-to-day basis and get you to finish a marathon.

I posted a part of my marathon training regimine here. ofcourse, for the half-marathon I trained less! :-))
and thanks for asking!
if you ever want to do something, let me know … really!
on November 7, 2007 at 4:00 am15 Rachna

wow….you are really encouraging me here…. im inspired that if you can do it at your age then i just have to run one marathon…. and do it…wow… i wud be so proud…. im going through some major changes in life right now…when im all settled…will come bck to you for some guidelines
on November 7, 2007 at 9:37 am16 Arun Shanbhag

Absolutely Rachna,
It will be my pleasure to guide you to your first half or full marathon! :-))