Super busy with work and related travel. Marathon training is progressing well.
Finished my first road race, evah! On March 12th, ran Boston's Half-Marathon in a very respectable 1:54:56 for 13.1 miles at a pace of 8:46 min/mile. Hoping to finish under 2 hours, I realized at the 10 mile marker that I was cutting it very close. Sprinted the last 3 miles and ended with five minutes to spare! Stoked! What a kick to 'pass' others at the end!
Along the course I followed others, ducked behind a few bushes and relieved myself on an MIT building 😉 Thankfully, offices were all empty on the sunday morning. Think students and profs were nursing hangovers from wild parties on saturday night? naaaaah! prolly at home telephoning mothers and munching on fruit loops for breakfast 😛
Did the longest 22 mile training run this past Saturday! Lets just say it was not a pretty sight! Ran part of the actual marathon course including the notorious 'heartbreak hill.' Hundreds of runners were also training giving a nice psychological boost. The camaraderie amongst runners was phenomenal. Along the course many had set-up drink stations on sidewalks, cars and benches and willingly shared gatorade with all runners. Towards the end of the run as I struggled up heartbreak hill, an older gentleman asked if I needed refreshments (i must have looked drained and my fuel belt was empty) and offered a big bottle of gatorade. Others offered suggestions for tackling downhills, training regimens and best options for getting to the start-line on race day (April 17th).
Dashed home after the run, did a short stretch, shower and got on a flight. Did I suffer! My icing and resting schedules were completely off, and today, nearly five days after my run, I am uncharacteristically still sore!
The toughest part of the training is behind me! The taper starts now! I reduce my long runs to 16 this weekend (maybe?), followed by a couple of half marathons. Time to rest – but not too much!
O! Got my Marathon number: 210.90 (a transposed version of 90.210)
Run 21090!
Arun Shanbhag 