The Boston Marathon

Let me start off by addressing the horrible tragedy that occurred at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.  So many runners, family members, friends, race officials, law enforcement officers, and volunteers were there to take part in the Boston Marathon festivities and take it all in on this world stage.  Many hopes and dreams were shattered when the two bombs went off and tragically killed 3 people and severely injured many others.  Many of us that finished the race feel cheated that we experienced incredible guilt for wanting to celebrate finishing one of the greatest marathons in the world.  And, many others never got to finish which has devastated their dreams as well.  However, if we continue this guilty feeling, then the terrorists win.  We cannot let them win.  We can honor those victims by telling our stories and being proud of our accomplishments.

I wanted to also thank all of my family, friends, and coworkers for supporting me not only before but after the race.  It’s a great comfort to know that I have such a great support network to lean on.  If it weren’t for Amy and Abby’s support I never could have accomplished this.

The pre-race atmosphere was incredible in Boston as we arrive Saturday evening.  After a few transit snafus getting used to the bus and subway system we finally reached the hotel and headed out to dinner.  We had a great dinner at Legal Seafood overlooking the Boston Harbor.   After dinner we went to a bar down the street and had a beer and met a wonderful guy that we talked with for a couple of hours and he even bought us a round of drinks.  We talked to several other Boston natives that night and I must say that they all welcomed us with open arms and wished me luck in the race.  We quickly developed a liking to Boston!

Sunday brought the race expo and wow, what an environment.  All of the volunteers were so friendly and seemed as excited as I was about the race.  Everyone there made sure that our questions were answered and made sure that we had everything we needed to enjoy the experience.  While at the expo I had to purchase the sacred Boston Marathon jacket.  I wore that jacket all day Sunday as we explored Boston.  We encountered countless other marathoners and their families talking to several of them throughout the day.  Just looking around we saw both current and older jackets worn by the runners.  Sometimes we had short conversations with folks and others just a quick nod to one another as we both knew what was going to take place on Monday.  Amy and I really enjoyed the day traveling around town and even went over and checked out Harvard.  We ended the day with an early dinner and headed back to the hotel to rest.  Unfortunately rest was not in the cards as I was awake at 2:30 AM and could not get back to sleep and that ended up being a factor in the race.

6 AM on Monday I jumped on one of hundreds of buses with the other runners and we departed to the start in Hopkinton.  The bus ride was uneventful and after an hour ride we arrived at the race village near the start line.  The atmosphere was exiting as well at the athlete’s village where I exchanged running stories and race strategies with several other runners.  Some had run Boston before while others like me were running for the first time.  The worst part was the 3 hour wait for the race to start at 10AM.  At 9:30 we started making our way to the starting line hitting the porta-john villages on the way…twice!

Well, it’s game time.  As we assembled in our corrals at the start the excitement builds and before I knew it the gun went off!  We’re rolling folks!  Right off the bat I noticed that my legs just didn’t feel great…probably lack of sleep.  Not a huge deal as I was planning on taking it easy for the first 4 or 5 miles anyway.  For the record, this is a tough course.  The first half is a NET downhill with lots of short uphill rollers in between the downhill stretches.  I probably made the mistake of holding back too much on the down hills and making sure that I didn’t even get down to my goal race pace.  I think this had the same negative effect on my quads as I was probably tensing my muscles too much trying to slow down when I should have just let myself hit that race pace.  After 5 miles I knew that my legs were going to be hurting so I decided to maintain a low 7 pace and hold on for the race finish.

The crowds were so exciting the entire race with families and kids making up a large part of the early crowds through the small burbs.  The kids wanted high fives from runners…how can you pass that up as they jumped for joy when runners obliged.  I quickly noticed that as runners discarded gloves, hats, and shirts that race fans scrambled to pick them up.  After about 4 miles I was ready to shed my gloves so I took them off and tossed them at two young girls’ feet.  They jumped for joy as I ran past and quickly scooped them up as a souvenir!  I hoped they enjoyed my sweaty gloves!

At the 10K mark I was right at a 7:01 pace and I was pretty happy with that as that still would give me a low 3 hour finish.  Not too bad despite how bad my legs felt.  Just keep at it and I’ll be fine is what I kept telling myself.  I let myself enjoy the sights and sounds of the crazed spectators along the way.  Simply amazing is the best that I can describe these folks.  They obviously love this race!  Ashland, Framingham, Natick all went by not with ease but at just a steady effort.  Then came Wellesley…wow…imagine what seemed to be thousands of crazy screaming college girls holding signs to kiss them!  I gave some young nice lady a hug…was a bit afraid of a kiss as they likely kissed many in front of me which didn’t seem to appealing.  Yes, I was thinking about germs during a race!  But these girls were crazy and I think I high fived about every one of them!  This was at the half way mark and still holding onto a 7:07 pace which was fine but I could tell my legs were headed in the wrong direction!

The next couple of miles passed and I was just in a zone focusing on the pace and getting to the finish.  Then as I headed into Newton, I could tell again that the excitement was ramping up.  It’s good because I was getting very tired and I needed a boost to keep me going.  At this point I was stopping for a few seconds at the water stations to make sure that I was getting enough water.  We started tackling the Newton hills and it wasn’t too bad.  I heard one runner say that the hill we were on was the steepest and once we get over it we’re good to go and that Heartbreak Hill was longer but not as steep.  I think he was correct because that hill was tough.  Shortly after that it seemed like pandemonium as we started up Heartbreak Hill…again thousands of people screaming to make it up and up it I went!  It was a long hill and tough but the adrenaline took over and powered me up the hill.  We had just passed the 30K mark (20 miles) and the pace dipped down to 7:20 but not too bad as we were hitting some good hills but the legs were going bad fast!

After Heartbreak Hill I had nothing left in my legs.  I starting walking the water stations sometimes up to 45 seconds just to give my legs a short break and this worked.  I was able to make up to 2 miles stints and then walk again just to re-group.  The crowd support at this point was great.  All through the race people were yelling Go Team Mickle which was on the front of the shirt that Amy had made.  I must have heard that a thousand times but it really got me going those last several miles.  By this time we were running mostly downhill and my legs were toast.  I would have been better to keep running uphill!  By this time I looked at my watch and knew that I would have a slower time.  The last 4 miles my pace had slipped down to the 8:30’s and then into the 9’s as I was walking more just to make sure that I got to the finish.  At mile 24 I took my last short walk and then said well let’s finish this!  By this time again 10s of thousands of fans on both side of the road were roaring.  It was so inspiring to hear Team Mickle being yelled as I ran that last mile.

What can I say as I head to the finish?  It’s so inspiring and emotional as you know you’re finishing a lifelong dream that you thought was never possible.  I was going to finish the granddaddy of marathons!  I came in at 3:24 which was slow for me but it was a tough course and somewhat windy so I’ll take it.  After all, I was injured all last summer and only starting training again in September.  But it leaves me wanting more not only to run a faster time but to avenge those bastards that darkened the event!  I’ll be back at Boston…not sure when but I’m going back!

 

Live to Fight Another Day!

I'll just start out by saying that I had a DNF for the Indy Mini! But it was a successful day! Sure I'm disappointed as I was hoping for another PR. This after all is my 'A' running race just about every year. I trained for this day very hard every day since January and in the end I did not fail! I know that sounds strange but I'm happy with how I handled the situation. The only thing I would have done differently is I would have gone to the doctor to get my foot checked out when I started having issues. My heel started hurting 2 months ago however it would come and go. I figured that mild plantar fasciitis was setting in. I figured I would train through it and then get it checked out after the mini. Well, I was about a week too late. My foot felt great two weeks ago and then 5 days before the race during a very easy run the pain came back and hit hard! I then decided not to run until the race and hope that it got better. It did but in the end it just wasn't enough. The race started and the first two miles weren't too bad. Then during the 3rd mile the pain was just too much and I decided to stop before I did too much damage. Sure I could have probably finished but at what cost? Sometimes you just have to say enough is enough! So sure the walk of shame was bad but I wasn't the only one...there were others too the had to make the same decision I did. And it was the right decision. I'll come back stronger and faster and maybe even a little wiser! Keep running!

Hitting the Peak...and More Wellness News

The Indy Mini is just 3 weeks away.  Are you ready?  Have you been training enough?  What's your taper plan?  What's your pacing plan?  How about nutrition before, during, and after the race?  Enough questions!  That's what I say.  Let's get this thing knocked out!  With 3 weeks to go at this point it's basically just a maintenance running mode for the next two weeks followed by a taper the last week.  The workouts have been there, pacing looks good, and I feel really strong!  My fitness should peak at the right time for this race.  At this point I've done what I can do and now I'm just gearing up for race day!  So, to all my friends running the mini have a great race and enjoy!

Now, let's move onto the more serious news.  Last week annual rankings where released on how healthy we are county by county in Indiana.  Last year my county Delaware County was 82 out of 92...not good.  We were all hopeful of improving that number this year.  There seemed to be a movement to get folks out there and get healthy.  Well, we failed...we slipped to 85 out of 92.  Folks, we are at the bottom of the barrel.  Now, here's the real troubling part of this ranking.  We ranked 10 out of 92 for access to recreational facilities.  Are you kidding me!?  How can we be top 10 in facilities and bottom 8 for health!?  This makes no sense and the bottom line is people just aren't using these facilities.  It won't be too much longer before (if not already) we'll start paying much more for health care based on these numbers!

So, friends in Delaware County (well all of my friends!) get out there and move!  Get your family out there.  Hound your friends, coworkers, and whoever else you know that doesn't exercise.  Let's get people healthy!

Now Move!!!

Don't Take a Vacation While on Vacation!

Greetings! I have a couple of thoughts for this week's entry as I sip my coffee this morning from Daytona Beach! I ran 7 this morning running up and over the 2 bridges over the causeway and folks it doesn't get much better than tha! I try to get in some decent runs when on vacation. But, the doesn't mean an everyday run. I'm sure that we burned more calories yesterday in 12 hours of walking around Epcot than I would running a marathon! And all of the walking counts as fitness! On Monday we rented 3 recumbent bikes and road up the beach for an hour! That was fun and healthy! And who doesn't swim while on vacation!? That's a perfect exercise that's enjoyable to do on vacation. So, you should definitely take some time specifically for fitness while on vacation. I'll probably get 1 or 2 more runs in this week which will be fine as the other days we are on the go! So, as the weather heats up and vacation season is near don't get flustered if the vacation breaks up the fitness routine...work around it and have fun! Lastly, just a thought about the state of fitness the nation is in today. We saw numerous people that had motorized carts in Epcot yesterday. Many of these folks were just plain too heavy to walk around. In one instance I saw a couple both on carts and had their kids on their laps riding with them. What a lesson that teaches our kids...that if you get too heavy to walk that it's OK. That's really sad. If I can get one person to turn their lives around and get healthy I'll be happy! Stay fit and happy!

On To The Next!

Well, I won't lie...I was really disappointed with my 5K time last weekend!  I had the training in place, the pace numbers were there in speed sessions and darn it I'm in great shape for March!  I was happy with a second place finish to a youngster that I'm old enough to be his father but still my time of 17:37 was bad...or so I thought!  Bottom line is that it was still a great race for me.

Almost everyone using a GPS watch that I talked to said the course was long as did mine.  Now, I don't think it was long enough for me to say I really ran a sub 17 5K but I think I was certainly in PR territory and may have run faster than my 17:15 from last year.  So really, I ran faster than what I though which was better than what I had initially thought.

And, the last factor of the performance is just plain being smart.  I trained hard last week.  Way too hard to be racing and expecting a PR time!  I'm not 18 years old anymore...or even 35 for that matter.  A few years ago I could do 2 speed sessions per week and recover fine.  Now, I do 1 speed session every other week because it just taxes my legs too much!  So, lesson learned...taper even for those small races to get the best performance possible!

Lastly, let's just move on to the next race!  Don't dwell on a disappointing performance.  Use it for motivation to work harder and smarter for the next event.  Believe that you will run, bike, swim, etc better next time.  Being confident is very important in running and sports in general...but keep in it check and don't let overconfidence hurt you!

Keep moving!!!

Build That Accountability!!!

As folks are getting into fitness routines one of the most difficult things to do is to keep coming back.  This is especially true for someone that is very new to healthy living.  One of the best things you can do is log your fitness activity.  This can be as simple as just logging the day, minutes of activity, and the type of activity in a spreadsheet.  If you have more than a 1 day gap then fill it!  This can be a very simple way to make yourself accountable.  This is one of the cornerstones to the MutualBank Get Fit Challenge!  We all log our fitness time and compete for year end prizes.

Another way you can build accountability is to team up with a partner.  Find someone who enjoys the same type of activity and has a similar schedule so you can workout together, or at least carpool to the gym.  Motivate one another and challenge one another when one of you just doesn't feel it for the day.  One of the best things you can do when your not 'into it' is go anyway and workout.  Chances are you'll feel much better after that workout!

Lastly, once you've made that commitment and have made fitness a part of your life step it up!  Get serious and motivate yourself and your workout buddies to push harder!  Whether you're lifting weights, walking, running, riding bikes; encourage your partner to go farther, faster, harder than they were before and challenge them to do the same for you!  You'll both benefit.  I had a great run this past Sunday running with two friends.  We pushed one another harder than any of us had planned on running and ended up with a great workout that will benefit us in races we all have coming up!

So, partner up and work hard!

Let's Get This Started Again!

Ok, I'm going to try and keep up with this Blog this year!  I hope to keep everyone up with my running status as well as inspire coworkers and friends to get out there and be active.  I'm a team captain at work for the MutualBank Get Fit Challenge.  We just kicked off the 2012 program and log our fitness time for points.  The team with the highest point total at the end of October wins days off, nice clothing, etc.  So, I'll be posting here to try to keep folks motivated.

My goals this year are simple...run faster!  I qualified for the 2013 Boston Marathon with a 2:54 effort at the Monumental Marathon in Indy last fall.  I'm going to run a few 5Ks in preparation for the Indy Mini which will be my 'A' race this year but otherwise save my legs until then.  I have more lofty goals for the mini.  I'm going to see what I can do...I'll take anything faster than 1:19 but would love to really stretch it down into the low '18s or '17s...let's see what I've got.

After the spring running season we'll hit a few Duathlons (probably sprints only this year) and maybe a Tri although I've had shoulder and neck issues every time I've tried to get back in the pool.  Probaby my 'B' race will be the Chicago Marathon but I haven't decided how hard I want to run it...I'll let the weather decide but I'll be training for a 2:50.  So, again this year I will mostly focus on running which is what I enjoy the most.

And, finally just get out there and do something.  Set a goal, enter a race, get your kids involved and get healthy!  Make it a part of your life and your daily routine.  If you're down on the day or just not motivated remember that those days are the days you need to get out and move the most!  Stand up, grab your gym bag, walk towards the door, get to the gym, go outside, walk, run, ride bikes, just move!  Take that first step and the rest will come to you! 

Enjoy and keep running!!!