Wow! It has been over 2 weeks since I last posted a blog!!
The good news is that I have been spending all that extra time running instead of blogging!!!
I just passed 250 miles ran in 2015, and am only 2 miles away to breaking my monthly high in miles!
I just sent out a massive email to a lot of awesome people, so I am hoping that they get a chance to see what I am up to and realize that the reason I do not have time to hang out lately largely has to do with all the running I have been doing!
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Sunday, February 8, 2015
Big week for the Marathon
This has been a very good week for the Marathon. Not only did I run my first 20 miler in my training, but I received many generous donations for Boston Cares.
The week once again started with more snow. I am looking forward for a cross training day to not include shoveling, mainly because I miss running outside. Monday I spent shoveling and not running, Tuesday I ran 8 miles, Wednesday I ran 7 miles, Thursday was a rest day, Friday I had enough time for a quick 5 miles, Saturday I did 20 miles and Sunday I had a easy 5 mile recovery run all on the treadmill.
Originally, I had a very busy week scheduled with a meeting or something set for every day, but with the snow, Monday and Tuesday, it canceled my plans both days and then its all about getting in the miles when I can.
Thursday night was my rest day so I decided to go to Amicable lodge, there the brethren all came together and passed the hat around and collectively gathered $750.00 and the Lodge itself matched that donation making in all a $1500.00 donation to the cause! I am still in shock from the evening and very thankful to everyone involved.
Friday night, I had time after work to run a quick five miles before going to Mt. Olivet lodge on Friday to witness the visit of 25+ brothers from Ontario Canada who were visiting for a hockey game the next day. Mt. Olivet also came to my aid and made a donation to the run.
Saturday, I had to do a long run, my running plan called for 18 miles, but I went into it with an open mind. If I was not feeling it, I would do around 10, if I felt good I would do the 18. At the end, I felt really good around mile 18 and decided to go for it and get that 20! Being on a treadmill for more than 2.5 hours is torture and my mind was exhausted when it was all said and done but I had some good music to help get me there.
Sunday, I once again had to do some shoveling, but it was only 5 inches on the ground, and not enough to be considered cross training, so I went back to the gym for a recovery run.
On the week, 45 miles ran, Lots of donations and a long run completed.
Here are the links to the runs:
Wednesday: http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/690130943
Friday: http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/691903997
Saturday: http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/692231470
Sunday: http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/693107847
Donate Donate Donate!
https://www.crowdrise.com/BostonCares2015/fundraiser/douglaswilliams
The week once again started with more snow. I am looking forward for a cross training day to not include shoveling, mainly because I miss running outside. Monday I spent shoveling and not running, Tuesday I ran 8 miles, Wednesday I ran 7 miles, Thursday was a rest day, Friday I had enough time for a quick 5 miles, Saturday I did 20 miles and Sunday I had a easy 5 mile recovery run all on the treadmill.
Originally, I had a very busy week scheduled with a meeting or something set for every day, but with the snow, Monday and Tuesday, it canceled my plans both days and then its all about getting in the miles when I can.
Thursday night was my rest day so I decided to go to Amicable lodge, there the brethren all came together and passed the hat around and collectively gathered $750.00 and the Lodge itself matched that donation making in all a $1500.00 donation to the cause! I am still in shock from the evening and very thankful to everyone involved.
Friday night, I had time after work to run a quick five miles before going to Mt. Olivet lodge on Friday to witness the visit of 25+ brothers from Ontario Canada who were visiting for a hockey game the next day. Mt. Olivet also came to my aid and made a donation to the run.
Saturday, I had to do a long run, my running plan called for 18 miles, but I went into it with an open mind. If I was not feeling it, I would do around 10, if I felt good I would do the 18. At the end, I felt really good around mile 18 and decided to go for it and get that 20! Being on a treadmill for more than 2.5 hours is torture and my mind was exhausted when it was all said and done but I had some good music to help get me there.
Sunday, I once again had to do some shoveling, but it was only 5 inches on the ground, and not enough to be considered cross training, so I went back to the gym for a recovery run.
On the week, 45 miles ran, Lots of donations and a long run completed.
Here are the links to the runs:
Wednesday: http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/690130943
Friday: http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/691903997
Saturday: http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/692231470
Sunday: http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/693107847
Donate Donate Donate!
https://www.crowdrise.com/BostonCares2015/fundraiser/douglaswilliams
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Recovery, Patriots, cross training and new shoes.
I am really excited that I was able to get outside for a recovery run on Sunday! I was able to get out for a slow 5k, which got me away from the treadmill at least for one day. I did an out and back from my house to Davis square which had its share of running in the snow, but was primarily clear. After adding miles at a decent speed on Saturday, a recovery run was very welcome on the legs, they felt much better after than they did before.
After that I realized that my current shoes have 460 miles on them right now, and I have to start breaking in a new pair soon. It is strange to think that I just ordered the shoes that I will be running the Boston Marathon in... I'll post a picture when I get them in later this week.
Doing a short run on Sunday was nice too so I could prep for the Superbowl and "Wow" is all I can still say about that game! Just Wow! Malcolm Butler for the win! Go Pats!
Monday was a forced cross training day, and by cross training I am talking about snow removal. We got another 18 inches of snow in my neighborhood and we are out of places to put it! With the roads and the parking being scarce, I did not try an venture to the gym to get a run in but Tuesday I was back at it with a solid 8 miles on the treadmill. I hope get more runs of 6+ this week, but it will be tricky with the schedule already being full.
Until next time...
Donate Donate Donate!
https://www.crowdrise.com/fundraise-and-volunteer/the-team/bostoncares2015/douglaswilliams
Recovery run:
http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/687847979
8 miles:
http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/689483186
After that I realized that my current shoes have 460 miles on them right now, and I have to start breaking in a new pair soon. It is strange to think that I just ordered the shoes that I will be running the Boston Marathon in... I'll post a picture when I get them in later this week.
Doing a short run on Sunday was nice too so I could prep for the Superbowl and "Wow" is all I can still say about that game! Just Wow! Malcolm Butler for the win! Go Pats!
Monday was a forced cross training day, and by cross training I am talking about snow removal. We got another 18 inches of snow in my neighborhood and we are out of places to put it! With the roads and the parking being scarce, I did not try an venture to the gym to get a run in but Tuesday I was back at it with a solid 8 miles on the treadmill. I hope get more runs of 6+ this week, but it will be tricky with the schedule already being full.
Until next time...
Donate Donate Donate!
https://www.crowdrise.com/fundraise-and-volunteer/the-team/bostoncares2015/douglaswilliams
Recovery run:
http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/687847979
8 miles:
http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/689483186
Sunday, February 1, 2015
First official long run
Hello!
Thank you to all who have already donated to the run! Every penny counts!
January is officially in the books, I ended up running 116 miles, and hiking another 20 miles. That is 106 more miles running than January of 2014. It also marked the first month where I almost exclusively ran on a treadmill verses outside, and probably the first time ever that I might have gotten my moneys worth out of my gym.
I have been looking at training plans on and off since Wednesday and I am going to try and use Hal Higdon's Intermediate 1 plan to get started. http://www.halhigdon.com/training/51139/Marathon-Intermediate-1-Training-Program Based on my current conditioning and the fact that I only have 10 weeks of training, I am at about week 9 of this plan. I ran 13.1 miles last Monday before hearing about the Marathon, but I have not run further than 14 miles in a very long time. Most people when they are not training for a Marathon or are not Natalie Kratz do not run over 14 miles on a routine basis, so I do not feel too bad about not having crazy long runs recently.
Friday, I ended up taking a rest day. After a week of snow, running on the treadmill and going to work and little else, I was starting to get a little stir crazy. A night out would do wonders.
Saturday, I returned to the gym in the hopes of getting a long run in. I went in with the mindset that I was going to do 7-10 miles, but if I felt good, I would try to add more miles to catch up to the training plan. I felt okay, so I decided to aim for 15 miles. When I got to 15, I thought.. What's one more? so I ended up hitting 16 miles on the day. Interesting thought, My gym closes at 7pm on Saturdays.. When you run for more than 2 hours you need to think of these things, as I looked around and realized that no one was around me anymore, and that they were shutting down! When I was at 15.85 miles one of the staff came over and told me I had to leave, but I was not going anywhere until I hit 16 Miles.
After the run, I hurried to the locker room to grab my things so that they could close and ended up stretching out afterwards in the hall way outside of the gym. There's a first time for everything.
Sunday I am hoping for a short recovery run and that should bring me up over 45 miles on the week.
Go Pats!
- Douglas
Saturdays run: http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/687092144
DONATE DONATE DONATE!
https://www.crowdrise.com/BostonCares2015/fundraiser/douglaswilliams
Thank you to all who have already donated to the run! Every penny counts!
January is officially in the books, I ended up running 116 miles, and hiking another 20 miles. That is 106 more miles running than January of 2014. It also marked the first month where I almost exclusively ran on a treadmill verses outside, and probably the first time ever that I might have gotten my moneys worth out of my gym.
I have been looking at training plans on and off since Wednesday and I am going to try and use Hal Higdon's Intermediate 1 plan to get started. http://www.halhigdon.com/training/51139/Marathon-Intermediate-1-Training-Program Based on my current conditioning and the fact that I only have 10 weeks of training, I am at about week 9 of this plan. I ran 13.1 miles last Monday before hearing about the Marathon, but I have not run further than 14 miles in a very long time. Most people when they are not training for a Marathon or are not Natalie Kratz do not run over 14 miles on a routine basis, so I do not feel too bad about not having crazy long runs recently.
Friday, I ended up taking a rest day. After a week of snow, running on the treadmill and going to work and little else, I was starting to get a little stir crazy. A night out would do wonders.
Saturday, I returned to the gym in the hopes of getting a long run in. I went in with the mindset that I was going to do 7-10 miles, but if I felt good, I would try to add more miles to catch up to the training plan. I felt okay, so I decided to aim for 15 miles. When I got to 15, I thought.. What's one more? so I ended up hitting 16 miles on the day. Interesting thought, My gym closes at 7pm on Saturdays.. When you run for more than 2 hours you need to think of these things, as I looked around and realized that no one was around me anymore, and that they were shutting down! When I was at 15.85 miles one of the staff came over and told me I had to leave, but I was not going anywhere until I hit 16 Miles.
After the run, I hurried to the locker room to grab my things so that they could close and ended up stretching out afterwards in the hall way outside of the gym. There's a first time for everything.
Sunday I am hoping for a short recovery run and that should bring me up over 45 miles on the week.
Go Pats!
- Douglas
Saturdays run: http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/687092144
DONATE DONATE DONATE!
https://www.crowdrise.com/BostonCares2015/fundraiser/douglaswilliams
Friday, January 30, 2015
2015 Boston Marathon Introduction
***Disclaimer: This is a very long first blog.. For my friends with ADHD, scroll to the bottom for cliffs notes***
The idea of running another Marathon, has been something that I have been recently starting to consider. I last ran a Marathon in 2011 in Philadelphia. Since then I have been sticking mainly to half marathons and relay races.
2013 was an off year for me when it came to running, I started a new job and got married and could never really find a consistent time to run, Because of that, the battle of the bulge was lost and I added on a few pounds that I had hoped to never see again. I needed to start again in 2014 and really focus on getting a solid routine for running. I knew I needed support and accountability. It is so easy to start something and then have it fade away. I needed to take this seriously and really challenge myself. What I needed was competition...
Some may say that I am competitive, people who know me would say that I am super competitive, and my closest friends and family would say that I am obsessively competitive about everything, and hate to lose. It's true. I hate losing. One of my favorite quotes is from Ron Hextall (Retired NHL Goalie) he said: "The Love of Winning is only second to the Hatred of Losing." that is how I feel about losing.
I eventually found competition in the way of a friendly wager with my friend Mike. We both wanted to run more, and we both have Garmin watches. On Garmin's website you can add friends and see how much they are running and then compare that to your own runs. The wager was simple. Each month we would run, and who ever ran the least miles between us would need to buy the winner a beer. Simple bet, but its all I needed. a small bet, and a friend to keep me motivated.
In 2014, I ended up logging 1204 miles. which is more than 3 times my previous yearly totals (something else about me, I love stats). I did not race that much, only 2 half marathons (South Shore and Philadelphia) and 2 relay races. (Ragnar Cape Cod and Reach the Beach), but I made running a part of my life again. I set goals for myself in 2015 to get to 1500 miles on the year. I figure this is reachable because by the end of the year I was averaging 120-130 miles a month, and if I maintained that throughout the year I could reach that next milestone.
On Wednesday, January 28th I received a text message from Andrew Grove from Amicable Lodge. simply asking "Do you want to run in the Boston Marathon??" To which I almost immediately called him to see what he was talking about. He told me that Jeremy Gross was asking around for interested runners to help out Boston Cares. Apparently someone had dropped out last minute and they needed someone to run. From there, I called Jeremy for more details, and he directed me to Kirsten over at Boston Cares. With in a two hour span I went from a normal day of work to in 10 weeks I will be running the Boston Marathon.
I had heard of Boston Cares before Wednesday, but I admittedly I did not know that much about them. After talking to Kirsten, I started to look into what they did a little more closely. I must admit, it's pretty impressive stuff. They have been around for almost 25 years coordinating volunteers from all over the Boston area to help with community development projects. They work with Children, corporations and people from all different backgrounds who want to help give back to their community. Giving back to the community is something that many people want to do, but often do not know how. Boston cares does all the coordinating work, allowing volunteers the opportunity to give back in anyway that they can. Check them out for yourself at www.bostoncares.org
I am planning on updating this blog a lot over the next 10 weeks, with my runs, thoughts and training plans, so be sure to check back in.
Here are the two runs that I have done since Wednesday. I've got a lot more to do!
Wednesday: http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/685039220
Thursday: http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/685722821
also, do not forget to donate here: https://www.crowdrise.com/bostoncares2015/fundraiser/douglaswilliams
- Douglas
Cliffs notes:
- I am running the Boston Marathon
- I do not like losing
- I like stats
- I am a Cambridge Freemason
- I am running the Boston Marathon
- Boston Cares is awesome
- Donations welcome!
- Click links to see my runs on the treadmill
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