Tuesday, February 24, 2015

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!


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

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

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