Running Streaks

 Running Streaks are probably not the healthiest thing for runners but I am always looking for things to keep me motivated as I get older.  Lifetime PR's are way behind me at this point and I started the current streak to see how long I could make it.  As I passed one year I thought maybe I could get my second longest.  Let"s see if I can stay healthy to get to 1474 days in a row.

   Streak one June 15, 1987 to May 5, 1989.   690 days, 4,294 miles (6.2/day) All of my lifetime Pr's from 1mile to 10k during the streak. Stopped because of nagging knee tendonitis. hoped to rest and heal for Fall xc( it didn't work)

  1 mile     4:24.7     February 11, 1989. (WVU)

3000 m.    9:06      February 18, 1989. (WVU)

5 mile.     26:32. XC    October 1, 1988  Pitt

10K.         33:45. XC.  October 9, 1988.  Paul Short Inv  Lehigh

 Current Streak  October 23, 2021 - September 13, 2023 (so far)  3965.5 miles (5.7/day)

50+ pr's

1 mile. 5:25     June 25, 2022    SRR relay Medford

5k  18:16.      May 4, 2022.    Devens 5k

4 Mile  24:49.   Feb 13, 2022.    Super Sunday 4m Bedford, NH

10k. 39:06      Sept 25, 2022.  Lone Gull Gloucester

13.1   1;25:15.  May 28, 2023.   Boston Run to Remember

26.2  3:01:35.    April 17, 2023.    Boston Marathon.  

Graves Disease...You will never run another marathon

My first 9 marathons were complete disasters including my one Ironman Triathlon in 1995.  The pattern was always the same, run hard the first 20-22 miles and then look like a character out of the Zombie Apocalypse the rest of the way.  I have now run two marathons in the first 5+ months since I returned to running.  Both were a much more enjoyable experience. (both in horrible weather conditions) I ran Hyannis in February on a lark to see if I could qualify for Boston doing essentially a training run.  I ran 3:21:55 feeling great until 22 miles and still being able to run, although much slower, the last 4 miles and qualify for Boston.  I ran the Newport Marathon in April and was able to hold onto 7:05 pace for the first 23 miles and then slow run the last 3 miles.  The slow end on this one may have been because I dropped a couple of 6:40 miles in at miles 17 and 18 after I had to pass a guy twice after I reached a turn around point only to see him a half mile ahead of me again after he cut the course.  Really not a smart thing to do but it really pissed me off at the time and I couldn't help myself.  I also do not have much of a base yet after taking so many years off from running.
This leads me to one of the reasons I stopped running.  In early 2012 I was diagnosed with Graves Disease, a Thyroid autoimmune disease.  Your Thyroid overproduces hormones and basically keeps your body running on high all the time, leaving you always fatigued.  This explained a lot as I was having trouble in 2010 and 2011 running.  My heart would frequently start racing and I would over heat and blow like a car with a radiator problem in longer races. I dropped out of New Bedford in 2011 after it happened and I didn't run another race for nearly 8 years. ( I did jog Boston 2011 with a friend) 
     After I was diagnosed, my doctor told me my marathon days were probably over. I spent a full year taking medication to stop the thyroid to no avail and in 2013 I had a radioactive iodine treatment to finally kill the thyroid.  I wouldn't recommend this treatment as it immediately gave me diverticulitis and other digestive problems, but once its done there is no going back. Next came a year or two of trying to dial in a replacement thyroid medication that I must take every day.  This can be a little tricky as I would find out because the radiation kills the thyroid over time and I still had a portion producing some hormones.
  What is once Hyper becomes Hypo.  Another side effect of the treatment is weight gain.  While my diet of Craft beer, ice cream and donuts is somewhat acceptable when running it quickly put 30lbs on me.  Along with that I really didn't have much of a drive to run anymore and life moves on. 
    So when a few friends from college started talking about running Boston together in 2020, I really did not think it would be possible for me.  It really seemed at the time to be a mountain too tall to climb anymore.  I decided to give it a go anyway because I really needed a stress outlet.  The Farm had a terrible 2018 with the bad weather coupled with a road project which shut down the Farm Stand for the bulk of the summer.  I also could stand to lose a few pounds. 
   The first month was really hard because everything hurt.  Knees, ankles, hamstring, but I kept at it and after my first 14 miler after Christmas, things really started to get easier and I really started to enjoy running again.  So after being told my marathon days were probable over, my goal is to run three in one year.  I am really excited to see what is possible for the first time in a long time.  I know I probably can't get back to even my 2010 shape anymore but I do think my lifetime marathon PR from 1995 of 2:56:45 is within range.  It really doesn't even matter if I do it or not, I just like running again!

Biggest week in 9 years!

Week ending March 24
Mon 6 mi, easy 8:25 pace, no soreness at all after New Bedford
Tues 10 mi 7:50 pace
Wed 7.6 mi  8:10 pace
Thur 7mi,  7:50 pace, right Achilles sore probably from carrying cinder blocks in the Green house
Fri  6mi, 8:00 pace easy, right Achilles still sore
Sat 5 mi, 8:25 easy in the wind, leg feels better
Sun 25.5,  Started at 8 min miles and built to the last 3 at 6:45 pace through 20 then eased up.  Ran 23 at  7:25 pace, really encouraging considering I couldn't go faster than 7minute miles at New Bedford last week.  2.5 real easy cool down
  Week = 67 miles,  Year = 572.5

Hey this thing still works?

I was going to use Strava to post my weekly running but I haven't bought a Garmin yet as my old Casio is held together with gorilla tape but works fine.  I grew up on the Farm and we tend to keep things until they don't work anymore and then hold onto them for another 50 years just in case.  I started running again in November after my second long break from running, for various reasons.   I decided to try New Bedford as my first real race in 8 years, although  I did the Hyannis Marathon as a training run to get a Boston Qualifier in February.  I started near the back after I forgot how hard it is to get anywhere up front at this race unless you get to the starting line early.  My legs were really tight and I couldn't seem to push any faster than 7 minute miles the whole way.  I haven't really run anything faster than 7 minute pace yet so I guess I shouldn't  be worried that this is the new normal. I passed at least 30 people in the last mile so I had plenty of gas at the end.  I really forgot how much I love running and racing.  I hope I remember this the next time I get injured or the Farm starts kicking my ass.  I need to push though it to the other side because running is really important to me, and it makes the mundane parts of life easier.  
        Mon  7.8 mi, 59:11
      Tues    7.2 mi,  59:12
        Wed   9 mi, 1:09:33   1 hard mile in 6:18, 1 hard half mile in 2:55
      Thur    5.25 mi 41:55
       Fri    3.5  mi   27:20
       Sat    2.5 mi,  19:36
       Sun   17 mi,  3 mi warm up.  race  1:32:29  41st (50+) official results still not out. 1 mile w/d
Total week  52 miles     Year =505.5

Week of Nov 21 - 27

Mon AM Pt with more Graston on left leg. PM 6.5 mi @ 7:45/mile  
Tues 6.2 mi JA loop 48:30
Wed  off

 Thur 7mi 8:00/mi
 Fri 10 mi real easy
 Sat 3.5 mi w/Cooper
  Sun 10.5 mi   8:00/mi  with a group                                                                                                                                                                                         Total 43.5 mi, biggest week since April and the left leg still feels good!

Return to running

After months of frustrating hip and hamstring pain, some simple excersises from my PT have freed up my leg enough to get back to running. And hopefully will fix some muscle imbalances I have been dealing with for 25 years!
M 3mi
Tue 6.2 JA loop 48:30
Wed off
Thur 8 mi 6mi @ 7:00/mi
fri 6.5 7:20/mi
Sat 3.5 easy
Sun 3.5 easy
Total 30.5 mi year=1050

Training 3/21-3/27

Mon off, legs really tight and hurt
Tues 8 mi, most with cooper at 9 min pace, everything still hurts
wed off,
Thur 8 mi, felt a little better 7:30 pace
Fri 7.5 mi, 7:30 pace
Sat 8 mi, 3 with cooper then 7:20 pace with a couple strides
Sun 24 miles easy 8min pace with the group, about 7 miles of it with 2:11 Marathoner
Gary Siriano, pretty cool, hopefully he will catch up with us on our easy sunday runs. I love hearing stories from the 70's and 80's when we had dozens of fast Marathoners.

Total 55 miles year= 527

Legs felt better as the week went on, I hope I can do more this week.

Training 3/7 -3/20

Week ending March 13

Total 35.5 miles 5 days
Race celtic 5k 17:13 (40+pr)
year=432

Week ending March 20
Total 40 miles 4 days
DNF New Bedford 2nd in my life

As they say in my business "you reap what you sow"

Training 2/28 - 3/6

Mon off
Tues 21.5 mi , Tagged along with Bob on his 21 mile and felt pretty good, a shade under 8min pace. Does two 21 milers in 4 days qualify me as an ultra runner?
Wed 9.5 mi, 7.5 mi easy 7:45 pace followed with 10x150 strides
Thur 8 mi, 7:40 pace
Fri 6.5 mi, 3 with cooper then 3.5 more all at 8:30 pace and very tired
Sat off, not planned, the day got away from me
Sun 15.5 mi, 7:55 pace with The group, felt real easy
Total 61 miles (5 days) Year = 396.5

Keeping up with the build up phase, trying to get comfortable with 60 miles and start increasing my milage after next week. I hope to find a 5 mile race or 10k next sunday to get something in before NB. It has been nearly a year since I ran a race!

Training 2/14 - 2/27

Feb 14 - Feb 20MON 7mi easy 7:45 pace recovery run with 2x 150 strides after
TUES 6.2mi, JA group run 1st since Jan 6, easy 50:45 a little icy
WED 12.5mi, Ran from the farm to home after moving my loader back to the farm, did a 10.2 Tempo at 6:45 pace almost all uphill with 350 ft elevation gain.
THUR 6.2, JA loop 48:45
FRI 9 mi, 7.5 at 7:10 pace with 6 x 200 strides after
SAT 9.5 mi, easy 7:40 pace, very cold and windy
SUN 11 mi easy 7:45 pace

Total 61.5 miles year=275.5

Feb 21- Feb 27
MOn off
Tues 8 mi, 7.5 at 7:25 pace with 2x200 strides after
Wed 5mi treadmill easy
Thur 12 mi, ran from the farm to sterling did 2miles in 14min then alternate hard easy miles 5:49,6:40,6:07,6:50,6:00 , 5 miles in 31:30 and I was done, I wanted 2 more but it wasn't happening did 5 warm down to the garage
Fri 8 mi Treadmill slow
Sat 22 miles, not too bad ran 7:45 pace and other than icy slush and having to run in traffic, a good run
Sun 5mi easy treadmill after snowplowing AGAIN
Total 60 miles Year=335.5

It is good to finally get 2 consistant weeks in. I am going to try to find a 5 mile or 10k to race this week or next to get a feel for NB. Anyone knows of a good one let me know. I don't race enough to find good races.

Training 2/7 - 2/13

MON-0
Tues 0
Wed 3.5mi treadmill easy (there is no where to saftely run around my house)
Thur 7.5 mi 7:40 pace from Bobs house
Fri 0
Sat 0 (hopefully the last day for a while of snow removal)
Sun 20+ easy 8:10 pace with Bob and Rick, felt better than I thought it would, I actually had some sprint left in me on the last mile when I had to catch up after taking a leak
Total 31 miles year = 214
Goal for this week is no 0 days

S'No Bueno

Training 1/17-2/6

5 runs 40 miles

Hours snow removal 347

Nothing like an old fashioned New England

Winter ass whooping to knock my training back

to square one. With no snow forcasted this

week I have been able to get back to running

and more importantly catch up on the latest

Bob Wiles Training Video's

Training 1/10 - 1/16

Mon 12.5 mi, 5 easy then 7.5 at 7:15 pace
Tues 12.5 mi, 10 mile tempo in 1:06:40 (6:45 pace) felt great and easy
Wed 0, Blizzard, snow plow
Thur 13mi, 7:45 pace , Ran to Bob's and did 6 mi with him and ran home did 2x200 strides after
Fri8.5 mi, Roads a mess could only manage 8:15/mile
Sat 7.5 mi, easy,Roads still terrible, bad head cold
Sun 6mi, easy, roads suck, feel like hell
Total 60 miles year=143
Tough week with the weather and head cold, also a lot of late nights plowing and hauling snow.

Training 1/3 - 1/9

Mon 9 mi , 7.5 light tempo 7:10 pace with 7x200 strides after
Tues 7.5mi , easy 7:45/mi
Wed 15 mi, 1st 6mi at 7:00/mi then next 5.5 at 6:30 pace, did 11.5 miles in 1:16:20 (6:45/mi) then 9 minute miles home, really tired
Thur 6.2mi, JA loop easy 49:00
Fri 12 mi, 7.5 mi at 7:30 pace , then 10 x 100 strides
Sat 5.5 mi, real easy, tired
Sun 8.5 mi, 7:45 pace, still tired,left hammy sore
Total 63.5 miles year = 83
So far the biggest milage week since March, I am still trying to get my milage up where I want it but my legs are heavy and tired all the time.

2010

The Numbers:
miles=1,936 life=25,896
Races= 4 (Really Pathetic)
40+ Pr's = 1/31 Log cabin 10k 35:39
2/28 DH Jones 10mi 1:00:52
Biggest Milage month ever=Jan 371
Last 3 years milage 2007=1343,2008=1613,2009=2492

Really not much to be exited about after Feb last year. I was on track for a big year until life and job took over. I hope to get back to similar fitness by April this year and race a whole lot more.


Goals for 2011
1. Get over 2,600 miles for the year
2. Race at least 1 time a month( try for 20 races this year)
3. Finally comlete the marathon distance while still running(Boston will be my 10th marathon) I have only made it to mile 23 so far without some running catastrophe.
4. Set a 40+ Pr at every distance Raced this year
5. Help CMS 40+ team this year (score at least 1 damn point!)

Training 12/20-1/2/2011

Mon 12 mi, tempo 6 mi @6:20pace followed with another 4 @ 6:45

tues 6.2 48:40

wed 10 mi, 7:25/mi with 10x200 strides

thur off no time(christmas shopping)

fri 5.5 mi slow

Sat 0 christmas, too much travelling

sun 0, poor time management getting equipment ready for snow

Total 33.5 year=1903

12/27- 1/2

Mon 0 Blizzard

Tues 10.5 easy lots of slipping

wed 4.5 treadmill

Thur 8mi, 7:30 pace but felt harder

fri 10 mi, 8:20 pace, legs feel real heavy

Sat 12 mi, 3 w/u followed by 55 minutes with 1min hard, 1 minute off, covered a little over 8 miles

Sun 7.5mi, 8:10 pace, legs feel like crap

Total 52.5 2010=1936 ( nearly 500 less than last year)

I seem to have some really heavy dead legs right now, I will pass it off as too much eating and drinking over the Hollidays and start watching my diet from here and see if it gets better.

Training 12/13-12/19

Mon 10 mi 8 miles slow 8:10/mi then 10x150 strides
Tues 6.2mi 46:40
Wed off...bad head cold, very tired
Thur 8 mi easy 7:40/mi
Fri 8 mi a little harder 7:10/mi
Sat 6.5 very slow, very tired 8:25/mi
Sun 14 mi easy 8:00/mi with a group
Total 53 miles year=1869.5
Pretty much a forced recovery week, I probably went too long without taking a day off and my body let me know. Hopefully I will get more quality stuff in next week.

Training 12/6-12/12

Mon 10 mi , ran 3 w/u with the dog then 3 hard in 18:23 then 4 w/d
Tues 6.2 mi, 46:30 JA loop w/group
Wed 11mi, tempo 6:40 pace for 7.5 miles in cold and wind. a little better
than last week
Thur 6.2mi, 48:50 JA w/group very cold am
Fri 7.5 mi, 7:20 pace
Sat 7.5 + 30 minutes Fartlek in the middle
Sun 12.5mi, miserable icy,cold,rain 8:30 with group
Total 61 miles Year=1816.5(after fixing an adding error in July,
......Maybe I can still reach 2000mi)
Not a bad week 3 little workouts and still feel good and improving from last week.

Training 11/29 - 12/5

Mon 9mi, 7:10/mi followed with 10x 100 strides
Tue 6.2mi, 46:50
wed 10mi, "easy tempo" started at 7:10 pace and ran faster for 6 miles
averaged 6:50 pace then backed off to finish 10 in 1:09:45
I was pretty tired at 6 but at least it is a start.
Thur 6.2, 47:20
Fri 6.5 miles 7:40 pace and tired
Sat 4.5 miles with the dog, very tired
Sun 12.5 miles 7:50 pace with friends easy
Total 55 miles year =1,653.5

This is the biggest week for me since the week of NB in March, and the first time I have run all 7 days in the week. With 40 miles last week I think I am ready to do some base type workouts and start to get in shape again, with the goal of running some races in January.

Growing Pains

Well the Greatest Farming Season of my life is finally coming to an end. I may never see another one like this year with Great weather from April through October. Some runners are hampered by injuries, with me it has always been the farm. Bad growing years are good for my running, good years like this and it is hard to find the time. It is one of the biggest reasons for me taking 10 years off. So after averaging 18.5 miles a week since May, I decided to go ahead and run the Baystate Marathon. Most people I know (including my wife) thought it was a pretty foolish thing to do. I set a goal for myself when I turned 40 to start running again and do one marathon a year for the rest of my life. Even without running much I still work pretty hard every day and my general fitness is still very good.
Finishing the marathon to me did not seem a big problem. Getting a qualifying time for Boston would be a bit more difficult. I traveled up in the morning with my friend Bob and we met up at the starting line with our other two training partners Mike and Brian. The Plan was to run together until at least 20 miles on 3:15 pace to get a qualifying time for our friend Brian. The first 5 miles really felt pretty easy and I had to really hold back. At 13 my left Achilles was extremely painful and I was really considering dropping out. I wore racing flats and was really regretting the decision because they already had a couple marathons on them. By 15 the pain was still there but not any worse so I continued on and started to pick up the pace a bit to see if it would help. Brian had moved on ahead of us 30 seconds or so and Bob who is 54 started to drift back. By 16 Mike drifted off the pace and I started focusing on catching Brian. I caught up to him at 19 and we were on 3:13 pace and he decided to cut back on the pace a bit, leaving me alone the rest of the way. At 21 my legs were starting to feel the effects of limited training miles and were starting to tighten up. By 22 I was still hitting 7:20 pace, but I was starting to get nauseous as I typically do. I had only taken 2 gu's and a salt tab, but I have an extremely weak stomach and this was even too much.
After 23.5 I was reduced to a crawl and hurting bad. At 24 Mike came by me trying to Cheer me on but I was done. I hit 25 with an 11:15 split for the mile, and had really given up when a few minutes later my friend Bob came by with a 3:20 pace group. I latched on and hobbled along with them for a few minutes until I started feeling better and as we approached the stadium I realized I could still get the 3:20. As we entered the stadium I heard DD Cheer me on and I started to sprint through the stadium and hit the line in 3:20:47 giving me the time needed for Boston. All in all I am happy with the result. It is not what I envisioned last March but I raced and finished and still had fun. Now on to normal training and running a ton of miles this winter, because time is running out on my PR quest.