On Monday morning I will be standing in a corral in Hopkinton, MA awaiting the start of the Boston Marathon. It’s difficult for me to put into words exactly how this thought makes me feel. The prospect of spending the weekend in the midst of one of the greatest running events in the world fills […]
Manchester City Marathon 2010 Race Report
November 11, 2010 By 18 Comments
Last Sunday I ran the Manchester City Marathon, my second and final marathon of the Fall racing season. The 5 weeks between earning my BQ at Smuttynose and my running of this race were both crazily busy and exhausting, and my motivation to train for the race in Manchester was sorely lacking. I did put […]
Running with My Tribe: The Communal Nature of the Marathon
November 6, 2010 By 15 Comments
Image via Wikipedia I just finished reading an excellent article by Christopher McDougall on the New York Times Well Blog. In the article, McDougall discusses how he initially turned down Harvard Professor Daniel Lieberman’s invitation to run the 2011 New York City Marathon with him. McDougall writes that he had always viewed mega-marathons as overly […]
Marathon Shoes: Choosing My Shoe for Fall Marathon Two
October 30, 2010 By 19 Comments
My initial plan for my second marathon this Fall (Manchester City in NH) was to try to run it in the Vibram Fivefingers Bikila. However, I have come to the somewhat disappointing realization that I just didn’t have enough time in between marathons (5 weeks) to gradually build mileage back up to the point where […]
Boston Marathon: Got My Registration In!
October 21, 2010 By 21 Comments
A few people have asked me if I got into the Boston Marathon given the registration mess that occurred. I’m happy to report that I was well prepared at 9:00 AM on registration day and did manage to get in (pending verification of my BQ time). I had suspected that it was going to fill […]
Qualifying for Boston at the Smuttynose Rockfest Marathon: My Race Report
October 6, 2010 By 65 Comments
Three and a half years ago I was overweight and out-of-shape (see picture at left) – my 190 pound body was far more comfortable sitting on the couch and watching TV than clicking off miles out on the road. Yesterday, however, after burning off about 25 pounds from my 5’10” frame (the right-hand picture to […]
My Hampton Smuttynose Rockfest Marathon Result
October 3, 2010 By 20 Comments
BQ 3:15:21 Couldn’t Be Happier!!! Thanks to Everyone for Your Support! Full report coming soon.
Fearing the Marathon: My Feelings of Self-Doubt
September 26, 2010 By 36 Comments
Image via Wikipedia I sit here one week out from running marathon #6 suffering from a very familiar feeling of immense apprehension. Strike that, let’s call it what it is: fear. Truth be told, the marathon scares me. Don’t get me wrong, I love the race, and I love the distance, but the feelings of […]
Fall and Spring Marathon Plans: What to Do About the Shoe?
September 1, 2010 By 21 Comments
I’ve had a few people ask me about my racing plans for the Fall/Spring, so I thought I’d write a post to list my schedule, and discuss a personal dilemma that I’m facing with regard to shoe choice – yes, these are the dilemmas that keep me awake at night! Right now, I’m planning on […]
Runblogger Podcast #17: Baby Ben, Boston, and Fall Marathon Plans
May 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Where the heck have I been??? Why haven’t I put out a new Runblogger Podcast episode in over a month? Listen to RP#17 to find out what I’ve been up to! In this grab-bag of an episode I: -talk about the events of the past 5 weeks, including the birth of my son Ben, and […]
Elite Males in Slow-Motion at the 2010 Boston Marathon: Cheruiyot, Merga, Kebede, Kigen, Goumri, Keflezighi, Hall
May 8, 2010 By 15 Comments
Image via Wikipedia A few weeks ago I posted a slow-motion video of Ryan Hall from the 2010 Boston Marathon that was taken by a pair of my undergraduate students (thanks Erin and Daniella!). They headed down to Newton on Marathon Monday to watch and film portions the race, and as it turns out, they […]
On Qualifying for the Boston Marathon: My Quest for a BQ
April 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Image via Wikipedia What follows is an except from a post I just published to the dailymile Community Blog: If you asked me 5 years ago what the letters BQ stand for, I would have had no idea. Back then I was overweight, out of shape, and the idea of qualifying for the Boston Marathon, […]
Runblogger Runcast #8 – Avoiding "The Wall" at the 2010 Disney Marathon
January 27, 2010 By 2 Comments
A few weeks ago I ran the 2010 Disney Marathon in a PR time of 3:24:49 (read my Disney Race Report here), and it was the first of my five marathons in which I managed to avoid bonking (check out these split charts from my five marathons). Runblogger Runcast #8 discusses the reasons that I […]
A Tale of Five Marathons – How Disney was Different
January 16, 2010 By 8 Comments
I’ve now run 5 marathons in the past 2.5 years, and I had become accustomed to “the wall” arriving right around mile 16. Honestly, I didn’t think I would ever run a marathon where I didn’t bonk with about 8 miles to go. The mile-split charts below largely speak for themselves, but you can see […]
Race Report: 2010 Disney Marathon
January 15, 2010 By 14 Comments
It’s still a little difficult for me to wrap my head around what happened to me last weekend. You see, I’d reached a point of utter frustration with the marathon. Before Sunday, I’d run four of them, and each one went pretty much the same way – I’d run well early in the race, smack […]
