I usually use YourTrainingCalendar to generate my training schedule, but this time I’m following Higdon’s Boston Bound program instead of his Advanced 2, and YourTrainingCalendar doesn’t have that program yet.
I actually bought Hal’s program at TrainingPeaks, but to sync to Google Calendar I need to upgrade to Premium. So instead I created my own calendar and made it public. Here are the links to add to your own calendars.
To add to Google Calendar, find the “Other calendars” drop down menu. Select “Add by URL” and copy and paste this link into the field: http://bit.ly/bostonbound15
And if you want to change the calendar color to the Boston yellow, the hex code is #ffde00. (at least what’s what they’re using on their website)
I’ve always wanted to run the SF Marathon, so when we decided to move back I signed up for it right away. They had a 3:00 pace group, so I started the race with them. We were clocking 6:40 miles and had more than 30 seconds to spare after the downhill sections after coming back from the Golden Gate Bridge. A friend from my running group joined me in Golden Gate Park and paced me for a couple of miles, it was awesome and resulted in a pretty fast mile 18. I started to fade at mile 19, at around mile 20 the 3:05 pacers passed me. I think sub 3 at TSFM was a bit aggressive especially with inadequate hills training. Since I already got my BQ, I just took it easy on the downhills in the last 10k. I was mindful with my quads and didn’t want them to cramp up. I also didn’t want more black toenails. I ran high-7 and low-8 min-miles only and it was a pretty comfortable stroll to the finish line. I finished with a 3:11:00, which I’m pretty happy with.
Detailed results
Time
3:11:00
Overall Pace
7:11
Overall Place
138 out of 6580
Gender Place
132 out of 4287
Age Group (M35–39) Place
15 out of 648
Splits
Mile
Splits
1
6:46
2
6:41
3
6:53
4
6:38
5
6:40
6
7:30
7
6:37
8
6:40
9
6:43
10
7:12
11
6:21
12
7:15
13
7:08
14
6:43
15
7:15
16
7:33
17
7:21
18
6:45
19
7:32
20
7:51
21
7:32
22
8:14
23
7:48
24
8:26
25
7:44
26
8:09
0.27
7:24
Gears
I have a decent collection of running shoes:
Saucony Peregrine 4 for trails, really love these, I got about 142 miles in them
Adidas Energy Boost 2.0, ran Grandma’s with these, racked up about 240 miles in them, mostly longer runs
Newton Distance S III, ran SFM with these, was curious about the brand, decent shoes, only have about 128 miles on them so far
Altra One2, just got them, very light weight, zero drop, the sizes run a bit small so maybe get a half size bigger than usual
Other gears
RooSport pouch, I picked up one of these at the Grandma’s expo. I used to run with running belts and switched to this. The RooSport doesn’t bounce at all, and it holds my phone and a few Gu packets. I’ve done many long runs and ran SFM with it, no chaffing at all
Feetures socks, only socks I run with now, super comfy, no chaffing or blisters after over 1k miles in them. They’re also available for cheap at Nordstrom Rack
Meelectronic M6P cans, cheap $25 cans with volume slider and button, solid inexpensive running cans
I picked up a pair of SKINS RY400 recovery compression tights before Grandma’s. I put them on shortly after the race and had them on 24/7 for 3 days. They helped a lot. I now sleep in them after harder workouts. If you want to recover quickly, I highly recommend them. I hydrate with Nuun tablets after workouts, the flavors are tasty and sugar-free. I take Gu Recovery Brew after long runs, and after races I drink Hammer Recoverite.
I will attempt sub 3 again at CIM. Maybe one of the Tahoe marathons too, but should probably just focus on CIM. I’ll do Boston 2015 and probably the Boston 2 Big Sur Challenge, that’s to run Big Sur, a pretty hilly and difficult course, 6 days after Boston. I already signed up for TSFM 2015, I should be much better prepared for it next year.
I run about 40 miles per week since I moved back to SF. Every Thursday I run with ARM SF, a local running store in Presidio Heights. They have Thursday 7pm and Sunday 9am group runs. I also started hitting trails and hills more, but I’m still really bad at hills.
I signed up for Grandma’s shortly after moving back to the states, my parents live in the Twin Cities and my aunt lives in Duluth/Superior, so logistically it’s super simple to run this race. It’s also one of the best races to BQ. I had June 21st on my calendar, but didn’t really put together a day-by-day training schedule like I did with my marathons last year. I knew my base was decent, and I just needed more speeds. I loosely followed the “Coach” training schedule in the Nike+ iOS app last 5 weeks before the race.
My dream goal was to go sub 3, but the fastest pace group they had was 3:05. I figured sub-3:05 (BQ+5) should be enough room to get into Boston, so I ran with the 3:05 pacer. I pretty much ran in front of the group until around the 20-mile mark, I started to fade when I hit Lemon Drop Hill, at which point the pacer passed me and I chased him til the finish line. It was fun to hear the foot steps of the entire pace group behind me almost the entire race. I finished with a chip time of 3:04:49, which qualified me for Boston.
Running on Great Highway and in Golden Gate Park at night can get pretty dark, so picked up a headlamp from Sports Basement for this double ggpark loop.
I’ll probably avoid the park at night in the future though, it closes at 10pm anyway.
After my first marathon in March, I signed up for 3 more marathons in 2013. Taroko Gorge Marathon and Sun Moon Lake Marathon in November, and Taipei Fubon in December.1
2013 Taroko Gorge Marathon
There was an pretty decent quake two days before the Taroko Marathon, so the full marathon got changed to half. I ran it in the rain and had a blast. I didn’t really have a HM time in mind as I’d been training for the full, so I sort of winged it, but managed to PR with 1:38:47, averaging 7:39 minute-mile. I placed 161st overall and 58th in my age group.
2013 Sun Moon Lake Marathon
Two weeks later I went to Sun Moon Lake for the first annual Sun Moon Lake Marathon organized by TWEMBA . The route around the lake is around 29k, so they had a 29k super half marathon, and a 42k. The full consisted of running around the lake and the remaining 13k out on a highway, and turning back to complete the loop. I didn’t know much about the course and the elevations before the race. I think the race booklet had a course map, but I don’t remember seeing an elevation chart. I got placed into the first wave2, and I saw the 3:40 pacers at the starting line. My goal was sub-3:40, so I ran with the pacers. They went out way faster than I would’ve, my first split was in the low 7-minute pace. That obviously wasn’t really 3:40 pace, but I figured the pacers knew the course and there must be some hills coming. They were right. The course was 80% slight downhill, and since it’s a loop, the remaining 20% had to make up for the elevation loss. The last 10k was pretty insane, I don’t think I had ever run up a steep hill for that long. I managed to run all of it even though I contemplated walking a bit. I ditched the pacers at around the 15-mile mark and ran my own race. Finished with a PR of 3:35:55.52 3, I was 19th overall (but out of only 728 runners). Not bad for my second marathon.
Check out the elevation changes
2013 Taipei Fubon Marathon
Taipei Fubon Marathon happened under heavy rain. I got up at 4am, went through my usual marathon morning routine, and showed up at the super crowded starting line about 45 minutes before start time. I read that almost 50,000 runners participated for the various races that day! The race was pretty uneventful. I had to run fast in the beginning to catch up with the 3:30 pacers. Turned out one of them was one of the 3:40 pacers I ran with at Sun Moon Lake. Their balloons got tangled up so they stopped to fix them at around mile 5, I didn’t feel like stopping to wait so from then on I ran my own race. My goal was sub-3:30, I ran at 7:30-7:45 pace and felt strong, so I just kept going. Ended up with another PR of 3:22:47, 220th overall and 67th in my age group. Not quite BQ, but now it seems closer to reach. 4
Recovery
I fueled with GU gels (with caffeine) during the races and I drank GU Recovery Brew within 15 minutes of finish. They served me well. Sun Moon Lake was mostly pounding downhill, so the bottom of my feet hurt quite a bit the couple of hours after the race. My feet felt fine after Taipei Fubon Marathon, but my legs hurt like hell that night that I couldn’t get much sleep. I took some Ibuprofen the next day and it helped with the swelling. The day after either marathon, I couldn’t walk fast and especially struggled walking down stairs. I felt better the following day, and by day 3-4 I felt good enough for an easy run. I also foam-rolled, soaked legs in ice bath, and got sports massages 3-4 days after the races.
Onward
I signed up for the 2014 San Francisco Marathon, and hope to BQ the month before at Grandma’s. I’ll figure out a training plan to get more speed. My goal is sub-3, just to be safe. I’ll probably fit a couple of halves and shorter distances in just for fun, maybe the Napa to Sonoma Wine Country HM and US Half. Too bad Big Sur is sold out already, maybe CIM. I entered the TCSNYCM drawing, but doubt I’ll get in.
Somehow I thought that was a good idea. I figured training for one was pretty much the same as training for three within 2 months, which turned out to be mostly true. ↩
It was the first race in Taiwan I’ve run that had waves/corrals, not sure why not all races have them, they really help with traffic. This is especially true when a lot of participants are there because running is sorta trendy here and they’re there for selfies to “PO” on Facebook. ↩
It was easy to “PR” when it was my second marathon. ↩
As we entered Central Park at Columbus Circle, I turned to Meb and told him as much. “It’s an honor to run with you,” I said. His response is something I’ll never forget.“No,” he said. “Today is not about us. It’s about representing New York. It’s about representing Boston. It’s about representing the USA and doing something positive for our sport. We will finish this race holding hands.”I’m a believer that running brings out the best in people. Running inspires. Running unites. Running uplifts. By pushing us to our limits and across them, running takes us to places we never thought possible—or even real. A good run can turn a dark day bright and make a bright day shine brighter. Performed on the scale of a marathon, running can transform communities and change lives.
A 6.7-magnitude earthquake jolted Hualien 2 days before the marathon, the organizer changed the full marathon to a half marathon due to safety concerns. 12k runners all ran the half in the rain. Decent race, I didn’t really know what my HM pace should be, so I just kindda ran by feel. Finished with chip time of 1:38:47.
