It's about 10:30 p.m. and I should be in bed, but forgot I had to update a few folks on location-specific ETA's for the marathon tomorrow. I leave the Start Line between 10:30 and 10:40, depending on the crowd at the start of the race -- that pansy, Lance Armstrong, needs a headstart with the rest of the so-called 'Elite' runners, so they'll be leaving at 10:00 a.m.
I'm hoping for a PR of under 3:52:00, so, I need to maintain well under a 9 min/mile pace for the first half of marathon, as I inevitably get slower throughout the race (if you track my 'split' times, this is painfully obvious!) So, ETAs are as follows:
Speen St. and Rte. 135: Between 11:30 and 11:50
Downtown Natick: Between 11:50 and 12:10
Wellesley College (yeah, the girls go wild for us wheezy, balding, late thirtysomething fellas!): Between 12:10 and 12:25
Downtown Wellesley: Between 12:15 and 12:35
Wellesley Lower Falls: Between 12:40 and 12:55
Rte 16 and Rte 30 (Firehouse, near Deploy/Kronos): Between 12:50 and 1:10
Heartbreak Hill: God only knows! seriously, about 1:20 - 1:40
Pine Street Team cheering section (1043-45 Beacon St): About 2:00-2:15
Wish me luck!! The way the Bruins and Sox have been rallying all weekend, I'm getting excited!
Thanks again, Paul
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Friday, April 18, 2008
3 days and 2 hours to go (but who's counting?!)
I "toe the line" in a few more days, and am excited about the fact that, despite possibility of rain showers, there's no 'wrath of God' type of weather in the forecast like last year! Also, I'm breathing a bit more clearly today, so the trend is a good sign. Hope the congestion is completely gone by Monday, but I'll settle for an ugly, drippy nose over the chest tightness I've had over past few days!
A quick update for those watching at home:
1) if you'd like to get an e-mail or SMS/text message during my run, please send me an e-mail no later than by 6 p.m. Sunday night. I'm re-forming the e-mail list "wherespaulnow@googlegroups.com" and can add you to the list if you'd like 'event time' updates on Monday morning (if the little blip on the radar screen stops moving, I've either passed out or ditched my tracking chip and jumped on a train!) just kidding...no 'blips', just text and e-mail updates available.
2) My bib # is 23498 if you want to go to BAA.org to figure out how to follow me from there.
3) IF YOU'RE GOING TO BE WATCHING LIVE, on the route -- PLEASE e-mail me to let me know where you'll be standing...will do best to see you and wave/wheeze in your general direction :-) I'll post one more update here with my projected arrival times at key milestones so you can watch for me on race day -- I'll be in navy shorts, white (or dark blue, still TBD) short sleeve shirt with golden (almost orange) tank top with Team Pine Street printed on it -- will add my name in bold black lettering -- will also go with my 'lucky' red Red Sox hat which I wore in DC Marathon the day the Sox clinched the World Series last fall.
Finally, and I can't stress this enough, THANK YOU. Thanks to Lena, Noah, and Ali for your ongoing patience, love and support (including all the 'rescue' rides!!). And thanks to my donors and morale boosters -- this winter/spring has been CRAZY with schedule and erratic ability to train, so I am grateful for the good vibes I've received from my family and friends.
For all of you thinking about doing this...DO it! It is impossible to explain how this great energy arrives from the whole experience, but each year I have become even more humbled and thrilled by the Boston Marathon in particular, and the crazy notion that what started for me as a 'way to lose weight and keep myself honest about running' has also generated more than $15,000 to fight hunger and homelessness over the past 3 years. Wow.
So, take a minute on Monday to say a prayer/think good thoughts for me -- tailwind, healthy run, etc. but then take 2 minutes to be mindful and grateful for what you've got and remember those many of our neighbors and other people that might be struggling to hold on to what they have or that may be fighting to survive every single day with little to no support at all.
Gotta run! Thanks, Paul
A quick update for those watching at home:
1) if you'd like to get an e-mail or SMS/text message during my run, please send me an e-mail no later than by 6 p.m. Sunday night. I'm re-forming the e-mail list "wherespaulnow@googlegroups.com" and can add you to the list if you'd like 'event time' updates on Monday morning (if the little blip on the radar screen stops moving, I've either passed out or ditched my tracking chip and jumped on a train!) just kidding...no 'blips', just text and e-mail updates available.
2) My bib # is 23498 if you want to go to BAA.org to figure out how to follow me from there.
3) IF YOU'RE GOING TO BE WATCHING LIVE, on the route -- PLEASE e-mail me to let me know where you'll be standing...will do best to see you and wave/wheeze in your general direction :-) I'll post one more update here with my projected arrival times at key milestones so you can watch for me on race day -- I'll be in navy shorts, white (or dark blue, still TBD) short sleeve shirt with golden (almost orange) tank top with Team Pine Street printed on it -- will add my name in bold black lettering -- will also go with my 'lucky' red Red Sox hat which I wore in DC Marathon the day the Sox clinched the World Series last fall.
Finally, and I can't stress this enough, THANK YOU. Thanks to Lena, Noah, and Ali for your ongoing patience, love and support (including all the 'rescue' rides!!). And thanks to my donors and morale boosters -- this winter/spring has been CRAZY with schedule and erratic ability to train, so I am grateful for the good vibes I've received from my family and friends.
For all of you thinking about doing this...DO it! It is impossible to explain how this great energy arrives from the whole experience, but each year I have become even more humbled and thrilled by the Boston Marathon in particular, and the crazy notion that what started for me as a 'way to lose weight and keep myself honest about running' has also generated more than $15,000 to fight hunger and homelessness over the past 3 years. Wow.
So, take a minute on Monday to say a prayer/think good thoughts for me -- tailwind, healthy run, etc. but then take 2 minutes to be mindful and grateful for what you've got and remember those many of our neighbors and other people that might be struggling to hold on to what they have or that may be fighting to survive every single day with little to no support at all.
Gotta run! Thanks, Paul
Monday, April 14, 2008
Less than a week... and me with a hacking cough!
So, as the fates would have it, there IS payback for the Red Sox taking 2 out of 3 games against the Yankees this weekend! I've been up half the night (last night) with a horrible cough, and am feeling pretty run-down today. Am hopeful that some timely, time release cough medicine will keep this at bay (and hoping it's only allergies, not a real cold!!)
Anyway, overall, been a good weekend for running. Got a decent 7 miler in on Sunday and another, 8.5 min/mile paced 7.5 miler on Friday. So, pace seems OK, now, just need another 10-12 miler 'tune-up' on Wed or Thursday and, of course, sleep and good lung capacity between now and next Monday! Weather is a wildcard at this stage, but temperature predictions seem perfect, so keep fingers crossed (at least there's no Nor'Easter this year!)
I hope to connect with a few folks to reinvigorate the donations in this 'stretch run' leading up to the Marathon. I'm over $3500 now, and doing pretty well on the fundraising front.
Will next send out e-mail to see whether anyone wants to track me with 'live' unpdates via e-mail on raceday. If you're interested, send me an e-mail and I'll add you to the list. My bib # is 23498 and you can reach me at: paul.joseph@babson.edu.
Thanks, Paul
Anyway, overall, been a good weekend for running. Got a decent 7 miler in on Sunday and another, 8.5 min/mile paced 7.5 miler on Friday. So, pace seems OK, now, just need another 10-12 miler 'tune-up' on Wed or Thursday and, of course, sleep and good lung capacity between now and next Monday! Weather is a wildcard at this stage, but temperature predictions seem perfect, so keep fingers crossed (at least there's no Nor'Easter this year!)
I hope to connect with a few folks to reinvigorate the donations in this 'stretch run' leading up to the Marathon. I'm over $3500 now, and doing pretty well on the fundraising front.
Will next send out e-mail to see whether anyone wants to track me with 'live' unpdates via e-mail on raceday. If you're interested, send me an e-mail and I'll add you to the list. My bib # is 23498 and you can reach me at: paul.joseph@babson.edu.
Thanks, Paul
Monday, April 7, 2008
14 days, 75 miles and $1200 to go
It's Monday April 7th, and I cannot believe that I'll be toeing the line in exactly 2 weeks. Well, with Bib #23498, I won't exactly be lining up with the Elite, Lance Armstrong, or even those Red Sox wives that somehow seem to have the time and money to compete each year...hmmm. Go figure.
But the good news is that I have gotten in one (if not 2) more long run, having completed 18.6 of my planned 22 miles on Saturday, before yielding to a migraine that I had masked with Advil before heading out the door. The body feels capable, now it's mostly up to the brain (and, well, the body on race day, among other factors). I maintained a respectable 9.2 minute per mile pace last weekend, going from my house out to Heartbreak Hill and almost back. That keeps me in the running (get it?!) to achieve my target personal record of less than 3 hrs 52 min (an 8.85 min per mile pace on race day)-- adrenaline and weather, don't fail me!
Thanks, once again, to my "rescue crew" and continuing support - Lena -- who continues to be a rock for me, despite (I'm sure) her urge to just throw rocks at me for not getting to other things on my omnipresent 'to do' list. I really do value her digs at me -- "did you run today?" when she comes home to see me hunched over the PC and clearly not having moved much since she left for work hours before. I'll take it as tough love and leave it at that. :-)
I'm sure I won't be seeing much of her this spring and summer as she trains for the "Pan-Mass Challenge" bike race in support of raising money for cancer research. Maybe she'll include me on a couple of training rides, but my guess is that we'll just hear here 'burning rubber' in the driveway beginning the day after the Marathon! Go Lena!!
So, it's down to 2 weeks...about 75 mile worth of tune-up runs and 'tapering'... and hopefully raising another $1,200 in my support of the Pine Street Inn. Thanks again to all of you that have already contributed generously to the cause, and if you haven't yet done so and are able to do so, any contribution is most appreciated. (www.firstgiving.com/pjoseph2008) Thank you. Sincerely, Paul
But the good news is that I have gotten in one (if not 2) more long run, having completed 18.6 of my planned 22 miles on Saturday, before yielding to a migraine that I had masked with Advil before heading out the door. The body feels capable, now it's mostly up to the brain (and, well, the body on race day, among other factors). I maintained a respectable 9.2 minute per mile pace last weekend, going from my house out to Heartbreak Hill and almost back. That keeps me in the running (get it?!) to achieve my target personal record of less than 3 hrs 52 min (an 8.85 min per mile pace on race day)-- adrenaline and weather, don't fail me!
Thanks, once again, to my "rescue crew" and continuing support - Lena -- who continues to be a rock for me, despite (I'm sure) her urge to just throw rocks at me for not getting to other things on my omnipresent 'to do' list. I really do value her digs at me -- "did you run today?" when she comes home to see me hunched over the PC and clearly not having moved much since she left for work hours before. I'll take it as tough love and leave it at that. :-)
I'm sure I won't be seeing much of her this spring and summer as she trains for the "Pan-Mass Challenge" bike race in support of raising money for cancer research. Maybe she'll include me on a couple of training rides, but my guess is that we'll just hear here 'burning rubber' in the driveway beginning the day after the Marathon! Go Lena!!
So, it's down to 2 weeks...about 75 mile worth of tune-up runs and 'tapering'... and hopefully raising another $1,200 in my support of the Pine Street Inn. Thanks again to all of you that have already contributed generously to the cause, and if you haven't yet done so and are able to do so, any contribution is most appreciated. (www.firstgiving.com/pjoseph2008) Thank you. Sincerely, Paul
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