It's a sprint, not a marathon

As I type this at 4:30 a.m., my body is screaming "go back to bed" and my brain is screaming "get some work done." It's a miracle that I can concentrate and type with all that screaming going on!

So I'm back from China, can't say I'm fully adjusted yet to east coast time, but will do my best to shock myself back into a running routine for the remaining few weeks. As I look ahead, there's the need to accomplish 2 short-term ("sprint") goals: (1) stamina and (2) strength.

Now, you'd think I'd have both of those under my belt by now, but given the travel to China and my recent work in local town political effort (that's another story altogether), I'm probably 6 weeks behind a 'real' training schedule. The benefit of having done this marathon thing a few times now is that I do honestly believe that I can make up for some of this lost time; however, I'm also smart enough to know that the body will only take so much abuse at once. So, I'll be back targeting 4-5 runs per week from here on out, with a long run of about 22 miles planned for sometime in the next couple of weeks...will likely 'taper' with 2 weeks to go rather than the traditional 3, and will likely do some 'stairs' at the local high school stadium to get the legs a bit stronger in the short-term.

As of yesterday, I cleared a big fundraising hurdle for the Pine Street Inn, surpassing the $3,000 mark. Thanks to all of you who've contributed to date. I'm still about $1,500 short of my goal, but am hopeful to cross this important 'finish line' in April, as well. Thank you again to my family and friends for your support. Sincerely, Paul

Greetings from Shanghai!

So, I never thought I'd be in China just a few weeks away from the Marathon, but life has a funny way of mirroring the running experience that way...sometimes it's more fun to take a new road and enjoy the change of scenery! Anyway, my first run in the PRC was on a treadmill (not exactly my favorite way to go), but am hopeful to get an evening run in (outside, pollution and weather permitting) on Friday night. The funny part about running on the treadmill was the ambiguous label on the speed/distance numbers -- here I am thinking that somehow flying for 20 hours and getting erratic sleep and consuming new foods turned me into this supercharged, running dynamo stud...turns out, the distance and speed metrics were km, not miles and so, not so ironically, my speed was about exactly where I left off in Natick (slow, giving way to partly slower over time)! Oh well, in my mind, I could hear that funny noise from the Six Million Dollar Man. BTW, Shanghai is a great city. Am enjoying the experience so far, and look forward to working with some colleagues here over the Easter weekend...hey, it's still Communist China (don't let the huge church outside my hotel window fool ya!)

Heading to Shanghai!

So, as if my erratic training hasn't already got me wound-up (I've been embracing the 1-2x per week extreme training runs...18 mile, 14, 13, 17, you get the idea), I'm also about to fly to Shanghai for a week! Nothing says "disrupted training regimen" like a trip half way around the world!. More about China some other time, this blog's about running (well, lately it's been about my utter lack of running)

So over the past few weeks, as I train for Boston, I've run at long distances, followed by long periods of NOT running...don't try this at home!!! I'm quietly starting to freak out about the Marathon and my ability to actually finish this one. What's funny is the reaction I get from real runners about how illogical it is that I can actually run like this...here's my secret...I stop when I'm too tired or in too much pain, and I listen to the aches and pains and, above all, I respect the course...hopefully that will be enough to get me through on April 21st!!

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Greetings from the wee-hours of February 1, 2008! Yikes. February 1st!

I'm happy to report "all systems go" for the 2008 Boston Marathon! My application was officially confirmed by the BAA yesterday and I'm a proud member of a small band of runners playing for the Pine Street Inn (3 of us, to date).

What better way to remind me of why fighting homelessness is important than by taking a run on a dark, lonely and bitter 22 degree morning!...I hope the groundhog has some good news for us tomorrow a.m.! I'm also hopeful that my focus and determination to improve on past performance will help the great people working at Pine Street Inn and especially their guests by raising critical funds and awareness about the challenges faced by a (sadly) increasing number of people in Boston and around the country.

So, I'm about to get out and get moving again. A brief 7 mile run to shake the rust from the pipes and step away from the virus that has plagued our household for the past few days :-(

Re-starting is never easy, especially with only 81 days to go (thanks to Leap Year!). Between starting up on an interesting new career journey (since November) and stepping knee-deep into our town's political happenings to help save our kids' school from closing (since December), getting through the holidays, and general “malais-iness,” I've been neglecting the basics...moving and breathing! Only a few sporadic runs in January, including a great 10 miler with my neighbor, John (thanks!), but now it's time to get serious...again.

In the weeks ahead, I'll be blogging to keep me honest about jogging. And as the rhythm, health, and joy of the process will inevitably return to me (hopefully soon!)...I'm sure I'll be wondering what took me so long to get back into this!

Thanks for checking in...gotta run!

Marine Marathon and World Series wins!

OK, so I am very jazzed about the Red Sox winning their 2nd World Series in 4 years last week. But I was even more psyched about finishing the Marine Corps Marathon in a near PR time of 3 hours, 52 min and 51 sec. )about 30 seconds off my 2006 Boston Marathon pace).

It serves as a reminder to me that if the weather is perfect, and if I eat lots of spaghetti and meatballs the night before, and if I watch the Red Sox win Game 3 of a World Series until midnight the night before my 4 a.m. wake-up call, then anything is possible! Seriously, man, I slept 4 hours, 'prepped and commuted' for 4 hours, then ran for 4 hours. Yikes.

BUT, I was well-hydrated, well-fed, and ran at a blistering (literally) pace. All-in-all, it was a fabulous run, I felt great and am looking forward to possibly returning to Austin in Feb, ahead of the 2008 Boston Marathon...perhaps actually qualifying for Boston before I turn 65!

...stay tuned!

3 Days until marathon in DC, info for tracking Paul

Down to the wire...I ran a comfortable 5 miler yesterday and am feeling pretty good about the weekend - weather forecast is perfect...sunny, relatively dry and temps in low 50s to low 60s. I'll take it!

For those who'd like to track my progress online, info can be found at:

http://www.doitsports.com/results/MSG-signup.tcl?sub_event_id=2941

Directions are pretty self-explanatory, but you'll need my name and possibly my "bib" number (4549).

Anyway, am flying to DC tonight, hopefully landing before the Red Sox score 13 more runs :-) and then enjoying a great weekend getting psyched up for race and visting with great friends.

thanks for your ongoing support, and especially to Lena, Noah and Ali. You'll be with me with every step, and I PROMISE that I won't call you for a ride home on Sunday!

17 Days until Marine Corps Marathon...Hooah! (Oorah)!

So it's 2:40 a.m. and I can't sleep...I'm all fired up about the upcoming marathon (either that or the pint of Ben and Jerry's I inhaled as "fuel" last night just isn't agreeing with me!) <--probably the latter.

Anyway, I finally looked at the topographical map of the marathon route and the hilliness for miles 1-8 looks daunting. The fact that the last 1.2 miles are also straight uphill ain't helping my psyche, but I guess when you're running a route designed by U.S. Marines, flat and 'cushy' just isn't an option :-)

So I am "tapering" my training, which means working down from the long runs (which peaked at 20.6 miles, not my hope of 23), but am feeling pretty good about my pacing on the runs this time (averaging between 8 and 9.5 minute miles, depending on distance), so, bring on DC! My goal is to get back to the sub-4 hour time, but given the horrible events in the Chicago Marathon this past weekend (1 death, 10,000 no-shows, and an official early ending to the 88 degree race), I realize that finishing and staying alive (not in that order) are my 2 top priorities!

I am grateful to those of you who have been so supportive as I've tried to balance training with work and life and general, most notably Lena, Noah and Ali -- I know the "free" time I take for my runs isn't always 'free', and their love and support has truly been more consistent than my running! (including all the no-questions-asked rescue missions, which have consisted of Paul calling from his cell phone at random times on a weekend to beg for a ride home from an over-ambitious run). I am also grateful to my DC hosts, Angie and Luis, who've graciously allowed me to crash at their place for the weekend of the marathon.

As the cool fall weather hits and the winter weather will inevitably soon follow, I am hopeful to continue the running in the months ahead. I welcome your comments, and hope that reading about an everyday guy like me running marathons is entertaining, if not inspirational, for you!

Happy Thursday! Paul