What A Feeling.

What a feeling, being's believin'
I can have it all, now I'm dancing for my life
Take your passion and make it happen
Pictures come alive, now I'm dancing through my life
What a feeling

I couldn't have said it any better than Irene Cara (just replace "dancing" with "running").  What a feeling it was yesterday to go and pickup my official bib and runner's packet after the B.A.A. 5K.  If you are following my blog you'll know that I have been using the word "emotional" a lot lately to describe how things related to the Marathon have been hitting me.  Get ready as I'm going to use it again...  It was such a momentous occasion for me to be there at the Hynes Convention Center to pickup my bib.  Just a year ago, I had been at the same place for the running expo thinking to myself that I would probably never get the chance to run Boston.  I was a bit jealous of the runners who were there picking up their packets at the time.  Thinking about how excited that they must be and wishing that I was feeling that same feeling.  No disrespect at all just wanting to experience the same thing that they were.  Yesterday I was able to experience that feeling first hand.  It all hit me at once as the volunteer was handing me my bib and info packet.  E M O T I O N A L.  All of the early morning training in the cold and snow, missing time with my family, inconveniencing my family to accommodate my training and everything that went into the fundraising came into perspective at that moment.  This was it.  The tangible bib that I was holding meant everything to me.  It validated everything that I had worked so hard for.  It was official.

As I sit here today, the day before the Marathon, I get a chance to reflect on everything that has led to where I am today.  What an incredible journey it has been.  I was extremely fortunate to have been given the great opportunity, back in December of last year, to have my place in this world class event.  Something that I will always be thankful and grateful for.  This is truly an experience of a lifetime.   

As I finish this post, you can rest assured that I will not be uploading any videos of myself in my running gear poised over a chair with gallons of water splashing down on me as "What a feeling" is playing in the background.  Guaranteed.  For those who are too young to get this reference look up the movie "Flashdance" from 1983.  Now, I'm off to get everything ready for tomorrow and to think about my big plate of pasta with Trader Joe's creamy tomato basil sauce for dinner tonight.

Until next time, keep on runnin'!

Race Day.

Today was the first race of my 2014 season and it started where my half marathon addiction started a year ago. The Ocean's Run race in South Kingstown, RI.

What a difference a year makes. I ran this race as my first half marathon one year ago. I learned so much about myself and about running that day. The good, the bad & the ugly. I just had to do it again. One more time. It wasn't for the course. It is nice as it runs partially along the Atlantic Ocean. However, the majority of it meanders through residential areas and quiet pastures. Not a lot of people along the way. It isn't for the start time. While it does start at 9:00 AM, it means getting up at 4:00 AM to get myself and the family ready and out the door for the 1 1/2 hour drive to get there.

The desire to run this race again was to allow me to compare how I'm doing, apples to apples (you can substitute any other fruit that you like if you want), on a course that I have run before. But more importantly, it would allow me to gauge how I'm doing with my Boston Marathon training.

I'm so glad that I ran the Ocean's Run race today as I learned a valuable lesson. I was focusing way too much on energy/refueling and not enough on hydration during my training. I didn't drink as much as I should have yesterday as I was focused on other things and I definitely did not today. I knew that I should have drank more this morning before the race. I even told myself, "Keith take some Powerade before you get on the shuttle bus to the starting line". Did I listen? Nope. I'm a big Dum Dums pop. Butterscotch to be exact. I should have stopped at more hydration stations during the actual race too. I didn't think that I needed to because I wasn't sweating that much and felt pretty good during the race. It caught up with me after the race however. I won't let that happen again. Lesson learned.

This race also gave me an opportunity to practice a couple of strategies that I am always working on. The key one is to not start out to fast. The tendency is to get caught up in the excitement of everything that is going on at the start of a race. You want to keep up with everyone around you. The problem is that you can burn out too quickly and not have enough to finish strong. You really have to know when to push yourself and when to pull back. It is finding the right pace for the moment and something that is fine tuned throughout the entire race. The bottom line, I have nothing to prove to any of the other racers, all of whom I do not know. I only have to prove things and be accountable to myself.

Overall, it was a great race and it really did help give me an idea of where I am in my overall marathon training and a couple of key things to work on. 


My race stats for today:

7:57 Pace (last year: 8:54)
96th out of 487 (last year: 191st out of 370)
24th out of 62 in my division (last year: 30th out of 47)
71st out of 198 men (last year: 111th out of 157)

One last thing that I figured out today. I'm going to run Boston to enjoy it. Not to try and beat any made up number in my head. This is an opportunity of a lifetime and something that I want to cherish. I can beat myself up on the half marathons throughout the year.

Until next time, keep on runnin'!