"Into to Long Runs"

That's what the schedule from the ALF calls the run we did yesterday.  Basically they had a shorter long run set up for us with the intention of us getting used to the routine of getting up early on a saturday, heading to a gym the we're using as a rally point, and then running from there.  The gym is called FitCorp which very generously donates their facilities to us every week.  Not only do we meet there, but we also can use their showers and training equipment.  We had the option this week of running 6, 8, or 10 miles.  I choose the 8-mile option.

I'll be honest with everybody here, I had been drinking the night before.  Now, there are some runners who are driven almost to a monastic level about their training; people who will only eat specific things the day before a long run, won't go out the night before a long run, and try to get a good night's sleep.  I like those ideas, and will at times follow them, but on the whole I'm not that guy.  I am not going to give up my social life because I'm in marathon training.  This doesn't mean that I'll be binge drinking the night before every long run, but if something is happening the night before I want to be a part of it.  This week it was my office's holiday party, which was very generously held at the Liberty Hotel in Boston, and I wasn't going to miss that.  I enjoyed myself and knew I'd have to take my lumps in the morning.

So it was a very groggy morning for me as we headed down Beacon Hill in 24 degree weather.  But the turnout for the run was fantastic, we had that gym space filled and it's hard not to get psyched up with all those runners around.  It was also beautifully sunny and not windy at all which is a blessing during such low temperatures.  The FitCorp runs all have a similar route.  We start at the top of Beacon Hill, immediately pass the gold-dome of the newly renovated State House and head west down Beacon Street.  Before long we pass the original Cheers, and then head into Kenmore Square about a mile later.  This is where we pick up the actual marathon course, though we do it in reverse.  We cross over what is called Citgo Hill by veteran marathoners even though it's actually a bridge.  Still on Beacon Street we have a water stop outside the Holiday Inn which is about the 3 mile point; runner's doing 6 miles turn back here. I push on with a good portion of the group and we pretty quickly start an uphill trend into the Coolidge Corner section of Brookline, just after that the geography takes an inextricable uphill turn.  There's a a huge hill that runs north and south from Bookline to Allston where I used to live.  I remember hating that hill with a passion and would come up with elaborate longcuts around it so that I didn't have to take my bike over it.  In marathon training though, you just have to go up and over.  Ugh.  About a mile from the water stop we turn around to head back into town, which means we head right back at that hill.  Fortunately from this direction it's a bit more gently sloped, and after that we're on a general downhill back to the water stop and Citgo Hill.  I use the bathroom at the Holiday Inn and feel pretty out of place walking through the restaurant a sweaty cold mess.  The group I had been running with had thinned out at various points in the run and my stopping for the toilet only exacerbated this, so my trip through the Back Bay was pretty solitary and quiet.   I did get one of those frustrating side stitches that come out of nowhere for me every few runs, and so I did walk a bit to stretch it out.  At this point I was in front of Myles Standish Hall (A BU dorm and minor landmark) and I got passed by some of the faster runners who had done 10-miles.  Awesome. In front of Cheers I see a few people standing around in running clothes and race numbers and at the foot of Beacon Hill there's a set-up for a road race.  Looks like fun, but it's odd to me that I probably ran further on my "intro" training run than these people would in their race.  

Molly was waiting for me back at the Gym and I got to check in with a lot of people that I only see on long run days which is nice.  All in all it was pretty good run I have to say, there's not much to complain about especially since running had helped cure the hangover I had!

More next week.  A