Saturday, July 12, 2025

Race Report: Boston 10K

I ran the Boston 10K on June 22, finishing in a time of 58:38, which was good enough for the Women's T-35-38 win.

[Yes, it's taken me nearly a month to finish this report. Mea culpa.]

Race weekend started for me on Friday when I flew up to Boston. As part of the professional para-athlete field for this race, I was invited to a visit to View Boston midday Saturday, and I wanted to make sure I was in the city for that. The flight up was honestly one of the roughest I've had in some time - gusts of up to 50 MPH in Boston made for a wild final descent - but I made it there in one piece and on time, which is my definition of a successful flight.

I had a good night's sleep before heading out to Boston Common for my shake-out jog on Saturday morning.  I have been struggling recently with the timing and strength of my Parkinsons medications and so I used this run to test out a medication dosing schedule that I hoped would work for the 10K.  I felt pretty good on the shakeout, and my confidence rose for the next day.

***

The highlight of the afternoon was View Boston (that view never gets old) where I indulged myself by adding to my refrigerator magnet collection.  After that, I hit a nearby gym for an hour of pre-race mobilization, stretching, and foam rolling, and then returned to the hotel for the technical meeting.

Just before the start of the technical meeting, Taylor (para-athlete coordinator for the BAA) approached me.  She and others at the BAA had been working all day to ensure that the medical tent was prepared for heat illness, due to the concerning forecast (80 degrees at race start). She asked if I was aware of any limitations on how to treat people with neurological conditions that had heat illness. Was it OK to dunk them in an ice bath if necessary? 

I responded that I wasn't aware of any concerns or need for special treatment, at least with regard to the Parkinsons population.  After the conversation, I remembered that a) an ice bath would likely induce cramping in someone with Parkinsons and b) many Parkinsons medications have hyponatremia as a side effect.  The first wasn't worth noting - cramping is temporary and a much lower priority than properly treating heat illness.  As for the hyponatremia concern, I emailed Taylor later to give her a heads up so that the med team knew not to force water on someone with Parkinsons.

I appreciated the BAA's hard work to keep this race safe, but I wasn't particularly concerned for myself - I'd been training in very warm and humid conditions for the last week, and I also know to slow down and stay on top of my water and electrolytes in these conditions. (I planned to carry a handheld water bottle and a very salty gel - arguably overkill for a 10K, but I wanted to be careful) However, I was worried about others who hadn't had as much chance to acclimate.

***

The forecast had been for 80 degrees and dry, so I was surprised by the light rain and overcast skies that greeted me on the walk from hotel to para-athlete tent. I viewed this as a positive development - certainly the clouds were much better than bright sunshine. It was quite humid, though. 

I became less enthusiastic about the weather when I started warming up in Boston Common and realized that my shoes were slipping all over the place. I was wearing the Adios 9, which I had assumed had good traction on wet pavement (most Adidas shoes do, in my experience).  But that was not the case.  

[I later checked my log and confirmed that I've never actually worn the Adios 9 in the rain - oops.]

My balance is always one of my challenges, and sliding on the wet pavement amplified this. When I can't find my balance, my body tends to lock up (to understand this, imagine trying to run on ice - it's very hard to overcome the instinct to brace and protect yourself by limiting your stride).  Lovely.

I warmed up for about a mile more than I had planned, toying with different mental cues to try to unlock things.  As I did, I realized that my feet were also slipping around in my shoes, which compounded everything.

I worked my way back to the para-athlete tent, where I had brought an extra pair of thicker socks (I bring pretty much everything, in case I need it).  The para-athlete field was about to be walked to the start from our tent, so I retrieved the socks and carried them with me. Once we were in the starting area, we still had about 15 minutes before the start.  This was enough time to change socks. As for the first pair of socks?  I placed them next to a small pile of trash - they'd have to be sacrificed to the cause.

I tried some strides, and things were slightly better.  I was still slipping, but at least my shoes felt secure on my feet.  Then the para-athlete field lined up and started - a minute after the professional women and three minutes before the open field.  

As we started, I reminded myself to stay relaxed and conservative - 10K can be a very long race if you go out too hard and today could potentially be a rough day.  I had noted potential competitors in my division, and I let them pull ahead slightly while I eased into the race. 

The first half mile of the Boston 10K is uphill (good for me) but has some rough pavement (tough for me).  I navigated that as best I could and then tried to relax into a smoother stride and began to chase down my competition.

And then, of course, the open field came surging up behind us and the next few miles were a struggle to stay on my feet while being jostled. I worked on trying to reel in other para-athletes but would make up some ground and then have to slow down to re-establish my balance again.  At one point I pulled up to a woman who I thought was in my division, only to slip again and have to slow down to readjust while watching her pull ahead.

The Boston 10K course itself is a great one - it's got a nice gently rolling feel to it that is conducive to fast times (similar to the Grandma's races - sometimes gently rolling can be as fast or faster than a flat course because it lets you shift the work around different muscles). I was incredibly annoyed that I wasn't able to take advantage of the course, but my balance was holding me back.

***

It wasn't until the last mile that I realized that I might also be in trouble, heat wise. There was definitely some speed walking involved, and a lot of mental frustration that I tried to put aside until after the race's end.  I managed to get myself across the finish line somewhat awkwardly and then grabbed some railing for support. A few moments of wobbling there earned me a ride to the med tent.  

After a few minutes sitting in the tent, I felt fine. Really annoyed at how my race had gone, but otherwise fine - just really hot and tired, as one would be after racing a June 10K. But the medical team saw something they didn't like and asked me if I felt hot.  Why, yes, I did. (wasn't that normal?) They then took my rectal temperature (with my permission), and it was 106 F, and that earned me a dunk in one of the ice baths Taylor and I had discussed the evening before.

I wasn't terribly crazy about getting dunked - the resulting cramping would be unpleasant.  But...I really couldn't say no after the previous evening's conversation. And heck, it would probably help me recover quicker from the race. So, in I went, after being stripped of my asthma inhaler, heart rate strap, and Garmin. My head, feet, and hands were left out of the tub (the latter two because I have Raynauds) but everything else went in.

The protocol for managing heatstroke, as I later learned, is to cool someone down as rapidly as possible, with an ice bath being the ideal means for doing so. The runner should stay in the ice bath until their rectal temperature drops to 102 F. This became an endurance test of sorts as my calves and feet cramped, followed by my shoulders. All while my temperature first rose a point, to 107 F.

At this point the novelty had worn off. I mentioned that I was really cramping so maybe this wasn't the best idea. The response was that I really needed to stay in the tub. So I did, reminding myself that this was just temporary and would help me bounce back a lot faster from this race. Some very nice med tent staff massaged my feet and my shoulders to address the cramping.  It really was the royal treatment - how many people are lucky enough to get a personal ice bath accompanied by foot massages immediately after a race?

Finally, after what seemed like a very long time, my temperature started to drop.  By 103 F I was starting to shiver, but I still needed to stay until 102 F.  A few minutes more, and then I hit 102 F and was allowed to exit the tub and dry off. This was followed, ironically enough, by a blanket. Underneath the blanket, I changed into a somewhat ad hoc outfit of an extra volunteer T shift and some disposable medical shorts.  Not very fashionable, but dry. 

About this time, Taylor showed up at the medical tent, with a trophy - apparently, I had won my division after all.  So that was a mix of emotions - happy to have won, but muy embarrassed that I had a) ended up in the ice bath after being so confident in my own abilities to manage the heat and b) apparently skipped out on the awards presentation - not cool at all.

***

A bit later I was discharged, with printed instructions to not exercise for seven days and to get checked out as soon as possible when I got home.  My walk of shame was a long five blocks back to the hotel, in my blue oversized disposable shorts and volunteer t-shirt, while carrying a bag of my possessions and a big silver trophy.  I half expected someone to accuse me of having stolen my possessions and the trophy, but nobody did.  I guess it was just another Sunday morning in Boston.

My splits ended up being:

First 2 miles: 18:23
Next 2 miles: 17:40
Mile 5: 9:29
Last 1.21 miles: 13:06.

Not only did I miss multiple mile markers (all my attention was on staying upright), but I also failed to stop my Garmin at the finish. Amusingly enough, this means that I can somewhat estimate how long I spent in the ice bath, as about 37 minutes elapsed between when they removed my Garmin and heart rate strap for the ice bath and when I put the Garmin back on after getting out of the ice bath.

Other notes:

  • The weather wasn't awful.  It was 73 with a dew point of 68, and overcast.  Not great weather for a 10K, but not awful. 

  • Because I'm me, I've been thinking my way through all the possible reasons that I had heatstroke (besides the obvious "you were racing a 10K in June"). At this point, I'm an experienced runner who has run and raced in numerous DC summers with weather much worse than this. We had a week plus of very hot and humid weather in DC leading up to this race, which would have helped with acclimation.  And I ran the race at a pace much slower than I expected, while carrying and consuming water and a salty gel.

    So far, I've identified a few factors.  The first is that my pre-race warm-up was longer than I would have liked for a longer race on a warm and humid day (3 miles, when 2 would have been better, given the weather).  I knew this at the time but kept running in hopes that my gait would smooth out. The second is that I have been struggling to find the right balance in my Parkinsons meds this year.  And when I don't have the PD under control, my body doesn't regulate temperature very well. Finally, I think I was working so hard to keep my balance that my effort was much higher than the pace would indicate. 

    Hopefully fixing the second point will also address points one and three.

  • I had originally planned to fly back to DC on Sunday night but swapped to the Acela train after the US bombed Iran on Saturday night.  I wasn't sure what the next 24 hours might bring, and I could also see airport shutdowns/flight diversions as a possibility if there was domestic retaliation. Since taking the train was an option, I decided to switch. This ended up being a great decision, because the doctor in charge of the medical tent was very much opposed to me getting on an airplane that evening, but OK with a train ride home.

    [it was also a good decision because the flight I would have taken ended up being delayed, and I actually got home earlier taking the train.]

    It's a seven hour train ride between Boston and DC, which sounds miserable but was actually fun. It was seven hours of sitting in a comfortable chair, snacking, and pleasure reading. It seems like I never have time anymore to just sit and pleasure read for a few hours, and taking the train gave me that time.  In comparison, flying home would have been about 5 hours of navigating transit and security and boarding and flying and deplaning and transit.  So, it's not a huge time difference.

    While I wouldn't take the train to/from Boston if I had to go there every week, I think I'll make a point of doing it for races from now on - it's like a lovely mini-vacation to bookend a Boston race.


Friday, July 11, 2025

Training log - week ending 7/6/2025

This week was 30 miles of running and 24 "miles" of pool-running.

Gently bumping up the mileage as a combined recovery from heatstroke/last minute training for the Hartford Nationals next week.  (Wow, that looks really bad when I write it out that way...)

There were a few things of note this week. The first is that I stopped taking one of my PD medications (if you care- it was a COMT inhibitor called Ongentys).  I've been on it for a bit over a year, but the last few months it seemed like it just wasn't working well for me.  If I took it at night (as is normally done) I couldn't fall asleep.  If I took it in the morning, my workouts were really rough and I'd jump every time there was a noise.  If I took it midday, I'd feel very anxious for about 90 minutes after taking it. 

Since stopping it, I've felt much better. My muscles are much less tense and my sleep quality has improved immensely, and my workout paces have also improved.  So win-win-win. 

[Side note: the Ongentys was prescribed to help with symptom control, not for any disease modifying reason. So, there's no downside to stopping it if I don't feel good on it.]

The second thing worth noting was a new way to trick my body into working better. One of my major battles is always with my quads, which want to tighten and lock up on me regularly. I stretch them and massage them and use vibrating massage balls on them to loosen them up, but they still tighten right back up. And when they tighten up, it shortens my stride and throws my balance off.

Last week, when I was just starting to run again after the heatstroke incident, I worked out in the gym.  This workout included some decently heavy hamstring curls, after which I hopped on a treadmill for a 5 minute jog to see how things felt.  And...my quads were behaving.  Not perfectly, but much better.  

Since then, I've been playing with different hamstring workouts before running, and they do seem to make a difference - especially if I work my hamstrings to flex my knees (e.g., hamstring curls) rather than extending at the hip (e.g., reverse planks). Get the hamstrings really firing and the quads start behaving.  Which makes sense in a way - the hamstrings and quads are agonist/antagonist pairs - if one contracts the other is supposed to relax. So...by firing up my hamstrings ahead of time, I'm sending the quads a message to calm down.  Neat!

The third and final thing is that my beloved treadmill, Fluffy (yes), is on the fritz. I started a workout on Saturday only to have a) the instant speed controls stop working (the speed buttons on the main dashboard still worked) and b) the treadmill spontaneously accelerate.  I could work around the first, but the second was dangerous. So, it's gym treadmills or outside for me until I get Fluffy fixed.

Dailies:

Monday: 6 "miles" of pool-running and upper body weights/core in the morning; foam rolling in the evening.

Tuesday: 6 miles outside, mostly easy, but with 11x100m in 26-27 seconds. Foam rolling in the evening.

Wednesday: 8 miles on the treadmil, including a workout of 7x3:00 on/2:00 off (on was 7.9-8.0 mph; off was 6 mph) plus 4x30 seconds on/90 seconds off (on was 8.5 mph; off was 6 mph).  Followed with leg strength work; foam rolling in the evening.

Thursday:  9 "miles" pool-running in the morning and upperbody weights/core; foam rolling in afternoon.

Friday: 6 miles outside, including some 6x100m in 25-26 seconds.  Followed with upperbody weights/core. Foam rolling in the evening.

Saturday: 3 miles on the treadmill, including the start of a workout. Then 4.5 miles on the track, including 3200 in 15:02 (7:38/7:24), 800 in 3:41, and 4x200 in 56-67.  Followed by 2.5 miles easy (9:42) on gym treadmill and leg strengthwork. Foam rolling in evening.

Sunday: 9 "miles" pool-running and foam rolling.

Sunday, June 29, 2025

Training log - Week ending 6/29/2025

This week was 14 miles of running and 10 "miles" of pool-running.

My discharge instructions post-heatstroke were a) get evaluated by my primary care within 48 hours of returning home, including bloodwork; and b) no exercise for seven days. 

Unfortunately, when I called my primary care on Monday, the earliest I could be seen was 10 days later, on July 2. Fortunately, I already had an outstanding order for routine bloodwork that I hadn't gotten around to, so I stopped by the lab on Wednesday morning for a blood draw.

As for "no exercise" - I decided to apply the doctrine of reasonability and fairness to this guidance, rather than adhere to strict construction.  My justification was and is that exercise really is medicine when you have Parkinsons, and stopping all exercise for seven days is not the "conservative and safe choice" that it might be for someone without Parkinsons.  So, I did some gentle pool-running for the first few days, being careful to keep the sessions brief and in the coldest pool I could reasonably get to before work.

On Thursday I got my bloodwork results. They were totally normal - no indication of kidney, heart, or liver damage (the big concerns after a bout with heatstroke).  I took that as reassurance that I could start carefully running on my treadmill with a big fan blowing at me, while watching my heart rate (and committing to stop the run if my heartrate started spiking).

So far so good - I felt totally fine both during and after my runs, including a relaxed interval session on Sunday morning. From here I'm going to introduce some easy outside running while keeping any harder running on the treadmill where I can benefit from air-conditioning and fan.  I've done some reading on heatstroke recovery, and from what I can tell, the progression is generally:

  1. easy activity in a cool environment
  2. more demanding activity in a cool environment
  3. easy activity in a warm environment
  4. more demanding activity in a warm environment.
I'm between stages 1-2 right now.

Monday: Off except for foam rolling in the evening.

Tuesday: 2.5 "miles" of pool-running in the morning.  Streaming pilates and foam rolling in the evening.

Wednesday: 4.5 "miles" of pool-running in the morning; foam rolling in the evening.

Thursday:  3 "miles" pool-running in the morning and upperbody weights/core; foam rolling in afternoon.

Friday: 2 miles on the treadmill (10:07) and leg strengthwork. Foam rolling in the evening.

Saturday: 5 miles on the treadmill (9:52) and streaming pilates + upper body weights and foam rolling.

Sunday: 7 miles on the treadmill, including a careful workout of 6x3 minutes at 7.8 mph with 2 minute jog at 6 mph, plus 4x30 seconds on/30 seconds off (on was 8.2-8.5 mph; off was 6 mph).  Followed with leg strengthwork and foam rolling.

Race Report: Run Unbridled Track Meet, June 14, 2025

 I ran the 800m at the Run Unbridled track meet in mid-June, finishing in a time of 3:41.45, which was both a) good enough to lower my American record for the women's T36 division and b) earned me the last place finish in the slowest heat of the 800 (had to be someone, right?)

Racing the 800 here was a semi-last minute decision. The hosting team - Light Horse Track Club - held two track meets this summer.  I hung out at the first one in late May and had a lot of fun.  Afterwards, I checked the schedule for the next meet and noted that the 800 was offered. Brian and I had tickets to a concert that evening, but the 800 was scheduled early enough that I could do both.

I had wanted to run an 800 at some point this summer - I ran it several times last summer and set the 800m national record for my classification. However, because of paperwork issues the 800m time that counted for the record was my slowest time - a 4:07 I ran when injured (I just jogged to finish the race and never bothered to do a race report). Though I've been struggling this summer, I was pretty sure I could run faster than 4:07 and knock some time off of that.

So I signed up about 3 weeks before the meet.  And then started adding some 100s and 200s into my training in a last minute attempt to get some speed back.

***

A major part of my struggles recently has been getting my medication right. It's just been off, and I don't seem to be responding well to the longer lasting version of my medication.  So...I decided to swap back to the immediate release version - with that medication I get about a 90 minute window where I feel really good.  This makes things really tricky when running a track meet with a rolling schedule.  But...the 800m is short enough that I had a good margin of error - I just needed to make sure that my final warm-up AND the race fell within that 90 minute window.

Thus, Saturday ended up being a carefully scheduled day - I mapped out when I expected to run the 800 (it helped that I was in the first heat and there was a set time for the 800) and then set my watch to remind me to take a pill an hour before the scheduled start time. The medication would take about 30 minutes to kick in, which hopefully meant that I would be feeling good about 30 minutes before the scheduled start and could handle a delay of up to an hour. 

***

I arrived at the race around 4:30, picked up my bib, and chatted with some friends before heading out to warm-up.  I had several options, including a nearby parking lot, a section of road some distance away, and an indoor track almost immediately next to the outdoor track.  I opted for the indoor track, both for convenience and because I've never run on an indoor track before.

Unsurprisingly, I was way stiff, and it was awkward to work my way through my standard warm-up of 3:00 at tempo effort, 4x30 seconds harder, 4x10 seconds harder still.  When 5:15 buzzed on my watch, I popped a carbidopa/levodopa pill, and about 20 minutes later was rewarded with loosening muscles. Just in time for me to head to the main track.

***

The track meet generously allowed runners in the next race to jog on the infield, and so I repeated my 3:00/4x0:30, 4x0:10 warm-up (it felt much better the second time).  I was able to keep jogging until a few minutes before my heat started, which was ideal.  Then we lined up and the gun went off.

I tried to start patiently, but unfortunately my muscles tightened up anyways.  Shorter races are harder for me to run fast, simply because if I try to run fast my muscles (especially my quads and adductors) lock up.  To run my fastest I have to try to stay relaxed above all else and be sure not to try too hard - as soon as I think "HAMMER" or "GO" everything locks.  In longer races, it's easier to maintain this patient mindset and gently/gradually open my speed up (and at some point a few miles in everything starts working more smoothly). In short races, it's harder.  Especially in the 800, where the expectation is to go out really hard from the gun because you don't have much time.

So the next two laps were a mental game.  I had been dropped completely by the field within the first 3 seconds of the race, so it was just me and the track. And a bunch of people on the side cheering for me and yelling "GO" which I had to try to ignore.  I mostly accomplished this, until the last 100m, when I couldn't resist the urge to try to "kick" - which of course made everything tie up.  

But, I managed to get myself across the finish line anyway, with a final time of 3:41.45.  Which was enough to knock some time off of that 800m record (though I think I can get it much lower if I can figure out the right balance of trying/not trying for the 800).

***

I had checked with the race director before to confirm that they could complete the necessary paperwork if I ran the time.  What I failed to do was bring the record form to the meet to get it signed that day, and I realized a bit later that this was a faux pas on my part.

To give context, at adaptive or para-athletic meets all record forms are handled by the race management - the runner isn't involved at all.  So...I had naively assumed that this was the same for USATF meets - all I had to do was give the director the form a few days before, and they'd take care of it all - part of managing a race.

But...after chatting with a very nice (and very fast) masters runner who holds some age group records, I belatedly realized that records forms are handled differently at USATF meets - it's the athlete's job to collect the signatures and mail the form in.  Oops (and awkward). 

I didn't bring the form with me to the meet, and so I had to ask the race director to complete it for me later.  Which he very kindly did, and sent it in.  But mental note - next time I need to bring the forms myself instead of imposing extra unexpected work on someone else.

Other notes:

  • It was a bit warm and sticky for the race - 79 with a dew point of 71. Fortunately it was the 800, so the temperature and humidity was a non-issue.
  • I ended up skipping my concert and staying for the whole meet. The concert was in DC, which had a lot of roads shut down for a parade/fireworks, and Brian and I decided that we didn't feel like fighting our way in.  Which meant I got to eat tacos and nachos while cheering my teammates on in a steeplechase and a distance medley relay.  Which was a fun way to spend a Saturday night.
  • The rules for my para-athlete division require that I wear shoes with a sole of 20mm or less in thickness, so I wore my old Reebok RunFast FloatRide Pros again.  I am so glad I didn't toss those a few years back - they have come in very handy lately.

Sunday, June 22, 2025

Training log - Week ending 6/22/2025

This week was 42 miles of running and 8 "miles" of pool-running.

Definitely a mixed week. The good was that I successfully did some 18 inch box jumps on Thursday (I've been working on that in PT, but Thursday was the first time I've successfully done them). Another good thing was that I had a fun trip to Boston to run the 10K (Race Report coming - I have a queue...).

The bad news is that I've continued to struggle in my running and my races, and Sunday's 10K was no exception.  The conditions were tough but not brutal, and I've run in much worse before, but on Sunday I just could not handle the heat and humidity.  I'm convinced that all my recent issues are indicative that my Parkinson's medication regime needs to be tweaked, including stopping one medication.  But I need to wait for the doctor's approval before doing that (I'm allowed to shift the timing of stuff, or to tweak amounts within a range, but I don't want to start or stop anything without approval).

I ended up in the med tent with heat stroke on Sunday (embarrassing, especially since I had commented on Saturday that I was from DC and thus at less risk from the heat, but I own it).  So next week is going to be more of a recovery week than I had previously planned.

Dailies:


Monday: 6 miles very easy (10:02).  Foam rolling in the evening.

Tuesday: 10 miles, with a track workout of 2400, 800, 1600, 800, and 2x200 in 12:02, 3:57, 7:43, 3:46, 55, and 54 plus leg strengthwork.  Foam rolling in the evening.

Wednesday: 6 miles with strides; foam rolling in the evening.

Thursday:  8 "miles" pool-running in the morning + upperbody weights/core; foam rolling in afternoo.

Friday: 6 miles with a fartlek of 1600 in 7:53, followed by some 300s, 200s, and 100s. Foam rolling in the evening.

Saturday: 5 mile shakeout (10:10) plus foam rolling.

Sunday: 3 mile warm-up, and then the Boston 10K in 58:38.

Friday, June 20, 2025

Training log - Week ending 6/15/2025

This week was 30 miles of running and 15 "miles" of pool-running.

Big cutback week in mileage - not because I wanted it that way but because I was still recovering from being sick (extra sleeping time meant less running time) and because racing an 800 on Saturday night meant no long run this weekend. 

This was a rough week between my meds being not quite right and my breathing still being off due to an asthma flare.  And of course, I had a race this weekend.  Fortunately, it was just an 800.

The 800 went OK - better than I would have predicted given my recent workouts.  I decided to tweak my medications, switching from a longer acting medication that seems to be hit or miss right now (Rytary) to a shorter acting but more reliable medication (Sinemet) and see if my body responded a bit better, and it did, so that felt like an accomplishment. But I still have work to do in that area.

Dailies:


Monday: 5 miles very easy (10:16).  Foam rolling in the evening.

Tuesday: 7 miles very easy (9:54) plus upperbody weights/core.  Foam rolling in the evening.

Wednesday: 8 miles, including a 3200 in 16:08 (8:09/7:59) and a 800 in 4:05, plus some 100s and 200s.

Thursday:  6 "miles" pool-running in the morning.  Streaming Pilates and foam rolling in afternoon.

Friday: 6 miles very easy (10:02) plus about 1/2 mile of strides. Foam rolling in the evening.

Saturday: 3.5 mile warm-up, and then a 800 in 3:41:43. 

Sunday: 9 "miles" of pool-running and weights/core. Foam rolling in evening.

Saturday, June 14, 2025

Training log - Week ending 6/08/2025

This week was 43 miles of running and 8 "miles" of pool-running.

(once again, a week late)

Definitely a tough week - I bailed on Tuesday's track workout due to too much chaos on the track - there was so much going on that I couldn't keep my gait under control. I returned on Friday, but my gait was still messy.  And then Friday evening it became evident that I was getting sick. By Sunday I was feeling just well enough to run some short intervals with full recovery to work on gait without straining too much.

It's definitely felt like the medications I use to manage my muscles are not working well right now.  Why?  is the question I need to solve.  Getting sick could definitely be a factor, but I don't think it's the only cause here. So, something to look into.

On a different note, I'm also tweaking my normal running schedule by making Wednesday into a double day.  The reason is that I benefit from both a) running on trails and b) running in the Lever Runner at a reduced weight so that I can practice the mechanics of running at a faster pace while keeping the effort easy. But it's hard to fit both into a week, especially if I also need to do some days in the water.

By doubling on Wednesday, with a morning run on trails and a late lunch or post-work run on the Lever Runner, I can squeeze both into the week. So I'm going to make that switch for the next few weeks.


Dailies:


Monday: 6 miles very easy (10:23).  Foam rolling in the evening.

Tuesday: 10.5 miles with a few 800s in about 4 minutes each, followed by some 300s, 200s, and 100s in 80-83, 55-57, and 24-26.  Followed with leg strengthwork. 

Wednesday: 5 miles very easy on trails (11:03) and upper body weights/core in the morning.  4.5 miles easy on the Lever Runner (-20 pounds) later (8:27).

Thursday:  8 "miles" pool-running in the morning.  Streaming Pilates and foam rolling in afternoon.

Friday: 9 miles, including a 4800m tempo in 24:24 (8:24/8:11/7:49). Foam rolling in the evening.

Saturday: Off except for Pilates. 

Sunday: 8 miles, with some 100s and 200s with full recovery. Foam rolling in evening.

Saturday, June 7, 2025

Training log - Week ending 6/1/2025

This week was 50 miles of running and 15 "miles" of pool-running.

Tuesday's workout was frustrating - my body is doing this annoying thing where my adductors and calves contract hard any time I hear a noise behind me.  It's not a fear thing - I know the noise is someone who is going to approach and run around me.  It's really two things working together - the first is that I often have to focus intensely to keep my legs relaxed, and anything that distracts me for a second causes the legs to tighten until I get them under control again; the second is that any time I adjust my gait at all, my muscles overcontract. It's frustrating, and sometimes a bit nervewracking, since it feels very much like I'm tripping over my own feet when it happens. 

There are a few things that seem to help it:

a) The more stable I feel, the less reactive and stiff my body is - I suspect this is because when I feel more stable, I'm not working as hard mentally to stay upright.  (To get a sense of what I mean - imagine that you are trying to run as fast as you can on a balance beam - a loud sudden noise would likely disrupt your balance a way that it wouldn't if you were running on the track.)

b) The more tired my muscles are, the better they behave.  Basically, a bit of muscular fatigue dampens down that over contraction.

c) It's always much better when my meds are dialed in.

Friday's workout was slightly better, due to wearing more stable shoes.  But I really need to get this issue under control again, as it's limiting my ability to train. Getting it under control means improving my stability when running (that's where PT comes in).

Dailies:


Monday: 8 miles very easy (9:54) plus about a mile of 100s with jog recoveries.  Foam rolling in the evening.

Tuesday: 10 miles with a track workout of 4x1200, 3x400 in 6:00, 6:00, 5:42, 5:41, 1:48, 1:48, 1:48 (recoveries of 2-3 minutes after the 1200s and 70-80 seconds between the 400s), followed by leg strengthwork. Sports massage in evening.

Wednesday: 7 "miles" of pool-running and upper body weights/core.

Thursday:  8.5 miles very easy (11:09) on trails in the morning.  Streaming Pilates and foam rolling in afternoon.

Friday: 10.5 miles, including a 5K tempo in 24:23 (7:58/7:45/7:43/0:58). Foam rolling in the evening.

Saturday: 14 miles very easy (9:53) plus leg strenghwork. 

Sunday: 8 "miles" of pool-running in the morning.  Foam rolling in the evening.

Sunday, June 1, 2025

Race Report: Bennett Blazers Invitational, May 18, 2025

 I ran the 3000 and then the 1500 at the Bennett Blazers Invitational track meet last weekend (yes, I'm just now finding time to write up this report).  I ran 13:39 for the 3000 and 7:04 for the 1500, which were both enough to qualify me for the Hartford Nationals.

My summer plans include competing at the Hartford Nationals in Grand Rapids, Michigan in July. To do so, I needed to nab qualifying times for the 3000 and the 1500 - the two events I've chosen to target there. I could qualify at either a Move United (organization for para- and adaptive athletes) meet or a USATF meet, but I preferred to do so at a Move United meet (less paperwork). Conveniently the Bennet Blazers Invitational offered both distances. The meet was just under 4 weeks after the Boston Marathon, which meant that I would just be returning to training.  But that was fine - I was confident that I could qualify without being in top shape, and racing the two distances would work well as a rust buster.

The meet was in Towson, just north of Baltimore, so I was able to do it as a day trip, leaving my home around 5:40 am. I arrived at the track a bit after 7 am and immediately found a good spot for my yoga mat.  I spent the next 30 minutes stretching, foam rolling, and otherwise getting ready to run before grabbing my bibs (two for front and back). Then I headed out to jog laps around the track to warm up. I was wearing a pair of Reebok FloatRide RunFast Pros from 2018 as they fall within the stack height limit of 20mm for para-athletic track and I was pleasantly surprised by how good they felt.

The 3000 was the first race of the morning.  And I was the only one in it.  This wasn't totally surprising - adaptive/para-athletic meets tend to emphasize the sprints, and many of the competitors there consider anything longer than 800 to be a long race. Being the only one in the first race of the morning meant that I could warm-up, check-in, walk over to the start line, and casually wait for the gun. The starter and I grinned at each other as he formally advised me that I could take the inside lane from the gun, and then we were (meaning I was) off.

***

The next few minutes were oddly fun. I was not allowed to wear my Garmin and there was no clock visible - thus I had absolutely no way to know what splits I was hitting. Without anyone else in the race, I couldn't gauge how fast I was running. Fortunately for me, I've done a lot of solo tempos on the track, not checking my watch until after I'm done, so the lack of information didn't bother me. I also knew that I only had to dip under 20:40 for the 3000 (11:05 pace) to qualify for the Hartford Nationals, so I didn't have any worries there.

Essentially, the race became a hard tempo/solo time trial, with the added benefit of somebody counting down laps for me and a crowd cheering. I simply relaxed into the rhythm and worked through my mental form cues, and seven and a half laps went quickly.

After finishing, I caught my breath and then asked the officials what my time was.  "13:39" was the answer, which I was more than satisfied with. Previously I had told the meet director that I planned to be under 15 minutes and thus not add too much time to the meet. I was glad to be significantly under that threshold. 13:39 was also significantly faster than my Tuesday track workout had indicated - it's always nice when you race better than you train.

***

I had a wait of about 2.5 hours before the 1500, which was the last race of the morning.  I suspect that events were arranged to give me as much space as possible between the two.  The irony there is that I would have much preferred to have jogged for about 4 minutes and then rolled into the 1500 - thus doing a slightly harder version of the 3200, 1600 tempo workout. 150 minutes was enough time to get really stiff and rigid.  I tried to find an area to jog around outside of the track but had no luck.  So I settled for repeated strides on a strip of the outside lane (with the meet's permission).  It was something, but not enough.

There were three other runners in this race (all different divisions, and so technically not my competitors), and I fully expected to finish last due to both stiffness and lack of fitness. So I was pleasantly surprised when the gun went off and I found myself in second, with the leader in reach.  However, that feeling only lasted for about 100m, and then everything started tightening up.  When I'm not loosened up, I often have to manage this annoying....thing (for lack of a better term) where I can't selectively contract muscles. Trying to accelerate hard means that everything locks up - I can't step on the gas without also stepping on the brakes. So...I have to try to trick myself into running fast without trying too hard.  Which is tricky when you are in second place in a 1500 with first place in reach and third place just behind you.

I worked through things as best I could but was outkicked in the home stretch to finish third overall in 7:04 (7:35 pace).  So not the way I would have liked it to play out, but it was a good reminder of what I need to work on, and I snagged another qualifying time.

All in all, it was a successful morning - I got what I came for, got my rustbuster out of the way, and figured out what I need to work on in the next few months.

Other notes:

  • We had great weather for the meet - mid 60s with low humidity.  It was windy, but still much better weather than one usually gets for a summer track meet.
  • I really like the Reebok Runfast Floatride Pros, and I am now glad that I was never able to sell them on Ebay.  I bought them in around 2018, but quickly decided that I preferred the Vaporfly for racing all distances.  But now things have changed, and my shoe hoarding tendencies have been reinforced.
  • I do have my work cut out for me, fitness wise.  7:35 pace was my goal marathon pace last summer, and now I just ran a 1500 at that pace (of course, I did run the 3000 faster :))  I don't think this is any sort of disease progression - I just need to train consistently and work on my coordination hiccups.  Mission accepted.



Tuesday, May 27, 2025

Training log - Week ending 5/25/2025

This week was 45 miles of running and 24 "miles" of pool-running.

I got some good volume in this week.  It was a bit biased towards pool-running, which I don't have a problem with as that's a safe way to increase volume.  And I averaged over 11 miles in distance on each day I did run.  Doing 4-5 days a week of higher mileage days combined with pool-running days worked really well for me a few years ago.  The only reason I strayed was that more days of land running means more opportunity to work on dynamic balance and gait.  But I think that the benefits of pool-running every 2nd or 3rd day (and thus being able to tolerate more volume on land) outweigh that consideration. With a caveat that my first mile or two of a run the day after a pool run is always very stiff and tough.

Tuesday's track workout went fairly well, after a stiff start.  Friday's workout was not so great. I had picked up a pair of Nike Vaporfly 4s the week before after jogging around in them in the store.  They had felt good in the store - they lacked the excessive bounce and "throw you forward" of other shoes, which I viewed as a plus.

However, once I tried to run fast in them, it was a different story - I felt completely unstable in them and very off balance.  I gave the tempo a full 12 laps to see if things improved - they did, but only marginally.   So...back to the drawing board in the shoe quest.


Dailies:

Monday: 8 "miles" of pool-running in the morning.  Foam rolling in the evening.

Tuesday: 10 miles with a track workout of 6x800, 400 in 3:56, 3:55, 3:51, 3:44, 3:42, 3:35, and 1:46 (recoveries of 2:1x to 2:4x after each, except for 3:26 recovery after the 5th 800, due to track traffic), followed by leg strengthwork.  Foam rolling at night.

Wednesday: 10 miles very easy on a muddy towpath (10:25) and streaming yoga.

Thursday:  8 "miles" of pool-running in the morning.  Streaming pilates and foam rolling in afternoon.

Friday: 10.5 miles, including a 4800 tempo in 24:30 (8:25, 8:09, 7:56), followed by some upperbody strengthwork and core. Foam rolling in the evening.

Saturday: 14.5 miles very easy (9:51) plus leg strenghwork. Sadly, skipped foam rolling due to lack of time..

Sunday: 8 "miles" of pool-running in the morning.  Foam rolling in the evening.

Wednesday, May 21, 2025

Training log - Week ending 5/18/2025

This week was 54 miles of running and 8 "miles" of pool-running.

I ran my first team interval workout in about a month on Tuesday. It went OK.  I was very stiff and my paces were significantly slower than before my post-marathon break (not terribly surprising). I'm sure some of it was a lack of fitness, and some was the rainy and windy weather. 

I wore the New Balance Pvlse for Tuesday's workout, and it felt awkward. I had planned to race Sunday's 3000 and the 1500 in the Pvlse, but Tuesday left me doubting that strategy.

I happened to have an old (from 2018-19-ish) pair of Reebok Floatride Runfast Pros (yes that is the full name) that never found a new home on eBay, and they were/are also legal on the track.  So I gave them a try on Friday and was pleasantly surprised by how much better they felt after a quick adjustment period. (The Reeboks are very thin soled - they feel like slightly stiff socks in comparison to current racing shoes. It's literally a bit jarring until you acclimate.) 

So, figuring that I had nothing to lose except the health of my plantar fascia, I used them for Sunday's races (race report coming).  And was pleasantly surprised with my performances.  This has me thinking that I should consider running more in minimalist shoes, to the extent I can find any. When I'm in thin-soled flexible shoes, I can feel the ground. That sensation makes me much more confident of where my body is in space, and so I'm able to push off more forcefully from the ground.

[It's worth noting here that I spent many years pre-supershoe doing all of my easy runs in Nike Frees - and could go up to 16 miles in the Free with no discomfort.  I probably could have gone longer, but never tried.  So I think I can handle plenty of miles in minimal shoes again, as long as I transition carefully.]

The other change I made for Sunday's race was running more miles than I normally do the day before a race of any distance.  I didn't feel like the extra miles took anything from me at all; if anything, my gait felt smoother for it.  So that's another thing to consider for future pre-race prep.

Dailies:

Monday: 8 miles very easy (9:50) and streaming yoga. Foam rolling in the evening.

Tuesday: 8 miles with a track workout of 1600, 4x800 in 8:12, 4:00, 3:54, 3:51, 3:51 (recoveries of about 2 minutes after each), followed by leg strengthwork.  Foam rolling at night.

Wednesday: 9 miles very easy on trails (10:58) and streaming yoga.

Thursday:  8 "miles" of pool-running in the morning.  Streaming pilates and foam rolling in afternoon.

Friday: 8 miles, including a 1600 uptempo in 7:34, followed by some upperbody strengthwork and core. Foam rolling in the evening.

Saturday: 7 miles very easy (10:03). Foam rolling in afternoon.

Sunday: 6 miles, including a 3000 in 13:39 and a 1500 in 7:04.

Saturday, May 17, 2025

Training log - Week ending 5/11/2025

This week was 48 miles of running and 15 "miles" of pool-running.

Yet another belated entry (if I don't get it done by Sunday night/Monday morning, it's very hard to get it done during the week).

I did two workouts this week - Iwo Jima hills on Tuesday to work on my running gait and power (the traditional workout is 500m up a 2-3% incline, 90 second jog, 200m downhill strides, and 60 second jog to the bottom), and a tempo intervals workout on Friday to get used to running on the track again.

I tried the New Balance Pvlse on Friday's workout.  It felt better than track spikes, but that's a very low bar.  The shoe is very stiff and doesn't really have any bounce to it - it feels like running with a bit of Styrofoam on my foot - functional, but not terribly comfortable. The plus to it is that it does feel like it encourages me to run with better form (overstriding feels awful in it).  So, it's potentially useful as a training tool.

I was slower than I had expected on Friday, but I couldn't be sure how much was the shoe feeling off versus lack of fitness versus rainy/windy weather. (I also wore socks that were too thin, so that my feet were slipping around in the shoe - that certainly didn't help). But, as with many early season workouts, I benefitted just from getting out there regardless of how fast my splits were.

I followed up Friday's workout with an easy long run on Saturday. Doing the back to back runs was less about targeting a specific training benefit and more about the fact that I was carless for the weekend, and so would not be able to make the team Sunday long run. So I used Saturday's run to finish up in DC, where I could run some errands and then Metro home.


Dailies:

Monday: 6 miles very easy (9:49) and upperbody weights/core. Foam rolling in the evening.

Tuesday: 10 miles with 6 Iwo Jima Hills, followed by leg strengthwork.  Foam rolling at night.

Wednesday: 9 miles very easy on trails (11:03) and leg strengthwork.

Thursday:  6 "miles" of pool-running in the morning.  Streaming pilates and foam rolling in afternoon.

Friday: 9 miles, including a track workout of 3200, 1600 in 16:04 (8:07/7:57) and 7:55. Foam rolling in the evening.

Saturday: 14 miles very easy (9:35) with two hill sprints, followed by leg strengthwork. Foam rolling in afternoon.

Sunday: 9 "miles" pool-running plus upperbody weights/core and foam rolling.

Monday, May 5, 2025

Training log - week ending 5/4/2025

This week was 28 miles of running and 24 "miles" of pool-running.

It looks like my mileage dropped from last week, but that's only because the marathon was on Monday, which added to last week's total. 

This week was about ramping up my mileage and re-introducing some faster running with hills and short track intervals on Sunday.  When I don't run for a few days, I have to relearn the mechanics of how to run.  And when I don't run fast for a few days, I have to relearn how to run fast.

It's a lot easier for me to run fast on an incline than on flat ground - it's a combination of hill running requiring less hip extension/stride length and my balance feeling more stable going uphill. So mixing hills and track running was a good way to practice running faster where it's easier for me before trying to carry that over to the track.

I also spent this week adjusting to different shoes.  This is because I hope to run in at least two para-athlete track races this summer (the Hartford Nationals in July plus a track meet in May to get the required qualifying times.) For those meets I'm required to wear shoes with a stack height of 20 mm or less (this is changed from last year's limit of 24 mm). 

It's hard for me to shift between high stack supershoes and low stack shoes - I suspect this is because I'm always estimating where the ground is under my feet, and the stack of the shoe I'm running in affects the distance between my feet and the ground. When I run in high stack shoes, I make an educated guess that has to be recalculated for low stack shoes (and vice versa).

For this reason I've started working on that shift now - doing all my runs in older low stack shoes like the Adios 5 and the original Adidas SL to get used to no bounce and more ground feel. Unfortunately though those shoes are _lower_ in stack height, they're still not low enough to be legal - 20mm or less is a very thin-soled shoe

I've been looking for a track racing shoe that is legal, but does not have spikes. There are very few non-spike shoes that satisfy the 20mm requirement, but I've managed to locate a pair of the New Balance Pvlse, which is track legal. Hopefully I'll get a chance to test them this upcoming week.

One other thing I've been playing with is PNF stretching.  One of my issues is muscles that want to contract and stay tight even when I try to relax them.  Botox injections are a traditional treatment for this, but I don't want to get them for a few reasons - a) they're unpredictable and not a long term fix; b) I don't have one or two muscles that need relaxing, but all of them; and c) I'm concerned that deliberately weakening muscles will set me up for injury during very hard workouts or races.

PNF stretching (also known as contract and relax stretching) supposedly can temporarily pause the excessive neurological signals that make muscles tight for no good reasons. So I've been experimenting with it before some runs, to see which muscles I need to focus on most and also when to time the stretch before the run.  

So far, it seems like the best muscles to stretch are my quads, all the muscles of the lower legs, and the intrinsic muscles on the underside of my feet.  Those are the muscles that like to contract and make it hard to bend my knees or ankles. I'm going to spend some more effort here in coming weeks to see if I can refine my pre-run stretching routine down to something that works but is efficient (and ideally can also be done in a starting corral pre-race).

Dailies:

Monday: 7.5 "miles" of pool-running + foam rolling.

Tuesday: 8 miles very easy (10:44) plus drills and two strides and upperbody weights/core.  Foam rolling at night.

Wednesday: 6 miles very easy on trails (11:03) and leg strengthwork.

Thursday:  7.5 "miles" of pool-running and upperbody weights/core + foam rolling.

Friday: 5 miles very easy (10:02) + streaming yoga and foam rolling.

Saturday: 9 miles, including 6 x 30 second hills (cycling twice through easy/moderate/hard), 4x400 in 2:02, 2:00, 1:59, and 1:56 with 90 second recovery, another 6x30 second hills, and 4x100 in 25-26 seconds. Followed with streaming pilates and foam rolling in afternoon.

Sunday: 9 "miles" pool-running plus core and foam rolling.

Monday, April 28, 2025

Training log - Week ending 4/27/2025

This week was 36 miles of running and 12 "miles" of pool-running.

Boston Marathon on Monday, and then a lot of junk food after. I started jogging again this weekend.  My focus for the next week or two is going to be on drills, easy running, and being really good about my PT exercises.

Dailies:

Monday: ~ 1 mile jog, and then Boston Marathon in 3:46:05.

Tuesday: Off except for travel from Boston to DC.

Wednesday: 9 "miles" pool-running and foam-rolling.

Thursday:  Off except for foam rolling.

Friday: 3 "miles" pool-running and foam rolling.

Saturday: 3 miles very easy (10:40) plus drills and streaming pilates. Foam rolling in afternoon.

Sunday: 6 miles very easy (10:31) plus drills, weights/core, and foam rolling.

Saturday, April 26, 2025

Race report: Boston Marathon Weekend, April 19-21, 2025

I ran the Boston Marathon in 3:46:05 on Monday, which snagged me the win in the women's T35-38 division for a second year. The whole weekend was wonderful and memorable, though the marathon itself was possibly the hardest I've ever finished.

***

I was really excited last fall to be invited to compete at Boston 2025 as a member of the professional para-athlete field. I had already planned to return to Boston in 2025, both because it is a special race and because the BAA does so much to promote para-athletics and adaptive sports and I want to support them in return. But being added to the professional field just made it that much more meaningful. Pretty much a dream come true.

My training cycle began in January, after I recovered from an ill-timed bout of Covid 19 that forced me to skip the Houston Marathon. I thought that I could take my fitness from the Houston training cycle, add onto that for Boston, and take a shot at lowering my course record from last year.

However, life got in the way. For multiple reasons, this spring's theme was stress and sleep deprivation, and the sleep I did get was poor quality. Numerous unavoidable non-running obligations forced me to reduce the time I spent on training or doing the Parkinsons-specific exercises that help me manage things. My long runs went well, but volume is the true backbone of marathon training, and mine was about 1/2 to 2/3rds of what I consider sufficient for a marathon. Sometimes, it's just not the right time in your life to train for a marathon. And that certainly described this spring.

Had it been any other marathon, I would have pulled the plug and focused on shorter distances until life got simpler.  But this wasn't any marathon - this was Boston and the para-athlete division. It was really important to me to show up and give it my best effort if at all possible. So I flew into Boston on Friday morning, hoping that lifetime mileage, experience, and stubbornness would compensate for deficient training. And that an early bedtime on Friday would balance out my lack of sleep the past few days due to various non-running stuff.

The flight went smoothly, and by early afternoon I was happily ensconced in a nice hotel in downtown Boston, with a stomach full of Chipotle and a large pile of assorted gluten-free breads from Trader Joes on the hotel dresser.

***

I tried several new things this cycle.  One was including in my taper both a 10 miler (raced all out) two weeks out from the marathon and a 5K two days out from the marathon. The 10 miler was Cherry Blossom - historically one of my favorite races of the year.  The 5K was the Boston 5K (more on that later). Adding these races meant I had to tweak my marathon taper.

Since getting diagnosed with Parkinsons, I've discovered that the best marathon taper for me looks much more like a 10K taper than a marathon taper. I don't reduce the volume that much in term of either overall mileage or workout volume. The smoother and more "normal" the taper, the better my body behaves on race day. Additionally, I manage my Parkinsons with medications (legal under USADA) that have to be carefully calibrated - too much or too little both result in crampy muscles that don't listen.  When I cut my volume, the "right" dose can also change.  Or maybe not.  Frustratingly, it can be random. So it's really better to keep things consistent.

The net result is that keeping my taper active works best for me.  However, since I was running both the 10 miler and the 5K during taper, I decided to break my own rule and rest more.  I suspected this would flare things but hoped that the harder efforts of the 10 miler and 5K would balance this out.

***

Unsurprisingly, I was pretty stiff and awkward when I woke for the Boston 5K on Saturday. The race started just after 8 am, so I planned to pop a Rytary at 6:30 am before warming up.  Unfortunately, upon opening my pill case, I realized that it held two Rytary capsules - the one that I had popped in last night, and an identical (in appearance) capsule that had sat in that container for several months.

I had a 50/50 chance of taking the new capsule, so I picked one, popped it, and chugged some water.  Chatted some more with others and then headed out for a warm-up jog around 7.  My legs were notably stiff and didn't loosen up during my two mile warm-up fartlek, but I wrote it off as not having run long enough. My plan was to run the 5K as a progression down to marathon pace. That would give my legs a chance to loosen up a bit on the first mile, while also hopefully being fast enough to win it or at least earn some prize money while not compromising my race on Monday.

The para field started the 5K three minutes behind the professional women, and so we were walked up to the start ahead of the main race field. Waiting for the starting gun gave me a chance to chat with some other para-athletes, including several that I had previously connected with online - Ashley and Julia. Julia clued me in that we actually had six (SIX!) T35-38 women* entered in the race. This was excellent news (though it admittedly reduced my chances for prize money). It didn't change my plan, though.  The marathon was my main focus.

***

[For those not familiar with para-athletics - T35-38 is the category for coordination-impaired (neurologic) athletes - essentially cerebral palsy, brain injury, MS, Parkinsons, and similar. There's actually four different divisions - T35, T36, T37, and T38, each corresponding to a level of impairment (T35 is the most impaired, T38 the least). At Boston the four divisions are currently combined into one group called T35-38. It's similar to dividing age groups into 20 year groups rather than 5 year groups. As a T36 I'm supposedly at a disadvantage against the T37s and T38s. Personally, I'm not too bothered - I'm just so happy to have this opportunity at all.]   

***

The 5K, alas, did not go well.  I expected my legs to loosen during the course of the race, but they never did. I ran 25:55 (split as 8:20/8:11/8:30) with the restraint coming not from strategy but from my own muscles. It was also far more tiring than I had expected. Running requires a lot of concentration, and I hadn't anticipated how hard I would work mentally to stay on my feet while running 3 miles on uneven roads with crowds of much faster runners (the main field) powering past me from behind. The race also took a physical toll despite the conservative pace - running when my legs are locked is basically a prolonged isometric contraction, with the quads and hamstrings and glutes all fighting each other. 

The end result was that the 5K had cost me some reserves.  Fortunately, I had 48 hours to replenish.  And my run was good enough for third place and $250 in prize money - enough to cover my Chipotle consumption for the weekend and then some.

***

After heading back to my hotel for a shower and change of clothes, I popped another Rytary.  Within 20 minutes my legs were nice and relaxed - confirmation that I had indeed chosen the wrong pill earlier and might be undermedicated in general. Oh well, I'd try to avoid that mistake on Monday.  

I used my newly loosened legs to walk to the Boylston Street Chipotle to pick up my order. This was my second visit to this Chipotle, and I was still shaken from what I had seen there the day before.

A sign on a door reads "We'll be closed for Easter."


When I saw this sign on Friday, I first assumed that the closure was limited to this storefront, but the staff told me that all Chipotles in Massachusetts would be closed on Sunday. An internet search later confirmed that all Chipotles across the US would be closed for Easter (but be open on Monday, April 21) (which was absolutely no use to me).

So on Saturday, I bought an extra bowl of Chipotle to keep in my hotel fridge.  For emergency use, of course.  But day-old cold Chipotle isn't terribly appetizing, and I also was worried about potential food poisoning (the hotel fridge wasn't very cold). I needed another option.

***

The rule is nothing new on race weekend, but I had no choice. What I did have was a Qdoba franchise near a Green line stop. I'd never eaten Qdoba before, but a quick check of the internet indicated that it was reliably gluten free, similar to (and arguably better than) Chipotle, and most importantly, open on Easter.

So Qdoba it was. Late Sunday morning, I took the Green line to Lechmere to do my shakeout jog there away from the bustle and excitement of downtown Boston and 1001 influencer shakeout runs. It was extraordinarily windy, to the point where I settled for jogging back and forth behind a building - any time the wind hit me full blast it was hard to stay on my feet.  I was extraordinarily grateful that the marathon was on Monday.

After my shakeout, I grabbed my Chipotle Qdoba on the way back and then settled into my room. I had planned to head over to the expo that afternoon to hear some speakers, but I reluctantly shelved that plan in favor of resting. I could tell that I had already done too much this weekend and needed some solitude.

***

Race day morning was far simpler than last year, when I was nervously counting on a taxi showing up. As a member of the professional field, I had the luxury of staying in a hotel right by the finish line, and so it was easy to meet the 5:30 am deadline for getting to the para-athlete check-in.

Like last year, we had slightly less than an hour to hang out before being loaded onto buses to the start.  My understanding is that this time was used for final checks for other para-athletes - examining wheelchairs, prosthetics, guide ropes, etc to check compliance with para-athletics rules. As a coordination-impaired athlete, I didn't have anything that needed to be checked, so it was just stretching/chatting time.

A door at the back of a bus is labeled lavatory
This time gave me an opportunity to meet my closest competition in the marathon - a woman named Faye who had MS and had just been classified as a T37. It was really interesting to compare notes about running with MS versus Parkinsons - we each faced obstacles that were the inverse of the other's. Her symptoms really flare in warmth; my muscles get extremely tight when I'm cold. When structuring her training, she has to be careful not to push any workout too hard, lest she aggravate her MS. In contrast, like most people with PD the harder I train the better I feel; inactivity and rest make me stiff and clumsy.

Faye and I chatted in the hotel lobby and then on the bus, making the nearly hour long trip to Hopkinton seem much shorter. While on the road to Hopkinton, I noted that our bus had a bathroom. Of all the kind things that the BAA does for the para-athletes, this was perhaps one of the best.

***

We arrived in Hopkinton about 7:20 am - well in advance of the main Boston field. (As best I can tell, the BAA ships the elites and the para-athletes up to our tents near the start line in Hopkinton and then assembles Athlete's Village behind us after we've arrived.) I stayed in the tent for a while, stretching and chatting with friends both old and new, including Joe Drake (last year's men's T35-38 winner, soon to be this year's men's T35-38 winner) and multiple members of the "Parkinsons Fight Club." Then I headed out for my warm-up jog at 8:30. 

7 people in running gear stand in front of a tent, smiling

The warm-up area was a stretch of road with a gentle but notable elevation change that was shared by elites and para-athletes. As I jogged, I mentally rehearsed the cues that help me run downhill (pressing hips forward, look ahead not down, let the ground fall away from you, keep your hips and ankles loose).  A bit less than 10 minutes had me feeling ready for the downhill start (though not ready to run at marathon effort, but hopefully that would come later). Then I walked back to the tent and tossed down a gel and another bottle of water while waiting to be called to the start.

***

Like last year, we walked to the start just behind the elite women. At 9:47 they started, and we were walked to the start line.  As I stood there, I took a second to absorb it all. Here I was, standing on the front line of the Boston Marathon with my first name on my bib. I snapped a mental photograph, tucked it away in my memory as a precious keepsake, and then turned my attention to the upcoming race.

The gun went off, and my mind immediately went to my downhill running cues.  As I cycled through them, I noted that I was handling the very steep initial drop of the Boston course much better than I had last year, so that was a win.  Several other T35-38 athletes, including Faye, were pulling ahead on the left, but I mentally let them go and prioritized running the first half-mile with as little stress or damage to my quads as possible.

My attention was solidly focused on a) my downhill running form cues and b) where my competition was. So it was a surprise when my Garmin vibrated a few minutes into the race. I looked at it quickly and realized that I hadn't started it. I fixed that error and then moved on - fortunately I don't rely on my watch when I run, so starting my watch late was an annoyance rather than an issue.

The first 3 miles of Boston have some steep drops, and I stuck to my careful plan here, both as a race strategy and due to neurological limitation. I noted Faye pulling further away - she was wearing a distinctive striped singlet that I hoped would make her easier to pick out later in the race (I also hoped I would see her later in the race).

***

Just as I started to feel more comfortable, a lead bike pulled up and advised that Wave 1 was coming, and that I should choose a side of the road to stay on.  I chose right this year for three reasons - a) when a road is cambered, I'm slightly more comfortable if the left side is higher than the right; b) I was already on the right side of the road for that reason; and c) I had run on the left side last year, so why not mix things up?

In retrospect, this was a mistake, and I'll choose the left side of the road next year. Boston is notorious for its massive, wonderful, supportive crowds. As part of that support, they like to wave their hands in front of the runners or reach out for a high five. Which is great and awesome, unless you're someone with iffy balance that gets thrown off by stuff waving in your face. (To be clear, I'm not saying that the crowds should change their behavior at all - this is just part of running Boston as a T36 para-athlete.)  The crowds at Boston seem heavier on the right side of the road, making the left the better choice for me.

The right shoulder of the road seemed to have much rougher pavement, with multiple grates and grills that I had to swerve around. It also seemed like the majority of the water stations were on the right side of the road. Since I was carrying a water bottle, I had no need for those early water stations myself. However, I was an obstacle between much faster wave one runners and their water, and each water station was challenging to navigate between the hands waving cups in my face from the right and the runners ducking in front of me from the left. It wasn't fun for me, and I'm sure the wave one runners didn't appreciate it either (I know I wouldn't have).

After a few miles of chaos, things got a little easier as my pace picked up and the paces of those passing me slowed. I had planned to keep the effort moderate until mile 6 or so. But...just as I started to think about increasing the effort, I realized that I had caught up to Faye.  Since we had 20 miles of challenging course ahead I decided that I could stay moderate for now. My breathing was also getting a bit ragged (Boston spring pollen) and that was another reason to stay conservative.

***

My right foot had started burning slightly about a mile into the race, and by mile 9 it was feeling sore - like my shoe was a bit too tight.  With 18+ miles still to go, I decided to step off the course and fix my shoe.  Fixing my shoe took about 40 seconds, and I knew that Faye might have passed me back during that time.  When I stepped back onto the course, I looked for her distinctive singlet.  And realized that there were quite a few women her height with a ponytail wearing that striped singlet.  Oops.

There was nothing to do but run my own race and hope that either she was behind me or that she would come back to me.

By mile 9, moderate effort was feeling like moderate+. One of my big rules for marathoning is that I need to feel good at mile 13, so I resisted the urge to chase women in striped singlets and just held my effort. Even with that decision, my right back started to cramp at mile 12. Uh-oh. My best strategy was to stay on top of my salty gels and my water, and also try to stay as relaxed as possible, so that's what I did. Mentally, I started lamenting my lack of training before replacing that thought with appreciation for the nice weather. Reciting reasons why you're going to have a bad race is never a good idea, either before or during the race.

***

I held tough as more muscles started to cramp.  I'm used to running through a bit of cramping, so I just relied on that skill to keep going. But the Newton hills sent my body further into a tailspin. When you're having a good day, those hills aren't that bad. If you're NOT having a good day....

I suspected that the cramping might have been my Rytary wearing off early, so I popped a levodopa pill (fast acting version of Rytary). Either that was the wrong decision or it was ineffective (I'm leaning towards the former), because about 10 minutes later the cramping had intensified to the point where I was hobble-shuffling more than running. 

I had no idea where Faye was, and that was no longer a focus. I just wanted to get to the finish line as fast as my revolting legs would let me. And so I worked my way there. When we made the final turn onto Boylston Street, I tried to pick things up and fake good form for the cameras, but it wasn't happening. My calves and the soles of my feet were completely contracted with my toes curling under my feet.

As I worked my way to the finish line, I suddenly felt a big shove from behind.  It felt like someone had placed their hand on my upper back and intentionally pushed me forward.  I don't think that's what actually happened, both because I can't imagine why anyone would do that and because I think few people are coordinated and composed enough at mile 26 of a marathon to do that.  It was almost certainly accidental contact by someone else who was also struggling.

But it felt like a big shove, and between my poor balance and my completely cramped legs and feet I almost went down. After several flailing steps I managed to grab hold of the security fencing just to the right and stabilize myself.  And then I continued my shuffle to the finish line.

***

As I crossed, I once again saw "Congratulations - Cristina Burbach" flash across the chyron.  I hoped that meant that I had won my division, but I wasn't sure.  I was immediately intercepted by a race official upon crossing (I guess I looked as bad as I felt) and some very nice people walked me over to the tent where my bag was, which happened to share an awning with the med tent.

I retrieved my bag and sat for about 15 minutes.  A BAA official that regularly works with the para-athletes came over to check on me and confirmed that I had won my division. So that brightened my mood somewhat. If only the cramping would stop.

After the fifth or sixth person asked me whether I wanted to go to the med tent (and reassurance that the med tent was not at all busy) I decided to go. I sat there for another 40 minutes or so drinking water and salty broth and getting my calves and feet massaged in all sorts of ways. The calves eventually gave in and released, but the feet stubbornly held their ground. Finally, everyone including me agreed that I just needed to walk this one off, and so I shuffled my way back toward my hotel.

I was really sad about this, as my running team was gathering to take a team photo, and I was going to miss it.  But the team photo location was about three blocks to the east, and my hotel was a block and a half to the west, and I just couldn't do it.

When I got back to my room, I eased my way carefully into the shower. I ran warm water over my feet, and they instantly released.  I spent a long time in the shower, wallowing in the sensation of non-cramping feet.

***

Splits ended up being:

Mile 1 (partial): 3:09 for .36 of a mile
Mile 2: 8:41
Mile 3: 8:18
Mile 4: 8:13
Mile 5: 8:36
Mile 6: 8:34
Mile 7: 8:21
Mile 8-10: 25:12 (includes shoe fixing)
Mile 11: 8:08
Mile 12: 8:04
Mile 13: 8:02
Mile 14: 8:12
Mile 15: 8:23
Mile 16: 7:55
Mile 17: 8:34
Mile 18: 8:29
Mile 19: 8:19
Mile 20: 8:49
Mile 21: 9:36
Mile 22: 8:41
Mile 23: 9:06
Mile 24: 8:42
Mile 25: 9:40
Mile 26 plus last .21: 12:26 - roughly 10 minute pace.

So a positive split by about 6 minutes - 1:50/1:56. As blow-ups go, it doesn't look awful in print.  But it was not fun at all.

Other notes: 

  • The weather ended up being pretty good. Low to mid-50s and dry. It was a clear day with no clouds to block the sun, which made the final miles feel warmer than they were. A moderate headwind during the Newton hills also added to the challenge there. But overall, a great day for running.

  • Every time I run a BAA race as a para-athlete, I get a small glimpse of the work the BAA does behind the scenes. And I always leave impressed by how much work goes into these races, the professionalism of the BAA staff, and how much they care. I truly believe that the BAA staff work as hard or harder than the runners on Boston Marathon weekend, and it shows in both little and big ways.

  • I ended up winning the women's T35-38 division and also would have won the men's T35-38 division (this was another goal I had). I didn't hit my third goal of breaking my course record - that will have to be another year.

  • My downhill running was not great but was substantially improved over last year, so that was win.

  • In retrospect, squeezing Cherry Blossom and the Boston 5K into the two weeks before the marathon compromised my marathon performance.  (For the record, my coach told me a week ago that he thought doing the 5K was a bad idea.) The physical fatigue would have been manageable, but I failed to account for the mental fatigue from three very crowded and high profile races in such a short period of time.  Additionally, the increased rest and departure from my normal routine really messed with my management of my Parkinsons. Next year, I will focus on the marathon.

  • I also had the goal of running sub 3:30 on this course to get under the high performance standard for my division for next year.  Obviously, I didn't do that.  This isn't totally surprising, as running Boston, especially as a coordination impaired runner in the separate para-athlete start, is really challenging.

    In addition to the deceptively tricky course that all runners try to master, the T35-38 crowd is also challenged by the continuing changes in incline, the stretches of rough pavement, the train tracks, the balance checks triggered by the activity of the enthusiastic Boston crowds, and the chaos of being passed from behind by masses of faster runners. Those are all things that never bothered me before Parkison's but are real obstacles now.

    To run my fastest marathon time, I need a different race (as well as a better training cycle). But that's for the fall. The spring, and Boston, is about competition against my peers.  And I'm very grateful to have that opportunity.

  • One of the obstacles to my training this spring was the multiple surgeries that our new, incredibly sweet kitten Karma endured to repair a fistula that appeared right after adoption.  Each surgery was two weeks of disrupted training and reduced sleep as I cared for her. I knew this was not good for my marathon training, but my other choices were to return her or euthanize her, and neither was a choice. So we fought on.  

    Three days post-marathon, I brought Karma in for a routine check-up, and the vet and staff were shocked by how good she looked. Prioritizing her over higher mileage was worth it.

  • One of the really nice things that the BAA does is make a big deal of the trophy presentations for the marathoners. It's my blog and my parents like stuff like this, so I'll end this post with the trophy photo.

Picture of woman holding a trophy

Training log - Week ending 4/20/2025

This week was 25 miles of running and 3 "miles" of pool-running.

Just a place holder for the final week of taper before Boston.


Dailies:

Monday: 4 miles very easy (9:45) and foam rolling.

Tuesday: 6 miles on the track, including 5x800 in 3:41, 3:45, 3:39, 3:37, 3:37 with recoveries of 2:3x-3:03 between.  Sports massage in evening.

Wednesday: 3 "miles" pool-running and foam-rolling.

Thursday:  5.5 miles on the track, including some 100s and 200s with full recovery; foam rolling in evening.

Friday: travel to Boston + 3 miles very easy (10:23)

Saturday: 5 miles, including the Boston 5K in 25:55 (race report included in the overall Boston Marathon race report).  Foam rolling in afternoon.

Sunday: 1.5 miles very easy in extremely high winds (10:41) plus stretching and foam rolling.

Friday, April 18, 2025

Training log - week ending 4/13/2025

This week was 40 miles of running and 18 "miles" of pool-running.

Mostly recovery from Cherry Blossom plus a bit of work at the end of the week.  I've been playing around with the idea of wearing split shorts (so very 2009) instead of boy shorts, simply because pressure/compression seems to make my muscles stiffer.  So I did my last long run in split shorts, with gels.

And.... that's a nope.  Maybe it's just me, but the split shorts don't work anywhere near as well for carrying gels as the boy shorts do - the gels move around a lot more when the short doesn't hold them in place.

Glad I tried that on a long run, instead of assuming it would work...


Dailies:

Monday: 7 "miles" pool-running and foam rolling.

Tuesday: 7 miles very easy (10:45) on a very muddy towpath. Streaming pilates and foam rolling.

Wednesday: 8 miles very easy (9:47) plus drills and two strides. Upperbody weights/core and foam rolling in evening.

Thursday:  7 miles on the track, inclyding some 100s, 200s, and 400s with full recovery, followed by leg strengthwork and fam rolling in evening.

Friday: 5 "miles" pool-running in the morning: 3.5 miles very easy on the treadmill (9:24) and foam rolling.

Saturday: 14 miles progressive split as the first 5 miles averaging 10:03 pace, the next 4 miles averaging 8:51 pace, and the last 5 miles averaging 7:58 pace. Followed with leg strengthwork. Foam rolling in afternoon.

Sunday: 6 "miles" pool-running and upperbody weights/core + foam rolling.

Sunday, April 13, 2025

Race report: Cherry Blossom 10 Miler, April 6, 2025

I ran the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler today, finishing in 1:16:07.

I love this race - it's one of my favorites of the year.  I didn't get to race it last year because it was too close to the Boston Marathon.  But this year the two were separated by 2 weeks - enough time to race one, recover, and then race the other. Excellent.

The race started at 7:30 am, and I was in the yellow corral - the first to be released.  I left my house slightly after 6 am and parked, then did some ankle mobilizing drills and put my racing shoes on, before walking over to the Portajohns (just beating the lines that appeared when I exited my chosen throne room).  Since it was in the upper 50s, I checked a bag with a pullover for post race.

I'm noting all of the above in detail for one reason - I ended up not having time to do all of the above AND warm-up sufficiently for the race.  So, I either need to be quicker next time or leave my house earlier.

***

The normal efficiency of my pre-race warm-up was marred by shoe issues.  More specifically, my shoes were too tight. I haven't changed shoes or socks recently, but I have been working on keeping my feet and ankles relaxed when running. When my feet aren't clenching, I need more slightly more room in my shoes. On top of that (literally), my feet were slightly swollen due to the combination of medication and a high pre-race salt intake (because it was supposed to be humid). 

The net result of all of this was that I needed to loosen my shoes slightly.  Since I use no-tie elastic shoe laces, this was a chore. I stopped several times during my warm-up to adjust my shoes, but eventually decided we were at "good enough" and warming up was more important than a perfect fit.

I was at least partially wrong.  As I worked through my traditional warm-up of 3:00 at tempo-ish effort, 4x0:30 faster, 4x0:10 strides, my left sock kept slipping.  Not just a little bit, but completely off of my heel, bunching up under the arch of my left foot. 

I don't think I've ever had this happen to me before.  So I wasn't sure how to fix it. I stopped twice during my warm-up and pulled up my socks as best I could.  And decided that this was one of those things that I would forget about as soon as the gun went off.

***

I entered my corral with about 6 minutes until race start.  As a seeded runner, I was in the first, yellow corral.  In the weeks before this race, I had debated moving back to the front of the red corral.  However, this year the yellow corral was split into three sections, divided by pace.  Since I was in the furthest back section, I decided to stay where I was.

I was so far back that it took 2 minutes for me to cross the start line and transition from the anticipatory congestion of the corral to the free-for-all that is the early miles of this race.  And I did not have a good start.

To explain the challenges in detail - one of my main issues is rigidity. Basically, my muscles are always slightly contracting tight, and running fast requires me to concentrate on relaxing the right muscles at the right time. (Yes, there are medications that help with this, and I take them.  But they're not a perfect fix.)

So, trying to run fast requires a lot of continued thought and focus. Trying to navigate through crowds of people running at all different paces on a relatively narrow road with broken up pavement also requires concentration.  And I can only think about so many things at once.

So the first mile was rough.  Actually, the first three miles were rough, as we ran across the mall and out and back over the Memorial Bridge. Once we were off the bridge, things became a bit easier, and I was able to speed up.  Only to hit a literal wall of people ahead. This section of the course, out and back on Rock Creek Park, was narrow and there was simply no good way to navigate around or through the masses.  

So I bided my time - I knew that we would eventually end up on wider Independence Avenue, and I would be able to open up and make up some time.

***

Things did open up on Independence Avenue, and I picked up the pace per my plan.  And then....my left sock slipped again under my arch. I debated toughing it out for the rest of the race.  But...I still had more than 5 miles to go, and I also had the Boston Marathon coming up in two weeks - I didn't want to tear my foot up or get a compensation injury from an altered gait. 

So, I reluctantly stepped off of the course and quickly fixed my sock once again. My left shoe felt slightly loose, so I tightened it before starting to run again. That seemed to do the trick, as my shoes and socks behaved themselves for the rest of the race.

It's always hard for me to get moving again once I stop, and this race was no exception.  But finally, with 4 miles to go, we hit Hains Point.  There, I finally had room to run and flat decently smooth pavement.  And good shoes/socks.  I opened up and chased down as many people as I could in the last 4 miles.  

I had some issues going up the final hill (actually pretty much the only hill) right before the finish, as I tried too hard to kick and tightened up my muscles in the process - meaning that my body was working against itself.   And then I crossed the finish, with a combination of happiness and frustration.  I had hoped to run much better.  But at least I hopefully got all the hiccups and bloopers out of the way today.

***

Splits were:

Mile 1: 8:24
Mile 2: 8:14
Mile 3: 7:45
Mile 4: 8:22 (long)
Mile 5: 7:01 (short, also includes sock fixing)
Mile 6: 7:30
Mile 7: 7:17
Mile 8: 7:15
Mile 9: 7:08
Mile 10: 7:12

This was a negative split by more than 3 minutes: 39:46/36:21. Which is not ideal for a 10 mile race.  But I guess better that way than the reverse.

Other notes:

  • The forecast had been for the low 70s, but instead we got the mid-50s for this race - a very pleasant surprise.
  • I only warmed up two miles before this race - I think I would have benefited from more. 
  • My sock-fixing break seems to have cost me about 20 seconds, based on my Garmin report (I didn't pause my watch, but was able to look at the charts later and see how long I wasn't moving). So definitely the right call to stop and fix the sock - 20 seconds wouldn't have been worth the risk of affecting my condition for Boston.
  • According to the fancy results calculating thing (aka RunPix) - I passed 242 runners after the 10K mark while being passed by 11.  Which again is better than the alternative; I just wish I had been able to pick up the pace sooner.
  • I have found that wearing anything tight seems to encourage my muscles to tense, so I went old school and wore split shorts instead of boy shorts.  It did feel like the change helped slightly.
  • From talking to others post-race, it seems like everyone struggled with congestion in the first miles, including those starting near the front of the first corral.  The problem is that the course has been narrowed by the addition of protected bike lanes.  The two solutions to this would be a) reduce the field size for the race or b) start the race earlier and reduce the size of the starting corrals.  I understand why neither option is great, but I also think something has to change.


Monday, April 7, 2025

Training log - Week ending 4/6/2025

This week was 41 miles of running and 6 "miles" of pool-running.

Just a placeholder for Cherry Blossom week.  The race report is in progress, but since it takes me longer to turn the reports around, I decided to post the week to not get too far behind.

Dailies:

Monday: 7 miles very easy (9:27) and foam rolling.

Tuesday: 8.5 miles with 6x800 in 3:48, 3:46, 3:38, 3:35, 3:34, 3:34 with recoveries between 2:3x and 3:0x, followed by 4x200 in between 52 and 55 seconds with full recovery.  Followed with leg strengthwork and foam rolling.

Wednesday: 6 "miles" pool-running and upperbody weights/core.  Foam rolling in evening.

Thursday: 5 miles very easy on trails (10:51). Pilates and foam rolling in evening.

Friday: 6 miles very easy including a 1600 uptempo in 7:21 plus injury prevention work and foam rolling.

Saturday: 2.5 miles very easy (10:11).  Foam rolling in afternoon.

Sunday: 2 mile warm-up and then Cherry Blossom 10 Mile in 1:16:07.  Foam rolling in evening.

Monday, March 31, 2025

Training log - week ending 3/30/2025

This week was 48 miles of running and 12 "miles" of pool-running.

In my continuing quest to decide my marathon shoe, I wore the Adios 9 for both Wednesday's track workout and Saturday's marathon pace workout.  Sadly, Saturday demonstrated that the Adios 9 is not going to work for me as a marathon shoe this spring.  Despite thinner socks, my feet still got very sore halfway through the 2x5 mile workout - and it took a fair amount of self talk (mainly promising myself that I could swap shoes for the cooldown) to start and complete the second 5 mile rep.

I don't think it's that the shoe is too light; rather it's laterally unstable, and so my feet work pretty hard to stabilize things. They're not used to that, and so they get tired and sore.  If I had more time, I could probably strengthen my feet enough to wear the Adios 9 for a long race, but I don't have time this cycle.  So I'll likely be going with the Hoka Rocket X2, despite the fact that I'm not crazy about running with that shoe downhill.

Dailies:

Monday: 6 "miles" pool-running, upperbody weights/core, and foam rolling.

Tuesday: 1 mile very easy (10:55) before timing the team track workout, 6 miles very easy (9:50) after timing the track workout, plus drills+strides. Massage in evening.

Wednesday: 11 miles on the track, including a workout of 3200, 2800, 3200 in 15:13, 13:02, 15:05 with ~5:30 jog between each (supposed to be 3x3200, but I lost track of laps). Followed with leg strengthwork.  Foam rolling in evening.

Thursday: 4 miles very easy on trails (11:05). Pilates and foam rolling in evening.

Friday: 9 miles very easy (9:38) plus drills and two strides.  Upperbody weights/core and foam rolling in evening.

Saturday: 17 miles, including 2x5 miles at marathon effort in 39:05 (7:54/7:50/7:49/7:49/7:43) and 38:36 (7:45/7:46/7:45/7:40/7:40) with one mile in 8:50 in between.  Followed with injury prevention work. Foam rolling in afternoon.

Sunday: 6 "miles" pool-running + upperbody weights/core.