Boston 2010: I'm going for it!

On Saturday, for the second long run in a row, I found myself stride for stride with guys who've run marathons in the low 3s or sub 3s.

This past Saturday, after starting the first 7 miles real conservative (8:20 miles), I decided to just let my legs carry me as fast as they wanted to without racing. I wound up doing the last 5 miles in a 7:16 pace, and ended up passing a few of those low 3s-marathoners, who I am sure were taking it really easy.

The total run ended up being about 14 miles in a pace of 7:48/mile.

Perhaps I ran the last few miles a little too fast, but my lungs felt great, my legs felt great, and the next day I was able to do a 7-mile recovery run in about an hour.

This strength I seem to have on long runs has me pondering what my next marathon goal pace should be. I am hoping to one day qualify to run Boston, and at my age (40), I need to run a 3:20 qualifying marathon. That is 33 minutes faster than my marathon pr, which I ran in Fort Worth on Feb. 28.

I know I can run better than what I ran in Fort Worth. And the speed I am maintaining on these hilly courses in Austin and in this heat has given me the confidence that maybe a 3:20 is not that far out of reach.

So after Saturday's long run, I talked to one of the Team Rogue coaches, Steve Sisson, who just so happens to be the assistant long distance women's track coach at the University of Texas. I also talked to fellow blogger Sadie, who runs with Sisson's group. Sisson's group emphasizes the Lydiard way of training for marathons, high mileage and not much quality (intervals, tempo runs) until close to the goal race.

Now, when I say high mileage, I mean upwards of 80 miles a week. That's what Sadie ran leading up to the Austin marathon. The coach I'm running with now, Carolyn Mangold. has suggested I get to at least 60 miles a week during marathon training and I think that's a good idea for me, seeing as though I've ever had a week with more than 55 miles. (Since running the Cowtown Marathon in Fort Worth on Feb. 28, I am averaging about 38 miles a week. So ramping up another 20 to 25 miles should not be too hard.)

Still, I will probably transfer to Sisson's group because his features many runners who are faster than, or run right at the same speed as I do. Carolyn's group _ and Carolyn is a great coach and a really nice lady _ has runners who are much slower than I am. And in fact, I usually end up running by myself during her group runs.

So, Sisson's groups meet Tuesday and Thursday mornings for stretching and then runs of 8 to 10 miles, and they also meet on Saturdays for the long run (with the rest of the Team Rogue runners). The weekday groups meet at 5:30 a.m., which is 30 minutes earlier than I would run on Tuesdays and Thursdays in Fort Worth. So, that'll mean I'll have to cut out some wine drinking if I want to be able to get up with time to get dressed, use the bathroom, and make the 12-minute drive from my apartment to the Team Rogue training center.

But I'm sooooo motivated.

Boston, here I come!