Chasing Crewboats

Saturday morning was a beautiful morning for a long run.  The MDA team gathered at 6:30am at our usual spot along the Charles River on Memorial Drive by Starbucks and the Micro Center.  

Too tired to smile... but here I am!

It was a humid morning with showers threatening at any moment, but it still felt better than the sun beating on our backs and faces.  I'm nervous for each of my long runs so it's nice to have an easy win with the weather. The running is hard enough.  Yes, I said it - running is hard.  I enjoy it, but I'm not sure it comes natural for anyone.

Despite running being hard, I set myself up to enjoy the day a little more. 

1. I am well rested and well hydrated.
2. I have new shoes to wear!  

At the Greater Boston Running Company in Newton, we are one of the exclusive retailers of the ON running shoes.  I ran 12.5 miles in the ON Cloudsurfer.  From the picture above, you can see the shoe is not a conventional running shoe.  The pods on the bottom of the shoe or "clouds" as they are described move both horizontal and vertical to take down the impact of running, helping the runner to move in forward momentum and provide a soft landing.

The little clouds were a pleasure to run on.  I had a soft landing with each stride.  Check out the comparison video with other conventional running shoes.  The video also offers the visual evidence and support for compression socks too!  

In addition to new shoes, a couple other bright points emerged from my run.  

A lot of my usual training partners were unable to attend so I ran more than 10 miles by myself, but I made sure to involve others since I'm in the middle of a city and smack in the middle of the busiest running area.  As soon as I broke away from my warm up pace and the rest of the team, I zoned in on the crewboats that were laboring to stay in sync with their teammates.  The boats moved about 10 - 15 seconds faster than my current pace, which was enough to distract and push me along for miles 3 - 8.

As I turned the corner leaving the Esplanade area, I noticed the familiar colors of the BAA and Boston Strong shirts, but more accurately, it was a One Run for Boston T-shirt being worn by the one and only, Danny Boy Bent.

I ran the One Run for Boston back in June 2013.  The One Run was a worldwide response for the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings.  Danny is a British man that organized a relay across America in support of the One Fund.  With the help of a couple friends, Kate and Jamie, the young British team brought love and support from all over the world to Boston.  Danny has been back to the Boston area a few times since June 2014 and I've cheered him on for different races or November Project workouts, but I've never been able to personally thank and talk with him since the first One Run.  I couldn't stand around for long, but we've already emailed since Saturday morning and a real connection for future support and connections with the One Run.







I completed the 12.5 miles a little after 8:30am.  The sky was starting to open up with a couple drops of rain.  I love running in the rain, but the moisture added to some scraps and pains that I did not anticipate.  It is interesting to continuously learn ways to improve.  With these lessons, I wanted to be finished!  My body felt good, but it was wet and tired.  The calf pain held off until the last couple miles.  I immediately grabbed my foam roller, phone and wallet to head to Starbucks for some fuel before work.

Check out this text message and PROOF ...

that I did in fact run on Saturday morning around the Charles and I did not fabricate the entire story.  My sister spotted me running along.  It's not her usual hang out spot and I am only running with the team once a week on the river so it was a hoot to be seen!

Also - now it's clear, I am not wearing compressions socks because it's cool!