The Naked Tour

   After the marathon expo and lunch, Tom, Lyn, Renee and I headed over to the Boston Public Library with hopes of catching "The Naked Tour", a presentation on barefoot running.  "The Naked Tour" was organized by Chris McDougall who is the author of the pivotal best selling book "Born To Run".  The book is possibly the most influential book in the sport of running and describes Chris' adventures in running.  As a middle aged, semi-athletic individual Chris would run a few miles a week to try to stay in shape.  Despite a relatively low mileage, Chris suffered a stress fracture in his lower leg and was told by his physician that "the injury was from running.  Running is inherently bad on your joints and bones".  Frustrated by this response Chris questioned what his doctor had told him and wondered why other animals don't get these injuries ... his example was "Cheetahs run all day, and they don't get stress fractures".  Through a random series of events he stumbles upon a tribe of Indians in Mexico who were superathletes, with each member of the tribe running upwards of 20-30 miles a day ... barefoot.  These revelations sparked a movement aimed at barefoot running.  The thought was that the human foot has evolved over millions of years and for 99.99% of that time ... we weren't running in shoes.  Without giving away the entire book, it delves into some scientific research that has been done looking at the mechanics of running and how they have changed since we started wearing heavily padded / cushioned shoes.  The book isn't a scientific book, although a little chunk is spent talking about the evolution of the foot, but rather it tells the story of a ridiculous ultramarathon that poses the this tribe of Indians vs some of the best ultramarathoners in the world. 

I know that I have essentially handed out an entire reading list with all of the books that I have recommended in this blog, but if you have time its also worth reading this one.  Its pretty entertaining and really motivating. 

    Needless to say, we arrived to the auditorium a little bit late.  We were told as we started to get in line that they were at capacity and that there was a chance we may not even get in to see the presentation!  That's when luck struck!  What I didn't tell you is that our friend Tom is actually friends with Chris McDougall (author / organizer of the tour).  He first met Chris a couple of years ago after Chris read one of the articles Tom wrote for a New England Running Magazine.  They have kept in touch since and tend to get together when Chris is in the Boston Area.  As we were waiting in line, Chris thankfully walked out of the auditorium and saw Tom waiting.  He waved Tom & Lyn in around the line, and like so many times before, they were able to sneak us in too.  Not only did we get waved in around the line, but Chris had "reserved" seats for us "up front".  So ... up front really meant right in the front row next to all the speakers!  It was pretty incredible.

Renee and I with Chris McDougall.  Chris was nice enough to autograph our copy of his book.

     The presentation was a little bit long, but was really informative.  I consisted of a few scientists and researchers presenting their work about the mechanics and benefits of barefoot running.  In addition, they had some other barefoot runners, the writer of the soon to be movie "Born to Run", Scott Jurek (I will get into his accomplishments in a minute) and of course Chris McDougall. 
     The highlight of this talk for me was definitely getting to meet Scott Jurek.  He is one of the characters in the book and is possibly one of the most elite ultramarathon runners of all time.  To kind of put it in perspective, he is essentially the Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods of running.  When you hear his accomplishments, you will think he is super human.  Here is a short list of them:

- Won the Spartathlon 3 years in a row.  This is a 152 mile race from Athens to Sparta
- Won the Badwater Ultramarathon 2 years in a row and set a course record.  This is literally the most ridiculous race you could ever imagine.  Its a 130+ mile race through death valley in the middle of July.  The temperatures during the race push 130 degrees at time and the road gets so hot that runners literally have to run on the white line in the road to prevent their shoes from melting
- Ran for 24 straight hours around a 1 mile track.  He set a record for the most miles run in a 24 hour period after clocking over 162 miles
  
    Since we were sitting in the front row, and he was on the floor right next to me, we were actually able to talk to him for a minute or two and get a picture with him.  Honestly, it was a very nice and humble dude ... really, its how you want all professional athletes to act.  Meeting him, was definitely the highlight of the day for me. 

Tom and I with Scott Jurek.  You can tell from Tom's face that he is really excited to meet Scott as well.  Surprisingly, Scott didn't have the typical runner's build.  He was actually taller than me, not normally what you think of when you try to picture an elite ultramarathon runner.

This picture was just to show everyone how close we were to Jurek during the presentation.  He was literally right next to us!

Scott Jurek talking about how he gets through these ultramarathons.  He said the best thing to do is to"turn your brain off" and to break things down into manageable goals.  Rather than focusing on "the last six miles" he said to focus on smaller goals like getting to the next water stop or getting to the next turn. 

Marathon Expo

   Time is moving by pretty quickly and Monday is approaching fast!  Saturday morning marked the day that Renee and I were going to go to the health and wellness expo at the Hynes Convention Center.  For those of you who have never been there, its basically a huge convention center filled with marathon memorabilia, new running equipment (shoes, water bottles, sports bars, etc) and lectures about running, nutrition and injuries.
    Based on our experience last year, we decided to get to the convention right when they opened up because the place gets packed!  Just imagine how crowded it would get if half of the marathon runners and their significant others showed up ... you are talking upwards of 25,000 people!!  Right when we got there we went straight to the bib number pickup.  This section is divided up by number and since Renee and I were in the 24 and 25,000 range, we were all the way down at the far end of the hallway.  In hindsight, its probably easier to board an international flight than it is to get your number.  In order to officially acquire your number you have to: 1) Present the number pickup card that was mailed to you, 2) Present a photo ID with accurate address, and 3) Sign a release form.  Its quite an intense process and actually reminds you that they reason they take such care in handing out the numbers is because they are ridiculously hard to get.

Its official!!!

Renee with her official number!

     After we got our official number, it was time to head into the expo and do some damage to the checkbook.  Renee and I were actually luck in the sense that we were able to get the official marathon race jacket and fleece from a local store in Boston using a 15% off coupon (which I think saved us about $60).  Despite the fact that we had already gotten the jackets, it didn't stop us from buying tons more stuff.  Included in the stuff that we got at the expo was a Boston Marathon Duffle Bag, flip flops, T-Shirts, energy packets for race day, marathon pint glasses / key chain and of course the picture frames to commemorate our running of the race!  Honestly, it was one day where price really didn't matter. 

This is the Adidas section of the expo, which only makes up a small chunk of the actual event.  You can see from the picture how crowded the place gets!

This is me sporting my new bag.  The bag was filled with stuff that we had already bought.

Renee holding up the pair of flip flops that we each bought.

    Once we had finished buying stuff at the expo we were able to meet up with our friends Tom & Lyn for lunch.  We decided to head to Atlantic Fish since it was located right out on Boylston.  Marathon season is always a good time because we are able to spend a lot of time with them.  I think in the last few days, they have introduced us to more people than I can describe!  Its pretty ridiculous how many people they know.  After lunch, it was off to "The Naked Tour" where we would meet some more incredible people (see next entry)!!!

Motivation

  I just thought I would include another posting on a great motivational story that I came across sometime last week.  I spent a lot of the week just watching youtube clips on the Boston Marathon and the Kona Ironman.  While doing it, I cam across a clip about Jon Blais, aka The Blazeman.  Jon Blais was a triathlete from San Diego, CA who was unfortunately diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) at the age of 33.  For those of you that don't know that much about ALS ... its a neurodegenerative disorder in which your nervous system slowly fails.  Unfortunately, its there are no successful treatments for the disease and it is uniformly fatal.
   Given his diagnosis, Blais was permitted to enter the 2005 Kona Ironman. Before he started the race, he declared that he would finish the race "even if they had to roll him across the finish line".  At the time of the race, his disease had already taken its toll on his body and he wasn't able to use his right hand.  Without giving away the entire story, I recommend that you watch the youtube clip on his story at the link below.  Definitely one of the most motivation stories I have ever come across. 

The Blazeman -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Vrjp2P0GlE

Cheers to the Boston Marathon

   Like I said in my last post, this week marks the close of all of the training and the start of the marathon festivities.  Thursday night served as the kickoff of marathon week.  Over the past 11 years, the kick off party has taken place at the Hampshire House down on Beacon Street in Boston.  Renee and I were lucky enough to attend this function last year and with the help of our friends Tom & Lyn we were able to snag an "invite" for this years party as well.
    The kick off party is actually a pretty interesting event.  It consists of the "Who's Who" of the Boston Marathon.  The majority of the attendees are either involved in the Boston Athletic Association (BAA), their sponsors or well know marathoners (there were at least 3 or 4 past Boston Marathon Champions present at the event).  In addition a certain number of invites are given out to local running clubs, some of the sponsored charities and occasionally some randoms like Renee and I can be lucky enough to score an invite!
     Its definitely a fun event that consists of beer & wine, hor dourves and networking.  During the introductions, they also give a special mention to an honorary guest.  Last year, it was Teddy Bruschi due to his involvement in organizing / running his stroke charity which normally receives 5-10 charity spots for the race.  This year's honorary guest was a man named Clarence Hartley.  At first I had no clue who he was and neither did our friend Tom (which told me he probably wasn't all that well know in the Boston Marathon community).  It turns out that Clarence Hartley is actually the oldest qualifier for this years Boston Marathon.  At 81 years young, after serving in two wars (Vietnam & Korea) and surviving cancer he was able to run a qualifying marathon early in the year at 4 hrs and 39 mins (21 minutes under the qualifying time for his age group).  He gave a great speech and seemed like a genuine guy and real class act. 
     As always, Tom & Lyn introduced us to tons and tons of people.  Unfortunately, I am awful with names and can't remember half the people I meet.  Regardless, its great to meet new people especially when they are in the running community.  Its definitely cool to be around people that enjoying running so much and to see how they continue it no matter what their age is.  After the function ended at 9 pm, Tom, Lyn, Renee and I headed down to Cheers for one last drink before retiring back home. 
    Next ... the number pick up and marathon expo on Saturday!!  Only a couple more days until the race and thankfully the weather looks great (trust me, I have looked at the weather forecast at least 100 times in the last 5 days or so).

Cheers to the Boston Marathon!

Renee, Lyn, Tom and I.

Renee and I with Dave McGillivary.  Dave is the race director of the Boston Marathon.  He is also the person that I wrote about back in January who gave a great motivational speech.  He is kind of a super freak athlete and has run over 140,000 miles in his life.  He has run the Boston Marathon almost 40 years in a row and now that he is the race director, he actually runs it alone at night once the actual race has finished.

Clarence Hartley (black jacket).  He was the honorary guest since he is the oldest qualifying runner in this year's marathon.  He qualified for Boston at the age of 81.

Renee and I at Cheers

Renee and Tom

Tom and Lyn

The Last Workout ...

   Its official, all of the marathon training has ended.  With the race approaching quickly, my taper was in full effect.  Thursday basically consisted of another 25 min workout on the elliptical.  The workout went well, I felt good and I was honestly smiling during the whole thing because I knew that this was my last elliptical workout for a while.  It will be good to spend some time away from my elliptical machine, despite the fact that we have spent some quality time together over the last few months!  Once the workout had finished, I spent the next 20-25 minutes doing my physical therapy stretches to try to loosen up the quads / hamstrings / ITB.  In addition, I spent some more quality time on the foam roller trying to keep both of the IT Bands nice and loose for Monday. 
   This week has been really interesting.  It has really served as a transition point where the marathon is now in sight.  The days of enduring 1 ... 2 ... or 3 hour workouts are done and are now replaced by excitement for the festivities of marathon week.  Looking ahead, we have so many exciting things going on this week including the Marathon Kick Off Party, The Number Pickup, The Health & Wellness Expo and of course the actual race. 
   Overall, I feel great.  I have been well rested the last few days, the knee feels well and I feel as close to 100% as I have in weeks.  Looking ahead to the rest of this week with excitement and high hopes!

Motivation

   I figured since I have the time right now, I would include another little motivational entry.  This one is going to be devoted to possibly one of the most amazing athletic stories ever, Team Hoyt.  For those of you who have never heard of Team Hoyt, I recommend that you look them up and become familiar with their story.  Team Hoyt describes a father & son running team that is unlike any other since Rick (son) has cerebral palsy and is not able to walk.  For some time after his birth, many of the medical professionals had recommended to Dick (father) and his wife that they should institutionalize him since he would need round the clock care.  It wasn't until the 80's when Tufts University made a technology that allowed Rick to communicate using a computer.  After attending school in Westfield, Ma ... Rick asked his father if they could run in a 5k race to help race money for one of the schools athletes that had been injured.  At the time, Dick Hoyt wasn't an athlete at all, but not wanting to let Rick down he somehow developed a wheelchair that he could push and they were able to complete the race.  To say things snowballed from here is an understatement.  The 5k race led to another, and then a 10k, and then a half marathon, and then a marathon, and then hundreds more marathons, and then to triathlons and ultimately to the Iron Man in Kona Hawaii.  Its truly an amazing story, and while I can't do it justice with a paragraph or two ... I recommend reading their book if you have time.  Also, I have included an incredible youtube clip that shows pieces of footage from the year they completed the Kona Iron Man.   

Here's the book, in case you have some free time.  Its incredible.  

    Here is the link to the youtube clip.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF7Bv9Rjl0E

Packet Stuffing

   Its now official ... marathon week has begun.  The training is done and now its time to celebrate the marathon and enjoy in all of the festivities that go into marathon week.  This weekend marked the first event that we are scheduled to participate in, Packet Stuffing.  For those of you who don't know, everyone who was lucky enough to get an official number for the Boston Marathon will get a big bag of stuff when they pick up their race number.  The bag is filled with the official marathon booklet, tons of brochures, random snacks, a bottle of water, some marathon gifts and of course the marathon shirt!!   Unfortunately, these bags don't pack themselves so the BAA relies on volunteers to do it. 
   While it doesn't sound that bad, when you consider that you have to stuff over 25,000 marathon packets in 16 hours the task becomes a little bit more daunting.  The stuffing is actually run by our good friend Tom, so the packet stuffing helps serve as another way for Renee and I to spend some time with him and his wife Lyn. 
    We got to the warehouse around 1 pm and immediately took our place in our row.  We were towards the end of the line and our specific jobs were as follows:  1 - Renee was in the second to last spot in our assembly line and her job basically consisted of rolling the bottle of water in the free marathon shirt so that it fit nicely into the bag.  Once she was done putting it into the bag, she handed it to me.  2 - My job, which was probably the most important, was to roll the bags as tightly as possible and put them into a large cardboard box.  Each cardboard box had to fit 100 of the marathon bags, and the count had to be nearly exact.   
      Unlike last year, Renee and I were mentally prepared this year for the packet stuffing.  Its hard to imagine how slow 4 hours seems to go by standing in an assembly line.  I am not sure if it is because we were seasoned veterans of packet stuffing or if it was the fact that we got to stop 40 minutes early because we were actually ahead of schedule, but time seemed to fly this year!  All in all, it wasn't that bad, and with our early finish we got to spend more time at dinner with Tom and Lyn. 
     While some of you may not seem that excited by the packet stuffing, it really helped change the mood of the marathon training.  Honestly, it kind of symbolized the end of training and the start of marathon week which will consist of fun things like the health / wellness expo, motivational speakers, number pick up, etc.  It was a nice change and really helped build the excitement for the big day. 

Assembly Line.  Each row contained six volunteers and functioned independently.  This is a nice picture that helps show all the different things that need to get put into the bag before it is complete.

Picture of me functioning as the team anchor.  I am holding up a completed bag that will then be folded up and placed into the big cardboard box and shipped off to Boylston.

Renee holding a marathon shirt with a water wrapped inside of it.   Below is a video clip of Renee on one of her "multiple" breaks.  She tries to cover it up by saying she was trying to network, but I am not so sure.