Bill Mattis' Running Blog

Since the 2011 Boston Marathon, I’ve taken some needed running rest.  I resisted.  I still ran.  But all I ended up doing was running myself into the ground. I was forced to scale back my running as my family transitions into our new life in Boston, MA. A big move. A new job.  A new life.

The Good News:

We’re getting settled into our new home and exploring all what the great sate of MA has to offer. And it’s great to be back closer to my older sister, brother in-law and sweet nephews.

The new job is going well and working with a great team at Arnold Worldwide. It’s fun to be back working with folks I’ve know since I was just a JR Account guy where my career began and working with new ones.

I’m ready to get back into tip-top race shape.  Gym memberships are locked in. New running routes being explored.  Routines being restarted.  For the last few years, my running goal has been getting into 2:55 shape for the marathon. 12 marathons in 4 years has been a big sacrifice. My body needs a break from them. My new goal: mastering the shorter distance with an ultimate re-emergence in the marathon in the 2012 Boston Marathon.

The Bad News:

Re-acclimating to the humidity and heat in the Northeast. Kind of sucks. 

All in all life is good.  Time to live.  Time to love. Time to begin life’s new adventures.

As my former boss often said,  ”Sing it”

The count down is on.  The hay is in the barn. It’s now time to freshen up, reduce volume and keep the quality high.  While this hasn’t been my best training cycle, I do feel like I’m peaking at the right time (i.e. #VCU). 

My focus over the next few weeks will be to finalize my race strategy and execute flawlessly.  People ask me what satisfaction I get out of putting my body through pain. Easy question.  Because I can and it gives me an edge in life. Here’s to the other 20,000+ folks who share my same passion and made so many sacrifices in qualifying and getting to the starting line healthy.  

So here we go…

I hadn’t run the Shamrock since 2009. Heck, over the last year I haven’t raced much in general beyond a lousy Portland Marathon showing in October. While I’ve had a ton of PRs since then, I’ve also had my share of running disappointment.  But the one thing that hasn’t changed? A hilly 15K course which tests your mental and physical toughness.

My goal today was simple. With Boston five weeks away, I wanted to use this race to see where I was from a fitness standpoint and also use it to work out the racing kinks. I didn’t really stress over a big time goal. After all, the only way to get better at racing is to race more.  

Here’s what I learned today:

1. I’m close to sub-3 hour marathon shape for Boston.  

2. I remembered that at mile 2 when I was feeling lousy that it gets better.  You just have to mentally work through it.  

3. Optimism is always good. Get’s you through the bad miles.  Today’s goto motivational word: Be Strong. Repeat it when you need to.

I finished in about an hour flat which is about 6:27 pace over pretty hilly terrain.  I’m happy with my performance given no taper and lack of sleep lately.  It’s not time to believe that I will run a solid marathon on April 18th in Baaston Mass… Zoom Zoom

Oh, also time to book my flight.

This is what Marathoners looks like:

Some are lean. Some are not. And some, well they’re just bizarre. But we all have one thing in common.  We love to run.  So get out there and run!  Happy Halloween everyone!

Baby bump included up in the Park.  Go Goucher and Lil Goucher.

It’s been along time since I’ve had a run at tempo pace where the legs had some bounce. It was a negative split kind of day.  8 weeks to maintain and increase my mojo!

So here we go:

Today’s goal was a heart rate goal versus pace goal (keep it relatively easy and consistent): 160BPM 

Avg Heart Rate: Check 161BPM

Mile 1: 6:37

Mile 2: 6:41

Mile 3: 6:35

Mile 4: 6:35

Mile 5: 6:31

Mile 6: 6:31

Mile 7: 6:31

Mile 8: 6:31

Confidence is back.  Time to Zoom Zoom.  

Driving back from a Tempo workout.  I spy Kara, Adam and Big Ole Baby bump all suited up in running gear walking down cornell road.  Zoom Zoom

Zoom Zoom.

Run with your head.