Mike's Marathon Blog

After a fantastic sleep (sarcasm), I woke up to a dog eager for another thrilling day on vacation. Even though we were in the depths of Hell, she was having the time of her life. She absolutely loved the hotel room (yes, the same room that I refused to walk barefoot in). Although it may have been a toss-up between the room and the hallway. We would open the hotel room door and she would be gone. She ran down that hallway like she was being chased by a bigger, hungrier squirrel.

After breakfast, we found a nice area for all of us to go swimming. Lake Winnipesauke isn’t very pet-friendly, which I completely understand! I don’t want any smelly dogs running all over the place when I’m trying to relax on a beach. It just sucks when I’m the one with the smelly dog looking for a place to go swimming. After pretty much driving around the entire lake, we found the next best thing to a beach……..a boat-launch. We had the whole place to ourselves! Tula swam (sprinted through the water up the boat-launch), I read my Tri magazine (ignored everything else going on) and Jack relaxed on the grass (chased Tula around). It was perfect.

Tula’s fun-filled weekend continued the next day at my friend’s camp. We rolled up our sleeping bags, said good-bye (forever) to our lovely hotel and drove a few miles up the road to Campton. We spent the day with 15 friends canoeing/kayaking/swimming/tubing down the Pemigewasset River (more precious pics of Tula to come).

After a great afternoon in the sun on the river, we headed home. After a shower and a couple large coffees, we were back in the car on our way to a roofdeck cookout in Boston. Saying we put a few miles on the old car this weekend would be an understatement.

I was tired, sore, sunburnt and in desperate need of some sleep. Unfortunately Sunday was Day 1 of training for the New York City Marathon. Dammit.

First day of training, first mistake of training. For Boston, it was usually so cold in the morning, it was best to wait until noon to go for a run. Hey Mike! It’s not the winter any more you donkey! I thought training in the summer would be hands-down more enjoyable than dodging patches of ice for 12 miles. Not so much. Note to self – don’t go for a run any time past 9 am. You won’t make it.

And I didn’t. An 8-mile run turned into a 6-mile run and a 2-mile walk. It was hot, humid and I was not prepared. Not off to a good start. Lesson learned.

Day 1 of 104 – complete (sort of).

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I’m so exhausted from work and my crazy weekends, I have no idea how I’m going to start training for another marathon. Today was my first day of training for NYC. It was rough. Since I haven’t blogged in awhile, let me rewind before we jump into today. Blog posts will be more frequent, I promise. Our new laptop is in, so I can now blog while watching Netflix movies.

Last weekend I went on an 8.5 mile, 3,900 foot elevated hike up Baldface Mountain. I’ll run 26 miles, I’ll ride my bike 50 miles, but walking in the woods for 4 hours isn’t exactly my go-to activity. I don’t get it. I understand if you’re a city person or don’t live in this area because the view at the top must be spectacular to people who stare at skyscrapers or fields all day. But we live here! I see mountains and trees and frigin granite all the time. Maybe I need to go on a few more to understand. I would like to hike Mount Washington at some point. We live right next to it. There’s no excuse for not hiking it.

Oh and did I mention I stayed in a house with my wife’s family? Not her immediate family…….her entire family! 20 family-in-laws running around like wild maniacs. Ages ranging from 8 to 80. Crazy levels ranging from 1 to a million.

I did get to spend the weekend in North Conway, which is arguably my favorite spot on earth. Don’t get me wrong, I love a relaxing island from time to time, but North Conway is right up the road! It offers something for every season and there is plenty to do whether you’re on a family vaca or relaxing with your significant other. Free plug for NoCo.

This weekend was supposed to be one of those nice, relaxing getaways with my significant other. We had been planning a 3-day weekend at a luxurious spa in Bar Harbor for weeks. Unfortunately, Jack decided to purchase a half squirrel, half barking rodent a few years back and since we had no place to bring her this weekend, she joined us. I never, ever thought I would see the day when I stayed in a pet-friendly hotel room. Good-bye Bar Harbor, hello Laconia.

Has anyone ever been in a pet-friendly hotel room? At Lake Winnipesauke? Next to an airport? No? This is how our Thursday night played out: checked into the hotel, saw our room, canceled our 3rd night (the first 2 were non-refundable, otherwise we obviously would have canceled those as well), went to dinner, got ice cream, purchased 2 sleeping bags at Walmart, went to sleep. I actually slept in a sleeping bag on a pet-friendly mattress, in a pet-friendly room with a dog in my sleeping bag!

To be continued…….

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I’d have to give this past weekend a grade of C. The first half an A and the second half an F-. I can only blame myself for the failing grade on Sunday. Here’s some advice on what to do and definitely what not to do next weekend!

So I mentioned in my last post that I was going roller skating. My sister and cousin decided to throw themselves a joint birthday party. If that’s not embarrassing enough, the location they chose was Skateland in Haverhill. I don’t even like to drive through Haverhill, nevermind go to some sketchy, dirty skating rink. On top of the location, they don’t allow you to skate with a hockey stick and Friday nights are ‘teen’ nights. Needless to say, this night had disaster written all over it.

First piece of advice if you’re looking for something fun to do next weekend – go to Skateland in Haverhill! Top 20 best nights of my life. Very unexpected, yet extremely entertaining! Low expectations always makes for a better experience. It was amazing! I knocked it, I tried it, I loved it! And little did I know that I’m a phenomenal rollerblader. I’ve already added ‘rollerblading’ to the Skills section of my resume.

I know you have questions.

1 – is that an enormous picture of Dr. J on your shirt?

Answer – Yes.

2 – did your cousin/sister throw a birthday party for themselves at Skateland with a 70’s theme?

Answer – sadly Yes.

3 – is that person on the left in a onesie?

Answer – same as #2.

4 – is that person shooting-the-duck?

Answer – Yes.

Second piece of advice for what NOT to do next weekend – do not attempt to complete an Olympic-distance triathlon if you haven’t trained for it. Also, do not attempt a triathlon at 1 pm on a 90 degree day. PS – do not go for a 5-mile run after a 21-mile bike after a 1/3 mile swim without any water in the blistering sun at 1 pm on a 90 degree day.

And to go from bad to worse, I went to see Twilight with Jacky afterward. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll watch a good chick-flick. I’ll watch a nice Pixar movie. I’ll spend an entire weekend on the couch with Harry, Ron and Hermione. But Twilight gets 2 thumbs and all of my fingers down. I saw the 1st one – terrible. When the 2nd one came out, I thought ‘I’ll give it another chance. It can’t be as bad as the 1st one.’ Wrong! I guess 3-times a charm for being tricked into seeing the worst movie series of all time. These movies are so bad, it boggles my mind. I’ve never read the books and I’m not saying the books are bad or the story behind the movies is bad, but the movies themselves are absolutely horrible. A vampire and a werewolf fight over some mute, awkward biatch in a hoodie over and over and over again. That’s it. I just saved you 2 hours of your life and $25. You’re welcome!

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What a fantastic weekend! I must still be recovering from it since I’ve been meaning to blog all week. Next thing I know, it’s Friday. My 3 1/2 day 4th of July weekend was one of the best. I was out an about and pretty much only came home to sleep. Oh and the best part of the whole weekend – Jack was on call, so she couldn’t drink. No drinking for her means lots of drinking and a DD for me. Let the games begin!

Friday was a half day. I worked till about 1 and headed for the lake. I spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing on a party boat with some good friends and some ice cold beers. Polish horseshoes, Chinese food and beer pong capped off day 1 of 4.

Do not ask me how, but I actually got up and ran 10 miles on Saturday morning. Yes, 10 miles on the eve of America’s birthday. I actually think it’s against the law to exercise on a holiday weekend, but hey, I had to do something about the 10 crab rangoons and 15 beers I inhaled the day before.

Good friends of ours have an enormous 4th of July party every year. Believe it or not, this is actually their 37th annual 4th of July party! You name it, they have it. Live band, tons of food, plenty of beer, face painters, ice cream truck, beer pong tournaments, slow dance competitions, water slides, boat rides, an 80’s dance-off, games for the kids and an amazing fireworks display at night. It’s one of the best days/nights of the year.

I know you’re thinking, ‘hmmm that is not Jacky?’ But you’re also thinking ‘wow, that is an amazing picture!’ I’m not sure when it started or more importantly how it started, but my friend and I take an ‘engagement-like’ picture at every 4th of July party. Don’t ask questions. Just admire the pic.

Even after a very late night, we were up bright and early the next morning, picked up my sister and headed to Acton, Maine, where many of my friends were spending the weekend. The day consisted of 15 good friends, a party boat, many beers, gorgeous weather, an island party of 50 people, a giant 10-person tube, lobsters and a clam bake. I’m not sure what else you need for a perfect Sunday?

Is that Tom and Gisele?

This island is in the middle of the lake. It’s maybe 20 feet long by 10 feet wide and there were at least 75 people on land or on boats floating around it. Crazy.

To complete our weekend tour of all the lakes in New England, we spent Monday with a few friends at their camp in Goffstown. Swimming, rope swing, pinatas – perfect way to end an incredible weekend. I was exhausted. I’m still exhausted! I wish I could rest tonight, but I’m heading to a dual birthday party at a roller skating rink? I honestly didn’t even think those still existed. Hopefully they rent hockey sticks because I definitely can’t skate without one.

Also on the agenda this weekend – an Olympic distance triathlon. I haven’t necessarily been training for this, so we’ll see how it goes. It’s a 1/4 mile swim, 21 mile bike and a 5 mile run. I swam yesterday for the first time in a long time. I should be fine. Someone keep an eye on me from shore!

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Last week I received my NYC training schedule. It unfortunately starts next weekend. Uggghhhhhh! What did I sign up for? Any time you sign up for a marathon, well don’t, but if you do, at least wait till your previous marathon high is over. In this case, I signed up before I even ran Boston.

Am I regretting it already? No. It will be another fun/tough goal and it will be pretty cool to complete 2 World Major Marathons in 1 year (knock on wood). Everyone says Boston is so challenging because you have to train in the winter. Yes, training in the freezing New England winter is not ideal, but at least there is nothing else to do! Winters are so boring. No one does anything, no one ever has any plans and there are absolutely no excuses to not get your moneymaker out of bed and go to the gym. The summer is the exact opposite! True, I would rather run in shorts and a tank than jackets, a winter hat and gloves. But is it just me or is everyone’s weekends booked from now until Labor Day? I honestly have something to do (already!) every Saturday for the next 2 months. I’m not sure how this happened or where I’m even going, but there is something written on my calendar for every Saturday.

This past weekend for example, I actually had a free Saturday, so I planned a nice brick with one of my friends. My parents call me Thursday night and tell me to come up to Ogunquit for the weekend. Obviously I want to go on a little vacation, but there goes the brick. And I wouldn’t even plan to ride in Maine. After a huge dinner and some cocktails, the chances of me jumping on my bike the next morning, by myself, are nil. I actually did run the next morning. But when your hotel has a free continental breakfast screaming your name, you only run 2.5 miles and get back immediately for tasty danishes and delicious mini-muffins. See, only on vacation in the summer would I ever eat that crap!

Next weekend, 4th of July! There goes another Saturday (and Sunday and Monday)! Although I just looked at my calendar and I actually have the 10th open. If anyone has any plans, let me know. I hate not having something to do!

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I haven’t blogged in weeks. Mainly because I haven’t worked out in weeks. Saturday was the first time I exercised in close to 2 weeks. I hurt my back a few Fridays ago at work. And what did I do bright and early the next morning to make it feel a whole lot better? I went golfing. Yea, I made it to about the 4th hole. I spent the rest of the weekend on my back on a hardwood floor. This was also me and Jack’s little weekend away at the Cape. We caught up with the Kardashians the whole weekend.

So, I took the week off. I was invited to a golf tournament on Thursday and made myself decline. This is when you know I’m not faking when I pass up free golf and a free dinner buffet afterward. I feel a lot better, but still sore. I tried to make a chiropractor appointment, but my amazing health insurance doesn’t cover chiropractor visits. Scumbags.You’d think a nurse’s health insurance would be good?

People have been telling me to get a deep tissue massage. Anyone ever have one of these? I’ve never had a massage, even an amateur one at home. I’m a huge baby when it comes to people touching me. I’ve heard a real massage hurts like hell and that some times you can’t even walk the next day. Someone’s going to have to drag me to this place.

Saturday was my first brick workout of the year. A brick workout is when you do one workout immediately after another. My friend and I rode 18 miles and then ran 5 miles. It was only my second bike ride of the season, so I thought I would be a little fatigued, but I felt pretty good. It helped having someone pull me half the time. I tried to run the next day, but my back was definitely sore from the brick. I shouldn’t have pushed it, but of course I did. I’ll take another few days off to rest. NYC training is right around the corner, so this back problem better pass sooner than later.

This past Sunday was my godson’s christening. I was about a half hour late to it because of my back. I went for a run and hurt my back about 3 miles out and had to walk home. I was already running late and still had to pick up my sister. She didn’t have a car because she had 20 shots of tequila the night before and her car was still at my house. Needless to say, the baby’s mama wasn’t too happy with me when I showed up.

Anyone ever been to a Greek christening? To give you a small taste, one of the first things we had to do, as godparents, was face west and renounce Satan by blowing on the ground. Yes, literally blow air out of our mouths towards the ground to condemn Lucifer. Oh and then we faced east again, obviously. After the devil left, we did the normal stuff: cover the kid with oil, dunk him in a bowl of holy water and his own hair (maybe some lamb juice? Not really sure what else was in there), pass him around the table a few times, come dangerously close to burning him with the 4-foot candles we were holding, shoot some incense in his mug, dress him in an all white unitard and call him a random Greek name because American names are frowned upon in the church.

What do you do after a Greek christening? You Greek dance for 5 hours.

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I started writing a blog at 12:30 last night. I erased it. It was way too soon and I was far too irrational to be posting anything to the internet. I may or may not wait a week and rewrite.

I almost just started ranting………….I’ll wait.

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Last week was my birthday. I am now 28 and quickly on my way to 30. My hair is hanging on by a thread. For my birthday, Jack got me the best gift! Mike’s Marathon Blog……The Book. Mike’s Marathon Blog, Boston Edition, is now in print. She actually made 2 books. One is Mike’s Marathon Blog with all the posts and pictures I have uploaded and the other is a digital photo album of ALL the pictures from October to April. Both, I’m sure, will be pretty comical when we find them in 20 years. I’ll probably be like 265, still rocking my size medium marathon jacket.

I mentioned in my last post that I had a bunch of pictures that I wanted to upload. I believe many of these pics were on my mom’s camera. I think my mom just learned last week how to transfer the pics from her camera to the computer, which is the reason for the 2 month delay. Better late than never, I suppose.

The pictures below were taken at my parent’s house the day before the marathon. My parents had a party for me and many of my friends and family stopped by to wish me luck.

Godfather, Godson & Godmother

My grandparents

These next pics are of me minutes after I finished the race. Although, I really don’t think I need to explain that these pics were taken right after the race. I’m sure you can tell from the exhausted, almost lifeless expressions on my face.

Dad & Sister

The last one is my favorite. Talk about a picture speaking a thousand words.

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Since the first half of my Memorial Day weekend was ruined from the half marathon, I was determined to relax and enjoy my day off on Monday.

You would think a nice 80 degree day on a party boat on a lake with some friends and a few drinks would be relaxing? It was, for awhile. Maybe just a different choice of beverage container next time.

What happens when you mix a drunk person, a Corona bottle and a tooth?

A trip to the dentist.

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I know I have been slacking on the blog posts. I have 2 reasons. 1 – it’s summer and I’m pretty much booked solid until Labor Day and 2 – our laptop broke, so I have to actually sit down at our desktop to go on the computer. I feel like both reasons are legitimate.

I have a few posts that I’m behind on and I will do them this week/weekend. These posts include my summer exercise schedule, my birthday, Memorial Day weekend and (this goes way back) the day before the Boston Marathon. I really just want to post a few pictures from the events listed above, but that takes time and I don’t seem to have much of it lately. I guess that is a good thing.

I’ll start with this past weekend. Well, half of Memorial Day weekend. Yesterday needs a whole post itself and you will see why. To any new runners out there, here’s Rule #1 – never ever sign up for a race without checking the date beforehand. Don’t just check your calendar or assume you aren’t doing anything. For instance, you could check your calendar, see that May 30th is free and think, ‘sure I’ll run a half marathon that day.’ But what you didn’t notice is that May 30th is the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend and that you probably will have plans when May rolls around! Yes, I signed up to run a half marathon way back in March and didn’t realize that it was Memorial Day weekend.

The wost part of the race is that you have to pick up your number on Saturday. So not only am I spending half a day on Sunday in Boston, but I’m spending half of Saturday as well. Luckily 2 of our friends live in Southie and let us crash at their place. One of them was running the race with us, so she needed others to sulk with, as she also did not follow Running Rule #1. We had a nice little dinner on their roof deck, followed by giant brownie sundaes. Wait, that’s not what you eat before you run 13.1 miles?

As unfocused as I was for the race, I unfortunately set a goal for myself and I really wanted to follow through with it. I never set goals in any of my races. I’m a beginner runner and I really just want to enjoy the races and finish. This was my first race that I actually set a goal for myself. My goal: to break 2 hours. I have never run a half in under 2:15. I ran this same race last year in 2:22. I was sick, but still, that was my official time. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to shave off 22 minutes in 13 miles, but I figured I’d give it a shot.

I felt good on Sunday morning and I knew if I was gonna break 2, this would be the day. The course is flat as can be. It starts at the Seaport World Trade Center, goes through Government Center, up Memorial Drive to Harvard, back down Memorial Drive, around Boston Common and finishes back at the WTC. The first few miles flew by. I checked my watch at every mile and was always right on pace. Around mile 7, I was a few minutes behind. At that point, I thought for sure the last 1/10 of a mile would put me over 2 hours. The game face kicked in as soon as I got back in the city. I did not want to run 13 miles for nothing. I was coming out of this race with a personal record, no matter what!

Once I reached the 12-mile marker, I knew I did it. Not that I bagged the last mile, but I finally ran with some ease. I finished at 1:56:24, an 8:53 pace. It’s the happiest I’ve ever been at a finish line. I was pretty proud of myself.

And mine wasn’t the only PR broken that day! Jacky beat her ’09 time by 10 minutes and my sister finished her very first half marathon! We are like a family of runners! Maybe we should go on tour? Nike…..a little sponsorship perhaps?

Jack, Miriam and I did not just coincidentally wear the same exact yellow shirts that day. Eastern Standard sponsored a group of us last year and we raised money for a charity called Haley’s Heroes, which Jacky is on the board of directors. We decided to wear the shirts for this year’s race as well.

Congrats Katie and Jacky!

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