Hills

Today Nate, Bromka and I ran a hill workout. We decided to do it after work, becuase running hard efforts before 8am often doesn't work very well. We got out the door at about 7 after Nate got back from work. My legs felt suprisingly good. I think I'm just used to my legs feeling tired or asleep... which makes sense considering I do most of my runs before 7am.

Anyway, we headed out Beacon Street to "Summit Ave", which is a very aptly named street. This hill is long, steep, and straight ahead. Perfect for hill workouts. I had google-map-pedometered it before we went, and we thought it would be about 600-700m. We did 5 reps up it, and jogged down for recovery. I did pretty well, considering I beat Nate up each time... and he's in pretty good shape. I ran right around 2:20 for each interval. The last 2 were really tough, as I was pretty much anaerobic for the last minute or so. I think the workout was good... got us used to running uphill, and helped us with our VO2 Max and lactic threshold. Bromka and I will head over here to run this hill at least once more before Boston.

Here's a map of the course. You can just take my word for it that it's 600m straight uphill.
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=46307

After, we cooled down to Mass Ave, and stopped at the Anna's at MIT. Bromka and I ran home with our burritos clutched like mini-footballs. Awesome.

We totalled about 11 or 11.5 on the day.

And, here are some pictures from the half-marathon. The first is Nate (in blue) and I about 3 miles in , and the second is probably somewhere between 9 and 10....

Music

Nate, Bromka and I ran to Tufts and back this morning. it was a good run, as my legs felt fresh for the first time in a while. I think I'm finally starting to recover from the half marathon. I am going to run a hill workout at somepoint this week, either tomorrow on on Saturday.

I really like music, so I thought I'd start posting some music reviews of albums, songs, and artists I like.

So, to start, I'd like to recommend the album "Funeral" by the Arcade Fire. Rather than writing it out myself, please see the Wikipedia's posting about the band, it's background, etc.(Also, as a side note, www.wikipedia.org is great website for information.) Funeral is a good album becuase the music feels very emotionally charged. A lot of the songs are about childhood, and family members passing away.... but the whole thing doesn't come off as sad. I would describe The Arcade Fire as a rock band, but I think that would be inadequate. I really haven't heard anything quite like them before. They have a great mix of edgy guitars and rock beats and softer violin and piano sections. I also really enjoy the way they layer the lead (male) singer's voice under a much higher female voice. Think the Dandy Warhols. Highlights from the album include the GREAT opening track, Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels), the powerful Neighborhood #3 (Power Out), and Rebellion (Lies) and In The Backseat. Anyway, check out this great new band, I think you could really enjoy them.

Brief

Nate and I ran 8 miles this morning. It was cold but bearable. My legs are still beat up, but have improved considerably since yesterday. Oh yeah, last week I totalled 66.5 miles, which is decent.

And for some more shameless self promotion, I refer you to Curranstat, where Sean Curran has introduced a new interview section. Nolan Tully, of Saratoga Spring High School '01, University of Pennsylvania '05, and Villanova '08 fame, and I were luky enough to have interviews from high school chosen as the first interviews in the series.

Enjoy: http://people.colgate.edu/scurran/highschoolinterview.htm

(Also, my dad took the pictures that were featured on the now defunct www.sub-20.com, which is pretty cool.)

To Do List Revolution

Hey all.... This morning, Hog and I did a short run around Boston. It was by far the coldest morning run of the winter. My face hurt a lot coming back on the Mass Ave. bridge. My nose and chin were numb at the end of the bridge. Not fun. My legs were also really out of whack from the the race yesterday... it was good we went short.

In more exciting news, we have a HUGE To-List update/shake up. Recently, Peter Bromka has been blatantly diregarding the To-Do List. This is truly unacceptable. The To-Do list is made to make our lives better, as well as the life of the apartment. Bromka failed to achieve even 1 of his goals for two weeks in a row, and both weeks one of his goals was simply to "Recognize To-Do List". As a result of his actions, Bromka has been indefinitely suspended from all To-Do List activities.

To replace Bromka's absence, we thought a "Guest To-Do-er" might be a good idea. Each week, all are welcome to send in 4 goals for the following week. These goals can be pretty much anything you want. There is one stipulation though. At least one of the goals must involve 35 Brookline St. Apt. #5 in some way, shape, or form. Be creative. Think long and hard about what your goals are, what you are truly striving to achieve. Goals must be received by Sunday at midnight to be included in the next week's To Do List. A winner will be picked each week and be part of the next week's To-Do List. To submit goals, please email me at brian.mcnamara05@gmail.com. Good luck!

This week, John McHarrie, a fellow employee of mine (and member of the Foley "Team") at Foley Hoag LLP has been given the honor of the first Guest To-Doer pictured at right with fellow "Team" member and Foley Hoag star Anne McGuire). So, without any further ado, I give you last week's and this week's To-Do List.






Last Week:
This Week:

Tired and Sore

So today was the Hyannis Half Marathon (and 10k/marathon). The day got off to a fairly poor start when a bunch of MIT kids decided to have a party last night in our apartment building. The party itself was no problem, however, the frequent drunken cigarette breaks that the kids took on the street about 8 feet from my window made it hard to sleep. I finally fell asleep at 2:30, and woke up at 6:30 the next morning. I'll let you do the math on hour many hours of sleep that is.

Anyway, Hog's dad came and picked us this morning and we made our way down to Hyannis. It was wicked cold and windy out. I debated whether to wear shorts, and decided to wear tights. I think I could have gotten away wearing shorts, but I definitely didn't overheat during the race (it was about 25 and windy).

Hog and I settled behind the leaders, and went through the mile in 5:32. I was really relaxed aerobically, but my shins were starting to get tight, which I think was a result of wearing my Nike Streak XC flats. These shoes are great for shorter races, but are a little too minimal for longer races. Thankfully my shins loosened up as the race went on and I felt ok after about 5 miles. At about 4 miles, Nate and I caught up to the leaders and settled in with this. Nate made a move shortly thereafter, and the lead pack broke up. Nate extended his lead, and I started to lead the chase pack. We continued to run about 5:30s until about 10 miles when I decided to try to pull away from the guy who was on my tail. I split 5:14 and 5:18 for the next 2 miles, and was comfortably (relatively speaking) in second place. I was hurting pretty badly during the 12/13 miles, as they were slightly uphill and the wind was in my face. I finished up in second place in 1:12:34. (I'd like to just say that the last 2 miles of the race SUCKED. I really didn't want to keep running as hard as I was...). As a result of my effort, I was rewarded with a really tired body and really sore shins/calves. The race gave me a hint of what I'll feel like after the marathon..... not too pleasant

I was really happy with the race for several reasons. The time was very good, especially considering the conditions. It was cold enough to have to wear tights, longsleeves, gloves and a hat. It was also pretty windy out, which can really sap your energy. I was psyched to place second in a race with 1,200 people in it. Running 1:12 for a half-marathon also lets me know that I'm in good long-distance shape. This bodes well for April 17th.

I think that's it for now.... Hope Grey's is good tonight.