In summary: I achieved my goal, which was to qualify for the Boston Marathon. My official time was 3:11:05.

Now I’m off to Vancouver, BC, for three days to attend the 2010 NHLA conference.

The weather forecast calls for rain and wind, but I don’t care.

I’ll stick my neck out and announce my goal: To qualify for the Boston Marathon. For a man my age that means at least a 3:15 finish. It will be hard, but I am am ready and excited.

Feeling good one month before the Portland Marathon. This and next week are the two most taxing weeks on my training calendar leading up to the big race. I have an 18-miler scheduled this Sunday and a 20-miler next week. I already did a 20-mile run a while back and felt relatively OK. Since then, temperatures have dropped and the last two “long” runs should be even easier.

All-in-all, I’m pleased with my progress and looking forward to 10-10-10.

My goal is to qualify for the Boston Marathon. Do do that, I need to eke out a time of 3:15:59 or faster (that’s the time for the Male 35-39 age group). This is achievable, but I will have to run a little faster in training than I did for for Yakima, where my main motivator was getting to the starting line injury free and finish with a respectable time. Thus, I took a fairly conservative training approach and willed myself to run slow in training. With one marathon under my belt, I feel it’s time to up the ante.

The training conditions should be considerably more pleasant this time around. We typically don’t get a lot of rain in Portland from July through September, so I don’t expect many long runs on cold, windy and wet days. If anything, I’ll probably have to pay more attention to staying hydrated and properly fueled.

My only concern is a quirky left Achilles tendon that has bothered me off and on since just before Yakima. It has never interfered with my running but it’s always making its presence felt and I’m afraid that any serious speed or hill-work will make it flare up. I’m hoping that lots of stretching and icing, plus strength exercises, will keep it in check. Only time will tell.

I’m pumped about this. It feels great to train with a purpose again. On top of that, my buddy from Sweden (Ola P) has signed up and is planning to join us a week before race day!

Time for my first “long” run tomorrow. 8 miles.

Finally, a shout out to my occasional training buddy, Brian Strohl, who’s competing in the Coeur d’Alene Ironman tomorrow. I’m confident he’ll pace himself to a strong finish.

Three adults and two kids left Beaverton last Friday morning for a trip that took us east through the Columbia River Gorge and then north into Washington. Lots of interesting scenery along the way.

Yakima itself is a nice little town but what struck us most was the number of closed shops and empty buildings.

It was COLD when we left Yakima and even colder when we arrived in Ellensburg – 25 degrees F! I was starting to get seriously worried because I never train in shorts in cold weather like that. It turned out it wasn’t much of a problem. I kept my extra layers on until the last minute and warmed up quickly on the course.

Approximately 530 runners had signed up for the race and it was a mass start with no timing chip. I was somewhere in the middle and a bit surprised at how crowded it felt. There wasn’t enough room to break free without elbowing people so I decided to take it easy and use the first mile as a nice warm-up, figuring I could make up for it later (which never happened).

Holland’s goal (and mine) it to get you to the starting line injury free and properly rested. Check. I felt great.

My time goal was to break 3:20 by pacing myself carefully for the first 20 miles and then crank it up at mile 20 (figuring I would have some juice left by then). Under no circumstances did I want to run a positive split.

As my GPS beeped off the first mile, I slowed down to a walk for ten seconds and sipped some Powerade from my FuelBelt. I continued this practice every mile for the first half of the race. Two of my bottles were pre-mixed with GU gel, and I took in the equivalent of one gel pack every four miles.

Because of the slower pace and cool weather, my fluid intake was a bit on the high side and I was forced to use the restroom at mile 11. I didn’t want to waste the time but had no desire to be uncomfortable for another fifteen miles. It was well worth it and I my bladder said “thank you.”

My plan had been to minimize the time loss going up and turn on the afterburners on the way down. When the road leveled out at the top I realized it wouldn’t turn out that way. I’m not sure why, but my quads were completely cramped up and it felt like someone drove nails into them for every step I took. This was a surprise but I’ve developed a theory: Going up a long hill you work your hamstrings and calves very hard and my thighs were probably idle for too long after having run 20+ miles and got all stiff.

After a mile of funny-looking downhill running the quads started to warm up again. At mile 25 I splashed some cold water in my face and cranked it up for a strong finish. Crossing the goal line was a great feeling and a validation of my training plan. The clock read 3:21:45 and I was 100% OK with that.

This was a long, slow, distance (LSD) run.

For details, check out the Garmin Connect link: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/25891745

Put in a solid 8-miler on Thursday with my friend, Brian, including five hill repeats. My left Achilles tendon keeps nagging me but hasn’t flared up yet. I’m praying it will hold up for another month of stress.

On top of sore muscles and an achy Achilles tendon, I had to deal with 40 degree-weather and pouring rain during the entire run. It was a rather miserable affair and I’m glad it’s over. I was so cold at mile eight that I decided to pick up the pace to get home faster. I would normally stick with my long distance training pace but not today. Oddly, I felt much stronger during the last five miles than the first ten. That’s probably a good thing!

Feeling comfortably sore and tired now and should be able to sleep like a baby tonight.