My journey as a marathoner...

A few days after my marathon debut, I talked to Coach G about the idea of moving somewhere to train for the summer for a few different reasons. I feel that it's becoming harder and harder to train during the summers here in Dorchester. In case you don't know, Dorchester is one of most dangerous parts of Boston, and possibly one of the most dangerous areas in all of New England. There have been several times where I've almost been attacked on runs, times when I've seen people carrying weapons and times when I just don't feel the same motivation to train here at all! With the help of the Cape Verdean Olympic Committee and some of my own savings from my part time job, I have decided to move a month to Boulder, Colorado for some peaceful training. Luckily, I work with some wonderful people who are allowing me some time off to train. I was just waiting for my graduation, which was last Saturday to finally get rolling. Tomorrow (June 1st) I will take off from Logan Airpor

Monday May 23 AM 6 miles, 42min PM 10 miles, 63min + drills Tuesday May 24 AM 7 miles, 46min PM 14 miles, 1:31min (last 3 at 5:18, 5:13, 5:11) Wednesday May 25 AM 7 miles, 46min PM 12 miles, 1:19min + drills Thursday May 26 AM 15 miles, 1:36min PM 5 miles, 39min + drills, strides Friday May 27 AM 6 miles, 40min PM 12 miles, 1:17min + drills, strides Saturday May 28 AM 6 miles, 40min PM 12 miles, 1:19min Sunday May 29 AM 23 miles, 2:36min PM off 135 miles

Monday May 16 AM off PM 12 miles, 1:22min + drills Tuesday May 17 AM 6 miles, 41min PM 12 miles, 1:14min 3 mile warm up, 21min 5 mile progression (5:09, 5:09, 5:05, 5:04, 4:59 - 25:30) 4 mile cool down, 28min Wednesday May 18 AM 7 miles, 49min PM 13 miles, 1:31min + drills, strides Thursday May 19 AM 10 miles, 68min PM 5 miles, 35min + drills Friday May 20 AM 7 miles, 48min PM 10 miles, 54min + drills w/ 7.5 mile tempo at Reach the Beach 4:58 pace Saturday May 21 AM 9 miles, 52min w/ 8 mile tempo at Reach the Beach 5:28 pace PM 7 miles, 50min Sunday May 22 off 98 miles, 1 day off

I'm slowly starting to get into the high mileage again, but I am in no rush to speed things up. Right now, I definitely am feeling the legs are not strong yet for high mileage and high intensity workouts. I don't have another race for about two months, so for now I am doing low key workouts to get me back into the weekly routine. This week, I did a decent workout Tuesday, which showed great progress from two weeks ago. However, by Thursday I had some slight pain on my right knee which was preventing me from having full range of motion. I opted to take the rest of the week easy and just get in some good mileage. The knee inflammation has gone and I feel good again, but legs are really tired still. I will remain patient until they're ready for the heavy duty work. Monday May 11 AM off PM 10 miles, 67min +drills Tuesday May 12 AM 6 miles, 40min PM 11 miles, 69min 2.5 mile warm up workout 5x mile w/400 rest: 4:51, 4:44, 4:43, 4:39, 4:39 2.5 mile cool down Wednesday May 13 A

Monday May 2 AM 5 miles, 35min PM 10 miles, 70min + drills Tuesday May 3 AM 6 miles, 42min PM 10 miles, 61min 3 mile warm up 5 mile progression run (5:21, 5:19, 5:08,4:59,4:49-25:37) 2 mile cool down Wednesday May 4 AM 6 miles, 42min PM 10 miles, 68min Late PM 5 miles, 37min Thursday May 5 AM 8 miles, 58min PM 5 miles, 37min, drills + strides Friday May 6 AM 3 miles, 21min, drills + strides PM 7 miles, 45min, PUMA Battle Royal "Last Man Standing" Race, 3rd! Video Coming soon! Saturday May 7 AM 6 miles, 42min PM 10 miles, 69min Sunday May 8 AM 1 hour yoga w/ Omgal PM 20 miles, 1:59:20 111 miles

Lots of stuff going on this week. I am now back in full swing of training, but first and foremost, please check out the newly created group " Forest Hills Runners ". My friend Owen started the group, along with help of many others, they have started organizing weekly fun runs to get local residents (particularly Roxbury, JP, Dorchester) more into running. As some of you may know, distance running is not as popular in the inner city as much the some of the greater Boston areas. These runs are for everyone from beginners to Olympic hopefuls. Stop by if you can and we will have coffee after the run and talk about how we can make changes in the running community of (inner) Boston. In addition, this week I attended my first EVER yoga session with " Omgal ", which now makes me officially a "yogi" - I think that's the term. Anyway, it's no secret that yoga can help remove physical and mental stress for athletes, but it is also important to note that it he