Onward

Totally not related to running, but after a week of sad news and generally being depressed, I found out Sunday that Breaking Benjamin will be putting out new stuff soon.  Ben Burnley finally came through victorious and we can finally move on.  REJOICE!

...Ok, back to running stuff...
Since this is now a training LOG and not just a BLOG diary, I’ll update training stats as workouts are completed.  Now one post will have multiple updates.

Coach Terry and I had a good meeting and looks like we’ll start to amp things back up in mid-May/early June.  I may cry, I may go insane, but I’m looking forward to pretty hard core grind.  Tempos are going to be faster, long runs longer and faster.  Shorter races will be incorporated as hard tempos. 

With that, here is this week’s training.  I’m still in recovery mode, so things are going to be light!

Monday 4/22. 
AM:  5M run on treadmill.  6.8, 6.8, 7.0, 7.2, 7.7.  Just a little bit of kick towards the end to check out how my body's doing.  Legs feel like they have recovered.  My legs complained a bit that they thought I had promised them "no more running for two weeks!" at mile 23 marker in Boston.  Dear Legs:  I lie.  Remember that.
LT:  Did a little upper body strength training at lunch, followed by a bit of leg stretch to workout the kinks. Can't have flabby arms when running in a singlet!
PM:  Went to spin class. Quads were burning and my legs were complaining big time.  Eased off a bit so they can take a break.

Tuesday 4/23.
AM:  Slept in.  Went to Pilates at lunch instead of AM.
PM:  Faster Finish Week #6. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/302418764 First loop went pretty well with tempo being tempo.  At Lap #9 had bad stomach cramp and it went all down hill from there.  Still pretty good for post marathon speed work.  Just...need...to...keep this up (and improve a little) for another....ohhhhhhh 24 weeks.  Right shin started to complain a little so mentally it made me pull back. 

Wednesday 4/24.
Took another Pilates class at lunch.
PM:  5M Easy on Bridle with "Flanagan".  Avg pace of 8:53.  We tried really hard to follow Coach Terry's instructions.  The twins are back! http://connect.garmin.com/activity/302835748 Topics discussed were: Coach Terry's wedding, Rob Watson's cuteness, Zen Shiba dogs and future race plans. I had slight right shin pain later, but it went away over night.

Thursday 4/25.
I am definitely running on fumes.  Not breathing in furmes.
AM:  Raided Track Fiends (not really).  6X400m with a generous 400m recovery.  1:47, 1:50, 1:44, 1:44, 1:44, 1:43. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/302997788 Definitely rusty but that's OK for now.  (Not so much in 24 weeks).

That's it FOLKS.  We're off to Tulum for R&R. I have small 8M run while there, but plan to take it easy.  Get recharged in preperation for Brooklyn Half!!

Finish Line

I had finished my race not as fast as planned, but as strongly as I planned.  Being off tangent by a quarter of a mile and not having the speed that I used to made it difficult to keep my goal time.  However I am still here.  With a respectable BQ-10 time of 3:34:28.  I’m going to leave it that.

I am still reeling from the terror attack on Boston Marathon.  Who will do this?  Why would they do this?  No one has yet claimed the attack (at least not publically) so it’s hard to understand. 

At Boston Marathon you’ll see that most of the spectators are runners themselves.  They are team mates, friends, training buddies, family members of the runners.  To hear that these people lost legs and feet is very disturbing. 

When the bombs went off, I had finished running a while ago and had already been relaxing comfortably in the warmth of Equinox Dartmouth, waiting for my sister and some friends.  I didn’t hear or see the explosion.  My sister soon followed and started to discuss what we should do for lunch.  Then suddenly, my husband came rushing in looking all panicked.  He said, “There’s been a bomb, we gotta go!!”

I thought he was being overly dramatic and thought, “How could it be a bomb?  I’m sure it was some small manhole explosion somewhere.” And told him we’re going to go shower.  It was at the locker rooms that I heard from an eyewitness who was seated right at the bleachers who said “there was an explosion right on the course.  At the finish line.  I saw limbs flying everywhere.”  Then it hit me.  This was going to be bad. 

And indeed it is.  As the news unfolded and as I saw graphic images, it hit me how lucky we were.  That we should be thankful that we finished, unharmed, and was still able to enjoy our victory.  It was short but my sister and I got to share festive, joyous moment congratulating our accomplishments.  Many others could not.

My thoughts and prayers to those who were hurt and are no longer with us.

Forced Tapering.

I cannot believe it’s now less than 14 days to Boston.

I cannot believe this went by so fast.

Do I feel ready?  Not really.  I’m never “ready” for a marathon.  I always feel I should have done more:  Worked harder.  Complained less.  Pushed myself further.

It’s too late to do anything now, other than keep the weight off, eat right, sleep well and rest my muscles. 

I just have to trust my training and my coach. 

Don’t do anything extra, don’t “cheat” on the assigned miles.  But throw in a few marathon paced miles to get my legs acquainted with the turnover pace.

I’m so scared.

Next time I write this, it'll be AFTER the Boston Marathon......................