Road to Boston

I'm doing Hal Higdon's Advanced I marathon training so on tap for today was 4x800.  I gave Yasso 800's a shot - - running 800 in 3:50 with a slow 400 in between each 800.  Unfortunately, I was stuck doing these on my dreadmill.  Not sure how that impacts the workout, but it is pouring here, AND it is hard to get on a track midday because school is still in session.  The next time these come around on my training schedule, I'm hopeful to do them on a track . . .I wonder if that will be harder or easier.

The good news was the the 800's felt like work, but not as hard as I expected.  My goal is to qualify for Boston sometime in the next couple of years, but of course I'd love it to be on my next marathon.  I'm currently training for the Wineglass Marathon in October!  Anyone else planning to run that one??

Today was my rest day for this week.  I'm always ambivalent about rest days.  I love them the day before the actual rest day.  I anticipate with great delight the idea of having the day off and being able to get more things done.  And then the rest day comes, and I feel antsy.

A lot has happened in the last 24 hours though.  I've decided to take the advice of the awesome, experienced runners here and just work on ramping up the mileage and hope that takes me where I want to go in the marathon.  I will confess to a slight fear that if I don't practice speed, how will I go fast?  But on the flip side, I think I'd be a bit of a moron to ignore these folks who have clearly found the key to running success in a way that I haven't even begun to touch.

So tomorrow, 6 miles.  And then Sunday's have been my long running days, so I'll do something longer, and then steady as she goes 6's  - - and then I'll see how that feels. 

Must admit that I felt great this morning.   It was raining - - not usually a plus for me - - and I decided to do a hilly 6 mile course that I haven't done in a while.  My average pace was 8:55 - - sad to say, but for me - - that's pretty fast :) for a regular 'ol run.  But I felt really good and refreshed after taking yesterday off.

So starting off the day wet and cheerful. 

 Course: Mendon Ponds 6 mi loop; counterclockwise