[S]he Conquers Who Endures

I bought these new blue Pegasus for my marathon. But ending up buying a red pair that was just posted on Nike the other day. Kind of glad I did because these blue ones feel pretty stiff...and I am kinda a Pegasus expert. ;)

Also glad I stopped my run Sunday and hit the treadmill because of knee pain. I could tell my knee wasn't 100% at the beginning of the run. It was very tight but loosened up towards the end. I think I may have skated by an re-injury!

Running is getting tough for me. My mind is telling me some pretty crazy things that my legs seem to disagree with. Why do I feel like such a slow poke now when I just ran a 5k at 6:57min/mi average pace?! It makes it even tougher when now we have ice on the ground in Boston/Cambridge. I want to run my steady state runs and sprints outside but it's completely too dangerous. I started today's run outside and finished once again on the treadmill. I slipped on the ice and thankfully was able to grab a handrail before crashing to the ground. Now I'm getting terrified to run! Maybe the ice is at least forcing me to slow down. Ran 5.9 miles at 7:30 min/mi average pace outside. What? While did I feel like I was slow? I even slowed for the ice! Finished on the treadmill with 8x0.1 mile strides at maxed out treadmill (10 MPH/6:00 min/mi) with 1% incline. The strides were surprisingly easy. Every time I looked down I only had like 0.01 or 0.02 left to the end of the stride. Yet I still feel slow. I know this is taper madness but it's still perplexing me! Happy New Year. T minus 12 days and 7 runs left until marathon!

Bikram active recovery, and my birthday! Dangit, no running on my birthday!!! T minus 11 days until marathon!

Track workout. WU then 3x1 mile at 5k race pace with 0.5 mile recovery and CD. It's soooo cold out in Cambridge in the teens! And the roadways were icy so I was loving running on the indoor track, I felt so spoiled!! This is the toughest workout mentally in my schedule, and my last trackwork for the marathon. I just went with the fast girls and tried to hang, terrified it would be tough to keep up with them as usual. Well, it wasn't!! My splits were: 6:41.8, 6:42.5, 6:36.8!! All 3 repeats beat my previous PR of 6:48 that I hit this summer. They actually felt pretty relaxed. I could have pushed harder but I kept thinking it's better safe than sorry for Disney. This workout felt really, really good. :)

3.7 miles at recovery pace, 8:58 min/mi. A little faster recovery pace than what I have been targeting this round of training. I guess that means my legs are bouncing back finally. I honestly kept pulling down my pace every time I looked at my watch. Headed indoors to the treadmill to finish with 6x0.1 mile strides at 1% incline, 10 MPH/6:00 min/mi pace (the ice is still out and I don't want to chance slipping). It felt good to stretch my legs. T minus 9 days until marathon and only 5 runs left!!!

12 miles. Last double digit long run. Didn't go so hot. The back of my legs were in so much pain! I tried to run a comfortable pace, but couldn't find a pace that was. This was a similar pain that I had before Thanksgiving. I'm beginning to wonder if it's associated with wearing new shoes. They seem so much stiffer and harder than my broken in pairs. I'm thinking I will go with an older pair for the marathon that have around 125 miles. Definitely could not BQ today. 8:10 min/mi average pace.

6 easy miles on the treadmill at recovery pace. Switched back to my old shoes and my legs felt much better. Nixing the new shoes for the race and going with shoes that have 128 miles on them. I ran a 22 miler and 20 miler faster than BQ pace, so they gotta be the shoes to BQ in!! T minus 5 days until marathon!!! Hopefully my lost race pace tats will get unlost in the mail and find my mailbox pronto!!

Dress rehearsal! 7 miles with 2 miles at marathon pace. I've been running this week on the treadmill because I want to acclimate to warmer weather. Call me crazy, but I ran yesterday with a long sleeve shirt on the treadmill to make me sweat! Today was dress rehearsal. I have run half naked like 5 times in my life (sports bra and shorts), and plan on racing at Disney half naked (sorry, kiddos, but this is an adult sport!). It felt really good when I got hot. I haven't seen my body in a while of winter. I look cut! I look like a person capable of BQing!! :) 

Anyway, I'm not focusing (taper madness). My treadmill runs have been scaring me because they feel difficult! I'm running a 1% incline and recovery pace feels like I still gotta put some effort into it. I think I realized today that's because I'm a terrible treadmill runner. I ran 3 miles easy, 2 miles at marathon pace (7:53 min/mi), then 2 miles easy. The last 2 miles were faster pace than the first 3 easy miles but still felt too easy! I was watching tv then would bump into the handrail in front because I was running too fast. So, this was good. I am having a HARD time running recovery pace because it's too SLOW!! My body is not falling apart after all. :)

Last run in Cambridge before race. Next, (last!) 2 runs in FL. T minus 4 days until marathon! 

5 miles and recovery pace with 6x0.1 mile strides in FL...at 82F...95% humidity...in January!!! My first run after a flight is always crappy even though I wear recovery pants. Gotta flush the oxygen back into my legs. Not feeling ready to BQ on Sunday.

4 miles at recovery pace. Added in 3x0.1 mile strides to loosen up the legs and finished the last 0.3 miles at marathon pace just to see what it felt like. Still humid, but not hot and the legs felt much better!

I did it! I BQ-ed!!! It was tough. My legs felt dead pretty early in the race, like mile 10. It could have been because I slept maybe 2 h. Or because the humidity was so high even though the temps were in the 60s? It was a pretty weird race for me. I felt like I was running slow. I wasn't sure about what my pace was because my GPS watch was clocking miles before I got there (I think partly because the course was winding so I was probably truly running farther than a mile for a lot of the miles). Towards mile 20 I thought I felt pretty bad, but my splits according to my watch were still staying pretty consistent even though I thought I was slowing down a lot. Mile 22 I still felt bad but realized I didn't feel as bad as I normally feel this time in a marathon! And I have only 4.2 miles to go! I just focused on my form and trying to get one more mile with the pace I'd been going at. I got to a point in the race where I realized I needed to maintain a 9 min/mi pace and I'd BQ! That didn't mean I dropped my pace to 9 min/mi. By mile 25 I wanted to pick up the pace but my calves felt like they were on the verge of cramping and I was getting pretty dizzy so I just tried to maintain my pace. I started to pick it up a little when I heard someone yell "only a quarter mile to go!" I didn't let myself think I was going to BQ until I saw the finish line. I started cry smiling like a weirdo and picked up the pace a notch or two. Finished in 3:32:11 a crying mess so uncontrollable happy!!! Now I just hope I have enough of a cushion to get a bib to Boston! I'm not worried. I gave this race my all, but I did come out thinking with more training I can continue to improve!

My official race splits were:

5 miles, 8:06 min/mi

10 miles, 8:03 min/mi

13.1 miles, 8:02 min/mi

20 miles, 8:02 min/mi

26.2 miles, 8:06 min/mi 

This was and was not a tough race for me. The end was probably easier than the halfway point, and I felt like I actually "raced" the majority of the race. Increasing my mileage helped tremendously to make the later miles "less" painful. After 3 weeks of recovery I want to go with Pfitzinger's 12 week peak at 70 miles to train for Big Sur. I think it's a perfect time to bump up the miles because Big Sur is entirely for fun for me so I can afford to drop my training pace. That way I can hit a full 18 week schedule peak at 70 miles hopefully at faster paces! 

30 mins bike + 15 mins elliptical. Taking some time to recover after my awesome marathon PR. I have to admit, it's really hard not to run right now, my motivation is through the roof! My soreness is almost gone. It's helping to increase my protein, fruits and veggies, and get 9+ hours of sleep every night. I can't wait to hit the pavement, but I promised myself I'd wait until Saturday. Want to recover really well so I can hit this peak at 70 mile schedule to train for Big Sur!!

Oh, and bravo, Disney. Your marketing team is the most honest crew in the business. You dubbed Disney "the most happiest place on earth" and "where all your dreams come true" in a couple of tv commercials. These are both so true!!!! Haha. :) 

7 miles with my old pace group! 9:31 min/mi average pace. Yep, my legs are still sore. :)

7 miles at -5F feel like. Running with an old running friend. 8:41 min/mi average pace. Last mile was unintentionally 8:15 min. Want to stay slow to recover well!

I got the dreaded Boston flu!! It was so bad, I couldn't move! Feeling a lot better now, but I still don't have a lot of energy. Nice an easy slow run at 9:31 min/mi average pace.

7 easy miles on the treadmill. Recovery pace, 9:13 min/mi at 1% incline. Feeling strong post-flu and post-marathon!! And, I think I'm finally learning how to run on the treadmill! Haha. One more week of recovery paces, then starting my 12 week schedule to train for Big Sur! :)

5 miles on treadmill 1% incline at recovery pace, 9:13 min/mi. I can't wait to start my new schedule next week. Gonna keep it nice n slow this week to wrap up recovery. :)

3 miles at recovery pace on treadmill, 9:13 min/mi, 1% incline. Really jealous of Chicago right now, and a lot of my running friends didn't realize how warm it was today and either ran in winter clothes or indoors!!!

Weights to rebuild my musscalls... :) 

Easy run in DC with some tri guys I work with. It was a lot of fun, and even got to run in shorts! They spent the run trying to convince me to starting training for tris. I love to bike, but running has a special place in my heart. Then heading back we got lost, and ending up running some hills to get back to the hotel, just a small preview of what my new training schedule will be like. Average pace: 8:41 min/mi. (Meant to run closer to 9s, oppsies!)...

Crosstraining day. Went to the hotel "fitness center" and did some PT exercises and core work. Followed by 20 mins of elliptical. It feels good on the body getting back into a normal workout routine. :)