Stroller pushin in Texas

PT.  Lots of strengthening work.

5 miles in the afternoon.  Felt like I had sandbags around my ankles.  This is not a good marathon sign.  I figured it had to do with the fact that I was running with my kneed taped from PT and the work I had done on my legs the previous day at PT.

Went back to PT.

Massage. 

My legs feel a lot better and the knee pain is gone.  I will continue to keep working my legs on the foam roller. 

15 minutes on the elliptical

1 mile on the TM

Hip-Hop class

Rode my bike up to the North Pole!  Not really, just to my apartment.

Last day of PT before the race.  Knees feel good, but not solid.

Interested to find out what Saturday has in store for me.

3 Goals.

1. Enjoy myself

2.  Finish

3.  Don't worry about time and just run. 

:) :) :)

Leaving for SG tomorrow morning! 

Lots of Carbs + Taper = Chubby Bec

Looking forward to burning roughly 3,000 calories this Saturday.

I did much better than I expected.

My goal was to have a good time.  Well, I did... :)  Pr'd today by one minute and six seconds.  This race was an experiment of cross training from the past three or so months. The highest milage week I had training for this race was a 29 mile week.  That week is including my 22 mile long run.  

Race details:

Slept in Pine Valley and was driven to the start line around 5:30.  It was great staying so close to the start and not having to ride up on a bus.  Start line was warm.  Hung out with RAD a bit and fed off of her energy.

Started out really slow, passed the start line four minutes after the gun.  I went completely by how I felt with no goal in mind.  I passed the 3:40 pace group and they were too slow.  I approached the 3:30 group at around Veyo and again, too slow.  I laughed as I thought I might be able to PR.  

Veyo was Veyo.  Uphill and longer than I remember.  All was well.  I felt prepared for the uphill on this course.  The heat was warm but it never really got to me.  Not ideal running weather.  I was taking electrolyte supplements every 45 minutes and I wonder if that is how I stayed away from the dreaded "wall."

I hit the half at 1:40.  By mile 14 I started kicking into gear.  I can't tell you splits because I don't know them.  The speed I was at felt comfortable and the scenery was beautiful. That is one of my favorite places on the route.  

I hated the fact that there was absolutely no GU given out during this race.  I was expecting GU and it never came.  I was frustrated mentally about the GU.  By mile 20 another runner gave me one of his.  I now know that I am able to run a race without GU.   

By mile 20 I punched into another gear and use the downhill to my advantage.  I did a negative split on the course today and I PR'd my time by 14 minutes for this course.  As far as races in the future I need to re-evaluate some of my goals and see how I can get closer to the 3 hour mark.  Considering what I have gone through this running year, I think I did extremely well.  

Congrats to all of the runners today!  Fantastic times and a lot of personal bests!