1 week till Boston!

I wish that I would have journaled more for this Boston training time, but it seems like this time around things haven't been quite ideal. So for my 16 weeks of running to get ready for it I'll mention some of the highlights or lowlights of it all.

BIRTHDAY
Let's go back to March 5 my birthday. The big one. 30 years old. I ran 20 miles and they actually went pretty well. I keep telling myself that turning 30 is acutally going to be a good thing. 30's not that different than 29, life is good, and I'm running Boston, a life goal.

HAWAII
To make turning 30 even more special we were headed to Maui a few days later. I was supposed to run 16 miles there but unfortunately we were there when the tsnami hit Japan and were evacuated from our hotel at 11pm due to the Tsnami warning sirens blarring through the islands. So we spent a night in a car along with hundreds of others waiting it out. Thankfully we were okay, but having a night with no sleep but a dent in my running for that week.

SICK BABIES
We got home and both my boys were sick, especially my 2 year old. He got croup really bad and that was really scarey. I had to stay up with him all night (making sure he was breathing) and taking him outside to get him cold air when he wasn't breathing well. The next morning (an 8 mile tempo run day)was spent at the doctors getting him steriod treatments and breathing nebulizers. I had a week of not great sleep.

SEVERE HEAD COLD
Just when I thought the sun was shining again I came down with a severe snotty head cold. I did my final 20 (about 2 weeks ago) very sick. If I would even tilt my head forward or look down I'd get a disgusting fountain of snot pouring out of my nose. Sorry for the graphic image, sick I know. :( The good news is that I actually ran that 20 still maintaing around a 9 min. mile which is pretty good for being sick.

ITS HERE!
Unfortunately I haven't had the most ideal training, but now I'm 1 week away from running The Boston Marathon and I'm super excited. I feel ready despite it all. This time around I'm not trying to qualify for Boston, I've made it and I want to enjoy the race, so the pressure is off. I've been tapering my runs these past few weeks and finished my last "distance" one today with 8 miles. 8 miles in the very wet, very snowy, very slushy spring day today. But it's good. I'm happy and so excited to be apart of an amazing race next Monday. So here's to hoping for good weather, good health and a great race. Boston here I come!

18 mile rebound run

Today I braved 18 miles in what started with very wet, snowy conditions. I was nervous since I have had 0 energy this week as I've slowly been recovering from the flu. But I decided to just go a little slower so I could get my miles in. Surprisingly (slow as I was) I was able to complete the run and feel pretty good about it. Luckily the last 5 miles of my run the sun came out and I enjoyed seeing the beautiful snow covered mountains and breathe in the fresh (inversion free) air.
Onto Boston news: They've made changes for the race. This is a brief summary of the email I received from the BAA.
The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) announced last week a change in its registration process for the Boston Marathon, allowing the fastest qualifiers to enter the earliest and with a rolling admission system while also offering all eligible runners an increased registration period.
In addition, the qualifying times will be tightened by five minutes in all age groups in both genders for the 2013 race.
I'm just glad I got in for this year!

Stomach flu strikes hard

Theres nothing like catching a very violent stomach flu that seems to go on forever...like 3 days which is technically forever when your looking down a toilet. Anyway I think I'm finally done with the symptoms and now have 0 energy. How I'm going to run 18 miles this weekend I don't know. So training is not going that well. :(

Plantar Fascias

Plantar Fascias...the diagnosis is in. No wonder my heel has been on fire anytime I stand, walk or put weight on it. Sunday our Super Bowl host also is a physical therapist. He helped me last year when I ran Salt Lake, and had problems with my knee. I had an eventful Sunday with food, football (okay so I don't think I really watched any football) and some therapy and taping. He's great and I couldn't believe how much taping my foot helped. I felt instant relief. He's also getting me a splint thing that I will put on my foot to sleep in at night. He said if I ice, stretch, (I hate doing both of those)wear the splint at night and get taped I should heal in about 4 weeks. So theres some hope in sight. I have a 16 mile run on Saturday and with the ibuprofen I'm hoping to do just fine. :)

Weather...

This was posted on the Boston Marathons website of the finish line...picture taken today. They said they have gotten over 60 inches of snow this year. Looks cold, but running in the cold is the story of my life lately!

Seeing this gave me a few tummy flips of excitement for the marathon. Even though today my 12 mile run was grueling. The inversion was thick and at times I could only see a couple feet ahead of me. It was so cold that my eyelashes and eyebrows were covered in freezing snow. I forgot to pick up my usual carb boom energy gels so I took a powerbar gel (hated it) and really missed the pick up that carb booms offer me. By mile 9 my muscles felt hard and stiff and those final hills about killed me. I was feeling down after my run. Actually I just wanted to wrap up in a blanket and stay there for the rest of the day. Of course I didn't but I wanted too. :) Looking forward to warmer runs.

Pick a side

Pet Peave #1 in running...Stay on your side!
On Saturday I was at the end of a 10 mile run, coming straight up hill (a mile uphill to be exact) and just as I was finally approaching the top there was a young girl running down hill towards me. First of all I run against traffic (after many closecalls with nonwatching or nonstopping cars) I've learned to run against traffic to see whats coming. So there was snow to my left, cars to my right and a girl coming straight for me. Usually in this case, you each pick your side and pass eachother. But this girl wasn't going to pick any side. So as I keep waiting and propelling myself forward (I'm struggling uphill) at the last second she decides to move at the same time as me. So we proceed to play lets move the same exact way untill we almost run into eachother. Finally I'm forced to stop dead and say to her in my most annoyed tone (annoyed that I'm having to waste my needed oxygen at this point on talking) "What way are you going"? So moral of the story...pick a side, stay there and better yet, please stay away from me when I'm going uphill.

Other than that and the awful yucky weather we've been having, trainings been going pretty well. I'm afraid that I'm developing a heel spur on my left heel, but after a couple of miles the pain tends to fade. And as long as I don't put much weight on it throughout the day, I'm fine. We'll see how long this lasts. I'm hoping for no injuries this time around. Fingers crossed...again.

First 2 weeks of Boston training...check

I just finished another frigid training run. 9 miles today. How do I love the Inversion in Utah oh let me not count the ways! Last Saturday I had an 8mile run in 5 degree weather and today I think it was in the teens, but so foggy I could barely see in parts. I can't wait for the sun! Not only is it safer, warmer, but it does wonders for my spirit. So I'm hoping it's not too far away. I am now 14 weeks away from running Boston! So far my first 2 weeks of training have gone pretty well. It's always a little hard to get back into the routine of things (not to mention that we've been having severe sleeping problems with our 2 year old). But I think he's finally out of this phase (fingers crossed) and I'm hoping to get more rest and not feel so tired!