* My marathon training is going well. If I keep it up, I think a 8:00-8:15 pace will be doable. A lot will depend on temperature and health the day of the race. Last week, I ran 14 miles with an average of 8:34 and felt pretty good. My long run this week will be tomorrow afternoon- wish me luck. The plan calls for 16 miles.
Category: Training for Boston!
Thoughts during a no music, 13.1 mile run
* I like starting the run at a place with a bathroom. That is very nice!
* Yay, mile 1 went fast! This is a great day!
* I mean, not that fast. I definitely need to run more, distance and frequency.
* Cars make me so nervous, pick-up trucks more so.
* This road is flat and long.
* Ooooo, a trail. This will make things more interesting.
* I love the songs I heard while driving here. They are horrible amazing ear worms and they definitely put me in a good mood. It was like I was supposed to run today!
* I like the rolling hills on this trail.
* (Thinking back on a conversation with a friend last night) Hmm, I understand that the term “snowflake” can definitely be used dismissively by people who feel that white women have nothing to complain about but it’s not the worst word. Maybe we could emphasize that each is unique and together, we can be a powerful force. This is cheesy but I like i-
*Huuuch-OOOOFFFF! owowowowowowowowowow! ouch ouch ouch! (I have just tripped over a tree root and have hit the ground hard). Ok, pause watch. Ouch. Shit. That really hurt. Casualties: left knee and right chest. (I will discover a crazy amount of road rash-y bruises later in the evening. Sheesh. At least none of my clothes tore.)
* Is there Uber in a forest?
* Ok, let’s go. Gentle jog. 🙁
* I think I hate my Hokas.
* Shopping list: new Asics, new pillow, immersion blender, maybe new skincare product.
* Buy into the Rodan + Field hype or not?
* In The Underground Railroad, it was too bad the mother wasn’t given more credit and everyone just assumed she was a selfish, child-abandoning person.
* *Mindless running for a few miles*
* Water fountain! Yes!
* Well, I meant to run 11 but it looks like this will be a half marathon. That is cool. I am starting to feel sore though.
* AUGH! That siren startled me so much. Maybe I am too tightly wound?
* Hello car! I am so happy to see you!
Ha, ha. Did you think there would be anything awesome!? Nope! It is nice to have some silence and just run at a nice steady pace. The fall was not my friend and the run was just ok, but there is a very real reason why: I have not been running enough. But I will get it together! I will gamba my very best for Boston!
Running Notes!
Guess what? I made it into the Boston Marathon! Yes, remember this race? Well, the Boston Qualifying (BQ) time for my age group is 3:40 but in the last few years (2012, 2014-2016), a person had to run faster than the qualifying time to actually be accepted. This apparently causes a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth on internet forums.
This year, the time to beat was 2:09 faster than the qualifying time. Since I ran 2:50 under the qualifying time, I was in! Hooray! I’m really excited to run with my favorite training partner again and it should be a great weekend in April. There’s a lot of training between now and then, though!
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| Stolen from the Internet! Maybe I should get on Pintrest. “Pinned” sounds better! |
I’ll start a 16 week plan right after Christmas. My plan for the Fall is to do more strength and interval training for speed before I head into a Winter of increasing distances. I’m going to use my 21 Day Fix Extreme DVDs and throw some running into the mix, 2-3 times a week.
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| Bright blue marshmallow clouds! |
I’m also nervous because for the first time since high school, I switched shoe brands! I want to try the Hoka One One Clifton 3s, which are really padded but apparently, are still able to move in a streamlined-feeling way. Here’s hoping! I will let you know. They compared favorably to my trusty Asics and since I’m not getting any younger, I figured impact-reducing shoes could only help. Unless I get shin splints. And then I would be very sad.