A Character Building Run

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"That's a character building run." Those are the words my Boston marathon training partner Michael used to sum up today's 76 degree, full-sun, 13-mile run. They're much more positive and uplifting than my summary statement upon finishing which was, roughly, "F*@%." 

Two weeks to Boston. Am I ready? I approach any race with three goals - baby goal, do-able goal, and "the stars and planets must align but there's still a shot" goal. My goals for Boston are thus:

  • PLANETS ALIGNED: Beat my time in Chicago, so anything under a 3:44:02
  • DO-ABLE GOAL: Come in under 4 hours
  • BABY GOAL: Just finish
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My First Long Run On A Treadmill

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A new personal best: I ran 15 miles yesterday on the treadmill. I've never managed to go over 8 miles before, as extreme boredom usually kicks in around mile 6. But this was the maiden voyage of the new Sole F80 treadmill, which helped, as did the fact that it was 16 degrees--9 degrees with the wind chill factored in--outside and I wanted no part of that madness. (Even though the vast majority of my running friends made it outside for their runs yesterday. I hang out with some hard core people.) 

Blair unwittingly enabled me to meet my goal. Friday night I checked the forecast and decided to stay in and run the next day. "I'm scheduled for 15," I said. "That's over 2 hours on the treadmill. Do you think I can do it?"

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