Freaking Out

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I've been visiting the blogs of runners who have run Boston. I thought I'd calm myself down, maybe discover some posts that talk about the "hills of Newton" being overhyped. 

Not so much. Instead, I've discovered the vast majority of the course is rolling hills and the advice of every runner I read was "Do your hill work." 

Just how many hills do you think I can run in the next 10 days?

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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The Last 20 Mile Training Run

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Sometimes when I'm running I compose blog posts in my head. I spent a couple of hours doing that yesterday. I was running for almost three hours as I completed the LAST (pause for trumpets blaring and crowd cheering) twenty-mile run of the training! Although my friend Michael and his daughter were running twenty as well, they were well over a mile ahead of me so I spent the three hours on my own.

Me being me, most of the material I'm mentally composing is sarcastic/funny. Jokes about the body falling apart, mental fatigue, the twenty bucks I offered the woman with the baby stroller to let me climb in with her toddler and push me up the hill, etc.

However, around mile 17, as I was jogging up yet another hill in Battleground Park, it occurred to me that even though I was aiming for funny, a lot of what I'd been thinking about that morning and what I'd been planning to write was, well... negative. So I asked myself, what's been good about this run? And the answers flowed in: 

  • It was perfect running weather. Sunny, 40's, and everything has started turning green
  • I got to pet a Great Dane
  • People were in great moods, smiling, nodding, and saying hello
  • As I jogged by a darling little girl and her dad he said, "Say hi to the runner," and she waved and whispered, "Hi."
  • I saw a poodle make a mad dash for freedom before her owner caught up to her and scooped her up, scolding her with kisses.
  • I felt like walking on several hills but pushed myself not to quit and I made it up and over without taking a break
  • I got to quickly see several friends out doing their runs as well
  • An orangish-red bird, very small, stayed with me for about a quarter mile, flitting from branch to branch just ahead of me
  • The sun on the lakes was beautiful

And finally, I ran yesterday's 20 miles at the same pace I ran the Chicago marathon and yesterday's run had a lot more hills than Chicago. I find this encouraging and hope it bodes well for my performance at Boston.

So sorry, no humor today. Just gratitude for a healthy body and a lifestyle that allows me to fit in running. I hope all of you reading found things to be grateful for in your weekend as well.

Cheers,

Dena

 

The First Four Miles

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Good news! In case this writing career doesn't pan out, I suspect I have a strong future in 1-900 phone sex lines as every day I get better and better at this heavy breathing thing.

Yes, today was a running day. 

In fact, today's run was one of the longest tempo runs of the FURMAN FIRST program: a one mile warm-up followed by 10 miles at marathon pace, or 8:23/mile for me. Here is what I learned from today's run:

  • Overdressing is a bad thing
  • I must remember to pack sunglasses for Boston
  • Starting out too fast will always come back to bite me in the end
  • I sound (and possibly look) like an asthmatic walrus the first four miles of any run
  • There is a lot of guano on the Greenway

I struggled to hold pace today. Which makes no sense as Barefoot Josh and I ran a faster pace than this for the same distance two weeks ago. But as several of my running friends point out, there's just no telling who's going to show up on any given day for a run. Some days are just better than others.

However, if I needed a reminder that so much of this running business is mental, I had it today. 

I pushed myself through the last two miles, taking several walk breaks, then hauling a** the last half mile to make sure I made pace. Once the official run was over, I took a deep breath, relaxed, and went into a slow and easy cool-down run for a mile. The difference was immense. No strain, no heavy breathing, just a nice easy pace. No worries...

I looked at my watch at the end of my cool-down mile and guess what? I ran it at race pace - an 8:23. But since I didn't HAVE to run that fast and wasn't worrying about pace, it all came easy. 

MENTAL. I just have to get my head in the game.