Me and The Boys

Unlucky Week 13

This week's post was supposed to be all about my 5th and final 20-miler, and how relieved I was to have it done, and how much I was looking forward to tapering.  

Instead, I'm looking at a week ahead that included a chiropractor appointment yesterday, which was followed by a PT appointment today, chiropractor again Wednesday, and PT again Thursday, thanks to what both practitioners believe is a messed up (my term, not theirs) SI joint. 

Last week went well until Friday. Tuesday was an easy-paced 8-mile run. I opted to skip speedwork due to having just raced on Saturday. I've been backing off of strength training in these last few weeks, so the only other cross-training on my schedule last week was Wednesday yoga, which felt great. 

Thursday was a 9-mile run with 7 of those miles at goal marathon pace. Due to the Easter holiday, I planned to do my long run on Friday rather than the weekend, which meant a tempo run on Thursday would not have been a wise choice. But I thought a few marathon pace miles wouldn't be too much of a challenge the day before a long run, and that pace really felt great, and it was a good run. 

My lower back felt a little tight after that run, but nothing even remotely out of the ordinary. Lower back tightness is something I deal with every few weeks when I'm training for a big race, and this felt no different than anything I've experienced in the past. So I stretched and spent some time foam rolling, and by the time I went to bed Thursday night it felt much better, and when I woke up Friday morning I felt completely fine, and I didn't even give it a second thought. 

I can't say I was looking forward to running 20 miles, but I was looking forward to how great it would feel to have it done, and to know that the last of the really hard work was behind me. 

And since I had planned to run the whole thing at an easy pace, I didn't feel nervous about the run, the way I have with some of the others that included faster-paced segments. Until somewhere between miles 8 and 9, all was well. My easy pace was feeling easy, and the rain that had been forecast was holding off, and it was a cloudy and cool, but otherwise nice day. 

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, my back started hurting. At first I thought maybe it was just a little stiff, and it would work itself out, so I slowed down a bit but kept going. And for a few minutes, it did seem like it was loosening up a little and getting better. 

And then it wasn't. Then it started getting decidedly worse. I made it through about another mile, the whole time debating with myself as to whether or not I could continue, but finally I knew that I couldn't, so I stopped by the beach and called Scott so he could come and pick me up.

As I stood there shivering (shorts and a tee shirt had felt great while running, but once I stopped, I was freezing!), I went from tears to anger to depression, all in the course of about 15 minutes. When I got home, it became apparent that I was really in trouble. Just walking around was excruciatingly painful. I was so uncomfortable, it was hard to even process what this might mean.

Saturday was spent in CT with family, which was a good distraction - and although I was still in a lot of pain, it had improved to the point where I was able to move around a little bit better. Sunday brought a little more improvement, and I was now walking without a limp, but still in quite a bit of pain.  

An adjustment at the chiropractor yesterday didn't bring any kind of immediate relief, but I'm hopeful that it helped start moving things in the right direction. And I did feel a more significant sense of improvement after PT today. 

My chiropractor assures me that I'll be back on track in no time, and will be ready to run Boston in 3 weeks. I'm trying very hard to share his optimism, but am also remaining cautious, only because I feel like it's safer to prepare myself for the possibility that I won't. It's hard for me to believe that I could go from the pain I was in a couple days ago to being able to run 26.2 miles. 

But at the same time as I want to keep that possibility in the back of my mind, I'm also working on staying positive and moving forward in whatever way I can. Expect the worst, hope for the best. It just seems so unreal to me that I could go so quickly from feeling unbelievably healthy and strong and ready to conquer the world to feeling like a complete invalid. And honestly, when I think about having to give up on everything that I've spent the past 3 1/2 months working so unbelievably hard for, I get so overwhelmed and sad, I can't quite let my mind go there. Not yet. 

As I've said on my Facebook posts, I'm not going down without a fight. Not only was this a marathon for which I had a big goal - one that, in recent weeks, has seemed to be very much within reach - but it's Boston. I was ready to go back, and I wanted to go back, and I wanted to have another amazing Boston experience, and I felt so strongly that I was going to do just that. Now, suddenly, it all seems to be in jeopardy, and I can't even really wrap my head around that idea. 

So for now, I'm going to just get through one day at a time, and one appointment at a time, and hope that my Boston 2016 story ends the way I want it to. And I'm also going to remain grateful for all the amazing messages of encouragement and support that everyone has sent my way, and for an amazing husband who instantly stepped in to pick up the slack at home and do all the heavy lifting (both literally and figuratively) that I usually handle. 

3 weeks to go. Fingers crossed and hoping for the best. 

Week 12 - Savin Rock Half - #Bostonready

When I was putting together my training plan I knew I wanted to run a March half marathon as a tuneup for Boston, and lots of people around here use New Bedford for just that purpose, but I've run it once before and wasn't crazy about it, so I looked around for other options and found what looked like a good one - the Savin Rock Half Marathon in West Haven, CT, just about 10 minutes from where I grew up in Milford. 

I talked to a few people who had run it before, and they told me it was a hilly race, which I figured was good Boston prep, so I signed up and added it to my training schedule. 

Fast forward to two days before race day, when I posted on the race's Facebook page asking to see a course elevation chart. 

Um, yeah, kinda hilly. 

I was ready for it, though, and very glad that I had kept my other runs easy last week - an 8-miler on Tuesday, and another 8 on Thursday, both at an easy pace, with just a little bit of a fast finish on the Thursday one. 

Thursday was also the day that Boston bib numbers were sent out, which is always exciting! 

Friday was a rest day, and an early-to-bed night, since my alarm would be going off around 4:30am on Saturday, so I could be leaving my house at 5am to get to the race start no later than 7am. 

I got there shortly after 7, had no problems parking, and packet pickup was super quick and easy. I knew that a couple of my friends from high school were going to be running, and as luck would have it, they parked just a few cars away from me, so finding them was no problem. I've stayed in touch with them both on FB, but honestly can't even remember the last time I had seen either of them in person, so it was nice to reconnect in real life. 

They gave me a few more tips on the course, I waited in line for the bathrooms, and the hour passed very quickly. I had thought it was going to be a really cold morning, but it turned out to be not as bad as I had expected, so I swapped out my winter hat for a baseball cap, and didn't bother with a throwaway sweatshirt at the start. It was a little chilly standing there, but not unbearable.

Temps were probably in the low 30s to start, and warmed up a tiny bit toward the finish, but overall, really great running weather, and I was very comfortable in capris and a lightweight long-sleeve shirt under my running club singlet. 

The start was on the boardwalk along the ocean, and the first 4 miles were pretty flat, as we turned away from the ocean and started winding our way through neighborhoods. Miles 1 - 3 all came in at exactly 7:31. I had planned to start a little slower than that, but it was so flat at this point, and I really felt great at that pace, and I knew the hills would slow my pace down soon enough, so I kept at it, and mile 4 dipped down to 7:26. 

Then the hills began - and that's reflected in my pace for the next 5 miles - 7:36, 7:30, 7:38, 7:39, 7:48.  the hill in mile 9 was the worst one - really long, and really steep. I felt like I was barely moving.

But even though I felt like I was dragging feet made of bricks through a river of molasses, I still passed a few people going up that hill, as I had on every single hill. I reminded myself that I have trained for hills, and even though they may slow me down, they're not going to make me stop. 

I didn't stop a single time during this race, knowing that I wanted to practice drinking and taking my Gu without stopping. I was mostly successful, although one of the cups of water I took was filled almost to the top, so I splashed a good portion of it on my face. But mostly, I did well with not walking at the water stops, and it was good to know that I'm capable of doing that. 

Having talked to my friends, and having looked at the elevation chart, I knew that the worst of the hills was done aroumd mile 10, and although there was one more small one in that mile, it was not enough to slow me down, and I was able to get my pace back down - way down, in fact - to 7:21. 

And at that point I knew I was on mostly flat terrain from here on out, and I needed to take advantage, so I did - mile 11 in 7:22. 

Mile 12 was along the water, which was nice, but as there often is along the water, there was a little bit of a headwind. Not enough to slow me down, but just enough to make the 7:18 for that mile feel a tad harder than I think it would otherwise have felt. 

It was a relief to make the turn to head back along the boardwalk and near the finish, and after one more little turn, I headed into the home stretch.

Most of mile 12 I had run solo, but suddenly someone came out of nowhere and I heard footsteps right on my heels. I didn't turn around, and I had no idea if it was a man or a woman, and at that point really wasn't even thinking about placing in my age group or anything - I was just determined not to let this person pass me, so I made one final push to the finish, running final .1 at 6:51 pace. (she came really, really, really close, but she did not pass me) 

Official finish time 1:39:52. Not even close to a PR, but that's not what I was expecting on such a tough course, and 1:39 is right around where I figured I'd be, so I was very happy with that time. 

What I'm happiest with, though, is that this was such a great way to prepare for the Boston course, and that I handled it exactly how I hope to handle Boston - steady pace for the early miles, work my way through the hills as best as I can, and still have the energy left to pick up the pace in the final miles. 

That's what I did in Boston 2013, and that's what I did running half the distance yesterday - the hills slowed me down a little, but they did not crush me. That ability to come back and get a negative split is what I've been training for, and this race gave me a lot of confidence that I'll be able to do just that on April 18. 

At the finish line, I was able to get this nice recap of my numbers from the race timers, and saw thatI had run the first half in 51 minutes and the second half in 48 minutes! Woohoo!  And also saw that i had won 3rd in my age group - a nice surprise!  

Another nice surprise was that my sister had come down to see me finish. I saw and heard someone cheering for me, but with her hat and scarf and sunglasses, I couldn't tell it was her until she came up to me afterwards. Always nice to have someone cheering for you, though :-) 

My age-group prize was put to good use Saturday night, and I love the shark logo - it's on the shirt, too! This group puts on a really nice race, and I'm tempted to do another one of them in the future. 

But now that this is done, I'm 100% focused on Boston, and even more anxious for race day to get here. I feel more ready than ever. 

Final numbers, Savin Rock Half Marathon - 

 

1:39:52, 7:30 pace

3rd of 53 age group

17 of 259 females

51 of 458 0verall

Four weeks to go!!! 

 

 

Week 11 - Counting Down the Days Til Taper

It's been over a year since I was at this point in marathon training, but now that I'm here, I remember it so well. I'm tired. I'm ready to be done with training and just run the race already. I'm ready for taper to begin. 

That's not to say that I'm not getting excited, because I am, but I'm also very much looking forward to starting to wind down this whole training thing. Sixteen weeks is a long time, and I'm happy to be getting really close to finishing it up. 

I think part of the reason I feel that way is also due to the fact that this was probably my biggest training week yet. A total of almost 51 miles, including a speed workout, a 7-mile tempo run, and a 20-miler with a total of 10 miles at goal pace. 

The good news, though, is that all went well!

The speedwork was a series of 5 x 800/400 repeats, with a 200 rest interval in between each, and then a 400 rest interval in between each set. I ran the 800s at 3:15, and the 400s at 1:34. A challenging workout, but I felt very accomplished walking off that track. 

Spring weather arrived in full force last week, and when I ran Thursday, it was actually a very warm 63 degrees. For the first few miles, it felt lovely. But when my 2-mile warmup was done and I started picking up the pace for my tempo miles, it wasn't so lovely anymore. 

I know I've been extremely lucky and have had a relatively mild winter for training, but most of my runs have been in temperatures in the 20s, 30s, and 40s, so jumping up to temps in the 60s was a bit of a shock to the system, and by the time I ran those final two tempo miles, I was dying, and I fought for every step. 

I still got my tempo pace, though, with an average of 7:14 for the 7 miles (even managed 7:06 for the final mile), so it was a tough one, but it was a success. Friday's easy-paced run was very welcome, though. 

Saturday Dante and I ran a 5K together, and I am so glad that he wanted to run it, because if I had run it by myself I would have had a hard time not racing it, and I knew racing a 5K would have been a bad idea the day before I had a tough 20-miler planned - especially this 5K in particular, which features a very big downhill at the start, which you have to run back up at the finish. 

With the downhill start, we went out way too fast, running the first mile in 9:13. Once we hit the flat part of the course, though, we slowed down and took a few walk breaks, too. I was following his lead, and letting him stop and walk when he needed to, but there were a few times where I encouraged him to start running again, because I sensed that he'd just mosey along for half a mile if I let him. 

It's a fine line between not pushing him so hard that he thinks running isn't fun, but also not letting him quit just because he's a little tired. This is the sixth 5K I've run with him, so I'm getting a good sense of when to push him and when to back off, and I think I struck just the right balance with this one. 

The second mile was pretty slow - that 9:13 caught up with him - and took us 11:25. As we passed the 2-mile mark and headed back toward the hill, I reminded him several times to not go too fast, because we needed to save our energy for that climb. And I'm glad I did, because we ended up running the 3rd mile faster than the second one, despite having to tackle the huge hill.

We stopped and walked twice, but ran way more of the hill than I thought he'd be able to. I was so proud of him. Mile 3 in 11:14. And he saved enough to run the final .1 at 8:35 pace. His final time was 33:05, for a 10:32 average pace - an incredible accomplishment on such a tough course, and also considering that he hasn't run a 5K in nearly a year!  So happy to have run another race together :-) 

Sunday's 20-miler was looming large, though. The plan was to run 5 easy, 5 at goal marathon pace, 5 easy, and 5 more at goal pace. I felt pretty sure I could do it, but I was still a little nervous. 

I had the weather in my favor, though - low 50s and dry, and not too windy. Couldn't ask for much better. I worked really hard to hold back for the first 5 miles - I wanted to be sure to save my energy for the goal pace miles, and also wanted to practice not going out too fast. Most of the first 5 miles came in around 8:30, so I think I was successful. 

I stopped at a convenience store for a bathroom break at mile 5, and the song "Call Me Maybe" was playing in the store, so I had that song stuck in my head for the next 15 miles. That was probably the most difficult part of the run. Seriously. That was a whole different kind of mental training. 

Picking up to marathon pace for the next 5 miles went pretty smoothly. I felt good at that pace, and actually had to slow myself down quite a few times. But overall I did well staying in the right pace range - just a little too fast the last couple of miles - 7:53, 7:49, 7:43, 7:42, 7:40. 

It was nice to drop back down to an easy pace for the next 5, but after having run faster the previous 5, I had a hard time slowing back down to 8:30s, and ended up running these miles around 8:10 pace. Not too fast, but probably a little faster than they should have been.

I saw a bunch of friends out running during this stretch, which is always nice. I've been fine with running my long runs solo, and I really believe it's a good thing for me to do, but seeing them out there and saying hi definitely lifted my spirits for a few miles.

At mile 14 I had to stop and refill my water, and I was starting to get tired, and not really looking forward to those last 5 miles at goal pace. But I knew I just had to get it done, and I tried to remember how smooth and comfortable the first 5 at goal pace had felt. 

Miles 16 and 17 were almost that smooth and comfortable - 7:47 and 7:46 - and I was surprised at how good I felt, even though this is the point at which I start to hit the hills heading back toward home. 

Mile 18 felt a little less smooth and not at all comfortable, thanks to the hills, and thanks to the fact that I ran it in 7:35 instead of 7:50. At that point, though, I just wanted to get it done, and I decided that a little faster than goal pace was ok, because it would get me home that much sooner. 

Miles 19 and 20 were kind of a blur. The hills in mile 19 are not big ones, but it's a series of rollers that feel like absolute mountains when you're at mile 19 of a 20-miler and running a 7:36 pace. 

And mile 20 features a short but very steep hill that I absolutely hate. It's not the biggest one on this route, but it's the steepest one, and I do much better with long, gradual inclines, so this short, steep one always kills me. I was determined to finish strong, though, and even with that hill, I completed mile 20 in 7:32. 

Downhill start, uphill finish - my Boston training route. 

 

Total time for the 20 miles was 2:41, for an overall 8:03 pace.  A tough effort, but a pretty well-executed effort, I think. And it felt great to know that I only have one more 20-miler left in this training cycle. 

I'm getting excited now that race day is getting closer, but I'm also tired, and really ready for taper to begin. 

 

As part of my race prep, I've been reviewing my splits from 2013, and re-read my race recap from that day, also. It's a tough one to read, but it reminds me of why Boston has such a huge place in my heart, and why I'm so honored to be going back again.

The journey to get there is sometimes discouraging, sometimes frustrating, and often exhausting - but it's so, so worth it. 

Week 10 - Now It's Starting To Seem Real

When you start closing in on six weeks to go, everything starts to seem a little more real. Because really, there's only 4 more weeks of work, and then the two weeks of taper, which seem to pass in the blink of an eye. Already time seems to be speeding up, and hitting the halfway point seems like it was eons ago, when it was only 2 weeks ago. 

I can't say it's all downhill from here, though, because I do still have a lot of work to cram into those 4 weeks. This week wasn't one of the tougher ones, though. I had one speed workout, but the rest of the week was easy runs, which is exactly what I needed. 

Normally I'd do speedwork on Tuesday, but since I did my long run on Saturday last week, and I woke up Monday morning feeling ready to take on the track, I figured I should go with it and take advantage of the fact that I felt motivated and just get it done. 

Despite the motivation to get the workout done, I was still totally nervous and anxious a bout how it was going to go. But it was a beautiful morning, so I headed to the track - first time I've done a track workout on the track in a long time. All my recent workouts have been on the road, on the bike path, or on the treadmill. In a way, it felt kind of nice to be back on the actual track. 

The plan was a very straightforward ladder - 1600, 1200, 1000, 800, 600, 400, 200. My first 1600 came in at 6:35, and felt surprisingly good. I knew that feeling wouldn't last. 

It was a very windy morning, but lucky for me, the wind was really only a factor when heading around the curve at one end of the track, so it was only in my face for a short section of each lap, so really didn't phase me at all. 

The rest of the intervals all came in at or below my goal time, so I was very happy with the way the workout was going. But when I finished the 200, I felt like I hadn't done enough. So I decided to see what I could pull off for one more 1600. Surprisingly, I had another 6:35 in me! And after that, I definitely felt like I had done enough, and had done it very well, and walked off the track completely content. 

The rest of my runs last week were at an easy pace, which seems to be averaging out to between 8:15 and 8:35 these days. Not much to write about those, except to say that I really enjoyed just going out and running. I even listened to music on one of my runs, which is something I haven't done in ages, but it was kind of a nice change, and just a good way to mix things up a little. 

The long run for Saturday was the shortest one I've had in a while - 14 miles. And as I finished up, I felt like I should add on a few more miles. But I reminded myself that the cutback weeks are just as important as the weeks where you work really hard. So 14 it was - followed by a super easy 5 miles on Sunday. 

Total of 45 miles for the week, and definitely a good week. 

And looking forward to the week ahead, I think tights and gloves and hats are going to be replaced with shorts and short sleeves, as temperatures are supposed to be in the 50s (maybe even 60s) for the foreseeable future. 

Being able to head out without bundling up in 2 or 3 layers is going to feel like a real treat. And even the wind will feel a little less awful than it does on those 30-degree days. 

All of the sudden, it's feeling like the past 10 weeks have flown by, and like I'm going to blink and I'll be standing at the starting line in Hopkinton. That's a good thing, though - being inside 6 weeks makes everything really start to come into focus, which helps with the mental game, and also helps you remember why you're doing this in the first place. 

I can't wait to test my patience and reign in my pace on the downhills in the early miles; to laugh in amazement at how loud the Wellesley scream tunnel is; to power through the hills of Newton; to breathe a sigh of relief when I crest Heartbreak Hill; to feel that rush of excitement as I start to head back into the city; to soak up the energy of the crowd for the entire 26.2 miles; and to make that final turn (likely with tears in my eyes) onto Boylston. 

I always tell people there's nothing quite like the Boston Marathon, and there really isn't. I'm so lucky I get to experience it again :-)