A First And A Last

Today I ran my first race of 2012 and my last as a 30-something runner.  I will be turning 40 three days before my next race.  Eek! That is so hard to think about, but seeing as I cannot stop time I need to just embrace it. 

I was excited to run this race again because last year it snowed and I was unable to experience the course to its fullest.  Today the sun was shining, however there was a few gusty wind areas especially near the beaches.  This course does tend to meander around and there are a lot of turns so it really does not lend itself to a fast course.  I would consider this a flat course with a few areas of gorgeous scenery but mainly quiet residential streets.  

Around mile 7 a huge hawk flew directly over head crossing the street in front of me.  I’ve never seen one so close.  What a beautiful all though startling sight!!

I knew going into today’s race that I would run it faster than if I was out a normal training run and noticed as I hit mile 10 my legs were feeling the effects.  I decided to slow it down as I was not out for a half marathon PR today.  This was after all a training run for Boston.  I should have been more conscious of controlling my pace as if it were in fact a full marathon.  It should have been a learning tool, but it is so hard not to get caught up in the race!  I know you know what I am talking about runners. 

For a brief moment my negative doubting thoughts rose to the surface.  I kept thinking that I should have been able to hold that 8:20’s pace for the entire 13 miles and because I didn’t my mind went directly to, “I am not ready for Boston”.  Of course I still have 8 more weeks of training.  Relax girl!  Deep breath.  Yes, maybe I was a bit panicked, but I am also very aware of my goal.  That is a good thing, I think.

I crossed the finish line in 1:53:32 at 8:34 pace.  I beat last year’s time by 2 minutes.  

Keeping Pace: Boston Training

I am following the Hanson’s Less Is More Plan where speed, strength and tempo sessions combined with shorter long runs will help marathoners of all abilities run a better race. The ( )shows what is on schedule for the day, however I am not out to run 6 days a week so I am a bit more flexible. My goal is to increase to 5 days per week half way through the schedule.

Week 11

Monday: (5-8 miles)  10 miles to make up missing last Friday due to illness.  Comfortable pace just out getting my mileage.

Tuesday: (Strength)  After running 3 days straight I choose to rest and pushed the new Strength workout to Wednesday.

Wednesday: (Off)  This workout ended speed but morphed into strength. Strength is a total of 6 miles of intervals at 10 seconds per mile faster than marathon goal pace. Intervals should be 1600 meters or longer. I choose 3x2mile with a short recovery in between. I really enjoyed this workout!

Thursday: (MP 8)  Listened to what my body was saying and decided to forgo a cross train strength training workout this week.

Friday: (6-7)  Because I was running the Hyannis Half Marathon on Sunday, the schedule actually eliminated the MP run this week. I decided to run 6 today due to a freak snow storm that started about mile 3.  It started out as a freezing rain and quickly turned into the biggest snowflakes that I could not keep out of my eyes.  Beautiful to see, but not fun to run in. 

Saturday: (16 at 45-60 seconds slower than MP)   Yes, this was a tough one to miss. My first 16 miler fell on a half marathon weekend. I knew that my effort on Sunday would be more intense than if I was just logging 16 training miles, so I was ok with doing the 8 miles from Sunday’s schedule here, except I misread my Garmin and ran 9 miles by mistake. Ended up with a weird muscle pain in my lower right shin that appeared 7 miles in and was very painful after the run. I got a bit nervous with the race looming the next day, but I iced it, stretched it and massaged it back to health. I will touch base with my PT on Monday but hopefully, it was just a fluke and will not bother me again.

Sunday: (8)  Hyannis Half Marathon!!!!  See recap above.   

Total mileage: 44

Maybe the big jump of mileage this week was on the crazy side, but I do have to live on the edge a little before I move onto the next age division of life, right?