Boston Marathon Training {Week 18}

Week 18!

Weekly Miles {including Marathon Monday}

Running: 52.53 miles, 7:17 hours

Cycling: 0 miles, 0 hours 

Yoga/stairs: 00:41:00 

Total Miles for this cycle {December 11-April 16} 

Running: 943.13 miles, 133:10 hours

Cycling: 186.63 miles, 14:42 hours

Yoga/stairs: 05:58 hours 

Summary

Race week! I felt very calm leading up to the big day. I checked the weather a few times to reaffirm my race day outfit- and when the weather changed Saturday (colder)  it was too late to do anything about it. This left me feeling very nervous about race day and my ability to handle the cold, rain and wind.  I checked SportTracks and it predicted that I was going to peak on the 16th- so that made me feel a bit more confident. 

I was interviewed by SportTracks about the Boston marathon- it was fun reflecting on this training cycle with them.  You can read it 

HERE

The boys are good. They have been so hyper focused on me time and self care in this season of life. I told them, if that’s all they focus on, that they will miss life and that they will eventually regret having lattes by themselves  instead of spending time with us. Constantly trying to escape your life means there’s some huge issues that need to be sorted out.  I think I talked some sense into them. 

Latte at Pavement coffee. Delicious. 

Lowlight

Seeing the weather forecast for Boston. I really thought we would have ideal perfect unicorn weather this year. I never played out a scenario of running through a NorEaster. 

Highlights

Another massage on Friday. 

Going to Boston with L on Saturday morning. The flight was full of folks with Boston marathon gear. It was exciting. 

Eating delicious food in Boston. We went to some great places- Salty pig, Scampo, and Dunkin’ Donuts. Because, Boston. 

Getting my number at the expo was exciting. It hadn’t really felt real until the bib was in my hands. 

Thoughts

Despite being in a new location, the expo was still a shit show- basically so difficult to walk because of the amount of people- and them acting all desperate for free humus and rice. (Lack of self awareness)

This wasn’t a line for free hummus. This was just one of the aisles in the expo. 

Getting to hang with L and friends was awesome and helped me focus on other things than the race. Getting out of my head was so important for me to have success in the race. 

Final thoughts on this cycle:

I wouldn’t change much. Cutting back on beer and food the last month definitely helped me have a better race- and weighing 9lbs less than the start of the cycle also played a huge role. 

MRC members from Boston, Los Angeles, San Diego, Chicago. 

While I wish I could have run outside more, I know for absolute fact that my indoor runs correlated to outdoor running just fine. The last couple of weeks I ran long and some speed outside and felt great and nailed my paces. I was prepared for a warm race with all the heat training. There was no need to be a dumbass and run outside when the weather was shit and potentially slip on ice or over extend myself due to the cold. 

Right on Hereford, Left on Boylston. Spike knows the drill. 

I felt more than prepared to slay my PR by 10+ minutes had it been better weather. I know that I could have easily run a 3:15 last week if I wasn’t running through a nor’easter. On a flat course in good weather, who knows what could have happened. 

I’m at peace with Boston now- and despite re-qualifying with a solid 14 minute cushion, I have no intention to return. I have other goals to focus on next spring. 

Looking Forward

I’m taking a little time off speed work, but generally feel good so I’ll continue running easy. Since the marathon was 30 seconds a mile slower than what I trained for- I feel like I recovered pretty quick. My left hamstring has been feeling weird since the race so I’m monitoring that to make sure it’s just remnants from running in the cold for a few hours vs actual issue. 

I’ll start Ironman training soon. I’ll also be running the Copenhagen marathon in a few weeks. I’m really excited about everything. 

I can’t thank L enough for supporting me during this training cycle. Thank you Kim for talking me off the ledge and being my unofficial coach. Thank you J and G for keeping me in good spirits during marathon weekend. 

Thanks for following along on this journey with me. 

Onto the next thing.