BTTG: Week 3

Back To The Grind

 

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I MIGHT be freaking out a bit. As I type this, I am 30 minutes post hearing about the Boston Marathon cutoff for this year...3 minutes, 23 seconds or faster than the BQ standard for your age!!! What the F. That is absolutely, positively nuts. I've had it in my head this entire year that I would be completely safe with a 3 minute cushion. Boy was I wrong! Now I'm sitting here, texting back and forth with Amanda, about how I'm going to approach my goal of qualifying. I just don't think I'm ready to run a 3:35 marathon...not yet.

 

I have a marathon coming up. I need to decide what to do. I had this grand plan of starting off a little slower than my race pace and gradually speed up. It seems that this has been a good unintentional strategy for me in the past. I guess I will stick with this plan and just see how I feel. I at least need to try to go for a PR. Maybe I'll just stick with my 3:37 goal, since that is what I've been training for, and just build off of that in the spring. BLAH! This was not in my plan!!!! All the eye rolls.

 

• 9/25: 8 total miles (outside 3 @ 8:30, treadmill 5 @ 7:59). Tempo run. I didn't want to run all 8 on the treadmill or out in the brutal heat, so I split it up. After three warm up miles outside, I went in to tackle my faster miles. Goal was three progressing from 7:37 to 7:21. My splits were 7:35, 7:30, 7:24.
• 9/26: Shoulders, 30 minutes. It was a running rest day for me. The hubs and I went to the Y that evening, put the kids in child watch, and did a lift session together...just like the old days pre kids.
• 9/27: 6.2 miles, 8:18/mile; Legs/Yoga, 50 minutes. Steady state run. My steady state runs are supposed to be between 8:20-8:35. This one was a tad bit fast. One of my New Albany friends wanted to try 3 miles in this pace range, so I agreed to meet her.
  

  

  The New Albany crew.

  Heather, Betty, and myself set off to run the NA 5k loop. The girls were amazing! I almost didn't want to finish my run because I wanted to celebrate. Since the 3rd mile was way too fast for this workout, I tried to slow it down a bit for the rest of the run.
  

  

• 9/28: 4 miles, 9:28/mile. I met Lisa B and Sarah K for an easy 4 miler. In an attempt to spice things up, I actually made a route instead of running out and back down Hamilton. I love my runs with these ladies.
• 9/29: Yoga, 1 hour. I had the day off work, so I selfishly brought the kids to the sitter (since I'm paying anyway and I've kept them home the past few Fridays!). I went to a free outdoor yoga class at Easton, washed/folded laundry all day, and binge watched 'This is Us.'
  

  

  Peaceful morning at Easton

  

  James broke a board in taekwondo.

• 9/30: 8.14 total miles including a race (2.02 mile warm up, 8:49/mi; 3.12 mile race, 7:11/mi; 3 miles with my pups, 9:01/mi.). Amanda told me about this cheap 5k in Granville with a free kids race. Since James has been asking to race, I thought it would make for a fun family adventure. I will write a separate post with a race recap! Since I needed 8 miles for the day, I took the dogs out for some exercise. (P.S. My body was SO SORE from yoga! I couldn't believe it!!)
  

  

  My favorite girl.

  
  

  

  He's ready for some pancakes!

  
  

  

  Just celebrating September birthdays.

• 10/1: 16.01 miles, 8:18/mile. Oops. Maybe a little fast? The workout was 16 miles with 6 at marathon pace. Marion and I wanted to check out the back half of the Columbus course. So, we met on campus and headed down High Street to the start/finish. We then wiggled our way through downtown, Short North, Campus, Upper Arlington, Grandview, Vic Village, and back to our cars. My only regret is drinking all of my water in the first 12 miles. I got a little crampy that last mile! My quads are STILL sore from yoga on Friday. What the crap?! I'm looking forward to an easy start to my running week.
  

  

  The Shoe!!!

 

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To be honest, I don't know where I'm at mentally. I used to be more confident. UGH. I wish I could go back to the Lisa when I ran Pig 2015. I was totally clueless. I had no clue what I was capable of and ran my best marathon to date. I want to be clueless. Unfortunately, the difficulty of the marathon is all too familiar.