B2B Training Week 17 of 18... Trust the Training

Nothing left to do now but trust the training...

One more week to go. This time next week I'll be in Boston with the goal of taking it all in.

I've had mixed feelings about this training cycle. From the beginning, as soon as I found out I had gotten into both Boston and Big Sur, it was all about being in shape to complete both. A PR was not going to happen in Boston if I was going to survive Big Sur six days later. I was worried about the long layoff I'd had all summer but after running my first 20 miler 5 weeks into my training cycle, I felt like the pressure was off. I can do this. Last year I ran my last 20 miler in February before running Napa on March 1st. After that I blew up on my two 20 miler attempts before Derby on April 25th so I never got another 20 miler in. I wanted to try to do 20 ten days before Derby but got talked off the ledge by Coach Ebersole. He told me then that, based on my running history, distance was never going to be a problem for me. I didn't need another 20 miler. Distance was never going to be a problem for me. It's kinda like when Mary Alice Collins told be she thought I'd won the Maple Syrup Contest at the State Fair last year. When someone like that tells you something, you believe them. Still, the training did not go exactly as hoped.

Last year, going into Napa and Derby, I felt like I was in the best running shape since high school. However, I was exhausted, starving, and stressed. I'd spent two years chasing a BQ. I'd pawned off my children to friends so my husband and I could fly out to Napa while they went to school. I went on a caffeine fast so my caffeinated GUs would be more effective in the race. I felt like I HAD to qualify because I didn't know how much longer I could live like this. Qualifying was a huge relief. Boston was my reward.

For a runner like me - age grouper at best - Boston is my Olympics. Getting there was the goal. Never in a million years will I podium but experiencing it all is what I want. Now that I'm in though, I feel a kind of responsibility to run a respectable race... for all those that tried but didn't get in. Does that make sense? It's that time of year again when you start hearing all the stories about those that tried to cheat their way in (off topic, but I'd love to hear opinions about Gia Alvarez - more info HERE) and you realize even more how special it is to run the race.

So, the training cycle wasn't exactly as I planned. I got my miles up but couldn't get motivated to do anything else - nutrition, weights, cross-training, speedwork - all fell by the wayside. Then my right foot started hurting. A scary kind of hurt that became really noticeable in Week 11... too far into the cycle to take any extended time off. Sure, I suppose I could've done pool work and rode a stationary bike... but I didn't... and my training took on a new theme. Days my foot hurt, I was scared to death my next step was going to be my last, that I'd have some excruciating intolerable thing happen to my foot and I wouldn't be able to run, yet I had to keep running on it. Days my foot didn't hurt I wondered if my fixation on my foot was just a cop out and I should be training harder. Back and forth, back and forth, that's how it's gone.

And now, with one week to go, I finally took the time to write out what I had run the past 17 weeks. I never had a set training schedule so it was a week to week run-like-I-feel plan. Seeing it in black and white, I don't have a crazy number of miles but I do have a decent number of miles. I had wanted to do five 20 milers with four of them on back to back weeks. I managed four with 2 of them on back to back weeks and a 20 and 17 on back to back weeks so I was close. I think I'm ready.

Week 17
Sunday - Zero miles. Got up at 3:45 am to catch a 6:45 am flight home from Florida. Home before noon but then had boatload of laundry and grocery shopping to do before going to work an overnight shift at 7 pm.

Monday - 7 miles. Home from work at 7: 30 am. Slept all morning then took G to dance in the evening. It was in the 40's and I had on tights and a thermal shirt on for my run but needed gloves and a headband. Quite the change from the 90 degree Florida weather the week before! My hands and ears about froze off. Plan was to run easy on the Monon. Besides freezing, I felt fine. I got passed by a pack of runners from a training group at the Y on the way back to the Y. The last runner got about 50 yards in front of me and suddenly I decided I wanted to get the run DONE so I sped up and passed every single one of them.

Tuesday - 15 miles. It was a wee but warmer but not much. I stopped and almost bagged the run after a mile because my right foot hurt so much. All my online Sole Sisters got to hear how schizophrenic the run ended up being. Overall, I got it done but it wasn't pretty.

Wednesday - Zero miles. Rest day. Went to work in the evening.

Thursday - 5 miles. Pace run on the treadmill at exactly 9:00 pace. No problems. Felt good and warm afterwards and had a nice stretch.

Friday - 5 miles. Hamster tracked some easy miles early afternoon. It poured rain outside. Went to work in the evening for an overnight shift. Rain turned to sleet. Seriously? It's April 8th for cripes sake!

Saturday - Zero miles. Didn't get to sleep after I got home in the morning for various reasons and was too tired to run.

Week 17 - 32 miles

So one more week to go. It's GO time!