BR100 - Week 7

And week 7 is where everything fell apart. The tendon pain in my lower left leg recurs whenever I run or walk. Elliptical too. I took the week off from running until Sunday, then went out to do some fairly flat easy trails. No better. I ended up running the entire distance up on the balls of my feet, which is completely foreign to me. No pain, but lots of stress elsewhere. Switching my running style is not something I'm interested in doing nor something I'll be able to pull off for longer runs. I think I would end up straining something else and making the whole problem worse.

Green Jewel is very questionable at this point. I'm not worried about running 31 miles having not run much in the three weeks prior. That would be just a long taper. I'm worried about the course being point-to-point without any SAG support. If I need to drop, there's no one to give me a ride. It's all pavement. At this point, I hate pavement. Give me my trails back already, snow! The Buckeye Woods trails were extremely treacherous in spots. Very slick ice. I'm so tired of this winter.

Beyond the GJ, I'm re-evaluating my entire 2011 schedule. Fortunately for me, I haven't registered for a ton of events yet. Unfortunately for me, only one event offers a refund, and that's the one event I want to do the most. I suppose I will take a wait and see attitude and just take each race one at a time and hope for the best.

Monday - Rest
Tuesday - Shoulders and Arms AM / Elliptical 60 minutes PM
Wednesday - Off
Thursday - 2.5 mile walk
Friday - Off
Saturday - Off
Sunday - Yoga AM / 5 mile trail run PM

Weekly mileage = 7.5 miles

Changes Coming to Boston...

New changes were announced yesterday for both registering and qualifying for the Boston Marathon. All the details can be read about HERE, but in a nutshell:

Beginning this fall, for the 2012 race, the fastest runners will have first dibs on entry. Those running 20 minutes or faster in their qualifying races are able to apply first, followed by those running 10 minutes faster, followed by those running 5 minutes faster. These runners are able to apply during the first week registration is open. Beginning the second week, everyone else who has met their qualifying time will be able to apply for entry, with the fastest runners among the week two applicants being accepted. If there is still space available, applications will be taken beginning in week three on a first come first served basis until the race is full. This registration change will allow the possibility that just because someone can meet their qualifying time, doesn't mean they will necessarily have the chance to register. The race may fill with fast runners during the first week. My thoughts? A good and necessary change. Boston is an elite and fast marathon. The fastest runners should have the first shot at entering based upon what happened with registration last fall for the 2011 event.

Beginning next year, for the 2013 race, qualifying times for each and every age group are being reduced by five minutes. That means I will need to run a 3:10 (which I did last time) in order to qualify until I turn 40. I LOVE this! Actually, I thought that the standards were a little on the "easy" side before and this shows that the race organizers are interested in keeping the race as something that is hard to achieve. Running Boston is a "bucket list" event for many runners, but it shouldn't be something runners are entitled to run just because they can go the distance.

If you want to run a marathon, go run a marathon! There certainly isn't a shortage of them right now. If you want to run Boston, RUN FASTER!!!

BR100 Training - Week 6

Six weeks was all it took. Injury. I went and aggravated a tendon in the front of the left ankle. Same injury as a year ago. Everything was going fine until Saturday, when I ran 18 in the new Saucony's. Whether it was the new shoes, the ice and snow we were running in, or a combination of the two, I don't know. The pain was minor after Saturday's run but had me limping around after 12 in Hinckley on Sunday. That's when the swelling was most noticeable too. Still is, actually. It's an overuse injury and rest is the only option at this point. So no running for a while. Which is hard because we're finally getting some spring-like weather this week. I will have to cut my mileage down for a while and reduce the number of runs I've been doing and see what happens. Three weeks out from Green Jewel means I need to make sure I'm in good enough shape to finish. There won't be any sag wagon support available. I missed the GJ last year because of injury and I don't plan on doing that again.



Monday - Rest
Tuesday - Chest and Back AM / Run 3 miles treadmill PM
Wednesday - Run 2 miles treadmill
Thursday - Run 4 miles treadmill
Friday - Off
Saturday - Run 18 miles road
Sunday - Run 12 miles road

Weekly total = 39 miles

BR100 Training - Week 5

Week 5 already? This is going fast! The fifth week was a scheduled "recovery" week with less mileage on tap. That's not to say I didn't entertain thoughts of putting in another 40 mile week, nor to say I wasn't on the verge of doing just that. I made the mistake of wearing VERY worn shoes for yesterday's run and was really starting to feel it. So... I let my experience take over and I shut the run down short, running 10 shushy miles instead of 14 or so. I wore my trail shoes thinking the extra tread would give me superior tread over my road shoes. While that may have been the case, the lack of cushioning left in the shoe after 660 miles really beat me up. I would have been better off slipping and sliding more than I ended up doing anyway.

I may still need new trail shoes, but I took care of the new road shoes problem on Friday. New Saucony Ride 3's and trying out Mizuno Wave Rider 14's. I feel like I need to break each pair in a bit before taking them out for a long run, but I'm excited to have some new soles between my feet and the road!

Monday - 20 min elliptical PM
Tuesday - 2 mile treadmill run PM
Wednesday - Scraped thick ice from driveway, 1 hr AM
Thursday - 6 mile treadmill run PM
Friday - Scraped thick ice at work, 1 hr AM
Saturday - 17.01 mile run AM / 90 min yoga PM
Sunday - 10 mile run AM

Weekly mileage = 35.01 miles

CONGRATULATIONS PACKERS!