Myself and two of my teammates, Jill and Kyrsten went to Jacksonville, FL for the
Inaugural 26.2 with Donna The National Marathon to Fight Breast Cancer!
www.breastcancermarathon.comWe didn't actually do the 26.2- We did 13.1- the half-marathon.
When you're used to 20 or so degrees in New England in the Winter, upwards of 75 degrees can be a bit of a shock to the system. My goal was to run the half in under three hours. Missed it by this ===> <=== much. 3:00:43. It WAS pretty darn hot. I was a hurtin' unit when I was done. We sat around for a while, listened to the band, had a beer and a snack, popped a couple ibuprofen and felt pretty good by the time we got back on the shuttle. I have to say that this event was really well-run. Even though it was an inaugural event, it had experienced race organizers and really went off very well. The people of Jacksonville were extremely supportive and there was excellent support on the course- Plenty of water stations and excellent traffic control. There were a bunch of people along the course with garden hoses spraying us- I could have kissed every one of them! It was a really hot day and I didn't make my time goal but it was a great experience and I hope to do that race again next year. This race is extremely walker-friendly. It would make a great first half or full marathon if you're so inclined. It's a great cause and very well run. Kyrsten and Jill both finished in well under 3 hours. Jerks.
So since then, I've been trying to get in some quality running time during the week. The weather and work has kept me mostly on the treadmill. I've had races every Sunday for the last four weeks. Today's was a 5-miler here in Lowell. I finished in just under an hour. Even though that's a relatively slow pace, if I can stay anywhere close to that during at least the first 20 miles of the marathon, I should be in fine shape to finish the Boston Marathon before dark.
I have to admit that lately the thought has entered my mind to drop the Boston Marathon idea and swap to a half marathon event. My knees have been bothering me quite a bit lately. Painwise maybe a 3-4 on a 1 to 10 scale. I have these little arguments with myself... I think at the bottom line are two issues: One is that I've already done three half marathons- Where's the challenge? (Not that halfs aren't challenging but it won't be new to me- Does that even make any sense?) Two is that if I drop out at this point, it will bother me forever. It will bother me enough that I'll try it again. I'm stupid like that. I think in that situation that the wear and tear on this petite little body would be cumulative. The big picture is that I should suck it up, shut up and stay with the program. The long runs are beating me up- No question. My main goal is going to be to try to stay injury-free (Other than the knees- I don't want them to get any worse!) while getting in as much mileage as I can. I think the couple spinning sessions that I've done are what is screwing up my knees. I think it's the flywheel deal. Regular exercise bikes and bicycles don't hurt.
Rich Haus, friend and TNT alumni, kindly pointed out to me that there are plenty of people who would love to be able to walk or run but can't. For all my whining, Rich is right. I know that I'll finish the marathon. I'm stubborn and the cause is right. I'll just make sure I take a couple days off afterward!
A couple pictures this week. One is yours truly chugging to the finish line of the Claddagh Pub 4-mile race on March 2nd. The other photo explains itself!
You all have a great week!
