BAA Marathon TAPER TIME!

That's right...I am officially on TAPER TIME!! Yesterday I ran my last long run, today my last hill repeat, and this week's "long run" is only 12 miles. SO EXCITED!

Friday I woke up with some knee pain. I wasn't sure what it was about but set out to run anyway. I only made it 5 steps. No go. As the day wore on, the pain was in my hip. I was heartbroken. How was I ever going to run?!

Saturday morning I woke up thinking, "I can do this." I got my fuel and set out. I was limping for 3 miles. It wasn't pretty or fast but I was moving. As I kept moving and my body warmed up, I no longer felt the pains. I was just running, fueling and listening to music. I was not as fast as I wanted to be but I was moving. YEAH!

Today was hill repeats. Again, my body was very sore on my right hip as I started and ran to warm up with a limp. By the second hill, I was warmed up and ready to go. The taper will hopefully help get rid of whatever is troubling me. I can only hope and pray.

I am going to run in the Boston Marathon. Funny, it's a dream come true yet at the same time I am scared to death. Hill after hill. Sounds like a major challenge. I am not looking for a personal record, I am looking to have fun and enjoy my one trip to Boston.

Boston, here I come!!

Boston Marathon Training

I started training for the 2016 Boston Marathon in January. Although this is my 4th Marathon, I forgot how much time training takes into living. Again, I am following a marathon plan of Hal Higdon's, this time specifically for the Boston Marathon. I am working on running rolling hills, up and down, and running a lot of them. I am working on distance, as I am up to running 19 miles this week (although the official plan says to run 1 hour 50 minutes). Next week is my first of 2 20 milers. yippee. The weather has been pretty nice, so I can hardly complain about this winter's training conditions for the most part. I have only fallen on the ice once, so that is a good thing I guess. Now, with these spring like conditions, I will be conditioning my body for perhaps warmer running conditions come race day. Next up, I need to condition my body to start running at 11 am! I am dreading this as that is so late in the day I will not get anything done. I am thinking I will run both of my 20 milers at 11 so I can see what works best to eat before I run since I will be running over the lunch hour (and then some). I have heard from others that the time of day messes with people because wrarely do people run then. I am sure I will be one of the last runners to start other than the ones running for charity.

Honestly, I am excited to run Boston. I do feel this is a one in a lifetime experience that I will get to share with my family. My goal is not to PR time, to PR by not vomiting for 4 hours afterwards and to enjoy the experience. If I can get Alivia to run 400 meters with me, I would be extra happy (so she can go home and say she ran IN the Boston Marathon. How cool would that be for an 11 year old?!?!).

When Boston is over, this girl is taking a break. A much needed marathon break. I hope to run maybe a half marathon in the fall, but I do not want to run any more full marathons for a while...a long while. I am spent. Who knows, I may even try to come up with a new way to get/stay in shape! I am looking forward to it!