Boston Marathon Training: TWO WEEKS TO GO!

One thing that I have learned, and I want to share it with you guys, ----> in a race, even if you run a mile split (or two) that is off the goal pace, don't let it rattle you. The best thing to do is to tell yourself that it's only one mile and you are going to get back on goal pace the next mile and move on. I engaged in a lot of self talk during the Encinitas half (which I forgot to talk about the official time in the recap - 1:33:33, 3rd in AG) and it was good practice for Boston.

I ran 3.5 miles UP the mountain on Saturday morning and the reward was this gorgeous view.

Marathons are interesting beasts, you run for 20 miles and then race a 10K. To really break it down, you have to stay focused the final 5K, cause it can really get dicey out there if you don't. I am working on my mental toughness the last 5k and I plan to break it down, mile by mile. If you think about it, for a 5K, the point one goes by super fast and then it's less than three miles, which we can endure pain for two plus miles! Get through that mile and then it's one point two miles left. That's it. I'll be thinking about my kids and Jerold and that they will be waiting for me and I can't wait to hug them. I know Jerold will be talking to me at this point - we have this telepathic thing going on and I always FEEL him talking to me, walking me through it. He seriously gets into my marathons as much as I do and I really know I can draw from his invisible energy.

I cannot even believe that in less than two weeks we leave for Boston and the race is TWO WEEKS from today! 

I ran my last long run yesterday and it felt good. I felt like I was tying up a nice neat bow on a very long cycle. I was thinking about the injury last summer and crawling my way back to fitness, little by little. This seems to be the recent story of my running life the past two years. I think I am just going to order up a fun summer of zero injury and a lot of fast racing, mmmk?

Let's get to it - last week's workouts:

Monday March 27th - YES!! A day OFF. My last day off from running was March 6th. Total days off in the month of March = 2

Tuesday March 28th - 5 miles

Wednesday March 29th - Happy 70th Birthday to my Mom! She is such a big part of my racing also. For Encinitas, she asked me, "What's your goal time?" and as I was launching into my speech, she says "Nevermind, I want to know what your coach says, cause I know you always want to run faster and he probably knows how you race better than you do!" And that, is my Mom in a nutshell #ballsy

She doesn't mince her words and if you give her a mountain, she'll climb it.

I ran 6 miles early, as we had a big evening of celebration! Yes, when you turn 70, you pretty much celebrate ALL year :)

Thursday March 30th - 10.5 miles with 10 x :30 second pick ups. 7:00 --> 6:39 pace. Can I tell you how much I love this workout? It absolutely brings your legs back to life after a big race and then resting/easy runs for a couple of days. There's no pressure to run the whole workout out fast, just 30 seconds. It's over in a blink!

Friday March 31st - 7 miles

Saturday April 1st - 7 hilly trail miles - 3.5 miles UP the mountain and then down.

Sunday April 2nd - 16 miles at 7:39 pace. 
My clothes were absolutely soaked after this run. It's amazing how much we sweat! Anyway, this was a pretty sweet run, just moving along - I jumped on the treadmill because we had a packed day of church, Easter picnic and egg hunt, and a little bit of shopping. I think I have my Boston outfit all set. Woo!

We will be spending Easter in Boston and I am trying to plan what in the world we'll be up to that day - which of course is the day before the race! 

Total miles 51.1

Total miles for March: 251.1


We are in slow taper mode, but that doesn't mean I'll be sitting on my butt not running. I just looked at this week's schedule and it's pretty decent! 

I hope you guys have a great start to your week and happy running.


Tell me something fun you did this weekend!

Who raced?

xo,
Natalie