12 more weeks

Marathon #16 (California International) in 12 more weeks. My shot to get a Boston Qualifying time so I can run it again in 2021.

I need a 3:50 to qualify with the tightened standards, and I'll be shooting for a 3:45. It's so hard to know how fast you really need to run. Boston 2020 registration is currently happening and they did announce they will not be able to accept everyone who has applied, so it's anyone's guess what the cut off will be (to be announced next week). The competition is just crazy with people getting so much faster and the interest to run Boston being so high. That dang cut off number will make a difference in where my mind is going into CIM. Not that I want to be lax about pushing my finish time to well under 3:50...I really do want that 3:45.

So here's where I'm at.

• I'm over 40 miles per week now and my first 18 miler is this coming weekend. It seems surreal.
• My heartrate data continues to improve, and my VO2 max is climbing again...finally.
• My intervals are getting faster....finally. 
• Still dealing with awful summer temps, though. My lowest temp for a training run in months has been 71 I believe.
• My legs are fatigued and it annoys me. Pretty stupid thing to be annoyed about....IN MARATHON TRAINING. Of course I'm fatigued.
• My mind is NOT where I want it to be. It's not where it was 2 years ago at this same point in training....so I have work to do there.
• I feel like I want more time, even though I don't NEED more time. 

It's time to throw the gauntlet down and focus as well as I possibly can on these last 526 training miles. My nutrition, hydration, sleep, recovery, stress level, strength....all of it needs to be a priority. Stress level is actually probably my biggest issue right now. I especially need to remember that the colder temps are coming and I'm going to feel like a whole new person when they arrive.

But all of this seemingly negative thinking still takes a backseat to how excited I am to travel to Sacramento and do this race. Another state capital to race in (my 5th!), a highly regarded race, a net downhill (albeit only slightly) point-to-point (my favorite), and I get to see friends. We are trying to figure out a way to get Greg there, too, but my flights are astronomically priced now. I should've just booked two tickets while I booked mine!

I do need to get a little excited about one thing. This morning was a sprint interval workout. The last time I did it was July 9 when it was a bit warmer out. The workout is a 15 minute warmup, then 10x 20 sec all out, 5 minute easy jog, then 10x 20 sec all out again. The rest after each interval is a 1 min walk. I jogged most of the first intervals when we did it in July, but was much better this morning about walking and then only jogging in the last 10-15 seconds to get ready for the sprint.

I had a GREAT workout. In July I averaged 6:54 in the first 10 and then 6:42 in the second 10. My recovery intervals were under 12 minute pace on average. This morning I averaged 6:27 in the first 10 and 6:07 in the second 10. I had several intervals under 6:00 min pace, something I don't even remember ever happening. My recovery intervals were about 12:50 average, so I took them easier, but it allowed me to push harder during the sprints. My average heartrate was 6 beats lower. I was also wearing a new pair of shoes (neutral shoes for the first time) and I joked that it was the shoes! I felt really good when I was done with the workout and thought I had more intervals in me. The data that I'm starting to see from my workouts is giving me more confidence.