The Boston Experience: Part 1

By Saturday night, I could safely say that so far, the experience of being at the Boston Marathon was like no other race, and I hadn't even raced yet! We arrived after 1am Friday night/Saturday morning and were immediately fully immersed in all things Boston.

Unfortunately, because our flight was over 2 hours delayed, we got very little sleep Friday night before getting up early on Saturday for breakfast and the Expo. I wanted to get to the Expo not long after they opened in order to spend as much time as I wanted there before heading to the Red Sox game at Noon. 

THE EXPO! Oh my gosh, it's huge and busy and crowded and totally crazy. I've been to plenty of big race expos, but this was on another level. First, let me say that it was very well organized. These people are experts at putting on a race and moving people through as efficiently as possible. 

Why yes, I was the runner who ACTUALLY STARTED CRYING when the volunteer handed me my bib. I had a Boston Marathon bib in my hand and it was MINE. And I earned it. Just crazy!

I pretty much had the absolute best time going through the merchandise area and grabbing one of everything. Hey, I figured I may only get to this race once so I was BUYING ALL THE THINGS. Poor credit card. But I now have all the mugs and glasses and shirts and shorts and sweatshirts and everything in between and I was a happy girl checking out.

And then we got to go to Fenway Park! Greg has been to a game before since he travels to Boston often for work, but this would be my first time and the first for Greg's parents, too. They generously bought us tickets to the Saturday afternoon game and I was totally stoked. Since our hotel was about a mile from the ball park, we just walked over. It was a beautiful day in Boston and a really nice walk. I was figuring I'd rest on Sunday!

The game was so fun! The ball park is something else, that's for sure. To be in the oldest ball park in the country before running the oldest marathon seemed pretty fitting to me. Des Linden and Yuki Kawauchi, the 2018 winners, threw out the first pitch. The Red Sox pretty much sucked, but that didn't stop us from having a blast.

After the game, we drove to Hopkinton to meet up with Barry, a coworker of Greg's who was running his fifth Boston Marathon and who, along with Greg, was also raising money for the Michael Lisnow Respite Center as part of the Dell/EMC team. Dinner at a great restaurant and a visit to the start line completed our first full day in Boston. What a DREAM this day had been!

At the Michael Lisnow Respite Center

The energy is Boston on marathon weekend is nothing I've ever experienced and while I knew it would be pretty incredible, I really was not prepared for just how much. So many people walking around in their jackets, with huge smiles on their faces, having the times of their lives! And we got to be a part of that this year! It was hard to not feel excited and jittery and anxious.

We spent way too much time on our feet Saturday (13K steps and 6.2 miles of walking), so Sunday was a down day of eating, checking out the finish line again, resting, and coming up with our race strategy.

The blue line starts the race and finishes the race

Less than 1 day!

Ah, the race strategy.

So, New England weather is just as weird and ever changing as Texas weather. A few days before we left, the forecast called for showers and a high of 48 degrees, which actually would have been just fine for me. I am a cold weather runner and the rain does not bother me much. I knew that I could run fast in that type of weather. As we got closer and closer to race day, the forecast continued to take a big crappy turn. It was now forecasted to be 70 degrees and possibly sunny for a lot of the day, with minimal rain, after a shower in the morning that would make the air very humid. I absolutely loathe this type of weather on race day. I can suck it up for a 5k or 10k in that, but for a marathon, on a difficult course, could be troubling for me. As a matter of fact, the last time I even tried to go out at my original race plan in crap weather I ended up running 4:38.

So I made a decision that would take the pressure off myself. I was no longer going to go for a 3:45 or a BQ (3:50). I was going to start out at a 4 hour marathon pace and see how I felt holding onto that, in the hopes of running an even race. If the clouds remained, I would be fine. If the sun came out, it could hurt. It remained to be seen. But above all else, I wanted to have fun and if that meant slowing down during the race, I needed to be okay with that. And thankfully, I was totally okay with that. I had no intention of running Boston in 2020 whether I qualified or not, so it wouldn't be disappointing to not meet that goal.

We visited the finish line one more time after dinner that night and I made it a point to stand in the spot of the first bombing in 2013. It was a surreal moment. So much devastation in that moment in time and to be standing in that spot made it feel all the more incredible that I got to be here running on the 6th anniversary of that day.

13 hours left before we were in Hopkinton and Athlete's Village and we would experience a race like nothing else.

The Truth Will Set You Free

I have a goal for the weekend, or at least for the coming week.

Lately, for the past few months at least, I have felt extremely burdened by the actions of others, by the actions that have directly hurt me and those that have hurt my friends and loved ones. The malice and disrespect has really been weighing me down, to the point where I've thought of seeking a therapist. And while I have often touted the benefits of therapy (heck, my kid has had one for 3 years and my original career aspiration was to become a psychotherapist!), I've always felt like I could handle my own issues without one. But I have felt so extremely burdened lately, and resentful, and just plain exhausted by these feelings. It angers me. I have a million incredible things going on in my life, including my marriage, my children, my upcoming trip to Boston....all these things are such gifts to me that keep bringing me immense joy, and it feels unfair to me that these other hindrances are trying to mar what is otherwise a phenomenal year so far for me.

(Side note: I wrote about respect a couple of months back when I was musing about 2019 and what I wanted to focus on.)

So this morning, I got out my Bible, because seeking an answer from God has never steered me down the wrong path. When I do not submit my burdens to Him is when I make the wrong choices and further hurt myself.

Of course God tells us to forgive others, and I admittedly am not ready for this. I will be, and I will continue to seek this path, and I will continue to read the Bible passages that steer me in this direction. But I can't forgive quite yet.

I need to unburden myself from these feelings, however.

I came across some perfect verses:

Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 1 Corinthians 12:8-9 

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:32-33

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your path straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with Thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

Fools give full vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end. Proverbs 29:11

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. John 8:32

...a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away. Ecclesiastes 3:6

Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or to the left; keep your foot from evil. Proverbs 4:25-27

So this weekend and the coming days, my focus will be on calm and peace. I will steer away from the burdens, from those who I know do not have my best interests at heart, from things that do me harm and increase my anger. By nature, I'm reliable and will usually give the benefit of the doubt, I trust until trust is broken, and I often do forgive quickly. My heart is big, which is a bad thing when you trust too much. So rather than hardening my heart, I will turn it towards the good and away from the bad.

My poor husband has been a good sounding board for all of these feelings of mine, and he's a great listener. He respects where I am and is probably pretty thankful that he's not the root of any of my issues! But I owe it to him to seek the right answers and to move towards a more peaceful demeanor, to unburden myself from these negative feelings, and to set myself up for more positive experiences in the future.

This one life we get on earth deserves to be lived to its very best. If it means letting go of what is creating negativity, then that's what I will work towards.

Being our own worst enemy + Training update

There's something about writing on this blog that I find so therapeutic and helpful, particularly during training. Life throws a lot of curveballs, and my mind isn't exactly the most reliable when it comes to navigating through things...I often don't cope well. But as I'm training, my mind sometimes works a million miles an hour, and I like to get those thoughts out on the blog as often as I can. Looking back at old posts during each cycle can definitely give me new insights and motivations to keep working harder, and this often translates to how I deal with other areas of my life. It's a pretty big win for me.

One topic I've been thinking so much about....probably because I struggled with it in the past pretty often....is how we sabotage ourselves.

There are so many things that can derail training...illness, weather, emergencies...but after 11 years of doing this marathon thing, what I have found is that the biggest obstacle to a great training cycle is OURSELVES.

We are truly our own worst enemies.

When you sign up for a race, you have made a big commitment. Sometimes it seems a bit overwhelming, particularly if it's a long distance race like a marathon or Ironman. But you succeeded at the first step of committing.

After securing a coach and/or a training plan, obtaining the proper equipment, and taking a deep breath, it's time to dive into training. 

And then the excuses begin, right?

Why did I think I could do this?

I'm not fit enough.

The weather sucks.

I feel like crap.

I overslept.

Why did I eat that? 

I'm so slow.

I'm sore.

With the exception of the weather conditions (let's face it, we live in Texas and the weather will always be a crapshoot), we are in control of all those other excuses and hindrances to good training.

Yes, you can do it. If you train properly.

Yes, you will be fit enough. If you train properly.

The weather sucks but so what? Race day might bring the same kind of weather. 

Of course you feel like crap. You're human. Unless you're truly sick, get out there and try.

So you forgot to set it or you turned off your alarm instead of getting out of bed like you committed to. Either get out there now or commit to an afternoon or evening workout. Oversleeping doesn't get you out of training.

Why DID you eat that if you knew it would make you sluggish? Some foods are delicious, sure, but they will definitely work against you sometimes. So skip it. You won't die.

The only person who cares about your pace is you. I wish I was a 6 minute miler, too, but unless it's for a half mile, I'm just not and nobody cares. No matter our pace, we can get out there and compete and enjoy ourselves. Also? If you train right, you'll get faster.

Of course you're sore. You're in training. But the better you train, the less likely you'll be sore after a hard workout. Or you can just do a recovery workout. But get out there anyway.

I have probably used all these excuses and then some over the years. But two years ago I told myself to stop sabotaging my training.

Did I commit to a plan? Well, then I'm sticking to it (unless sick or dealing with an emergency, of course).

Unless there's lightning or dangerous ice, I'll be out there training...or at the gym. I have options.

Sometimes I'm going to wake up not at all wanting to train, but I will still get up and do my best and 9 out of 10 times, I feel a million times better when I'm done.

If I oversleep or choose to stay in bed, I know that it might mess me up for that training day if I don't commit to doing the workout later in the day. But I also know that my training is structured in a certain way and messing with it too much is a disservice to me and could bite me in the ass.

Do I want the chocolate cake? Sure I do! But I also know there are other healthy sweet options that will curb my sweet tooth and not work against me. It's possible to say no to sweets and foods that don't allow you to perform at your best, I promise you, and it's really not that big of deal and you won't really miss them much.

As for speed, well.....I'm really only competing with myself. I've done the research on how to improve my speed and I know it doesn't happen overnight. Chipping away at it every day will reap huge rewards later, so I know I just need to hang in there and show up everyday. The speed will come and there's no use whining about it today (I might still whine, though).

Sometimes after a really tough workout, I am sore. Like very sore. That doesn't get me out of my workout today or tomorrow. Chances are, it will help me to be LESS sore. So I stop whining (mostly) and I get to work.

It's easy to let the negative thoughts overpower the positive ones. We are human. But we must train our minds to focus on what we CAN do and not where we are lacking. There are far more variables within our control than there are left up to chance. Focus on that! Control what you can!

When I was frustrated and fed up with years of bad races, I vowed to pull myself out of it. I looked at everything I could control: my nutrition, my medications, my schedule (to a point, of course...life happens and I get that), my attitude, my priorities, my strengths. And I got to work. Every time I had a win (whether it was one pound or inch lost, a healthy snack I chose, a faster interval workout, better heart rate data on a run, a better night's sleep, picking up a heavier weight at the gym)....I celebrated it, since every little win was a positive and an improvement. It did me no good to dwell on the negatives or the things out of my control. It's HARD to shut that off, but over time you CAN do that.

When I got injured in September, it messed with my head BIG TIME. When I was able to get back to training I had lost a lot of fitness and had missed two races. But if I chose to complain about it everyday versus plugging away workout by workout, I never would have been able to get to where I was on my January 20 race day, where I shaved two minutes off a six year-old half marathon PR. And now, seven weeks from my next marathon, I'm seeing my hard work paying off little by little. I get out there everyday and do my prescribed workout, and on rest days I relish in the relaxation while my body gets stronger.

It all comes together when we choose to stop sabotaging our efforts.

Even after my half marathon, I had a few doubts creeping in on whether or not I'd be BQ ready for Boston, even though my race time translated to being on the cusp. But that race was very, very hard for me. I don't think even my BQ marathon felt that hard. I needed to get away from this mindset. I needed to have a few breakthrough workouts so I could see a glimpse of what was possible.

That's exactly what has happened. My last three interval workouts have been some of my best ever. I've averaging in the low-7's for 3-4 miles of intervals and I'm feeling great. My recovery intervals are mostly all jogging rather than big chunks of walking, and my VO2 max has climbed after being somewhat stagnant for a few weeks. All of this is happening during a 200 mile month, which is A LOT of miles for me.

I have my first 20 miler of the cycle this weekend and I'm looking forward to seeing how I feel. It's just a simple easy pace run, no workout built into it, so the pressure of pace is off. I'm focusing strictly on perceived effort and trying to dial in a comfortable pace.

I'm also finding that with this increase in mileage, I am HUNGRY ALL THE TIME. I ate three lunches today, for crying out loud! I am at my racing weight and know that I need to up my calories so I don't lose anymore weight. Just a terrible problem to have, right?

53 more days.

Commitment

I started this post about a month ago and never finished it. As I get closer and closer to Marathon #15 and try to dial in my goals, I feel my anxiety creeping up. So I thought a mindset shift was in order, and I revisited this post to finish it. Hope you enjoy.

***

As I approach my half marathon taper and am now 2 weeks out from race day, my mental strength has started to waver a bit. Nothing like an ill-timed injury to make you second guess your ability, right? That dumb September injury has tried over and over again to screw with my head, even though I'm pretty much recovered from it.

I have started to re-read some of my old blog posts in the hope of tweaking my mental outlook. I need to start focusing only on the positives of the last several weeks and not the fact that I had a blip in the road. And, of course, anytime I start thinking too much, a blog post forms in my head.

Focus on the positives? Okay, here it goes.

What are my strengths this training cycle?

The big one that keeps popping up into my head is COMMITMENT.

If I am anything when it comes to training, it's that I am committed. I write a plan, I plan my calendar, I look days in advance to be sure I can fit in what I need to do, and I EXECUTE the plan. Am I about to have an incredibly busy day that starts really early but I still need to run 8 miles? I guess I'm setting my alarm for 4:30am and getting my butt to bed early.

Since coming back from injury in October, I have only missed one run and that was because I was feeling unwell. One run. I'm pretty damn proud of that. I battled fatigue and laziness but I still got out there and put in the work. I committed to 26.2 miles and damnit I'm not throwing that away! Obviously, many factors can come into play that can wreak a little havoc on a training cycle - the early signs of injury, which should never be ignored, illness, and the occasional unexpected emergency that robs you of your time. I've been pretty lucky so far. But even the occasional blip shouldn't ruin your commitment. There's a reason I'm a morning runner the vast majority of the time and that I like to get up before dark to train...if I keep putting off my run or I schedule a lot of evening runs, there's a bigger chance that something will come up and I have to skip it. Nope....I'm starting off my day right instead!

Another strength? I find JOY from training. Doing this does not wear on me...usually! It invigorates me emotionally. I might be physically tired, but my mind is clear and happy when I get to train. I love this journey. I genuinely feel lucky that I am healthy and able enough to do such good things for my body. I try to never take that for granted.

Another vital attribute that I think is important, particularly when getting into the latter parts of a training plan or if you're starting to have doubts, is FOCUS. This goes a step further than just being committed to your training. Every single training run has a purpose. I don't believe that there is such a thing as junk miles. I have structured my plan in such a way that I'm gaining benefit from every single run, whether it's a 10:30 pace recovery run, or a tempo run with a few miles at 7:45 pace, whether it's an easy paced long run, or a long run with a marathon pace workout built in. While I always need to look at my training week as a whole, I also aim to focus solely on the workout I'm in and try not to lose sight of its purpose.

But I am also not a slave to my training plan if I feel like I need to tweak it. Being FLEXIBLE is sometimes necessary. During one particular week I was feeling a bit more fatigue than normal, and I had already run several faster paced miles that week, so I changed my scheduled 7 mile track workout to a 7 mile easy run with strides. I felt fantastic the next day and it led to a very solid weekend of training. I had overshot on how many hard miles I had scheduled into the week and needed to change things. I didn't reduce my mileage, but I knew when I needed to ease up on intensity, even for just one run. Next weekend on Sunday the 17th, Greg is running the Austin Half Marathon, and I have a 16 miler on my schedule that day. I want to be at the finish line to see Greg, so I am shifting my long run to Saturday instead. I'll get up early with him and get my six mile recovery run in before I head to downtown Austin. Still getting in my miles, but being flexible on the order and that's okay!

Lastly, I think I'm pretty good at seeing the BIG PICTURE. At the end of the day, the week, and even at the end of this cycle, I need to remember that I am lucky I get to do this. I have a healthy body (mostly) and the ability to pursue this passion. No matter what happens on race day, my journey is fun and fulfilling. Only 10% of marathoners qualify for Boston, and that statistic is not lost on me. I have the opportunity to run in the world's oldest marathon, and THAT is the most important thing. Add to that the fact that I'll be running every step of it with my best friend, and it makes whatever number the finish line clock shows completely irrelevant. The 20 week training journey, the trip to Boston, the time spent with Greg, every single one of the steps from Hopkinton to Boylston Street.....THAT is the Big Picture. I need to keep remembering this when I start to feel anxiety on whether I'm in as good of shape as I was last January in Baton Rouge.

67 more days!

13.1 Mile Pain Cave

It's been a really long time since I've attempted to PR in the half marathon. My best time comes from the 3M half marathon back in January 2013. I ran it in 1:51:36 and it was a fantastic race day for me, with cold temps and a tailwind on a net downhill course. After running a 3:49 marathon last year, I knew that it was time to go for a better half marathon time, especially since the second half of my last two marathons has been around 1:54.

I had hoped to run my next half in October '18 in Houston, but injury prevented that from happening. Instead I'd be running a Houston Half in January, one that I had run before. It's a big race, a fast course, and probably the most well organized race I've done. I was looking forward to it!

Because of the injury back in September, I only ran 29 miles into October. I managed to have good training months in November and December, but I was wary of a lot of speed work. Not exactly a high volume few months of training prior to my attempt, but it was all I had so I did my best. Honestly, I was questioning whether I had gotten into good enough shape. I not only wanted to run a new PR, I really wanted to break 1:50. That would require an 8:23 pace, and based on how my tempo runs had felt, I knew holding that pace for 13 miles was going to be tough for me. But I had to try!

If there's one thing I've learned in the last 18 months, is that I am stronger than my brain thinks I am, and I can often push myself pretty hard. I figured the worst thing that could happen was I'd slow down towards the end, but I needed to do my best to lock into a fast pace and hold on as long as I could.

My friend and teammate Drew was supposed to run the full marathon, but decided to downgrade to the half and didn't feel comfortable racing it as he felt he had not put in adequate training leading up to the race. He knew how badly I wanted to run a good race, and since 1:50 is a fairly easy pace for him, he offered to run with me. Needless to say, I was thrilled. I knew he'd yell at me to keep up with him and it would probably be what I needed in those last miles.

I arrived in Houston nice and early on Saturday and headed right for the expo to browse. I love the expo at this race. I was by myself, which is weird for me, but a few of my friends had bailed out of the race and the others were coming to Houston later in the day. While I was browsing the booths, there was an announcement that Meb Kefleghizi would be signing at the Aramco booth, so I hightailed it over there and figured I'd get in line and have him sign my bib. I have never met Meb but he's been a huge inspiration to me over the years and I credit his outlook on life and willingness to share his journey with us as part of the reason that I love to run. He has so much joy about it, and his win at Boston in 2014 is one of my favorite running highlights of all time.

Getting to chat with him for a few minutes was just AMAZING. He's so sweet and he thought it was pretty cool it was my birthday. I told him he inspired me to try to get to Boston and that my husband and I were going to both be running it. He signed my bib and wished me well on getting a PR on my birthday. Also, I can't believe I'm shorter than him....the dude is tiny!

A little bit of rest at the hotel and dinner with my friends, where we enjoyed some great food and wine and discussed race strategy, and then it was time to sleep. I was freaking nervous as hell.

Race morning was COLD. 32 degrees out with 10 mph winds made it feel like 26 degrees. I was bundled up okay, but it was just cold out. I don't know what the deal is with my long distance races being freezing, but my last three have started out below freezing. Better than it being warm, I suppose!

My friends and I lined up by the 8:30 pace people in the corral. Along with Drew, I was starting the race with Amit and Melody, who were both registered for the full. We all planned to run about the same pace, so running together until the split right before 8 miles seemed like a pretty good plan.

The start was so crowded. Even though we were in the first corral, we were pretty far back in it and there were so many people to get through. Instead of weaving, however, I just tried to be patient. Unfortunately because it's Houston and there are so many tall buildings, the GPS is not reliable for that first part of the race. We were right by the 3:35 marathon pacer, so I assumed we were probably running a decent pace. I wanted to be around 8:40-8:50. When my watch beeped at the mile 1 sign and said 9:11, I was slightly freaked out. It felt like a sub-9 mile....that can't be good.

I immediately sped up and got into a more difficult pace and my watch was registering that lap as around 8:30 average pace. Much better. We ended up running Mile 2 in 8:25. Back on track, because I had expected to be at about 17:30 after two miles. My plan was to increase my speed slowly in the first few miles and then lock into a pace just under 8:20 to hold for as long as possible, and then hopefully surge in the last 3 miles. I like to run negative splits in a longer race, and because there was no room for a real warm up before this race, I knew running a negative split would be best for me. I needed those first few miles to ease into a good pace.

BUT....that's not exactly how we did it. I sped up in Mile 3 a bit more than I thought I had and it clocked in at 8:16. Okay, well now the plan was to NOT SLOW DOWN. Hold as many miles at that pace or faster as I could.

The 5K split came up at 26:58, pretty much right where I wanted to be. That first mile wasn't going to totally mess me up after all. The first half wasn't particularly easy for me, but it was good enough to not completely freak me out. The 10K was in 52:42, still on target. I had run mile 6 too fast (at 8:06) so I eased off in mile 7 and ran 8:21.

One of the most humbling parts about this race was to witness the participation of athletes with disabilities. On two occasions we were passed by guided athletes. And by passed, I mean that they FLEW by us. One gentleman was an amputee. The other was blind and deaf...yes, blind AND deaf. Just imagine that for a moment. I remember thinking that if these guys refused to let their physical limitations hold them back, then I certainly could suck it up and perform at my very best.

Less than a 10K to go at this point. I was still running with Amit and Drew, but we hadn't seen Melody since those first couple miles. Amit kept looking back for her, but didn't see her. He made the decision before the split for the full and half runners to just stay with us and DQ his marathon race. He wasn't prepared as well as he had hoped for the distance and he was enjoying running with us. I think if he'd seen Melody he may have stuck with her, however. We come to find out after the race that she was a few seconds behind us the whole time!

So, if I were to be honest with myself, I was starting to freak out a little after 7 miles. I was at about 8:25 average pace, so well on my way to breaking 1:50 if I didn't implode. But I did NOT feel great. This pace was tough and the fitness I lost while injured was obvious to me. It was still the fastest 7 miles I had ever run, so I did take joy in that.

I thought about a lot of different things in order to tap into some mental toughness. The pace wasn't so hard that I couldn't keep running it, but I had to shut my doubts off so my body wouldn't give into them. I thought about the last miles of my BQ marathons, and how I remained strong despite running paces I had never run at that distance. I thought about how it really wasn't very many more miles that I needed to run, and that I was well over halfway done. I thought about the hot coffee at the finish and the hot shower I couldn't wait to take. Miles were still coming in at 8:15 range, like clockwork. As a matter of fact, my second and third 5K splits were identical, at 25:45.

Drew and Amit were doing a fantastic job of chatting with me, of building me up, of reminding me I was going to PR, and all the things great friends and pacers do to keep a runner on target. I honestly don't think I'd be running 8:15 miles if it weren't for them.

During miles 9 and 10, we had to turn into a cold headwind, but I was expecting it, and Drew reminded me that I was entering what would be the hardest part of the race and that I couldn't slow down. He just needed me to hold on for another 30 minutes and I'd blow my PR out of the water. All I could think was CRAP, another 30 minutes of this? Good grief, this was HARD.

I think miles 9-11 were probably the most difficult of this entire race. But then when you hit 11 miles, you turn east and head towards downtown and the finish. It goes by fast, and it's ONLY two more miles. 16-17 more minutes. I could do this for another 16 minutes. I could even slow down a little and still break 1:50, and I most definitely could PR. So I got a little excited once we passed the 11 mile marker.

I thought I was possibly slowing down but I focused solely on staying right next to Drew and letting him pull me into a fast enough pace. Mile 12 came in at 8:06, so somehow I had sped up. Drew shouted to me with a lot of excitement that I had sped up and that was awesome. Dude is a fantastic cheerleader. He missed his calling.

With only 1.1 miles to go, less than 2 kilometers, I really had nothing to lose but completely give into the pain cave and run my damn heart out. Only, what I hoped would be more like a 7:30-7:40 final mile wasn't really happening. I tried to speed up, but I didn't really feel like I was speeding up a whole lot. Because we were now entering the heart of downtown, I couldn't rely on the GPS pace, but rather just had to look at my watch at the mile marker. At the 20K marker, I was at 1:44:07. We had run the 4th 5K in 25:41...talk about consistent! I knew that if I was at 1:44 at the 20K point, then I would break 1:50. I could not slow down at all now. My watch beeped before the 13 mile marker (but we had added some distance on over the course of the race, close to a 10th of a mile, so I knew my miles were not exact to the course miles). It showed an 8:01. A part of me was slightly peeved that I was that close to a sub-8, but I also knew that it probably wasn't particularly accurate in downtown.

Regardless, it was only a small distance to run at this point. I ran as fast as I could and managed to squeak out a 6:59 final pace over the last 0.19 miles (according to my GPS). The last 1.1 kilometers of the race was officially in 7:49 pace.

I crossed the finish line with a time of 1:49:26. Our tangent running was pretty decent, with my Garmin showing a distance of 13.19. A half marathon in 1:49:26 is an 8:21 pace overall. I had beat my 6 year-old PR by 2:10!

I was beaten up, though! This race definitely tested my physical strength and mental strength. To feel like it was that difficult with 10K to go was a hard feeling to shake. When my quads started feeling sore at 15K, it made it even harder to keep up the pace. Thank God for the second wind when we made the turn at 11 miles. It wasn't easier to run, but my mind became sharper and more focused. The screaming crowds in the last kilometer made it a bit easier as well. Houston crowds are AWESOME.

I'm a stats geek, and I love to see how I place amongst my competitors. I am so pleased with my placing in Houston, considering it attracts a lot of serious talent.

Meeting my goal feels so fantastic, and it gives me an idea of where I'm at with regards to Boston Marathon training. I think my 1:49 shows me right at BQ shape provided I continue to run well and at high volume in training. I'd love to say that I'm easily in BQ shape, but I'm not there yet. This race also gives me a better idea of where my training paces should be right now. I got right back into it this week with a lot of easy paced miles. It was a bit of awkward running on Tuesday, my first run back, because of my fatigue but my legs felt much better after working out the lactic acid. I ended up with nearly 40 miles this week, all easy paced, but my 16 miler Sunday was the longest distance since September and I ran much of it under 9:45 pace while still keeping the effort low. That's a great sign a week after an all-out half marathon effort!

Boston is only 11 weeks away now, so my build will be starting soon. I'm feeling pretty great!

The ridiculous journey to Boston

I need to play catch up on the journey to Boston story. For those who don't know the whole, long, ridiculous, exhausting story, here are the previous blog entries that pretty much tell it:

My first attempt at a BQ....not so fast!!

My second, successful attempt at a BQ

My husband's crazy idea

My husband's crazy marathon and BQ

The Boston cut-off

So yeah....in a nutshell:

• I qualified for Boston a mismarked course, so no official BQ for me
• I legitimately qualified again 5 weeks later on a perfectly marked course, with 5:07 to spare
• Husband decides to run his FIRST marathon just so he can qualify and run with me in Boston
• He crushes his first marathon, getting a BQ with 4:43 to spare
• Oh, crap, the cut off was 4:52. He missed actually getting into Boston by 9 seconds. 

And then that same week we got that crap news, I injured my hamstring. It was a shit show of a week.

Thankfully, I'm back up and running, and just crushed a personal best in the half marathon in Houston last weekend (race recap soon!).

So, not only did I get a PR this past week, but it was also my birthday on the 15th and on that same day, the husband got the BEST NEWS EVER.

He would run the Boston Marathon after all. He works for Dell EMC and they get several sponsor bibs in conjunction with raising money for a local Hopkinton charity called the Michael Lisnow Respite Center. You can read about this incredible charity HERE. Not only that, but because he is a Boston Qualifier, he gets to use that time to be seeded in the first waves (likely the second one) rather than being put in the charity runner wave, meaning that I wouldn't have to move back in order to run with him. He could come back to my wave (likely the third) and run with me around others with my same speed.

This is not how I would have wanted to write my Boston Marathon story, but it sure makes for a good story, doesn't it? I think it's pretty spectacular that not only does the husband get to run after all, but he also gets to raise money for a charity that Dell EMC has been in partnership for many many years. I really encourage you to read more about it in the link above.

Also, if you are so inclined, we'd love for you to consider a donation to help support the charity, and us in our quest to spend our 20th anniversary together running the oldest marathon in the world!

Click here to donate to the Michael Lisnow Respite Center

79 more days!!

Getting back to normal

It's been over 3 months since I hurt myself. I was supposed to run California International Marathon last month, and I'm pretty damn bummed out. The weather, of course, was perfect and I think I could've run a PR race and secured a 2020 BQ. But alas, I had to skip it. I deferred it to next year and am already looking forward to it. I'm slowly working my voodoo magic to get Greg to commit to running it with me.

So where am I now?

Getting back to normal! It was a slow mileage buildup and I'm finally no longer wary of speed. I'm busting my butt as much as I can to get back into shape while still being cognizant of my hamstring. It'll be awhile before I'm back to pre-injury cardiovascular endurance shape, but I will get there. I closed out November with 113 miles and December with 152 miles. Those are pretty big numbers considering I only ran 29 miles in October. December was my third highest mileage month of 2018. I'm up to 40 weekly running miles, with 5 or 6 days of running. Considering I used to top out around 40-45 miles for marathons a few years ago, I'd say I'm doing well with 14 weeks of training to go. In my peak week I'll be at 60 miles, which is plenty for me.

In a little over two weeks I will be running my first half marathon since 2017 and the first time in six years that I will legitimately try to run a personal best. I had hoped to PR during my 2017-2018 marathon training cycle, but bad weather convinced me to turn a planned race into a good training run. Houston is usually pretty good on weather in January so I'm hoping for the same. It will also be my first race in my new 45-49 age group!

As the Boston Marathon gets closer, I'm getting more and more excited. A very close friend of mine who was my running buddy until she moved to the Boston suburbs is going to be running it as well. I'm hoping for some pre-race Athlete Village shenanigans before the super fun sufferfest begins. Yes, I said "super fun sufferfest." It's a thing and people like us love it. I even bought my very first Boston 2019 running gear.

This coming Sunday will be my longest training run since September, at 15 miles. This past Sunday I ran 14 miles with 5 of them at marathon pace. My pace miles were not as speedy as I had hoped, but they were still close to BQ pace, I felt great so I didn't push it any harder, I ran them in one 5 mile set, and considering I was running in 35 degree drizzle, I'm quite happy that I managed a solid training run at my longest distance in this new training cycle. It helped that the husband met me at mile 8 to run the remaining miles with me.

On the non-running front, I've been reflecting a lot on 2018 and how it differed from 2017. I felt a lot more peace this past year than I have in a long time. My daughter, who has battled depression and anxiety and has been in treatment for three years, seems to have turned a big corner. She will be turning 14 next month, and with that maturity and a change in schools for 8th grade, she seems much happier with herself. She has a newfound confidence that is beautiful to witness. She has learned to play the violin and ukelele, has been singing a lot, is continuing her incredible journey as a talented artist, and is enjoying her theater class. Her talents in the arts really blow me away and I'm thrilled she has found the right outlets to gain confidence in herself. It hasn't been perfect. As anyone who battles mental illness, it's not linear. There are ups and downs and really terrible days. But overall, upon reflecting on the year as a whole, I'd say she's made great strides.

As for me, as I alluded to in my last blog post, my eyes have been opened to many things that I was previously trying to bury because I just couldn't deal well with them. I have a new confidence in myself similar to my daughter's. I am more in tune with protecting my happiness and what that entails. I have let go of so much negativity and it's a refreshing change. My relationship with my husband of nearly 20 years has grown and as we enter this milestone year, I feel more than ever that we are on the right page with our values and our future dreams. Learning to live with someone and committing to that for a lifetime, despite ups and downs and frustrations, is rare in today's world. He's my best friend and I'm going to keep him!

I am continuing to pursue the things that I love. Besides running, I am doing some home remodeling. My newest project is repainting my kitchen cabinets, a huge endeavour but one that is actually pretty fun to tackle. If I am going to continue to be the stay-at-home parent, then it's important that I find ways to be productive and save our family money, and I enjoy the challenge of teaching myself how to do this stuff well.

On the exercise front, I'm thankful that I found a good therapy outlet with running, as this works well for me to navigate life's stressors. I was talking to a friend yesterday about marathon training and how, while I prefer the half marathon distance, committing to 26.2 is better for my mental health. It requires a focus and commitment that is very different from 13.1. I enjoy the challenge, I prefer something that requires such a high level of commitment and focus, and that's why it's become my go-to distance these last couple years. There will always been something magical and exhilarating about completing a 3-hour training run and about crossing the finish line after racing 26.2 miles.

I've been constructing my race plans through 2020 and I think I'm in for a whole lot of fun. Besides Boston and CIM this year, I'm planning to attend the Olympic Marathon Trials in Atlanta next year. I watched them in Houston in 2012 and it was incredibly fun and inspiring to witness. I want to add another marathon besides Atlanta (it will be held the day after the Trials), and Chicago is on my mind. But I'm still open to other ideas for a fall race. I've run 10 Texas marathons, so at this point I prefer traveling to other parts of this beautiful country. There are so many great races and places to visit that I need to branch out and experience them!

So, on this 2nd day of 2019, I have a lot of hope, peace, and love. May it continue throughout the year for me, my family, and my loved ones.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit

- Romans 15:13