Without getting too dramatic, this week has been quite a long time in the making. I've been waiting since November of 2009 to both have a bib and be healthy to run Boston. And apparently, the stars have aligned, at least well enough.
This week was infinitely better than last week. I can now run about as far as I would expect without being so sore that I can't walk. Whatever is going on with my left quad and/or back is still a problem, but as long as I "give it respect" it isn't getting any worse.
I didn't quite hit 50 miles for this week, but honestly, it probably doesn't matter at this point...
Monday: Rest. Took the conservative route after my first double digit mileage run in a couple weeks.
Tuesday: 10 miles total with 5xmile at 5:50 pace. It was nice to step foot on a track for the first time in 3 weeks. I kept the rest to a lap jog in between and except for one 5:40 (opps), the remaining 4 miles were between 5:50-5:52. It actually got easier as I went on, and overall, everything felt about what I would have expected.
Wednesday: 10 miles, easy. I felt decent afterwards, though in hindsight, probably should have run a little less.
Thursday: Rest. I woke up to a stiff and painful quad again. Rather than make it worse, I just canned what would have been an easy run anyway.
Friday: 3 miles, easy. Quad was still stiff and painful. Thankfully I had the day off from work, so I basically sat around all day (still being productive, studying for the GREs) with heat and compression on my leg. By the afternoon, it felt much better.
Saturday: 6 miles, easy. The quad felt better with no pain during this easy run.
Sunday: Once again, I woke up with a tight quad and back. I'm seriously considering ditching my mattress because it's old as freaking crap, and clearly, must have something to do with this. After some light stretching and some more heat, it felt better again, so I decided to get a final long-ish run in.
14 miles total, I kept most of the miles between 6:40 and 7:00, and tried just a couple at various paces between 6:15 and 6:35 to get a feel for race day. I seemed to feel the best in the 6:30s. Slower than that felt like dragging and faster than that felt too hard. Without actually revealing a plan for the race, I at least have some idea of what to start out with.
Total Mileage: 43
If it wasn't for my troublesome quad, I would be a bit more at ease. I doubt it will be a problem, and I've waited too long for this anyway. I'm certainly not in any condition to try for a sub-2:40, and a PR might be pushing it. Overall, I'm aiming for just an intelligently paced race where I go out conservatively and let the cards fall where they will on the second half. On a perfect day, I think I can still PR, but I'll take pretty much anything under 2:55.
My two real goals for Boston:
1. Enjoy the moment (finally)
2. Prove to myself that I can run a well paced, reasonable marathon in the ball park of my now somewhat old PR
Can't beat goal #1. Hope you have a good experience and run a well-paced race. I too am waiting for my opportunity, but until then will live vicariously through you guys!
ReplyDeleteFunny you mention the mattress, I've thought about ditching mine here recently as well.