I haven't posted anything since I decided to run the CVX. I dont really know why this is, I just wasn't feeling it. I think I felt a little let down when I posted all the time, bringing people along on my last journey, only to seemingly fail....I didn't want that again.
But I'm back, sorta. I wanted to at least re-cap my training, the good, the bad, and the ugly and give a peek into my mental state before my race in 6 days.
Training:
Training for this marathon has been nothing short of "freestylin". I remembered immediately why training during the spring and summer months is so tough.....there's so much more to do :) I was now in a basketball league, and my work golf league started. It was daylight longer and warmer so going on the boat and keeping the house in order were now all competing for my time. I've always said that if running felt like a job, I'd quit, so I decided to run what I felt like, when I felt like it. I still ran almost 6 days a week and got a hefty amount of miles in, but most importantly, I wasn't killing myself every day, I enjoyed the "pace" of training and that kept me happy. I just hoped I wasn't NOT doing enough to keep me in a position to compete.
Instead of 2 days of speedwork, I basically got one per week, and most of the time that speedwork consisted of a Y league basketball game. I think it actually helped that I used that in my training. I found myself playing harder, running up and down the floor faster and picking up my guy the full length of the court simply because I "needed the exercise". I think people thought I was a bit nuts, but....I am, so it's ok.
The other days of the week I would usually run anywhere between 6-8 miles, sometimes at an easy pace, sometimes I'd push it more. The total miles for the week were less than I was suppose to do, but I focused on the quality, not the quantity.
My Saturday runs were my main focus. Kick ass on these and all was well. For the most part, I was able to do this. My 15, 17, and 19 mile runs went perfectly as scheduled. I decided that I'd make my new goal pace a 7:00mile vs. 6:40 on these runs, which also helped. As much as I wanted 6:40, 7:00 would get me into Boston and that's the ultimate goal. No sense in pushing myself, and risking a blowup again. On the day my 21 miler was going on, it was both fantastic and probably self destructive in hindsight. This particular week I was super stressed out and decided not to run the Friday night before. I left early Saturday morning and headed out to the river. I warmed up as usual and stretched out more than usual. Once I took back off I realized how great I felt. My legs were loose and fresh and I was comfortably holding a mid 7min mile! I knew this was dangerous, knowing I had to run the last 8 at a sub 7min pace, but I was feeling so good I just kept on. At mile 10 I was still feeling amazing and decided I'd see if I could run the last 11 at sub 7.......I came close. I ran the last 9 at around a 6:50, the last two just over 7min. Total pace was 7:15! By far better than anything I expected. BUT......at what cost?
Injuries started setting in. From this run onward I started battling aches and pains all the time. I now realized that the plan states "easy" for the first part and then goal pace becuase pushing beyond this will break your body down to a point where full recovery is needed.......oops! Knees ached, ankles felt weak, muscles were trashed. The following weekends were challenged with IT band issues, and severe muscle pains in my right quad. It took 6 miles of the 23 miler (last big workout) before I loosened up. I ran it well, but I knew something was a miss, and I needed help to get things in order before the race just 3 weeks away. I took an extra day off and tried to run a measly 4 miles while traveling for work, but the shooting muscle pain in my right quad/hammy was too much to deal with and I was forced to rest the rest of the week.
I decided to go see the same massage therapist Maura was using for her knee issues. He specializes in pain relief so I figured that was a good place to start. It was basically paying for torture. He used a lot of "cupping" therapy, which is using suction to pull muscles apart in hopes of breaking things up and allowing blood flow to get into areas that need it. Incredibly painful! It seemed to work but even after a weeks rest and some therapy, I was still feeling like a beat up ol' truck. I ran 3 days, dealing with the pain but then switched to Spin classes since that didn't seem to hurt. I decided to go back for another treatment, fearing that I had a small muscle tear. Doesn't look like anything is tore, but I'm likely overtrained. I have spots in my quad where it feels like I have cement implanted.....not good. It was decided that it was best to allow treatment to set for another two days, then do spinning two more days, then I'm traveling for work, so basically rest Wednesday and Thursday, a couple warmup miles on Friday to make sure I still know HOW to run, and then..........it's game time.
Race:
The race itself follows some gorgeous areas of Charlevoix, MI, just 13 miles from where I grew up riding my bike. It's an out and back course, fairly flat and has many spots where I can see Lake Michigan. I get goosebumps just thinking about it. My uncle, at 50+ is also running the marathon, my mom, a couple aunts and a couple cousins running the 10K. My "EJ Boys" are going to be somewhere along mile 20 and my friend Jesse at either 18 or 23. One friend, Scott, might actually run the last 3.2 with me......that should be cool. Basically I'm trying to survive 20 miles becuase I know once I see them I'll be emotionally charged to make the final miles. My mom scored an EJ Red Devils track singlet for me too and I read on the race website that the EJ HS Cheer Team is working the finish line. I couldn't paint a better scenario to run a marathon if I tried. The time is important, but there's something about all this coming together, my life of running down here and combining with all I love from home that's really special for me right now. I just hope that I can remind my self of that for 26.2 more miles...............here I go. Thank you to all that believe in me and have supported me thus far......see you at the finish line!
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