Week 15 - One Month To Go!

Last week the Boston Marathon bib numbers were released - lucky number 28145 - and this week, we hit the one month mark until the big day!  If you're interested in following my progress on April 20, you can text my bib # to 234567 and you'll get text alerts at milestones along the route - 10k, 13.1, 30k, 35k, 40k and the Finish Line. 

I am so excited at how many amazing friends and family members have told me that they plan on being there to see me cross the finish line and I am happy that this service exists so they don't actually have to wait FOREVER to see it happen.

Why Am I Sick NOW!?

I am telling you, it seems like there has been something getting in the way of my training every step of the way.  Whether it be my knee (more on that later), asthma attacks or overall sickness.  This week it was the latter. I took Monday off as my usual rest day after a race and I took Tuesday off as well because I was meeting one of my boyfriend's best friends who was visiting from out of town.  I fully expected to get back on the proverbial horse on Wednesday after work and try to get at least two short runs in during the week before my 19 mile long run on Sunday.

When I woke up on Wednesday morning, I knew my plans were in big trouble. I couldn't breath out of my nose and I had such a bad headache and so much sinus pressure, it felt like my face was going to cave in. I called out sick from work and spent nearly the entire day in bed.  Fortunately, I had these two little housemates there to help take care of me :)




On Thursday, the sinus pressure had gone away which was a huge relief, but breathing out of my nose was still not an option.  I did go to the gym after work to do some weights and try to get a few miles in on the treadmill, but I only managed to get one mile under my best before exhaustion set in.

Friday, I was feeling a lot better - just a lot of nose blowing typical for the end of a head cold.  My boyfriend wanted to cook me dinner at his house (he's such a great cook) so we decided to go to his gym (Gold's Gym,Twin City Plaza) together beforehand.  We did some stretching and some planks and then he hit the weights and I hit the treadmill.  I had never been on a treadmill like this one before and I thought it was cool that it came with a "5k Run" option.  I had hoped to do 5 miles all together, but decided I'd start with the 3.1 and go from there.  AND HERE IS WHERE I MADE A BIG MISTAKE. Since it was a new treadmill experience, I felt like I was going too slow, so I sped up a little and before I knew it, I realized I was running much much faster than I usually do and finished the 3.1 miles in less than 30 minutes.  Now, this isn't really fast - I've run 5ks that fast before - but I have been averaging a 10/10:30 minute mile while preparing for the Marathon so I just kind of threw my sick body into a speed workout it was NOT ready for...and I felt every step of it in my knee. 

We left the gym and I knew I made a big ol' boo boo.  I had a little limp in my walk on the way home and as soon as we landed in my boyfriend's apartment I knew I was going to have to rest it good in order to do my long run on Sunday.  The upside is that my knee felt good as new on Saturday so no major damage done, but an important lesson was learned.  I am too close to Marathon day to blow out my knee on a 3.1 treadmill workout!

19 Miles Done!

By Sunday morning I was feeling great.  My knee didn't hurt at all and my cold was on it's very last, spindly legs.  I woke up early to get through my routine long run meal of homemade oatmeal with dried fruit, coffee, water and a small juice glass of Gatorade.  I watched some TV and relaxed before taping up my knee and getting out the front door for my longest run to-date.

It was a cold, windy Sunday but at least the sun was shining.  It was weird because when there was no wind, I actually thought I was way too overdressed and was going to be too hot, but as soon as the wind would blow, I was thankful for every blessed article of clothing on my person.

Warning:  This part is kind of icky. Around the third mile or so I was running through Porter Square and had to pause for a minute.  Those first several miles where were I realized that when you are stationary, you think your cold is over, but when you are being active, there is no end to the mucus.  I'm sure anyone who saw me hunched over, coughing like crazy must have thought I was the saddest, out of shape person on earth, but really I just needed to expel all of the mucus that was hanging out in my lungs.  Although this was the only time it was so bad I had to actually stop, this issue plagued me for the first 5 or 6 miles of the day.  Yuck!  End of gross part.

I followed the same route I took last weekend and followed the same fueling plan, but holy cow did it feel so much harder this week.  Maybe it was because I had been sick or maybe because I hadn't logged enough miles since my last long run, but for whatever reason by mile 13 I was exhausted.  It just became a matter of getting the job done for the last 6 miles.  Dig deep, occupy my mind with other thoughts, count my cadence and keep going. 

The worst part of the run was crossing the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge.  On a nice day, this is one of my favorite places to run.  You can look out over the Charles River at our beautiful city and it's a lovely distraction.  On this day, however, I was running directly into the wind the entire time.  It was hard to keep my breath and I was afraid my little yellow hat was going to blow off my head and end up in the river.  Just running that bridge felt like it took an eternity and every ounce of energy I had.

That being said, I still finished my run.  All 19 miles.  And I was exhausted.  I walked in the front door, took off my damp clothes, put on my bathrobe and laid down on the couch for a good 30 minutes before doing anything else.  I was proud to have finished it, but wondering how on earth I am going to add 7 more miles to that length in less than a month!



Next week is my longest long run until the Marathon!  21 miles along the course from Framingham to Boston.  This will be the big test.  I feel like if I can finish that run, I'll be ready for anything come April 20.