I had a pretty craptastic 20 miler on Saturday. Before I left the house, I had a feeling it wasn't going to be a good run. Maybe I psyched myself out or maybe I was just exhausted as this was the last long run before taper started. I held a decent pace but mentally I was shot and my foot bothered me for a better part of the run. It wasn't so much my Achilles but my arch and since I had PF last spring, I'm worried it's the start of that again. Since I decided racing Reggae marathon wasn't going to happen, I'm not going to push it any more in the last few weeks of training. I'm really cutting back my intensity this week and I'm not going to run back to back days. Clearly my foot does not like that; which is fine, because I'll have plenty of other activities to rotate into the mix during IM training.
Speaking of IM training, (yes, I'll be speaking about this a lot from here on out), I met with my coach on Sunday to talk about goals, training, etc. Best part of the meet up, I left even more excited than I already was before we met. I know this is going to be hard, but I also think it's going to be so much fun and a really incredible experience. I can't really describe it but there's something in me that is SO ready to take this on and I don't have a single doubt that this is the right goal for me in 2012. And because this goal is so huge and important, I've decided to make a few more sacrifices. 2012 will not be a normal year for me in terms of racing. Instead of my 10+ races a year, I will be doing only 3: IMFL, an Olympic distance tri (NJ State) and one 70.3 (yet to be determined). One race missing from that list that really makes me sad, Shamrock marathon. I thought I could sneak it in and go for that 3:30, but it's not worth the risk. And come January I need to start base building for where I need to be on May 1st, and I don't want running to take a priority. I know running is my strong point so I need to focus on the swim and bike through the winter months.
This Sunday is Philly marathon and I'll be running the half. Seems a little weird to not be running the full; I've run it every year since it was my first in 2008. I'm not sure what my goal is for this race and I keep going back and forth. I'm even toying with the idea of not wearing my garmin and just running by feel. Sometimes the garmin works against me and I slow myself down because I think, "I shouldn't be running this pace, it's too fast." I would really, really like to kill this race but I'd be equally happy with a PR. It's going to be a beautiful day so we'll just have to see what happens. I also never threw a race into the mix during taper; don't want to leave it all out on the couse this weekend and have nothing left for the marathon.
5 comments:
I think cutting back on your race schedule for IM training is smart. I did LP years ago and leading up to it I only did a 1/2 IM. It's so much training to cram in, you need the time! good luck with the 1/2!
wish you were running the full at a nice leisurely pace with me :)
so excited for dinner Friday!!!
I cannot believe it is going to be in the 60's!!! Everything I prepared for was for 40's! I am so ready to get out there and have fun though!
I am missing Shamrock this year too :(
Hopefully see you Sat/Sun!
I agree that cutting back on the race schedule is a fine idea.
I am running the full marathon as well. This is my second one and I'm hoping to break 4:30. I'd been dreading the 20 or 30 degrees we had last year when I did the half, but I'm loving the idea of 60 degrees! Perfect weather!
Um, I just looked at your projected time on the race confirmation sheet. I'm glad that we'll be having dinner on Friday night because there's no way in the world I'll be seeing you out on the course!
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