A Long Way

Now, I know I should have updated you all right away, but I got sidetracked. None the less, I did 18 miles on Sunday, 18 miles! Crazy. And, I did it without even half the problems of the previous week's 17 miles, and I did it faster. It felt so good to get through it in that way. I'm not saying it didn't hurt, oh it did. But, I wasn't contemplating taking a nap on the sidewalk at any point, nor was I pleading with a higher power to take the pain away, either. What changed you ask? Well, I made sure I got sleep the few nights before, I watched my diet a little more closely, I stretched through the week, and changed my running strategy. I did a cycle of running 7 minutes, and then walking two. This helped immensely, however, a strange thing happened, instead of looking forward to the walk break, I started to look forward to the run parts. It was weird, or at least unexpected, but it felt better to start running again. Though, I know without those walk breaks, it would not have gone nearly as well. I was also a lot more careful with my nutrition throughout the run, I spaced out my energy gels well and I sipped instead of gulped liquids. It all went great, then I took a cold water leg bath after that kind of energized my legs and got me through the rest of the day.

The run was a pretty cool route all over Boston. Noreen even did the first mile with me, which was great for two reasons. First, I loved having her along and second she paced me so I didn't go out too hard, which probably helped a lot. I covered my neighborhood, Jamaica Plain, in spades. Then I ran up a back route into Brookline, through Allston, all through Cambridge, right by Fenway Park, and home down the greenway back to JP. A great route with a good mix of hills, flats and downhills, which is great for the marathon as it has varied topography throughout, Heart Break Hill anyone?

Then we went to an Oscar party at a friend of Noreen's apartment. It was a lot of fun, though I agree that the awards were a bit dull this year. My legs started to cramp a bit by then, but I was sitting so we were ok. Then yesterday, I woke up and they were really tight. Luckily my employer allows me to work from home now and then, so I did and stretched them out all day. Now we're good, and I'm ready for my light week. Just a few 5 milers, one 8 mile, and then 13 to wrap it up. Piece O' cake! Have a great day!

Just a Note: As you may notice, the widget in the top corner for fundraising has changed. Horizons has decided to use FirstGiving.com as an online tool. It's a good resource and they have no fees like ChipIn(which were minimal and I'm covering so no worries). It should be better with this going forward. Just wanted to let all you eagle eyes know what's up.