Late this past week, I reached the point of feeling ready for Boston. I came through the valley of the shadow of a tendon strain with the help of an excellent chiropractor, got in some workouts with GMP miles where I felt strong and practiced running in 63 degree weather, in the range of the currently forecasted high temperature on race day.

Monday – Off. Care for sore ankle/inner shin confirmed by stress score of 23 and potential for cold coming on. Left work early and took and afternoon nap. Strength/core work: 3×25 single leg goblet squats, 2×95 seconds planks.

Tuesday – cross-train 8 “miles”, 66 mins on elliptical (143 bpm) as my ankle/shin was still sore. Happily low stress score: 17. Would rather be running, but this was a good workout; as I went through the session my body felt comfortable going faster without spiking my heart rate, in contrast to Sunday where I could feel my body fighting me during a portion of the run

Later in the day, I went to see Dr. Duke, a sports chiropractor who diagnosed a strained/tight posterior tibial tendon and made me feel a million times better after a single treatment. Made appointments for further treatment the following two days.

Wednesday AM – 7.2 miles easy (8:48/160 bpm) in CP with a friend’s daughter visiting from San Francisco amidst the cherry blossoms. Happily low morning stress score: 14. Delighted to be able to run but very frustrated about loss of body confidence and coordination after only two days off. Strength/core: planks, single legged toe touches.

Wednesday PM – 4.5 miles easy (8:30/145 bpm) in CP, plus 3×15 weighted single leg goblet squats. Felt coordination slowly starting to return and body confidence got a boost from Dr. saying I wasn’t going to make my tendon problem worse by running on it.

Thursday – 14 miles in CP with 6 at GMP (7:34/171 bpm average with splits of 7:36, 7:33, 7:45, 7:32, 7:29, 7:31) (8:01/163 bpm for entire run). From despair to hope and optimism in a day! I am back on track! Purpose of this run was to dial in GMP. Happy that with the exception of a West Side Hill where I sucked, after days of being in a black hole, I did it. Strength work: 3×20 goblet squats, weighted hamstring exercises, single leg toe touches.

Friday – 14 miles, mostly on track, with 7 miles steady state (7:52/158 bpm avg) and 3 miles GMP (7:30/167 bpm avg)(8:00/155 bpm average for entire run). This was a great run! I woke up with low stress score and wanted to run more GMP miles. I was initially disappointed that high school track practice made the track too crowded for a hard effort, but after some miles the polite CT group left a lane open for me and I enjoyed watching them work hard as I clicked off the miles. Legs felt good. Strength training: weighted single legged goblet squats, weighted eccentric heel drops, push ups, single leg toe touches.

Saturday – 7 recovery pace (9:05) miles on hotel treadmill in Winchester Va, on our way to the Great Smoky Mountains in TN. Studied Ryan Hall’s training logs before he set an American record in the 2011 Boston marathon on the drive and was amazed to see how much faster he raced than he logged most of his tempo miles. Strength work: 4500# deadlifts, single leg goblet squats.

Sunday – 10.7 miles easy (8:35/148 bpm) on hilly trails in the Great Smoky Mountains NatIonal Park on Gatlingburg TN with Deena doggie, while listening to “The Illegal” recommended by Catnip for a few miles, then silence. Ran at midday in 63 degree weather to simulate forecasted conditions for Boston. Noticed my ventilatory threshold is much lower in warmer temperatures. Good to know. Strength work: 3 sets hamstring exercises, 2 sets eccentric heel drops, single leg toe touches.

Weekly total: 57.5 miles running, 8 “miles” elliptical

—-

Boston Training total: 1089 miles

Weekly average: 64.2 miles per week

20+ mile long runs: 4, including 1 28.5 mile run

GMP miles: 92

——

Goals for final week: don’t get injured, don’t get stale, run in warm temperatures when possible to prepare for race day.

This week, I had an amazing goal marathon paced run that was faster and at a lower effort level than the NYC Half Marathon I ran a week ago. Also, my cruise interval speed paces started to dip below 7:00 per mile pace.

Monday – 6.8 miles, post-race recovery pace (9:22/133 bpm) on CP dirt bridle path which was a gorgeous, frosty wonderland, coated with the last dusting of snow for the season. Felt surprisingly good for the day after a half marathon; I have been more sore and higher stress score after several hard Sunday workouts this training cycle. Strength work: 95 second side planks, single leg toe touches, form drills

Tuesday – 8 miles recovery/easy (9:02/141 bpm) mostly on CP dirt bridle path. Forsythia and magnolia blooms are glorious and seem to have survived yesterday’s snow. Strength work: 2×30 weighted eccentric heel drops, weighted hamstring exercises, 3500# deadlift.

Wednesday – 11 miles, with 3 mile tempo (7:22/169 bpm, 7:08/174 bpm, 7:17/177 bpm — 7:15/173 bpm average). Then 3 miles steady state (8:09/164 bpm avg)(8:09/163 bpm avg for entire run). I had hoped to run 2×3 miles and was pleasantly surprised at how low my heart rate was at my 7:15 target pace. But after the first interval, on two attempts, my body refused to resume my target pace, even though my heart rate was not high, so I decided to simply do a steady state run which gives an additional modest fitness benefit. Strength work: planks, weighted eccentric heel drops, 4×20 goblet squats w 40# weight, weighted hamstring exercises.

Thursday – 11.3 miles with 3 mile tempo (6:57!/171 bpm; 7:05/176 bpm; 7:08/178 bpm — 7:03/175 bpm average)! (8:09/158 bpm avg for entire run). Woke up with a low stress score (16) and decided to go for the rest of the six miles on my agenda for this week at MP effort. Excited to run these paces and think I lack good running economy at them because I have almost never run this fast. Strength work: 4×20 push ups.

Friday – 10.25 miles easy (9:02/147 bpm) with 7.5 on CT trails with Deena doggie, and remainder on track, with strides at end. Spotted the first spring buds in CT, which is a few weeks behind NYC.  Couple slow splits after falling trying to navigate our way around another dog. 7:58/155 bpm 9th mile on track. Strength work: 3×35 weighted eccentric heel drops, 3×20 single leg goblet squats, single leg toe touches, 3×20 reverse lunges, 3×20 lateral lunges, 4×10 box jumps (oof! needed a nap after this after not doing plyo for several weeks).

Saturday – 16 miles in CP with 11 miles at GMP (7:31/170 bpm average for GMP miles and 7:40 average for run). Best GMP run ever!!! I ran GMP miles 10 seconds per mile faster than intended — faster than my pace during the NYC Half Marathon last week and at dramatically lower effort level. In fact, my effort level was so comfortable that I had a runner’s high for more than 30 minutes of it. 8:21/146 bpm first mile. Strength work: planks, single legged toe touches; Kettlebell swings, deadlifts.

Sunday – 11.3 recovery pace (8:41/139 bpm) miles, 7.3 on CT trails with Deena and 4 miles on track with strides at end. 8:22/147 bpm 10th mile and 7:36/158 bpm 11th mile on track (including strides). Running watch has increased its estimate of my V02 Max to 57. I don’t quite believe it but am happy to be seeing continued improvement.

Happy Easter!  Three weeks til Boston!

Weekly total: 75

This week, I navigated through a hamstring strain and ran the NYC Half Marathon, an amazing experience, finishing with a 3 1/2 minute personal best.

Monday – 7.7 miles easy/recovery pace (9:10/140 bpm) in Central Park in pouring rain. Ran up the steep side of Harlem Hill twice for Boston practice. Strength work: core work on Swiss ball and unicycle, 3×20 push ups, single leg toe touches. Hamstring hurt after this run, likely from hills, so spent the day which I had off lounging, resting it and trying not to stress about worst case scenario.

Tuesday – 8.3 miles easy (9:14/145 bpm), mostly on CP reservoir and dirt bridle path. Ran first two miles extemely easy to baby hamstring, which felt much better but pretty sure has a mild strain in an area I have injured in the past. Felt generally okay and much better than after Monday’s run. Strength work: 3×15 weighted goblet squats, single leg toe touches.

Wednesday- 11 miles easy, mostly on Chicago’s Lakeshore trail (8:59/152 bpm). Morning stress score was on the high side of good, where it usually is after a marathon length hard workout or after drinking the night before – travel is hard on the body and I am pretty sure I would have struggled to hit speed paces. But my legs felt good, did not feel hamstring during run and felt worshipful watching the light come up over Lake Michigan, even in the wind and rain. Strength work – one set push ups and planks (sore abs???), donkey kicks, single leg toe touches.

Thursday – 11.4 happy, easy miles (8:51/150 bpm) mostly along Chicago Lakeshore Drive at sunrise while listening to “Joyful, Joyful” and other hymns. Lower stress score and could run faster with less effort than yesterday, though still not low enough for a workout. Felt hamstring when I woke up but felt great during the run. Strength work: goblet squats, deadlift 3200#, single leg toe touches.

Friday – 10.2 miles easy (8:38/151 bpm) mostly on CP dirt bridle path amidst spring daffodils and blooms while listening to Napoleon. 8:42/144 bpm first mile. Awoke at home and finally with low stress score (17); hope I can keep it low despite nervousness about approaching race. Hamstring feeling better!  Strength work: 3 min 15 secs planks, single leg toe touches.

Saturday – 5.3 miles very easy (9:17/140 bpm) on CT trails with Deena doggie. Good, low stress score (17). Annoyed to feel hammy before and after (but not during) run – think it may be scar tissue so applies trigger point pressure with tennis ball. Strength work: 2×30 weighted eccentric heel drops, 3×15 single leg goblet squats, 29 reps hamstring exercise with lighter than usual weight, single leg toe touches.

Sunday – 15.3 miles, including 13.3 miles running NYC Half Marathon in 1:40 (7:34/178 bpm average), a 3 1/2 min PR! Also, top 4% in my age group and top 5% of women overall and 69.5% AG, not too shabby for me, in a highly competitive race with about 20,000 finishers.

Body going into the race:  Got almost seven hours sleep on Saturday night and woke with 19 stress score. Not bad for race morning. Determined on Friday that proper effort level for me to race a half marathon is 178-188 bpm (for me, 5 beats per minute translates to about 15 seconds per mile). Decided to target the low end of the range, 178 bpm, to be conservative in light of hamstring strain, overlap with my proper marathon effort (175-183 bpm), and permit sooner resumption of training for Boston, my “A” goal race. Still felt the hamstring at rest, so knew I needed to be cautious.

Learning to race:  I am still learning how to race and rarely run hard enough that my breath is audible. Toward the end of our time in Central Park, miles 5-7, I started to hear myself breathing hard and wanted to quit as my heart rate climbed to 180-181.  I hung in there, and finally realized that I could run for a long time at this effort level and that being able to hear myself breathe did not necessarily mean that I would blow up and need to stop running.  I felt much better during miles 9-12.5, speeded up to the fastest 5k leg of the race, and did not consider stopping, even though my heart rate averaged 181-182. I realized I could tolerate this effort level; that it was an effort but not painful and not so hard that I would need to stop.

The course:  enter this race if you ever get the chance!!  The first 5-7 miles are hard and hilly, including Harlem Hill in mile 4 that rivals Heartbreak Hill, BUT running through Times Square and down the West Side Highway along the water, with Freedom Tower in full view, in the middle of a sea of people is an amazing experience.  Bands and spectators, even on a windy, cold day, made us feel like rock stars.  It is also a great course to learn how to run a negative split if one starts conservatively, because the last five miles are mostly down hill or flat.

Mental stamina:  I persevered through a period of wanting to quit, myself I might not get the chance to run this fabulous course ever again and to savor every moment rather than wishing it away. I tried to enjoy the view of every city building and the sea of racers in front of me.  I told myself “I do hard things” (thanks, Catnip!) and “Boston.” I thought about Desi grinding out the miles. I ran without headphones and kept my concentration on my pace, body and heart rate.  Ultimately, I embraced the effort and loved it.  I finished in 1:40, a 3 1/2 minute PR.

Celebration:  spent the rest of the morning at a great Irish bar, the Dead Rabbit, warming up with hot Whisky Punch and full Irish breakfast with fellow New York Flyers and my 22 year-old son.

Lessons learned:  Some important lessons that I realized during the race and will carry with me through Boston are that I will feel satisfied with myself if I am running at an appropriate effort level and within my fitness (hard enough, but not overreaching where I end up blowing myself up). Thinking about this took away the pressure of worrying about or being disappointed by any particular split. Also, to the extent I am able to “enjoy” the effort I will also be able to push a bit harder and run a bit faster.  Finally, I realized that my body took this as a tempo run rather than a race, with low stress scores and runs that went well on the two mornings following the race.  So I plan to target only 5-6 seconds slower than that, around 7:40, for my marathon paced runs between now and Boston.

Weekly total: 69 miles

This week, I celebrated turning 43, my dogter turning 1, and realized a goal set 16 months ago of running more than 80 miles per week.

Monday – 7.2 recovery miles (9:39/137 bpm) on CT trails with Deena doggy. Strength work: 2×15 weighted goblet squats, 4×20 push ups, 1×30 weighted eccentric heel drops, 3×15 lateral lunges with Kettlebell, 3×15 Kettlebell hamstring exercises, 26×90 lb deadlifts, balance on Swiss ball.

Tuesday – 11.2 miles with 3×2 miles with 90 seconds rest (7:20/175 bpm; 7:23/177 bpm)(7:23/173 bpm; 7:26/177 bpm)(7:25/173 bpm; 7:24/178 bpm). More consistent and averaging about eight seconds per mile faster than last week. Yay!!! Went for this workout after a great morning stress score thanks to 8+ hrs good sleep. This was a tough workout but I kept the stress recovery cycle exactly and felt a huge sense of accomplishment afterward. I am finally getting close to finding the right effort level I feel confident I can sustain for a good distance without blowing myself up. Also happy that this run, after my gym strengthening workout last night, was balanced. Newness of the paces put blisters on my toes. Happy battle scars. Strength work: planks, form drills, single leg toe touches.

Wednesday – 8.5 miles easy/recovery pace (9:23/143 bpm), mostly on CP dirt bridle path. Ran without earphones in mindful silence and meditation on perfect almost spring morning, and saw the first buds of forsythia. Strength work: 3×15 weighted goblet squats, single leg toe touches, 2×30 weighted eccentric heel drops, 3000# deadlifts, core work on Swiss ball.

Thursday – 9.7 miles easy (9:22/148 bpm) mostly on CP reservoir in 61 degree weather. Forsythia blooms brilliant yellow and magnolia buds are emerging, early for the time of year. Strength work: 3×15 goblet squats, weighted reverse lunges, 2×95 sec side planks, balance on Swiss ball.

Friday — 15 miles with 9 miles at GMP (7:48/172 bpm average — 7:39/165; 7:54/172; 7:44/170; 7:49/172; 7:57/174; 7:38/173; 7:47/174; 8:00/175; 7:39/173). Put my big girl panties on and ran on a warmish day in CP without breaks on terrain that simulates Boston as closely as I have available, starting with hard downhill at beginning, rolling hills, then later in the run, running up the West Side hills, then Harlem Hill, which has similar climb and grade as Heartbreak Hill. Hoping to get up the nerve to increase the intensity a bit, so that my pace averages 7:39-7:44, and lengthen GMP miles to about 12 miles the week after next. My quads gave me feedback(!) after the run so think I did something right.

Saturday – 9.8 miles easy/recovery pace (9:07/141 bpm) on CT trails with last 1.5 miles on track with strides. 8:53/140 bpm second mile. Celebrated my birthday and Deena doggy turning one by running together through the woods and listening to spiritual songs. Amazed at how good I felt and how low my stress score was the day after a hard workout. Must have been the magic of the day.

Sunday – 20.5 miles (8:17/159 bpm average) with NY Flyers to Little Red Lighthouse under the GW Bridge. Ran 17.5 at easy 8:30’s and last 3 at GMP (7:46, 7:37, 7:39). Strength work: 3×20 goblet squats, 2×30 eccentric heel drops, single leg toe touches.

Weekly total: 82 miles!