The Long Cold Run

Gut Check

Yesterday was a gut check run --the makeup run from Monday's bailout in NC. I did 19 on the course and back to my house. It took a while for the anxiety of a bad training run to work its way out of my system but once that happened, it was quite enjoyable. There were a number of runners on course doing some of the last long runs before race day.

I turned around at Walnut St. so that I could get a good look at the John Kelley statue. It was the first time I've seen it since I'm always coming from the opposite direction. The turnaround point was perfect for giving me the extra kick I needed to head back up Heartbreak Hill. In all honesty, my experience has been that Heartbreak Hill isn't that bad of an uphill -- I have had a much more significant challenge feeling comfortable on the downhills that make up much of Boston's course. The impact of that much downhill on my leg muscles and my surgically repaired knee is a bigger problem. This year, I need to remember to start out slower than I'd like to that the sharp downhill followed by an almost imperceptible uphill going from Wellesley into Newton Lower falls along with the last 4 miles at Boston doesn't hurt too much.

At this point, I'm still not feeling ready for race day but I'm feeling better than I was last week -- a few more long runs to go and lots of cross training will hopefully help me to win the all important mental race.

In the meantime, Speedy Ima and I are running a 5k tomorrow. There is a slight chance that I may have to pull out in order to watch Speedy while Speedy Ima and some of my friends run but hopefully, we'll all be out there running. I'm not looking to go too fast this time - with a 19 mile run yesterday, I'm trying to focus on enjoying the run and allowing my body to recover. This summer I'll focus on getting back to 6 minute miles for my 5k pace -- for now, I just don't want a repeat of last year's pulled hamstring 3 weeks before Boston.

posted by Jesse @ 8:02 PM