Boston Marathon Countdown: 12 Weeks

Another 2 weeks of training behind me.  These were the 2 highest mileage weeks in my career, even though I didn't hit the upper end, which was my goal. The weather has been terrible - cold, windy, and wet.  I still ran outside most days, running after work instead of before to take advantage of the sun and afternoon "warm-up" (sad that I now consider 10 degrees warm).  One day when the winds were close to 30mph I was forced inside to the treadmill and ended up getting in 10 miles and some fantastic speed work.  Who'd have thought?

Today is really the only day I fell short.  I had another long run scheduled - 16-18 miles.  The weather was once again awful - cold temps, high winds, and snow.  It didn't seem smart to be out there.  Another treadmill day.  But 16 miles on that thing?  No way!  The most I'd done was 10 and that was pushing it.  Plus I had my first case of a frostbitten toe that had resulted in a big painful blister.  I could still run on it (had done 11 the day before) but I was going to pay more attention to it with the boredom of the treadmill.  And the gym were crowded so I felt bad using one for more than an hour when people were waiting.  So I just did 8 miles.  Half of what I was supposed to do for the day.  But because this was my first experience with surface frostbite, I was also in a hurry to get to urgent care to make sure my toe wasn't going to fall off.  Don't worry.  It's not.

In these 2 weeks I started to work in some hills to prep for Boston, which I've found I need to make sure I do a lot more of in the coming weeks!  Phew, they were tough! I worked on some good ones at Kensington Metropark last Sunday during my 16-miler and again yesterday during my RUNdetroit group run when we ran up 5 levels of a parking structure.  No matter where you live, rural or urban, you too can train for Heartbreak Hill!  (wink wink!)

Here's a recap of my plan from the last 2 weeks:  

*NOTE - I don't show my cross-training days on my running plan but I also cycle 1-2 days for 50 minutes and do strength-training throughout the week.  

It looks like it's going to be another cold week.  I better learn to love the treadmill for the next couple of days while I work on winterizing my shoes!  

Happy Running!

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