The Road to Boston (week 10 of 16)

6 weeks to go, and I really don't feel prepared at all (so what else is new, right?).  My running does not seem anywhere near as easy as it was a few short months ago, and my focus has wavered (plus I've been eating way too much junk stuff on all my travels).  On the other hand, I probably don't want to be smooth sailing this far out.  If I play it right, I can run myself into form and straight into the start line at Hopkinton.

And I'm still contemplating what to do after Boston.  Part of me wants to sign up for another race (like the super fun BCS marathon I ran last December), while another part of me wants to give it a break for a while.  Good angel, bad angel.  Jekyll and Hyde.  Right now the powers of light and darkness are in perfect balance.

Though as my plans to run a marathon with my brother in the UK this summer fell through, I guess I don't need to make a decision for a while anyway!!!

Saturday March 3rd
5:10am, 55F and windy.  Met Clea for 18 miles, with a guest appearance by Megan in the middle of the run.  Sore hamstring because I was stupid and did a boat load of leg curls last week on an already dodgy hamstring.  No monster Stratford hills today (thank goodness), but still enough inclines on Scenic and Jefferson to keep me interested.  Finished in 2:36:11 (8:41 average), with the highlight being a quick stop to check on a "drunk as a skunk" yuppie sprawled across the trail.  At the risk of sounding old, man I do not miss the party scene at all!!!

Sunday March 4th
5:30am, 48F.  7 mile Shoal Creek recovery run with Clea.  We kept a good pace and equally good conversation to finish up in 57:37 (8:14 average).  Big day as I rushed home to celebrate Gavin's birthday.  Good thing I clocked up the miles this weekend, as we all enjoyed Cheesecake Factory cheesecake.  I only wish I hadn't looked at the nutrition label!!!

Tuesday March 6th
5am, 58F and humid.  Met James for our 7 mile pace run.  He's training for London and me for Boston, so we're right at the same point in our training.  Which means we were both tired from 18-20 mile runs this weekend.  Still, we managed 7 miles in 53:55 (7:42 average), which is not bad at all.

9:30pm.  Traveling again at another client site.  After a 4 hour drive to North Texas after work, needed something to loosen me up.  In the absence of a good single malt, that something turned out to be Bob Harper's 15 minute "yoga" abs workout.  Now I'm ready for bed, with the best intentions of getting up for an early morning run in a bid to avoid the runner-unfriendly local motorists, thus saving wear and tear on my middle finger.