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Getting back into it

Getting back into it

Last week marked my first full week of work since sometime before Thanksgiving, thanks to being in Kenya for 3 weeks, being ill for about a week, and being in the DR for a week.  Last week also marked the last week of “playful” running before I kicked off my Boston Marathon training on Saturday with my local Fleet Feet’s Boston Bound program.

Saturday morning was just a nice little 45-minute-ish presentation from the FF folks about the program (it sounds awesome! I’m excited to join), and then the group trekked out of the store for a nice 6-miler up and down the lakefront.  Fortunately, most of the path was clear (except by the N. Ave bridge and up near the Diversey golf course), and while the temps were a bit cold (single digits, sub-zero with windchill), it was nice to be in the company of a large group of runners who are experiencing the whole lot of emotions — excited, nervous, scared, you name it — to be running and training for Boston.  Most of the folks I spoke with and ran with were running their first Boston, so it makes me all the more excited for them 🙂  Wednesday night we’ll commence speedwork sessions.  Bring it on!

Adjusting to the cold cold hasn’t been too bad or challenging.  Usually my body stays pretty warm, thanks to all the layers I’m sporting, but my face gets a bit chilly.  I may need to invest in a balaclava or some Yaktrax one of these days… (for whatever reason, I seem to be holding out!)

As of now, I’m signed up for the March Madness half marathon out in Cary, IL, in March; the Boston Marathon; and the Rockin’ Chicago 1/2 (formerly the CDC) in August.  I’d like to get in on at least one more full marathon, probably in the fall, and try a bunch more different races this year, focusing on doing more 5ks to help with speed.  I’m also flirting with that 50k idea, so I’ll need to figure out a way to appropriately space out everything… Suggestions welcomed.

Boston training is on, beeyotches!! 🙂

And we wait.

And we wait.

That’s right- it’s that time!  The MCM is on Sunday, officially less than a week away.  I’m super excited to run the race and to jaunt around DC with my parents and C from Friday through Tuesday.  It will be most excellent.

I had my last long run, around 10 miles, on Saturday morning along Chicago’s lakefront with Jack, the recent Chicago marathon rock-star  who posted an impressive 3:29.  Our training run was nice, though the intense out-of-the-north winds I had to negotiate on my return home were less than wonderful.

Goals for the MCM?  Depends on how I feel.  Right now, the main goal is to break 4.  I plan to line up with the 3:40s and hang on.  If I have an awful day and run a 5 hour marathon, it’ll be the best 5 hour marathon I’ve ever run (and the only).  It’s going to be THAT fantastic; I just know it!

Keep an eye out for the post-race recap early next week.  Happy trails!