1 Month Out

This past Friday marked the 1 month mark until race day. As most people do before races, I'm beginning to get nervous, as well as just a little bit doubtful about some of my goals.

I feel like my running has changed a lot since this past fall. In short, training in Colorado at a high altitude for about 15 months was more beneficial than I ever imagined at the time. Sadly I didn't realize that until now, as I find myself struggling to hold paces that I could do effortlessly over the summer.

This isn't to say I don't have high expectations for the race; I do. I have a list of goals, which I'll share sometime soon on here. Training in both Illinois and now Maryland has proved to be challenging, both in different ways. Illinois, in short, is flat and lacks trails.  As for Maryland, there's certainly no shortage of trails. In contrast to Illinois, it's extremely hilly, and as I've mentioned, there are times when I freak out about my pace, not realizing it's likely I've been running on a slight incline the entire run. Luckily, the large majority of Boston is a slight decline. Check it out.

All in all, I'm not sure what to expect. Mileage definitely hasn't been as high as when I was training for Colorado. I have been training differently, incorporating more pacing and tempo runs. I'm not sure what kind of difference this will make. Long runs for the most part have been good; I knocked out my first of two 20 milers on St. Patricks day. It was a hot one, and I had to have a few water stops, but I pulled it out. Green pancakes followed.

Excellent, and healthy.

The plantar fasciitis in my right heel at the very least isn't getting any worst, and I'm icing that thing like a mofo.
Praise the Lord, weather has been beyond amazing. Almost too amazing, as temperatures are actually beginning to get, do I dare say, hot? Heat usually doesn't bother me too much, yet I can't help but to notice... damn it's humid out here.  However, I'm going to try not to obsess about what the weather may be like on April 16. No control of that.

I also received my new 'race shoes' last week (see below) which I love. Same brand, same model, different color. Black = Badass. The trip to the running store last week resulted in two interviews with the company (which went well) ... more on that in my next post.

No I don't set up my shoes to model for pictures...

The bottom line is, I'm really pumped. My sister will fly out that Friday before the race and make the 8 hour drive up to Boston with Andrew and me. My long-time friend Megan will also be flying out for the weekend, and we'll be meeting up with her on Sunday. I'll stop here with the Boston babbling, because I'm sure you'll get more than enough of that in the weeks to follow.

Meg & me after dominating Chicago Rock 'N Roll 2010

Here's to healthy, happy running these last four weeks before the big dance. Cheers!