Right now I'm pretty much in nonstop obsession mode over whether or not I'll get into the 2018 Boston Marathon. I have a -2:48 cushion this year which historically would get me into EVERY past race that had a cutoff- but with my luck the line will be drawn and 2:49 this year so I'm trying temper my expectations until they finally make the announcement in about 10 days.
TRYING to temper my expectations. *cough*
When I'm not obsessing over the 2018 cutoff time, I instead turn my attention to obsessing over my current training. I've had a pretty solid 9 weeks back since my time off and I've even made some adjustments as well to try to maximize this shortened training cycle. I've been running a hilly 9-mile trail route once a week and I've added in some extra workouts at my goal marathon pace (in addition to the usual once-a-week speed/interval sessions I usually do.) For the most part I feel like it's been paying off, although I was experiencing some pain in my left heel for a couple of weeks so I spent a lot of time icing/stretching and taping it up to get that to subside. I was able to run through it the whole time it was acting up but now that it's on the mend I'm excited to get back to running pain-free for my taper into Lakefront Marathon.
What's that? I'm running Lakefront Marathon now?
I know, I was just talking about how smart I was for giving myself more time to train for a fall marathon by doing the Milwaukee Marathon on October 15th and then I go signing up for a race that takes place 2 weeks earlier. I do have reasons though!
The main reason is the course itself. I love the MKE Marathon course that runs through the city, but I know it's a hilly route and probably not the best bet for a PR for me. On top of that there are about a million turns which means I have to bee 100% on point in running the tangents to get anything close to 26.2 miles. On the flip side the Lakefront course is point-to-point (with only a few turns) and every time I've run it before it comes out closer to 26.2 than any other race I've done.
Because of this I'm crossing my fingers that I'll be ready in two weeks to go all out. I'm not entirely sure if it's the right decision but it's the once I'm going with. I've done this race so many times that I know the route practically in my sleep! I'm just hoping that my cumulative training over the years carries me through whatever I'm lacking in this particular marathon cycle.
In other news I ran the Brewers 10K last weekend. This is a race that usually kills me due to a couple of really brutal hills in the middle but this time I decided not to worry about my watch and run by feel instead. And it was pretty solid! I definitely slowed on the hills but I didn't let it freak me out and I rebounded faster at the top of each one. I felt super strong going into the final mile and finished with a huge kick (something I've never done at a 10K before.)
So...the next two weeks I'll be busy tapering and refreshing my email looking for a Boston confirmation-basically driving myself crazy in a nutshell.
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