Marathon Monday: 10 weeks

Since the last thing you need is yet another picture of my sneakers, here is Peggy Sue post swim. (She's closing her eyes for dramatic effect.)

Oh, hey there! Sorry to leave you hanging last week. I'm still alive. I'm just injured. And when I'm injured, I'm miserable. And when I'm miserable I curl up in a little ball and cry -- and I don't blog.

I finally acknowledged last week that my IT band needed more than a day off. So I took off SEVEN whole days. I spent the week icing, strengthening, rolling, and eating lots of leafy greens and Omega 3s. Saturday I went for my first run -- 3.1 miles -- and I'm happy to report it went relatively well. My IT band was still tight --but it didn't hurt -- and I felt great later that day and Sunday. I'm going to slowly start ramping up my mileage this week and it better go well!

Unfortunately, I think this little hiccup may have cost me a Boston Marathon qualifying time. Honestly, when I look back, I realize my body wasn't strong enough to handle such quick paces. My endurance levels are there but I guess my muscles and my ligaments and all that jazz aren't. Which is lame but I have to respect it.

My new goal is to finish in under 4 hours, and then I'm going to spend the early part of the winter getting stronger so that I can hopefully get closer to qualifying at a spring marathon! In a weird way I feel relieved. I really wanted to qualify in October but at the same, the thought of it made me anxious. Almost as though my subconscious knew I wasn't ready. I feel significantly more relaxed about my new time goal and once I figure out exactly where my IT band stands, I'll be re-planning my training schedule.

It's a slightly scary place to be just 10 weeks before the race but for now, I'm trying to stay confident. And just (foam) roll with it.

To go: 10 weeks | ?? miles 

Completed: 6 week | ?? miles 

If you missed it: Week 16 | Week 15  | Week 14 | Week 13 |  Week 12