"You never know how strong you are until strong is the only choice you have," Bob Marley once said. In 60 days I'll toe the line for my ninth marathon but my first in the Windy City. Sixty two days ago, I ran my first run for this training cycle. I'll admit, it was a rough run, slower than I wanted, the weather was hot and I didn't want to be out there at all -- for a multitude of reasons. I've always found running as an escape, but suddenly the escape didn't seem so fun. I had alluded to this in my last blog post after the Brooklyn Half Marathon -- how I wanted to break up with running. However, now that I'm two months out from the Chicago Marathon, with a lot of self reflection, manipulating my training regimen to more reflect a triathlete's regimen and FINALLY looking at the course, I am excited. And yes, you read that correctly about the route. I don't know how long I've wanted to run this race, but it has been a long time, and I have had my acceptance since December of last year; but today I finally looked at the course route. And boy, am I pumped! This is the most unique training cycle I've attempted for any marathon. After a MRI and a few doctor visits because physical therapy wasn't completely healing my tweeted hamstring, I was told I shouldn't run more than three days a week. Believe me when I tell you there were tears (many tears) about this news, almost in the doctor's office. Nothing was torn, but it has the possibility to become torn if I kept pushing too hard. If disliked last fall when I was told to only run five days instead of six, imagine how devastated I was when I was told I could only run three. I decided that I didn't want to defer my entrance, but I wanted to be strong and give Chicago my best shot. I manipulated the Hanson's Marathon Method so only I run on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursdays. This allows me to get all the long runs, speed and strength workouts and tempo runs in. I've completed the speed portion and I'm on eight mile tempo runs already and feeling good. The other days of the week I use either swimming or cycling to get my cardio and "milage" in. Overall, I have found this method to be successful enough to give me confidence on my running days but not do any more harm to the hamstring. I even feel like a more rounded athlete and the change has allowed me to play golf, softball and tennis this summer without an issue. I am not aiming for a Boston Qualifying time in Chicago and probably not even a personal best, so I am feeling fairly confident in my training. I want to share two new mottos I have acquired -- besides my running mantras: "Stop at Never" and "Define Yourself." A friend turned me onto Kelly Roberts' podcast earlier this summer. I haven't listened to all episodes, but I really do believe in her "No Excuses, No Regrets" motto that she used before running the London Marathon in April. I've also enjoyed become a part of the #SportsBraSquad. The second, I got from Peter King's MMQB on July 31. If an opening line of a column is "This is going to be a great column. Springsteen and U2 are in it," you can bet your bottom dollar I'll load it all in. To make a long story short, King learned of a motto for the Cowboys this year: "Recommit ... Every Day." It was derived out of Bruce Springsteen's autobiography. As an avid (that's an understatement) Bruce fan and a person who enjoyed the autobiography, I was sold. Some days getting out of bed during these first two months of training were the hardest part of my day. Repeating these two new mantras have helped in a small way. But once I get out of bed, I never regret completing my workout. The next 60 days are going to be intense. My job demands are going to increase, my body is going to expect more out of me during training and I don't know how much sleep I'll get. But some things are for certain, I cannot wait to be Chicago for race weekend, my family will be there to support me and I'll get to watch Penn State football play the day before.
0 Comments
|
Megan FloodMegan is 29 and a 14-time marathoner. She is hoping to Boston Qualify one day. She doesn't know exactly how this blogging will go, but she is giving it her best shot! Archives
June 2019
Categories |
Marathoning Megan