Sunday, April 23, 2006

Halfway to Boston...

I am on Cloud 9 right now because I had an AMAZING run yesterday. It started out with a 4 mile warmup, 3 of which were with two of my good friends and running buddies. It was a nice comfortable pace. Then I met up with Suzie and Ted, my fellow friends and Ogden Marathon buddies. I had told them that I wanted to do this 12 1/2 mile run at around 8:45 pace, which is the pace I think I could run Ogden on a perfect day. Well, we started the first mile at 8:38 and I felt great and thought that was pretty close. The next 2 miles were a little fast, 8:04 and 8:10, so Ted suggested we slow down. My heart rate was getting a little high so I agreed and we slowed down a little. I won't write every mile, but it was awesome!! I felt pretty good the whole time. It was definitely harder than normal, and I couldn't really carry on a conversation, just listen to Suzie and Ted. Well, were making such good time that I wanted to run the full 13.1 miles to have a half marathon PR (personal record.) So, I ran past the Y, when Ted and Suzie went to their cars and finished the last mile at 7:54. The total average was 8:23 minutes per mile! That is officially what I need to average to qualify for Boston. Woo Hoo! I didn't know I could run that fast for so long. I still have a ways to go, but it feels possible. And I felt awesome at the end. And the even better news is that Suzies shin splints feel better-yeah!! So, two more weeks and I finally get to crush my marathon PR with the help of good friends.

3 comments:

cherl said...

I saw your post on the CR website which led me to your blog...
You are doing such an amazing job on your running! I'm totally jealous with the improvements you've made. I'm thinking that I need to give the LHR method a try. It certainly couldn't hurt and who knows, maybe it'll help with my speed, too! You are going to blow your marathon time out of the water at Ogden.
Looking forward to hearing all about it!

Kelly(M&M) said...

Hi Cherl, I am still so new to this blogging world, but it helps me get my thoughts on paper. Especially during taper time! You know how that is. :-) It is crazy to me how similar our marathon experiences have been, even down to training right after a baby. Your Napa time was awesome and I would be happy with anything near there. I feel good about my training, but I am nervous to start out too fast again. My plan is to start at 9:30 and then see how I feel. I will keep you posted. We still need to run together sometime!

Suzie Petunia said...

I am so flattered that my healing shin splints bring you so much joy! :) What an amazing friend you are! You've got more inside of you than you realize. It is so obvious for me to see. I wish you could step outside of yourself for a moment and see what an amazing runner you are! You are nothing BUT a "natural runner"! You are all of the good things a runner should be. It is just icing on the cake that your times are dropping and PRs are popping! No one deserves it more than you!