Washington, Part 1 of 3: RnR Seattle Marathon

Following the Blueberry Chase, I had hoped to catch up on some much-needed R&R. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to be enough. I arrived in Seattle Thursday, checked in and went to the expo. My feet were already killing me, but I'm not really sure why. Icould explain it by the OMG-I-Have-To-Sit-Down-Now feeling. Then it didn't *really* go away. Just plain tired. I'm sure all the walking did nothing to help matters, either. Friday was a nice, relaxing day with friend, Marian. I did the Aussie workout and legs felt flat, not the usual bouncy feeling I get from that workout.

In general, my legs and body felt tired. Race morning, I actually considered the half. Then I considered just totally going out at my pedestrian pace and running like 8 flats. But, then I decided WTH and just went for it.

The excellent thing about having 23 marathons under your belt is that you are pretty fine-tuned as to knowing if it's going to be your day goal-wise or not. Then at Mile 14 my feet caught fire, aka blisters. I have been wearing the Brooks ST4 for all my shorter races and REALLY liked them. I thought they would be great for the marathon, and even had a few friends validate my prediction. Apparently, for me, the max is half marathon. I knew I had a bad situation going on under my socks, but I just didn't know how bad. That mixed with my legs feeling like lead weight and the fact that I was about to have 4 days of potential running in paradise, I decided to call it a day. I jogged it in the last 12 miles with no regrets. Oh and when I took off my shoes- WOWZERS- quarter sized blood blister on right pad of foot, blood blister between 4th and 5th toe, regular blister on big right toe, and regular blister on pinkie left toe. Not good. Thoughts and reflections.

Possible reasons for the missed goal:

1. I ran the ultra 4 weeks ago. That was a VERY taxing race for me, including unfamiliar territory. I think it did more to my body than I admitted. I'm hoping that was the main reason for my dead legs.

2. I have gained weight. Nothing over the top, but an extra 5 pounds on a 26.2 can add effort. Time to refocus.

3. I have been going absolutely non-stop since track season STARTED. Even after track ended, I was busy winding down the school year and planning the Blueberry Chase. Mix that with the ultra and the trip to Texas, plus mine and TP's weekend adventures and I was one busy gal. The power of rest and recovery (or lack of) is evident.

4. Also, when I reflect on my training, it was all ultra training. The only speedwork I did was with TP for his 5K training. I also had an overall reduction in mileage, due to the busy nature of my schedule. I'm used to those 95 mpw of perfectly planned training.

Positives:

1. Since I didn't full-out race the marathon, I was able to run EVERY day at the Brooks Coaching Clinic/Camp. I am SO grateful for this because it was beautiful and I got to meet some really cool new running friends.

2. I am taking a few weeks of "no hard workouts", but should be able to bounce back quickly.

3. I have a renewed fire in my belly for my fall/winter races. Instead of discouraging my Sub 3 efforts, I am encouraged by the fruits of my future training. :)

Oh, and if anyone is interested, my final time was 3:19:39, 6th in AG.

Part 2 of Washington will be about what I took away from listening to Kevin and Keith Hanson (founders of Hanson ODP) speak. Part 3 will be a total reflection of my Brooks Coaching Clinic/Camp.

Run Happy!