Prep Week for the Half-Marathon

This may sound twisted, but I'm truly enjoying this week before the race.

Prep Week Diet: I already cut out consuming alcohol a couple weeks ago (you bet I will be drinking my complimentary beer at the end of the race!!). I have had a decent runner's diet for the past 2 months, but I am really concentrating on it more this week. It's too late to change anything drastically but I am adding a bit more carbs this week along with extra protein when I can. Eggs, protein bars, etc. And making sure I get plenty of fluids all day, every day (I tend to slack on drinking enough water throughout the day... especially when I'm working). The day before any race, besides carbing up for dinner, I like to drink as much water as I can to keep fully hydrated during the day so the next day during the race I am still hydrated effectively. I'm stoked for this race. Hope it goes well!

Next task: Create super awesome playlist for Sunday.

Taper down running week. Took 2 days for rest after the 12 mile run, ran 5.5 miles yesterday, and today I ran 6.3 miles. Tomorrow will be 4 miles, a rest day on Thursday (due to working all day), maybe a short run (~2 miles or so) on Friday, then about 3 miles on Saturday to warm up for Sunday. I don't push myself during these runs but I have noticed that my average pace has improved during the past couple of weeks. I am running faster at less the effort than maybe a month ago or so. I am loving that! Must be a distance thing... Today I ran 6.3 miles at an average pace of 9:40, a month ago when I ran a 6 mile run I was averaging about 10:30... A little improvement but I feel great! :-)

Future Running Goals:

During my run today I thought about my running goals and what I want to achieve. When I first started running, I set a goal of 26.2 by the time I'm 26. Being only 24 right now I think I will meet this goal by the time I'm 25. So maybe Boston Marathon by the time I'm 26?? That's a far goal, but who knows.. maybe I can do it.

This is how I might do it, the following is a list of major runs I will plan on doing, but I will obviously try to include other smaller runs (like 5k's and 10k's) in the mix:***

1. Newport Half on Sunday
2. COX Providence (Shape Up RI) Half-Marathon in May 2011
3. Newport Marathon next October 2011 (which is a qualifier for the Boston Marathon)
4. Try to find another Marathon between October and March 2012
5. Boston Marathon April 2012 OR 2013
   

....If I can't qualify for the April 2012 one I can certainly shoot for 2013 (I will still technically be 26). Soooo it's not impossible. It will take a lot of work and a lot of focusing on making my pace a bit faster too... To qualify for the Boston Marathon, a woman who is aged 18-34 must be able to finish a qualifying marathon in 3 hours and 40 minutes. I did some simple math and this turns out to be an average pace of about 8:27... Eeek! Maybeee... just maybe!! If not, there are plenty of other marathons that I could run in anyway..

***This is all depending on a few factors of course... the main part being if I'm still in the area to do all these races a year from now... You never know what life events may happen. And well, I hope I don't get injured in the process!! (fingers crossed). We shall see, goals can change. But for right now, this is my goal.

Now, I don't really want to jump the gun on this. I'm not going to sign up for the next major race (the Providence Half-Marathon) until after this Sunday... see how my first half goes. If I can do the Newport Marathon next year at this time, I will be very happy.

Back to 2010:
I still want to try to run in the Downtown Jingle Bell 5K in Providence... I don't think I will be able to make the Monster Dash since I will be in Vegas from the 27th-30th.. The 31st will be a recovery day, lol. Any other runs coming up that people are doing?? I need stuff to motivate me through the winter...