Boston Marathon here we come

It’s official! Barring injury (which I will be sure to try to avoid this time around!) I will be lining up for the 113^th running of the Boston Marathon on Monday, April 20 2009. The Boston Athletic Association granted me a ‘one time only’ deferment to register for next year, using my qualifying time from the Houston Marathon (Jan 2007) of 3:45:59. I will not be able to sign up online, the BAA will send me an application in the mail. I would be happy to sign up by fax, phone or sign language, if I have to. Next stop, Boston!

Despite the relentless heat & humidity, this week’s running has gone well. The total was 42 miles, including 3 different 8-mile runs (Monday, Wednesday and Saturday). Of these, Wednesday’s was a struggle coming after a strenuous hill workout on Tuesday night, with KatyFit. Thursday it was more hills, this time with the Houston Striders. Saturday’s long run was only 8 miles but the first few miles were cross-country with several short, steep hills. So it turned out to be a good workout. My only concern is that our KatyFit Green group may be running our long runs too fast: hopefully the leader will slow down the group as the runs get longer. I do not want to run easy/long runs much below my target pace of 9:17. It took me years to realize that 'all hard running, all the time' will get you in trouble, sooner or later. Running your training runs too fast leads to fatigue, injuries and eventually over-training. It is definitely a good idea to vary your training paces throughout the week - a LOT. Properly paced long runs, some step-back weeks and regular off days will keep you healthy & semi-rested to blow it out on the tempo and fast runs and to handle the heavy weeks.