Still Feelin' Foxy....

Well HEY! I had a great run on Friday with Jim and I am not hurting any worse! Last time I ran, it put me out of commission for 2 weeks. This time I feel even better! The road to recovery is one I'd rather have run instead of limped, but I'm almost there. I feel FREE!

I was hoping to run today after the the gym this morning, but I worked for Alycia. She's prego and has the flu, poor punkin. I may need to fill in for her tomorrow too, we'll see. Seems like now that I CAN run, I can't find the time. There's a Zoomer run tomorrow night but if I have to work the day I won't make the run. I'm a wife and Mom first! So I'll just make the family run with me! What a GREAT idea!

Most people who know me, know I've taken on the new goal of speeding up my runs. I really want to shoot for qualifying for Boston 2009. I know it's a stretch to speed train for 7 months and get a qualifying time in October but hey....I'd rather try and fail than not try at all. Even if I don't make it, I won't feel like I failed anyway. I love to run and the sense of accomplishment and pride I feel from every run is something I cherish.

I got a little bonus this morning during my core class at the YMCA. During the exercises we were listening to a CD when a song came on we all knew. First let me tell you, Jim teaches this class as well as being my mentor/coach/trainer. He is also a singer/songwriter. I am a music fanatic, I love all kinds of music. I have CDs for cleaning, showering, laying by the pool, running...etc. SO...when Jim said the singer was Rob Thomas from Matchbox 20, I quite confidently told him he was wrong....LOL. I didn't know who it was but I KNEW it wasn't Rob. He insisted it was. I said I'd bet him $50 it was not. He said how about a Subway sandwich (which I do love) but I said NO! Then, my brain kicked in. I had an awesome idea. I'm all giggly just remembering the moment....heehee. I said....how about a speed training session! He got all confident and said IF he WAS wrong, he'd give me TWO speed training sessions. Ooooohhhhhlala!! Can you say JACKPOT babyyyyyy??????? I got all warm inside. I knew I was right. I know Rob Thomas's voice. I also know my ticket to Boston is through my trainer. He got me to the finish line of my first marathon in just under 5 months. His coaching and training methods work for me. I hear the instructions and just do it. This is gonna be GREAT!

I even made him shake on it....lol

I guess I should tell you, Jim said if it wasn't Rob Thomas, it had to be Chad Kroeger from Nickelback. He was right about that. I didn't think it was, because I'd never seen Chad with short hair except for the video to the song we were betting against. So technically Jim did know the singer's name. I only knew it wasn't Rob Thomas. I offered to call it a truce but Jim was kind enough to call me the winner. So I get some speed training from the one person I know who can get me to Boston. I almost feel guity. Almost.....
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YMCA Runners Club Report

That sounds so impressive, huh? Like there were 20 people running this morning....lol. It was just me and Coach Jim, but it was a great run. I have had a hip flexor injury since the marathon almost 5 weeks ago. I have attempted to run twice, the first time went well, but then I was hurting again. The second time I couldn't even run more than 5 steps. I wanted to run last Wed but Jim said to wait. I'm so glad I listen to him, he was right AGAIN.

So....I took my core exercise class this morning at 9am. I love that class. Got me all stretched out and ready. OH...the new running shoes I got were not very comfy, I mentioned this to Jim the other day and he looked at them. Come to find out....they are for people who hit the ground heel first. I'm a nuetral runner and so those shoes were not right for me. He pointed out the extra lift at the heel and no gel at the inside ball of the foot. Hmmmmm.....made me wonder if that had any effect on my running lately. Or lack thereof. Jim advised me to wear my old faithfuls for today's run, and I did.

HUGE difference. I felt the initial tenderness, nothing too bad, but I noticed right away the pain on lift off and impact was gone. I'm thinking that the flexor was irritated by my feet not hitting the pavement correctly. I am expecting my new Asics Gel Stratus in a couple days. YAY!

We started off slow and steady, my muscle felt better and better with every step. My happiness level rose right along with it! We did the walk/run, staying at about a 9-9.5 mm pace. We decided on a 3 mile run. Today's quote was "Retain The Improvement". Which just means "Don't Over Do It And Screw Up The Future Of Your Running, Kim". Yeah, see?? I can read between the lines.

On the run back, I was introduced to a little something special. It's called a "fartlek". Pronounced "fahlek" The "T" is silent, didn'tcha know??? Here's what happened....a man ran past us (as if we were running slow) and I jokingly sped up and passed him (being a smarty-pants) and then slowed back down. Jim said that was a "fahlek". Hmm....seemed interesting. He said people use the technique for speed training. Hmmmm, even MORE interesting. So we gave that a shot. You run a normal pace for about 5 minutes, then do a full out sprint for a very short distance, like 50 feet. I LOVED IT! I felt like a rebel because I've been holding back, keeping a 10 mm pace for the marathon training. It felt spectacular and I can't wait to do it again!!! I feel excited about the speed training, I wanted to start Monday but that "quote for the day" kept popping into my head. You know...."Retain The Improvement". So I'll see how I feel Monday....HA!! Just kidding!!! I'll give it another week. But then I'm OFF!!!!

I'm still doing the happy dance. I'm so happy. Sherry....ready for a run girlfriend?????
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Cape Cod Marathon

I spoke with Jim at the gym about shaving 1:47 off my marathon time. He says just shaving 30 minutes would be awesome, 1:47 is a stretch. So that means it COULD be done. The only thing is, I think I talked my sis-in-law Michelle to run the Cape Cod marathon too. She's a little tiny bit reluctant, but I know she can do it! If Michelle does run with me I'd just run it for fun and stay together. But if she finds that she can't or she doesn't want to.....well then I'm gonna go for it.

I kinda feel like I felt when I first decided to run a marathon last October. Excited. Nervous. More than a little crazy. How cool would it be to run THE Boston marathon????? Especially being a Boston native. I have 7 months to train for this. And since I'm the captain....I'm giving it all I've got. This time I know what I'm in for. I have the breathing and endurance down. I just need the speed. While I wouldn't say I made any huge mistakes in the Grouper Run, I can definately think of a couple things I can do differently. Especially with the training part.

I guess I can combine my Body For Life challenge, shaving my 5K time and training to qualify for Boston into one big goal. It will all be a benefit toward the ultimate goal. And I do have that invite to train with the high school track team.

I need to check into this a little more.
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