Sub-Two or Bust

I signed up for the summer/fall season of MarathonFest!

When I joined MarathonFest in the summer/fall of 2016 to train for the NYC Marathon, I was rushed to get to 10 miles after my minor surgery in April of 2016. Desperately trying to feel better, I switched from Cimzia to Remicade during that time as well. I basically had two months to go from being out of shape to being able to run 10 miles in order to keep up with the the NYC training schedule once the season started in 2016.

I want to do it differently this time around. I don't want to be rushed. I plan on sticking with half marathons this season and at the moment I'm only registered for one. Rather than starting when the season starts in June, I currently plan to build most of my running base outside of MarathonFest for the next few months. I want to get faster so that I will be able to join a faster pace group.  I'm aiming to start running with them regularly in September when my mileage increases for half marathon training. My goal for the OUC Half Marathon in December is to finish in under two hours. That means I would need to average a 9:09 pace for 13.1 miles. I can only run one mile at that pace. In fact, my first mile today was a 9:04. (my second mile was a 9:47). I have a little over six months to train hard and build the endurance it will take to maintain the pace during my first mile today for twelve more miles. This seems realistic, right?

When I achieve a sub-two hour half marathon, I will seriously consider committing to train to qualify for the Boston Marathon. I hate commitment, but this kind of excites me!

10 Minute Miles

My NYC Marathon training is going well!  I'm still on track. I'm honestly surprised how well I was able to jump back into my training schedule without missing a beat. Sure, I missed a few runs, but my recovery was so quick that it didn't slow me down too much. It's way easier to run when my ass isn't in pain. I didn't modify my training schedule at all last week. In fact, I'm running faster than I have in years. Today, I finished The Get Your Rear in Gear 5K (3.1 miles) in 31:02, which means I kept exactly a 10 minute per mile pace!!! Go me! There were quite a few Florida hills along the course that slowed me down a little, but I'm still happy with a 10 minute/mile pace. My Fitbit thought I climbed 15 flights of stairs. I finished 5th in my gender's age bracket, 21 - 30 year olds. It felt awesome to finish strong knowing that I wouldn't have been able to run like this a couple months ago. The weather is already hotter than balls and summer is just getting started. The good news is that I know I could run faster in cooler weather. I'm happy it will likely be cold in NYC in November as long as it doesn't snow. Side note: I've never ran in snow before.

I've been feeling great lately! My BM's are beautiful! I'm running off of less sleep. This past week I only averaged 6 hours of sleep per night. My appetite is increasing and I've been hungry a lot. I hope Remicade continues to make me feel strong and healthy.