(Bi)Weekly training review - October 8th-21st

Kiddos, thanks for tuning in for the latest instalment along my journey to the NYC Marathon. It's been a rough few weeks. After a spectacular week of PRs, I inadvertently entered my taper a little too early, by catching a miserable head cold that made running (or any kind of exercise) impossible between the 10th and the 20th. During that time span, I flew to New Orleans, attended only one of two planned conferences, spent 48hrs in bed, managed to attend a day and a half of another conference (while heavily medicated), cancelled the rest of my trip, and spent another 48hrs in bed. Not exactly what Coach Loken had in mind! As a result, I missed my last chance for a solid long run prior to the NYC Marathon. I should probably be worried by that, but I'm not, mainly because I know my fitness is improving every day, and I have absorbed Coach Loken's mantra of "believe, train, become" so much so that failure in NYC simply is not an option. So... I have a bit of good news to report, too:

1. I managed to run a 3hr half-marathon on Sunday, the 20th, as part of a SOMA 1/2 Ironman relay team (Athena Riding Clydesdales) with the Bertinellis. I had not run for 15 days, so I was a little nervous. Plus, I was still sick. (FYI, I still am sick, but the doc I saw yesterday thinks everything will clear up in the next 2-3 days. Phew!) And, on top of that, it was pretty hot out there, even though it was still cooler than we have seen of late. I had visions of negative splitting the race, which would have just about tied me for my 1/2 marathon PR. But I must have mistaken hallucinations for visions, as a PR simply was not within reach on Sunday. But it felt good to be out there and I am clearly on the mend, so, yay!

2. I invested in a new pair of NYC Marathon shoes. As you know from reading this blog, I have been loving my Brooks PureProject PureFlow running shoes, especially for short training runs, under 10mi.

The trouble is that, technically, a marathon is longer than 10mi. And so I decided I had better go back to my previous favorite shoe, the Pearl Izumi Synchrofuel. Thanks to Rhet and the folks at Sole Sports Tempe, I am now the proud owner of these beauties (keep your drool virtual, please):

3. My fundraising has hit a nice pace, and I am now over 53% of the way toward my goal. I really, really, really hope that several more of you dear, dear readers will consider a pledge of any amount to help support the wonderful work of Chances for Children. Donating is easy, either online or by mail. Click here to donate now, or here to learn more.

4. Taper is now in full effect; more on that next week!