Coach Kirstin

On Wednesday I rode the bike and that provided no satisfaction. I didn't even break a sweat. And it was a bit painful. Feeling thoroughly disgusted I had almost given up on going to the gym on Thursday but at the last minute (or last moment before turning around would have been much more of a pain) I convinced my self to go. I swam for about 20 minutes and thought I wasn't even going to make it that far. All I could think about was "no wonder Michael Phelps can eat so much, this is freakin hard." In the hopes of motivating myself I went and got a cute Nike swim suit, my other one was quite embarrassing . I took my usual rest day off on Friday. Saturday I lifted and then headed to the pool. I must have been really embarrassing because the lifeguard asked if he could make "constructive criticism." I got a bit of help with my freestyle swim and learned the breast stroke. I wont be forgetting my goggles or swimming cap again, its no fun without it. But it ...

Well that didn't take very long for my running career to come to screeching halt. As I suspected I have a stress fracture to my left fibula. I thought I had prepared myself for this but as soon as the dr walked out I started to cry. After seeing me crying he shut the door and sat me down for a heart to heart. "With what your knee has been through, these things are going to happen. But we'll get you back out there." He still sees a chance for me to make it to the marathon. I go back in 2 weeks to get it looked at. For now I just need to rest it and keep my fitness up. I will shift my focus to weight training, yoga, pilates and swimming. I will probably do some stationary bike to break up the boredom. I built extra preparation into my training, I had two extra 20+ mile runs. Which means 2 extra fall back weeks. I also had an extra week of rest in there because I knew I would just need a week off at some point. So that is 5 weeks. As long as I am healed and rested I s...

Yesterday my best friend Jenn and I did a 5k.  This is part of our recovery program for runners that race badly.  We were so the opposite of how we normally are.  We were relaxed, knew very little about what we were supposed to do and laughed and waited calmly for the start.  What we forgot is the difference in the type of people that run a 5k or 10k.  After pushing our way through the first mile, it got a bit better.  We both had great negative splits but more than anything we had fun and were calm.  And just because I was curious, I had to check.  Jenn got 2nd in her age group and I got 3rd in mine!   Fast forward to today.  I sleep until about 10 after getting home at 1.  I did make all the events I was planning on yesterday, even just for a little while.  Realized when I woke up, I had forgotten to eat when I got home as I had planned on.  Got up and had my usual whole wheat bagel with raspberry jelly.  Went out for my 11 mile and knowing it was going to be sunnier than I really wa...

So I have finally arrived at my rest day and I couldnt be more worn out. Part of it is dealing with an idiot at work. The other part is I didnt sleep well Sunday after my long run, which trickled down all week and wrecked me. I ran late, my ice bath wasnt cold enough, ate random foods. All sorts of things to change this Sunday to see if it makes any difference. Thank goodness for all the people that surf the message boards on Hal Higgdons site. Im trying very hard to limit my self and commit to my training. Jenn and I are running a 5k tomorrow morning so we can pretend to be normal when it comes to a race. But Saturday night I have a wine and cheese party and then another Jen is having her 30th bday. I know I should do a low key night and leave wine and cheese early but part of me still wants to pretend I have a life. Maybe I will rest extra tonight and only go for an hour or two on Saturday.

I have set a lofty goal for myself. Run a sub 4 hour marathon and yes that does mean, 3:59:59 is acceptable. This is a huge goal considering this is my second marathon. My first marathon was a disaster, rather I was a disaster. I had just seperated from my now ex-husband and did not take my training seriously. I ended up with a stress fracture 2 to my shin two months out from the marathon. I ran in the water but I wasnt really healed or ready. But I did it anyhow finishing in 6 hours 2 minutes. So 4 hours in a lofty goal. But I can do it. And the more I tell people, the more I beleive I will not fail. I am the strongest I have ever been in my life. And have been preparing for this since November. I worked on my stride for several months before I started adding distance. Im going to yoga once a week. I lift three times a week. I take 4 hours of krav maga classes. And am running 6 days a week with a mix of a 3 mile recovery run, a 2mile speed test, a mid week long at rac...