Boston Marathon training – Week 8

Week 8 is in the books and I’ve officially made it to the second page of my training schedule.

New sneaks

I got new sneakers this week (or maybe they arrived last week and I finally opened the package this week…I’ll never tell). And yes, they look exactly like my old ones! I found the old (aka my current) model on Amazon for a pretty good price…$75 instead of the usual $100ish price tag. I usually go to Marathon Sports and use a 15% coupon. I always have a coupon, either from a previous race or there is one at the bottom of the monthly email newsletter they send out. It was a lucky find since I can’t normally order my shoes online due to the sort of atypical size I wear, a whole size bigger than my normal shoes in a narrow width (size 8 2A). I have been super happy with this model and I get to continue the Wendy Davis shoe craze for a little bit longer, say another 350-500 miles or so.

Why hello Newton

This week I also signed up for the BAA distance medley, which includes the 5K on marathon weekend, the 10K in June, and the half-marathon in October. Though I’m not convinced I’m actually in since I haven’t received a confirmation email about my entry. I do show up on the searchable entry list on their web site, so hopefully that is a good sign. Last year I tried to sign up for the half-marathon and it filled up in about 12.2 minutes. Running, especially in Boston, is super popular these days! It seems like 2014 will be the year of BAA races for me – if I get in to the medley, I’ll be completing the quadrilogy or the hat trick +1. For those of you who are wondering, I thought I might have made up a cool word (quadrilogy), but I didn’t…if it’s on Urban Dictionary, it must be a real word, right?

The frozen Charles + Instagram, from the BU bridge

Saturday’s long run was a slight step-back in distance, from 14 miles to 12 miles. I had to be up and out early, earlier than the team run, so I could go meet another favorite pint-sized cheerleader. Since I was on my own, I decided to head out on the course and take on some of those infamous hills. Out and back on Comm Ave meant that I hit the hills in both Brighton and Newton. The first time I ran a course like this, my friend Kendrin was with me and she called me Gilly (from SNL) because I didn’t tell her the route would take us to Heartbreak Hill. Ignorance is bliss…or so they say. It was great to see lots of runners on the course, including the Project Hope team who looked super snazzy in their matching marathon jackets. It was pretty chilly and my Camelbak straw, skittles (a new addition to the trail mix), and phone all froze at certain times during the run.