Dreamland – Aubrey

I am happy to report that after last week’s IT Band fiasco, I am back in the saddle! Taking the week off, although terrifying, was the best thing I could have done. But as soon as I got home on Tuesday, it was all I could do not to trip over myself as I laced up my Asics and ran out the door. It was like seeing an old friend after years of separation. I felt alive again.

Tuesday’s run is always short to ease into the training week. With only four miles to do that night, I wanted to make the most of it. I wanted to soak in the sunny evening, feel the biting air on my face and celebrate every pain-free strike. I chose to run a very familiar loop around my East Boston neighborhood, heading over both the Chelsea St. Bridge and the Meridian St. Bridge before ending with the steep hills around our condo. Although I set out to take in the beautiful evening and the colorful sunset, I somehow missed all of it. I was so in the zone that I barely remember how I got home when I landed on my stoop. Talk about a trance state, I’ve never experienced one quite like this. I didn’t even realize that my music had stopped with over a mile to go.

Despite the weirdness, the good news is that I got home, stretched out and remained pain free for the rest of the evening. Even better, I did an eight-mile sprint workout the next day with ease. With my knee injury behind me and sunnier days ahead of us, I’m looking forward to more after-work runs. I enjoy the quiet time even when I don’t remember it.

Advice from the Newton-Wellesley Experts - Martha

As Yogi Bara said, “Ninety percent of this game is mental; the other half is physical.” As we get closer to the marathon, the mileage picks up, including in the long runs. Maintaining mental stamina is often the biggest challenge. There are many strategies for bolstering your stamina. Running with others can be very helpful. Some like to listen to music or have a partial distance destination. Here are some other ideas:

•          Create a personal mantra. It can be very simple: “I run, I finish”, or “I am strong”; or more elaborate: “I am a marathoner. Snow, ice, and rain, I run. My legs are strong, my heart is strong. I am a marathoner!”
•       Try mental imagery. Imagine yourself moving lightly and powerfully. Imagine yourself climbing easily and fluidly up heartbreak hill, or envision the finish line and you gracefully, calmly running toward it.  
•             Break up your long runs into smaller runs. If you’re running 20 miles, structure this mentally as four 5 mile runs, and congratulate yourself on completing each segment. 

If one strategy doesn’t work for you, don’t give up. Change the mantra, imagery, or structure, or move on to another strategy.

What a Pain In The Knee! – Aubrey

Every day since I found out that I got a bib for Boston all I have thought about was training. Everything I have done has been focused on sticking to my schedule. I have eaten, slept, dreamt and not shut up about it for the last seven weeks. I have missed dinners with friends, avoided travel, fallen asleep during movies and avoided all human contact on weekends all for the sake of fitting in my runs. Luckily, my boyfriend has not left me for a non-runner. I guess that’s because he’s a runner too and understands. However, after many weeks of rigidity and dedication, my training has been thrown off kilter. Last weekend while I was running the Hyannis Half Marathon, I somehow injured my knee. To my horror, it’s totally sidelined me. Luckily, I visited NWH’s new Ambulatory Care Center at Wells Ave, and received some top notch training advice and PT. It’s helping, but I’m still struggling with pain, and am unable to run comfortably. All I can think about is when I’ll be able to lace up my Asics again. I’m frustrated and scared – and even worse, my routine change has really messed with my training anxiety, which I had previously kept at bay. I know injuries are par for the course, but I’ve been incredibly lucky so far and (although delusional) thought that I had been spared. Alas, here I am rolling out my IT Band and popping Tylenol like candy. I’m taking it one day at a time, but I am anxious to get back on the road. In the spirit of staying positive, I was able to find a silver lining – I finally started catching up on True Detective this week. I’ve been cheating on my treadmill with my television, and it’s really fun. I guess if I have to take some time off, at least I’m indulging in good TV!

First Two-Hour Run – Suzi

"Always concentrate on how far you've come, rather than how far you have to go.'' This week I finally completed a two-hour run; something that has been somewhat haunting me up until this point. My confidence was shaken over the weekend when I cut my long run Saturday basically in half. What was supposed to be 105 minutes, was a measly 55 minutes. My legs were heavy and my mind was elsewhere. This made for a short run, and a nervous Suzi. I was nervous not so much for the two-hour run, I knew with proper food and hydration I'd be ok. I was nervous for the 4:30 am wake up and the eight hours of work following the run. In the past, whenever I have run for that amount of time or longer, I have been able to go home and do little to nothing for the day, or at least for a few hours until I felt motivated. This time around I've chosen to do my runs in the morning before work. This has made for great runs and a great mood early in the day. It also has left me anxious about waking up on time, and wondering how I'll ever handle a full day of patient care afterward. This is what I've been anxiously awaiting since I began training.

Now that my first two-hour run is in the books, a busy day of echoes followed, and I survived. I also managed to go food shopping, cook dinner and lunch for tomorrow. This reinstalled my confidence in myself and my training plan. I'm proud that not only did I complete my two-hour run feeling good, but I also had a normal and productive work day after. I have to stop and look back at the days when after completing a half marathon I'd barely be able to walk the rest of the day, if I got off the couch at all. There were also days that I never believed in a million years I could run a marathon. I have come a long way since those days. I am proud of the how far I've come in these last nine weeks. I run the hills each time I go for a run, and each time while still hard, they seem a little more manageable. I'm happy about where my training has gotten me this far, and I'm excited about how far it will take me in the next few weeks. 

Advice from the Newton-Wellesley Experts - Tess

New England weather is at times unpredictable. Other times, it is just predictably cold. Running has been more challenging with an average of one substantial snowfall per week. The Physical Therapy team at Newton-Wellesley wanted to put together a few tips and reminders for marathoners that may help you through your training runs in this challenging New England weather.

STAY MOTIVATED: Although the sun is slowly rising earlier, dark mornings and evenings can challenge our motivation and dedication. Consider asking a friend to be your training buddy or running partner. Take a day to cross-train in the middle of the week. (In my experience, every single runner would benefit from cross training, more stretching and additional core work.) If you're just feeling burnt out, try something new – run a new route, do a trail run, check out that Pilates class or swim.  

BE VISIBLE:  If you are running at night or dawn/dusk, wear reflective training gear, headlamps, flashing lights and use well lit streets/sidewalks. For safety, tell a family member or friend your planned route and stick to it.  

GET TRACTION: Feeling that you're slipping backwards while running? Consider throwing on a pair of Yaktrax or turning an old pair of trainers into Screw Shoes to help you build sure-footed speed.   

REFRAME YOUR FOCUS: You have probably found that your times aren't as fast in the snow as on dry pavement. Instead of focusing on speed, improve your running efficiency by working on stride length, cadence and form.

Accepting Help - Aubrey

I have discovered that two things are necessary for training – advice and supportive people. Three weeks ago, my OMS colleague, Amy, opened my eyes to the wonders of compression socks. How have I trained without these all of my life!? They have surpassed GU to become my most helpful training tool. (Sorry, GU. It’s not you, it’s me.) For those of you who do not know what they are or how they work, they’re like really tight socks that somehow shorten recovery time and lessen the effects of muscle fatigue. I wear them on runs, I wear them to work and I wear them to bed. And despite the strange looks I get from trying to pair calf sleeves with Kate Spade flats, I have yet to take them off. There’s not really much concrete evidence of their healing powers, but many runners and trainers swear by them – and frankly, that’s good enough for me. As a first time marathoner, I’m accepting any and all advice from more seasoned runners. The other night, my aunt called to tell me that after destroying your legs on long runs, one should always walk up stairs backwards. Convinced at first that she was just trying to make me look foolish, I laughed it off. However, after my 15, hilly miles on Sunday, I could feel my muscles burn each time that I picked up my feet to climb the stairs of our third floor walkup. Heeding her advice and keeping a good grasp of the railing, I threw it in reverse and trotted backwards up the stairs with ease. Genius! Thanks, Aunt Kathleen!

Besides the oodles of advice and tools that I’ve picked up along the way, I’ve also greatly benefited from the kindness of my friends and family. My cousin, Jillian, and her husband, Nate, were staying with us this week while they visited Boston for a music conference. Seeing me groaning and hobbling around the house after my weekend run, Jillian took it upon herself to lay me down on the couch and massage my calves and feet for almost two hours. I’m not one to usually ask for help so I resisted at first. But, she persisted, and eventually I gave in. By the end of the night, I was walking with no discomfort.  

I also have to give a big shout out to my boyfriend, Chris. I don’t know how I’d be able to do this without him. He’s been my biggest cheerleader and motivator. He’s driven me to races, has showered me with running gear, gets me to the gym and has spent almost every evening of the last year rubbing my back and retrieving things for me so I wouldn’t have to move from the couch when I’m sore (which is always). Last weekend I had mistakenly not eaten enough before my long run, and I could feel my glycogen stores were depleted. My legs felt like lead, my head was fuzzy and I had to concentrate to even run in a straight line. Luckily, I nibbled on a couple packets of GU, and was able to finish. However it was all I could do to keep him from dropping what he was doing to drive over and stand next to me until I completed my run.  His love and support have been a constant source of strength for me, and I am so incredibly grateful to have such a caring partner.

We all want to believe we’re strong enough to do things on our own, but sometimes it’s okay (and even necessary) to ask for help. Part of the reason why I love running is that it’s a solitary effort – me and the pavement. However, I now realize that undertaking a challenge like this often requires a lot more than I can do on my own. I’ve learned a tremendous amount about myself while training, but I’ve also discovered the depth of support and love from my friends and family.   

Just Keep Swimming - Suzi

My motto this week has been "just keep swimming" from the ever-lovable movie Finding Nemo. This week is the halfway point of my training and I think I'm starting to feel the combined effects of all the long runs. I've been noticeably more tired and probably crankier this week (sorry to those that are around me daily). I have also been dealing with a little bit of a neck injury so the combination of being overtired, neck pain and snow storms, I'm trying to “just keep swimming”. I'm taking one day and one run at a time, and trying to remind myself that a slow run is better than no run. I have my sights set on my de-load week, which is only one more full week of training away. It is a week where my run time is cut almost in half to help focus on an active recovery. Hopefully I'll be able to catch up on some much needed Z's this weekend, hit next weeks’ long runs (120 min Monday, Wednesday and Friday) and then cruise into my de-load week to mentally and physically relax and recover.