Last week, I did a thing. I registered for the 2019 Illinois Marathon!
This race was at the top of my "potential spring marathons" for several months given that it is billed as "flat and fast". The opportunity came through to run it for BibRave and I took it. Last year, nine women went sub-3 in this race and four were olympic trials qualifiers (all B-standard, meaning sub 2:45 but not sub 2:37). The marathon will be held on Saturday April 27 at 7 AM in Champaign-Urbana, IL. this is about a 4-4 1/2 hour drive from our house.
I am again doing the Advanced Hanson's Marathon Method plan for training. My day 1 of training will be December 26. My rib likely will not be healed by then, so I may have to modify the first few weeks of training.
Last week, I logged 30.62 miles, all done at an easy-pace. Well, I thought it was easy-paced but my heart rate data would tell you otherwise. My goal for the next 16 days, is keep doing the easy-paced miles. Running with a fractured rib doesn't feel great, but it isn't too awful either. It's sort of like having a constant side ache. My longest run last week was 7.1 miles. The cold bothered me more than my rib did that day.
I will be doing more short races in the build up for Illinois. My plan is a 5K in January, a 10K in February and a half near the end of March. I am looking forward to this after not having too many races in 2018. I ran a 10K PR and a half-marathon PR in the midst of training/racing last year and it would be fun to be able to update those numbers legitimately.
Another thing that I will be doing more of this training cycle, and trying to begin the habits now, is regular strength training and continual work on the mental side. I know that most of the reason Madison went down the tubes was mental and I didn't put any work in the mental side of running during that training cycle because I thought I had already conquered that instead of thinking of my brain as another muscle to continue exercising. #rookiemistakes
What race are you targeting for spring 2019?
Using the code 'bibraveillinois2019' will get you $10 off registration for the Illinois Marathon!
I ran the half at that race last year, and it's an extremely well done event! It does have a ton of turns, though, so be mindful of tangents and also know that your Garmin will be off (Garmins always have more error on turns vs. straight road), so manual mile splits might be the way to go. With your PR you will get to place bottles on the course, which is nice! Best of luck with training and healing!
ReplyDeleteThanks for telling me about the elite status Sara! I didn't even know about that. Sent in my application today. Also, thanks for the tip on the tangents. I am not great at that so will have to practice practice practice!
DeleteI have so many questions. Namely what races are you targeting in January and February?! Excited for you to CRUSH IL
ReplyDeleteI am thinking about the Sampson Stomp on 1/20 for the 5K and the 10K cupid shuffle in Hartland on 2/17
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