Setting expectations, tapering, and racking up those miles

This week marks the beginning of my Taper -- the period where you reduce your mileage and workouts leading up to a Race so that your body can recover, repair, and store up Glycogen -- for the Illinois Marathon Weekend on April 27-28. I am doing the "iChallenge" -- running a 5K on Friday night, followed by the Half Marathon on Saturday. When I finish both races, I get medals for both races, plus a third medal to show I completed the iChallenge. Fun stuff! I love a challenge!

So this week, I am cutting down on my running miles (but not my walking mileage for AVON). On Wednesday, I walked for 6.5 miles at a 14:25/mm pace. It was a nice walk on a bike path for part of it (thanks Megan for showing it to me last week). Today, I went to LifeTime Fitness after work to run 3.81 miles on the Treadmill. I decided to do a Tempo Run, with a 3.46 mile run segment at a 9:38/mm pace. I even ran the last 1/2 mile at a faster 8:45/mm pace just to push it a bit. After the run, I foam rolled my piriformis muscle which has been sore for the past week. I am trying to get it nice and comfy before my races next week.

I am hoping to PR both of my races at the Illinois Marathon Weekend. My goal is to run the 5K at a 9:00/mm pace, and run the Half in the 9:30/mm range. We will have to see how this turns out. But as long as I PR the two races, I will be satisfied. A good race result here will be the times I will submit to Disney for corral placement for the WDW Marathon Weekend in 2013.

Earlier this month, I estimated that I would run/walk for over 100 miles in April. So far, I have 'moved' (walked and/or run) for 83 miles! Woo Hoo! There is no doubt now that I will cross the 100-mile/month threshold for April! Since I am tapering, my mileage will be much less than in prior weeks. But even taking that into consideration, it looks like my mileage total will be close to 115. Whew! I just bought my Newtons on March 27th and they already have 60 miles on them!

Today, I spent some time finishing up my training schedule for the ENTIRE YEAR and entering all of that information into my iPad calendar. Now I can just follow the plan day-to-day. I am sure the plans will be adjusted as needed -- certainly once I start my marathon training program through the RRCA, there will be changes to make -- but at least now I have a complete game plan that includes all my scheduled races.

I have to admit that as I entered in all these runs (and walks), I started to get a little panicked. Can I really accomplish all of this??? I mean we are talking hundreds and hundreds of training miles (with many Long Runs in the hottest part of the summer), not to mention the Chicago Marathon AND the Goofy Challenge. I will likely exceed 1000 miles in 2012. Am I crazy??!! I guess we will see -- and you get a front seat right here as I chronicle the journey. Stick with me because I will need all of your support and encouragement as I keep moving forward. We will encourage one another, okay?

Speaking of support, the AVON Walk for Breast Cancer research is coming up fast -- June 2-3, 2012. There is still time if you feel called to support me with a donation, and help us fight the battle for a cure to this disease and help women and men get the care they need to overcome. Just click the SUPPORT ME link at the top of this page to learn more and make a donation. Thanks!

"To race or not to race" -- This is the question

After my 6-mile walk on Wednesday, I noticed that the center ball of my right foot was sore. Well it turns out I developed a small blister there! My first thought was, "Seriously? 4 Days from my race? 2 Weeks from the IL Half?" I was not a happy camper! I mean, it isn't very big but it still hurt and made me alter my gait throughout that day. I am pretty sure the reason for the blister is because of the new pair of Brooks shoes I was wearing (I bought them two weeks ago).

So of course I went online to find out what I could on blister treatments and prevention, as well as read up on it in an e-book called "Fixing Your Feet" (which is an awesome book and I highly recommend it). Everyone thought I should lance it to remove the fluid (which was clear not cloudy or bloody), and then use an antibiotic cream and cover with some kind of blister patch (there are several out there).

Well, I did not want to lance (puncture) it (yeah, call me a wuss) because it wasn't really protruding out, it was pretty flattened and it hadn't burst or anything. SO I figured I would just cover it with a blister patch and hope the fluid would be reabsorbed in time for my race on Sunday.

It was getting better so I figured I would test it out on a run with my friend Megan this afternoon on a 6-mile run. I sprayed on some 2nd Skin, put a patch over it, and headed out. The first 4 miles were perfect. Then I could tell that the patch had moved and I could feel the difference. But it wasn't too bad, and since I hadn't brought another one to apply, I just kept going.

The run was a success (running with Megan was a joy and it was good to get caught up on her life), but afterwards the blister was irritated again. So I ended up lancing it, draining it, applying the cream, and covering it up. It feels way better now. Tomorrow is a Rest Day so that gives me 36 hours of healing time before I have to make the 'race day' decision.

So the big question will be: "To race or not to race this Sunday?" I have only logged one "DNS" (Did Not Start) in my short, 1-year, 15-race running career. That was last September when I could not run the Chicago Half Marathon/5K (I was signed up for the 5K) because it conflicted with the beginning of my church's Christian Education program (I had signed up for the race before being approached to teach).

If my foot is not feeling ready on Sunday morning, then I won't run. There is no reason to run 'hurt' for a 10K race, especially when there is a Half Marathon coming up in two weeks. Let's get real here: the IL Half Marathon is way more important to me than this 10K.

I signed up for the 10K because it is a very hilly route (I hate hills) and I thought it would be good to have the experience of running on that kind of course. So if I can run it, I would like to do so. Besides, I hate the idea of adding a second DNS to my running history.

So what should I do, folks? Should I bail out on the race, regardless of how the foot feels on Sunday so that I can ensure being fully healthy for the IL Half on April 28th? Or, run the 10K race (assuming the foot is doing well)? Respond here, and let me know your thoughts.