Sleep… where are you? and some final Boston thoughts

As I’m typing this, it’s 3:00 am.  I am not a night owl by any means, so to be up this late means something has gone wrong in my day.  I had gum surgery today, and although it turned out fine so far, any time the pain meds wear off I am feeling the pain.  Big time.  I couldn’t even keep my eyes open around 10:30 last night when I went to bed, but I woke up at 1:00am feeling like a brick had hit me in the face.  Knowing I could not take any more ibuprofen, I searched out some Tylenol.  Luckily I found some, and trying to read the tiny print on the bottle by the dimmed shower light was my next challenge.  Mission accomplished and, combined with an ice pack on my face, I finally got some relief.  However, that was 2 hours ago and I still can’t get back to sleep.

So I’m taking to my blog to clear up my mind and maybe, just maybe, I can fall back to sleep.

I was happy that I was feeling good enough to attend the Family Fun night at my son’s school.  Since he’s a 4th grader, this will be his last year at the school and I’m trying to make sure I get to all of the events.

They had fun carnival games inside, and bunch of inflatables outside.  A good time was had by all!

I wanted to give one last focus on my Boston race.  Looking at things I did well and what I could do to improve my performance next time.

Things that went well:

1) Fueling!  This was by far the best thing that happened during this race.  I was so concerned with the race starting late and that I would end up really hungry while I was running.  In fact, this was not an issue at all!  I ate quite a bit of food prior to the race (bananas, oatmeal, bagels, granola bar).  During the race I had 4 GUs.  I think I took them at miles 6, 12, 17 and 21.  Even though I wasn’t hungry, I took them anyways.  That’s the key, fuel BEFORE you are hungry!  I think this is the first race when I didn’t cross the finish line with a growling stomach.  Another thing that I did was to turn off the “clock” screen on my Garmin.  I didn’t need to know, or obsess, that it was 1pm and I was still running!

2) Race outfit – I’m not talking about the fashion level of my outfit, although you have to admit, that open area in the back of the shirt is pretty cool!  I’m talking about the functionality of the clothes.  Everything was comfortable, and kept me warm enough in the weather conditions.  If I had access to all of my clothes before the race I still don’t think I would have picked something else out because what I had on really worked.  I think I would have been way too warm in some sort of rainproof jacket.  And those capris – I had only wore them one time prior to the race, so kudos to C9 for making such an awesome, affordable,  and functional piece of workout gear!  This is the pair I got:  C9 Running Knee Legging  They are actually quite light weight and I think will be good in warm weather too.

3) Attitude –  I think I did a pretty good job at keeping a positive attitude during the race despite the crappy weather.  I didn’t run the race in the time I had hoped for.  That is always a bummer when you have a vision of what race day is going to be, but then starts to take a turn for the worse.  I really thought a sub 4 hrs would be easy to do, given my past races that came in at 4 hours.  Even half way through the race I was thinking I might BQ or even PR!  But, when the course got really challenging, I just focused on enjoying the crowds and appreciating that this race was the end result of my hard work, not a showcase of my abilities.  I’m proud of my effort, and for pushing through it when it got tough.

Some things to work on…

1) Smarter pacing?  Well, this is a tough one.  I’m not quite sure if I need to change my plan.  I know I was supposed to “hold back” on the first part of the course, but honestly, I’m not much of an “end game” kind of marathoner, so whenI hit the 18 mile mark, chances are I wouldn’t have felt “energized” unless I had been walking the earlier part of the course!  No way I’m going sub 4 hours with that much walking involved!

2) Strength Training – Yes indeed.  I can definitely improve in this area.  I could barely move my legs at the end of this race and I think doing more leg exercises (hip flexor strength) could have helped me out.  Also, focus on strong glutes/hips.

3) More hill training – Now I know what to expect from Boston.  Those hills are killer!  I’m sure anyone’s running could improve from more hill training.  Mine especially!

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Q:  Are you a good sleeper?

Q:  Night owl or early bird?

Q:  Favorite pre-race foods?