Finding a marathon qualifier in the summer (that doesn't require a ton of travel, i.e. West coast/altitude) was the first order of business. I read tons of reviews on marathonguide.com and then found the Lehigh Valley Health Network marathon in early Sept. Assuming that Boston registration will be in late Sept, this seemed like a good fit. Then to find that it has the 4th highest percentage of BQ's, even better. Since I had missed a full 7 weeks of running, I knew a June or July marathon wasn't going to work. Plus, the Dane had to recover from Boston prior to charging into another training program. So, 9/8/13 we will toe the line in Allentown and run to Easton, PA hopefully fast enough for me to gain a BQ (I say "me" because we have since learned that the Dane has a guaranteed entry to Boston 2014, hooray for the BAA). Marathon training through the summer in FL is not for the weak let me tell you. I have trained for 3 IM's during the summer and found it to be pretty challenging, and I wasn't 46 years old! I feel I have plenty of motivation to train smartly and get the miles in. The Dane will race in PA anyway to get a good seeding time
for Boston.
So, reset. No triathlons planned, just running. Back to my roots. We'll keep swimming as well just for a bit of cross training. I started back "running" (more jogging/walking) the Sunday after Boston and have been able to build up to 40 miles this past week. We will do a few 5k's during the summer just for fun but otherwise, not much racing during the summer. So, 16 weeks ought to be enough time to go from zero to 26.2 at a snappy pace. Time will tell.
Onward...
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| Boston survivor crew! |
