No Race This Weekend

First time marathon cool feeling of the day: Being passed in mile 24 by the pace group 30 minutes slower than your hoped for finish time.

After two consecutive Saturday races, it felt odd not racing today. The weather was grotty this morning so I got lucky. I am racing at the Rodeo Run 10k next Saturday and am mentally prepared for cold, wind and rain (but not sleet, hail or snow).

It was an eventful day for my running anyways. I picked up a pair of Asics GT-2110 (size 14) today from On The Run. I have been running well in Asics Landreth but decided I wanted to try stability rather than neutral cushioned shoes. I am hoping a little medial support may help me avoid the medial right knee issue that set me back twice in the last year. New shoes, running tall, running efficiently, training on soft surfaces whenever possible, carefully building mileage, and allowing recovery after training are my main strategies for avoiding this injury.

Speaking of learning to run tall and efficient with proper alignment, I was able to get in yoga class instead this morning and we concentrated on back bends. While I am incapable of doing an Upward Bow Pose, I was able to get on the crown of my head. The next step is to lift my head up off the ground, which I may or may not ever do. What good is this pose to a runner? I'm not sure, but other bends help me with my lower back, which takes a lot of pounding when running long runs leading up to a marathon. Since I am about as flexible as a rock formation, I do feel real good about feeling and being slightly more flexible week after week.

I also registered today for the Out of Town training program "10 weeks to your best Bolder Boulder", which will commence on March 10. This online program turned me into a runner, so I'd like to do it again this year. Last year my training pace was targeted for "Run the whole way and finish". This year my training pace will target a mile high finish in under 50 minute.