John...who as I have mentioned is My Doctor and ALSO my new Coach, was really happy with my splits. He made a point of telling me last night on the phone that another reason he wanted me to run that race that way was b/c he wants to start teaching my body NOW, rather than later, to run races that way. That is how he wants me to run Boston. He said every race should be finished that strong. That every world record has been set with negative splits. It really got me excited about teaching my body to run this way, b/c regardless of the time I run in Boston, I want to finish that race STRONG. I want my last mile to be my fastest:)
Here are 2 pics of me during my race this past weekend:
Me at mile 10. took me 8 plus miles to catch those 2 guys behind me:)
At the finish line. I was running 6:20 pace and it HURT!
as you can see by the very strained look on my face:)
My gimpy foot and hip:
I have been having pain in my foot and calf again. mostly my 3 small toes. It is bc of the way my foot lands...I land on the outsides of my feet...and I am pushing off MORE with my baby toes on my right foot than my big toe like I should be doing. My entire life, my feet have looked like this when I stand...Or run. both my legs are facing straight forward. if I try to bring that right foot in, my right hip turns way inward and it is very awkward and uncomfortable.
My right foot aims outward. it has been like this for as LONG as I can remember. Its probably a major contributor to my stress fracture and now foot pain. I put alot more stress on this foot and especially on the outside of it:(...so John told me to get Steve to take an Xray of my hip today. we wanted to see if my hip is rotating out b/c of the tightness of my piroformus muscle or if it's an actual bone issue.
WELL....unfortunately the Xrays showed that my hip, femur, whatever actually grew that way.....SO..not much I can do about it. it means I am going to have to be very careful and keep up with chiro and massage maintenance on my leg, foot so that the extra stress on it doesn't lead to injury.
I am glad I know though. I have always wondered my leg/foot did that. now I know:)
Half marathon during marathon training?
I asked John today If I could race a half marathon during my boston training and go for that -1:30 and he wasn't too excited about the idea. we didn't have much time to talk about it, but he said it strays away from training and takes a fair time to recover...then he said, "whats more important to you, a sub 1:30 half or a 3:05 marathon?"...to which i said "A marathon!"....this was as I was walking out the door...so then I was like 'Wait...did he just say 3:05 Marathon?!!"....this got me thinking...does he ACTUALLY think that that is even a possibility??!!!!....or was he just throwing that number out there?
I am pretty adamant at this point that I will not be announcing ANY Boston goals publicly. I want to ENJOY Boston and will be happy with anything under a 3:30...but I am not gonna lie..this comment got my mind thinking and just got me motivated in general!!
I'm sure if I asked him right now about it, he would tell me it was just a number he was throwing out there, and that a 3:20 is a more realistic goal, but still....it's the fact that AGAIN, we all need to remember that
EVERY DAY holds a possibility of a miracle:):)
Never give up on dreams, BIG DREAMS....cause some day...probably not in 2012, but SOME DAY that 3:05 will be Mine:):)