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For my recovery following the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon (if you missed the recap you can read about it here) I decided to stick to an easy run pace with some shorter distance runs and added a little distance at the end of the week. I enjoyed extra time at the lake soaking up the sun. I didn't have any soreness following the race. My one “injury” was a large blister on
the ball of my left foot and of course my post race depression (PRD). My race was amazing with the perfect weather, supportive crowd, time with family, a personal record but even with all of the positives and the extra lake time R&R I still experienced a let down a couple of days afterwards. As I worked through my PRD I took time to reflect on the race and plan for my next steps.
Reflection
Starting off with a slower pacer really worked to my advantage, giving me more energy to push hard during the last 3 miles. The cooler temps were another advantage. I focused on staying hydrated the day before and used two different electrolyte sources (Liquid IV and GU Energy Roctane Ultra Endurance Electrolyte Capsules) to give me a boost. The nausea was certainly better during this race but still present. I am looking into a couple new ideas to get it under control.
Going into the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon I set a specific time goal that I would need to reach if I were going to make another “run” for a Boston Qualifying time for 2024. This was my fastest half marathon but it was 1 minute and 51 seconds short of my time goal.
Planning
So what’s next? As tempting as it is to cram in another marathon in the next 12 weeks to go for another 2024 Boston attempt, I have decided to aim for Boston 2025. I will use the next 16 weeks to dial in my marathon pace and work on getting rid of my runner's nausea. What’s the race? The Bemidji Blue Ox Marathon.
I have run this marathon before and had a successful race experience. The weather is typically cooler, which is a huge positive for me, and the course is beautiful as it winds around Lake Bemidji.
I have a couple of training plan options:
Option 1: I can stick with the training plan that I’ve been using from The Competitive Runner's Handbook. I have never actually been able to race a marathon with this program because I’ve had some obstacles. The first time I trained with it I tore my hamstring the day before the marathon and was unable to run. The second time I used it I ended up nauseous for half of the race, Show Grit Never Quit. I have had successful races at other distances using this program and it's tempting to keep using it to see the results.
Option 2: I can try a new plan that I recently downloaded from McMillian Running. I found this plan by reading Greg McMillian's book, Run Faster Marathons. What I like about this program is that it gives specific pace ranges for each run and the website has several pace calculating tools to help dial in race goals.
Option 3: Or I can go with option three. Option three was one that I didn’t even have on my radar but sometimes I have gentle nudges or Whispers that I can only refer to as God’s guidance. My sister is an assistant coach for a cross country team and the head coach has offered to give me some coaching and accountability for this marathon.
Sixteen weeks of training kicks off on Monday.