I ran my Boston Marathon World Run on Friday.  It was a perfect day for a marathon run. My dad watched my kids for me, which I am very grateful for!  I couldn’t do these races and training runs if not for the support of my husband and my family!  I can’t thank you enough for helping me make my dreams come true!  It means so much to me.

The day was a perfect temp, not too much sun and the roads weren’t very busy either! I mapped out my route ahead of time; but while I was out there, I made minor modifications to try to get in a few more mileage in the beginning closer to my house in a less hilly area so that I wouldn’t have to end the route on as many hills that I originally mapped out.  In the end that worked out nicely for me.  I had to end on a gradual hill on Route 17 but it was totally manageable and it was also the same road my husband drives home on so he was able to wait for me.  When he saw me I told him I had 1 mile to go and to pick me up there so I wouldn’t have to walk the last mile home and treck up our hill.  I just didn’t want to do it.  I was already out there over 6 hours and I wanted to be home with my family.

I felt great.  I did what Jeff Galloway recommended and set my intervals to 15/30 and walked the entire first mile.  When I was trying to go slow in the beginning my pace was coming up around 12 mins/mile.  Jeff recommended going no faster than 15 mins/mile.  I couldn’t slow down at first.  Eventually, I evened out around at 14 mins/mile pace. And when in a grove it would speed up to 13 mins/mile.

While out on the run, I enjoyed my favorite podcasts, Mickey Miles Podcast plays first, then Laugh or Go Crazy, followed by Two Gomers.  I had several saved up so I couldn’t listen to the rest of my favorite podcasts.  I will save them for my weekly shorter runs now and to listen to while at work!  I enjoyed laughing while running.  The Laugh or Go Crazy podcast really had me chuckling at one point and so did the Two Gomers.  I shared this with them via Twitter.  I think it is important to let them know that their podcast does impact our lives.  It’s great entertainment for me while out for 6 hours training!

The Mickey Miles podcast taught me so much about nutrition.  I also learned so much listening to Tara Gidus on the mickey Miles podcast that I am going to write a summary of what I took away from it and may consider hiring her as a nutrition consultant for my training.  She is VERY knowledgeable on the subject of nutrition and training, supplements, vitamins and much more.  Of course she should be, she’s the official nutritionist of runDisney!

The Laugh or Go Crazy podcast topic was about Living the Dream.  Are you living your life as if it were a dream and you are doing all that you dreamed of doing.  Are you handling the good and the bad as best as you can?  Life won’t always be perfect, there will be hard time and then there are the good times.  Are you making the best of your life?

The Two Gomers are on a quest to do the St. Anthony’s triathlon in St. Petersburgh,FL on April 28.  I am so proud of them.  They are way ahead of me in terms of stepping out of their comfort zone. They have talked for years about stretching out there and wondering if they would ever do a triathlon.  Their podcast has giving me the nudge to get on my bike more and I’m also working towards trying a new race this year.  I hope I fulfill my New Year’s one word resolution  and GROW towards that.  If anything, I am cross training with my bike which I hope helps with my running.

I’m very glad my training run was so successful.  I am not sore at all.  I did as Jeff recommended and didn’t have to rush home to pick up Adrienne from school so I was able to slow down my pace like Jeff said and it really makes a difference.  I haven’t run this weekend because I was busy with the kids, sports and the Easter holiday, but I could have easily gotten in a 4 mile run with hardly any leg issues if necessary.  I am heading up to Boston Monday for the marathon and hope to run in the evening or I’ll have save it for Tuesday.  I’m looking forward to watching the race and soaking in the excitement and using that as the fuel towards my quest to qualify for Boston one day!  If I can’t get there on my own within 5 years I will try to go on a charity bib.  But I want to earn it ON MY OWN!  It’s going to be the hardest thing I ever try to do.

Providence is two weeks away and I’m looking forward to getting a PR for my marathon time and growing towards my next goals for this summer!