#RunThisYear 2015 April summary

Things settled into a nice little groove for April. Although the weather hasn't always been springlike, I've still been getting it done. And it's time to summarize the month and look at the goals!

I believe that spring is actually here!

Sub-2 half: Last month, I crushed that goal I set for 2015 of the sub-2 marathon. No half marathons this month, but I did have a 10 miler in which I almost did myself in! I managed to salvage what could have been a disastrous race, but if I take nothing away from that experience, it's that I have to work on pacing myself better. Last year during marathon training, I was doing a great job with that, but now that I'm running faster mile splits, I've let my pacing get away from me. The legs just want to go.

While I was able to reign it in during the race and salvage what turned out to be a strong race, I know now that I have to focus on pacing for my fall marathon training. Kind of a sub-goal for the rest of the year. I've got my final spring half coming up this weekend. I already checked out the finish times of the runners in my AG from last year. This is going to be a fast race, and since there's not much chance of an AG award for me in this one, I'm going to work on pacing it and finishing with negative splits. Success in that realm will do wonders for my confidence heading into fall marathon training!

Marcia, Sara, and me at the finish!

Staying injury free: I'm lining up for this final spring race with a few aches and pains but no major injuries. My big toe, which gave me some trouble last year (remember the boot?), has been talking to me. I've been icing it after I run and applying my Voltaren gel when it really gets angry. The ailment is called hallux limitus which I prefer over the more common term for this ailment, arthritis, which makes me sound old. Besides, hallux limitus sounds so much more exotic.

source

I'm planning on taking 2 weeks off of running after this race, and I hope that will give my toe a chance to calm down. During that rest period, there will be no CrossFit, so I also am going to focus on doing those hip strengthening exercises Becky has had me do in the past. Clamshells, supermans, monster walks (resistance band), and pistol squats. Believe it or not, these simple exercises really help with my stride and keep me from landing squarely on that toe joint. It seems that for me, heel striking is probably a plus as well. Hip strengthening to help the toe? Who knew? Everything is integrated, isn't it?

Working those glutes and hamstrings on the GHD machine...

Grow the blog: The blog keeps growing! I was really excited to have Hal Higdon all in for this month's book club book review. His interview was awesome, and he shared both posts on his FB page. I found him to be a wonderful man to work with. For May's book, we're reading Tales from Another Mother Runner, and I've already heard from Dimity, who has agreed to answer questions for the blog. This has been really fun for me. In an attempt to get more visitors to the blog, I did apply to BlogHer, but was turned down. I'm actually kind of relieved, even though that would have brought me more traffic. I'm still ambivalent about putting ads on the blog. I'm all about "it's meant to be", and I truly believe that is how it is. I'm really in this blogging thing to share, inspire, and interact with other runners. That goal has been surpassed and then some. I'm so grateful to everyone who has been reading and commenting on my posts! But in the comparison game, I see a lot of bloggers revamping their blog and I'm trying to decide what to do with mine. I kind of like it...but when I see all the fancy, glossy blogs out there, I feel a little inadequate...

Controlling the mama drama: As far as things on the home front go, the month was uneventful. For April, the mama drama meter is in the green zone. I'm not saying things were always peaceful. But it was an uneventful month. And that's all I can ask for. When I mentioned to my oldest son that I was accepted into the Chicago Marathon for this 3rd time, his response was "cool". I get glimmers of hope that this guy will come around. I do have my youngest son, the one who reminds me every day through his actions and demeanor that I'm not a terrible mother. It's funny how the universe balances everything out. The hard part is trying to balance the good with the bad, to not downplay all the achievements of my youngest and not to overplay the problems with my oldest.

May is all about recovery, as well as preliminary work as we move forward on that final goal, that sub-4 marathon. Becky's got another heavy lifting cycle planned for me, so stay tuned for my reports on that! I'm also looking at a late summer/early fall half that fits into my marathon training plan. And you know I'm always game for jumping into a last minute race...

April Stats: 

Miles Run: 104.3 miles

Races: 10 miler 1:24:30, 5th in AG

The goal for the year is 1252 miles aka 2015 km!

How was your month? Did you make progress on your goals? Have you read this book? Do you have questions for Dimity? 

Linking up with Jill Conyers for Fitness Friday!