As you know, we started with the dream team of Erin, Kris and myself. Early on, Kris had to make the painful decision to drop out of the training. Maslow's hierarchy of needs reared its ugly head and Kris refocused her effort, time and energy to where it was most needed. Above all, women tend to be the first ones to understand when this happens. I've had to drop out of "big" marathons before when more important issues came up. Marathon training is exciting and focused but let's not kid ourselves as to how much time and energy is sucks from our everyday lives. So we rallied around Kris (while secretly hoping she would change her mind) and discussed our shared feelings on this subject. This is what we came up with: Marathons will come and go and we will always have our running to get us through the tough times. Our families take the main stage and marathons get the back seat. This is what makes complete sense to Erin and myself and Kris is here for moral support, team fundraising projects and is always good for a much needed tequila shot (while we have yet to do a shot while running).
Erin has been having a fantastic time with her training. She's been following the 16 week FAST training plan from Runner's World. With her busy schedule of teacher, mom of two little ones and yogi she can fit in her days of scheduled runs plus cross training on her opposing days. Her secrets to staying healthy: 1. Rest, which includes sleep 2. Yoga and scheduled massage and 3. Post run chocolate milk. As you know, this is Erin's first marathon and with each long run, she reaches a new milestone, It's been a pure joy to get her Map My Run updates on my phone each weekend and see her progress as an endurance athlete. Following a proven plan and sticking to a manageable routine leaves her confident and leaves little room for any self doubt. We see great things happening for Erin on race day.
My training has hit s speed bump as I tore my left soleus about 4 weeks ago on a 15 mile training run. This is a pesky injury that tricks you in to thinking that you may be healed after a few days, but it turns out, at mile 2 that you are SO NOT HEALED. So just 4 days after incurring the initial injury I turned my left calf and all of my pride over to my physical therapist. We've been seeing each other weekly and I've been getting some good results. Add to that prescription, regular massage therapy, ice, heat, stretching and strengthening exercises and I'm happy to report that while I am not yet back to running, I am feeling much better. So, I've resigned myself to training for a marathon without running which in a way is really a lot of fun. Spinning, swimming, mountain biking, all kinds of torturous gym cardio machines and getting to know the hot yoga instructors on a first name basis has pretty much taken the place of my weekly running mileage. As it turns out, I'm pretty lucky with just a calf tear because there are so many different types of cardio that I do that doesn't bother it. Who knew? The new plan; show up on race day with a completely prepared cardio vascular system and pray that the left side soleus holds for the 26.2 miles. No use worrying, fretting, hoping that things were different because it simply is what it is.
Our fundraising game is on point. The squad is sending out emails, FB posts and planning events. Our goal is to raise a collective $2000 for Back on Our Feet's Boston chapter. If you are reading this, please consider making a donation. Every little bit helps and as a team we can attest to the efficacy of this much needed program and the healing, confidence building and life time benefits that running has on all walks of life. Check out our page here, where you can learn more about Back on My Feet and make a donation. Thanks
We'll blog again soon. Send us good vibes and know that we are collectively trying our best to complete the journey to marathon day.
Best to you,
Charlotte, Kris and Erin
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