A Month. . .A Month until the Marathon

I can't believe it, just 4 weeks from today is my big marathon debut. In celebration, this week was an EASY week. I found myself with pile of mending staring at me and yet, my body demanded the rest. I was good and listened--no mending for me--instead, I watched the Boston marathon video on my computer and went to bed early every night. Even had drinks with some girlfriends and a girls night out with my book club.

As for running, my weekly mileage cut back to half and my "long" run was a race today. My husband and I ran 5 miles easy together on Saturday and then I raced 5 today in Marblehead--a beautiful community (the sailboat capital of New England) right next to Salem. We ran around Marblehead neck which is a hilly island with a lot of beautiful multimillion dollar houses all around it with ocean views. The weather was HOT and the race was at the hottest part of the day today-2 pm. I did a half mile warm up, an understatement in mid 80 temps after weeks of mid 50 and under, and a half mile cool down. I ran into some friends from the running club I hadn't seen in a while due to different schedules and race training plans. Here is my friend John and I in the first mile (I am not too drenched with sweat yet. . . ).

The race verdict. . . besides that it was HOT, did I mention it was HOT? I finished a little slower than I would have liked, but managed to pull off a 7th place in my division (7th out of 47 women 20-29 years old) and 129th out of 440 runners.

Now I just have a hard week and my longest run yet this week (22 miles) and then begin to taper for the marathon!!! Here's for hoping for cooler weather Memorial Day weekend!