Spring Marathon Training Begins

I decided to run a new state for a marathon.  I registered for the Estes Park Marathon in Colorado in June.  I'm a little nervous as I have never ran a full marathon in high altitude before.  We decided to take a family vacation road trip this year.  We will start from Texas and visit, Colorado, Utah, and California.  We will visit the national parks for camping and visit family along the way.  This will be a marathon I will run for fun and not time.  Also, just to check off my bucket list!

A couple weeks after Houston half-marathon my shin splints went away.  I started marathon training again at the end of March.  Everything was going well, until the second week of training.  I was running with my dog, Dash, when a stray dog comes up from behind us and tries to bite Dash.  I came to a fast stop and sprained my left quad.  I had to take three days off and then slowly starting running again super slow.  Three weeks after that I'm feeling back to normal.  I skipped my long 18 mile run last weekend due to a family wedding out of town.  So, I ran it this weekend with Dash.  She was able to keep a good pace.  The weather has been cooler than normal for springtime.  I'm loving it and hope it stays that way.  Well, at least until I get through my 20 mile runs.  Tomorrow is May1st and I have 7 weeks until my marathon.

I plan to work on getting my nutrition in check and and not drink alcohol till my birthday weekend.  My birthday is June 5th and crazy to think that I'll be turning 50 years old!  Age is just a number.  I really don't feel that old and yes I'll be making a toast to celebrate that huge milestone age!  I decided to run this high altitude marathon before I get any older and decide I'm done with marathons.  HA!  I will continue to keep running marathons until I can't anymore.  Well, that's my plan anyways.  My goal nowadays is to just finish my marathons and not run crazy fast.  I think my body is telling me I can't run as fast as when I first started.  I'm okay with that.  I just don't want to get hurt anymore because it take me longer to recover at my age.  It seems that way anyways.  Next race will be Mother's Day race somewhere.  

Till next time, keep on running!