Ugly Toes

My legs are feeling better, so I might try and run again this weekend. I'm not feeling too bad about taking time off, though. Normally, I hate having time off aside from my scheduled rest days each week. But the two months I took off last year didn't seem to hurt me at all, if anything it made me a better runner. I can't argue with my results from this year. So I know that taking some time off to heal things won't harm me in the long run.

I've already decided I'm not doing an 18 week program for Boston (IF I run it in '07). I plotted out Pfitz's 18 week schedule, and IIRC it starts the second week in December. I don't think I'll be ready to jump into it that soon. Plus, trying to follow that schedule during a MN winter is a bit more than I want to handle. It's not so much the cold temperatures (been there, run in it) but that there is no daylight here in winter. It's dark by 5 now, and starting next month will be dark by 4:30. That gives me less than an hour of daylight for running. Not to mention they do a piss poor job of removing snow around here, and I won't run in the dark if there's ice. I do have a treadmill, but the thought of training for another marathon on it makes me want to cry. Anyway, I think Pfitz's 12 week schedule will work better for me - I'll get less "bored" of the schedule and it'll be easier for me to build up my schedule slowly for the preceding 6 weeks. I don't think Boston is a PR course ... not that I wouldn't want to go for a PR, but I don't feel the need to go all out with the 18 week schedule again. Who knows, maybe I'll train for a 3:15 and get my 3:25 ;) (That's funny to me since I was on pace for 3:37ish at Austin, but didn't get that time until Chicago). But I think not being tied to a schedule until late Jan will help me take the time I need for my legs without getting stressed out.

But like I said, that's if I run it next year. I'm not going to go into much detail, because this is a running blog and not a fertility blog, but I am off the pill now and that could determine what happens next. We do have a self-imposed deadline for this winter so that I can either run Boston in '07 or '08. I'm pretty set on using this BQ; I know I could always try and run one again but something seems special about going to Boston off the first one. If my hamstring issues resolve themselves, I feel pretty good about the chances of running well post-hypothetical pregnancy. My AG rival had a baby in August, and she just ran a 41:xx 10K! My times from this summer were a smidge faster than her pre-baby times, yet she's now faster than me. That's actually sad in some ways for me. But anyway. That's about all I'm going to say on that subject until I have an actual announcement.

Here's an example of how whack Minnesota is. Last Wednesday, it was so nice that Molly and I went for a walk:

Friday morning, I woke up to a few inches of snow. The snow kept coming, and when I came home for lunch I actually got stuck in the street and couldn't go back to work. Molly loved it:

I think we ended up with maybe 10" - 2 days after 70 degree weather. Nuts, I tell you.