Have I Done This Before?

Yes and no.

I started running 9 years ago, as part of a weight-loss strategy -- like so many other people. The weight has come and gone multiple times over the last 9 years, but the running stuck. Like so many others, I found running and physical activity absolutely addictive. I went from running 3 miles to training for a half marathon almost over night...and then marathons and I even did a 50k (31 miles) once. In all, I have run 9 marathons (or plus); I tend to run 3 or 4 races a year: 5ks to marathons. But, like many amateur runners, I have suffered running injuries here and there. Last winter when I was recovering from a stress fracture, my wonderful physical therapist, Bob, at Pinnacle Physical Therapy, said to me: You need to fire yourself and hire a coach, because you have too many training errors.

So, I did. My former physical therapist at Pinnacle, Leigh, moved to Texas and set up an online coaching business. A cyclist, runner, and swimmer who does full-length Ironman races, she started an especially helpful website, Athletes Treating Athletes. It features a body map which leads to informational sites and instructional videos about how to do self-massage and self-treatment for amateur athletes like myself. All of that information is free for anyone who has an Internet browser and an Internet connection. I have also hired her to coach me through my upcoming fall marathon, Smuttynose Rockfest, in Hampton Beach, NH. She used my past race times to develop a training plan that is specific to me, with daily workouts. She also answers my questions via email or cell phone several times a week. Much of it is new or is a variation on things that I have read, tried, and at one point discarded. What's been very interesting to me is the lower-level intensity on a day-by-day basis, saving myself for a weekly long run, as well as a weekly "hard" run. 

Bob was right, I do need a coach. I already emailed Leigh and said that I didn't feel that my "regular" runs were long enough and could I just add a 1 mile here or there...please? Her answer? No. This alone is progress, because we all know what I would have said!

Here I am at home, working on my total-body strength training. I'm following one of Leigh's videos as Drake watches on. He sneaks in a lick or two when he can, of course. 

So, to answer my initial question...Have I trained for a marathon before? YES. Have I ever done it like this, with real information to guide me? Well...NO! I'm looking forward to seeing what how all of this will shake out in Hampton Beach in October.