Here we go

I am so excited to finally be at the threshold of a new training plan with real workouts and higher mileage.  It seems like it has been a long time since I thought about doing an actual workout.  I find it a little scary but mostly thrilling.

This week was a real test for me.  My training plan had me running six days, 39 miles total, with two longer runs on Friday and Saturday.  After running the first 4 days in a row--a post injury streak--I knew I was healed and asked Coach Tom what was next.  He reminded me that the hardest part of the week's plan was yet to come, and that we would talk about my next training plan after I had gotten through the week unscathed.  I ran 7 miles on Friday at 6:57 pace followed by a 9 miler on Saturday at 7:15 pace and felt great.  No. I felt better than ever.  I sent Coach Tom a note that said, "Bring it!"

My new training plan is very different from anything I've done in the past in a number of ways.  I won't get into the details here, but will report on my workouts as I work my way through them.  I will say that, in the next three weeks, my mileage will bump back up into the 70s (assuming my body handles it), and that my hard workout paces will start off relatively slow, while the bulk of my miles run will be faster than I would have run in the past.  Also, hard days are not necessarily followed by easy ones.  This is fun stuff, and I am really curious to see how my body responds.    
  
I finally have the confidence in my health to start thinking about upcoming races.  While I haven't committed to anything yet, my first focus race will likely be Bay to Breakers in May in San Francisco.  I have never run this race, but I have always wanted to.  There are usually some fast Masters competitors in the race since prize money is on the line.

My big racing news is that my top-US-female-finisher status at the Athens Marathon earned me a spot on the US team to run the marathon in the World Military Games in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil being held in July 2011!  But, July in Rio?  It's actually their winter and the coolest time of year.  So, my effort in Athens and associated time away from running due to injury were worth something really great.  I will wait until the deadline (mid-April) before committing to this event, but it is really exciting to think about representing the US Military in another international marathon.  Victoria para América!