New York City - Plan B

We had A plan...Yep, Brett D. was going to run the Des Moines marathon last fall, get his qualifying time and then we were all going to enter the Boston marathon for last spring end of April. That was until the Boston marathon entry filled up 20,000 slots in less than 8hrs. We didn't realize that it would be an issue to get in. I mean we had our qualifying times...so did 20,000 other folks I guess. Seems like the more desirable races are like this, a feeding frenzy related to on-line entry starts to occur where people can watch the race numbers fill up and then people just go crazy worrying about getting in...even if really they don't know if they can do it. I Often wonder how many "no shows" take a slot just because they "might" get in shape to do the race and want to reserve their place. Drives me crazy. Then there are the races that only take on-line entries even though they have no chance of filling up. I guess I prefer to wait and make sure I'm not going to get sick or have some other family issue that comes up and lose my entry fee. That's a can of worms.

But you can't wait till the last minute on a Marathon so that leaves Plan B. Last fall after our missed Boston calling, I was feeling great and began a campaign amongst my running buddies to do New York marathon since we missed Boston. Brett Daugherty, Ryan Regnier, Austin McKillip and I got entered into the marathon along with 45,000 other enthusiasts.(which is kind of funny given that If I knew then what I know now about where my body is, I wouldn't have registered. See above) Now it's an A race on the schedule for the year because of course I had to register back in January.

http://www.nycmarathon.org/documents/INGNYCM11_Course_Map_ForWeb.pdf
Obviously a Marathon is a different animal. The training takes months to prepare for properly and this time I'm trying a little different twist to my training program. Usually, I obsess with doing long runs, multiple 20+ers in the build up thinking I can train my body to get through the marathon even faster than the time before. Last year I managed to give myself a Sports Hernia while running, swimming, and X-county skiing through the winter in preparation for the May Lincoln Marathon. I either tore something or really aggravated those groin, psoas, abdominal muscles. So now I'm using plan B...the Hansons Running shop program.
http://www.hansons-running.com/
I saw this in a Runners World article last year and thought it might be a good fit for me. The concept is instead of building up to and doing multiple 20 mile runs, you do more volume every day instead of the long runs.

I'm still fighting the groin issues because the surgery didn't totally work. I suffered through most of the summer slowly healing until the XTERRA BOLT when on a whim I had Dr Brad do some ART -Active release - stuff at his booth set up there at the race. I was super stoked, almost immediate relief - so now I'm onto - you guessed it -Plan B - and seeing Dr Brad Hochstein at Synergy in Lincoln about once a week. So far he has brought real relief, at least enough to get me through the training I need to do. He contorts me into a arch on my side pulling tension on my abdominal wall with the help of his assistant while he digs in with his hands on my abdominal wall muscles / tendons around my pelvis. I'd be lying if I said it felt good at the time, In fact it hurts so good. It appears as though I've got a bunch of scar tissue and ropey tightness in my lower abdominal wall - that needs to be worked out. We've been breaking down the scar tissue both from the surgery and injury and at the same time we are trying to activate the glutes because I've been overusing my abs, groin/psoas. I feel like it is working, and every time I walk out of the office I feel about as good as I ever feel...nice and loose. Feeling loose as you get older is such a fleeting feeling we get so tight as we age. Especially if you are hunched over on a bike all the time. It feels like we have made some good progress since I started seeing him in August, but now I'm on a short leash in getting ready to run the Marathon. You can see where that leaves me, babying myself in training and no runs over 16 miles and then hopefully gutting through the 26.2 miles on race day. Truth be told, I feel pretty good at short distances...except for some acid Reflux issues, which is another story altogether. Anyone have any ideas on the acid reflux issues on long runs? I'm taking Nexium already.

Plan B on every level- Hmmmm - is that a recipe for disaster, or marvelous new experience? I guess if the old way isn't working, it's time for a change so here goes. Either way Running or walking if I have too, through New York city ought to be a thrill. Never been there, and taking the family as a vacation, what better way to take in the sights?

On another note, Congrats to the Southwest Cross Country teams qualifying for the State Cross country meet next week. The Girls won districts, and the Boys were 2nd with Abigail getting 8th place and Noah getting 5th. Go Hawks!