24 DAYS LEFT!!!! ALMOST TAPERING WEEK

Yes! 24 days until the biggest marathon of my life. Even though I have been training for this marathon as of June 23rd (which mean I am on my 14th week of marathon training), I have to remind myself that my training actually begin ever since I have started running in the Fall of 2011. All my training mileages and races are leading to this marathon on October 19th.

Is this the year where I finally reach my dream of qualifying for the Boston marathon? Is this year I can actually run a sub-3 marathon? These two questions are on my mind every day. I recalled my first marathon experience in 2012, where I hit the wall pretty early and was dying to just finish it. It was no where near the Boston qualifying time. I was pretty much close to the end of the pack (finished 723 out of 975 marathoners).

I said to myself I must train harder if I want to lower my marathon time. Failure is only a setback. Stand back up and try again in 2013. Here was one of the quote I read before attempting the marathon in 2013:

In 2013, I was balancing between school and training. At that time, I was not following any prescribed training schedule. I was running everyday varying from 10k to 20k per day. I went into the 2013 Calgary Marathon with the feeling that I might have a chance of breaking 4 hour and probably get close to a BQ. Very unrealistic, yeah, to think about it now. I managed to break 4 hour, but not much. Finished with a chipped time of 3:57:37 (finished 390th out 988 marathoners, so in the top half of the marathon pack...okay some improvement).

So, what make 2014 any different????

3 things:

1- More friends and family behind my back (including my first running group, CHRR gangs!)

2- I am training harder than 2012 and 2013 combined! I have never been so focused on the BQ more than this season of training.

3- I am so fortunate to be in the Adrenaline Rush Athletic Team, and to have a coach (Janice), an assistant coach (Mark), and team mates giving me advice and pushing me to reach my goals and dream. Janice has helped me break 19 min for 5k, 40 min for 10k, and 1:25 for half marathon in just a few months...the only thing remaining is the full marathon...can I cut a full hour from my marathon PB??

Current Moment

At the current moment, I have a mixed feeling of excitement and nervous. I am excited to see how well I fare out in Toronto. Will my hard work in putting in the mileage, and following my coach's prescribed training schedule (*the best I can, as I am proud to not give into my old habit of racing every weekend haha*) pay off?? I am quite nervous when I saw today's post on the Boston Marathon facebook page:

It seems like if I am just aiming for the minimal BQ-time of 3:05, it will not guarantee me entry to Boston. I must get a minimum of 3:03.58. It seems like a few minutes, but cutting a few seconds off of each split is difficult than one imagined...especially the last 10k of the race. Yes, I have to admit I hit the wall one or two time during my long run training. It was not a good feeling at all. I hope that with enough rest (which I am currently not getting enough), the pace of 4:15 or faster will seems more manageable and comfortable. 

I am also feeling some ache in my legs as of last week. I know it is normal to feel a little ache and pain during marathon training, but not like this...I am thinking it has to do with two things: not enough rest in between run (with less sleep) and running in a shoe with over 700+ km distance. As of yesterday (Sept 24), I have changed to a new pair of Wave Riders 17. Hopefully, with some adjustments and icing (and stretching) my legs, it will be back to normal. 

Can you see the difference between the old shoe on the left (with 700+ km) and the new shoe? 

Very subtle difference...I don't like to retire my shoes but it is a MUST if I want to stay injury-free haha

Is tapering difficult? My answer would be YES! 

Even though I love to put in the mileage everyday (and seeing some big mileage at the end of the week), tapering is very important...I must obey to it if I want to do well in Toronto. Not tapering well would mean I will meet my enemy (aka "the Marathon Wall") very early into the race. Do I want that to happen? The answer is obvious haha Tapering is also the time where I should focus on adjusting on my eating habit. During training, I would eat 4-5 meals and would add in cheat meals (ranging from KFC, moon cakes, buffet, etc)...which is important as that's how I can refuel for the next training session.

This week is all about getting enough rest, and getting my marathon legs fresh and fast for the Melissa's 10k. 

It will be my tune-up race, but I still want to get a good 10k time. Recently, my friend and team mate, Greg Medwid, got an impressive 10k time of 36:43. Congratulations, Greg! But, you have raised the bar...and I am trying to reach that time too. It is not going to be easy with the Melissa's race due to the high elevation, but I will give it a try...hoping my legs will be ready to go by Saturday haha

Thank you all my friends and family for their continued support on 

my journey to obtaining a Boston Qualifying time! 

Hope I didn't annoyed anyone with my constant count-down to Toronto LOL :P