T Minus 4 Days and Counting

This is the last week of taper before the NJ Marathon. I have been battling some kind of ITBS thing over the last couple of weeks, which forced me to cut my last 20 mile run short, but am hoping that a couple days of rest this week will go a long way in healing it (gulp). It has caused me to shuffle my A, B, and C goals a little bit, though, with the C goal now being limping across the finish line with a smile if the leg acts up. My A goal remains the same however.

This past Sunday I took my kids to 7 Presidents park in Long Branch to hit the beach. This is also where I plan to park on marathon morning, so it was good to get out there and get a little positive mojo going. Surprisingly, it was 90 degrees inland on Sunday but I still froze my butt off on the beach. Not sure what that means as far as weather this weekend - I am guessing it will be somewhere between 35 degrees with wind gusts to 90 degrees with 95% humidity. Yet another mitigating factor for anyone who is chasing a goal.

I know there will be some other running bloggers out there on Sunday (JoyRun, Flyers26, ShoreTurtle and BommaMomma just to name a few), as well as a slew of non blogging running friends (what, some people don't blog?). Hopefully I will see some of you guys. Good luck to anyone racing this weekend!

7 Presidents Beach, Long Branch

DD being a drama queen on the beach

The "other" training in Progman's house

Where's Progman?

I know I have been conspicuously absent from the blogging scene lately. Last week I made the difficult decision of voluntarily retiring my Blackberry. I think I was WAY too plugged in with that thing - Facebook, blogging, internet this internet that - Gah! It was a hard move to make but I think I needed a breather from the hard core social networking scene. My Blackberry was also my main source of blogging updates, so I know I need to catch up on some of the other blogs the "old fashion" way.

Training: It wouldn't be a Progman marathon training cycle without some kind of injury report. This past Sunday (which was the end of a "cut back" week) I was half way through a 13.5 mile run and had a blanket of pain descend on my right knee. It felt like what I have always heard described as ITBS pain, although I have never really had the pleasure of experiencing ITBS before. A trip to my physical therapist this week and he says he doesn't think it shows the classic signs of ITBS - just some angry muscle pains which should respond to heat and the foam roller. I have made an appointment with an Active Release Therapist just to be on the safe side, though. I have read some remarkable results from ART so I am keeping my fingers crossed.

This pain just happens to crop up right after my peak mileage week of 55 miles, which is a high for me. The good news is even if it is something awful I am 4 weeks away from the NJ Marathon, so I could just start my taper early and coast until May 3rd. I don't think it's that serious though, and may just need a little therapy along with some extra rest days. The bottom line is at this point I am running the marathon if I have to line up on crutches with the 7 hour pace group. Short of that, I think I just need to sit back and reevaulate my race goal (which I would have been doing anyway).

Hope everyone else's training is going well!