New Beginnings

I'm less than a month out from the Twin Cities Marathon. It has been so long since I have actually raced a long race. My last race was a 4K in July (yep, 2.5 miles). My last half marathon was in January. My last marathon (due to bowing out of Boston), was Chicago, last October. I feel out of the swing of racing. I have a 25K (15.5 miles) next weekend, and I'm full of nervous energy, yet excitement. Too be honest, I'm not certain how much ZOOM I will have. I have been training hard-very hard, and my body feels pretty fatigued. I've been logging about 60 miles a week, for the past two months, my legs feel dead tired, but I know the work I've put in will pay off after my taper, as I toe the line for TCM. I'm treating next weekend's race as a part of my training. This will be my third time racing the City of the Lakes 25K, and I'm hoping to break my course PR (which is 2:00:06).

Few new updates to my training. I am going to run the marathon in a lighter (weight) pair of shoes, than my beloved blue/black/silver Brooks--they are just too heavy for the long runs. They are still the most beautiful pair I've ever owned, and they are not ready to be retired. Here are the new kicks--beware, not nearly as pretty or exciting as the Glycerins, but much lighter:

Brooks Defyance

New shoes always make runs a little more exciting, especially when you feel faster.

This weekend I lost my first toenail! It had been purple for quite some time. I felt it lifting from the nail bed. I noticed that it had completely lifted from nail bed, except for on the sides and bottom. I was concerned that bacteria would grow underneath, so I carefully clipped the nail off. Here's the new skin:



So with less than a month until Twin Cities Marathon, here's to new beginnings. New shoes. New toenail. So excited for TCM!

Cheers!