5 Months To Go.

So it's "official" I guess, I have a new coach. It's my good friend Shelly, who saw me to my first sub-four hour marathon in 2012. We started doing some runs together since her recovery from having her second baby, and she is back with a vengeance. Shelly ran track in college and is a smart cookie. She listened to me boo hoo a bit on our runs and decided she was going to pull up her old training plan from when she qualified for Boston a few years ago, and tailor a plan for us to be marathon strong this spring. And she'd do the training with me.

She also knows I want to keep a base for my triathlon season next year, so she worked diligently over the weekend to create a plan that includes my cross training.

I had been focusing so much on the run with Ryan's plan, so I really scaled back on the bike and basically haven't been swimming at all. I decided to get back on the bike a bit before the temperatures plummet to an intolerable level.

Fall is beautiful and I really enjoyed the last few bike rides I have done, before the leaves turn brown, wither, and fly away.

My runs have been pretty decent. I got a fast 4.5 miler in yesterday with an average of 7:19/mile. That's super fast for me. I have a half marathon on Sunday and high hopes for a PR. My best time for 13.1 miles is 1:44. I think I can do it.

Still trying to get a little outdoor yoga in, but daylight is just disappearing and the temps make it hard to be warm and flexible.

I don't HATE any pose in yoga per se, but there are a few that are very challenging for me. It's just a fact that when you hit your forties, the back just doesn't want to bend deeply, regardless of your past history of super bendy flexibility. This one makes me gasp and groan:

Bow.

This is just not the prettiest either, mainly because I just can't get the deep bend going and lift the chest. But they say that avoiding the asanas that are difficult is bad practice. That even at my age I can regain a ton of flexibility that will serve me well if I keep trying, every day if possible. So I will backbend a lot.

Onward!!!!