Recovery. Ahhh sweet, glorious marathon recovery. If recovery means stuffing your face with leftover pizza and eating ice cream out of the carton with a spoon, and sitting on the couch watching stupid TV , then apparently I’m doing it right! To be fair (to myself), I haven’t been a complete bag of lazy bones. I took a mandatory week of rest following the marathon and slowly (very slowly) began to get my legs back. I ran 3 times last week and did some light strength work, but I haven’t been sticking to a routine. This week will be the first week since Boston that I’ll run over 25 miles. Baby steps, people! It’s nice running when I want to and not running when I don’t want to.

After the physical and emotional whirlwind of Boston, I didn’t think that I would come around very quickly to planning out a racing schedule for the rest of the year. But all of a sudden, this week I started thinking about the next potential race and a full schedule through a fall marathon  (yep! another!) fell into place.

So, my 2013 racing schedule:

6/23:  Chicago Women’s 5k

7/21- Rock ‘n Roll Chicago Half

8/23-24 Hood to Coast with Nuun!

9/28- Crosstown Classic 10k

10/20- Grand Rapids Marathon 

One race per month sounds a bit aggressive to me right now, but this schedule is more than I can handle considering I ran an intimidating (in hindsight) schedule in 2011. I’m looking forward to the mix of distances and dedicated speedwork starting at the end of this month to prepare for a challenging 5k. (I’ll be more nervous for the 5k in June than I was for the Boston Marathon—guaranteed.)

I am excited for summer running again. Training through the Chicago winter was incredibly difficult and draining–but I’d like to think that I’m stronger for it. My heart was in it especially for a race like Boston. (I’m not sure how anyone can train through a bitter cold winter if there heart *isn’t* in it.) Looking back on it now, it seems like it flew right by, but each week was full of challenges that made training more difficult than expected. But NOW! SUMMER IS COMING! The lakefront in the summer mornings and evenings is my happy place. It’s going to be an interesting transition because my body doesn’t know how to even operate until I’ve stumbled into the kitchen and had at least one huge mug of hot coffee. When 4:30 AM alarms start back up again, that routine will have to die a painful, slow death. I will not have time to leisurely sip coffee when I need to race the sun and hot temperatures.

Grand Rapids will be a nice change of pace (heh…) in the fall. It’s a very small field compared to Chicago or Twin Cities (duh) and the course is pretty much flat with some rolling hills toward the middle. My mom recently bought a house in Michigan so it will be nice to feel like somewhat of a local after spending a few weekends up there this summer. Plus, ALL THE BEERS afterward! I mean, let’s be honest. That was a big selling point in the decision-making process, for sure.

With a new training cycle starting in a few weeks, I was thinking through what keeps me motivated. I listen to music during pretty much all of my runs (I don’t see that changing anytime soon, but you never know). Training through this past winter was tough but considerably more enjoyable with some songs that helped keep the legs moving.

My (Recent) Favorite Running Songs:

(links are to Spotify!)

Bizness by the TuneYards

Around the Bend by Asteroids Galaxy Tour

Sacrilege by Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Closer by Tegan and Sara

Sun by Two Door Cinema Club

Books From Boxes by Maximo Park

Five Seconds by Twin Shadow

Dancing on My Own by Robyn

Default by Django Django

It’s Time by Imagine Dragons

Undercover Martyn by Two Door Cinema Club

Loud Pipes by Ratatat

Ambling Alp by Yeasayer

What’s on your race calendar for the rest of 2013? What are your favorite songs to run to lately?

-J