When Goals Collide!

We're 5 days past the Seattle RnR marathon and 3 days away from Portland's Foot Traffic Flat Marathon!

Recovery? Doing well so far. I made sure to do a few miles on the elliptical the day after the race to get my muscles loosened up. I was still pretty stiff on Mon/Tues so I took Tuesday off from running and instead put myself through (more) oral surgery... yes, I had to have more! This time a crown lengthening and they put a temp crown on my tooth. Yesterday I went for a hard/Hilly 7.2 miles and felt pretty good so I'm almost ready for this weekend. Speaking of...

Gearing Up! Getting ready for Portland means a mild-taper... I'll only do 3-4 miles on Friday and take Saturday off. I'm also trying to drink lots of water (FML... again) and get some extra stretching in.

Race Plan? Here's is where we run into problems... Welcome to: "When Goals Collide!"
Goal 1: I'm trying to make MOST of my marathons sub 4 hours. This isn't really a problem as 3:50'ish marathons have been on the easy side (crazy that 3:50 was my best time, this time last year). I've noticed that after I do a sub 3:40 (as I managed this weekend) if I have a race the weekend after I tend to be a little tired in the legs and it takes a little more effort to get a sub 4:00. Now that isn't the issue... the issue is my other goal...
Goal 2: Finishing my first 50 Mile race NEXT weekend! I'm worried that if I push too hard this weekend I won't be able to finish the 50 next weekend... well I'll finish, but I'll need to walk and I don't like to walk! As Meb says "Run to Win!"

Solutions?? I need to find a balance--- I have to be careful about this race that I don't push too hard that I'm too tired for next weekend (which can happen, since I'm still recovering from a hard marathon in Seattle). But I also want to keep a strong enough pace to run a sub 4:00. Problem #2? Whenever I say I don't want to run hard... those are the days I tend to run very hard. I'm going to need somebody to drive behind me with a leash... whenever I get to fast they can pull be back!

Side Notes: It's been a year and a half since I've started doing a crazy amount of marathons and last night as I was going to bed I thought to myself... "I wonder what it will feel like to NOT be in perpetual pain or state of discomfort at all times?" I mean, I don't usually notice it anymore, it's just sort of part of my day now. But really, I wonder what that will be like...

That's all for today. Happy Running!
-Stephanie