Speeding through the monster cycle, and thoughts a la Julie & Julia

I am in week 2 of my monster cycle. I had my speed workout this morning, which tends to be a good kick-start to my day. I was pleased with how it went. As soon as I got out and started running, the tension started to melt away. We had rain overnight, so there was still that nice post-rain feeling in the air that means spring is coming. 2.5 mile warm up, then I used my straightaway road for my track. 2 mile tempo run at 7:25 pace, then 8 x 400 aiming for between 1:48-1:52 for each one, with a minute jog in between. A few were too fast (1:44), but nothing went above 1:51, which was good, then a 4 mile cool down, for a total of 12 miles. Still felt strong during the cool down - the past few track workouts have totaled 14 miles, so having 2 less miles made a major difference.

Monday, February 22: OFF

Tuesday, February 23: 2.5 mile warm-up; 2 mile tempo on track, first mile 7:50, second mile 7:35 ; jog 2 laps; 8x400 meters, 150 meter jog between each, 1:48-1:52 pace. 4 mile cool-down. Total mileage—12 miles

Wednesday, February 24: 6 miles easy

Thursday, February 25: 9 miles easy

Friday, February 26: OFF

Saturday, February 27: 22 miles easy, run easy the first 5 miles, average marathon goal pace for 12 miles, finish last 5 miles as easy run.

Sunday, February 28: 8 miles easy

Weekly Mileage Total: 57 miles

As soon as I got out and started running, the tension started to melt away. We had rain overnight, so there was still that nice post-rain feeling in the air that means spring is coming.

They announced the complete elite field for Boston today. The BAA has been dropping names since December, but the complete list is here. I hope that Ryan and Meb will be around that weekend at the Expo, as well as some of the other bigwigs. I know that Deena Kastor is running London the week after, but I'm hoping she comes to support her fellow Americans.

I got to thinking about meeting some of the big American marathoners last night after watching the Meryl Streep/Amy Adams movie Julie & Julia, which is just a fun and sweet movie. Julie is so full of admiration for Julia that she seeks to emulate her, and works her way through Julia's Master the Art of French Cooking and blogs about it. But she doesn't just write about her cooking experiences, she pretends Julia is watching over her and Julie tries very hard to be like Julia Childs.

I've sort of been doing that with my blogging about Deena Kastor. As it has become evident in recent blog posts, she is one of my biggest running role models. While I can't quite immitate her mileage or speed, I do try to be like her. She recently wrote about turning 37 in her blog, and I just think she has a great attitude about running and the joy of it. So hopefully she doesn't hate me or find me disrespectful. She is a teriffic woman and I would love to one day meet her. Here's to you, Deena - I lift my water bottle to you!