5.20.09

No run today, just took a full day of rest, tomorrow an easy day, then a really light day Friday with some striders. Just the normal core work.

After Boston, Kara Goucher had planned to take time off. That mentality changed rather quickly when she finished within seconds of winning the marathon. She wanted a bit of redemption, or maybe just another crack at the marathon the next week at London. That may seem a little crazy, but not really due to the first three-fourths of the race being extremely slow. Thankfully she decided against it, heeding the advice from her coach Salazar. The marathon is an extremely grueling race, and London always being fast, would be difficult even if perfectly prepared and rested.

I wrote my own little opinion about it, basically stating that if I were in that position, family would have to wait until I got one more crack at the marathon. The fact is Kara was simply in excellent marathon shape, and I hated the idea of that level of fitness be reverted back to a sort of ground zero before taking another stab at a high finish. But alas, wise minds worked together and came up with the solution, the World Championships in August. That gives Kara another attempt at running her best marathon and enough time afterward to start a family before returning to training for the 2012 Olympics. I am glad she, her husband, and her coach made the decision. Assuming her training continues well, she will do amazing at World's. Paula Radcliffe will be there and what better marathon experience is there to gain from racing against the world record holder?

Goucher on World Championships in August