On Katie Holmes

I have this "friend" who is running her first marathon this year. (I don't think she is really my friend. She is my facebook friend. I had hoped we could be real friends, but it doesn't seem like it is going to go that way. And that has to be ok.)

I've always been a little jealous of her. She is absolutely beautiful. Smart. Her first Half was the same as mine. She beat me by 17 minutes. Her first 10 mile race was my 10 mile PR race. She beat me by 4 minutes. She ran in the 10K where I got my newest PR. She beat me by almost 3 minutes. When I'm around her I always seem to need to be reminding myself that I have a

wonderful husband, a better job, and a faster 5K PR!! But I genuinely like her as a human being.

So, she is running her first marathon at the Rock n Roll Mardi Gras on February 28th where I'm running the Half. She called me the other day for a work thing, and while I tried to deal with it I asked her how her training was going. Not well, she says, she is injured: shin splints and a tight calf. Her longest run so far has been 18 and that was a few weeks ago.

I gave her my honest opinion, and one rooted in experience. She can totally still run the marathon. She needs to lay off for a week to 10 days and let her shins/calf heal. YOU DON'T LOSE MUCH FITNESS AT ALL IN THAT TIME FRAME. Then do a 15 mile long run, and the next week a 20ish mile long run, then taper. I told her her mid-week runs need to be super short or non-existent after her time off.

She isn't going to listen to me. I know this. She runs with a running group of fasties. They don't run marathons to finish. They run them to race.

I told her that she needed to re-evaluate her priorities. She has 3 options: 1. run the marathon to race, following her club's plan, and HTFU regarding her injuries for the next 6 weeks. 2. run the marathon to finish, in which case, my advice is sound. 3. Drop to the half and make a go at a full some other time.

She said, "But I've got to beat Katie Holmes!"

I said, "I didn't."

Nor did I beat Oprah.

Or P. Diddy.

Or Shrub 43.

But I AM a marathoner.