It has been way too long since the last blog. Since the last blog my daughter Olivia was born and is now 15 months. How time flies. I ran the London marathon in April as my first race back after Olivia was born. The race went terribly. A week before the race my plantar fascia flared up and was very painful during the race. I did not think I would even finish. I ended up running 2:34 :-( Very frustrating. After this race and recovery training has gone well and I am now just 10 days away from the Toronto marathon :-) I am very excited to go back to Toronto (my favourite race). I am ready to race and the whole focus is to qualify for Rio in 2016. Athletics New Zealand qualifying standards for the 2016 Olympics in Rio are:
A standard - 2:27
B standard - 2:29
So . . . . lets see what the day is like in Toronto on Oct 18 and what my body can do. I am excited for this challenge and to push myself. I will have to run a personal best to qualify so that is the goal in Toronto.
A few other exciting opportunities happened since my last blog that I wanted to share:
1) I started training under Jim Bevan (head coach of the Rice University Women's Track and Field Team). This has been a great experience and I have gained valuable knowledge under him. I have also been able to train with Becky Wade who is currently training for the US Olympic Trails next year. It has been so great to train with Becky.
2) I recently started running with the Brooks ID elite team. It has been so great to be running under Brooks. There shoes and clothes are so well made and I am excited to race and train with Brooks. My favourite shoe is the Brooks Launch and even though it is not fall here in Houston I recently got the Brooks Seattle Shell Jacket. Such an amazing jacket :-)
3) I got a new sponsorship from Dr Dian Ginsberg in Houston. She is a Doctor at the Women's Speciality Healthcare and has kindly sponsored me for 'Functional Nutrition Testing' and all of my nutrient needs. Before I had the testing done I thought that my diet was good and I would have had all of my nutrients taken care of. However the test showed that all of my B vitamins were low. It has helped so much since I have been taking Vitamin B to my energy and performance. I would encourage anyone to get this type of testing done. I have put the website here where you can get more information about the Functional Nutrition Testing:
http://www.womensspecialtyhealthcare.com/functional-wellness/functional-nutrition-testing
4) Dr Lance McClintock is still the Dr who is enabling my body to keep running and putting on the miles. Thanks so much Dr. McClintock. If you ever need any chiropractic work I would highly recommend Dr. McClintock. He is ART certified and recently got his Dry Needling certification. His website is:
http://www.drlancemcclintock.com/
5) I had a great training camp in Portland to escape the brutal heat that the Houston summer brings. My husband and the kids were also able to come for two weeks. Such fun times. Thanks so much to Eva and Ryan Vail for such an fun trip and letting us stay with you.
Here is the link to an article recently published in Athletics Illustrated about about my upcoming race in Toronto:
http://athleticsillustrated.com/editorial/new-zealands-mary-davies-chasing-rio-standard-at-scotiabank-toronto-waterfront-marathon/
I will finish with some pics and will post another update before the Toronto marathon!!
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| It was my 33rd birthday while we were in Portland with the Vail's. You would think it was Lucas birthday from this photo |
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| Shot from the London marathon - I was running with British runner Sonia Samuel's for a while. She just ran a huge pb in the Berlin marathon of 2:28 and ran under the British standard for Rio 2016 - congrats Sonia!! |
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| My lovely friend Evicka :-) Looking forward to seeing you in Toronto!!! Go Brooks!! RUN HAPPY |
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| My cheerleading team in the Sugarland half marathon :-) |
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| My loves :-) |
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| Obrigada Eurides :-) Thanks to Eurides my mother-in-law who came to help during the build up to the Toronto marathon. Such a big help and the kids love her!! Beijos e abracos x |
