Easter Sunday was my last LONG long-run. It was the big one, the 20-miler. The last "test run" before the BIG SHOW in 3 weeks. It was the one I had initially been dreading, but you know what? It wasn't too bad. I never thought I call a 20 mile run "not bad" but that's exactly what it was. We were given a gift of great weather that day which definitely helped. One pair of pants, capris, a long-sleeve shirt and a vest was all I needed. It was such a joy to run without a hat or face mask and in only one pair of pants! It has been too long since we've had a long run that only required 1 pair of pants!
Week 15
20.07 Miles
3:18:32 (only 4 minutes longer than our 19 mile run-we're getting faster!!!)
9:23 pace
The first 10 miles literally flew by. We were both feeling good and the conversation was flowing. The talking is definitely what keeps my mind off the task at hand. I like my music too, but it doesn't distract me as much as chatting does. My biggest problem was where to put all my waffle bars, electrolyte pills and GU. Since I wasn't wearing my running shell, I had less pockets (I might have to run with a fanny-pack on race day!!!). I remembered to take my Aleve before running and my electrolyte pills along the way. I consumed 5 waffle bars during our 3 hours of running. We listened to music on our way back and I was doing great until about mile 17. My right foot REALLY started hurting! I had jumped out of our van the night before in very flat shoes (not my brightest moment) and did something to my foot. I don't think I really injured it, I think it was more of the constant repetition that aggravated it. It's better now and I'm hoping it was just temporary because I don't think I could do 6 more miles with that type of pain. Anyways...I felt pretty strong at the end and didn't really "crash" until I got home. I felt pretty barfy and needed to sleep for a bit. A short nap helped a little, but I still felt pretty "off" for the rest of the day and headed to bed pretty early. The next morning I was back to myself so I'm sure it was just the stress and fatigue from running so far. I can only imagine how I'll feel after the BIG SHOW! I may just stay in bed for the whole weekend!
So the BIG SHOW (aka the marathon) is in less than 3 weeks. We taper down quite a bit so I won't be sharing my runs until after the race. I'm feeling very confident and strong. I've done every bit of my scheduled training which I personally find pretty impressive. I'm ready physically and emotionally. There really is nothing more I can do to prepare. I really appreciate everyone's encouragement and advice along the way. Seriously, you guys rock!
A few fun facts:
- My March included 28 hours of running
- ...and over 150 miles (just slightly under, running from my house in Indy to Chicago)
- ...that's around 15,000 calories burned in one month alone
- To date I have run over 370 mile in 2013
- Over 3 dozen waffle bars have been consumed during training
- I ALWAYS drink a Diet Coke before going out for my morning runs
- I also eat a bowl of oatmeal (to counteract the Diet Coke)
- Pretzel bagels from Einstein Bagels are my favorite recovery food
- I also ALWAYS have a Diet Coke after my long runs too
- My favorite routes to run are out and back (...mainly b/c I get lost otherwise)
So what's next? The great thing about running is that the journey is never truly over. I feel like I'm always in training for something and I like it that way. I've got a half-marathon in August with my running bestie Traci. She really wants to come in under 2 hours so I'm going to help her train and pace her on the race. We're also doing a 10K in Boston in October. I'm going for under 52 minutes which is about 2 minutes under my PR. Then June 2014 I really want to do the Cincinnati Flying Pig 4-Way which is a 5k, 10K and full marathon in the same weekend. See what I mean...the never ending journey.
Thanks again for all your motivation! I'll see you on the other side of the finish line! You won't be able to miss me. I'll be the one with the HUGE smile on my face!
No comments:
Post a Comment