If I have counted right this is the midway point of my prep, 8 weeks down with 8 weeks to go. WOW 8 weeks to go and this was a big week. Had all week to worry about the 18 mile run on Saturday. I kept telling myself it would be ok, but more on that later.
Monday was a 5 miler, I decided this week to test a 1/5, walk one minute, run 5. I used it for all the runs this week and I think I like it. For the long run on Saturday I went back to 1/4 but may stay with the 1/5 for the shorter ones during the week. Also I have been a little worried about the hill in the marathon so David found a hill that he thought equates to the hill in the marathon. I have been trying to incorporate it into my Monday night run. As some of you know, I like hills and this one is not a problem. Of couse the one in the marathon is 4 miles long with an elevation of 200 feet but I think I can do it.
Tuesday was probably the hardest run I have had in awhile. It had rained and the air was just heavy and yucky and I had a really hard time. Several times I wanted to call David to just come get me but I kept remembering the quote about throwing in the towel or using it to wipe my face and I imagined wiping my face and just kept going. It must not have been as bad as I feared as I set a really good time.
Mother nature tried to mess me up on Wednesday. As I was getting ready to go to the Horse Park to meet Cherri and Marty for an 8 miler the skies opened up and poured. Luckily it stopped in time that I could get in 6 miles and I decided to add the missing two to Thursday nights run. Due to races, weather, etc I hadn't gotten in all the miles for the last two weeks and I was determined this week I was going to run all the miles on the training plan. Even though the air was a little heavy from the rain it was a pretty good run.
Thursday was a little cooler and it was a good run. I had 4 miles on the plan plus the two I missed on Wednesday and it was a good run.
Friday was the off day, the weather was gorgeous and I really wanted to go for a run but I knew I had those 18 miles on Saturday so I rested.
As I mentioned above I worried alot over the week about the 18. On top of that worry David ended up having to work on Saturday. Chandler had a scout lock in on Friday night and we were trying to figure out how to make it all work. We managed to work it out that another scout mom could bring Chandler home. My friend Cherri had agreed to do the first 9 with me so I knew if we started at 5:30 we could be back at the house about the time Chandler would get home. I could check on him, fill up my water bottles and finish up the second 9 while he slept. So thinking of it as two 9 miles runs somehow made it seem not so bad. I also kept thinking, I did 16 two weeks ago this is just two more miles. So off we went at 5:30 am and almost immediately I see lightning off in the distance. I had not seen the weather and sure enough in just a few minutes we were getting sprinkled on. Luckily it was just sprinkles and it went away, came back again about mile 4 for a short time and then came back again about mile 14. It was just sprinkles, no lightning or thunder so we ran through it. The first 9 went well, I enjoy running with Cherri, sometimes we talk and sometimes we run in silence, she is a good pace sitter as I tend to go out to fast and she reins me in. We were coming down the street back to the house just as Chandler pulled onto the street, perfect timing. I thanked Cherri for the companionship, ran into the house, checked on Chandler, he was pretty tired, filled up my water bottles and started back out. I stayed in the neighborhood for the second 9 miles. The first couple were fine but then I got a little down and I had to do some talking to myself to keep going. About mile 15 my calves really started hurting and I began to really look forward to my walking breaks but I kept pushing. When I saw mile 17 on the Garmin I was thrilled, one mile to go and in fact with 3/4 of a mile left I started into a run phase and I ended up running the whole last 3/4. My calves were killing me and my hamstrings were a little sore. I took a cool bath and rubbed my calves till I felt like I could move again. Chandler and I got dressed and headed to Mickey D's for some pancakes and then we went down to the mall to walk around and stretch my legs.
As I sit here today I cannot believe I ran/walked 18 miles. According to mapquest it is 15 miles from Georgetown to Lexington so I could just run down to Lexington the next time I want to go shopping. Nah, don't think so I still like my wheels. :)
Till next week
C
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