Monday, October 4, 2010

Taper Weeks!!

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted.  Since September 16th, I have run 52.8 miles.  YIKES!  And while I'm really proud of that, I think I have reached a new level of exhaustion.  I had very little motivation to do anything else really.  I ran while both girls were at school and on the weekends.  The runs went well for the most part, my left calf has been bothering me though.  It was all I could do to get them to school and we had a couple playdates.  My house was kind of a wreck.  My back had been bothering me too, so I was pretty discouraged even though the running part was going ok.  I really was just happy sitting on the couch, watching my children play, not doing anything.  I'm not sure if I had ever been that tired.  And I just didn't think that I should be. 

On Saturday morning, we got up, Seth took the girls to soccer practice and I headed out for my longest training run, I was scheduled to run for 12 miles!  I was feeling pretty confident, I decided that I was going to try to really push through the first couple of miles and it wasn't fun but it wasn't that bad.  I saw several people wearing the Baltimore Marathon shirts, so I cheered them on when they went past me.  It was sunny and almost chilly, so it felt great while I was running.  Things were tough the first couple of miles and then I hit a great pace.  At mile 9 though I started getting tired and hungry, which hadn't really happened before. I stopped for a moment at the water fountain each lap around.  I finished my 12.2 mile run in 2 hours and 26 minutes with an average pace of a 12 minute mile.  I was pretty excited! 

I guess because my longest run is over now until the marathon, I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.  I know, unless something weird happens, that I will finish the 1/2 marathon.  And it looks like there is a really decent chance I will finish under 3 hours.  I will be ecstatic if I could do it 2 1/2 hours.  So we shall see.  I'm feeling a renewed sense of energy.  Even though it's been cloudy and rainy, things seem brighter around here.  When I got home from the run on Saturday, I even cleaned my house!  Then after church on Sunday, we had friends over for lunch.  My friend Joni is running the 1/2 Marathon too, so we made a game plan for the morning.  Her husband Kevin and their daughter will hang out with Seth, our girls, my Dad, Melissa, Randy and Charlie!!  I can't wait to see everyone!!!  So I'm starting to feel good about the day.  I like having a plan, it makes me feel better. 

I went to Road Runner Sports today and picked up some gels and some chews to try out during my run.  I will try them out on my shorter runs.  Hopefully, they won't upset my belly but will give me that extra needed energy during the race.  I'm afraid I made another rookie mistake, I should have tried these out weeks ago. But hopefully, it will all work out. 

So this week, I have 2, 6 miles runs and then an 8 mile this weekend and then it's even less next week.  It's hard to believe that 2 weeks from now it will all be a memory!  A very happy one, hopefully!!! 

2 comments:

  1. My advice is to drink water for the first half of the race, then switch to gatorade.. those gels are kinda wierd.. but that's just me

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  2. GO CHAR GO!
    GO CHAR GO!
    GO CHAR GO!

    I told Dad he has to yell for you from me. Hopefully he remembers!

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