"If you're going to stagger in front of a car, make sure it's an Aston Martin and not some dishwasher haulin it on his way to work on Park Ave."

20 Miles. I did it! I did it! Woo Hoo!

This run was historic for me and I was a bit concerned and nervous going in. The mindset is completely different for 20 miles than for 16. At least it is for me. I have a tendency to experience the "middle mile yuk syndrome" . During these miles, I feel tired, my quads hurt and I am generally grumpy. It usually lasts for a couple miles and then some weird second wind comes into play. This week it happened at mile 7 and again at mile 13. Honestly, at mile 13 - everything in my body was screaming at me to stop. I was able to muddle through it, though and continue on.

Today's run was actually quite fun! I can't say I expected it - but when you trek with great running buddies anything can happen. We had some pretty funny (delirious) moments. Sue, Tim, Rachelle and Beth were all there making it super fun! We giggled so much between miles 15 and 18 that I had to run away from Rachelle so I wouldn't (to put it delicately) pee myself! The headline of today's post is a direct quote from the run!

The aforementioned group was running fewer miles than I had committed to. Tim did 14, and Rachelle and Beth did 18. Sue was our supportive cheerleader on her bike as she was recovering from a 50 mile run the previous weekend and had some wicked blisters. After Rachelle and Beth finished their 18, I was momentarily tempted to call it a day. But I dug deep and with Sue's help, knocked out the last 2 miles. We got back to our starting point with half a mile yet to go and I obsessively ran around the block so I could see my garmin cross over the 20 mile mark. I have the picture to prove it!

So, the run was complete, ( 4 hours and 30 minutes later) and I was so happy! I took off my shoes (aaaahhhh), hobbled to my car, drove to get a chocolate milk and headed home for a delightful nap. When I woke up at 1230 pm, Caleb ( my wonderful, caring son) made me french toast and bacon! Yummy! After burning 2000 calories, it hit the spot! I did get out of bed to eat - and my legs were not as sore as I thought they might be.

Today ( Sunday) my legs are sore - but not dreadfully so. All in all, I am really pleased. I feel confident that I can complete a marathon now. I wish I had started training sooner so I could have gotten a bit faster but I will just have to be okay with it. I won't break any time records - but I will finish.

I am hoping to do one more 20+ miler (preferably 22) during the training. We are down to 6 weeks till the race.

I guess that is all for now. Thanks for reading!

Jules

Early to bed, early to rise...

So it is the night before the longest run yet. I am scheduled to do 20 miles tomorrow. I must say it dominates my thoughts the closer it gets! I went to a concert tonight with my sister and had to leave early because all I could think about was how I needed to get to bed. I feel like I have entered crunch time with my training and since I have worked so hard to build a solid base I don't want to do anything to screw it up.

So, it's off to bed with me. ( 945pm). The alarm is set for 330 am. All my running gear is lined up and ready to go!

Wish me luck!

I will post soon to tell you how it went.

As always, thanks for reading.

Julie

Sweet 16

Yesterday's 16 mile run rocked! Not every run is great, as I am sure you have gathered from my posts, if not from your own experience. This one, however, was. Pretty much everything that mattered went well. I stayed on top of my nutrition and with exception of the middle mile yuk syndrome I felt strong the whole run.

The morning started at 430 with my running pal, Emily. We got 2 miles in before the group set out for 12 together. I finished it off by myself on the Cady Way Trail with the final 2 for a total of 16. I did all this in under 4 hours. I still haven't really figured out how long it might take to do the marathon. There are a lot of variables. Temperature, adrenaline, crowd support, nutrition etc. I know I can do it in under 6 hours but I would really like to get closer to 5 hours.

Next week is 18 miles and I am not afraid! That is huge. My training schedule has the longest run of training at 20 miles. I am hoping to get a 22 miler in, though - for mental reasons. I think I will feel more confident if I accomplish a 22 mile run prior to the marathon.

Countdown: 7 weeks.

More later. Thanks for reading!

Long time, no post. Sorry

I have been a slacker. Not on the road, but in blogging. So let me catch you (all 5 of you) up on my progress and continued training. Last we spoke (you know what I mean) I was preparing for my first 16 mile run. We started at 430 am and it was already hot. I really love running in the pre-dawn hours, really love it. When the sun rises and you have already done 6 miles, it makes the rest of it go by so much faster and, for me, better. Anyway, the run was really great. I always start out a little stiff and it takes me at least 2 miles to get loosened up. I also usually experience what I call "middle mile yuk syndrome" where I find myself struggling and feel pretty tired in my quads (front thighs for you non runners). This 16 mile run was no exception. I came out of it pretty quickly, though, and finished strong.

I was really not terribly sore the next few days which is a testament to the way we are training. I am not sure if I have talked about the specifics of the interval training that we are doing yet. We run for 5 minutes and walk for 1 minute throughout the entire mileage. There are water stops along the way as well and are usually every two miles. This interval approach keeps your legs from getting totally spent during the run. I can't say I completely understand the physics of it - but I totally believe in it.

I will run the marathon using this interval approach as well. Interestingly enough, my pace has not become slower employing this method of training.

Last week's long run was 10 miles and was ok. It wasn't a great run - but not awful either. Suffice it to say, it is done.

Here comes Saturday again and this week is the second 16 mile run. I will post to let you know how it goes.

Just keep putting one foot in front of the other...

That was great advice from my friend Paul Duckett (former YMCA downtown running group coach). He told me that several years ago when I first started running and it has kept me going through some tough runs. This morning's run was very tough. Six miles on the beach. I repeated that mantra, counted to 1000, prayed for clouds, bribed myself to just run to the lifeguard chair, etc etc...

I only ran 6 miles, but having slept in, had to run at 10 am. Geez, it was hot. I won't do that again! At first I was running into the wind, so I thought that I would have a nice tailwind coming back. NOPE. It was just hotter. But, I made it through - so another training run down, 10 weeks of them to go...

More and more, I find myself believing I can run a marathon. I hope I am right! This week's long run will be 16 miles. We start at 430 am. I am guessing it will take around 4 hours - with the frequent water breaks and bathroom stops. Last week's 14 mile run was 3 hours and 44 minutes with all the stops. We keep these runs on the slow side - with the heat.

I am starting to consider ( obsess) what sort of time I might be able to run the marathon in. In my dreams, I would do a sub 5 hour marathon. I can't even to begin to believe I could pull that off, though. My running mentor tells me that after Saturday's run, I should be able to calculate a pretty accurate estimate of what to expect. I will post about that this weekend.

Off to the beach...

14.25 miles during heat advisory

OMG it was hot. (84 degrees at 5 am with a "feels like" of 98 degrees). This past saturday, we started at 5 am for a 14 mile training run. The first 4 miles were tough for some reason. The rest was hard - and hot - but I managed to finish strong.

I did better in my training last week and this week is starting out well. I did pool running with Alan again last night and will run 6 on the beach early this evening.

This coming Saturday the 7th will be a 16 mile training run starting at 430 am. It will be the farthest run ever and in a strange way I am looking forward to it. Perhaps it is the accomplishment I look forward to...

Countdown: 10 weeks til Chicago Marathon.