Holy moly, the marathon isn’t very far away all of a sudden! That snuck up rather quickly, considering I’ve been training for it the past 5 months. I’m actually still surprised that I hit 70 miles this week considering I took the first three days easy.
Monday I ran easy with the hubs, 6 miles super easy after work. I ran 2 miles before meeting him, and then 2 miles after that I declared I hated running and never wanted to do it again. So Tin Man-y. But then by mile 6 I was thinking about doing 8 … Ah, running. I love you … and sometimes I hate you, but that never lasts long. I stopped at 6 thought because I had 8 scheduled for the next morning.
Tuesday was, therefore, 8 easy. I started late and had to hustle to get to work on time but it was worth it. I had a massage after work and felt way closer to normal after that.
Wednesday was 8 easy again, with a friend. You can see the recovery happening — same average heart rate Tuesday and Wednesday but 20 seconds faster per mile the second day. I taught Pilates that night.
I took Thursday off work, slept for 9 hours then ran at 10 a.m. The life! I ran the newly opened section of The Parklands connecting Pope Lick Park to Turkey Run. I had a “moderate” run on the docket, which is around 7 minute pace. I started off with 2 miles easier then 8 miles at pace, then my watch died but it was okay because I just had strides and the cool down left. Great day. I read “Kings of the Road” and got lots of rest and then taught Pilates Strength that evening.
I didn’t get up to run Friday morning but my friend was able to run after I got off work, so we took her son out in the jog stroller for 3 miles and then I did the remainder by myself.
Coach only had 20 on the schedule for this Saturday, but 20-22 next weekend, so I figured if it was going well it was probably okay to go 22 this week. This run started off a hot mess. Hubs needed to start about the same time, even though he doesn’t like to go that early. So we drove separately but were going to start together. Normally I park at the gym, jog to the entrance, hit the bathroom, then jog back out. I’m running within 4 minutes of parking. Not Hubs. 15 minutes later we started. And he also likes to stop and stretch after a mile or so, which is fine but not what I do — I just run the first couple of miles really slowly. So I kept jogging while he stretched, and then he told me I could keep going because I was going slower than he wanted to anyway. That was the end of that adventure!
I continued on my way, looping through a neighborhood then back to the gym to trade my safety gear for sunglasses. I jogged to my friend’s house and met her plus the jog stroller (and the baby) at about 8.5 miles and ran 4.5 with them.
By the time I dropped them back at home, it was starting to get hot. Sunny and 70 — not the worst, but not mid-October morning weather! I knew I hadn’t had enough water so I headed to another water fountain, did a loop around the reservoir then headed back. I ran into Hubs with 1.5 to go but we were going opposite directions and I was in a glycogen depletion fog and wasn’t changing my direction.
This is the first time I’ve done a fasted 22 miler — my last 22 was in West Virginia and I was by myself. I have a tendency on these depletion runs to misjudge distances and I was also worried I might get lost, so I took a gel on that run.
So this time I took a Hammer Gel before I started, plus two Endurolytes. I took 2 more Endurolytes at 10k, and probably should’ve carried some for later. I did take a gel with me in case I did need it. And I had Hammer Recoverite as soon as I was finished. (And then a house-made black bean burger, yum.)
Sunday I slept in and went for an easy 7 at 8:30 a.m. It was actually a lot better than I would’ve guessed. The first mile was slow as molasses but after that I was in the 8:20s and faster the whole way, but comfortable and relaxed. The miles rolled by, and man, it’s nice when that happens.
Totals: 70 miles run, 2 Pilates classes taught.
TGRUNFIT 