Phoenix Marathon Recap

I don't really know why I haven't posted this yet.  I wrote it the day after the marathon and maybe it was just too real or too much for me to publish at that time.  It still feels weird, actually.  I finished a marathon, and this is my story...

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Rewind with me for a minute to the following dates:

May 5, 2012: E-mail conversation with my friend, Jamie, regarding the possibility of signing up for a marathon in 2013.  Phoenix came up as a possibility because her dad has a place there.  I searched for a Phoenix race and up came the Phoenix Marathon . We agreed to register together so neither of us could back out.

May 18, 2012: Registration for the marathon.  Jamie and I conversed via gmail chat and registered at the same time.

Now back to the present:

March 2, 2013: Nearly 10 months after we decided we were going to register for the race, we finished it.  I really hoped I would finish in under 5 hours and I really thought I could do it.  That ended up not being the case at all.  But I did finish and that's all that really matters at this point in time. This is how it all went down...

Jamie and I got to the gathering area to travel up to Usery Mountain Park and were on the bus at 5:00 AM.  That means we were up SUPER early (I woke up before my alarm went off at 3:45) to get there on time.  Thank goodness we got there when we did because we found out later from Jamie's dad, Ed, that the traffic to get to the buses was backed up on the interstate and if we were any later we would have risked not getting on the bus at all.  Whew.

The starting area was pretty sweet.  They had several heaters set up and fires built for the folks not used to the weather (Jamie and I didn't worry about it; it was almost 50 degrees outside!). The port-a-potty situation seemed a little short in number but it didn't impact me at all.  The National Anthem played (complete with fireworks!) and suddenly we were being herded to the start line.  I'm pretty sure they started right at 6:30 but I was too busy setting my Garmin and maybe freaking out a little bit when the cannon went off to start the race.

Gathering area near the starting line

Jamie and I before the start of the race

The starting line!

Jamie and I decided on Friday night that we would start out running together at about 11:00/mile pace and if one of us wanted to go ahead or stay back, we would split up.  We took off running with the 4:55 pace group and ended up going ahead of them within the first few miles.  I didn't really mean to do that but the girl who was running right in front of us was kind of annoying and wasn't running very consistently or in a straight line, so we passed her and therefore passed the entire pace group.

My husband and Jamie's dad were waiting to cheer us on between miles 3 and 4 which was great!  We knew they were going to try to see us along the route but we had no idea exactly where they would be.  Jamie stopped at mile 5 to use the bathroom and that's where we split.  I kept my pace around 11:00/mile until the half mark but stopped to use the bathroom just before the timing mat so my half-marathon time was 2:27:32 - 11:16/mile.  I slowed a bit after that to 12 and 13 minute miles until mile 19.  I had really hoped to run the race in under 5 hours which meant I would need to keep my pace faster than 11:27/mile but with the way my Garmin works I can't see both my current pace and average pace on my watch at the same time so in order to know my average pace I needed to be able to do the math...and doing math when you're 19 miles into a run is kind of hard.

I was able to see Ed and Josh cheering a few more times along the way which was seriously great. I think it was right along mile 17 when I saw them and told Josh that if I ever talk about running a marathon again he should remind me of how much it sucked right at that moment.  Not too long after that I saw them drive past me which told me right away that Jamie must be pretty close behind me.  I continued on and eventually slowed to walk.  I turned around and saw Jamie right behind me!  I waved, she waved, and I kept walking until she caught up with me.

I don't think I've ever been so glad to see her face than I was at that very moment.

I have no idea if Jamie was hurting as much as I was or if she would have been able to go on ahead of me.  She never said a word about it; she just kept right by my side and ran when I said I wanted to run and walked when I said I needed to walk.

Ed and Josh appeared again at mile 17, this time with ice packs.  Have I mentioned it was the hottest day of the year so far in Phoenix on Saturday? The ice packs were a godsend. Seriously. They were there again at 20 with more and said they would see us at the finish line.  I think we got to mile 20 in about 4 hours.  On a good day I can run 6.2 miles in an hour, but there was no way that was going to happen.  I knew far before that moment in time that I wouldn't be making my goal of a sub-5 hour marathon, but I didn't care.  All I cared about was finishing.

Some miles during the last 6.2 had far more walking than running and it took us awhile to finish them.  Finally, close to the 26 mile mark, I looked up and saw Bass Pro Drive - the finish line was just around the corner - and I started to get choked up.  I fought back the tears.  I was almost done.  I felt like hell but knew there was no way I was going to walk across the finish line.  Again, I have no idea how Jamie felt at this point, but she stuck by me!  We had been walking and decided to run with the final .2 or so remaining and we crossed the finish line together.

Final finishing time 5:25:36.

We got our medals and I finally turned to Jamie and hugged her and cried. 

I finished. 

WE finished. 

Together.

The celebration began almost immediately.  Ed and Josh found us and we stretched for a bit (although it seems like no amount of stretching could stop the amount of soreness I feel at this exact moment in time). We checked text messages and facebook, we took pictures, and eventually went to find beer.  And boy, did that beer taste good!

The celebration continued at Ed's place in the frigid swimming pool and delightful hot tub.  We napped and eventually continued the party at the Sandbar (Ed's local watering hole) for dinner and more drinks and then back to Ed's for even more celebrating at Ed's after that.  Holy smokes, that was a lot of partying!

Partaaaaaaayyyyyy!!!

My legs were sore.  And I mean really sore.  I wasn't walking anywhere close to normal and getting up and down stairs and in and out of chairs was extremely difficult.  But I'm glad I did it.  I finished a freaking marathon. 

One more week!

One week from today I'll be running my very first marathon.  Saying training has been easy would be a downright lie. Snow, ice, and wind forced me to run inside and I started feeling ridiculously fast.  Once I ran outside again things felt more difficult and I questioned just how fast I'd really be able to run this marathon and if I'd really be able to run it in under 5 hours (that's always been my main goal).  But who really cares?  I'm running a freaking marathon and I've been strict with my training plan.  I'm ready to do this, I really am.

I was supposed run a mid-week 6 miler this week but I didn't.  I turned my 3 miler into a 3.5 and briefly thought about running 6 on Friday, but that thought was ever-so-brief.  I had 8 on my plan today and set my alarm for 7am since I had to be to a baby shower later in the morning. I snoozed right through the alarm and decided against running in the morning.  I attended the shower and on the way home realized it was far too windy for my taste to run 8 miles outside.  Honestly, I really didn't feel like running at all but since I skipped my 6 miler earlier this week I really could skip out again today.  So I mixed up some Jack3d, downloaded a new audio book, and headed to the Y rather unsure of how it would all go.

Ummm, fast.  That's how it went.  For a girl who didn't feel like running, I finished 8 miles in 1:17:33 - 9:41/mile.  Sure, there were a few walking breaks but I didn't stop the clock.  My posture felt great and my stride, perfect. 

I think I can honestly say that I'm ready for next week.  Until then, 3 miles tomorrow, 4 miles on Monday, and hopefully 2 on Thursday in Phoenix. Bring it on!

Robie Registration and a windy 4 miler

Last year's Race to Robie Creek, despite being my slowest half marathon ever, ended up being one of my favorite races of the year so as registration drew near, I was anxious to secure a spot again.  The race is limited to just over 2436 participants and sold out last year in just over 9 minutes.  I slept in and put off my 4 mile run until after registration.  When noon hit, I quickly completed my registration form and had absolutely no difficulty getting registered which was a different story from last year.  My buddy, Mike, had a little trouble with the website but ended up with a confirmation for the race as well.  Yippee!

After my registration for Robie was complete, I really had no excuse to get out for my scheduled 4 mile run.  I was a bit nervous about how my knee would react, but geared up anyway.  I felt pretty good for most of the first 2 miles but then again, I had wind at my back.  Once I turned around to head back to the house, the wind hit me head on and I struggled to keep a regular pace.  Thankfully I wasn't out on a long run.  I snapped this photo of the flags near a subdivision to show how much the wind was blowing...but the photo really doesn't do it justice.  Weather.com indicated the wind was blowing 16 mph with gusts up to 25 mph.  Again, so glad I wasn't out for a long run in that today. 

I still finished my run in 41:49 today, so that's nice.  Plus, my knee held up for the duration of the run.  I made sure to stretch like crazy and rolled out my IT band on my foam roller for quite awhile when I got home.  I should have been doing more of that prior to today so hopefully the knee issue was just a quick reminder to stretch after ANY length of run, not just the long ones. 

Finally, a long run outdoors!

Let the tapering begin!  Actually, it began as soon as my 20 miler was done last weekend, but I still had 5, 8, and 4 mile mid-week runs this week so it didn't exactly feel like I was tapering.  Honestly, today didn't really either, but whatever.

The weather today was slated to be 50 degrees and I was ecstatic!  Finally, a long run outdoors! 
I had 12 on the schedule today so I mapped out a good route and headed on my way a little after 11:00 am with the temp at about 40 degrees. I wore my Athleta capris, my short sleeve Portland half marathon shirt, and my Salomon running jacket. 

Within the first mile I saw this and couldn't help but snap a photo:

Shortly thereafter I knew my jacket would prove to be too hot and just after mile 2 I took it off and tied it around my waist.  With 10 miles left, I knew I wouldn't want the jacket with me the entire way so I decided to change my route and head back home...eventually...and then finish off the last few miles.  Just after mile 3 I realized I had hit a pretty big milestone for the year: 200 miles!  It took me until May last year to hit this mark, so the fact that I got there by mid-February this year was pretty huge.  

Here was my view: 

I got a bit of a reprieve from miles 4 to 5 with the downhill stretch but that quickly ended when I had to run uphill for mile 6ish.  Home happened shortly after mile 8 and I was SO glad to get rid of my jacket that had been swooshing behind me.  I got some water and headed back out on the road.  By then, it was 50 degrees outside!

Part of the path I took was still covered in ice and I witnessed some poor teenager eat $h!+ on her bike coming around a corner.  I don't think she knew I was right there and I didn't see another soul around, yet she triumphantly shouted out "I'm ok!" right before I came into view.  Poor kid!  I rounded a corner from a park setting to a main street with about .75 miles to go and for about 1/4 mile I thought about continuing to 13.1.

But something weird happened: my knee started hurting and I decided that going on to finish 13 would not be a good plan.  I finished off my 12 miles and stretched at home but as the night goes on, my knee continues to ache.  I'm icing now and I'm really not happy about it.  Hopefully my low mileage for this week and next will be good.  I'll cross-train and keep trucking along.  I am hopeful that this is a fluke and that tomorrow everything will be hunky dory.

9:05 miles (whaaaa?!)

I was really glad to have Sunday as a full rest day after running 20 on Saturday.  My body was absolutely exhausted and even getting out of bed on Monday morning to run was a chore.  Instead of running on the indoor track again I headed straight for the treadmill (even though I hate it) for change.  I had 5 miles on my plate that morning but I knew when I got up that there was no way I'd be running that distance.  I didn't keep track of any mile splits; I just wanted to get some miles done.  I slowly jogged my first mile (just over 11 minutes, I think) and then decided to do some speed work to keep myself from feeling too defeated.  3 miles done on Monday and I was spent.

This morning I had 8 miles to do but I slept a few minutes too late and knew it would be tough to get all of them done before I had to be to work.  I managed to get 5 miles done and took a different approach to my workout.  Rather than using my stopwatch app on my phone for the entire run, I tried to run each mile as fast as I could for miles 1,2, and 4 and stopped the clock while I walked.  I ran the 3rd mile with Lynn (still pretty fast for us) and finally ran an easy last mile. The result? 

9:05
9:26
9:38 (with Lynn)
9:05
9:59

Since when am I able to run a 9:05 mile not just once but TWICE in one day?!  And since when did 9:59 become an easy mile?!

I planned to run 3 miles during my lunch break today but that proved more difficult that I imagined.  A 30 minute meeting turned into an hour and with travel time between appointments and different offices I found myself with about 30 minutes to spare before my next meeting.  After a quick wardrobe change I set out for what I had hoped to be a 1.5 mile run.  Anything is better than nothing, right?  At 1.5 I realized I could run another 5 minutes and still have time to change and get to the afternoon meeting on time, so I did.  2 miles, approx 20 minutes. I'll take it. 

So far this week I haven't met my training plan goals and I don't plan to make them up.  I also don't think it's going to hurt me now.  I'll run my planned 4 miles tomorrow and 12 on Saturday and call it good for the week. 

PRs, long runs, sore muscles - Oh my!

This was a BIG week of running for me.  Not only was it a big mileage week for me at 40 miles (my longest ever and likely the most weekly mileage I'll have for a long, long time), but I also snagged some great PRs.

I started the week with a 5 mile run on the indoor track at the YMCA thinking that I'd be doing 10 on Wednesday and another 5 on Thursday.  When I realized my work schedule wasn't going to allow me to run 10 miles before work any day this week, I decided to take my running gear to work and finish off another 5 miles at lunch.  My legs were a little tired from Saturday's 14 miler so I wasn't particularly fast, but I did get to run outside at lunch for the first time in weeks!  The sidewalks were clear, it was about 32 degrees outside, and did I mention the fact that I got to run outside?!

First 5 miles indoors - 10:21/mile avg
2nd 5 miles outside - 11:19/mile avg

Wednesday morning I got up and pounded out my fastest 5 miles EVER at an average pace of 9:31/mile.  That's a time of 47:44, people!

Thursday morning was sort of sluggish, but I did get to run with Lynn again.  She's been out of commission with a hip issue and hasn't been able to run but Thursday she ran a mile with me on the indoor track. It was nice to have some company!  Average pace?  10:10/mile.

And finally, yesterday's 20 miler.  I've been checking the weather forecast all week and yesterday was supposed to be clear with a high of 35.  I was super excited to run outside for my long run and mapped out a route from our house to Meridian, back to Boise near the mall, then finally back to our house. But when I went upstairs to throw on running gear, I could hear the wind howling outside. I think I paced around the bedroom for a solid 30 minutes checking the weather, listening to the wind, and trying to figure out if I should continue with my plan to run outside or if I should head to the indoor track yet again.  The wind wasn't expected to subside anytime soon and was blowing 20+ mph.  As much as I hated to do it, I made the decision to pack up some gear and run at the Y again.  Sigh.

I was really trying to slow my pace for the long run so I would still have some energy at the end of it is really difficult to control my pace without the ability to use my Garmin indoors.  I started out too fast and I knew it by mile ten (1:41:54), by far my fastest 10 mile run ever.  I finished (approx) 13.1 in 2:13:51 (new PR at 10:13/mile!)  and took a little break to eat 1/2 of a peanut butter sandwich and have some Honey Stinger Chews (I had some Jack3d before my run) and set out to finish the final 7 miles.  My first 13 miles were all under 11:00/mile but my last 7 were all over 11:00/mile, my fastest of the 7 being the 20th mile at 11:32.  One thing I've been focusing on is pushing myself the last lap or 2, like I will want to do at the marathon in 3 weeks (holy crap, THREE WEEKS!!!).  I finished 20 in 3:35:28 which is an average pace of 10:45/mile. 

My legs are sore but that's to be expected.  Now the taper begins...

Dare I say it? A fast 14 miles?

Well, once again my plans for outdoor running were foiled yesterday.  I was quite excited that the temps were above 22 degrees for my 14 mile training run but when I stepped outside I was once again greeted by an icy driveway, icy sidewalks, and icy roads which left me nowhere to run that morning.  We made plans to drive to McCall for the Winter Carnival that afternoon so I didn't really have the option of waiting until later in the day to run and I really like having Sunday as a rest day so I wasn't very interested in waiting another day.  Plus, I had already taken my Jack3d that morning and if I didn't go work out I would have exploded. 

So I trudged off to the Y for another indoor track run.  My first mile was surprisingly difficult.  My shins were screaming at me to stop, so I took a few minutes to stretch a little bit about 1/2 mile in and then continued on.  They still hurt a bit and I realized my form was terrible so I made a conscious effort to straighten up and correct my stride and that made all the difference.  Believe it or not, I was not trying to run this super fast. 

I tried to take it easy and slow things down a little bit since I've been really bad about slowing down my long runs.  They (whoever "they" are) say I should I should be running my long runs at a 12:30 pace or so but that feels so. damn. slow.  So I haven't been.  I just run them how I feel.  I walk when I need to walk and I run when I feel like running.  That method played out pretty well for me on this run.  I ran my fastest half-marathon ever during this little training run (2:16:57 - my previous PR was 2:21:13!) and in the end finished 14 miles in 2:27:18, faster than 2/3 of the half-marathons I've run over the past few years.  Say whaaaaaat?!

I stretched and got home to shower before Josh and I headed out the door for the ride to McCall.  Sitting in the car for a few hours after running that hard probably wasn't the best idea I've ever had, but the decision to stop at Gold Fork Hot Springs on the way back sure was!

Jack3d 9 miles

Jack3d.  It's kind of like crack for workout freaks.  Seriously.  I got a little sample to test out last week and I used it before my long run.  It was pretty good but I don't think I realized the full benefit of it since I ran 18 miles that day.  I took it again this morning before scheduled 9 miler and wowza, did I ever run fast! 

Breakdown:

Mile 1 - 9:30
Mile 2 - 9:29
Mile 3 - 9:56
Mile 4 - 9:50
Mile 5 - 10:16
Mile 6 - 10:10
Mile 7 - 10:38
Mile 8 - 10:27
Mile 9 - 11:00

The last mile was pretty rough but I flew through the first 4 like I was a girl on fire. I'm actually not sure if I've ever run 4 miles continuously at such a fast pace.  Go me!

18 miles

I don't really have anything clever to write about this particular run, other than the fact that my plans changed several times before I actually started running.  I thought about running at the Nampa Rec Center on the 1/5 mile indoor track but when I got up yesterday morning the sun was shining (yay!) and I was hopeful that the Greenbelt would be clear enough to run down there.  I struggled with what to wear to run outside because it was over 30 degrees out side and my other outdoor runs have been in the teens over the past few weeks.  I bundled up and went down to my regular parking spot only to slip and slide all over the place getting down to the main path.  I took one step on the main path and turned around and went back to the car.  By the time I got home and changed into indoor running gear I had no desire to drive to Nampa.  Instead, I drove down the street to the YMCA and decided to alternate between the treadmill and the indoor track.  It wasn't quite as bad as I thought it would be to run on the smaller track, but it was less than ideal.  I finished 18 miles in around 3 hours 25 minutes which put me at about 11:19/mile average.  I'll take it!

This week: 5, 9, 5, 14

Also, I realized this week that not only have I run over 100 miles in January, I've run more this month than I did in January and February in 2012.  Woot!

Quick update

5 miles yesterday morning on the treadmill - 11:19/mile average
4 miles yesterday afternoon on the treadmill/indoor track - 11:21/mile average

5 miles this morning on the indoor track - 10:13/mile average (my first 3 were under 30 minutes!)

I will most definitely be doing any indoor runs on the indoor track rather than the treadmill. 

That is all.

I HATE the treadmill

Look, I know HATE is a strong word but that is truly how I feel.  I am NOT a treadmill runner.  I feel like my gait gets all out of whack and I can't seem to run more than a mile at a time when I'm on it without taking breaks to walk. That being said, I've been running my weekday runs on the treadmill at the YMCA for the last 2 weeks because of the snow and crap weather we've had lately here in Boise.  And I hate it. 

This week my plan calls for me to run 4, 5, and 9 miles during the week with my long run of 18 this weekend.  I met Lynn this morning for my 5 miler on the treadmill and was going to call it good for the day until I realized I could get out of work a little early, take the kid to the Y for teen yoga (she loved it!) and I could pump out the remaining 4 miles while she was at yoga. That way I would only have to do 5 on Thursday and could have a day of rest before my 18 miler on Saturday. 

***Quick pause for another brief story which may or may not explain what I did for my final milei today: At work today I was talking to a fellow runner about the crap conditions outside and he suggested going to the Nampa Rec Center and paying for a day pass to run on their indoor track rather than suffering through another long run on the snow.

So I slugged through 3 miles on the treadmill after work and it took me over 35 minutes to get that done. It was getting pretty crowded at the gym and I started feeling guilty for being on the treadmill  for over the 30 minute allotment during the busy time of the day so I decided to run the last mile on the indoor track.  Keep in mind that each lap on the indoor track is 1/12 of a mile so I had to run 12 laps on this little track to get my last mile completed.  BUT, that mile went by SO fast!  I felt like I was flying!  I'll admit, I walked one of the laps but I still finished in what I believe was under 10 minutes for my final mile. 

It made me realize that maybe my buddy from work is on to something: 18 miles on an indoor track might not be so bad.  I'm certainly not going to do it at the Y because that track is ridiculously small.  But the Nampa Rec Center's track is 1/5 mile per lap, so I'd only need to do 90 laps to make it work.  Sure, it might take me 4 hours, but there are bathrooms right there and I can keep my water and electrolytes handy too and that might be worth the $8.25 fee for the day, especially if it snows again tonight like the forecast indicates. 

I'll pontificate a bit further and make a decision soon.  Stay tuned...

16 tough miles

Since the snow hasn't melted yet and none of the sidewalks are cleared I decided to head down to the Boise Greenbelt for my long run this weekend where some friends said the paths were plowed.  I packed up some extra gloves, a headband to cover my ears in case my new hat didn't work out, and a whole load of water before I left the house.  The temp was still only about 16 degrees when I was heading out the door so I stopped at my local New Balance shop and picked up some additional pants to throw over my tights so I would be quite as cold.  I stayed fairly warm last weekend but I knew it could be better.  Since the drinking fountains don't work on the greenbelt during the winter I was going to have to use my car as my water supply and I wouldn't be able to stray very far from that point.

I'm not sure what I was expecting to see when I got down to the park to start my 16 mile jaunt, but I guess I was hoping the path would be a little more clear than it really was.  Turns out the paths had been plowed (yay!) but were essentially just covered in packed snow (boooooo!).  I knew right when I started out that it was going to be another really difficult run.  I took a water bottle with me and carried it for 8 miles before stopping at the car to refill.  I grabbed a granola bar and more energy chews and refilled my water before snapping this photo and heading back out for the second half of the run...

I thought the first 8 miles were tough but had this glimmer of hope that I wouldn't want to die during the second 8 miles.  It was terribly exhausting to run on the snow (clearly my number one complaint of this whole training process) and it took me quite a while to finish, especially when it came to miles 12-16.  At some point in time I realized my pace was not salvageable and that I really just needed to finish the mileage so I could get home which also meant I had to be ok with walking a lot during the last few miles. 

Hopefully by the time I need to run 18 miles in 2 weeks the snow will be cleared up and I'll get to experience something that looks close to running in decent weather. 

On a positive note, I did get to snap this beauty when I was out galavanting...

WTF is all of this white stuff?

Boise doesn't tend to get all that much snow and when we do, the temperatures don't tend to get very low so the snow melts within a day or so.  But this year has been different.  It's only snowed a handful of days but the temps but until yesterday the temps hadn't been above freezing for 10 days.  And that means that every bit of snow that has fallen has continued to stay on the ground and, more importantly, on the sidewalks.  This has made running on said sidewalks particularly difficult and today was no exception. 

My neighborhood itself is about 50/50 when it comes to shoveling the walks but no one clears the sidewalks on the main streets surrounding our 'hood.  So that means the snow/ice combo left from the previous snowfall was still covering those walks when it snowed about 2" on Monday.  Even though the temperature was (barely) above freezing yesterday afternoon, it didn't do much for melting all of that snow on the sidewalks near my neighborhood.  In fact, it turned most of the sidewalks into a ridiculous, crunchy ice rink of sorts. 

My training plan today called for 8 miles and I knew it would be difficult with the leftover snow but I didn't think it would be that bad.  It was.  I found stretch of walkway that had been cleared and made the decision to run that stretch back and forth as long as I could stand it before heading home.  I made it 3.7 miles before reaching my house and calling it quits for the morning.  I probably could have finished it all, but in addition to being bored out of my mind, my tights were being quite a bother and were sagging at the crotch.  Any longer in distance and I fear there would have been massive chaffing. 

So I called it quits early today, but that doesn't mean I didn't finish my remaining miles.  No no, you see, because I am a glutton for punishment and decided to finish the rest of my miles on the treadmill.  Which means I had to join a gym.  So I did.  At lunch.  And then I used the treadmill.  And it was hard because it was the 2nd time I had run today.  But I did it.  And I guess I really don't have much of an excuse not to run if the weather is crappy and I don't have much of an excuse not to crosstrain.

Anyway, that's done.  Now, if I could convince the snow to stay up in the mountains this year that would be great....I've got some serious miles to pound out over the next few weeks and I surely don't want to do them all on the treadmill.

15 mile training run and finally feeling over the sickness

Quick, someone knock on wood - I finally feel over my sickness(es).  I went out on Thursday and Friday mornings with Lynn and both days were 1) ridiculously cold (single digits, people), 2) had sidewalks covered in snow and 3) were ridiculously difficult.  I struggled to run 3 miles and questioned if I would be able to cover any sort of long distance on Saturday.  Speaking of the long run, I was really unsure how long I should attempt to go.  The previous two weeks I was supposed to run 13.1 and 10 miles but due to sickness, I didn't do either.  The weekend prior I ran 12 and felt pretty confident that my body would be OK if I kept on plan for 15 but I wasn't sure if I wanted to do so. 

Long story short, I sat in bed and then on the couch for quite awhile on yesterday morning playing on google maps trying to route a decent run that would lead me to water every 2-3 miles.  I ended up with a decent 15 mile route that would lead me to a friend's house (Nancy!) at mile 9 and to gas stations or a coffee stand for the rest of the stops.  I waited for the temps to rise as much as I could before I headed out the door, but even then it was only 16 degrees outside.  Brrr. 

With 2 pairs of gloves on and an extra pair in my jacket pocket, I went out to tackle 15 miles.  The run started out difficult.  It was hard to run a full mile, and I didn't.  In fact, I don't know if I ran a full mile without walking a little bit throughout the entire distance.  I think the temps rose to about 21 while I was out and as long as I was moving, I felt warm enough.  When I got to Nancy's house my gloves were absolutely soaked and my hands were starting to get cold so we put them in the dryer while I was there, which was the absolute best decision of the day.  When I left the house with 6 miles left, I felt fairly certain I could finish them without too much of a struggle.  I was pretty much wrooooooooong.  I pumped through mile 10 without a problem, walked more in mile 11, found some store of stride in mile 12 and then 13, 14, and 15 were ridiculously difficult.  My hands started to get really, really cold and I was ready to be done.

In the end, I finished 15 miles at an average pace of 12:15/mile.  Perhaps the weather will warm up enough this week to melt the snow on the sidewalks and make things a little less miserable for the rest of this training business.  I stretched quite a bit when I got home and convinced my dear step-daughter to make me a 1/2 turkey sandwich to briefly satisfy my hunger pangs.  I took an epsom salt bath and a quick shower, went to dinner (beer helps recovery, right?) and managed to stay awake until 10:30 or so before my body called it quits and I had to hit the hay.

This week calls for the following:
Monday - 4
Wednesday - 8
Friday - 4
Saturday - 16

Let's hope 16 isn't quite as brutal as 15!