15 miles down, 11 more to go.... (weeks 21-22)

I realize that I fell off the wagon some , with blogging about my runs these past two weeks.  These past two weeks have been tough as I had hit a bit of a rough patch with my training. I think part of it was just pure tiredness, especially with also being in gymnastics and figure skating.  Part of it was also scheduling as life sorta got in the way.  I really don't get much in terms of actual "rest days," and I think it caught up to me a little bit. I ended up skipping my planned 10 miler as a result (end of week 21) because I needed some pure down time. Knowing that I had ran that distance twice already, there wasn't really a strong need for me to have to run it again, and the results would have been bad if I had attempted it.  My body was just not going to be able to handle it.

As for last week, my weekday runs were pretty bad.  I really struggled with getting out door, and being under a time crunch.  For you ladies on here, I was also on my cycle, and had a lot of things on my mind that were stressing me out.  I wasn't crampy or anything like that, but I was in the worst mood.  Running usually makes me think clearer, but not this time.  I had a heck of a time getting out the door at a decent time (and didn't help that I was late getting home), as I was scrambling to gather stuff.  Then, I forgot to use the bathroom before heading out, and I ended up needing to make a pit stop. On that same run, I had to alter my route, realizing that there was no way that I was going to run the streets I wanted to run after dark, and really fought with the feel of an even cadence the whole time.  To make matters worse, I nearly bit the cement due to some uneven sidewalks in my neighborhood.  My toe caught the edge of a sidewalk, and I went flying forward, having to take huge steps to stop my fall.  After that, I called it quits for the run.  I just knew that if I tried to continue, I was going to end up hurt, and sometimes, it's better to cut my loses. I ended up with 4.5 miles, which was better than nothing, but it was definitely not one of my better runs.

Now....that 15 miler.  Wow. Holy cow. That was the furthest distance that I have ever ran up until Saturday, and I could not have asked for a better time to get that run done.  That was a run that I desperately needed after those harder runs this week.  It was partly sunny, and in the 50s/low 60s at tops, and I was running in capris and last year's half marathon t-shirt.  I did take one small wrong turn early in my run, but that was easily fixable, and I ran out the rest of the marathon course that I had planned to do.  I did take a few short walk breaks to take some energy stuff and at busy intersections. Also, every so often, especially around what will be the mile 22 area, I would pull out my written directions, just to make sure that I didn't get lost, and this time, I was able to run down all the streets for the 2nd half of the marathon course, and made my way back towards campus like a charm.  The really neat thing was that my body WANTED to do the run. It was up for the 15 mile challenge, unlike a few days before that.  I kinda felt like I solidified my thoughts of "Yes. I'm honestly a runner who is training for a marathon."  I may have averaged an 11:30 pace, and had the scary thought of "Oh goodness....11 more miles after this. How am I going to do that?" However, I was super proud of myself for covering the distance!

With training on the actual course, the cool thing is I can plan my runs so that I can run to the stadium doors that lead to the football on the university campus.  On my run on Saturday, that happened around 12.5 miles.  I was already getting tired at that point, but I also found myself getting emotional. What was happening was that I was picturing myself running towards the gates that will be open to the football field on race day.  I was so into mentally at the time that I literally almost started crying. I guess you can say that I'm getting good practice for the actual race day, as I' already know that I'm going to be a basket case of emotions.  I'm already counting on being physically exhausted and sore, but going onto that football field, and crossing that finish line at the 50 yard line is going to make it 110% worth it.

As for the last two miles, I used those to cover what will be parts of mile 13 and 14 of the race.  On the race course itself there is a spot where the half and full runners split off.  The hard part is that our split is on campus, near the stadium, so I will be hearing and seeing the half runners split away from me, and heading to the finish, while I still have another 13 miles to go.  I'm not sure what my game plan is yet for that point, but I'm kinda thinking is that I may just need to put on my ipod at that point, and definitely not get wrapped up in my head about not being able to finish. I'll have remind myself that my finishing will be twice as sweet, as I ran twice that distance. I know that sounds kinda snotty, but I may need that to get my head screwed on straight again.  Of course, anything can happen at that point on race day, but I would like to have some sort of mental back up plan.

In terms of fueling for the race, I'm still experiementing, but have found that I really like the GU Salted Caramel.  I've also realized that I am going to need to need at least one refill for my water bottle.  I'm thinking that I would like to have some pure electrolytes in there as well.  So far, my system seems to like taking maybe a 1/3 of a GU package about every 2-3 miles (basically where aid stations are at).  In terms of transporting the GU, my plan is to keep the unopened pouches in my flip belt, and my currently being used one in a baggie in my pouch to my handheld.  That way, I can keep the GU more upright, and it's less likely to spill.  I learned the hard way during a short run that if I keep the GU in a baggie in my flip belt, gets squeezed out all over the place...not good. Thankfully, it stayed in the baggie, and didn't squeeze out into my flip belt.

In terms of nutrition, this is probably where I'm failing, as I don't do anything like count calories.  I'm trying to get better with drinking more water, however.  Plus, I'm still trying to eat mostly healthy meals.  I'm basically trying to eat whatever I feel like is satisfying enough for to be able to run in a few hours later (so....no homemade oatmeal raisin cookies), and keeps me relatively full, or until I need to refuel during my long run.

As for eating after the long run, I had the same issue after my 13 miler a few weeks ago. My body wasn't really up for eating.  One would think that I would have been absolutely starving after that long run, but I practically had to force feed myself some time later.  It was literally hours before I felt like I could eat something without my body possibly rebelling against it.  What I felt it could tolerate was some oatmeal made with warm milk, a bit of sugar, vanilla, and raisins.  A bit later, my body did get more back to normal and was chowing down on baby carrots dipped in salad dressing, but it was no where near the hunger level that I was expecting it to reach.  I took the day off from running the next day (Sunday), and even then, my body wasn't super hungry until after skating.  I get that there's hunger signal that sometimes gets flipped into the "off" mode with strenious exercise, but I kinda wonder why mine has been slow to turn back "on." Yet, the other day, after skating practice, I was super hungry right away to the point where I was almost getting a headache.


Anyways, next week's agenda is 4-9-4, then the 16 miler. I have a 4 day weekend coming up, and since I have missed both of my 7 milers, I may push back the 16 miler a day or two, to give me some extra rest (hopefully).  I cannot believe that in approximately 6 weeks from now, I will be considered trained for this marathon.  I have two more set back weeks before the big 2-0 miler, then the rest of that is tapering!