Marathon Quest 2011 - Week 12 Recap

Week 12 - kinda can't believe it actually.  Three months of training done, and only 6 more weeks to go until I run the race.  It was interesting, when Hubs and I were out pounding the pavement this morning, I asked him if he liked running.  He paused...and said that while he didn't really like it, he does it because he knows it's good for him and he knows of so many people who have diabetes (which runs in his family) or other diseases that could be helped or prevented by exercise.  He then went on to say that while being active isn't a guarantee against disease, at least he's done as much as he can to prevent it and at the very least isn't helping it along. 

For the rest of the run, I started thinking about why I love to run.  To be honest, there are some days I don't really even like it.  It's not super fun to get out of bed at the crack of dawn, and to run when I'm barely even awake.  It's not super fun to run when the sun is baking down on you and the sweat is crystallizing on my skin.  And it's seriously not super fun to run when I'd rather be chilling on a patio somewhere with a tall cool one.  So what do I love then?  I love the feeling of accomplishment when I'm done.  I love when I feel my body getting stronger weekly and I'm going longer and longer distances.  I love the health benefits and the stress release I get by turning off my mind and letting my body do the work.   But most of all, I love that running has improved my quality of life a thousand fold and helped make me a happy and balanced person. 

So...enough of the psycho-analytical babble...what the heck did I do this week? 

Sunday - rest day

Monday - bootcamp

Tuesday - 6K run outdoors

Wednesday - rest day
Because I had IMS on Tuesday night when I went to see my physio, I couldn't work out.  I decided to take Thursday off completely as well to give my foot a rest (it was feeling a bit achy and sensitive) and I was sore from the IMS as she hit a couple of really tender spots.  Sometimes a little extra rest is a good thing.

Thursday - rest day

Friday - 6K run treadmill

Saturday - 32K run
So....how did this run go?  Pretty darn awesome!  Hubs and I had to get up extra early as he had to work today and he had 15K to run...so we set the alarm for the ungodly hour of 4:45am and were on the road running by 5:15am (see above comment about not loving the early, early mornings...heh).  Strangely...even though it was so insanely early, we both felt pretty good.  It was pitch black out so we had to have lamps on our hats as we ran, but it was so quiet and peaceful at that time in the morning...all you could hear were our footsteps and see the shadows our lights were creating.   Super cool.  I was running 18K on the little 3K loop around our house, and then heading back to the lake to run the remaining 14K with my coworker, M.  Again...it was so nice to have the company and the chatting made me forget how tired I was.  Well, for the most part.  The last 2K were admittedly really tough, and I was glad to have M there because honestly, I would have walked a lot more had she not been there.  I actually had to give myself a pep talk and had to say OK...2K is only 15 more minutes, which is nothing...right?   As they say, the mental game is half the battle when it comes to the marathon.

And good news....my foot feels great!  I was so happy...I mean they were sore from all the pounding, but nothing out of the ordinary other than normal tired feet from running for almost four hours.  And it held out after three back to back long runs, so I'm thrilled.   Thrilled, I tell ya!  I'm really starting to allow myself to feel excited now...I have a fallback week next week at 23K (you know it's nuts when 23K seems short!) then peak again with another 29K and 32K and then tapering starts.  Bring on October 9th!