The Weekly Mile: Week 25 (Planning for Success)

Tuesday, October 02, 2012

So in case you haven't figured it out by this point, I'm running a marathon this week.

No seriously. I'm running a marathon. (Sometimes I have to repeat things to myself to make sure they're sinking in.) I'm running a marathon.

P.S. Taper Madness is a real thing. It exists. And it's a TOTAL mind f#$%. There, I said it.

If I can give you ANY advice at all for a successful taper it is this:

DON'T READ ANYTHING!

(Except maybe this blog.)

Cause here's the thing: everything you read is going to make you think you're unprepared, a total failure, not going to finish, not this, not that, etc. etc. etc. And at this point in my life - that's the LAST feeling I need to be having. According to Hal Higdon, I'm exhibiting 6 of the 7 signs of being "overtrained". According to some article that popped up in one of those sidebar search things (you think I've written the word "Marathon" enough to alert the cyberbots to start pegging me for running stuff?), the only way to avoid hitting The Wall and making it through those final 6.2 miles is by doing stuff that I should have started WEEKS ago. Every little discomfort, or niggle or twinge in your body makes you think you're incapable of running 2 miles let alone 26.2 miles. And when you're "exhausted" at the end of 8 miles, it's easy to think that tripling that distance is going to be next to impossible. So is it really too late for me?

Never. I'm planning for success and nothing but success. LOTUSFLOWER can attest to that. She's one of the lucky people on the receiving end of "Jenn's Marathon Route Plan", complete with maps, and Public Transit directions, and fun runner's slang. (I blame the taper madness for that).

But here's the thing you really need to know - you've made it this far. You are as prepared as you can be. So - like Nike says - Just. Do. It.

Well...just do it, on Sunday. Getting there is about 95% of the battle right now. My brain is on overdrive and it really is having an affect on my eating, my rest, and my tiny training runs - all of which are still very important. So what am I doing? Planning...and more planning, and planning still....for success.

My parents have received a schedule for the weekend. My mom has already commenting that she doesn't believe I have scheduled time for her to pee in there, but it's fairly concise. It's what I do when I'm nervous. I plan, and I organize, and I attempt to control every last inch of what I CAN control. But we all know that you can't control everything, and that is the hardest part about letting go and just, doing it.

But for the things that I CAN control and for those of you who are interested, here's a mile by mile breakdown of my plan for Sunday.

The Gear: Weather reports are in and it looks like the Gods are being kind to us this year (a big thanks to any of you who have been praying for this - I couldn't be happier). 54 degrees and sunny. The event warning system is a big GREEN for "Go!" - which means ideal conditions for running a marathon. I will be wearing an identical tank to the one I wore for my half marathon, only it's a turquoise green, 3/4 running pants, and a white cap. I'm forgoing the sweat band under the cap this time cause it should be cool enough that the cap can function to pick up forehead sweat. It took me forever to choose my pants, honestly because my legs are so short and chunky that I need a pant that is tight enough to support, long enough to cover, and loose enough to be comfortable. Plus I was finding that all the synthetic tech gear pants were causing my shirts to ride up and be totally annoying. But after my 4 miler tonight in my full race wear, I'm confident I have chosen the right pair.

The Fuel: I tried the Clif Shot Blocks on my last 14 miler and I really like them, but my fuel for choice this weekend will still be GU. It's what I've been training with, and I finally found a flavour combo that I dig: vanilla first, followed by berry, followed by mint chocolate. Since the flavour stays with you a LONG time, you gotta like it. When running my 20 miler, I opted to switch out one GU fueling for a Gatorade instead and it worked nicely, so my plan is to do that again if I'm feeling it. I will also be heading for a banana at Mile 21 if I think I can handle solid food since I just feel like that's a good plan and I might possibly benefit from the potassium boost at that point. I always take a Salt Stick before my long runs, so I will do that again here, but had terrible luck with taking another one mid-run. I will carry one on me in case I feel like I need it, but I find they make me WAY too thirsty and I get cramps if I take in too much water. My water plan is 2 cups at a time. One cup is for rinsing only - if I take a GU I use one cup of water to rinse the residue from it out of my mouth and spit it out. Then one cup to drink about 3 swallows max. It keeps me hydrated, but not feeling too "waterlogged".

The Aid Stations: There are 20 Aid Stations on the course, and my plan right now is to take a short walk break through all of them. They are about 2 city blocks in length, so I won't need to or want to walk that much at the beginning of the race, but by the end I'll be using them as my "oasis" points for a short reprieve. I will be fueling at Mile 5.8 (GU), Mile 12.5 (GU), Mile 17.8 (Gatorade), Mile 20.9 (Banana) and then deciding if I need anything else through any of the following 4 stops (1 per mile) between there and the finish.

The Crew: I am lucky to have a support team of about 15 people who will be divided into smaller groups and hopscotching the entire city to see me. I am so utterly grateful for this support, I can't even tell you. I am prepared for an emotional day - just how emotional I have no idea until I get there, but I have heard that when the weather is good, the crowds can be deafening. This is one of those things that I can't control, but a wise word of advice from a fellow runner and marathoner tonight was: "Just control your adrenaline - breathe and save it up for when you need it." So that, I will try to do. No easy feat, I assure you.

The Pace: Still aiming for a 12 min per mile pace although I know I'm going to be faster at the beginning and WAY slower at the end. I'll do what I can, but I am aiming to finish in 5:30 or less. We'll see. This by far is the least of my worries. Just finishing the race is all I'm really there for.

So there you have it. The Marathon Plan. And the Official, official end to my training. Between now and Sunday I have one 2 mile run, just to keep the muscles limber and ready to rock. I'll spend tomorrow night in the pool and the hot tub, just easy swimming, and then I have one final appointment with my chiropractor and massage therapist on Friday.

And now...the excitement builds!

Week 25 Schedule (Completed):

Mon - 4 miles
Tue - Rest
Wed - Massage Therapy & 6 Miles
Thu - Rest
Fri - 3 miles
Sat - 8 miles
Sun - Rest

Total Weekly Miles: 21
Total Weekly Calories Burned: 3227
Weekly Friday Weigh-In: 185

Week 26 Schedule:

Mon - 3 miles
Tue - 4 miles
Wed - Swim
Thu - 2 miles
Fri - Chiro/Massage
Sat - Rest
Sun - MARATHON!!!

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The Weekly Mile: Week 24 (7 in 7 & Happy Taper!)

Monday, September 24, 2012

The first week of the taper has already passed and I have officially completed SEVEN half marathons in 7 weeks (and then some). On Saturday I finished my last "long run" of 14 miles before the marathon, the longest distance left to run before 26.2 is 8 miles this weekend. I've got this in the bag!

It's amazing that I can look at 8 miles now and think - "Eh, no big deal". What a change has come over me - the person who saw exercise as equivalent to having teeth pulled only a couple of years ago when I weighed over 300 pounds.

I will admit, even though I'm supposed to be tapering right now, this week's runs weren't easy. This week felt more like a step back than a serious cut in mileage - 14 miles is still over a half marathon distance and I've been TIRED lately. I think my body is just beaten down as far as I can beat it and I'm actually really grateful for this taper - I need it for my spirit as much as to repair my aching muscles. I haven't officially settled into any kind of taper madness yet. Running less actually feels more like a reward at this point than a stress and I'm looking very forward to a more relaxed week of shorter runs.

What I have developed though is a mad case of the butterflies every time I actually think about what is going to go down in only two short weeks. I have started my pre-race prep having received my official "runner's ticket" in the mail via the marathon brochure. I've been assembling my team of supporters, making maps, deciding where I'm going to need to see people, planning out my break/fuel stations, and determining just what I'm going to wear on race day. This last piece is the most stressful at this point. I don't know what the weather is going to bring, so I have both hot and cold wear picked out. But I want to be visible in the crowd, and a recent shopping trip only managed to yield me a number of pieces that are annoying the crap out of me on runs - shirts that ride up, pants that bunch at the knees - and the combinations that I like the most seem to maim me every time I wear them (I have more scars from this weekend). Plus, I'm a girl, and while I should not be giving two hoots about looking cute while running 26.2 miles, there are going to be 50,000 runners there and double that in spectators. I WANNA LOOK CUTE!

I've also been trying to estimate my times through certain mileage check-points for my family so they can keep track of me during the run, and am finding that this too is a difficult task given my most recent actual running times. I can no longer run a 12 min mile. Anything slower than 11:30 feels like I'm walking when I first start running, and I'm finding that most of my mileage is being run between a 10:45-11:45 mile. Even when I'm nearing the end of a long run and am exhausted, my times are closer to 11:45, even though my marathon goal is a solid 12 min mile throughout. I'm nervous about starting too fast. And I know there is NO way that I'm not going to slow WAY down at the end. My goal is simply to finish, and any chance at a negative split, or a steady mile pace through the whole event is pretty much a pipe dream for me. So trying to figure out when I'm going to cross certain mileage markers is really tough! My estimate for the 15K marker was confirmed this weekend on my long run at a solid 1h48min. But then my Half Marathon guess of 2h36min I beat by an entire 3 minutes this weekend - finishing 13.1 miles in 2:33! Add nerves and crowd energy to that and I might just shave another 3 minutes off. Who knows? I know that it will all shake out differently on the day, regardless of my plan, so my cheer team are just going to have to be at their check points early to make sure they don't miss me!

I'm going to try to keep to my calorie limits this week so as not to bulk up too much before the big day. My weight has come down again, and I'd like to keep it that way. It does make running so much easier (even though it's only about 3-4 pounds). And I've really only got 2 more weeks of eating at this level anyway before I'm going to try to cut back totally again and lose some more pounds.

But for now I am still focusing on my incredible achievements to this point. Running SEVEN Half Marathons in 7 weeks is unbelievable to me. I've done it. And even though I'm tired and need some good rest before the big day, I'm still feeling confident and excited and ready to do this thing that I've been training so hard for. Only one more blog until the official race report. My how 25 weeks has FLOWN by!

Next week I'll outline my full race plan in prep for October 7th. And if you're so inclined, I do believe that you can follow me in the race online at the Bank of America Marathon website. More details to follow. Until then...the taper continues!

Week 24 Schedule (Completed):

Mon - Rest
Tue - Rest
Wed - 8 miles
Thu - 5 miles
Fri - Rest
Sat - 14 miles
Sun - Rest

Total Weekly Miles: 27
Total Weekly Calories Burned: 3654
Weekly Friday Weigh-In: 184

Week 25 Schedule:

Mon - 4 miles
Tue - 6 miles
Wed - Massage Therapy & Swim
Thu - Rest
Fri - 3 miles
Sat - 8 miles
Sun - Rest

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The Weekly Mile: Week 23 (The 20 Miler!)

Monday, September 17, 2012

You guys. I ran 20 miles. In a row. And I only took about 3/4 of a mile in accumulative walk breaks...

I feel like a Super Hero.

Except I also feel like I've been hit by a Mini Cooper. Preparedness, I'm sure, for the fact that after I run this Marathon, I'm going to feel like I've been hit by a Mac Truck. So for now, I'm good with the Mini Cooper.

This was my last official week of Marathon Training. Welcome to the Taper! The next 3 weeks are going to be about cutting back, and hopefully not freaking out about what's to come, but for now, here's the recap of this last week of long miles.

I have definitely managed to increase my speed with all of this running. It's nice to know that when I hit the pavement now, I actually have to make a concerted effort NOT to run faster than an 11:30 mile. The goal right now is not speed, but I've managed to ace a couple of my shorter runs and come up with amazing PRs which I did AGAIN this Friday, bringing my new 8K (5 mile) time to under 55 minutes. I'm chalking this up to have a lot to do with my massage therapy and the time he is spending on my hamstrings and calves - which before he got to me were increasingly tight and wound up. My bi-weekly therapy treatments are NOT pleasant (I'm like a fish jumping around on the massage table every time he hits a soft spot), but they are well worth the "good pain" to have stretched out major muscle groups that are responding by rebuilding faster and stronger and better than they were before. That's the name of the game here, and although I feel like my body physically looks the same as it did before I started training, I know that under the marshmallow, the walnuts are pretty firm. Aww yeah.

I ran 7 miles without socks. I don't recommend that. It results in small blisters on your baby toes. But the issue was this - I hate running anything longer than 5 miles around my house because a) I'm bored of it, and b) I usually run after dark and the neighbourhood roads making tripping all too real of an issue because they're badly lit - so I had brought (what I thought was) all of my running stuff with me to work so I could run on the trail, but half way through dressing discovered my lack of socks. Thinking my shoes were loose and comfy enough anyway, I laced 'em on and just went for it. Eww. I was fine until my feet really started to sweat at about mile 4.5. Then it just got gross. And sticky. And not that my shoes smelled like roses before this incident, but... you get the picture. I should have gone to CVS and bought a pair of socks. It was an afterthought. Gah.

I made up for it with my record breaking 5 miler on Thursday morning. Take THAT stinky shoes! (Maybe stinky shoes run faster? They're trying to outrun their own stench).

After 2 days of rest and more than long enough to build up any muscle weaknesses and a good case of nerves, the day of my official 20 Miler rolled around. I fueled the days before like it was the big race - after all, when else are you going to get to test out all the proper set-up procedures for race day if not now? So this is it - the last day to make sure that your marathon plans are in check and work the way you want them to.

I awoke at 5am and padded to the kitchen to prep my race-day breakfast of champions:

- Loaded Oatmeal (1/4 cup steal cut oats, 1/4 cup rolled oats, 1 tbsp flax seed, 1 cup vanilla or chocolate almond milk & cinnamon sugar put in the fridge overnight to soak)
- Add to the oatmeal 1 package of trail mix (whatever kind you like, right now I'm partial to the Emerald Breakfast to Go packs, but it should have nuts, chocolate and some other fun goodies in there)
- cut up a banana over top
- 1 light string cheese
- coconut water
- coffee or tea

I had purchased this new coconut water/espresso drink on Saturday that I was going to try, but I decided against it. Even though I always drink both coconut water and a caffeinated beverage for my race breakfast I didn't want to take the risk of something not agreeing with my stomach, so I'm going to try it for one of my shorter runs this week before using it before the marathon. I also picked up a new pair of underwear on Saturday (the MOST wedgie-proof according to the sales clerk), but again, you don't want to risk that on a 20 miler, so I'll try them out on my 8 mile this week.

I had my clothes laid out and my race bag packed the night before and had pre-ordered my cab to get me to the start line. Nikhil messaged me from France where he is currently on vacation to tell me to have a good race :) Sweet boy. I did my stretching routine and was half way through getting into my gear when the cab called. He was early! So thankfully since I had everything already packed, I threw on the rest of my stuff and was out the door. Best to not have to think too much the morning of. This kind of stuff will always happen!

It was a COLD morning, so I wore a running jacket over my tank to keep warm. As soon as I got to the start line location, I found the line for the porta potties and got in it - waiting to pee is always a great place to meet people :) I had a really nice conversation with 2 other girls - one also running her first marathon, and the other had just completed her sixth! So much fun to hear all the different perspectives. By the time I was out of that line, it was time to go get in line for gear check. I didn't want to shed my jacket too early, but I thought we were getting ready to queue up for our Wave # so I decided to hand it over. Oops. The chills set in and I felt like my body was expending additional energy just to keep warm, so I walked back over to the now shorter potty lines and went again. Just to make sure! Haha. Back over to the queue line to find out that our Wave didn't have a leader, so since we were the last wave to go anyway, we were grouped in with the wave before us. All was good except that the wave ended up being SO big, there was no way to keep with the pace leader. Looks like it was going to be my OWN run from the start, so that's exactly what it was.

I thought that this race was going to fairly closely mimic the feeling of the marathon which is a big reason I signed up. In terms of the distance and the aid stations, it absolutely did - but it was a really quiet run. Though people were running together, there was a very hushed seriousness over the pack, and conversations were short at best if they were even there at all. I struck up a brief conversation about Glee with a couple of runners, but they quickly passed me at the first aid station and that was that. I spent some time around mile 4 listening to a couple of older runners (he had just turned 65, she 55) talk about their previous marathon experiences. Wow - now that's inspiring. They didn't know each other, but were running the same pace and had struck up a conversation and I enjoyed eavesdropping on their talk, listening to why each one chose the marathon in the first place and why they continue to come back to the sport. I found a good pace buddy, and for about the first 6 miles we leap-frogged each other, running side by side for a lot of the time. But I lost him as well around mile 7 when we crossed through the narrows at Navy Pier and I was absolutely on my own for the rest of the race, running long stretches of the course where there was literally no one around me. So much for the moral support! I think I was also feeling lonely. This is the first race in which I knew no one else running, and no one was scheduled to meet me at the finish line. With Nikhil away in Europe, I even had to find my own way home. So I am very much looking forward to the marathon where there will be people there to cheer and support me, because though I am doing this race for myself, and am more than capable of getting myself through the mental tough spots completely on my own, it doesn't seem worth it without SOMEONE to celebrate with.

I managed to find a good rhythm, walking through all the aid stops which were about every 3 miles. I started to really tire at mile 15, but made a bargain with myself not to take an official walk break until mile 16 (my distance from last week's long run). At that point I agreed to walk up to a quarter of each mile left and run the remaining distance. This method seemed to work well, but by mile 17.5 I needed something more. Cue the music! Just in case, I had been traveling with my little stick of gum Shuffle in my pocket the entire race, loaded with inspirational songs for when I needed them. So for the last 2.5 miles, I broke out the tunes and low and behold, running got easier. I continued my walk/run mileage until just after I crossed the 19 mile mark and then just decided to go for it. All the way to 20. The finish line looked SO GOOD. I pumped my fist in the air and gave high fives to a bunch of people cheering on the finishers, completing my run in 4 hours, 8 minutes. Pretty much right on schedule factoring in about 1.5 minutes for each rest stop.

I grabbed water, apple slices and found my way to the Muscle Milk tent to get a quick recovery drink into me with a bunch of protein. I then found my gear - which they had bused "Boston Style" to the finish line for us since we started on the North Shore and ended on the South Shore. Yep - Lakefront Trail - finally - start to finish! I queued up for my souvenir t-shirt - a beautiful blue Merrill top, which I peeled off my sweaty tank and replaced with immediately for some dry comfort and a picture.



And then I spent some time relaxing on the grass and refueling a bit with more water. I finally remembered that I had pre-purchased a turkey burger, and there was a beer tent calling my name, so I headed over to check out the fixins. Biggest disappointment of the day - they were OUT of beer! NOOOO!!! Oh well, I got a card for a free Goose Island brew if I go into the brewpub - which I will. I picked up my chicken burger, took one bite and decided it was far too disgusting to ingest (not something I usually EVER say - so you know how bad it was), and ended up tossing it in the nearest garbage. Bummer. Word to the wise - don't pre-order post-race food. #1 - it's usually been sitting out far too long by the time you get there for it to be decent. #2 - there is so much FREE stuff at the race finish that your entry already helped pay for, why spend big bucks on anything else when you can eat for free and then go out to a nice restaurant and get quality food later? I would have been better off to just fuel up on the bananas, bagels, apples, cookies, coconut water, Muscle Milk, Clif Bars and other freebies. No shortage. Not to mention, I always pack emergency snacks in my race bag, just in case I need them. Lesson learned.

Since we were down by the Museum of Science and Industry on the south side of Chicago, one very cool feature was that they had buses waiting for us to be either dropped downtown or taken back to the start line. I chose to get off the bus downtown and walk to the nearest subway station to get home. I hobbled up Columbus Drive at Monroe where they already have the Marathon banners flying and felt my heart start to quicken. In 3 weeks, I'm going to running up that same drive, with those banners in full view, and the finish line in sight. Pitter pat, pitter pat.

Nothing to snap you back to reality though like 3 flights of stairs down to the subway. Burning. Quads. OMG.

Finally home, I soaked in an epsom salt bath for about an hour and spent the rest of the afternoon catching up on Breaking Bad from a horizontal position on my couch, and ordering in enough amazing Thai food to sink a small ship, which I proceeded to eat...all of. Oh yeah. It was damn good.

I'm fairing pretty well today all things considered. Like I said - Mini Cooper. The Mac Truck has yet to come. I feel like I have been through an incredible journey, and yet in some cases, I am only at the beginning. With all that said - Welcome to the Taper!


Week 23 Schedule (Completed):

Mon - 3 miles
Tue - 7 miles
Wed - Rest
Thu - 5 miles
Fri - Rest
Sat - Rest
Sun - 20 Miles!

Total Weekly Miles: 35
Total Weekly Calories Burned: 5164
Weekly Friday Weigh-In: 187

Week 24 Schedule:

Mon - Rest
Tue - Rest
Wed - 8 miles
Thu - 5 miles
Fri - Rest
Sat - 14 miles
Sun - Rest

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The Weekly Mile: Week 22 (The Importance of Step Backs)

Monday, September 10, 2012

Nikhil believes in accumulative training. Even though it's pretty contrary to every book ever published on running, I have to respect that everyone has their own methods for going the distance. He likes running further every time he runs. I follow the method that involves, what I believe, are very important step backs in weekly mileage to give your body time to rest & recuperate, and your brain time to adjust to the fact that the long run you just accomplished was actually "easy". And that's a BIG deal for me.

This week was a series of "longer" weekly runs and one weekend long run of 16 miles. 2 miles LESS that what I already accomplished last week. But I rocked it - hard. I ran fast - completing 16 miles is 3 hours and 12 minutes. 3 minutes faster than my goal pace for the marathon. And my half marathon time came in this week at 2:34!!! That's pretty incredible.

So even though my longer weekly runs were a drag and it took A LOT to get me out there both nights, I'm really starting to see the benefit of those runs in the grand scheme of the full training schedule.

On Wednesday night, I replaced my swim (cause my pool is closed - gah!) with finding out just how far it is from my place to Nikhil's. I live in a neighbourhood north west of the Chicago "loop" of downtown, and he lives in the South Loop, just south of all the big buildings and at the bottom end of Michigan Avenue. I was aiming for 8 miles, which I thought was about right, but found out that from door to door it's exactly 7.5 miles. It was a really humid night, so I called it quits for that night, and added a half mile to my 5 miler the next night. Gotta find ways to switch it up and keep it interesting! And I'm not gonna lie - it's nice to have someone to run to who will meet you at the end with a recovery drink and a calf massage!

Gearing up for the official 20-Miler this weekend. I'm more nervous about getting out of bed and getting to the start line in time than I am about running the distance though. I've done 18. I know I can do 20. And I'm starting to develop this method of thinking about the Marathon as well. My training plan has promised me success. The rest is all in my head. This will be the last weekend of assurances that I'm going to finish the race. From here on out, we taper. And the excitement builds!

Week 22 Schedule (Completed):

Mon - Rest
Tue - Rest (30 minutes on the foam roller & tennis ball - therapy)
Wed - 7.5 miles
Thu - 5.5 miles
Fri - Rest
Sat - 16 miles
Sun - Rest

Total Weekly Miles: 29
Total Weekly Calories Burned: 4375
Weekly Friday Weigh-In: 185 - counting calories again is working. This is a post-run weigh in though, so less that what it is during the week.

Week 23 Schedule:

Mon - 3 miles
Tue - 7 miles
Wed - Rest (or swim if I can find a pool!)
Thu - 5 miles
Fri - Rest
Sat - Rest
Sun - 20 Miles! (Plus 3 post-run miles if I can muster it)

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The Weekly Mile: Week 21 (Back on Track)

Wednesday, September 05, 2012

I still haven't run the entirety of the Lakefront Trail - but this week I completed 18 miles, and I saw what the other end of the path looks like. So overall, we're calling this week a big win.

After spending some time sulking about what I deemed to be a failure last week, I finally forgave myself for the things I couldn't control and got back out there for another run. I was going to do my shorter 6 mile run on Tuesday night, but felt so good out there, I made it for the full 8 instead - saving the 6 mile for a morning run on Thursday. Back on that Lakefront Trail, I was plagued by memories of how I felt on that long, hot run - but I pushed them aside and ran a solid 11:30/min pace for the whole thing.

On Thursday morning, I PRed my 10K time, running an additional .2 miles over and above the allotted 6 mile plan. 1 hr & 10 minutes! I actually fist pumped at the end of this run because it felt so good (despite the not wanting to get out of bed to do it in the first place).

The big bummer this week came in that I managed to kill ANOTHER iPod shuffle. They just are not withstanding how much I sweat when I'm out there I suppose, even though I wear them on my shoulder strap which would see the same amount of sweat, if not less, than an arm band. I didn't even run through a sprinkler with this one. It just copped out! So I have resorted to running with my first generation shuffle - you remember - the white stick of gum one. That thing is (so far) invincible, and takes a beating but keeps on playing. Different technology. Who says new is better??

But even though I got my music situation figured out before Sunday, I opted to at least START my 18 mile run without it. Low and behold, I made it all the way to mile 16 before deciding to pop in some tunes to really help me bust out the last 2 miles. And my reward for that? I met a friend along the way. A stranger really, but it still put a smile on my face. Around mile 3, a guy running just a hair faster than me passed me by on the trail. Now, I'm a pretty slow runner, so I'm used to this happening, but after a couple more miles with him still right in front of me, I started to use him as a pace bunny, wondering how long we would both stick out this rhythm. Finally, at 7 miles, he slowed and stopped. As I ran past him, I called out "you done?" He responded that he was, and I threw my arms up and said "but you were such a good pace vehicle!" and low and behold he jumped back on the trail and said "well then I guess you're getting a few more out of me today!" We ran side by side for another 1/2 mile, exchanging small talk. I asked him if he was "marathoning-it" and he said no, he was "life-ing it" which I found a most excellent answer. He asked how far I had to go and I told him all the way to the end and back. He let out an exasperated breath and wished me luck, and then told me to finish strong as he turned off at his street exit. I think the best thing about the whole exchange is that for a solid half mile, I wasn't thinking about running. Such a nice reprieve.

But once he was gone, it was nose back to the grindstone and feet on the pavement. I broke my run into 5K chunks, thinking about all the races that I have done at the various distances. Run the Hot Chocolate 5K. OK, now keep going to the Champion's Run 10K. And the next Hot Chocolate 15K. Turn around and do that again. And don't forget about the Women's Half at the 13.1 mile point. By the time I got there, I was within the Shamrock Shuffle 8K to the finish and Nikhil met me on his bike and trailed me home for the last 5 miles. Nothing easy about it at all, each mile was more painful than the last. Put after a couple of short walk breaks, a solid refueling and a splash-down of my face with fountain water, I busted out my stick-of-gum iPod and rode the wave home, clocking an 11 min/mile pace for the last half mile.

I'm still recovering.

But my body feels good. Only 3 more long runs before the final taper week. I'm within ONE MONTH of running this race. But I know I'll be ready.

I'm picking up food tracking again this week. I need something to keep me honest. But I upped my calorie range to something that reflects the real amount I'm burning. If I don't lose anything, so be it. But I need to stop with the sweets and treats and really start zoning in on the whole foods, and healthy snack alternatives. My body will thank me for it on October 7th.

And as a guarantee that I will not stop running after the Marathon, I signed up today for both the Hot Chocolate 15K again this year, and the 2013 Chicago Triathlon. Guess you're all going to be seeing a lot more (and less) of me over the next year, AND could just be in for yet another fun training blog. Back on track indeed. School is back in session, and training is my best education yet.


Week 21 Schedule (Completed):

Mon - Sulk & Rest :(
Tue - 8 miles
Wed - Swim
Thu - 6 miles
Fri - Rest
Sat - Rest
Sun - 18 miles

Total Weekly Miles: 32
Total Weekly Calories Burned: 4817
Weekly Friday Weigh-In: 189 - starting to creep up again. Gah.

Week 22 Schedule:

Mon - Rest
Tue - Rest (30 minutes on the foam roller & tennis ball - therapy)
Wed - 8 miles
Thu - 5 miles
Fri - Rest
Sat - 16 miles
Sun - Rest

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