Yesterday was the peak of my marathon training - finally. I pushed off my 20 mile run as long as possible, literally to the last minute. You're supposed to peak at around 20 miles three weeks before your race, I did mine 2 weeks before, oops! In the end though I think it was better because taking a week off for my wisdom teeth really took a lot of training time away and I struggled through my 6 mile run last week. But this one went great!
I did my first 14 miles at around or under a 9:30 minute/mile, which is faster than my half marathon time. It felt really good to get a PR in something - especially when my 5 and 10k times have been higher than last year. Miles 15-17 went okay but I hovered around a 10 minute/mile, and then mile 18-20 I was around an 11 minute, I really lost momentum fast. But then again I hardly drank any water during it and only brought a 100 calorie candy bar with me. During the marathon I'm going to eat a lot of GU and drink a lot so it will be much better. And I'll have 30,000 people running with me!
A marathon is something I never thought I'd be able to do. In highschool if someone would have told me I would be running a marathon in 3 years, there's no way I'd believe them. Those were the days when a four mile run was long. It's amazing how you're perspective can change with just a little training, now even an 8 mile run seems relatively low and a 13 mile run is just another walk in the park. I hope I can keep this mileage up. I love leaving campus knowing that when I come back I'll be 13 or 15 or 17 miles stronger than when I left.
For this marathon I actually met my goal: I learned to love running again. Over the summer after spraining my foot and being out for over a month, I got back into it and absolutely hated every second of it. I struggled through 3 mile runs and wheezed through five. The humidity was awful and my foot hurt. My legs felt weak and uncharged and my lower back killed. And every triathlon of this season I dreaded getting off the bike and leaving transition with just my feet to carry me. So over the summer when I signed up for the marathon, it was my promise that even if I never learned to love running again, I was at least going to suffer through it. And I did. And yesterday at mile 13 when I was pulling a 9:20 pace along the river and feeling stronger than I ever have, it was all worth it.
Philly is in exactly 2 weeks! I just have one 13 mile run, a 10 mile run, and a couple 3 and 4 mile runs, and I'm done!
Oh and then I'm back to triathlon training =) I should have known I was completely bullshitting when I said I was putting it all away until spring.
love love love,
me
I did my first 14 miles at around or under a 9:30 minute/mile, which is faster than my half marathon time. It felt really good to get a PR in something - especially when my 5 and 10k times have been higher than last year. Miles 15-17 went okay but I hovered around a 10 minute/mile, and then mile 18-20 I was around an 11 minute, I really lost momentum fast. But then again I hardly drank any water during it and only brought a 100 calorie candy bar with me. During the marathon I'm going to eat a lot of GU and drink a lot so it will be much better. And I'll have 30,000 people running with me!
A marathon is something I never thought I'd be able to do. In highschool if someone would have told me I would be running a marathon in 3 years, there's no way I'd believe them. Those were the days when a four mile run was long. It's amazing how you're perspective can change with just a little training, now even an 8 mile run seems relatively low and a 13 mile run is just another walk in the park. I hope I can keep this mileage up. I love leaving campus knowing that when I come back I'll be 13 or 15 or 17 miles stronger than when I left.
For this marathon I actually met my goal: I learned to love running again. Over the summer after spraining my foot and being out for over a month, I got back into it and absolutely hated every second of it. I struggled through 3 mile runs and wheezed through five. The humidity was awful and my foot hurt. My legs felt weak and uncharged and my lower back killed. And every triathlon of this season I dreaded getting off the bike and leaving transition with just my feet to carry me. So over the summer when I signed up for the marathon, it was my promise that even if I never learned to love running again, I was at least going to suffer through it. And I did. And yesterday at mile 13 when I was pulling a 9:20 pace along the river and feeling stronger than I ever have, it was all worth it.
Philly is in exactly 2 weeks! I just have one 13 mile run, a 10 mile run, and a couple 3 and 4 mile runs, and I'm done!
Oh and then I'm back to triathlon training =) I should have known I was completely bullshitting when I said I was putting it all away until spring.
love love love,
me
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