At the end of week twelve, I ran the "Runaway Bride Women's Distance Festival" 5K. It is always a fun race, and as the title implies it is mainly for women. This year they added the bride. We chased a bride (a local fast male runner in a wedding dress complete with a veil) and had the option of wearing a bridesmaid dress. I wore one (lucky for me it was shorter) and I won my age group. It was so fun to see the bride and runners in various dresses. I laughed when I first saw the bride :) My total time was about a minute slower than last year, but I haven't been training for speed. But wow, the age group just above me - those 60+ year old women can run fast! I'll have my work cut out for me in a few years. I really liked the prize this year; it was a small glass. Because I was a little sore from the 5K and I raced rather than ran a training run, I decided to forgo the 14-mile run scheduled on Sunday. My goal is to not end up injured, so I have learned to adjust, as hard as it is sometimes.
Week thirteen went fairly well. I was able to do all my runs, with some ingenuity. On Wednesday, a seven mile run was on the schedule. About two miles in, the lightening started. I'm crazy, but not stupid! I was running in my neighborhood instead of my usual route, so I came back home and, as much as I prefer outside running, I finished on the treadmill. I put on a rather difficult program, so I pushed myself.
Friday was the first day of my "vacation" - I'm off work, but will be busy moving kids and cleaning, etc. As it was the end of week thirteen, a 20-mile run was on the schedule. It was a very hot, humid day. I started out around 5:45 a.m. I wore a head lamp and stayed in my neighborhood. Once the sun started to come up, I left the neighborhood and headed toward town. It didn't take long for it to heat up. I was out of water by the time I got to about 10 miles, so I stopped at a local Walmart and re-filled my water bottles. What a sight I must have been - I was dripping wet and probably a little flushed from the heat. I refilled my water again at DCTV (thanks to my husband). With a lot of slow running and walking, I was able to finish my 20 miles. It was tough, I was dehydrated, but I finished. This is the first time in several years I've gotten two 20-mile training runs in; one more is scheduled in a few weeks. I usually end up being injured and having to take time off, and never seem to get to those long, long runs. I can't say the run was without injury, however. Because it was hot and humid, my feet swelled. I felt a little pain, but did not notice a blister forming and opening, until I got home and looked down at my shoe to see what the little bit of pain was about.
But, the key thing is that I finished the run and was still able to walk (as long as I wasn't wearing shoes) the rest of the day!
Today is the unofficial start of week fourteen. I will have to really adjust my schedule due to the moving activities going on this week. I was scheduled for an 8-mile run on Tuesday; I ran that this morning. Of course it was a little too soon perhaps; with no runs scheduled until Wednesday, hopefully my heel will heal. At least now both pairs of shoes match!
Where I am missing out is my strength training. For weeks twelve and thirteen, I have only been able to get one session in each week. But, it is a tougher session, and it is better than nothing. I hope to get both sessions in this week. However, we will be moving kids to two different colleges, so I may be getting some informal strength training during those moves! Time has been limited these last few weeks, so if I have to choose, I will do the running.
That's it for now! The next few weeks will test my resolve to get my training in and to adjust as life dictates. I can do this! There is only one more 20-mile run, and then it will be basically taper time (which can be the worst part of any training plan). I will try to write each week. This is mainly for my benefit so I can look back and see how this training went and how it well it worked. I won't know that until Marathon day!
No Excuses / Gotta run
