Race Week!!!

It's here! I can't believe it! Less than one week from now I will have run my second marathon. My runs have been kind of craptastic lately and it's sent my freakout engine into overdrive. For my mental health, I decided it was time for a change up. When the midweek distances got too long for morning runs, I became an evening runner. Sometimes I ran outside after Runner Boy got home, but a lot of my miles have been on the hamster wheel in the basement--a nightmare in and of itself, but even more so when you have to deal with three little runlets incessantly interrupting and vying for attention, snacks, boo boo assessment, etc. Try to get in a zone with that going on!

So a change up made sense. It wouldn't hurt physically either. The marathon starts at 7 a.m. and I don't want my system doesn't go into shock on race day. With that in mind, I got up at 5:40 this morning, donned my gear, and headed out. I was supposed to run three miles, but I felt so good that I kept going for one more. (I have to be careful about that this week--the final taper is excruciating. I'm banking the extra mile today and shaving one from Wednesday.) I live amongst a lot of hills and was amazed today when I saw my final average pace: 8:48/mile. Not too shabby for a "let's take it easy and just keep these legs loose and limber" type of run!

I'm starting to get really stoked for this weekend!

Taper Madness

Yep, I've got it. I've got it bad. I guess the first inkling was when Runner Boy found me on the sofa yesterday morning, arm flung across my eyes, groaning in a general state of misery. This was after I had sufficiently snapped at the runlets enough to scare them from the family room indefinitely. When Runner Boy asked "What's going on? Are you okay?" I shrieked, "You really want to know what's going on? Really? It's my toe. It's either tendinitis or it's broken. Either way, I don't see how I can ever run a marathon in two weeks. Two weeks! From today! I guess I'll just gimp through and deal with all the resulting stress fractures later. I mean, my shoes have too many miles on them to prevent injury anyway. Not to mention the fact that I'm gaining three pounds a day--that'll feel great on my knees for 26.2 miles. I might as well just surrender to permanent damage."

Ahhh, poor Runner Boy. Poor runlets. Such is the life of living with a tapering marathoner. Is my toe sore? It has been, but it's actually fine today. And my shoes? Two hundred miles. That's not too much. I'm just irrationally freaking out. Taper madness.

Peak Week!

I can't believe Peak Week is here! Compared to last time, this marathon training has flown by. I'm definitely feeling a little overwhelmed this week--trying to fit in all the miles, work full time, hang out with my three kids, yada, yada, yada. But, I keep thinking "Just make it through Saturday's run and it's taper time!" I'm curious to read my blog posts from Peak Week during my Baltimore training to see what I was thinking/feeling back then. Right now, running just seems like another cog in the crazy wheel of life. Yeah, I got up at 5 a.m. yesterday to squeeze in my miles before work, and, yeah, my father's coming over this afternoon to babysit the runlets so I can get my ten miler done. But it's kinda no big deal. Weird.

I'm striving for at least twenty miles before Saturday and have a twenty-two mile run Saturday morning. Then bring on the taper, baby!

Hellooo? Can you see me??

Lately I've begun to wonder if I unknowingly take on the superpower of invisibility when I run. What else would explain the downright refusal of pedestrians to make way for me on the sidewalk? They must not be able to see me. Otherwise, at least one person in a group of three walking abreast on the sidewalk would surely step ahead or behind his cohorts instead of forcing me a) into the road or b) onto the edge of the adjacent hill. Right?

That happened twice last night during my run. Each time it was at least three people and each time not one single person made a move to share the sidewalk with me. Should I blame it on the fact that they were college students? Maybe that's what they're going to school for--basic manners.

I try to run in the road as much as I can but rush hour, busy roads, and, again, college students (this time behind the wheel) scare me onto the sidewalks from 6-7 p.m.

Thankfully I survived. Tomorrow I'm taking my neighbor out for 16 miles. She's never run more than 13.1, so it should be fun!

Ice, Ice, Baby

Darn this blasted rain!! It forced another TM run this week. And this time I wasn't running with my Red Bull wings, if you know what I mean. I was scheduled for 5 miles but just.couldn't.do.it. I started tuning in to all these imaginary (hopefully) aches and pains, and I just couldn't finish the mileage. I'm ashamed to say I petered out at 3.5 and promptly jumped in an ice bath. I used to take ice baths religiously after long runs and fairly frequently during the week, but I haven't done one since the marathon in October. Let me tell you, I forgot how painful those first few minutes are! Not too dissimilar to childbirth, I suppose. After all, I found myself using the same deep breathing techniques to handle the pain. All I can say is thank god for the numbness that eventually sets in.

I'm supposed to run 5 again tonight. The sun, beautiful sun, is shining. Woot! Why am I suddenly craving Red Bull??

The Secret of the TM...

After Saturday's traumatic experience, I couldn't bear to do today's run outside, even if it was just drizzling, so once again I ended up on the treadmill. Now, anyone who has even glanced at this blog knows how much I detest the treadmill. It's a hatred for the ages. But, and this is a HUGE but, today's run was great. Really. All nine miles of it. Yup, you read right: nine miles! Oh yeah! Who's awesome???

I had fun; I felt energized; and, I even added an extra 0.1 to the end just for the heck of it. (Well, I really did that to bring my training log back up to whole numbers, but we don't need to delve into that freakishness.) My secret?

Red Bull.

I chugged one right before my run, and apparently it's the elixir of the gods. Unfortunately, I may be awake until 3 a.m., but a good nine miler is worth a little insomnia.

April Showers Bring Soggy Runners

I think I might have PTSD. I ran my 20 miles yesterday. In the rain. In the pouring rain. In the pouring rain with driving wind. In the pouring rain with driving wind and cars whizzing by spraying buckets of extra water at me. And there were puddles. Lots and lots of puddles. But I ran all 20 of them. And my foot feels pretty good. Looks like I might be doing that Cleveland marathon after all.

Whatever...his shirt actually has dry spots. Wuss.