I can’t believe it’s been 10 weeks since I started training for the Cleveland Rite Aid Marathon. I remember thinking, “whoa, 18 weeks is a long time.” Because it is! Right?! But 10 weeks have flown by. And if you want to get technical, I only have 7 long runs left until race day.
Lucky for me, I’m not going to actually be racing on race day. My one and only goal is to cross the finish line. Maybe I’ll race a marathon one day, but not any time soon.
Here’s how Week 10 of training went:
Tuesday — 4 miles
Nothing of note for my first 4-mile run this week. Except that I forgot to set my alarm, so instead of completing my strength circuit on Tuesday, I had to push it back to Thursday. No biggie. Just a little more rushed than usual!
Wednesday — 8 miles
Oh, 8 miles. Oh, treadmill. The longest run I’ve ever completed on the treadmill was 9 miles. And it was a struggle. I was training for the Papa John’s 10-Miler and I was supposed to run 10 miles but I just couldn’t do it.
Knowing how desperate my mind would become at around 7 miles, I decided I needed a distraction. I was racking my brain trying to figure out how I could somehow get a TV to work in the basement, and I just couldn’t come to a conclusion. And then I had a lightbulb moment. We have a Kindle Fire. And Netflix. How on earth it too me 10 weeks to figure out I could watch Netflix during my runs is beyond me.
I zoned out to Hunger Games: Catching Fire for the duration of my run. It was a very nice distraction. I did find it difficult at times to focus because the angle wasn’t ideal, but for the most part it worked like a charm. I will definitely be doing this again.
Thursday — 4 miles+strength training
Thursday was decent. Put in my 4 miles, and then did my strength work. It felt good, and I felt strong. I added in walking lunges which was a nice change.
Saturday — 17 miles
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| Selfie outtakes. This is what happens at 6:30 am before a long run! |
Saturday morning, Julie and I headed out bright and early for long run. We met up with the usual crew — Sara, David, and Noemi.
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| All smiles before 17-miles… |
We had a nice 17 mile run. It really wasn’t that exciting, and I’m shocked I don’t have a whole lot to say about it! There was no snow, no carnage, nothing overwhelmingly exciting. Which was actually a very pleasant change. 🙂
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| No snow! |
I didn’t realize how far we had run until one point I mentioned I had no idea where we were. Julie said, “this is where we ran our 14-miler.” And then it hit me how far we really were running! It was crazy.
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| Snack time! |
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| This is my “I really have to pee” face. Not really. But it sure looks dramatic! |
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| #stopdropandyoga |
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| We Run CLE! |
17 miles wasn’t so awful. At around mile 16 I started hurting a bit. I just really wanted to be done. I ignored it, and pressed on. When we did finally stop, my legs felt extremely fatigued. Nothing hurt, but I just had an overwhelming desire to sit down. It felt like restless legs. I used to get those when I was a teenager — it was so annoying to try to sleep. I’m sure many of you had similar experiences. I didn’t sit down right away. I instead opted for food because I was ravenous! I couldn’t fit half my food in my hydration belt, so I left a lot in the car. It was a blessing in disguise. I had packed chocolate milk, a banana, banana bread, and water. Yum!
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| And THIS is my “I just ran 17-miles I want to lay down and sleep” face. |
We held a really nice, slow, controlled pace. No one was chuffing for air. We walked when we felt like we needed to walk. Poor David, though. He wasn’t planning on running 17 miles. He hadn’t run in a couple weeks. But somehow we bullied him into running the entire route. Sorry, David! We made it up to him by hitting up Bob Evans for breakfast. (Yes, that happened. Judge away!)
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| David’s reward for being such a badass. |
As the day progressed on Saturday, I started to hurt. My right hip was very aggravated, and my quads were very tight. I ended up taking Advil around 3 pm that day. That evening I had a nice Epsom salt bath, and relaxed in bed. Unfortunately I woke up several times due to hip discomfort.
Overall, 17 miles wasn’t nearly as atrocious as I thought it would be. But I’m sure as we progress through the training, I’ll start to feel more and more uncomfortable.
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| 17 miles! Yeah! |
Sunday — yoga
Sunday morning, the fam and I went to pancake breakfast. I don’t even want to tell you about it because it’s an entire post on its own. I’ll save details for another day. But I did wake up with a tight hip, tight calves, and sore quads. Going down stairs was easy. Up? Notsomuch. I was counting down the hours until I could do yoga.
In the afternoon while Little Bee napped, my husband and I went down to the basement to do an hour of yoga. It was amazing. I felt like a brand new person after we were finished. And Boo came to join us for half of it! Quite the excitement.
Week 11 will bring increased mileage, and more travel for me. I’ll be going to Washington, DC for my cousin’s wedding. I’m really excited! I’m sad to be missing 18 miles with the crew, and I’ll be running five days this week instead of four, but I’m splitting up my long run and will be running with a friend I’ve never met in person on Saturday. I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve known her for a couple years now but have never had the opportunity to meet up. Plus, I’ll get to see my favorite city from the running perspective! Good times ahead.
How about you… what’s your favorite city? Do you take part in sports/fitness/running when you travel?
Have a great day!
xo
