Greetings, Tribe!
Just over a week ago I conquered another 20miles. This time was much more successful than my last attempt. The temperature was in the 50’s-60’s, there was a range of mist to light rain the entire run, and the sky was overcast. Perfection! I met Debbie (future mother-in-law) and Allison (future sister-in-law) for the first 6miles and finished the rest on my own. The company was a great distraction and kept my spirits up so that I had a better attitude going into the remainder of my run (it’s hard to get excited about a run that long!). My nutrition was improved, but still not perfect. Instead of one or zero gels, I had 3. The goal was 4, but I just couldn’t get myself there. As far as speed goes, I was light years faster than my first 20miler this cycle, but still took things conservatively. I’m ok with that. Mentally I needed the win, and this run was certainly a W.
Three 20 milers has been my mission for this training cycle. This past Sunday was going to be my third and final. Saturday, after teaching more than a full day, being on my feet through an entire Taylor Swift show (sidebar: OMG!!! She was amazing!!! I’m not a huge fan, but her show was spectacular!), not getting to bed until almost 2am (the traffic home was ridiculous!), I took the liberty of sleeping in on Sunday. I didn’t get out the door until 2pm for my run. My legs felt swollen, heavy and the heat got to me quickly. Instead of potentially having heat stroke and undoubtably having a crumby run, I ran just over 7 miles and called it. It’s been years since I have been able to get three 20 mile training runs in before a marathon and I am determined to make it happen. Tomorrow is my last chance. The plan: teach an early morning class, hop on the treadmill for my conference call (shhhh!!) and then finish my run outside. Stay tuned!
Happy trails, friends!
In Search of My Running Tribe 