Well, I guess it’s official: I’m training for a marathon. As much as I wanted to do this “casually,” I’m fearful of running a marathon and wanting to die at mile 17. That is hell on earth and I honestly would want to quit so badly.
For those that don’t know, I had planned on not following a training plan and “winging it” this year because I didn’t want to put the time and effort into actually doing it since I’m involved in several other activities that I love and require my time! (Crossfit and Back on My Feet.)
That being said, I’m stepping up the oomph just a little bit. Long runs are going to be a must — plus stepping up the miles a bit during the week. Last year, I was running 50 miles a week during peak training. That’s not happening this year but…I will probably run 35+ if I can.
Anyway, last week, I did 6 miles Sunday, 2 miles Tuesday, 11 miles Wednesday, 5 miles Friday and let’s hear the cheers for 14 miles on Saturday for a grand total of 38 miles.
I started the day off with a 6:30am Crossfit class. Normally, they aren’t that early on the weekends but occasionally they have to adjust the schedule. It was EARLY. But since I knew it would be short, I was able to get myself to go. I had no intention of following up a Crossfit class with a 14-mile run. I thought I might run 3-5 miles.
I needed to test out my new Camelbak hydration belt so I thought I’d do that even on a short run since it was hot out. I turned on my favorite playlist and started running. I felt surprisingly good. The music was really pushing me and I was kind of having a blast out there.
I thought…hmm, I guess I could do this 14 miles. Otherwise, I’ll have to do it Sunday or Monday. My head said, just do it now and get it over with. Okay…I was guesstimating my distance though tracking it on RunKeeper on my phone, which was tucked safely in the belt.
I felt strong almost the whole run. I was surprised at how great I felt especially after doing Crossfit that morning. So I kept on. The last couple of miles were slow because I started having stomach issues but I was sure I had probably run 15 or 16 miles. I felt like I’d been gone forever and was like, this is great, I bet I went so far.
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| Tried out my new Reebok sport sunglasses! |
So when I pulled out my phone to check, you can imagine my disappointment when it said I had only gone 11.5 miles. This seemed totally impossible. WHAT?
I had to go inside to use the restroom and I was out of water. I chugged down a glass of Nuun and planned on finished the last 2.5 miles on the treadmill with a magazine. But after standing inside for a few minutes, I was like no way, I can’t more. Dang.
Then Rick tells me he is going to run a few miles. This is totally out of the ordinary for him so I said fine, I’ll go and finish my miles with you. I was on super slow mode by this time and he jetted out in front of me. Somehow I managed to finish the last 2.5 feeling very weak. This is partially because I had eaten almost nothing. My stomach was acting weird all morning and food just sounded gross.
I finally got back but couldn’t find Rick — and I was locked out of my apartment. Great. I was sitting on the grass waiting but started feeling terrible. My body was like, REFUEL REFUEL. He finally returned and I went to straight to a big glass of chocolate milk. It was amazing!!
Next up, I had another tall glass of Nuun and some tortilla chips. My body felt like it had just run a full marathon — very confused and wanting all kinds of liquid. I’m sure it was because of the lack of food. I’m not one to deprive myself of food — trust me — so this was an off day.
Either way, I was SO glad I got these miles in! I was then craving a huge cheeseburger so we went to this new place down in Alexandria called Virtue Feed & Green. It was just the thing — a medium rare bison burger with chedder and a toasted bun — amazing french fries and this awesome drink made of vodka, peach, lemon and ginger beer!