Sunday, August 7, 2011

Training - Week 11 - Week 9 of Marathon Training - Sunday - 7 Miles to Balance Things Out

I had to get one more run in for my week of training and let me tell you that this was no walk in the park. We left for Indiana on Friday to visit my mom and dad before school starts up for me this week. A typical 4 hour drive ended up being 6 hours with construction. I cannot even begin to tell you the joys of this car ride when locked in a van with a 6 yr. old, 4 yr. old, and a 3 month old. I had plans of running my 7 mile run Saturday morning, but after a long drive Friday my legs were very tight and my motivation was next to nothing. I kept putting off the run until it got to the point where it was just not going to happen. I then thought about running Sunday morning, but my motivation was even less as I was dog tired and my allergies had kicked in. So, this lead me to running when we got home.

After stopping at the outlet malls on the way back we finally arrived home. I went out for my run around 7:00 and actually did not feel bad. I knew it was going to be rough as I ate terrible and did not do much for my body and recovery the last two days. Running later in the evening kept it somewhat cool(meaning it was not 90 degrees). I just ran at a pace that felt good and went with with. I looked down at my watch to see I was running around 8:30 pace which in my mind I thought was okay. This run was designed to have me run 5 of the miles at my marathon pace. I wanted to run faster to work off some of the garbage I put into my body and also to run closer to my half marathon pace. This was right in the middle. I was happy with the time.

I had the worst gut ache ever while running. It was an hour stomach cramp that would not quit. I knew it was going to happen after the way I ate. I fought through it to learn some mental toughness. Plus I was running in my new favorite running shirt, my Live Uncommon shirt. It was delivered on Friday by Jeff Paul who I missed by a few hours(I was quite bummed). I was not going to stop with this shirt on. The shirt almost gave me extra pride while ride. I have my motto(Getting It Done!) on the back along with all the great stuff that comes with Live Uncommon(I will post a picture soon). I just kept running until I finished.

I finished in 56:30 which is 8:04 pace. This is right at my half marathon goal pace and I was surprised I ran that fast because I thought/felt like I was running much slower. I had a7:54 and 7:43 mile tucked in there along the way. This was a great feeling to see that data afterwards.

My left foot has flared up in the same spot where my stress fracture and other little injury that knocked me out of running for some time occurred during the winter. I hope it is just a small little tweak that will go away come morning, but it has me nervous. I don't need an injury right now when I have my major goal staring me down in 49 days.

Tomorrow I start week 10 of my training. I cannot believe it has been 10 weeks already. School starts for me this week and I also hope to get in the weight room at least two times this week. One more week in my journey to GETTING IT DONE!

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