Reflection

I have been working so hard with my job. I am at it any chance I get. Sometimes I pull all-nighters. My sleep schedule is screwy, my father is ill, and I have the Disney Goofy Challenge next weekend. I am a size four. I haven't been there (weight-wise) since high school. I am EXACTLY the same weight I was when I graduated high school. I am running well. I am lucrative with my business. I have a wide open chasm to throw pennies in for the Summer.

Spring brings an auspicious occassion. I located my husband's biological mother. She lives in Pittsburgh. They are bonding. After six years of searching, I succeeded. She wants to meet her beautiful and intelligent son. It will be her birthday, Mother's Day, and a chance for my husband to show me around the city he spent his childhood in. Why not a marathon? What a great chance to reunite.

I will be completing FOUR marathons in less than half a year. My business is thriving. My kids are AMAZING.

I saw the movie about the ultra marathoners meandering themselves across the Sahara. Like a hundred and something days, almost 1500 miles (I think). My interest is piqued.

.....passing thought.....

Pittsburgh......hill training intervals on treadmill.......no biggie, girl......

I am good. It is ALL good.

Jacksonville Bank Marathon 2008

So this was supposed to be a training run for the Goofy Challenge. As I sit here, recovering from my marathon today, I really can't think of anything I would have done any differently. It went well for not being a race I was "supposed to not race", and I am surprised and shocked by the outcome. Please keep in mind my fastest mary is 5:14:00. I was racing that race.

I felt great this morning. I laid off any running for the last 5 days. Did some weights and a little elliptical. Bob and I arrived just before the start, and we found an unoccupied bathroom. YAY US. I started kind of quickly, but I felt strong. Really nothing of any significance until mile 7, where my calves started locking up. I chewed up some new power jellies (cola flavor--they ROCK!). Chatted up with some runners, and carried on.

I arrived to the half-marathon point at 2:15:00, and I thought perhaps I was going too quickly. Bob caught me on a turnaround and waved "hello". I gave him the "thumbs-up".

No shit...everything was great until mile 24, when a blood blister burst on my right foot. I had to sit down and take off my sock, reattach the skin, and re-tie the laces. I never hit a wall. I never suffered.

My finish time will be (with chip)--4:35:something. What a difference a year makes. Don't think for a second I'm not going to improve upon that. Dismantled my PR by over 40 minutes.

LIFE IS GOOD.

Jacksonville Marathon Eve Good Night

1. New playlist on iPod--CHECK
2. Gels (the new ones in the gummy shell with liquid center--cola flavor)--CHECK
3. Brand new running shorts a size smaller so my old ones stop falling off--CHECK.
4. Body Glide--Check

I feel stuffed from the pasta, and flabby from the taper (although I actually lost weight, lol). I will be hitting the hay here in a few. I actually was able to pair up my favorite socks. All is right with the world. Predicition 70's, high humidity with ample cloud cover. I may welcome a misty rain.

I want to do well.

20 done

After last weekend's debacle of only completing half of my 20-mile long run--I finally fueled up the right way last night, and I redeemed myself. I did it in 3:40ish, was stopped by a train and a wardrobe change (weather heated up significantly, so my sweet husband drove up with shorts to replace my tights). So if I keep this up, I will have a respectable marathon time. The quandry will be which marathon I will do that in.

My husband and I have decided to do the Jacksonville Bank marathon as a training run (second year I have done this). It is a fast and flat course I am very familiar with. If I feel good and strong, I may do ok. But then again, we have the Miami full marathon several weeks after the Goofy Challenge. If I take it easy after the Goofy, and limit my runs to nothing more than ten miles--that may be the one I choose. We shall see. I had such a sweet half there last January, and a horrific half there the year before.

Blessings--no injuries, no aches. All I have to contend with are throbbing toenails screaming to fall off my feet. And they will. I have no use for them during marathon season. My only challenges have been improper fueling, poor eating and fatigue. Those are more easily remedied. I just have to remember to do that, lol.

Weight Loss and Other Stuff

OK, so I haven't posted. I have been working and training and working and training. I lost more weight. I completed my 18 miler at about a 9:50 mile--only to bonk on a 20 mile today. I will return and post. The weight is now an issue, as I can't properly fuel beforehand. Long story and something I have to address sooner rather than later. I promise to get here soon.

Sweet Fourteen

But actually 13.98. Close enough. I completed it this morning with a 9.5 min/mile. I feel good, and I know I could have kept going. I am having some hip abductor issues, but they are probably transient and I needn't worry about it. So I face the dreaded 16/17 miler in two weeks. This time last year when I attempted the entire loop around Doctors' Lake, I hit the wall at mile 15. I was crying and staggering homeward. Bob actually came out to look for me, and picked me up at mile 16.5. That was supposed to be a 17 miler. I am going to attempt it again this year. Hopefully the weather will not be as formidable this time around. During that particular morning, the temps were in the upper eighties, with a heavy blanket of humidity weighing on my shoulders. Mother Nature didn't do me any favors by dousing me with a sheet of rain that lasted approximately three minutes as I floundered at mile 14. Can you say "rub"? The irony is, two weeks later I completed 19 miles with absolutely no problem. It's all downhill after that:).

The only complaint I have about my runs lately is the multitude of McCain/Palin signs littering every other front yard. Of course, the Obama signs have all been pilfered (including my own...didn't make it two days in my yard). I keep reminding myself about "sheep" mentality. After all, this is Clay County. Yee Haw.

Fatigue and Good Running

I blew off speed training today. We actually did get up at 4 AM, got in the car, made it halfway there when I realized I didn't have my RUNNING SHOES!!!!!! I nabbed the wrong pair, and these particular shoes hurt my feet (weird that I grabbed them by accident). It wasn't worth the effort. I wasn't about to suffer through the laps with shoes that are too tight, especially with a Saturday run of 7 miles and a Sunday run of fourteen miles coming up. The man was happy to turn around, go home and crash again.

I have done some serious upper body work this last week, and all of my runs have been strong, fluid and effortless. I am sore today, and tired. These late nights working have challenged me somewhat, but when I get a nap in like today, it's not that much of a hindrance. I will do explosive training tomorrow, cycle on Friday, and embark on the all-too-familiar journey over 13.1.

Here I go again.