Week 17
Not a bad week overall. Hell it was a damm good week simply because I got my last long run done before the marathon.
Monday was an off day so just went to the gym. I stopped lifting weights on my legs altogether, just concentrate on my upper body and do a lot of situps and leg lifts. I'll go back to legs after the marathon but it was causing me too much trouble.
Tuesday was 5 miles. Legs were very stiff for the first half but loosened up afterward.
Wednesday went to the gym, lifted and did some setups and ran three miles. Still pretty stiff but got it done.
Thursday another 5 miler. My legs have loosened up a lot and I'm feeling a lot more confident.
I took Friday off from work for a complete rest day. Didn't do anything all day but sit on my ass. It was a little boring to be honest.
Saturday was 3 miles. A little stiff but that's what the runs before a long run are for, to work out the kinks.
Sunday I got up at 5:30 to take my daughter-in-law to work. I was going to just stay up and hit my run early but the bed was looking too good so climbed back in and slept till after 7. Got up and ate a banana and breakfast bar with a cup of coffee. I started getting ready to go around 8:30 and it looked like the wife was going to stay in bed but jumped up at the last minute and decided to go.
We got out of the house right at 9. The temp said 46 but it seemed a lot warmer than that. The sun was out and there wasn't a cloud in the sky and only a light breeze blowing, it was a totally beautiful morning. That is not always a good thing in Texas because it can get hot quick. I started out slow, legs feeling a little stiff and my knee was twinging a bit. The first few miles were a little rough but everything eased up by 3 miles. I decided to not try and run straight thru but stop and take short rest stops occasionally. I stopped at 6 miles, walked a bit and ate some Shot Bloks. The run into Hutto is a gradual uphill and was a little rough but as I turned the corner I stopped for a pee break and felt great. In fact, I was feeling a little too good and let my pace increase a bit which turned out to be a mistake. From the 8 mile to 11 mile point, I was running very strong and easy. The wife was riding right along side me and we were chatting a bit, it sure is nice having her along. I do worry about her a bit, she doesn't watch traffic like she should but luckily it's pretty sparse. She has been so totally supportive of my insanity, she either rides along on her bicycle or meets me in the car and keeps my fluids refilled and it's just nice having here out there with me.
Back to the run. At 11 miles I turn south and dag nabbit, start running right into the same headwind again. I swear there are places on this earth where the wind always blows and always blows against you and I chose to run on one of them. The wind was pretty strong and it took it's toll on me. I managed to run the 3 miles to the end of that road but I was pretty tired with 8 miles still to go. I stopped for another rest break, ate some more shot bloks and trudged on. The rest of the way was tough and somewhere between 20 and 21 miles, I was completely exhausted. I walked most of the rest of the way with short bouts of running, pushing thru on sheer will power alone but somehow still managed to finish something around 22.75 miles in under 4 hours. I ended up laying on the floor for about 10 minutes when I got home trying to get some energy back.
That was my last long run before the marathon. The next two Sundays are only 12 mile runs and the marathon is only three weeks away. I'm hoping that by pushing myself so hard in the training, it will show results as my body rebuilds itself into a lean, mean marathon running machine. We shall see...
Monday was an off day so just went to the gym. I stopped lifting weights on my legs altogether, just concentrate on my upper body and do a lot of situps and leg lifts. I'll go back to legs after the marathon but it was causing me too much trouble.
Tuesday was 5 miles. Legs were very stiff for the first half but loosened up afterward.
Wednesday went to the gym, lifted and did some setups and ran three miles. Still pretty stiff but got it done.
Thursday another 5 miler. My legs have loosened up a lot and I'm feeling a lot more confident.
I took Friday off from work for a complete rest day. Didn't do anything all day but sit on my ass. It was a little boring to be honest.
Saturday was 3 miles. A little stiff but that's what the runs before a long run are for, to work out the kinks.
Sunday I got up at 5:30 to take my daughter-in-law to work. I was going to just stay up and hit my run early but the bed was looking too good so climbed back in and slept till after 7. Got up and ate a banana and breakfast bar with a cup of coffee. I started getting ready to go around 8:30 and it looked like the wife was going to stay in bed but jumped up at the last minute and decided to go.
We got out of the house right at 9. The temp said 46 but it seemed a lot warmer than that. The sun was out and there wasn't a cloud in the sky and only a light breeze blowing, it was a totally beautiful morning. That is not always a good thing in Texas because it can get hot quick. I started out slow, legs feeling a little stiff and my knee was twinging a bit. The first few miles were a little rough but everything eased up by 3 miles. I decided to not try and run straight thru but stop and take short rest stops occasionally. I stopped at 6 miles, walked a bit and ate some Shot Bloks. The run into Hutto is a gradual uphill and was a little rough but as I turned the corner I stopped for a pee break and felt great. In fact, I was feeling a little too good and let my pace increase a bit which turned out to be a mistake. From the 8 mile to 11 mile point, I was running very strong and easy. The wife was riding right along side me and we were chatting a bit, it sure is nice having her along. I do worry about her a bit, she doesn't watch traffic like she should but luckily it's pretty sparse. She has been so totally supportive of my insanity, she either rides along on her bicycle or meets me in the car and keeps my fluids refilled and it's just nice having here out there with me.
Back to the run. At 11 miles I turn south and dag nabbit, start running right into the same headwind again. I swear there are places on this earth where the wind always blows and always blows against you and I chose to run on one of them. The wind was pretty strong and it took it's toll on me. I managed to run the 3 miles to the end of that road but I was pretty tired with 8 miles still to go. I stopped for another rest break, ate some more shot bloks and trudged on. The rest of the way was tough and somewhere between 20 and 21 miles, I was completely exhausted. I walked most of the rest of the way with short bouts of running, pushing thru on sheer will power alone but somehow still managed to finish something around 22.75 miles in under 4 hours. I ended up laying on the floor for about 10 minutes when I got home trying to get some energy back.
That was my last long run before the marathon. The next two Sundays are only 12 mile runs and the marathon is only three weeks away. I'm hoping that by pushing myself so hard in the training, it will show results as my body rebuilds itself into a lean, mean marathon running machine. We shall see...
posted by Big Ed at 5:54 PM
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