Marathon

    The marathon was not a success in the strickest sense of the word. I was fighting the start of a cold the previous week, so I did not run much. Then as I got out of the RV to get my race packet, I hit my knee on the door. The first 13 miles felt great. My knee started hurting at mile 16. I ran 1 more mile then made the agonizing decision to start walking. After walking the next 2 miles to the middle where my family was waiting to see me pass, I knew that I could not walk 8 more miles. I also did not want to permanently injure myself. I am glad that I tried it though. The road to the marathon was exciting and challenging, and I look at that big picture when I say "Running Towards a Marathon".

Blisters with 6 days until the marathon :(

    Well I ran a great 6 miles on Monday 9/5 then started to feel like I am getting a cold. I took off the rest of the week. Feeling a little better, I decided to do 90 minutes of walk/ running on Sunday. A little over an hour in, I began to feel like I was getting blisters on the back of both feet. Same socks, same sneakers that I always wear so I don't know why. Maybe because I was walking part of the way. Of course, I forgot my cell phone, so I took my shoes off and walked the 2 miles home. It was horrible. Now the bottom of my feet hurt as well. Not sure what I will run this week. Marathon in 6 days!!

The end is in sight!

   After my long run last weekend, I started off with 4 miles on Monday. Then I ran 2 on Tuesday, but I was so busy that I did not run again until Sunday. I ran only 2 miles for a total of 8 all week. That is probably too big of a taper! With 2 weeks to go, I will try to stay on schedule and stay healthy :)

Ready for my taper :)

   I do not have that much to say this week other than that I ran 19 miles on Saturday and walked 2 miles. I ran on the dirt path by my house, and it got to 80 degrees out by time I was done. My toes hurt, and it was hard, but I did have enough water and gel. I have 1 blister, but I am ready to run the marathon in 3 weeks. Bring it on :)

Easy Run

    My week was very easy. I intended to run more during the week, but I only ran 1 time. I ran 2 miles on Monday which was 2 days after my long run. I could feel it in my knees, but I felt strong. Then I walked 3 miles on Wednesday too. My easy run on Saturday went well. It felt like heaven to only run 7 miles. Walk 3; ran 9 total.

20 mile run

   I went into my 20 mile run as if it was the marathon. I will admit that it was very hard. At first I was disappointed because I had to walk/run the last 2 miles, but now 2 days later, I have decided it was a learning experience. I did many things well, but there are other areas I need to work on. I need more water for one thing, but on race day that won't be a problem with the drink stations. In addition, I hated running with cars which also won't be a problem race day. I also need to work on my pace during the next 5 weeks. If I had kept on pace, I would have been almost done with all 26 miles instead of just 20 after 4 hours and 45 minutes of running. I am beginning to believe that I can do this :)

I am NEVER doing a marathon again!

   After my 18 mile run last Sunday, I did not run again until Saturday. I only ran 7 miles, but I felt great and ran back at my 12 minute pace. I felt good when I woke up Monday, but after working all day, I was sore by Monday night. I felt pretty good by Thursday, but since I had plans Thursday and Friday, I could not run until Saturday. This is too much work; It is too hot out, and I am not having fun. I will follow this through, but I will not train for a marathon again. ..maybe a 1/2 marathon only :)

Ran 18 miles :)

   This week was my week of cross training since I was on vacation. I walked all over Old San Juan, hiked in the rain forest and kayaked. I did not run at all this week. I made sure that I was well hydrated before my run today. I set my alarm for 6am, had my coffee and bagel with peanut butter, then headed out at 6:45. It was hot, and I had minimal water left during my last 3 miles. I kept repeating the word push and counting to 100 over and over during the last 5 miles. My toes hurt some, but the pain was more manageable after no heels or flip flops all week. I am so happy that I ran 18 miles today. It took me 3 hours and 50 minutes, and I was exhausted when I was done, but I did it!

Running in the Rain

   So after my rough run last weekend, I took the whole week off. My toes hurt, my calves hurt, and it was really hot out anyway. So Saturday morning, I headed out for my run. After mile 1, the rain started to come down. I decided that I might as well keep running since if it rains Marathon day, I would keep running. Unfortunately, my toes started cramping at mile 5. I ended up running only 8 miles. I could deal with the rain, but I need to figure out this toe issue since the Marathon is 8 weeks away :(

I learned some lessons this weekend :(

   The week started off strong. I ran 1 1/2 -3 miles on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Even though some runs were harder than others after working all day, I was feeling great. I knew that Sunday was going to be hotter than Saturday, so I was planning on getting up for an early run Saturday morning. Knowing full well I was running the next morning, I went to a surprise birthday party Friday night. I made mistake #1 when I put on a pair of 4 inch heels. Mistake #2 were those glasses of wine. Mistake #3 was ALL the food that I just kept eating from the buffet. Mistake #4 was only sleeping 6 hours after working at 630 all week. I was planning on a 19 mile run. The first 6 miles went well, then my toes started hurting/cramping. The next 9 were pure torture until I walked the last mile home. My toes actually still hurt. On the positive side, I brought a perfect amount of water bottles (5) for my run. Live and learn. Run and learn :)

It is hard to run in this heat!

   I walked 6 1/2 miles on Monday, then ran 4 miles Tuesday and ran 2 miles Wednesday. I took off running Thursday and Friday to get ready for my long run on the weekend, but ended up driving to look at colleges, so I could not fit a run in this weekend. I did walk another 4 Sunday, but it was too hot to run since I slept in until 11am. Luckily, I am ahead of schedule, but I must do a long run this weekend :)

11 weeks until Erie Marathon

  With only 11 weeks to go, I need to make my running a priority. I ran 15-17 miles this week but all on 1 day. I ran the first 15, but then it started to get too hot, and I ran out of water, so my last 2 miles was a walk/run. That was on Friday, and I had walked on Monday and Tuesday and then Saturday for a total of 11 miles. It is more challenging to run when it is so hot out. I am pretty committed to my long weekend runs, even setting an alarm to go out at 6 or 7am, but I am afraid if I don't push myself to run during the week, I am just setting myself up to fail or to get injured. It is only 11 weeks that I need to make my running come first. I vow here to do better next week!

Walked more than I ran

   Well I keep falling behind on my posts. The week of June 20-26, I walked 9 miles and ran 8 miles.

Officially signed up for the Erie PA Marathon...send positive thoughts my way :)

    So after last week of zero running, I came back strong. I walked 7 1/2 miles and ran a total of 21 miles. I ran 2 1/2 in Florida on Monday which was hard in the heat, then I ran 3 miles Friday. I set my alarm on Saturday for 6 am and got up to run 15 1/2 miles. It took me 3 hours and 4 minutes. It was a good run with only the last mile being pure torture. My toes were hurting, and it was getting hot out, but I felt good. Now that I signed up for the September 18th Marathon in Erie, PA, I am ready to start my 12 week countdown. I still don't understand how the longest training run is only 20 miles, but I will try to follow the training schedule. I need to run 3 evenings a week too, so it will be an tough 12 weeks. Send positive  thoughts my way :)

Running in Florida

   So the week of June 6-12 was a very bad week of running. I was in Florida and did walk 4 miles most days. I ran 0 and walked 12 miles:(

Hard to run in the heat

    So today I started out for a run at 920am. Since it was such a hot weekend, that was too late in the day for me. I ran 8 miles then walked the last mile. My intention was to run 12 miles, but I started to feel weird. I think that I was a little dehydrated even though I drank 3 1/2 water bottles while running. I wanted to push myself and go further, yet after hearing that a 22 year old man died while running the half marathon yesterday, I decided to listen to my body. Although I do not know the circumstance or cause of his death, I can imagine that after months of training, it would be hard to stop because of the heat on race day. His death makes me think about what I would do if I needed to stop during the marathon. I hope that I could be wise and listen to myself. I really want to train for and run a marathon, but not at the expense of my life. I need to remember that on runs like today. This is suppose to be fun!

Wow...the last 2 weeks have gotten away from me

   This will be short since I have been too busy to blog. During the week of May 23-29, I walked 15 miles total with only 1 run on Saturday of 9 miles. Falling back to my weekend running only. I need to make myself a priority on my long to do list:(

Beautiful Weather

    I will say that the weather has a tremendous influence on me when I am out running. Although the warmer weather made my run more enjoyable and inspired me to get outside, I need to bring more water on my runs. I ran 6 1/2 miles on Saturday, plus 4 miles today. I did set out to run 7 miles, but since it was so hot, and I only had 2 water bottles, I ended up walking the 3 miles home. I hate when that happens. I ran on the dirt path by my house since that is easier on the joints. I felt so strong and was enjoying the run, but I just could not keep running :(  I ran a total of 10 1/2 miles and walked 14 1/2 for a grand total of 25 miles!!

Lost 9 pounds :)

   So after starting my training in January, I have lost 9 pounds and took 2 inches off of my waist. I am so happy with this loss. I have been struggling these last couple of years as I get older with the weight gain, and I was afraid that it was impossible to lose. I would like to lose more before the Marathon, but this seems like a nice, slow steady pace to lose. I did run 7 1/2 miles and walked 9 for a total of 16 1/2. I would like to find time to run a little more this week too.

Running towards a marathon: Ran 14 1/2 miles...took almost 3 hours :)

Running towards a marathon: Ran 14 1/2 miles...took almost 3 hours :): " Well I ran 14 1/2 miles on Saturday. I was trying for 15 but I had to walk the last 1/2 mile. That is still the farthest I have ever ru..."