16 Done and in the books!

I really have nothing positive to say about the 16 miles I ran yesterday other than it is done.  Because of family life and obligations, I was stuck on the treadmill for this run.  I have confessed before that I don't mind the treadmill but who wants to be on it for 16 miles!!  We are heading out of town tomorrow for the weekend and there just was not enough daylight hours during the week to get 16 in.  I knew I could not use that as an excuse to run it.  At mile 9 I texted a friend telling him I was at mile 9 of 16 and I wanted to quit.  Here was the few texts we exchanged...

Me:  Please tell me I can do this.  I am stuck on the treadmill for my long run this week.  Not ideal but family gets in the way this week.  I am 9 into 16 and I just want to quit. 

Him: Aaaaaahhhhhhh - right now is when you decide if you want to quit more than you want to finish!  We both know the answer - chug on woman!

Him:  I told you October was going to suck - you're 2 days early.

Me: No, you told John October was going to suck.  I can do this. I will do this.  Thanks!

Him: haha - you knew this day was coming!  Get through it and own it!

It sucked but I got through it with the help of his words.  He did tell my husband that October was going to suck for him because running, marathon, and training would be all I would be able to talk about.  He failed to tell me it would also suck for me! 

I struggled for most of the run and I can't even say being on the treadmill made the run so terrible.  I need to figure out this nutrition thing.  When I started training for the marathon the first week of July I started running early in the morning.  I think my body has adjusted to running at 5am so a run at 8pm was difficult.  I could not sleep once I was done.  It was at least 2am before I fell asleep.  My legs felt better this morning than I expected!

I have 17 next weekend and need to figure something out.  We are heading to Harrisburg for the day on Saturday and John is working on Sunday.  I am going to line up someone for the boys so I can get outside.  I think I need to do the same thing for the last weekend of October.  I am fortunate enough to have family that love my boys! 

My run yesterday put me at 132.1 miles for the month.  This seems absurd for me!!

Three Things Thursday

1.  I ran 16 last night and it was ugly.  More on that later!
2.  We are heading out tomorrow morning for Boston.  I am looking forward to seeing family for the weekend but not looking forward to a 6-7 hour drive with the boys.  It will be the first time for a long car ride like this.  The longest we have done is 2 once or twice but usually only the 90 minutes to the beach.
3.  I started weight watchers a month ago and as of Monday I am done 6.2 pounds.  It is coming off slowly!  I am hoping for a good week!

2 down, 2 to go!

Just finished my interval run for the week.  It was 1 mile followed by 200/400/800/400/200 with 400 recovery in between each and then 1 more mile.  It was a good run.  I am now sitting with L on the couch and he told me I smelled.  This kid is 2!!  He is right though. 

I am feeling good about the week, better than yesterday.  I have two runs done and will feel great this time tomorrow morning.  I know I will be good as long as I get up tomorrow morning and get my 6 miles in.  I can do this and I will!

8 Weeks Left

It is a rainy miserable Monday morning.  We had a rough weekend with J so Monday morning was warmly welcomed by myself!  We were supposed to head to the beach for our final weekend of the season and that did not happen.  It was ok because I got a bunch of stuff done that I have not been able to do.  Saturday morning I got a much needed oil change, got the remote for my van fixed, got to one of my local running stores for a copy of a receipt, and did mountains of laundry.

This is a tough week for me.  My total weekly mileage will be 33.5 with my long run being 16.  My runs are 6, 4 1/2 (intervals), 7, and 16.  Not bad but we leave for Boston Friday morning and I know I won't be able to run while we are there.  I have two options...

1.  Run this morning (7 mile run done!!), Tuesday AM, Wednesday AM, and Thursday PM (long run). 
2.  Run this morning, Tuesday AM, Wednesday PM (Long run), Friday AM.

I am still on the fence.  There are pros and cons of both.  I am going to try for option 1 and switch to option 2 if I have a hard time getting out of bed Wednesday morning.

Three Things Thursday

1.  In 6 weeks John and I will be in New Orleans celebrating our 5th anniversary a month early.  Our actual anniversary is December 3rd but it is such a tough month.  J's birthday is the 4th so we did not want to plan time away then.  The boys are so young and we always have so much planned around the holidays so we figured a month early would be best.  We leave early Wednesday morning and come home Saturday night.  I am starting to print out restaurant menus, tour ideas, and other things to do!  I cannot wait to go home tonight and start digging through stuff with John.

2.  We are heading to the shore tomorrow evening after work.  It will be our last weekend down for the season.  Kinda bummed about that!  The rides and stores on the boardwalk close October 10th and this is the last weekend we can get down.  It was a great season though!

3.  My dad gave me his Kindle yesterday because he upgraded to an Ipad!  I love when he gives us his hand me downs.  I bought one book and a few free books already.  I took it with me to J's karate class last night and I was not sure how I would like it.  I am hooked!

When a run does not make sense

I did my long run for the week today.  It was only 13 miles since this is a stepback week for me.  My long run last week was 14 and I felt great.  I don't remember what my pace was but I was happy with it.  I know why I struggled through the run today.  I was tired.  I barely slept last night.  J has had a rough couple of days with his allergies and last night was terrible, resulting in a sleepness night for mama!  I took the day off today but still shipped the kids out this morning.  My mom watches the boys while I work so she took L this morning and I dropped J off at school.  I went home to sleep but it was not happening so I figured I would run.  I struggled through the entire 13 miles and almost quit several times.

I logged my run and my pace was about 25 seconds per mile faster than my pace for last week's run.  That does not make sense to me.  I also ran the last half of the 13 about a minute faster.  Again, that does not make sense to me. 

Who knows!!  I am just happy to have my long run out of the way for the week!  We are heading to the beach for the last weekend of the season.  I don't have to worry about fitting 13 miles in down there!

Good news and man, I feel old!

The stitches are gone!!  I cannot wait to get back out on my bike, back in the pool, and start doing some strength training again.  The stitches prevented me from doing all three.

John and I went to dinner tonight without the boys.  We don't do it often so it is nice when we can.  Because it is a Friday night, I asked our babysitter to watch the boys.  Any family members that help us out with them work during the week and I don't like to ask for a Friday night.  Nothing makes me feel as old as driving the babysitter home!!

I have 14 miles in the morning.  Gotta go to bed soon.