I attribute my falling behind to trying to keep up with a new job, my newfound addiction to Dexter, the exhaustion of a two-year old's birthday party, the birth of a new fantasy football season, and the Cubs collapse. I think last I wrote the Cubs were in first place or maybe a game or two back. Now they are on the brink of double-digits. My temperament, no doubt, fluctuates with the mojo of that blippin team (hey, we all have our crosses), and well, my motivation goes straight to the Port-o-Let when they play like this.
Nonetheless, over the course of the past two weeks I ran a total of 83 miles. It was by far the most I have run in a two-week period. Here's the breakdown of how it panned out:
Monday 8/10 - Oversleep a bit, but still get in 4 miles at the gym and a short strength workout.
Tuesday 8/11 - Up way too late last night (2:00am). No chance for a morning run. Instead, after dinner, Lori and I took the kids to the lake. I ran two loops for a total of 8 miles. She walked and jogged with the kiddos. A rare, but satisfying, and quite energetic evening run.
Wednesday 8/12 - My aspirations of running 8 miles the night before and getting up early to run 4 miles were squashed by another late evening and exhaustion in the morning. End result: an evening 4-mile run through the subdivision after putting the kids to sleep with a short strength workout. The awesome thing about this run was that there was an active meteor shower lighting up the night sky this week. It was at its peak late Tuesday night, but supposedly carried into Wednesday night. I kept my eyes peeled while running, and sure enough, as I pushed up the final hill, I saw one go streaking through the night sky like a laser beam. It was awesome! Talk about an adrenaline boost for the last quarter mile.
Thursday 8/13 - Thou shall not train on Thursday... Amen!
Friday 8/14 - I needed to get to work early. I also needed to get 8 miles in at my goal marathon pace. Since I don't run at the park in the dark, I opted for the short track at Bally's at 5am. Yes, 8 miles. That meant 120 laps around that 1/15th-mile track. Brutal but effective!
Saturday 8/15 - On the schedule for the day: 17 miles. The most I have ever run, and two more than the last time I said that (two weeks ago). This time I was running solo. While I was hoping a running partner might show up, I knew the odds were slim, and I was dreading the run. Not only was this going to be my first long run in a long time without a partner to chat the monotony away, but it was going to be a hot one.
For my 17 miles, I planned to run a half mile and then three 5.5-mile loops. And that I did. Each time I approached my SUV, I crossed my fingers, hoping to be surprised by a familiar face, ready to join me for a loop. But that never happened. No worries, though - I needed this test of will. Not only was I running a crazy distance, but the temp was climbing from the upper 60s at the onset of the run to the upper 80s at the close of it. I powered through 15 miles, and once I realized that with each step I was going one step further than ever before, I got to 17 with no problem.
And with a couple hundred yards to go, Lori was there with the kids to surprise me. It about brought me to tears (and it's not even race day). The reasons why I run, there, like an oasis, at the end of my 17-miler. As I got my "Go, Daddy, Go!" from Em and gave her a high-five, I headed to the finish line, where I gave my Carlos Zambrano sign of the cross and point to the sky in thanks for getting me there. 39 miles complete this week and a photo op with my angels at the end. Awesome!Sunday 8/16 - A cross-train day. Yeah, I've got to be honest, I didn't do much here except take the kids for a walk at the mall.
Monday 8/17 - Shorter runs increase to 5 miles this week. I ran 5 at the gym, again arriving a bit late, which forced me to cut my strength workout short.
Tuesday 8/18 - Ugh, up 'til 2am again last night. No morning run. I put in 8 again at the lake in the evening, except this time I started about 20 minutes later than last week. That meant that my final mile was past sundown. It was like I was the windshield of a car driving through an Iowa corn field in July. The bugs were out, EVERYWHERE, and it was disgusting, but I got my 8-miler in.
Wednesday 8/19 - Not a chance I'm getting up early. I ran 5 miles at night, again, outside and got in a short strength workout.
Thursday 8/20 - Thou shall not train on Thursdays. Gladly! But does an evening of yard work and mulching count as rest? If not, then I broke the commandment.
Friday 8/21 - Ah, my little one's second birthday! I had 8 miles scheduled. The short track was not an option this week. You see, I had off from work to celebrate. So I got to sleep in an extra half hour and run leisurely at the lake - two 4-mile loops. My reward for finishing? Cutting the grass and getting the yard and house ready for two birthday gatherings this weekend: one with friends, and one with family. It's safe to say that I'm just burning through calories these days.
Saturday 8/22 - 18 miles this week. It would be another solo effort, but this long run has a bit of a different story from last week. It starts with the weather. It was only in the upper 50s when I started and didn't make it to the 70s by the time I finished. (Yes, this is August in St. Louis). The program stated that if you felt good during the run, you could push it towards the end and run a 3/1 (the first 75% q slow/easy pace and the last 25% you can step it up a notch). As I was running, I felt as if I was getting stronger, which was not what I expected after an exhausting Friday and brutal training week. I ran the first 7 miles at about a 9:30 pace. Then I ran the next 6.5 miles at about a 9:15 pace. Once I hit that 75% mark, I hit a button and decided to test my body a bit. I cruised the final 4.5 miles running at about an 8:44 clip. And I felt GREAT! That run was the single biggest confidence booster for the marathon I have experienced thus far. Finishing isn't a question anymore. And for me that's huge. I still have two 20-mile training runs ahead of me, but this past week (running 44 miles) will end up being my biggest mileage week of the program. It's all downhill from here. Who'd have thought I'd run 83 miles in a 13 day span? Definitely not me. Crazy!
Sunday 8/23 - Another cross-train day, but I'll be honest again, I didn't do much here again. This might be a mistake on my part, but I'll say that I'm listening to my body. I was pretty sore after 18 miles the day before and pushing it towards the end of that run. And well, it was party time for the little one with the family. Good food, beer, family, and an evening fantasy football draft took precedent. I think I earned it.
Well, this coming week is a taper week... "just" 36 miles.
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