After 18 miles, total exhaustion

At the beginning of the year, I didn't understand people who told me "I can't train for a marathon, I have kids." What's the big deal? At the worst of it, you're gone for 4 hours on a Saturday morning. With MIT starting so early, you're probably home by the time they wake up.

Then came the first 16-miler. I reeled for a few hours, then crashed. When I woke up, I had some of the worst soreness and exhaustion I had ever experienced. After that run, then my 18, 20, 22 and my race, I was out for the entire weekend. Anything that required the slightest bit of exertion was out of the question.

Parents who train for marathons (or those who have any other obligations on the weekends), how do you do it? Throwing the red ball to my dog takes special effort! Any chore I can't do sitting down can wait!

Yesterday I was scheduled for 16. I, errr, went 18. It was a great run, I felt really strong through the entire thing. Staying on my feet for so long after was probably a bad call. I did some shopping (pair 4 of Mizuno Precisions on their way!). Then I went to the 10TV Health and Fitness expo, which was a huge waste of time.

I had really good splits and my heart rate stayed where it needed to be:

My average pace was 10:20, average HR was 155. Splits:
Mile 1: 10:53, 171 bpm (doubt this is right, monitor was acting up)
Mile 2: 10:26, 164 bpm
Mile 3: 10:27, 152 bpm
Mile 4: 10:20, 152 bpm
Mile 5: 10:29, 149 bpm
Mile 6: 10:28, 150 bpm
Mile 7: 9:09, 149 bpm
Mile 8: 9:37, 154 bpm (potty break and subsequent catch-up)
Mile 9: 10:20, 149 bpm
Mile 10: 10:27, 150 bpm
Mile 11: 10:33, 149 bpm
Mile 12: 10:12, 153 bpm
Mile 13: 10:25, 153 bpm
Mile 14: 10:18, 152 bpm
Mile 15: 10:18, 155 bpm
Mile 16: 10:26, 158 bpm
Mile 17: 10:30, 162 bpm
Mile 18: 10:37, 159 bpm

Anyway, aside from the laundry that I absolutely need to do, my only mission for the rest of the evening is to find out if Jack Bauer can stop the pandemic virus in time! Netflix, I love you.

Song I'm currently obsessed with:

Yasso, Death Valley, 18 miles, and a very tired me

I won a book and got it autographed.

I've been neglecting my blog all week. I'm not dead. Actually, I'm in pretty good shape and quite healthy. Just been tired. And busy. In a nutshell, if I haven't been passed out exhausted, I've been packing up in hopes of finally leaving my crappy apartment. And, as much as I love MIT, I'm looking forward to finally getting off road at Alum Creek tomorrow.

First things first -- Bart Yasso spoke to MIT last week and he was amazing. He was so remarkable, had so many stories (Bare Buns run, Beth?)

And yea, I thought the Warrior Dash was crazy?  Bush league. He had some hilarious stories from the Badwater Ultramarathon, a 135-mile race through Death Valley.

After we got to run with Bart for a bit, which was just fantastic, though I really didn't get to talk to him, there is photographic evidence of the experience!

I'm the one in the blue jacket waving my arms.

Saturday's run was wonderful, but insane. It was our first 18-mile day. Me and another in our group, Bill, started out behind so we ran sub-9:00 miles to catch up with the rest of the 10:30s. We slowed to regular pace for awhile. Our group shrunk considerably after the halfs turned off, and we were down to 4 by the turnaround. Then someone took a spill, so I ran ahead with Bill from the group. We were definitely headed back fast -- we ended at a sub-10:00 pace. I also tried Gu, it wasn't bad.

Here are the splits: (There are a lot of splits)
8:23, 8:58, 9:32, 10:16, 11:06, 10:08, 10:24, 10:10, 10:12, 10:11, 10:12, 10:12, 9:59, 10:08, 9:43, 9:22, 9:12, 9:56.

That gave me 36 miles for the week, a new record.

I felt great during and after the run. I was feeling good through lunch, through my dentists appointment, through shopping at Easton. Took the dogs for a walk, relaxed and watched a movie, didn't even need my usual nap.

And Sunday morning... crash. Seriously, I woke up way late in immense pain. Everything hurt. And I was so tired. I remember lying on my couch, and the alarm went off to switch laundry, and it took a good half hour to get my lazy butt up to do it. Monday wasn't any better, getting out of bed to go to work was rough. I eeked out 3 miles on the treadmill at a 12:00 pace. I woke up Tuesday with random cramps in my legs. I took the day off. Wednesday I went 6 on the bike trail, felt good during and immediately after but the soreness came back. I felt good doing three with Lizzie the dog yesterday, but my knees were hurting after. Today I'm feeling better. I haven't done any lifting or spinning this week, and I only did one yoga class.

I'm giving up on New Rules of Lifting for Women until after my marathon, it's a good program but it's just too cumbersome right now. A friend in my pace group recomended a body weight routine I'm going to try (thanks Kim).

Thankfully, it's a taper week, so I just have 10 tomorrow, and I'll end at 22 for the week (as opposed to last week's 36).

Instead of going to MIT, I'm doing the Conquer the Creek Trail Run at Alum Creek tomorrow morning. I'm really excited, though I've been neglecting my hill training (another thing that's probably going to take a backseat until marathon day). I think it will be good for my legs to get off the pavement too. Tonight I'm headed over to the Banyan Leaf Spa at Cherry Valley Lodge for a massage, a Groupon deal. That will help too.

The race is 6.5 miles, so I'm meeting up with a friend I met at the Granville Winter Run for a 3.5 mile warm up. I've never been to Alum Creek before, should be fun.

Next week the long run is 18 again, then the week after is 10. I'm finally transitioning onto the proper training program!

I'm hoping to move very soon, my apartment is way too much for me. I've been sorting through everything I own and getting rid of a lot of stuff, trying to simplify. I want to stay with my landlord, plus I'm still under a lease, so I'm hanging tight until he has something else open up. I feel so unsettled right now, hopefully that will change soon! 

Cleveland Marathon... 57 days!