I got there! 22 miles done!

This has been the toughest marathon training season yet, so I'm thrilled to say that I've reached the taper point. I completed my 22-mile run this morning with MIT.

I met early with Team 12, which again put my wakeup in the 4:30 range. I set out with Michele H., Kate, and Ruth, a half marathoner who was joining us. We ran 5.5 miles in one direction, stopped back at OhioHealth to drop Ruth off and be tortured by a bake sale, and then continued 5.5 miles in the other direction. This made it really easy to break the run up mentally, something I've really struggled with at this slower pace.

I'm too exhausted to do a mile-by-mile recap. I was in great company the entire way. I got the usual disheartened feeling at Mile 13 of being completely exhausted but nowhere near done, and the last five were really tough but I powered through. I was bummed that I didn't get to do a journey to The Shoe this year but it was nice to have a change of scenery!

I'm experimenting with a Gluten Free diet for a variety of reasons, which are well thought out and legit. (Plus, like, Miley Cyrus did it and she got so skinny... jk, jk). Kim B. has been so helpful, she's gotten many texts from me while I'm lost in the shelves of Kroger! (Which I've actually found to be the best of our two stores about labeling).

So, that brought about a problem for the run! Before every single long run I've eaten pasta the night before, a bagel with almond butter and preserves the morning of, and a bagel after. And Michele's email said something to the effect of "treat today's run like race day, don't have anything new." Well, unfortunately, there was lots new.

Last night for dinner I did broiled tilapia with a GF sauce and potatoes. This morning I had my almond butter and preserves on a GF english muffin, which wasn't horrible! And since I couldn't have a bagel after, I went for a snickers bar instead! Man it was hard walking past those bagels though! (And a bake sale, for that matter!) I did take 3 Clif Shots during the run which unfortunately might contain gluten, but I've done well otherwise.

Tonight, I have ice cream and wine, two things that are totally acceptable :)

Bring it on, Mr. Pig.

Taper time

PHEW!!!

The worst part of marathon training is officially over! I did my 22-mile run early Thursday and now I'm in taperville.

Overall it's been a very good season. I'm a lot more confident now. There were some bad days, but I knew I could complete every long run, and I did.

It was strange doing my longest run without MIT. I'm going to watch some friends in the Akron Marathon Saturday so I was up at 3:30 a.m. to do my long run. My friend Jamie came along for the first 16, then I was on my own, but she was kind enough to lend me her iPod since mine was dead.


The run went well. We started in downtown Granville with the plan to split it up into four parts, using our cars as a hydration point in between.

This reinforces the best advice I can give for these long hauls: Break the run up mentally. Just worry about getting to the next hydration point. It will make things so much easier!

First we went east from downtown and onto Raccoon Valley road. This part was kind of rough because of the hills. We did six miles out and back. As usual, for the first three I was achy and mentally overwhelmed because of what lay ahead, but Jamie and I talked the whole way and that really helped get my mind off the task at hand. It was really, really dark out and my headlamp did nothing for the fog.

After the first leg we went on the same sidewalk I've gotten to know really well. I was feeling better for the second leg, and felt strong getting back to the car at the halfway point. The third leg was rough, my legs got heavy and I was mentally and physically exhausted.

Jamie had to leave after Mile 16 so I was all by my lonesome. I was able to speed up but those last six were rough. I went down to the bike trail and ended up having to stop twice, but I did it!

I had the goal at the beginning of the week of running 45 miles. That is clearly not going to happen, but I'm happy I was able to get the long run in. I'm proud of myself for listening to my body on Tuesday. I was going to run six, but after about three steps I knew I had to take the day off and rest so I turned back.

22 miles done, and time to taper

Today, I realized that the marathon is totally in the bag.

I had my 22-mile run with MIT. Toward the end, I was hurting, really hurting,  but ultimately I could have kept going for 4.2 more miles. And, coming off nearly 3 weeks of maintenance, I know I'll get it done.

In a backwards way I'm glad it was humid out. This was our first really humid run, so now I'll know I survived it come race day. Heck, we've had every other type of weather.

The run was fun, the coaches took shifts so the 3 of us running 22 had company the whole way. I remember getting a pit in my stomach at mile 8, realizing I was only halfway done. Mile 14-15 took us up and around OSU stadium so we had the fun distraction of watching the pre-game shenanigans. I started to feel really tired around Mile 18, Mile 19 felt like an eternity. After the last water stop we had 1.5 left, and somehow I found the energy to really push it in -- I think my brain and body wanted it to be done with.

22 miles in 3:49, average pace of 10:26. Splits were: 10:52, 10:27, 10:47, 10:37, 10:32, 10:34, 9:03, 10:02, 10:29, 10:19, 10:34, 10:28, 10:32, 11:17, 10:44, 10:29, 10:53, 10:26, 10:42, 10:26, 10:08, 9:15.

That gives me 44 miles for the week, my highest yet.

Maybe I'll update later with some more stats... I'm curious to see what my April total will be.