Week 10 - Halfway there!

This week is somewhat of a "mile marker" for my 20 weeks of training leading up to marathon day. I am halfway there!

This week was great! I ran and ran and ran......about 40 miles total this week. The kids and I had some intersting explorations through some of the area parks. We found some VERY long trails and had to find our way back, but went to a great playground somewhere in there. The kids had a ball. As much as I love running solo, I also love including the boys in my run and making it a fun outing for everyone. Ethan started preschool this week and after I dropped him off on the first day, I took Carter with me on a bike ride though a wonderful park here in town. My bike has one of those baby seats on the back. He was a little tired and fell asleep with his head on my back!....poor baby! I felt sorry for him but when he fell asleep we were about 7 miles from the car! So he just slept like that for about 30 minutes. The other days I ran a lot. Friday I took the boys to a park with trails at sunrise and it had rained the night before.....Yes it actually rained.......So the humidity was at 100%. It was pretty hard to run sprints in that weather and we were all soaked with sweat. I don't care too much for the high humidity.

Over the weekend, my long run was amazing. I had more fun than I'd ever had before. I ran 14 miles, the farthest I have ever run. I ran at a 9.5 pace and I felt great. All the variables were working for me this time. My tummy was cooperating, no restroom emergencies this time (whew!). The weather was tolerable, cloudy with a breeze and not too hot early in the morning. I had a great Podcast from "this American life" to listen to and lots of energy. The challenge was great, the wind in my face and the fresh air in my lungs, I loved every mile. When it was over I was tired, very tired and in need of some calories but I was happy to have completed my goal that day. I am really getting this "long run" thing down. It has been a learning experience for me as you already know from reading previous posts. Now I have figured out what my routine is that works best for all aspects; digestion, energy, hydration, my feet, clothes, chaffing prevention, ect ect. I think so far I have worked out the kinks for at least half of the marathon. So we will see how the second half of the training goes. I will keep you posted.

Happy running!