Lots to talk about-3 weeks left!

It had been several weeks since my last post. I have been crazy busy. Between my training, the kids schedules, our trip to California and Ethan getting horribly ill, writing in my blog got placed on the back burner. Fortunately, Ethan is slowly getting better. He had an upper respiratory infection and croup. This comes with fever, vomiting, diarrhea, chills and he just felt terrible. He has had a lot of trouble breathing which is terrifying as a parent. We have been to the doc twice, got antibiotics and steroids which has helped. With all the humidifiers in the house we are all very moist! None of my children have ever been as ill as he has been this past week so it was very stressful.

On a brighter note, trip to California was awesome! Loren and I absolutely love it there. One day we went to the beach and Loren surfed while I took a marvelous rave 8 mile run on the beach, it was heaven! I think the beach is one of my most favorite places to run. We got to hang out with our good friends and had a lot of fun. Our only complaint was that the trip was too short, next time we want to stay a bit longer and see more. It was a nice much needed break for us.

My running has been going great. 2 weeks ago I ran my first 20 miler. It was a challenge. Where do I begin? Running the distances I have been running really is a mind game. You go through lots of doubt and fear when tackling such an overwhelming distance. I decided to break it down into 4 five mile sections. This made it easier for my mind to absorb. I also made sure I ate the right foods and enough of it before, was well rested and was fully stocked with gels to keep me going. I take a gel about every hour or so and drink fully loaded powerade the whole time to keep the calories flowing. I learned from previous long runs that if my sugar calories get too low my legs completely cramp up and I am shut down. So the right fuel is very important. The first 5 miles are tough because you are so overwhelmed by the beginning of such a long run . Then, after you get about halfway at mile 10 you start to feel really good and think, "wow maybe I can really do this!" Then at about mile 17 you hit a bit of a wall. At this time I just pushed through it and promised myself I would not stop. I turned up some upbeat music on my ipod and pushed on. Then at about 19 I got a full adrenaline rush. It was like nothing I have ever felt before. My body was so completely exhausted but at the same time full of adrenaline. It was an experience. When I finished I had completed 21 miles and felt totally exhausted. I was so happy to have finished it and felt such a sense of peace. It took away a lot of my doubts about being able to run the whole thing without walking. I think I can do it now. My average pace was 9.26 min/mile. It took 3 hours and 20 minutes. I am shooting for a sub 4 hour time on race day and its getting pretty close in training.

My day to day runs have been great, the same fun runs in the parks with my kiddos. It has been nice to have some cooler weather lately. Even though I am very use to it, I don't enjoy the heat and humidity.

Yesterday I ran my second 20 miler. It was awesome! Even better than the one before. I learned so much from the first one that it made this one that much easier. It was still very hard and exhausting but I ran it a bit faster this time with a 9.19 min/mile. So that is about right where I need to be to hit 4 hours on marathon day given there is no need to stop for emergency digestive problems! I was very excited to have run that far again. It gave me a great sense of power and strength. This has been such an enlightening experience.

I also decided to run this marathon for a cause and chose the Lance Armstrong Foundation. I am trying to reach a goal of $1000.00. So far I have had a great response. Below you'll find the link to my page if you wish to donate to this amazing cause. LAF does wonderful work supporting cancer survivors and their fight against this horrible disease. This cause is dear to my heart because my mother is a recent cancer survivor. Thank you to all who have donated.

I have 3 weeks left until the big day. My training is going to ramp down slowly as the date draws closer. I will keep you updated on how it is going.

happy running!
Love and hugs,
Amy

Please visit my fundraising page at:

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/amyfrancis