Marathon Training Monday - Week 14 (3 weeks out!)

The best part about this past week being over? It's time to TAPER!!!! The leg pain that popped up last week continued to haunt me this week to the point that I had doubts the 20-miler on Saturday would happen. Alas, it did and relatively pain-free...not to mention, I shaved 15 minutes off of last year's time!

Monday: 50 min gym cross-training (cardio + core)
Tuesday: 1 hour, 30 min run (9.7 miles)
Wednesday: 45 minute water run
Thursday: 1 hour vinyasa class
Friday: OFF
Saturday: 20.25 miles! / 3 hour run
Sunday: OFF

TOTAL MILEAGE: 30 miles

From last Friday's run in Pittsburgh, my back-of-knee discomfort continued and was joined by inner calf pain. (YAY!) For that reason, I decided to run Tuesday's 9-10 miles by myself so I'd have the option of stopping at any point, should the discomfort escalate. I ended up making it all the way through with only some mild discomfort and tightness. Total time: 1:23:38; average pace: 8:40; fastest mile: 8:07; slowest mile: 8:57.

I had a pool buddy for this week's water run on Wednesday! Last minute, I talked Garland into coming. It was so, so nice to have someone to talk to and laugh with, instead of being alone with my thoughts and the lifeguard's football podcasts (UGH). We did a few intervals but it was mostly a casual water run...and towards the end I slowed down, when my back-of-knee started to ache again. Argh. I thought the water would help, but the running movement seems to be the agitator rather than the impact.

All day Thursday and Friday included a lot of self-doctoring: calf massages, icing, anti-inflammatories, "stick"-ing, stretching, compression sleeves, Icy Hot...

I went to Rise & Shine vinyasa again on Thursday; there were 4 people instead of the usual 1-2, which was a good different. Also, I think I have been persuaded to by a month package since I'll probably be going once (maybe twice) a week until the marathon and definitely more afterwards. 

Oh Saturday...First of all, Friday was fun but totally unlike how my real pre-race evening will be. On the final long run, it's nice to treat it as a "dress rehearsal" for the big day. My evening before included a watching my sister play in a high school field hockey game in town (she's a senior and it was her 3rd to last game!). Then we all---parents, 2 sisters and Garland---went to a River City Diner for dinner. While everyone else had milkshakes, burgers, pancakes, etc., I tried to play it safe with a blackened catfish sandwich and green beans. Plus, a few sips of milkshake here and a couple of fries there....it happened!

But Saturday's run was beautiful. (That image at the top? That's from when we crossed over the Huguenot Bridge around mile 11.) It was challenging and joyous and motivating and most importantly: FUN! Yes, I was exhausted at the end...I liken it to feeling like you're made of rubber bands, leg muscles burning then reacting with each extension. I kept it relatively "slow" in the beginning; and halfway through, I started to increase my pace for a negative split. It was definitely too fast for a few miles so that I wasn't able to maintain it all the way to the finish; but it's been noted and filed into the "remember on race day" folder!

[about half of our SEAL Team PT marathon group, post 20-miler]

ALSO! I ran on 100% homemade nutrition bites! I'll share the recipe once I've made it once more. It's basically: dried figs, honey, crispy rice cereal, flour, cocoa powder, almond butter and salt. Overall, I feel ready for race day and fairly confident I can reach my goal of under 4 hours BUTTTTT as I've said before, I'll just be lucky to make it to race day and cross the finish no matter what. Total time: 3:02:35; average pace: 9:01; fastest mile: 8:31; slowest mile: 9:33.

[A day of many 20s...]

And then I tried an ice bath for the first time. Seven minutes in the tub with 20 pounds of ice was more mentally difficult than the whole 20 miles I ran. Seriously. Then I stuffed my face with pancakes, bacon, eggs, potatoes and mimosas at Joe's Inn before granting myself with an hour nap---I set my alarm this time to avoid repeating the "where did 2 1/2 hours of my weekend go?!" travesty. 

I finally saw Gone Girl; then Garland and I tried a new restaurant, The Betty on Davis for dinner. My order? Their burger special: A double burger with caramelized onion-apple-pancetta jam and provolone. YESSSS. I can't wait to order three of them after the marathon.

(Kidding. Kinda.)

I waddled my way to a place on the river rocks on Sunday afternoon for some reading and sun in the 70 degree fall(!) weather. Then I waddled myself to the grocery store and spent a few hours standing in the kitchen, meal prepping for the week. And this morning, I finally feel like I'm back to my Valerie strut. Uhuhhhhh.

This week I'm looking forward to bumping up my yoga and water running to 2x if my calves allow it. Also, I want to be diligent about stretching, rolling and core exercises. Eating healthy should be relatively good this week, with some treats here and there (in the form of chocolate and wine).