running out of time

Holy crap, the marathon is one week from today.  I have no idea where the time went, and I can't really believe it's going to happen.

The last couple weeks have been a little rough.  Ever since the 20 mile run 2 weeks ago, my energy level has gone way down.  However, I did complete the 20 mile run!  This is huge as I actually never completed a 20-mile run (without stopping to walk), well, ever.  During the training two years ago, I never made it past 17 miles.  Even during the marathon, I walked/ran the last 8 miles.  It felt good.  Exhausting, of course, but I felt prepared for it.

I did, however, run out of water and stopped in a corner store at the 17.5 mile mark to buy a gatorade.  That whole experience was strange.  I feel completely insane after running anything more than 15 miles.  But, as soon as I had my gatorade, I finished the last 2.5 miles no problem.

The following week, I began to show signs of overtraining - heavy legs, increased perceived exertion, and probably the worst bit was being rather unmotivated to run the longer runs.  Fearing that I may have already peaked, I cut back my running a little bit this week.  I played a few rounds of disc golf in place of one of the runs.

Then, I headed down to Montpelier to run in a 5K on Thursday, which was interesting.  My time was not fantastic - something like 27:30 (8:50ish mile).  I really should be running a 5K closer to 25 minutes, but I suppose that's not what I've been training for.  It was hard to get the right pace, and there were SO many people it was tricky to pass.  The nice thing about the marathon is that there's plenty of time for the crowd to space out.  The first 2 or 3 miles are a bit cramped and chaotic, with slower folks moving way too closer to the start line and faster runners underestimating themselves.

Today I attempted to run 8 miles.  I started too late in the morning, and it got way too hot and humid.  At the moment, it's a cozy 87 degrees.  I made it 6.5 miles before I stopped to walk.  I just felt like I couldn't breathe and I was going to pass out.  I really hope it's not this hot next Sunday.  I don't know what I'll do, besides drink an absurd amount of water.  Right now, wunderground is showing a high of 70 and partly cloudy for marathon day.  I can live with that, but what the hell do they know this far in advance?

At the moment I have to admit that I'm feeling a bit discouraged and anxious about the marathon.  With the fatigue, and the lousy 5K, and today's run, I'm afraid of failure, although I'm not sure exactly what that means apart from a DNF.  I do believe I am stubborn enough to get to that finish line one way or another, even if I'm finishing on my knees.

I have readjusted my goals.  Originally I wanted to finish the marathon in under 4 hours.  With how training has been going, I think that 4:15 (9:44/mile) is more realistic, and still faster than 2009's time.  More than that, I want to run the entire time (apart from slowing/stopping to drink liquids, of course).  That is the main goal.  They do have pace leaders at the marathon.  Last time I couldn't actually FIND them, but I will make more of an effort this time.

Sigh.  I can do this, right?

sticky fingers

Today I completed a 14-mile run, the run yet this year. It went pretty well. My pacing has become a lot more consistent, and I'm right where I'm supposed to be, which is 45-60 seconds over my planned marathon pace.

My feet are killing me. My legs feel a bit stiff, but not too bad. I did devote about 20 minutes to stretching after the run. I probably would have done more, but I really wanted to jump in the shower.

New this year is a bottle belt, which has been great. I remember seeing these on runners now and then, and I always thought they looked kind of silly. But now I'm not sure how I ever ran without them. I filled all four bottles up with gatorade, and then had an additional 12-ounce bottle hidden at the 12 mile mark (also conveniently by my apartment). It seemed to be the perfect amount of liquid for 14 miles.

Speaking of things I used to think were silly, let's talk about gatorade. In 2010, I was convinced that all sports drinks were simply sugary drinks that people consume when they want to feel slightly healthier than they do drinking soda. A bunch of overpriced propaganda for "athletes" to buy into, and defeat the purpose of the exercise in consuming all those calories. I ended up creating my own concoction, with water, juice and honey. It was kind of gross. So, this year, LTB bought a jug of powdered gatorade that he prepares before the run (meanwhile, I make our post-run smoothie.* Making the smoothie before the run and storing it in the fridge is the best idea ever).

It turns out that gatorade during the run is incredibly refreshing, energizing, and completely essential. Electrolytes or whatever, right? Water alone simply does not cut it for runs over an hour. I tried to find a link to verify this fact, but my computer isn't cooperating. So, either trust me or Google it up.

On that note, LTB did pick up some other gatorade products as part of their "G-Series." It was crap and a waste of money. That "pre-game" fuel made me nauseous and I felt weighed down for the first couple miles. No more of that, just plain old gatorade, even though it does make my fingers and face terribly sticky by the end of the run.

Did I seriously run 14 miles? It's kind of unbelievable. I felt tired towards the end, but I felt like I had my head in the right place, always remembering to only count the miles I'd finished, not how many I have left. Somehow, thinking, "woah, I already ran 5 miles! That wasn't so bad," is much much more comforting than thinking, "I have 9 miles left. Not even half way there." The latter line of thinking needs to be avoided as much as possible, for sure.

*Ingredients for my amazing smoothies: I've tried changing it up, but it doesn't get better than this: frozen strawberries, bananas, spoonful of peanut butter, couple spoonfuls of Cabot greek vanilla yogurt, almond milk, and whatever juice we have on hand -- usually grapefruit or orange.