Weekend Update

After registering for the Marathon on Friday I was feeling all motivated and confident and was planning a 13 mile long run for the weekend. I really wanted to get in the 13 miler since I am only 2 weeks out from a half marathon, my longest run so far this year has been 10 miles, I was hoping to be more prepared than I was for my half last October, and I don't want to run too long the weekend before (I know that my body likes to be good & rested before a race).

Saturday was to be beautiful weather - in the 70's with a little sun and little wind. Sunday was suppose to be rainy with highs in the 40's. Can you guess which day I planned for my long run?

Saturday came along and I had a good few hours while I was waiting for my cat at the groomers (yes, I get my cat groomed). I got dressed, grabbed my water bottle, headphones, visor, and phone (for the groomer call), and cat. The groomer isn't far away, but I figured it would be a different starting point anyway. I dropped her off and realized that I had forgotten my Garmin! So, I drove back to the house and got the Garmin and headed out from home...leaving my visor and headphones in the car!! Seriously, how forgetful can I be? Well, I was already going so I just hoped it wouldn't be too sunny and tried to get a good running song in my head.

About a mile into my run (while singing "Up on the rooftop, reindeer paws (or is that pause?) Out jumps good ole Santa Claus" WHERE DID THAT SONG COME FROM??) I realized I was having trouble. Often it is a little difficult getting started, but by this point I should be getting into a groove. But...not so much. I felt like I was pushing really hard and was having a little trouble keeping it around 11:00 miles. My legs just felt like they had lead weights strapped on them. I pushed through a while longer and ended up cutting my long run a little short...yeah by about 10 miles!! When I got home I was beat and I had only made it 3.12 miles! Plus my knee felt like I had twisted it a little.

Hmmm, maybe I will try again on Sunday...

Sunday morning I did some shopping with the family while there seemed to be a constant COLD drizzle. I really wanted to get in some more miles, so when we got home I got into my running clothes. I put on a long sleeve top and my tights (they are pretty thin) and a jacket for the rain. I pulled on gloves and a winter hat to keep my head dry. Off I went...and it had stopped raining! Amazingly, it did not rain one drop while I was out for my run! Of course, that meant that I was way overdressed. I took a trail that I haven't been on in a while (since last year) and about a 1.5 miles from home I stopped to strip down. I took off the jacket and tied it around my waist, the gloves hung nicely from the jacket, but what to do with the hat? I was on a wooded bridge, and I decided to just tuck it between two slats of the railing until I come back through.

I was feeling good - but was afraid to go too far from home (in case it started downpouring). So, at mile 3 I turned around and headed back. As I passed over the bridge on my way back through I looked for my hat and it was nowhere to be seen! Who would take a hat they found alongside a trail? Oh well, I guess they needed it more than me (and it was seriously just a cheap couple dollar hat anyway). During mile 5 I realized I was going to cut the run at the 6 mile mark (I was thinking of adding some more mileage on when I got close to home) since my knee was starting to bother me...so I picked up the speed for the last mile...9:11 pace!! I ended up finishing the 6 mile run in almost exactly an hour - pretty cool.

Last night, my knee was killing me. I took the day off today (unplanned) and have taken some Advil which has worked wonders.