Training stress, house stress, so much stress!!

Apparently I didn't take any pictures this week. Well, at least no pics from my runs! Lots of pics from the new house. Some I'm not too happy about but I don't want to talk about it.

I should've learned my lesson by now - if you have the time to run, go run! I didn't run on Monday in Detroit because it was hot and I was exhausted. Ended up skipping my 5 mile run on Tuesday as well because I was even MORE exhausted. Even though I stayed in ACY Monday night after my trip, I was still just beat all day Tuesday, especially after starting to move our stuff over to the house in earnest.

Wednesday was better - 3 solid, fast miles, even though it was late in the day and super hot out. Rest day Thursday, and a pulled back long run of 7 miles this week. How funny that 7 miles feels like a short run now!! It was a nice day - a little bit lower humidity and a breeze. A breeze!

This week is another build up week. 3 miles each on Monday and Wednesday, up to 6 miles on Tuesday and 12 on Friday. TWELVE. *DIES*

I'm actually not sore today - but of course getting 3 miles in tomorrow would be difficult because I'm laying over in Oakland. Maybe the hotel gym isn't terrible. No matter what I'll be running on the treadmill in ORD - luckily I do really like the hotel gym there so slogging out 6 miles wouldn't be terrible. Just have to schedule it with something on TV. But I have no idea how to get 3 miles in on Tuesday because I work all day and then drive home. But I'd rather miss that 3 mile run than miss the 6 miler, and honestly I'll just go for a slow 3 miles (or walk it) on my rest day.

Trying to train while moving into the house has been so hard. Luckily I have David yelling at me to go run.

I'm trying to decide if I want to do my 12 miler (once again, eek!) on Thursday or Friday this week - may not have a choice if work calls me out when I'm on reserve. We'll see. Hopefully heading to Tampa on Thursday so maybe I'll knock out those 12 miles down there on the Trail.

Starting to see why half marathons are so popular - I feel like I could have already solidly trained for a half marathon, and I'm not even halfway through marathon training. I'm not fatigued all the time but my legs are always tired. On the upside I've managed to not injure myself so far (knock on wood!), which is a miracle in itself!! Marathon training is definitely not for the faint of heart, it takes a lot of planning and dedication. Hopefully I'm up to the task.

#AirForceMarathon

90 days and counting!!

I can't believe that I'll be running a marathon in 3 months. Training has been going really well. The long runs have mostly sucked but I haven't been terribly sore, much less running injured. I'm not excellent at getting all my mid-week runs in, mostly because all these back to back days are hard for me! But I'm making up the miles one way or another.

Landis Run - a stream near my house and a favorite part of my runs.

I was so upset about not journaling before my first half, so I'm trying to avoid that mistake this time. Instead of trying to write after every run, I'm going to focus on writing on my weekend rest days, when I'm super restless and just want to go run! So here's the recap of last week:

Week four was awful: my trip had 3 short Boston layover in a row, and I missed two of my midweek runs. However, my 9 mile long run went pretty well later that week!! Hopefully there won't be many weeks like that going forward.

Monday/Tuesday runs went well - 3 and 5 miles respectively. It's been super hot and humid at home, so even on the 5 milers I'm bringing my 20 ounce Nathan belt and nearly finishing it.

I've also been using the Powerade concentrate. I really want to find a natural alternative, but the Nuun tables fizz too much. I even set one out the night before and STILL had issues with my bottle trying to explode the next morning. At least the Powerade isn't bothering my stomach. I'm also learning that I just can't tolerate a lot of food close to my morning runs; at most I can eat half an english muffin with a tablespoon of almond butter and even that gives me some minor GI discomfort. Another reason I prefer afternoon runs - I've had plenty of time to digest whatever I've eaten that day!

This is my "holy crap guys, it's hot out" face

I ended up skipping Wednesday's 3 mile run to use it as a rest day so that I could do my long run a day early. I had an early show in ACY Friday morning and I knew by the time we got to MYR I wouldn't be in the mood or awake enough to pull off 10 miles. Additionally it was about 1,000 degrees in Myrtle Beach this weekend!!

I'm not sure how I managed to get out of bed Thursday morning so my long run, but it had a lot to do with the fact that my husband is amazing. Even at 6am he manages to convince me to get out of bed and go run! And he's right, once I get my shoes on and get out the door I feel so much better. I was dreading this run - even for my 1/2s I never managed more than a 9 mile training run for one reason or another. It was pretty brutal - I'm not sure if it was the heat, or fueling issues or just being tired from a busy week but I'm glad I did it! The honey stinger gels are working out really well, however about 7.5 miles in, I was starving. So maybe I need to carry something solid like fig newtons. Still managed to keep a decent pace, too. If I can keep up this 12:10-12:20 training pace then I should have no problem finishing in under 5:30!

It was very exciting to reach the Hunsicker Road covered bridge - it's several miles from our house and I have always hoped I'd reach it on a run!!

Covered bridge!! From my 10 miler.

Today I'm in Detroit on the last day of a 4 day. I've been kind of inexplicably exhausted this trip - spent most of my long MYR layover lounging around and napping, recovering from Thursday's miles and the 2:30am wakeup call. Then a super-late night getting out to LAX - although I did manage 3 nice miles yesterday on the Long Beach bike path to make up for last week's skipped miles.

I can't not go out and run when I'm on a L.A. layover. 

Today calls for 3 miles but I'm just not feeling it - I didn't get much sleep again last night. Tonight we should land before 11pm (if LGA cooperates) but as David won't be getting home until tomorrow morning, I got a hotel room in ACY tonight. That was I won't be totally wrecked tomorrow. Scheduled for 5, but I think I'll bump it up to 6 and then bump Wednesday's 3 miles to 4 or 5; that'll make up the miles! Friday's long run is 7 miles - thank God for Hal Higdon and his drawback weeks!! They give me courage for the next two!