Week 12 is in the books! Just a few weeks left until the big day!
MON: Rest
TUES: 3 Miles
WED: Rest
THURS: Cora’s Birthday! No running happened… Cupcakes did! 🙂
FRI: 6 Miles
SAT: Rest
SUN: 20 Miles
This week was definitely a confidence booster headed into Marine Corps Marathon. I ran my very first twenty miler. For me, getting over the mental hurdle of running twenty miles was HUGE.
Hurdle #1: Getting out the door. The support from my running buddies really helped get me to BELIEVE in that I could complete this run! Thank you to Marlesa, Christine, Lara, and Jolene for your votes of confidence. It helped more than you could know! Jolene mentioned breaking up the run into smaller runs. Small achievable distances for this run = 4 x 5 Miles. That is exactly what helped get me through. I focused on each 5 mile run as if it was it’s own separate run. Guess what? It worked.
5 Mile #1 = 50:46
5 Mile #2 = 51:33 Lots of Hills
5 Mile #3 = 53:05 More Hills (1,300+ ft of gain with the majority between 8-13)
5 Mile #4 = 50:06
Hurdle #2: Actually running the miles. I am so thankful to Jake for supporting me in my goal of running my first marathon. Yesterday, I texted him with about 6 miles left, I knew I was going to have to make a final pass by the house in order to make it to 20 miles. Not the best idea. I see the house, I want to stop. So, he convinced Cora to ride in her BOB stroller and meet us for the last few miles. I was never so happy to see those two! Yes, I felt good up until that point, but it was the longest distance I have ever run so my legs were tired and my core was on fire. Having them there along side me allowed me to finish with a smile on my face.
Had to stop for a picture at Mile 19. Still smiling is a good sign!
DONE! And, obsessed with my Tough Chik arm warmers!
And, in good news, this morning, I can walk up and down stairs 🙂
How did your week in training go? How do you convince yourself to get through your long runs?
Lisa
Congrats! 20 miles really is such a mental hurdle, but once you do it it's like, "wow, I can do this!" Great job!
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I know! I didn't realize how much better I would feel about the marathon once I finished the 20 miler! Glad you had a successful run too!
my long run this week was great! I went into it with a different mentality and pacing strategy than I had been before (thanks to a Runner's World article). And it worked! I didn't worry about hitting my anticipated race pace and instead focused on running a little slower and steadier. I then rewarded myself with fro-yo.
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Good for you! This training cycle I finally learned to make my easy runs easy and boy is it helping! I've raced a couple different distances over the past month and have PRed by a serious amount at each one. I think this is because I was running way to fast all the time. Figuring out this whole running thing is tough!
Way to go!
I had kind of a blah week, but I did run 11 miles on Friday. Which was a huge first for me. It was so incredibly hard, but I was so happy I did it!
Way to go! It always is tough when you are in the middle of it but I love the way I feel when it is all said and done! What do you have on deck for next week?
Lisa, you did AMAZING on your 20-miler! I agree with Jolene, that breaking up a long workout into chunks makes it so much easier mentally. I'm impressed by all the hilly miles you ran during this workout too. Congrats!
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Thanks!!! I think I am still paying for the hilly route. Hopefully it will all help when it comes down to the big day though!
Super job! I love the way you broke it into 5mile increments!! You inspire me to break my mental barrier with longer distances!
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It made it so much easier to handle to break it down into smaller distance runs! These longer distances are no joke but I think that you could tackle it with no problem! You are such a strong runner and you always put in the hard work!
Lisa, You are doing fabulous with your training. It is hard getting into the 20 something mile runs for training. I remember having several before the Goofy Challenge that were not stellar, but somehow, everything will come together on race day. You will blaze through the MCM!
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I am just happy that it went well. I plan to replicate everything that worked for my next twenty miler. I really hope to feel as good as I did on Sunday at MCM. There were no wardrobe malfunctions, no tummy issues, and it went as well as I could have hoped!
Now, Goofy is a whole other can of worms! I still don't know how you two are training for Dopey! You guys are amazing!
Great job! I ran a half marathon on Sunday, so took a rest yesterday and am back at it for my next one in November.
Congrats on the strong work!
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Thank you! Hope your half went well! I will have to stop over and see if you posted about it on your blog. I'm so behind on blog reading these days 😉
Great job! Uggh, my training didn't go as planned. Supposed to do 18, ended up with 16 because of a horrible calf issue that caused me to pretty much shuffle the last 3 miles. Definitely a downer and I hope I can redeem myself this weekend and pull 18-20 off. May need to slow down my pace considerably. It was also the first long run I've ever done ALONE. I had some great music and friends texting me motivational pics, that's how I got through mine 🙂
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Ugh is right! I saw that you didn't have a great run. Here's to hoping that next week is much better! I definitely love when people text me along the way. I save it for a tough mile, then pull out my phone to get me going again!
Thanks for the shout out 😉 So proud of you and KNOW you can do it!! You're inspiring me!
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Yayyyy 20 miles! Thats it made it to taper, yes? Congratulations!
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YAY! It's getting so soon! 🙂 I can't wait, Lisa and I am SO SO happy to have you as a wonderful friend and training buddy through this!
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