14 days left, LSD 10miles

LSd 10.15miles, 2h40min, 15.3minmile, small hill .

Started at 6 Am, lovely day, breezy, cloudy, little traffic. We went to a part of the area which GB hadnt seen before. Its a gradual uphill for 1-2 miles and from the top most point one can see the valley. Looked more beautiful today because of the early morning sun. Thanks to this running business we have seen the most beautiful parts of our area at the best time of the day.

I felt thruout that we did a lot of effort but the time still came out to be 15minmile. After the gradual incline it was all downhill with some rolling hills inbetween.

Overall good LSD, not very tired at the end, still had enough in us to do another 10 miles.

Came home and DH had been telling a cousin of his about our marathon and the long distances we cover. The response from the other end was'Oh, then she must have lost a lot of weight!!' No , baby, no, no weight loss, nada, zilch, zip. I just thank my stars I didnt gain any- yet!

18 days to go! Reflections.

Walked more than ran, 4.1 miles in 69 min.

Felt really tired after the LSD , stiff, aches and pains. Today realised should have done those recovery sessions because they help recover faster.

Looking forward to the marathon now, each day find something new, but also looking back to see all those things I should have done but didnt. Not because I was hurting, or busy, just plain laziness.

- the recovery walks are important.
- goal had been to do atleast 5 sessions a week; 2 of running, 2 of XT, and a LSD. Most months just managed 4/5 and this last month only 3/5.
- should have increased the distance being covered earlier on- did this in july/august, maybe too late, or maybe we first had to build it up to the shorter distance.
- should have done more hills, some speed sessions, more stretching.
- should have lost some weight instead of only trying to.
- should have....

Lots of shoulds, but note that if we had done all of the above, we would have been perfect, and perfection is boring. OK, I know I will keep all the above in mind the next time, for I am hoping there will be more marathons or atleast half marathons after this. It was a one year goal, there was bound to be some time during which we would let things slide.

And as for weight loss, I think I gave up the day I read somewhere that one does not lose weight during marathon preparation. So maybe that can be the next one year goal with running in the background as the main form of exercise. And a few 5Ks, half marathons, maybe another marathon thrown in for the interest factor!yeah right!!

21 days to M-day, Longest LSD, 23 mile!!

Sweet!!, 23 miles in 6h15min (ofcourse I am taking out all the breaks!).

I had been so nervous of this session, our last longest LSD, after this tapering begins and we had no time to do a >20mile LSD even if we wanted.

Woke up at 3.15Am, started from GB's house at 4.04AM, 60*,slight breeze, thank the administration for the well-lit streets (however, wonder why all the storefronts have to be so brightly lit at 4 in the morning, when they are closed, all that wasted electricity, they can have a couple of lighted signs or so, but it seemed like x'mas in the shopping areas)

The first session was 3h20 min, out of which approx 8 min was a water/bathroom break. So we finished 12.1 miles at a 16minmile pace, which I felt was good. We didnt huff and puff too much, talked a lot, did R2/W2 and were comfortable for the most part. Around mile 6, both of us had some foot soreness, some hip tightness, some back pain, but it was mostly OK. Did our big bad hill at mile 7, another at mile 10.

Reached home,took a break of 17min,I did take a ibuprofen tablet just to prevent the soreness from turning into pain.

Started again, same circle but in the opposite direction, this time slightly slower. Took more effort to keep the same pace, took some water breaks, 4 in total, each lasting 3-5min, went down the big bad hill and that seemed tougher today when we were so tired. At mile 20 the sun was up- 9-10Am, 85*, very warm and now we were drinking the gatorade and water every 10 min. The sun actually slowed us quite a bit because we stopped running after the 20th mile.

Reached home -total session was 7 hours. Sometimes I feel I should include that as total time but we were not moving during that time. I know we will be taking those rest breaks during the actual marathon too - we will Have to because those really rejuvenated us till the next rest break, but I just want to feel good about my pace for today.

Things which helped us:
1. we used gatorade and water every 15-20 min, took 2 luna bars, had a slice of bread with PBJ, so were eating regularly this time instead of every 1 hour.
2. Starting so early so we had 3 hours of no-sun time with temps of 60-70*.
3. Using that Ibuprofen after the first session-I dont know if it is the done thing or not, but I am feeling better after this session than most- maybe it is just psychological.
4. R2/W2, this is just right for us. We will use this for the M-day.

I am sure there are more and I will mention them as I remember.

So good job done. The rest of the 3 miles will be completed with the help of crowd cheer and support.

Tapering officially starts from tomorrow. Recovery r/w.

23 days to M-day

R2/W1 yesterday, R3/W2 today. Todays session seemed slightly better in terms of doing it, even tho the average minmile came out to be the same.

A one minute walking break did not seem adequate, it takes 30 sec for us to catch our breath after running and another 30 to bring up the speed of walking. 2min walk break was good today. I think we will follow the 2R/2W routine during the marathon.( seems rather late in the day to be trying out new walking schedules)

I have developed some left sided hip bone pain. Its not in the hip as such but in the pelvic bone. I think I have had it for a few years but now it is intensified. Does not prevent me from running but hurts when I get up from a chair. Treid icing and using a local gel , hope doesnt affect my borderline times!

And my feet- the bottoms have started hurting- burning pain. I walk like an old, old lady, all stiff and bent and after 2 min it gets better. Ice them, massage and stretches, as long as they do their duty, its oK.

Rest tomorrow, LSd 20-26 miles Sat, depending on available time, mood, determination, motivation, desire, etc, etc , etc.

Countdown begins-25days left!!

Well, I had wanted to do the countdown from 30 days but missed that. Now I am getting into a nervous state of mind- only 25 days for M-day!!

Today walked 4.1m in 66 min-16minmile, but this was interspersed with some intervals of running too.

On marathon day we have to cross the 18.5mile mark by 5 hours, which comes out to be a 16.5minmile, which I think we can do for that distance, but to make up we would have to run the rest of the distance in 11.38minmile. Which we havent done even on our good days, leave alone in the last 6miles of the marathon. So again we are left with the average pacing of 14.5minmile to complete in 6.5hours.

Which might be doable, who knows on that day and time. As per GB the last few miles of the marathon course are downgrading so we might be able to pick up speed at the end. Which I highly doubt as we have not practiced that distance and I know from past experience - the last 2 miles of the half-M - I was dragging myself at 16-17minmile pace, all hot and tired and ready to give up, which I would have, if GB had not been there to buck me up.

And I cant even say the crowd enthusiasm will carry us thru because those 6-7 miles are thru the Lake Merced area which everyone says is the most desolate and has no aid stations.

So now I am stressing about all the details, worrying more-doing less, and it should be the opposite. take one day at a time.

25 days left!!!

Regular run

Was supposed to do a 10 mile LSd today.

GB's back gave out. She is out of the program for a little while her back heals. I was still determined to do my part today. Woke up at 4 AM so could finish by 6.30Am and be at home with the kids when the DH went to work. 4 AM was pretty dark, and there were no sounds of traffic today, so hopped on the t-mill to try and finish off an hour at home and go out at 5 AM when all the runners come out. The plan sounded good.

However, I was getting on the t-mill after 3 months, and I simply did not like it, even tho I had some great programs to watch- like the financial crisis on CNN!! Maybe that was it- I felt so tired and slow, kept telling myself to keep at it till 5 AM, and did too but as 5 AM came by, I was feeling hot and fatigued. So called it a day. Kept telling myself that I would regret it, and maybe in the cold morning daylight I do, after all, I was all dressed up to run and just needed to walk out of the door, but 'didnt feel like it'. Had one of my daughters said it 'I didnt do something 'cos I didnt feel like it' she would have got an earful from me. But who can argue with a middle aged cranky woman - not even me. I guess I was really feeling down,- my poor Dh got a whole big tirade before he left for work - must be wondering if I got off the wrong side of the bed!!

Will try again to do the 10 miles, maybe in the week if have a day off, next weekend is the last scheduled LSD - 22-26miles. I am not sure if GB will be upto it, but I am going to plot the course in the next couple of days and treat it like a dress rehearsal for the real thing.

Setback

I dropped a dime, looked at it and let it go, didn't want to dirty my hands picking things up from the carpet, not a concious decision -maybe was just too lazy to bend....approx 2 hrs later, at exactly the same spot, dropped my cell phone - bent to pick it up and regretted it - felt something in my back, got up, the pain was excruciating, unbearable....

Was at the workplace waiting on somebody to respond to a message, the pain was unbearable, couldn't sit, kept standing, took a pain killer, wrapped up ice in a paper towel and put it on my back inside the jeans...finally decided to go home - took 3 more ibuprofen, put ice packs...didn't help too much....by the evening was slightly better...have taken 2 more pain killers and am lying on the bed with the laptop...

My thoughts as I was driving home...I was a little sad and realised how people feel when they have been preparing hard and cant run the marathon due to some injury...but i overcame that within a couple of mins - ha, wasn't my dream - and i'll have all the fun without putting in all the effort, will go with NB to SF and cheer her on :)

I have had a lower back disc problem since 2 years and doctors have advised against running due to it being high impact..was thinking about this a couple of weeks back about how my back no longer hurt when I climbed hills the way it did earlier - thought that maybe it was getting stronger...but I think I ripped something today - muscle tear or something - I don't know how much time it will take to get better....even if it is a couple of weeks, i'll miss the long run...at this time I am thinking that I will attempt the marathon even if I have to drop out in the middle but i dont know how things will be tomorrow - better or worse...let's see