20 Miles - February 4th

Third and final 18+ mile run is done. Woohoo! I was exhausted on Sunday. We had D-Now with church all weekend so we were up late on friday and saturday night, I didn't eat my normal pre long run meal, etc. I normally stop at the water fountains and keep running, but I incorporated more walking into this long run. I think it was for the best because my knee didn't hurt nearly as much, and it extended the time I was out there which I think was for the best endurance wise. It was a beautiful day to run, and I would love it if the marathon weather could be just as nice. I'm proud of myself for completing my long runs no matter what the weather. I've run in rain, heat, wind, cold and mist. It gave me the chance to experiment with my apparel too which is good.

This week I'm focusing on strength training and getting in some shorter runs. Hopefully I can get in a few swims too. Yay for the taper. :)

19 Miles - January 27th

Yes! I know I can run the marathon now. I now have two out of three of my 18 + long runs down...I don't really want to run another long run but almost every marathon training site has said that 3 runs of that length are needed to prepare you for the marathon. My knee is definitely improving...it hurt the last few miles, but it was much improved over my 9 mile run the previous week.

The weather was actually really crazy during this run. It started out much warmer than I like, so after my first loop around the lake I put my long sleeve top in my car....of course I make it to the other side of the lake and it starts to get really chilly...then, the clouds roll in and I get rained on. I make it out of the rain, and finish my run. By the time I get home it is FREEZING. It was strange!

9 Miles - January 21st

This was my first "long run" since I hurt myself. I was pleasantly surprised that my physical therapy seemed to be working, as there was no immediate sharp pain while running. It did start to hurt towards the end, so I decided to stop my run at 9 miles rather than continuing on. It's hard to determine the right balance of pushing myself and allowing myself to heal. I came home and wrapped ice around my knee immediately. I think this really helped keep the inflammation at bay.