Well, another week in the books, and it was a toughie. So tough in fact that I haven't even blogged about it until now. To recap I had a 4-8-4 and 16 miles on Saturday.
Things got off to a good start and I had an easy 4 miles on Monday. When Wednesday rolled around, I was all prepped for my 8 miles (water and knowing the route) so I thought it would be easy. For some reason these Wednesday runs stink. I can't seem to get through them like I can the Saturday run. I finish the run ok, but it takes a toll on my body. My legs felt so fatigued that I decided it would be in my best interest to rest my legs on Thursday.
Last week I had done so well on the 15 miler that with an extra days rest I was confident that my 16 miler would be fine. I got to the rendezvous at 6:00 in the morning to get 6 miles in before I finished with my half marathon buddies who were only running 10 on Saturday. I ran with a few people at 6, but the pace was a little too fast and I could feel my shins really hurting. I was concerned that this could be one of those nightmare runs. I decided to stop to massage and stretch my legs before continuing for about 10 minutes. This seemed to work quite well, and I was able to get a good 5.5 miles in before the official group run.
With only 10.5 to go, I still felt like this was going to be a duplicate of last week, steady and successful. For the most part it was but the last mile and a half was horrifying. My grandmother could have probably passed me I was struggling so much. Thank God I did finally finish, but it wasn't pretty. What scares me is if this was the actual marathon, I would only have another 10 miles to go. OUCH!
Apparently everyone has runs like this, where they aren't good, but you get through them. Hopefully this wont happen on race day.
Next week I have a step back week of 12 miles. I am going to over achieve however and run 13.1 in the Atlanta 13.1 (half-marathon) race in Brookhaven on Sunday. Additionally, I am sure you all getting sick of my constant complaining of my ailments and aches. I have decided to cross train all next week to rest my legs for the upcoming increase in mileage to prepare me for the upcoming marathon.
Sorry for not posting any pictures this week. Leslie will take some next week at the 13.1 race. If you are interested in joining in this madness click here http://www.131marathon.com/13_1_Atlanta.htm
