4 weeks until the marathon!

I'm training for a MARATHON?! Did you forget? Because I almost did...well, until I had to run 18, 19, and 20 miles in each of the past three weeks. That jogged my mind (pun intended) a bit.

So I thought I owed you a little updated on my training for the New York City marathon. Like I said, I have done my three longest runs the past few weeks so I thought I'd give you the low-down on these ridiculously long runs :)

The 18 Miler
Our coach basically told us that in order to feel comfortable about the marathon, we should try to do 3 runs of MORE than 17 miles including a "good" 20-miler. I'll tell you what that means in a minute, but this 18 mile run was the first of my three. Now, I'm used to doing long runs with fellow Team In Training folks, but since I was home two weeks ago, I didn't have much choice but to do it alone.

As you might imagine, it takes a lot of water and food (well, goo, to be exact) to run for 3+ hour straight. So, the night before my run, my Dad and I went out in the car and placed water bottles every 4 miles along my route. I decided on an out-and-back from our house in Perrysburg to the Toledo Zoo, so I hid water in the bushes at 2, 4, 6 and 8 miles (which became 4, 8, 12, and 16 with the out and back) along the route so that I could pick one up every 40 minutes during my run and carry it with me. I also carried three PowerGels with me. They're these yummy (sarcastic) little packets of vanilla-flavored goo that give you cabs for your run.

So the run was really good, actually. It was a beautiful day and the weather was cool, the route tree-lined and my attitude surprisingly good. Unfortunately, my IT band in my left knee and my right hip both started hurting at about 12 miles. I slowed down a bit, though and was able to make it home in time for church. I got a lot of confidence from this run because I realized I could run through pain even by myself!

The 19 Miler
So last week I had to run 19 miles after I came back from my trip home. I wanted to do the run on Sunday (I got back Saturday night), but I didn't have the aforementioned goos and so I decided to wait until Monday and bought the requisite goo on Sunday.

I planned for this run to be a little more exciting than an out and back just to keep it interesting. So, what I ended up doing was running a 6-mile loop of Central Park and then I left the park and ran to first avenue which actually put me at about Mile 16 of the New York City Marathon course. I ran the last 10 miles of the marathon course which was REALLY cool except for the fact that, unlike marathon day, I had to navigate vehicular and pedestrian traffic all the way when I was outside the park. Nonetheless, it was really cool to run into the Bronx and all the way down 5th Avenue just like I will on race day. My knee was acting up again and I felt worse at the end of this than I did yesterday (but again, I'll get to that). I was in a lot of pain all over by the end of this run. I think I was also just sick of running alone!

THE 20 Miler!
WHICH brings us to yesterday's mammoth 20-mile run. Team In Training has a tradition of doing the 20 miler at a magical place called "The Trails." The trails is a long running path between two creeks in New Jersey. It is completely flat, gravel (which is much more gentle on your legs than the pavement of the city) and surrounded by some really pretty scenery (I know, you're surprised that it's in New Jersey!).

We had to rent a car to drive to the trails, which was an adventure of itself. Basically I ended up renting a car and driving 4 other people out there. I had to pick the car up after work on Friday and find a place to park it overnight. Then when we got to the car at 6:45 on Saturday morning there was INEXPLICABLY a bunch of fish guts smeared all over the back window and the top of the trunk of the car. I have no idea how it got there, but it was absolutely disgusting...that's New York for you.

We arrived at the trails at about 8am and began our run at 8:30 or so. I was worried all along about my knee acting up, especially since this route, too, is an out and back. That means that I could get up to 10 miles from the car and if something goes wrong, I'm in trouble!

Well, this run went by really fast I have to say. The entire way out there, I kept up with a few people who were going a little faster than I typically go (I usually do 10 minute miles, they were doing 9:30 or so). At about mile 8 I took a spill and actually heard a crack in my right ankle. I kept running and luckily it didn't get any worse. It's a little swollen and sore now, but somehow I managed to run another 12 miles on it so I can't complain.

At the 10-mile mark where we turned around, I decided to let my companions go ahead of me and slowed down to give my increasingly painful knee and possible hurt ankle a little break. I think that favoring my right ankle was exacerbating the problem in my left knee. I was a mess!

So I did almost the entire 10-mile return trip by myself on some really aching joints! I slowed down quite a bit for a couple of miles and then stopped for some water at about mile 12. Now, there's something you should know about IT band issues (the problem in my left knee). Once your IT band starts hurting while running, stopping for any length of time seems to just make it worse, so I had to make it snappy when I stopped for water, lest my knee get worse. At mile 6, I stopped to have my second goo of the run. I stopped for probably 30 seconds but when I tried to start running again, it was absolutely excruciating! I could barely walk let alone run after I had just been running 30 seconds earlier! It was insane. However I am so proud to say that I did NOT give up. I started running REALLY slowly and somehow within a couple of miles I was feeling almost no pain. It was probably the single best display of willpower I have displayed in all the time I have been doing distance running.

In fact, by about mile 17 I was actually speeding up my pace because I was feeling better and just wanted the run to be over with. It was amazing. By the time I got back I felt probably 80% physically and about 150% psychologically! I am SO confident that I can finish that marathon, even if I have to endure some pain to do it. Oh and that's what I meant when I said a "good" 20 mile run. Our coach says that if we have a 20 mile run where we finish feeling confident about the marathon, we should not do another long run until the race. However, if we finished feeling like crap, we have to do it again next week. I'm SO GLAD I finished feeling good!

Next weekend, I'm going to Orlando with some friends and we're going to run a 10K race on Sunday (a walk in the park!). I can't wait!

Thanks for reading this far! Time for bed!!