20 miles. Woot.

I am absofreakinloutely over the moon even though I am a bit achy. I managed 20 miles yesterday at the good ol' Manasquan Reservoir trail. I felt strong (enough) through this whole run. I only walked when it made sense: drinking, downing GU, a few steps right after stopping to stretch and when I approached and exited the porta john. (darn I wish I had my pStyle)I only briefly thought about ditching at mile 15- you can't blame me- this is a 5 mile loop course and approaching the car made it so tempting. I already had that temptation blocked since I told my husband he needed to make sure I did not quit even if it meant walking the entire final loop. He ran 6 miles with me and biked 23. He was my hydration source and my emotional support each time he intersected me on this course.

The 5 mile loop. (marked with 6 as this was taken from my husband's Runkeeper app and he doubled back at 5.5 to get his mileage in.)

At mile 16 I had to keep reminding myself that it is normal to feel weak and bored and... done. I kept promising myself opportunities to walk, but walking wasn't going to make me finish this 20 miles any faster and I didn't need to walk. If I was in pain or if I felt any of that wackiness I felt during my second marathon, I sure as shit would have walked. But I'm so glad that I could struggle through the last few miles while running.

2.5 miles to go. Yes. I can handle this.

Even after 20 miles I cannot say anything bad about this course. It is serene and beautiful. Places like this make me ever more grateful that I am a runner. I would never take the time (hours!) to enjoy such beautiful surroundings if I did not assign myself to training for a marathon.

Next week we run the Jersey Shore Relay Marathon and we damn well better take the costume category win home with us. I won't reveal our costumes yet, but I will say they involve a lot of tulle, bouquets, stockings, bow ties, and wigs. My sons will be simultaneously amused and mortified (ahhh... teenagers...) to be on this team. Coincidentally, this relay falls on my one year wedding anniversary. The very best anniversary gift that I could possibly be blessed with will happen on this day: my sons, husband and I will each run a portion of this 26.2 mile relay. The thought of this makes me forget that I lack anything in life at all. I know it sounds silly to many, but I'm sure that the mother runners out there get it. Passing on a love for running to your children is so exciting. Combine this with the fact that for the longest time, my husband has been a passionate supporter and spectator of every race I've run since we've been together, and now, he is running with me. Life is grand. I hope that my kids learn that the true "stuff" of life that makes living so wonderful has nothing to do with (material) stuff at all. It's people, experiences, joyous moments, memories.

New Jersey Marathon Training on Resurrection Sunday

It's been a looooong time since I posted anything about training. I don't use Runkeeper or any other programs like that regularly and when I do, I keep all the info private. I do not post eversinglefreakin workout on facebook. But I am honestly truly really training for the New Jersey Marathon. It's 28 days away.

I whittled my Philadelphia Marathon weight gain off. I'm sure some people know EXACTLY how easy it is to gain weight during marathon training and some think that the mere idea of weight gain while running so many miles is absurd. Remember that a pound is 3500 calories. Someone of my height and weight (5'3" and 128 lbs) burns about 100 calories per mile. So at 26.2 miles I don't even burn off a whole pound. As a parent of three kids who has a full time job and an active exciting ahemm... marriage not to mention this awesome blog with awesome things to give away and share, I will unabashedly do whatever I need to do post killer training run to make myself functional/comfortable again. I do not count calories when I'm severely fatigued. I don't allow training to become an excuse to submit to my every craving, but stuff I would normally never touch on a normal day is free game after a long run: chocolate milk, fried food, white carbs, sugar sugar sugar.

Today I ran fifteen miles at Manasquan Reservoir. It's a scenic five mile loop with enough hills to make you feel like you're working, but not so many hills that you feel defeated by them.

My husband ran the first loop with me and rode sixteen miles afterward.

He wore his Underdog tshirt. Oh the irony.

I'm not sure if I'm supposed to reveal this, but my husband is training for his first half marathon. The mere thought of this feels like Christmas morning to me. I wonder if anyone reading can relate. Seeing him persevere through varied weather and terrain is incredible. I am awestruck and overjoyed. I don't have any other words for it right now.

Back to my training- it's been good. Better than Philadelphia training, but not as spot-on as Lake Placid training. This is my second fifteen mile run and I have to say I felt strong through this one. It was a negative split. My pace was fairly consistent. I only walked for 35 seconds.

I am still beside myself over the fact that I sweat so much. I mean, it's to the point that it's disturbing. Today it was 60 degrees and windy. I was actually cold depending on where I was on that trail. Yet I still came away from that run with an abnormal amount of dried sweat on my face and neck and hair. Good thing this wasn't a first date.

If I lick this off of myself, will it prevent sodium depletion?

I like that I'm getting stronger about this endurance thing. That right now, fifteen miles seems totally manageable. Maybe by this time next year I'll feel the same way about 26.2 miles and I can stop shuddering at the idea of running an ultra.


I will be posting another giveaway AND something amazingly incredibly undoubtedly awesome this week. But right now, I need to babble about training. How is your training going?