Strong finish

Wow, this has been a GREAT! week. I feel like I am back to a strong, working body. I ended 20 miles last weekend and this weekend. I was disappointed that I read my watch wrong and only had like 19.25 miles rather than 20 miles last weekend so I felt obligated to get a full 20 in this week.

I struggled finding someone to run with me so I was a little concerned that I couldn't really do it all by myself. I started by going to Ellsworth and back. I was visualizing the "big hill" at the beginning of Quad Cities and knew I had to do some hill work so I thought a big run with a hill at the beginning and then a few along the way would be a good practice for that. The hill didn't seem to big on that run. I know it's all a mental game we play on ourselves. Again, Bill ran the last 12 miles with me. It's nice to be able to talk to him and spend some time together. I think he is getting excited about how much he can really run.

Friday night I sat at my computer at 10:30 at night still contemplating the marathon. I finally bit the bullet and and pushed "register". I am ready; I am strong; I am a marathoner! This race has been calling me for quite some time now. I have really been intrigued by it and am excited to run it. I thought about signing up both Bill and I for the 1/2 marathon because I really think he can do it and would like the thrill of a race. Maybe next year we can do that or we can find one later this fall even. After Grandma's I seemed to recover much more quickly than last time so I am hoping the same will be true this time.

Last Monday and also this morning I got a 5 mile run completed. So, I technically had a 50-mile week if you calculate Sunday to Sunday. It feels great to be able to say that! If I had completed all my runs for the week however, it would have been more like 68 miles, but I'll take a 50 miler. That would be like running to Des Moines from home. Wow.

Some commentary on my shoes... I have run 675 miles so far this year, all in the same shoes. I really need to get new shoes. Running this past week, my ankle has started to hurt from it rubbing on the top of the shoe. I think the cushioning is just out of it. The problem: I am running a marathon in 2 weeks. How can I possibly think getting a new pair of shoes right now is a good thing? Darn it. Another variable: I'm thinking of getting a different brand of shoes that will probably throw things off as well. ergh, what to do.

Weekly training mileage: 30 miles