Monday, 11/2:
10-mile run
Man, this run felt great.
SuperAthlete J threw down a bit of a gauntlet for me during our 14-miler the preceding Friday: in my quest to keep my heart rate in the fat-burning zone, I've been taking walk breaks on the hilly sections of our route. SAJ, on the other hand, has been powering up at a steady jog. When I congratulated her at the top of a hill last week, she said that she's been reminding herself of the stamina she's building during our interval runs. If she can sustain those high heart rates during intervals, she said, she can do the same on a long run. Then she slyly encouraged me to try getting up the hills without a walk break at least once before the marathon -- so I'd know I could get through the big hill toward the end of the course.
That's exactly the kind of challenge I can't resist. So, when we came to the base of the first big hill, I tucked my chin down, stopped talking and committed to jogging up the entire thing. It was actually easier than I thought it would be -- and the same thing could be said for the run overall. I stopped looking at my heart rate and just enjoyed the motion, confident that I wouldn't run out of steam during a 10-miler. I felt light and strong right through to the end, which was totally heavenly. Ahh.
Tuesday, 11/3:
Full-body weights
45 minutes on the elliptical trainer in zone 1 (125 bpm or so)
Nothing to report here -- just a regular old workout.
Wednesday, 11/4:
Rest
I felt a bit guilty about taking this as a rest day but with the big 20 miles looming on Thursday, I wanted to be as prepared as possible. (Unlike SAJ, who ran intervals 12 hours before we started our 20 -- isn't she badass?) Besides, one of my books -- the terribly disorganized, not exceptionally well written and sometimes contradictory "Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer" -- recommends sandwiching the long runs between two rest days. Is it self-serving that I'm taking that advice from a book that I don't necessarily embrace on other levels? Probably. And I haven't followed their formula across the board -- only during weeks where the training schedule calls for an increase in distance, and only for the last couple of those (18 and 20 miles).
Wow, look at how I'm rationalizing taking a rest day before the longest run of my life! Clearly I've got some issues to work out ...
(But I will say the rest was quite lovely and came at the perfect time, when I had a lot of other things to do and wasn't feeling my best, with a weird gurgling stomach, abdominal cramps and fatigue most of the day.)
Thursday, 11/5:
20-mile run
I already posted about this so no need to repeat myself. But I will say that, in hindsight, I feel even better about completing the distance because what I thought was run-related nausea and dizziness I now suspect was the first stage of a bug that eventually flowered into the cold I have now. Could this be the same illness I felt like I was fighting during the entire preceding week? If so, I think I'd rather just catch the damn bug and get over it, instead of feeling it hover for 10 days before finally taking shape. Good gravy.
Anyway. What gives me the suspicion is that sweet A, my oldest daughter, had a bug that followed the same pattern just a couple days after my stomach distress. We've also been hearing many stories at school about illnesses that sounded quite similar.
Was I actually sick, or was I dizzy and queasy because of the run? I don't know -- and probably won't until marathon day, when the same symptoms may or may not present themselves. I can say that I've never experienced anything similar to the way I felt during the last 5 miles of the 20-miler ... even while running the 16 and the 18. So that does make me think that I had something else going on.
Since I'm hugely terrified of feeling nauseous at the marathon finish while surrounded by billions of people with no quick-and-easy escape route, I am banking on the hope that my symptoms were related to illness and not overexertion. Please keep your fingers crossed for me.
Friday, 11/6:
Rest
The other side of the "rest sandwich" -- and again, perfect timing, since I spent most of the day en route to my annual "girlie weekend" on Lopez Island. I woke up feeling positive that I had some kind of big respiratory illness on the way: sore throat, heavy chest, body aches, etc. In my mind, I made lots of backup plans involving an early departure from girlie weekend because I couldn't help but worry I'd caught swine flu from Sister M. I felt progressively worse as the day went on, but not so terrible that I needed to go home, so I decided to play it by ear.
Saturday, 11/7:
7-mile run
Woke up feeling much improved and antsy for some exercise. The weather didn't look like it would cooperate (although I planned to run regardless) -- it was full-out raining and gusty outside. Then, just when it was time to suit up and head out, the clouds blew away and the sun appeared. How heavenly!
I think I'll remember this run for a long time. I was scheduled for a 5-miler but honestly felt so great and light on my feet that I didn't want to stop. Even the hills -- of which there were many, but none too steep -- felt easy. I got to the top of them without even really registering that I was running uphill. The day was beautiful, the scenery was gorgeous, I got to say hello to my friends (who were out walking) several times as I ran back and forth ... it really couldn't have been better. It was a potent and wonderful reminder of the joy of running -- and a feeling I haven't gotten to experience lately, while I've been pushing myself so hard to run ever-increasing distances.
The best moment? Getting to the top of a hill and having the following thought suddenly appear in my head: "I am in the best shape of my life." It made me almost giddy with happiness. (And it's true.) No matter what happens on marathon day, I do believe that was a pinnacle life moment for me.
Sunday, 11/8:
Rest
Uh oh. I was supposed to do full-body weights and intervals when I got back home from girlie weekend ... instead, I lounged around, enjoyed my family, took care of Sweet A (who had gotten sick the night before and spent the day on the couch) and nursed my own "I'm coming down with something" feelings. After Saturday's wonderful recovery and dream-come-true run, I woke up again on Sunday morning feeling like I was fighting something off.
I don't know if this is good or bad, but I felt a lot less guilty than I usually do about missing a workout. That's huge, considering I took a total of three rest days during the week. Then again, I also felt sick for a good chunk of it and ran the longest distance I'd ever managed. I've got to find that line between not beating myself when I miss a workout or two, and letting myself get away with skipping out on more workouts than I should. So far, it's proving elusive. I want to be patient with myself without getting lazy. Is that possible?
I also want to stop whining about feeling sick, being sick, or teetering on the verge of sickness. I am going to be well and healthy and feel good! As soon as I'm over this cold, that is.
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