Work In Progress

T minus eleven

We're on the downward slide,

the home stretch,

tapering....

Eleven days until marathon day.  We ran our last longish run of 10 miles on Sunday. We ran the last 10 miles of the marathon course and I was able to finish in 1:59:00, just squeaking by in under two hours, or 12 minute mile pace.  If I can keep a 12 minute mile pace, I'll finish in just over five hours.  I'd be over the moon if I could finish in under five hours. 

Well, actually, I'll be over the moon if we finish.  Period.

I have to admit, I'm already getting nervous... getting over there on time, getting a good start, not getting gastrointestinal "issues" that have me frantically looking for a porto-potty (is that TMI, that I'm sharing that?  probably.  sorry.), worrying about twisting an ankle, random equipment failures... the list goes on.  During one training run, my ipod headphones just stopped working.  That will suck on race day.  Oh, and my water pack?  Apparently it doesn't agree with my back, as I've got raw spots (like eight) from where the pack + my shirt + running + sports bra = rubbing the skin off.  Partner thinks he has a moleskin solution for that.  Of course, from experience I know that it doesn't really hurt until you take a shower.

Here is a shot from a couple weeks ago.  We ran a 35 kilometer (21.75 mile) trail race and Rocky snapped a picture of me while I was talking with our ultrarunning friend (that's her ankle in the left part of the frame). 

Yes, I'm smiling.  I blame dehydration and delusional thinking.

Or maybe I was dreaming of wine.

Notice the white stains on my knees?  Yeah, that is dried salt from sweating for 5:39:00.

Don't worry, I think we're slightly insane too.  Oh, and I've already started thinking, "a 50 km (31 mile) wouldn't be all that much harder than a marathon.... " 

Maybe I ought to just focus on getting to the starting line first....

 

Half

So, I was working on a post on the knitting works in progress.  Only problem is that the camera with the last of the photos is apparently traveling with Partner at the moment.

So, I thought I'd give a quick update on our other WIP, the marathon training.  As of Sunday, we've run 176 miles in the past 16 weeks.  Over the next nine weeks, we'll run another 191 miles before the big day.  I can't deny I'm a little disappointed that I'm not at the half way point in miles.  I feel like we really ought to be by now.

Saturday was a big day.  We ran a trail half marathon.  I'd hoped to finish in under three hours.  I'm still nervous about making the six hour cut off for the Nike Women's Marathon and thought that if I could finish a trail marathon with 2,400 feet of elevation gain, I'd feel more confident about finishing a full marathon in under six.

Though I didn't make my goal, I did make nearly all my splits.  I "lost" nearly the entire goal in the third segment of the race that climbs nearly 1,500 in a couple miles.  So, we didn't finish in under three hours, but I still feel good and think we're on the right track.  After all, when we started training 16 weeks ago, two miles three times a week seemed tough.  More importantly, neither of us got hurt, proving that our slow training program is working.

Here we are, crossing the finish: