That last few weeks have been rough. Painful even. I was sick for several days, and missed the 12 mile run, and a few shorter runs. And then we were supposed to do a 14 mile run last weekend, but I was already signed up for the Crim (a 10 mile run) in Flint, MI, so I only did 10 miles that weekend instead of 14. So, when I got to this weekend and we were supposed to finish a 16 mile run I was pretty unsure as to whether I could complete it.
I ran with Trevor out in Lansing, MI. This is the 1st time I have actually run with him, even though we have been following the same training plan since April, and we are going to do the marathon together. We live about an hour apart, and it is just not realistic to meet for runs.
I was very nervous about the run; to the point that I was almost in tears when we started. (Of course, I hid that from Trevor, and Mom and Jacque, who were following on bikes behind us.) However, the run went very well considering my poor training the past few weeks. The weather could not have been better. It was cool out, almost on the verge of rain, and cloudy. We only really stopped a few times, to have two restrooms stops, and to fill up our water bottles at a drinking fountain. We ran from Jacque’s house in Lansing to East Lansing, and up to Sparty near the football stadium. We were going to go up and touch Sparty, but there was a wedding party taking pictures there, and well, we thought it would be rude to have two sweaty people in the background of their pictures. We were just trying to be nice.
At about mile 11, my thighs started tightening up and feeling stiff. My longest run before this was 11 miles, so my body was wondering what the heck I was doing. The soreness stayed for the next 5 miles. I was on autopilot for the last two miles, just running behind Trevor, trying to keep up. Nothing on my body really hurt, but my legs were just sore and tired. Well, I am too tired to write more, so I am off to bed to rest up for next weeks training.
I think I will take several months off from running after the marathon on 10/18th. But until then, happy running!
Jen
Here is a pic after Rachel and I finished the Crim last week.
