The Journey Continues...

This is a really hard blog post for me to write. I thought that at this moment, I'd be writing to tell you that I ran 26.2 miles and that it was really hard and I'm really sore, but I accomplished my goal. However, that's not how Saturday went. So here's the real story,

I showed up at the start line *mostly* ready. As any runner will tell you, the start line is a nervous and exciting place. However, I was way more nervous than excited.

I was also thrown off by the weather. It was supposed to thunderstorm and be awful. It ended up not raining at all, but being equally as awful. I think that was the first majorly humid day that Nashville has had this year (at least that I've run in). I also started out the race in an oversized rain jacket that waay over-heated me. 

So anyway, the race started. I was still optimistic, but very nervous. Within the first mile, I knew something was off with my body. I was getting light-headed and dizzy. So I readjusted all my race gear and got rid of the jacket, thinking I was just over heating. 

That helped, but not much. At around miles 4 or 5, I started getting reallly dizzy and light headed again. I went over to the curb because I thought I was going to fall over, but ended up throwing up instead. A cop came over and helped me to the medical tent where they took my temp and blood pressure. The nice medical lady said that everything looked ok, but that I needed to keep drinking the loads of water and she made me promise that I would split off from the marathon and only run the half. 

That was not as devastating as it should have been because I kind of already knew I couldn't do the full that day. I had trouble breathing and the dizzy/light headed stuff never really went away. I did some kind of run/walk thing that I made up where I ran 2 minutes and walked 2 minutes. My husband run/walked the last three miles with me. I finished the half marathon with my second worst time, but I was just happy to be done.

I'll share some more of my thoughts on this later this week, but I'm honestly ok with it right now. (The snot all over my husband's shirt from me crying afterwards would probably say otherwise). It was not my day. I'm still not entirely sure what went wrong, but I know that if I had tried to push and do the full, I would have regretted it.

So anyway, I'm alive! I'm extremely sore! I'm ready for a break from running! But I hope you'll keep reading because I promise to continue running, even if not 26.2 for a while :)

Week 16

Monday: Rest
Tuesday:Nada
Wednesday: 1.5 miles
Thursday: 3 miles
Friday:Rest
Saturday: 10 miles/Personal Training
Sunday: 90 min yoga

This week was great for me! The cutback in mileage felt wonderful! The long run was a little rough because I was dealing with some "dead leg" feeling, but after three miles it was great.

Gorgeous day!

I'm really starting to get excited for this marathon. I've really been dreading it since day 1 and I think that's why I haven't been able to be excited. From what I've heard from people I talk to, I'm right where I need to be as far as training and most everyone has doubts at this point. I know I'm going to have to dig deep, but beyond a physical injury, nothing can stop me from getting to that finish line now. The training is done. The hard work is done. I just need to gear myself for the celebration at the finish line! 

If you haven't already, please go "like" my FB page http://www.facebook.com/rachelrunsmusiccity . That way I can annoy you with more running stuff :)

On a side note: Subway now has Mediterranean flavors (which basically just means feta cheese) and it has made my life better.

Have a good week!

Week 15=PEAK WEEK

Here's my mileage recap:

Monday: 2 miles
Tuesday: 2 miles
Wednesday: 4 miles
Thursday: Rest
Friday: 20 miles
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Rest

For non-runners, peak week is the week in training where you are running the most miles that you are going to during training. It typically includes the longest training run.
This was my peak week. That means that starting next week, I start the "taper". Most runners dread this, but I am more than ready for it. My body and I are tired and we are ready for a little bit less mileage. The goal in the taper is to rest your body enough that come April 25, I will be able to run 26.2 miles. It doesn't mean no running, just less.
Back to peak week, it was still hard. I had to shift my running days to M,T,W instead of T,W,Thur. Somehow that threw me all off. But I was proud of myself for getting all my runs in even if they weren't quite the distance I wanted.

To top it all off, I RAN 20 MILES! I ran the first 20 miles of the race course and it was fantastic. Not going to say it wasn't hard, but it was exactly what I needed. I know I'll regret saying this, but if I can run 20 miles, I can run 26.2.

Here's where the start line will be:

Here's my finish line:

Here's city I ran!

Here's the girl who ran it:

Thoughts going into taper:

• I have done my best. It still has to be proven if my best will be good enough, but I have given the best I can and I have to be happy with that.
• I'm going to attempt to focus on perfecting my nutrition during this time. I'm hoping that will help me come race day.
• I'm going to try to add one yoga day to my week because that will help me relieve the stress of the upcoming race, but also keep me injury-free

I've worked on my mental game a lot this week, and I think I'm getting better at it.
I'm very excited to cut back on miles this next week. I am even more excited to run a marathon in 18 days!