The final push

2

October 1, 2012 by Amy B

The marathon is a week away.

I’ve always liked that final week, despite taper madness and all of the exhaustion that comes with a summer full of training. Since I haven’t put in nearly the mileage I should have at this point, I’m not going mad from tapering. In fact, this might be the ONLY week of the schedule where I’ll actually put in all of the mileage, and maybe more, depending how I’m feeling.

Saturday was eight miles. Since it’s cooled off considerably, I don’t have to get up at the crack of whatever to get on the road for these, which is nice. Sunshine can be an instant mood enhancer.

My splits weren’t too bad. I had set a goal to run no slower than an 11:30 pace. That’s actually going to be a really good pace for me if I can keep it up for the duration on Sunday.

Basically, I want to be able to hang around an 11:00 min/mile pace for at least half of the race. If I can keep it up for 16-18, it will be even better. I know I’ll definitely slow down for that last chunk, because that’s when stuff starts to hurt. I also haven’t been eating GUs much on runs, because they upset my stomach. I know I need some sort of food, though. Not sure what I’ll do at this point.

This will give me plenty to fret over this week.

So this morning I had 3 miles on the docket.

I’ve been wearing a headlamp on my morning runs when I have to leave the house before 7am. It’s still pretty dark in town, and part of my route goes down a road that isn’t lit. The sidewalk on the main drag is also really awful and uneven, so it helps to be able to see where you’re going.

The first 0.4 miles is always slower; I’m getting the kinks out and it’s slightly uphill. I really wasn’t in the mood to run this morning but knew I wouldn’t be able to tonight due to a church thing. So I went. And I was doing great until I completely bit it at about 0.25 miles.

There was a break in the sidewalk that I caught just right. I fell on my right knee and caught the rest of the fall with my hands, mostly  my right. Scraped my elbow, too. Ripped holes through my gloves and miraculously, NOT through my favorite running capris. However, my knee was shredded, with a nice chunk of skin hanging off (it actually makes me queasy thinking about it).

I got up and thought about just going back home. My hip, elbow, and knee hurt. My knee was starting to bleed pretty badly. I walked around a little and remembered I had a bandaid on my finger; I’d sliced it on Saturday while putting a dresser together. I took the bandaid off my finger, placed it on my knee, and decided to keep going.

Yeah, I’m kind of surprised at myself, too.

While I hadn’t planned on setting a PR, I kind of did. Funny how running works that way sometimes.

When I initially left the house, I only wanted to keep up with a 10:00 min/mile pace. After I fell, I was already behind by about 30 seconds and really wanted to make it up. I guess I did. Eat my dust, virtual runner.

He looks so tired!

So the day is starting to look up. Also: my sister in law is most likely going to be induced at the hospital, making me an aunt for the first time. So excited!