Marathon Training Week 15

Hi! Sorry, way late again.

That's life.

Monday - Cross Training Rest Day

Nailed it.

Tuesday - 5 miles

I actually felt decent for a change. Some of the hills felt a little less steep, and I added an extra mile on because I was feeling good. Still slower than I want to be, but I'll take any good runs that come my way.

Post-run popsicles are the way to go.

6.01 miles @10:05 pace

Wednesday - 10 miles

This run was terrible. Just completely awful. I struggled my way through it, but I have nothing nice to say about this run.

10.02 miles @ 12:19 pace

Thursday - 5 miles

I made no notes about this run, but the fact that I got back out the door after Wednesday's run is a success in my book.

5.07 miles @ 9:41

Friday - Rest Day

Saturday - 10 miles

I took an extra rest day because I decided to run a half on Sunday.

Sunday - 20 miles

I ran the Dutchess County Classic half marathon. The race was only about 20 minutes from the house so I didn't have to wake up insanely early (always a win in my book). The race is pretty small, so packet pickup was a breeze, and everything was really well organized.

When we were lined up at the start, the race director announced that Katherine Switzer was running the race with us! Apparently she doesn't live too far away from here. She is gearing up to run Boston next year and is apparently just getting back to road races after a break.

I actually ran near her for a while at the beginning of the race, and at mile 3 she suddenly appeared next to me and said "Only 10 miles left!" We talked a bit about the weather (it was really humid out) and I said I wished it would rain, she said she wished it would pour.

I was having random aches and pains for the first few miles and was cursing the weather. I decided to just enjoy the race (it was actually really flat for this area!) and think about how cool it was that I was running a race with Katherine Switzer!

The rain came around mile 10, which I was really excited about. It definitely gave me a little pep in my step and helped me finish decently strong.

It wasn't one of my better times, but I did end up 5th in my age group, and got a medal for it, which was pretty cool.

I planned on running the half and then adding another 7 on after, but that didn't end up happening. I ran an extra mile or so (the finish line is almost a mile from the start) and decided that was enough for the day.

I don't feel too bad for cutting my run short, I finished 2 solid 20 milers this training cycle, so it probably won't hurt me in the long run.

13.1 miles @ 9:34 pace, 1.12 miles @ 10:21 pace

Weekly Mileage - 35.32