23.5 Miles!

I have to first start off by saying that I now realize that if you think it, "murphy's law"has a way of twisting it around~ In my last post, I foolishly mentioned that I'd get to sleep in a bit, PSHAW! No sleeping in, since I barely slept! So today's training started out a little rough for me. It was something like 47 degrees this morning so it was pretty damn cold to start with! I was VERY reluctant to let go of of my steamy cup of Starbucks! I literally labored through the first 5 1/2 miles and I was trying desperately to convince myself that since I've managed to make it through all of the previous training, today is no different! Things finally warmed up and I realized that each week, a different part of my body protests my apparent desire to crush it's very being! Two weeks ago it was the hamstrings, last week it was the shin, today it was my calves.....I beg of you body...give it a rest! But really, the body has been painful but relatively kind during my pursuit. At some point along the way, my other training partners and I got into a discussion about perception versus deception. I've come to the conclusion that our perception is brutal and the deception of our coaches and training staff, even more so! ;) Perhaps it's merely dog tiredness or paranoia but we felt certain that "water stops" had been moved much further apart! And when they said that we had a mile or so to go, it was really much more like 5 or so!Don't get me wrong our mentors etc. are simply awesome and we wouldn't be at this point without them, I just think that they find it necessary to massage the truth at times! Course I feel pretty certain that I wouldn't want to tell me how much longer it would be either! ;) Could be trouble! We ended up completing 23 1/2 miles today, wahoo! After getting home and going through the usual ice-bath routine, I'm feeling a little stiff but hey, I'm alive! Can't beat it!

It's Friday! One more weekend closer to the BIG day! I get to sleep in at least a little bit tomorrow since I don't have to leave until about 5:30am, I'll take it over the 4am job any day of the week! We're set to do another 22 miles tomorrow morning, I can hardly wait.....oh geez who am I kidding? I'm just thankful to make it through each day let alone the ones with so many miles! And who the heck signed me up for this anyway?? Oh yeah....mental note, "you did this to yourself!!" I'm off to get my gear ready and my food planned out. That's the major bonus of this deal....you always have to be planning enough food to sustain your energy....no brainer here since I pretty much live to eat :)))

The streets of San Francisco! By some small miracle I've managed to survive one more weekend of training! Got an early start and left the house at 4:30am to meet other members of our team to carpool. It rained the entire way into the city and we figured it wouldn't be much better at our destination. It was in fact raining pretty steadily and I think we all started to second guess our desire to do 20 miles! Cold, rain, and we're out in it....sounds fun doesn't it? As luck would have it it cleared up a bit and while we did get rained on a fair amount, it wasn't miserable. Before heading out, the coaches explained what we could expect.....I think we would all agree that perhaps they had left out a few key points out!

I know I mentioned hills in last week's post and have since come to the conclusion that I had mistaken what a hill truly looks like! The worst of the route came about quickly when we headed up hill and past the Cliff House and through some sort of dirt trail with dozens of stairs.....they definitely left that out of the spiel we'd had to start with! Lots and lots of VERY steep inclines~ it took 2 hours to complete 6 miles!

But really, if you're going to be subjected to torture, it should at least be in a beautiful environment. We had gorgeous views of the Golden Gate bridge, the beach with crashing waves, and some spectacular homes! Miles 7 through 11 were fairly uneventful but equally beautiful as we wound our way through Golden Gate park. Ahhh but there's always something....at mile 12 we came upon the lovely Lake Merced and were told that it's an easy 4 miles around the lake. There comes a point where you start to feel a certain desperation and you wonder if you'll actually ever make it back to your car! Trust me......we all felt it....Lake Merced looked as though it were another 20 miles! But by about mile 16 I got my second wind and felt pretty good. That was before I realized that there had been a slight "mis-calculation" and that the 4 miles back to the car was actually 6!! Now you may think....what's an extra 2 miles? I can tell you that the difference between 18 miles from last week and 22 this week was measurable!!

Alas.....I made it and felt much better than last week! It seems that I have a shin splint but aside from that...life is good! The picture on this page is of my walk partners and I AFTER we had completed the big 22, looking pretty good if I do say so myself!

We're schedule to do another 22 miles next weekend in Moraga.....got it licked! ;)

These shoes were made for walking! Me and my trusty shoes will be hitting the streets of San Francisco tomorrow morning for a nice 20 mile stroll ;) I have to get up at 4am so I'm headed for a night of rest and strength building. I'll check back in tomorrow after I've completed my little trek!

Yep, this is me......looking all happy and fresh! I'm gonna go ahead and tell you that this pic was taken prior to my day of torture last Saturday ;) ya think?

And why did I sign up for this??? So...I've been training for this marathon since July I think and I'm really thinking that I'm out of mind! What? Do I want total pain and suffering? In just 5 short weeks I'll be hitting the streets of San Francisco to complete my first marathon. Thought it might be fun to share in my training and how it's going. Okay, okay it's really more like something to make me laugh at myself while allowing all of you to share in my pain!

Last week.....oh the glory! I did 16 miles in like 3 hours and really it wasn't that tough! I was indeed a bit sore for a day or so but nothing I couldn't manage. Perhaps it was the fact that the trail was wonderfully flat?

TODAY was a WAY different story! It started out so well when I jumped out of bed and ran out of the house at 5:30 this morning ready to enjoy a morning of great training and inspiration! So maybe you don't quite believe that but that was my original plan! Didn't quite turn out that way ;) Hit the streets on a new course covering 18 miles which wouldn't be that bad except for the damn hills that kept coming and going, and then there were more! The first 9 miles went by pretty well, it only took me about 1hr 45 min.......and then it went down hill fast! And I don't mean that I was actually getting to enjoy the downhill part...oh no...those damn hills! At mile 10 or 11 I was pretty sure that my hamstring was ready to snap....not good! So I dutifully continued, taking short rests for stretching....trust me, it didn't help!

The great thing about Team-in-Training is that they have wonderful coaching and most important.....they feed you along the way!! One of the water/food stops was a 1/4 mile up a VERY steep hill....not my favorite at this point because now I swear that my hips are going out, I'm limping along at a disgraceful pace. I was VERY close to simply calling someone to rescue me from my self-prescribed misery...but No! I bravely continued on....in agony! LOL...actually one of the coaches walked with me that last few miles and I'm sure that she was waiting for me to just fall over!

I was so glad to be done!! But then....there was the 1 hour drive home :(.....so when I arrived at home....it was all I could do to get out of the damn car! And to make matters worse....I discovered that my driveway is like Mt. Everest....I kid you not! After an ice-bath, epsom salt, and some Motrin....it looks like I'll survive. Not sure if I'll be able to walk for a few days but at least I know I'm killing myself for a good cause!

I need your support and donations for the Leukemia & Lymphoma society so if you have a kind bone in your body....get out the check book and help out ;)

Tune in next week for my 20 mile adventure! I'm really, really hoping that it'll be a bit less painful!