Week 7 Marathon training (10 to go)

I am breathing more easily…

Not in the sense that I was physically not feeling well. But rather in the sense that I am emotionally feeling more together. Taking the break from being attached to social media has helped immensely. I put my phone away and only opened the laptop when I wanted to blog or figure out a route to run for this week’s marathon training.

I cried pretty much non stop for a few days and slowly (but surely) the emotional upheaval in my body calmed itself down. One of the most important things I did this week was slowed way the fuck down. I moved slower. I let my thought process be slower. I gave myself permission to think about everything I was doing. I gave myself permission to do the things that gave me comfort even if it meant some thing went undone.

The running this week has also been a tremendous help on my ability to visualize myself cross over the finish line of the marathon in May and be less angsty as my training miles get higher and higher.

I moved a total of 30 miles this week with 25 of those being running miles. I had some great running days. I saw my first 9 min/mile in a long time and was able to conquer a 500 meter hill four times without stopping. I’m spending more time thinking about my form and foot strike and how my body feels much more stronger today than it did just a few short 7 weeks ago. If you saw my last post ( When 14 miles turns into WTF) then you know this week’s run was the toughest so far. The 14 min/mile due to inclement weather and running conditions opened my eyes more than I could imagine. It was by far the worst conditions I have run in and while it wasn’t the full 14 miles I was shooting for it was just what I needed to get my head in the right place to know that I can do this…

My first official “race” of 2012 is happening in 2 weeks. The Moose Run is a free 25k (15.5 miles) run happening over in Cow’s Bay. I got real lucky on this one as it coincides with my long run (16 miles) for that week. I’m also super excited because while I am doing the race as a single runner, Meegan is running this race as a relay team.

Super proud of her.

All in all this week is by far much better than last week. Still feeling emotionally sensitive and tired from last week’s bout of bouncing off the walls (literally and figuratively speaking). I’m looking forward to repeating Friday’s long run as I didn’t get to see much except all the snow that was around me. Mother nature tells me there is more snow coming early this week but by the end of the week I may actually see some warmer temperatures (50’s)…

Yes please

and

Thank you!