Sixty.
That’s how many miles I ran last week! Whhaaaa?!?!
I’ve never run that many miles in a week before and I’m actually slightly shocked I pulled it off.
Tuesday’s nine miles were extremely solid. I wasn’t expecting that. My legs were still exhausted from the week before’s training, but somehow this run really came together nicely for a sub-goal-marathon pace run. Wednesday was a huge struggle though. I didn’t have anything to give and it felt really pathetic to have to stop a few times to catch my breath. I didn’t let it get to me too much though, my overall pace was still about where it should have been. By Thursday, I wanted nothing more than my bed; I could barely even make it up the stairs to change after work. The first half of that nine-miler was pretty blah, but something really clicked for the last three miles and I started to feel great. All of a sudden, I felt strong and fast. It was a huge pick-me-up after expecting an awful run.
On Saturday, I decided to head into NYC to hang out with my friend Zoey for a bit. We went to Dutch Boy Burger in Brooklyn and I got the jalapeno burger with smoked gouda from the specials and we split an order of chili cheese fries. It was very delicious. Then, somehow, we convinced ourselves that we needed Chipotle two hours later and gorged on that. I was solidly disgusted with myself after all that! Seriously, who eats a burger, chili cheese friends, and Chipotle in the span of two hours?! This girl, that’s who!
I finally made it out to the Delaware and Raritan Canal towpath for my long run on Sunday. My first ever 21 mile training run. The weather was nice, sunny and in the 50s. Unfortunately, the run wasn’t all that great. My pace was a little slower than I was shooting for—I was hoping for 8:15ish, but reality was 8:39. I just wasn’t quite feeling it. Plus, there were two jackasses on bikes who were completely annoying. Somehow they kept getting behind me and when they’d come up to pass, they’d pass as closely as possibly and not say anything to indicate they were coming up on me. At one point, one of the kids came within inches of running me over and slammed his brakes just behind my heels. I had four or five encounters with them and it put me in a really bad mood.
Despite the fact that Wednesday’s and Sunday’s runs weren’t as good as I would have liked, I’m not down about it. I know my overall training is at least close to where I need it.
With last week done, there’s just one more week of training before a glorious two-week stay in Taper Town, USA. This week is a repeat of last week’s. 60 miles with a 21-mile long run. I can do this. I think.