22 Mile Long Run + Some Progress

This past Saturday I had my last long run before my 2 week taper leading up to my marathon on the 14^th.  I had 22 miles up on the calendar.  I thought I was ready…but it was rough.  Beyond rough really.  It was not pretty.  It was horrible.  My leg muscles kept seizing up and I had to stop a lot and stretch them out.  My abs and my hip flexors kept cramping up.  My neck and my shoulders and my back were straining and achy.  Even though I applied Body Glide liberally on the under sides of my upper arms, I started chaffing around mile 10.  Somehow, however, that didn’t get worse.  I guess I was “winging” it, if you know what I mean (having my arms more out to the sides like they’re wings). 

About mile 12 I thought about throwing in the towel and just heading home since my route was taking me back by my apartment a mile later, but I decided to tough it out and finish what I had started.  I knew that if I just added my missed miles from Saturday to Sunday that it wouldn’t do me any good toward prepping me for my marathon.  So, I told myself I didn’t have a choice.  I *HAD* to do it.  I completed it in 4 hours and 38 minutes.  Not too shabby.  I figured/guessed it would take between 4:30 and 4:45 to finish and I was dead on.  Add another 4.2 miles to that and I’m within the range of my 5:30 goal for my marathon.  I will just carb load better for my marathon than I did for this run and hopefully I won’t have such a horrible time of it.  I need to look back to the day before I ran my 19.5 mile run and see what I ate because that run went perfectly.

So, this run was my second run with my new Garmin Forerunner 310XT.  I have to say that I am totally in love with this watch.  Totally.  Well, there is one little thing I don’t like.  It doesn’t seem to have a clock mode.  Oh well.  I usually have my phone with me when I run so if I just absolutely have to know the time, I can pull out my phone and check.  No biggie.  It’s quite large and that is taking a little getting used to.  Mostly, I just have to have the strap on snugly, snugger than I’m used to having it, to make sure it doesn’t flop all over the place.  But I really like having the timer, my current pace and my distance so far all displayed and easy to read on the same screen, no toggling between screens.  Oh and the battery life?  Phenomenal!  20 hours!  I won’t even have to charge it weekly.  I can go like a week and a half before it needs to be charged again.  Woohoo!  But, so yea, it’s super easy to upload my data to Garmin Express.  All I have to do is get it within 3 meters (roughly 9 feet) of my computer that has the ANT stick plugged into it and then turn it on and it automatically syncs!  Oh and you know how all Garmins chime every time you hit a mile?  Well, not only does this one chime (and chime loudly I might add), but it also vibrates!  So, if I somehow don’t hear the chime, I feel it and can look at it and see what my time for that mile was!  Love it!

Sunday, on a whim, while getting up and getting ready for work, I decided to step on the scale.  Let me tell you that I was very pleasantly surprised to see that I had lost 3.4 lbs since the last time I stepped on a scale!  So, that’s a total of almost 12 lbs since the beginning of October and without even really trying to lose weight!  I mean, of course, I was HOPING that my efforts to eat within my calorie goal and to eat healthier foods was going to pay off for me, but I wasn’t fully expecting much movement on the scale because I’m still training for a marathon and you eat more when you do that and so it usually translates into weight GAIN not weight LOSS, even if you’re eating healthy and balanced foods and meals.  So, yea, I’m very happy that I’ve lost 3.4 lbs in November!  That means I only have 16 lbs to lose until I hit my goal weight!  And, regardless of whether that Biggest Loser competition my friend is planning on doing happens or not or whether or not I have the $10 free to pay into it or not, I will be doing a 90 day weight loss and general fitness challenge.

I’m going to put together a workout schedule that keeps me running around 25 miles a week plus a couple days at the gym, some workout dvd’s and/or my Zumba Core on the Xbox 360, and some yoga every week.  I know that sounds like a lot and, well, maybe it is.  But, even if I were to work a couple shifts of overtime at work every week (which I am hoping to be able to do), it’s still very doable.  Once I’ve hit my goal weight, I can lighten up a little bit with the workout dvd’s and Zumba Core, but I want to maintain the 25 miles running every week (I really want to keep earning those 100 miles challenge buckles) and the strength training in the gym.

 

The other night I went to Kohl’s to feed my running capri addiction.  Haha.  No…seriously…I might have a problem.  But, anyway, I found this pair of capris that look like crumpled up colored foil wrapping paper!!!  This is sooooo perfect for the marathon.  It goes with the whole birthday theme of it for me!  I still need to go and find party hats so I can affix one to a headband to wear while I run.  I also bought a tank top to wear over my running top that says “BIRTHDAY GIRL” on it.  YAY!  This is going to be so much fun!  I hope.  Haha.  I’m going to see if I can’t find a place to get a decent but cheap massage next week.