Week #9. It means I’m halfway there with this marathon training. I’m not going to lie: I don’t feel ready. I don’t feel like I’m running enough to do this thing. I’m also sick of running all the time (even though I’m not running as much as I should be.) Gah.

Anyway, here’s how week #9 broke down:

Monday: rest

I ran 28.1k the day before. I was surprised I could even move.

Tuesday: rest

This was not the plan, but it was one of my very favourite colleagues last day on the team. (She’s still in the building, she’s just on a different project now.) You know what that means: DRINKING. And drinking means no running. I probably could have run in the morning, but why?

Wednesday: 7.2k, Hot Hour @ Kula

Three days later, and I was still feeling sore from the 28k epic run of epicness. So I thought I should get a little yoga in, and ran there to get some kilometres on the DailyMile chart. As much as running is pissing me off right now, I still hate the sight of empty days in that chart.

Thursday: 6.2k

This run took me almost an hour to do! Insane, right? I should be cracking out 6k runs in 40 minutes or less in my sleep. It was insanely slippery out and I had a hard time getting a solid footing. I was also exhausted. Why? It was my first morning run in one hundred years! (Okay, of 2012. But still. That’s a long time.)

Friday: 10.8k

I needed to pick up tickets to a Spice Girls tribute band (I am not kidding), so I ran the 5.4km to the store that sold them and back again. This worked out well, because I was seriously contemplating not running. But do you know what I hate more than running? Besides morning runs and blank DailyMile charts, of course! Paying for transit! (I am so grumpy today! I will try to be better the rest of the week. I promise.

Saturday: 7.6k

Saturday was our monthly pubruns meet-up. It was windy and cold so only 3 other brave souls made it out. We did a pretty loop through Taylor Creek Park — I’d never made it that far east on the Don Valley Trail before — before heading to Sarah’s Cafe for a well-deserved brunch.

Sunday: 25.1k

Another epic long run. I had planned for 30k, but wasn’t feeling fresh at all. Unlike last Sunday, where I felt strong until about the 20k mark, this entire run was a struggle. I took inspiration from pubruns the day before, and ran the entire Don Valley Trail to Victoria Park, looped down to the Beach and headed home. It was beautiful. And painful. I couldn’t move for the rest of the day.

 

I really wanted to do one 30k run before Around the Bay, but that’s probably not going to happen. It’s taper time. I don’t want to taper too much and ruin and training base for the Goodlife Marathon, but want my legs to feel fresh enough that I can power through 30k at under 4 hours. Which, as you know based on my long run past paces, will be a challenge.