A 15 miler

Yesterday I ran 15 miles, which is the farthest I've ever run. I did it without my running group, as the person I usually do long runs with had a race. Basically I ran the 7 mile loop around my neighborhood twice, then threw in an extra mile at the end for good measure. I felt really, really good. I stayed on top of my hydration, taking a salt pill every hour, along with water. I ate a Gu every hour as well, though I think I'm going to push that back to every 45 minutes because I felt myself starting to droop before the hour was up. I ran it at a comfortable 11:08 pace, which is acutally pretty fast for me at that distance. I think I need to stay off the scale until after the marathon. The weight fluctuations are scary. I can lose 3lbs during a long run, and wake up the next day 2lbs heavier than my original weight. And waking up heavier freaks me out, so then I don't want to eat the calories that I need to fuel my runs. Nasty cycle. Time to just let it go and focus on my training and eating as healthy as possible.

T-minus 75 days...

So I am just about halfway through marathon training. Last weekend I ran a whopping 14 miles. It really wasn't too bad, and I think that if this heat and humidity would let up, it would be even easier. I am running an easy 10 this weekend, and have a half marathon scheduled next weekend. My Monday tempo runs are up to 7 miles now, and my tempo pace is supposed to be a 10:15 or better. I've really, really struggled with this, as it is a hilly 7 mile course where I live and the heat has been brutal. Yesterday I ran it at a 10:01 pace, so I am definitely improving. I'm going to run a marathon in less that 75 days. No, really. I am!