January 2.

You know what? It's really freakin' cold out there. I must be a very dedicated runner because I was NOT feeling the love today. Today's workout was simple. 5 minute warm-up, then a 35 minute speed workout with one minute speed bursts 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 minutes. It was over really fast. 9:48 average pace, but I had to walk for 30 secs to a minute after the sprints. The sprint pace hit between 7:30 and 8:00, so... lots of work to do. There was one small incident where a man I know pulled alongside me in his truck to chat. It happened at around 29 minutes in, when I was really working hard. Okay, hi! Nice to see you! I'm...ummm... kinda busy? Sheesh.

January 1

I woke with a sense of purpose this morning. Last year I ran a whopping 1,110 miles and I'm absolutely determined to beat that this year. I am currently working with a running coach (she trained me for the Marine Corps Marathon last year). My goals this year are definitely speed related. I'd like to run a sub-2 half marathon and a sub 4:30 full marathon. She sends me my weekly workouts and I do them. Today was a 6.75 mile tempo on the road that goes around the lake in my neighborhood. It's a hilly beast of a road and the fastest I've ever run it is a 9:10 pace. I'd made up my mind to go for a sub-9 pace, though I knew it would be really pushing myself. I TOTALLY DID IT THOUGH! 8:59 pace! Close, but still sub-9. I'll take it!

Challenge Accepted!

I have decided to sign up for Janathon 2013, a challenge to exercise every day (in some way) and blog about it within 24 hours in the month of January. Check it out: http://janathon.com/

Marine Corps Marathon 2012

It was fucking awesome. Here's me, still smiling, at mile 19. Richmond Marathon 2013! That is all.

Totally. Not. Running. (For the moment)

So that 20-mile race messed up my foot. I've been told to take a rest for the week. Which is making me nutty, as you can imagine. 11 days until the marathon!

Taper Time

Peak marathon training is OVER!! I can't believe it!! I'm now into my 3 week taper time, cutting my miles and resting for the big show. So far, it's nice. My body wants to sleep a lot, and I'm honoring that. Let's talk the week before the marathon, and see how psycho I've gotten...

Stonewall Jackson 20 Mile Ambulance Run

Today I completed the longest run of my marathon training cycle. A close-by town does a 20-mile "tune up" race exactly 3 weeks prior to the Marine Corps Marathon, which is exactly when you're supposed to do your 20. Husband and I figured we might as well get a t-shirt since we have to run the 20 anyways! I'd love to give you a play-by-play of the race, but it's really fading into one big blob in my memory. The first 5 miles were spent running at a 10-10:30 pace, easily chatting with the runners around me. The course was hilly, but I run hills all the time so it really was no big deal. We spent 4-5 miles somewhere in the middle running on a rocky trail. It was pretty, but unpleasant as you really had to watch where you stepped. Around mile 16 I started to really, really want to be done. We were running the same hills in reverse, and they suddenly seemed a lot larger. And more steep. In fact we hit a really large uphill at mile 17 (one that I daintily pranced DOWN at mile 3)and I ended up walking the think. The only reason I wasn't crying at that point was because I wasn't carrying water and didn't want to cry any out! At mile 19 I figured I'd better stop walk/running and finish strong. When my trainer first ran this thing 5 years ago, she ran a 3:44:07, and I was determined to beat it. My Garmin hit mile 20, and the finish line was nowhere in sight, VERY frustrating. The race turned out to be closer to 20.2, my finish time was 3:41:22. Here's the finish photo!

Now, I taper for three weeks. Then the BIG SHOW!