Um, that's weird

Strange things have been happening since I started training for this marathon.

SIDE BAR: Which, BTW, is, like, in 2 weeks and 3 days! ACK! 

Anyway. Back to weird things.

I blame it all on marathon training. The following is a list of things I have noticed so far:

• I buy energy gels/chews in bulk now.
• My iPod hasn't been used in months.
• I'm all "I want to transition to minimalist shoes after the race".
• I run in costume. 
• I kind of think I can reach that secret half marathon goal after all (but not any time soon).
• Who care's about race fees? Races are fun! 
• Running in 90* summer afternoon heat with a 70* dewpoint ain't no thing at all. 
• Sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen.
• I got excited about a really good deal on coconut water. 
• I drink coconut water. The unflavored stuff.
• The book on Whole 30 is downloaded to my Kindle. 
• I bought a groupon for Crossfit.
• Maybe I should start biking to work. Who cares if I have to take a longer lunch so Jeff can pee & poop. 
• Trail races sound hard, so naturally I want to do some next year. 

Thankfully, I still just want to do one and only one marathon. And don't you dare sit there, shaking your head, smiling and thinking, "just wait ... ".

NO. 

The Planned 20 Miler

I was so excited to have the 20 miler last Sunday. I couldn't wait for how BA I was going to feel, how delicious fatty cake Sunday was going to taste, and how wonderful a nice, long ice bath afterwards was going to feel.

... is it weird that I now look forward to ice baths? I think it's weird.

It was a chilly Sunday morning. We had gone from highs in the 80's all week to a low of 43 and a forecasted high of 58*. Brrrr.

I figured the weather would be close to what it would be in Ireland, so it would be a good training run, right?

Uhhh, last I remembered, the wind did NOT blow like that in Ireland.

Run/walking in the hot Kansas summer months = awesome.
Run/walking in the chilly and windy Kansas October mornings? Not so awesome.

The first 5 miles were fine. Don't really remember them, except for the Mumford & Sons song that was on repeat in my head. Mile 6 dragged on forever, but 7 & 8 flew by. I had to stop and stretch a few times, but wasn't too worried. Meh, whatever.

Then, closer to mile 9, I had to stop and stretch for a long time. It was at this point that I wondered how the old injury was going to hold up for 11 more miles. A half a mile later, on a walk break, there was a stabbing pain.

That's when I knew that the 20 wasn't going to happen.

Part of me was relieved; my mental game was a little off - it would have been a rough few final miles anyway. Part of me wasn't happy. It was my 20, for goodness sakes!

But, I was still 4 miles from home. I texted someone to see if they could pick me up, but without an immediate response, I continued on. Things actually felt better while I was running; it was simply when I was walking that I would really be uncomfortable.

In any case, I kept on. 2 minutes run, 2 minutes walk. Slowly but surely (as with every run), I made it home. 13.4 miles. Not too bad.

I'm not worried that I didn't get the 20 in. I'm not worried that I had a flare up of the old injury. It's nothing a little extra TLC can't handle. In fact, the ice bath and some Stick work helped quite a bit already.

However, I'm really annoyed that I was 6.6 miles short. That's it! Gah! I may be adding an elliptical workout this week just to get that 6.6 in ...

The last speed session is this week. Mile repeats. Gross.
Then running group with a former Loopster and my bestie who wants to get back into running.
Then 12 on Sunday.

I guess now technically I'm on the longest taper in history.
Also, I made brownies tonight, frosted them and ate two. Now I want to throw the rest of the pan out.

Instead, I froze them.

Ya know, just in case.