Marathon Training Milestone

Today, I officially got to the point in my marathon training where I think, "What the &@$! am I getting myself into?!" To run 26.2 miles in one attempt is completely absurd! I haven’t thought this way since I did a 30k more than a year ago.

This morning I set out to do 10 miles. The first thing I did wrong was starting off later than usual. I forgot to set my alarm for 6am and therefore, slept in until 7am. I checked myspace and did some other time wasting activities before I started to fuel up with cereal and yogurt. I scurried around the house for nearly 20 minutes getting together all of my essentials: Garmin, iShuffle, Fuel Belt w/filled water bottles, sunblock lotion, socks, cap, etc.

By the time I was out the door, it was already nearly 9am. I had to make a quick pit-stop at Safeway to get some Gatorade and a bagel. Got to Tempe Town Lake just after 9am and put on all of my essentials like a Gladiator going to war.

I knew this run was going to be challenging because I could feel the warmth but luckily there was a breeze and it was enough for me not to dart back to my car and go home.

The first 3 miles were easy because I employed the Galloway method. After 4.5 miles, I could start to really feel the sun taunting me. I looked at my arms and they had darkened considerably. I thought about finishing up and then doing the remaining miles that evening but continued because I need to train my body to do all the miles at once. I worried because I didn’t have enough water in my bottles but thought that I could make it to the next water fountain by the time I downed all the water.

The last 4 miles were killers and I had to take longer walking breaks to prevent overheating. I took a long break under the Mill Ave. bridge when I was just shy of 8 miles. I lingered there for about five minutes - stretching, drinking water from the fountain, and filling up my water bottles. Starting back up with a mutha!

Somehow I made it through.

My body seems to hate me right now for it refuses to walk. Little does it know that next Sunday calls for 12. (evil laugh)