14 miles - I can do this!

I'm not gonna sugar coat this.. training is tough! Last weekend my long run was 8 miles and it went pretty well. My left hip started hurting around mile 5 and then my knees and the bottoms of my feet started hurting like I had arthritis or something. I think some of this may have had to do with wearing my trail running shoes which don't have much if any support. I haven't been wearing them very much lately since I have done most of my training on the pavement. By the end of the 8 miles I was hobbling around and felt like I was 90 years old. 

It gets kind of scary when I think about the enormity of this upcoming marathon. Running 8 miles was very difficult so afterwards I couldn't  imagine going back and doing that 2 more times plus some! Now don't get me wrong there were parts of the run that were enjoyable. We (my Dad and I) went down a very hilly dirt road by his house. There was a very pretty lake view and I pushed myself to run up all of the monstrous hills. So overall I was very proud of myself after we were done. 

This week was rough for me mentally. We had done our 8 mile run on Sunday instead of Saturday so I didn't have a rest day until Wednesday. All of my shorter runs were really difficult. I think of it had to do with my doubting myself and maybe a small part of it from being worn out from the 8 mile run. I just kept thinking am I going to be in horrible pain the whole marathon? When I first got this crazy idea to run a marathon I thought well I could always walk for a while and I would be fine.. well even walking HURTS! Finally I told myself all this worry is stupid. I am going to do this and you know what I am doing this! I have been able to complete each day of my training plan so far. I am only 5 weeks into the training and each week I get stronger and do things I never thought I would be able to do. Running 14 miles is one of those things!

By Saturday morning my head was in the right place and I was excited to tackle this 14 miles. We ran the same 8 miles that we did the previous weekend. I wore my road shoes instead of the trail shoes and my body thanked me. It had just rained so the road was actually really smooth. My body didn't start feeling achy until about mile 7 (more improvement!) and it was not near as bad as last weekend. By the time those 8 miles were up I was happy and ready to be done but those last 6 miles were no joke. We hit the pavement the last 6 miles and within the first mile there is a huge hill which I made myself run up (you could walk faster than this run but none the less I was happy that I pushed myself). I just kept thinking of the hot tub that was waiting for me when I got back. I checked my time at 13.1 miles because I have never ran the half marathon distance before, it was 2:33. With all of the mountains we had to go up I was very happy with that. I have no doubt that I will be able to finish this marathon... even if I have to crawl. 

Here is a picture of my beautiful cousin Cara that was taken at St. Jude. I am so thrilled that my entrance fee to the marathon is going toward St. Jude. 

I still have plenty of the bracelets Cara designed. They are $5 with $2 going to St. Jude and $3 going toward her family for traveling expenses. Thank you so much for your donations and for reading my blog. Please keep my sweet little cousin Cara and her family in your prayers. Training for and running in this marathon is nothing compared to everything she has gone through and will have to continue to go through the next couple of years. She is so brave and I am so proud of her.