Week 7 Marathon Training Recap: Deception on the DPR

Training Mileage: 24

Mile Run: 26.1

Source

Oooh, I should have run another .1 so I could make it 26.2!  Ha, but that is over the course of a week not all in one go.

Anyway, I was super good about getting in my weekly runs.  I ran:

• Sunday: 5K race in my neighborhood
• Tuesday: 3 miles in the morning before work
• Thursday: 6 miles in the morning before work*
• Saturday: 14 miles with my training group along the Des Plaines River Trial (DPR) going north**

* I had to get up at 4:30 and was out of my house and on the road by 5:00 to get this run in.  I even had to wear my headlamp for a little bit since the sun had not come up yet.  I was happy to have gotten the run in, but I worry about what I'm going to do when I have to run distances over 6 miles during the week.  I simply refuse to have to get up before 4:30 and I prefer get the run done before work.  

^ This is because I live in the 'burbs (bought a house in 2011) and work downtown so I waste 2 hours each day commuting on the Metra.  It beats driving though so I can't really complain.

** Our pace group leader tricked me into running 14 miles (this is the longest I have run since the marathon).  

We were supposed to have a vote when we got to the half way mark.  He usually just adds 2 miles on at the end and whoever wants to run more miles will join him.  The novices (aka me, myself and I) will call it a day when we return to the parking lot.  He also likes to call me a young punk and he reminds me that he is 55 and is adding on more miles whereas I just want to go home, take a shower, take a nap and shove my face with donuts.

However, this wasn't the case during this run.  I'm not sure what got into him... maybe it was the amazing weather, which was in the high 50s.  We ran past 6 miles to the hydration point, which was at 6.5 miles.  I thought we were going to turn around, but noooooooo, he suggested that we run half a mile up and then back and then stop at hydration.  My mental math skills weren't working and there really wasn't any turning back so I agreed to it.  We even ran past the 7 mile marker since our Garmins still weren't at 7.  I was about to lose it, but I had no choice other than to keep running.  *shakes head*  Yay for peer pressure!!

In terms of the run, I actually felt pretty good and I definitely attribute it to the cooler temperatures.  My calves were a bit sore, but I expected that.  My ITBs (both the left and the right) acted up a bit, but nothing too serious.

Overall, excellent week and thank you to the weather gods for the cooler weather.  Just make sure to make it like 30 degrees on October 13th!

How long did you go this weekend and how did it go?  What do you eat during your long runs?  Do you prefer gels or shot blocks?  Or, do you eat something else?  I'd eat donuts (obviously), but they are too big and too messy.