Marathon Training: Week 7

I was going to title this post “Weak 7” because I’ve been sick, love puns, and am hilarious, but it’s not as funny now, because I’m no longer sick. Which is nice. So now I have to run normally. No more excuses. Dang it.

I actually am kind of psyched that my runs have been better, though. Today is my 5th day without feeling any obvious signs of fatigue, so I think I can stop counting. Saturday, I finally got a chance to try out my new hydration vest that I bought before the mono kicked in. It sort of rubbed my chest the wrong way and was uncomfortable after a few miles. I actually had to stop my run partway through to take it off. That concerned me a little, but I took it out again Sunday, and it went more smoothly. I still got a little burning on my chest in the first few miles, but it was milder than the day before, and went away after a bit.

I took a full 2 liters of water with me for the run on Sunday, which ended up being 14 miles. “Hey Carey, weren’t you only supposed to run 13 miles on Sunday?” Yep! “Do you often run more than the distance proscribed by your training plan?” Nope! In fact, that may be the first time I’ve ever done it for a long run. Why did I do it this time? Because I met up with the Frederick Steeplechasers (a local running group named for Frederick’s famous “Clustered Spires”, and not for the type of running they do), who do a group run every weekend for people who are training for a marathon. Sunday, there were options to run 8 miles or 10 miles. I live 3 miles from the meeting place, so I made it a long run: 6 miles for the round trip and 8 miles with the group. I really should join the Steeplechasers and pay dues and all that, which I say at least once a month. But now that I’ve actually run with them, I really should join.

It was a good run Sunday. Hot, of course, but it was early enough that the sun didn’t become a factor until the last couple miles. And with my hydration vest and all its pockets, I was able to bring my phone and a credit card. So I stopped and got a bottle of Gatorade during the return trip home. Having that hydration vest and being able to carry stuff like that really gives me a sense of, “I can walk out my door, and basically run wherever the heck I want.” If I’m doing a 20 mile run, that radius easily puts me anywhere in Frederick with enough mileage left to run home. Even just 8 gets me downtown and back, with distance to spare. That’s… empowering, I have to say. Having the hydration vest really adds to the freedom of going out for a run. It sure beats running the same 3 mile loop around the neighborhood over and over again.

Anyway, I’m back, baby! I shuffled the weeks in my training plan a bit to build back up using an early recovery week, so I just ran “week 9”, this is “week 7”, next is “week 8”, then it goes to weeks 10-18 in order. There still might be some hiccups, but I think I’ve got it covered. All in all, even though I bitched a lot about the mono (here and elsewhere), I recovered relatively quickly, so I’m thankful for that.

I’m currently registered for the Freedom’s Run Marathon on October 10, and the Richmond Half Marathon on November 14. (Someone remind me to upgrade that to the full sometime between now and November 13.) I also plan on running the Market Street Mile on September 12, because there aren’t many 1 mile road races, and there’s just something different about the mile. Sure, I can just go out and run a mile any time, but racing a mile is an exercise in pain management and mental fortitude. It’s completely different from the way a marathon is an exercise in pain management and mental fortitude. They’re different races, is all I’m saying. Trust me on this.

Stay tuned – this Sunday will be a 16 miler, and I’m sure I’ll have complaints to make.