I started my bonus day off of work with a low key morning, involving coffee and pancakes. Then I finished up some laundry and oversaw Barry’s work on a project in our master bathroom (more on that in a minute). Around noon I settled in to finally watch Les Miserables, which had come in the mail via Netflix.

I would say Hank and Scout watched it with me, but they actually slept the entire movie. We took them with us on errands yesterday, and it totally wore them out. First we spent about 3 hours at a friend’s house, where we were dropping off some chicken litter for their garden. We hung out for awhile and took the dogs for a walk around their 5 acre property. That was enough to wear Hank and Scout out, but we still had two more errands to run. From our friends house, we headed over to Tractor Supply to pick up some chicken feed. Then we went to Home Depot to shop for bathroom vanities. Scout actually laid down on the floor in Home Depot and went to sleep while I shopped. Hank, on the other hand, made friends with nearly everyone in the store. He’s such a people dog.


Hank

We did find a bathroom vanity (this is leading towards Barry’s project), counter top, and faucet and we loaded up the truck and headed home where Hank and Scout crashed. It will probably take them a week to recover.


Scout

This morning Barry got to work replacing our master bathroom vanity. Earlier this week I received a text message with the following picture from him:

Photo taken when we first toured the house.

That blue tub/shower and matching toilet are next to go.

Headed back into Bisset Park under the train tracks.

One of the trails that branches off. They turned into dirt trails once you got up the steep part.

This past week was my first of two peak weeks, and I survived! This coming week is a cutback week, which will then be followed by another 44 mile week. I was feeling really tired all week, but surprisingly my legs were feeling pretty strong. It was just the rest of me that was plain worn out. Despite feeling tired, I had what I think was a great first 20 miler on Saturday and a successful peak week overall.

Monday- 8 mile run on the Dora and New River Trails. This was the day I crossed into a new level of ‘real runner’. Somehow it was still a good run, despite that first incident, later spraying myself in the face with my water bottle, and then my hard effort the last 2.5 miles because it had gotten dark and I’m scared of the dark. Not sure how, but it was.

Tuesday- Rest.

Wednesday- 8 miles with Sven, with the 4 middle miles at marathon pace. One of the benefits of running my marathon pace run on the treadmill? I nail my splits! I also enjoyed a few guilty pleasures which includes Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition and Miley Cyrus’ Wrecking Ball during my run.

Thursday- Another 8 miles with Sven. I was feeling too tired to drive anywhere for my run, or to run on the roads around our house (and be mentally present enough to react to oncoming vehicles), so I opted for the treadmill again. I hit a bit of a rough patch early on in the run, but pushed through and finished feeling pretty good.

Friday- Rest.

Saturday- 20 mile long run. This was my first-ever 20 miler and absolutely the furthest I’ve ever run. As usual, this long run got it’s own post. Overall things went really well. Thanks to Barry crewing for me, I never had to stop until a bathroom break at mile 17 (no walk breaks or stops to refill water, etc.). I also got to see some new parts of the trail and enjoyed some beautiful views.

When we got home I took my first-ever ice bath and I think it definitely helped me recover. But boy was it cold lowering myself down into that water!

Sunday- Rest day. I woke up feeling pretty good, and only had some soreness in my back and my legs. But I was happy to find that my hips, knees, joints, and feet all felt fine. Barry and I took the dogs on a short walk in the morning, which helped with some of the soreness in my quads and back.

Total miles: 44 (weekly mileage PR)

This week’s schedule (cutback week):
Monday: 6 miles
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: 6 miles w/ 4 @ MP
Thursday: Rest
Friday: 6 miles
Saturday: 14 miles
Sunday: Rest

I am feeling pretty good after yesterday’s long long run. I woke up this morning with a little bit of soreness in my quads (which only bothers me when I’m going up or down stairs) and my back is sore. I’m glad to report my hips, knees, ankles, and feet all feel fine. I’m going to give a lot of credit to that ice bath.

Speaking of which, when we went by the grocery store yesterday to get some bagged ice, Barry also picked up some treats. Among those treats were two Moon Pies to celebrate my 20 miler. Barry picked up two because obviously you can’t eat a Moon Pie by yourself.

Do you want to know a secret about Moon Pies? Warm them up in the microwave and then eat them with a fork. It will make them taste amazing. This wisdom is courtesy of my father-in-law.

I was trying to find TV coverage for the Ironman World Championships this weekend in Kona, but had no luck (I did later figure out there was live coverage online). I asked my dad to check his cable, since he gets more channels than we do. I received this hilarious picture message from him Friday afternoon:

Note the description on the right. Dad sent me this picture along with the message “I searched iron man. Is this what you were looking for?” I replied back “Nope, try again :)” Of course my dad did know that this was not what I was in search of, but sent it to me as a joke. Just thought I should mention that…

By the way, do you remember those stuffed dog toys I got for Hank and Scout recently?

Well, this is all that’s left of them now:

They like to pull all of the stuffing out of them and chew them up to a certain extent. Then they will carry whatever scraps are left around like the toys are their babies. Strange dogs. This is what they always do with stuffed toys, and is the reason Barry doesn’t like me to buy them for the dogs. But it makes them so happy!

Have you ever had a Moon Pie? Ever had one that had been warmed up in the microwave?

What are your Sunday plans?

Thank you all for the kind words and encouragement yesterday! I was panicking a little bit about the 20 miles. But as many of you wisely said, the best thing I could do was to just put one foot in front of the other (and chunk).

I didn’t say much about it, but I had been feeling like I was coming down with a cold starting on Wednesday night. Thursday morning I woke up with a very stuffy nose that stayed stuffy all day. I was also feeling really tired, which resulted in an early bedtime and extra sleep. Friday I was also feeling tired, but it was a rest day and I hoped that would be enough. My legs actually were feeling pretty good, but I was on the verge of exhaustion.

This morning I woke up feeling ready to go. I slept pretty well and that touch of a cold I had earlier this week was gone. I did my usual pre-long run routine (dishes, eat a Luna bar, get dressed, bathroom) and Barry and I headed to the trail. Barry ran an 18 mile long run yesterday morning and then decided to crew for me today. He rode his bike and carried a backpack with extra water, Powerade, Shot Bloks, Vaseline, and toilet paper. What a guy. Luckily I never needed the extra fuel, Vaseline, or toilet paper.

I started out on the Dora Trailin town and made my way up to the New River Trail (2.5 miles). Around miles 4-5 I got a little freaked out because my calves were sore, but I forged on and hoped that it would go away, which it did. I carried my handheld water bottle, Shot Bloks, and a PowerGel with me. At mile 5.5 I had 3 Shot Bloks and I started to feel better.

I kept rolling on and passed by Barry at a little picnic area and told him I was feeling good. After about mile 6 I was running on parts of the trail that I hadn’t been on before, which was nice. At mile 8.5 Barry caught up with me again on his bike, and rode with me from there to mile 14.

I reached my turnaround at mile 10 still feeling strong. Nothing was bothering me at this point, I didn’t even feel all that tired. Unbeknownst to me, I had just run on a gradual downhill for the past 4 miles and would have to climb back up it on the way back.

Today’s elevation profile kind of looks like bird’s wings.

I ate two more Shot Bloks and handed my water bottle off to Barry to be refilled. Having him along with me was wonderful. He was able to refill my bottle for me as needed so that I didn’t have to stop. He was also there to offer encouragement and chat with me along the way. We enjoyed a beautiful view of the mountains and the New River as we made our way back.

Nice view, huh??

As I crossed mile 14 I began a 3 mile section that was gradually downhill and I started to feel better. I had a strawberry banana-flavored PowerGel around mile 15.7. Have you noticed that I was nearly to mile 16 and hadn’t taken a walk break or stopped at all? That was a pretty big deal for me. I ended up having to stop at mile 17 (at the New River trailhead) to use the restroom. I would have liked to have been able to run the entire way without any stops, but when you gotta go you gotta go. I ran for nearly 3 hours and 20 minutes before taking a bathroom break, though.

After my break, I got back to work for the final 3 miles. My legs hurt so much at first when I started back, and I felt like I had lost my rhythm. But Barry had given me my iPod to listen to (and had refilled my bottle again) at mile 17, so I plugged into some tunes. I broke the last 3 miles down into half mile chunks. I had my final Shot Blok at mile 18.4 and then just kept chipping away until I finally got back to the truck, where Barry was waiting for me. It felt amazing to stop and sit down, and then to stretch a bit. I completed my first 20 miler without any walk breaks and just one stop (for a necessary bathroom break).

Once we got home, I decided what better way to celebrate my first 20 miler than with my first ice bath. I am not one to curse much, if at all, but I did  say one or two bad words when I got in that bath. But hey, I bet you could but the Pope in an ice bath and he’d curse too!

My “this hurts more than running 20 miles!” face.

Overall I am feeling pretty good, surprisingly. My joints aren’t as sore as they were after last week’s 18 miler. I’m a bit sore overall, more so in my back than my legs, and I’m tired. But I’m also really happy with today’s accomplishment and of course I’m basking in my Hokies’ win over Pitt! I also just remembered Monday is a holiday, so I have the day off work. It’s shaping up to be a great weekend.

I have been feeling really tired all week this week. As a result I have been going to bed much earlier than usual and getting more hours of sleep per night. Yesterday evening after work I felt too tired to drive to any trails for my 8 mile run. I also felt too tired to deal with running on the roads around our house and dodging cars. Chances are I would look right at an oncoming car, but not register it, and then I’d probably get run over (no shoulders on our roads, so I usually have to get in the grass when a car goes by).

Not the place you’d want to run when you’re too tired to react to a car

Oddly enough I didn’t feel too tired to actually complete my run. So I ran 8 miles with Sven, just like on Wednesday. Things got a little rough around 2.5 miles and I actually wanted to take a walk break. I told myself “just make it to 4 miles and you can take a short walk break.” But instead, when I got to 4 miles, I ate two Shot Bloks and powered on. I decided I needed to practice mentally and physically pushing on and continuing to run even when I’m feeling fatigued. So that’s what I did and I actually ended up feeling pretty good the final 3 miles.

I can connect the dots on why I am feeling so worn out. I am coming off of 39 miles last week (a weekly mileage PR) and going right into my first of two peak weeks. So far this week I have run 24 miles in 3 days of running. Although each run has gone pretty well, it’s still a lot for me and I’m definitely feeling it. Today is a rest day and then tomorrow is my first of two 20 mile long runs. I am a bit nervous but I’m also looking forward to reaching this milestone.

It’s normal for me to feel tired during a peak week of marathon training, right? I don’t think I’m crossing over into the realm of overtraining. I’m not fighting lead legs, I haven’t lost interest in training (although sometimes it’s a bit daunting), and I’m not having trouble sleeping. But at the same time this is all new to me and I’m not sure if I’m over doing it. I guess if I crash and burn on my 20 miler, then I’ll know. And if that happens it won’t be the end of the world. I have another one on the schedule in two weeks. That one will be my last long run before I start tapering.

Do you wear a watch when you run/walk on the treadmill?
I have started wearing my Timex stopwatch, because I can’t ever remember my time for a run and I like to record it in my running log.
If you have trained for a marathon (or any long race) how did you feel during your peak week of training?

Any tips/tricks/advice/encouragement for the 20 miler would be greatly appreciated!!