Well, today I ran my first 18 mile run in preparation for the Philadelphia marathon. Usually I do my long runs on the Saturday but with having to work every other weekend it is a bit tough to do such a long run and then have to go stand on my feet for 8 hours and take care of patients. My job is physically demanding and is posing the biggest challenge in preparing for this marathon. My goal was to break 4 hours this time but now I feel like maybe since it is my first time doing a marathon with such a physically demanding job...maybe my goal will just to finish! I'm to competitive for that but at the same time this was a bigger adjustment than I realized.
18 miles covered 4 towns and a lot of steps. I usually use mapmyrun.com to map out a route which helps me know how far I run. The day was warmer than usual. Usually Faith (my dog) runs all of the miles with me but she has been sick so I only took her for 3 of the miles. As I have said before some days you go out and the run feels great...yes even at 18 miles. And other days it is a fight to just get through it. This run was a mix of both. By the last 4 or 5 miles I was wishing that I could switch feet like you change shoes. That seems to be the biggest problem for me is that because I am on my feet for long hours at work, they are more sore when I run these longer distances. But despite the pain, when I finished it was such an accomplishment. I love to have a goal and to meet it. Less than 9 weeks out from the marathon and I have many more runs like this. I have 2-3 18 and 20 mile runs as well as one 23 mile run before I get to the starting line. But what an accomplishment it will be to be out there running with thousands of other crazy's like me and to cross the finish after 26.2 miles. Can't wait to tell you about it.
Leeann’s 11!
9 years ago
1 comments:
I am jealous! I am competitive, just like you, so I can understand the frustrations that arise when goal setting for such an event. Be careful not to over do it. It sounds like you are following a great schedule though and that you are listening to your body. There's not much more you can do beyond that. When I went into my half marathon, I set some time goals (but deep down, I knew I could beat them). When I had 5 miles left, I looked at my watch, and it was then that I set my official goal. You could always just set your goal on the day, depending on how you feel. Because it is just like you said, you can feel horrible on a 3-mile run and great on an 18-mile run. It just depends on the day. Good luck with the training. I can't wait to read about your marathon. Wish I was doing one this year!
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