I'm a full three-and-a-half months into my marathon training program. Today, I actually ran 15.5 miles, or 25K.
Really.
I can hardly believe it myself. It's a testament to what the human body can adapt to. I had never run more than 6 miles before starting with Round Rock Fit in late August. Now, I can actually run 15.5 miles. I probably could have run further, to be honest -- not that I wanted to, believe me.
But the program has lived up to its billing. Slowly and steadily, we've increased the milage, most notably for the Saturday long runs. The program works like this: Monday is an easy run (ranging from 30-40 minutes), Tuesday is track repeats or hill repeats, Wednesday is a cross training day (no running, but swimming or biking), and Thursday is a tempo run. And Saturday is the long run. It's similar to the Run Less, Run Faster program I followed this summer when training for my first 5K.
The first long run was 3 miles. I remember struggling with it -- it was late August, early September and still hot, hot, hot here in Central Texas. We've more or less added a mile each Saturday since then, though some weeks we've dialed back the miles, and some weeks we upped it.
This week we upped it. We did 13 miles last week, and as noted above 15.5 miles today. Today was a benchmark run, which I think means if you've made it this far you get the T-shirt. And a very nice technical T it is!
The only time I had to walk was the first time we ran 10 miles. Getting to double digits got in my head, I think, and that's not uncommon. Since then, the only time I've walked is to refill my water bottle from the coolers strategically placed on the training course. It's amazing how much I still sweat, even when it's in the mid-40s.
And so, a few minutes ago I formally registered for the Livestrong Austin Marathon. For $139, I'll have the opportunity to realize my midlife crisis and complete a marathon. I love that it raises funds for cancer research, and I will run in memory of my father and mother, both of whom died from cancer. I suddenly miss them both very much having written those words. My dad was 61 when his prostate cancer metastasized and took his life; mom was a 40-year survivor who died in 2010 at 75 after her cancer returned. I can't help but believe they'll be cheering for me as I run the race.
I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted. The training has been terrific, and the only days I've missed have been when I've been under the weather.
So far, this has been an experience I would recommend to anyone -- approaching midlife or not. Even though I've developed plantar fasciitis in my left foot, it hasn't been so bad to keep me from running. It's more annoying than anything. But perhaps that's for another post.
Thanks for reading, and let me know if there's anything about this you're curious about.
