Will Run For Ice Cream

And the runs are getting longer - can you believe the marathon is less than 8 weeks ago - just typing that makes me super nervous! But this weekend's plan was for 6 miles at a 9 minute mile. And then Sunday was supposed to be 15 miles at an 11-11:15 pace. Saturday's Run : Yep - NAILED IT! I had a friend who met me so that she could push me to keep me on pace. She did an awesome job. And then my biggest fan was waiting on me (as usual) when I got home. He's always waiting on me at the door when I get home. I do believe he is my biggest fan.  And during Saturday's run, I asked my friend if she wanted to run with me on Sunday (for either the entire 15 miles or at least part). I did not look forward to running 15 miles solo. And I knew that keeping the pace would also be a challenge. She said she would run the entire 15 with me.  It was 15 miles in the rain. We got in lots of hill work also. And, we came in under pace.  Total mileage this week....

In the past, I have always driven into the Linglestown area to run. But with running 6 days a week, I just didn't want to spend 40 minutes (round trip) in driving. Honestly, I need the sleep at this point. So I've been discovering places to run around where I live. Thanks to some local peeps here in Dauphin, I'm exploring the area. Everywhere I run, there are pretty much hills, but I'm finding it's very pretty. And I'm enjoying running and exploring where I live. Views on Today's 13 Miler  Today's run was supposed to be 13 miles at a 11-12:30 pace. Well, that didn't happen. In fact, around mile 8, I almost called it quits and walked the mile back home. But instead, I forced myself to walk the other direction. Yes, the last 5 miles were more walk than run. I wound up with a 14:00 pace which is no where near what my training plan called for. But, it's done. It was 13 very soggy miles.  I had steady rain for the first hour, and then showers...

Woo Hoo... I just completed my first 18 miler today.  Thats right, that's a 1 and an 8 side by side. Wow, I honestly can say I never really saw myself making that statement. See, I was one of those people who would never  consider a marathon, or even a half to be honest. I didn't consider myself a distance runner.  And even though I just completed an 18 mile run, I still have a hard time ( at this point ) labeling myself as a distance runner. But today, we were pressed for time. We had to finish at a certain time so I could go get Lil Man from my Hubby. I text my running buddy and asked her if she could meet me at 5 instead of 5:15. She agreed. Let me set the scene... it was dark... it was misting rain... well there you go. The first hour was pretty much done in darkness. It was misting rain (for the most part) the entire run, with bouts of heavier sprinkles to light rain.  Down by the river it was the usually buggy run. My running buddy and I both took a gnat to the eye. Bet...

Wow, what a difficult ugly run. It seems like this entire day just started off rough. Lil Man woke us up at 3:10. I was just falling back to sleep when the dog started puking at 3:45. My alarm was set for 4:00am. I drove to where we were supposed to meet, and the parking lot was gated off.  WHAT?!?  I had planned our route from this parking lot and now basically my entire 'plan' for the run was trashed. On top of that, I had to pee. I mean I really had to pee, and they had locked the bathrooms also. DOUBLE WHAT?!?. I called my running buddy to have her meet me at an alternate spot. I drove to the spot, took care of my issue of needing to pee, and started getting my gear ready. The moment I put my running belt on, it started to rain. I will pause a moment for you to snicker.  It was one of those moments that just for a second I paused and said, "should I really do this today?" But my running buddy was there; we got up super early so we might as well get our run in. I s...