Big D: Week 5

I love doing weekly posts about marathon training because it makes the time seem to fly by.  Five weeks done already?!?  That is fabulous.  April will be here before we know it. 

For now though, let's stick with Week Five:

Monday: 3 miles on the treadmill.  I realized as I was walking into the gym that it was actually a really nice day and I should probably be doing this run outside.  Oops.

Tuesday:  5 miles outside with Mr. Dog.  That guy is out of shape.  But it was a beautiful day so I put up with his dinking around and stopping to pee every half mile.

Wednesday:  30 minutes Elliptical & 30 minutes on the bike.  I took Cosmo to the gym with me.  I haven't read Cosmo since I was like in high school and I was totally blushing at the content.  Seriously, now I'm going to be known as the girl at the gym who reads about how to please her man so he won't cheat.  Awesome.

Thursday: 3 miles... outside again!  Awesome weather.  I contemplated turning this into a long run, but figured the next day would probably be just as nice, right?

Friday:  13 miles.  I kept waiting for the weather to warm up, but it didn't.  Finally around noon I set out for a twelve-miler.  Probably not the best idea to go at lunch time, but I brought sustenance:

Powerbar Chewy Things.

I bought new running pants that I love...except for one thing.  The only pocket is on the back.  As in... on my ass.

Delicious.

 I tried putting my energy chews into the pocket... and they fit...

... but then I had a huge lump on my ass.  It was a very inconvenient place for a lump.  And my top was not long enough to cover the lump. 

Ass lump.

 I'd planned on carrying my camera on this run, but since I ended up having to carry my chews, I opted out of the camera.  I didn't think I could handle two things in my hand... or a lump on my ass.

No camera, just chews.

I ran over to the Trolley Trail and headed north.  From there I headed over to Loose Park, did a lap, then headed home.  I totally over-shot it.  I hit twelve almost exactly a mile from my house.  Had it been a nice day I probably would have just walked home.  It was snowing by this point so I just kept running. 

Lucky Thirteen.

Check out what Drew put in my stocking for Christmas:

Road ID

A Road ID has your identifying information on it and emergency contacts in case you, ya know, get hit by a bus.

It also has medical history ---> in my case none.  And Drew added a line with my Boston qualifying time for some added inspiration.  He's so thoughtful. :)

I was seriously hungry and exhausted when I got home.  I ran by the Blue Moose at mile twelve and I'm pretty sure that had I had money on me I would have gone in and sat down to a sandwich and beer.  Maybe a credit card would fit into my ass-pocket.

Instead I had a chocolate protein shake while I iced my knee. 

Mmmm....

I don't know if my knees were normal achy from my long run or if it is something to be concerned about.  They seem fine today so I'm hoping it was just normal aches.  I know they are looking forward to a down week next week!

Saturday:  30 minutes elliptical.  It was snowing and I really just wanted to curl up on the couch with some coffee and a dog, but I made it to the gym. 

Sunday:  Trust me on this... I will be curled up on the couch with a dog and some coffee, not at the gym.  Rest day!!!

Total Mileage:  24 miles. 

Good week!  But I am definitely ready for a rest week... which I get next week!  I might take it down to three running days, just to give the ol' knee some extra TLC.