Big D: Week 11

This was such a great week for running.  The weather was amazing!  I can only hope it stays this way.  I don't miss 24 Hour Fitness one little bit.  Here's what this week's marathon training looked like:

Monday:  4 miles. 

Tuesday:  Rest Day.

Wednesday:  7 miles as seen here.

Thursday:  4 miles with Katy!  It was 70 degrees when we met up at Porter Park and proceeded to get lost in the hills and mansions of Mission Hills.  I love running with friends!  And I'm so excited for Katy to run her first half marathon this Spring! 

But the real reason I love Katy so much; she's super easy to talk into post-run frozen yogurt.  We had dinner at TCBY. 

Fro-Yo

Yummo!

Friday:  18 miles!  I was feeling good when I started out, despite having eaten ice cream for dinner the night before.  AND, I was wearing my super sweet new Mizunos:

They are super comfy!  I didn't want to do any loops this run; I wanted it to truly be a long run.  So I grabbed a Honey Stinger and my credit card and set out.  I felt amazing for the first few miles.  I just really settled into the run and enjoyed myself.  I ran about 7 miles out and stopped at a Quik Trip for a potty break and a Gatorade (and candy).  Bringing my credit card was the best idea ever.  Except I had to control the urge to stop at every ice cream shop along the way.  Ice cream is not acceptable mid-run fuel.

After my Quik Trip stop, I turned around and headed out on the Indian Creek Trails.  This is about when I realized I'd run those first seven miles with the wind at my back.  Oops.  The next five or so were much harder as I battled the wind while carrying my bottle of Gatorade.  I always see people running with a bottle in their hand.  Looks easy, but I'm not so good at it I guess.

At mile 13 I took my energy gel and started to perk up.  The last five miles were super-wonderful-I-love-to-run miles.  I really pushed it for the last two, running around 8-minute miles!  He-ey!

This was super close to my 17-mile time last week!  Goes to show how much easier it is to run when the ground isn't covered in snow.  It also reaffirmed my decision not to ever ever ever drink Vega Sport Drink again. 

I came home, stretched, foam rolled, iced, and drank my favorite recovery protein shake.

Coffee + Milk + Chocolate Protein Powder = Yum!

To clarify, I don't drink protein shakes every day.  I'm not trying to get "big" over here.  I just drink them after long runs as a recovery drink.  We'll save the body building for later in life.

Saturday:  Rest Day.  I'm taking a weekend class... whoever came up with this idea is just mean.  Spending Saturday at school learning about research methods; not fun.

Sunday:  Nothing yet.  I might make a late night gym appearance to get in my time on the bike. :)

Total Mileage:  33 miles

Next week is another easy week, but it looks like the weather will be hanging steady.  I'm being optimistic, but I'm hoping I don't have to do a treadmill run for quite some time.  Come on sunny weather!  I've only got two more really long runs left before the race... surely the running gods will smile on me.

The greatest pleasure in life, is doing the things people say we cannot do.   -Walter Bagehot