Countdown to the Marathon - T Minus 6 Weeks

Another week of training for the Disney Marathon coming up on January 13, 2013. My training log for T - 6 weeks (Nov 28- Dec 4):

Miles ran:  34 (7mi, 20mi, 3mi, 4mi)

Miles scheduled:34

Cross training: Pilates x 1; misc cross training

Total miles run since training began:374

Audiobook: I have totally given up on audiobooks. Once I started on really long runs I found that the audiobooks took too much concentration -- concentration I needed to just remain upright and moving forward after 18+ miles. It's all music for me from here on out. Good news is, I have discovered Pandora.

General Notes: So it's been a month since my last marathon training post, but fortunately my running didn't suffer so much. Except for the week where my mom had her stroke, I've pretty much stayed on my training schedule. 

Nov 7 -13: 15 miles total (6 mi, 9mi)

Nov 14-20: 28 miles total (6 mi, 18 mi, 4 mi)

Nov 21-27: 29. 5 miles total (8 mi, 21.5 mi)

The long runs are tough. Really tough. I'm so excited that this weekend I don't have a 20+ miler (mostly because I have a 10 mile race on Saturday, so I'm going to call that my long run -- maybe adding a few extra miles if the weather is nice -- and be done with it). I have two more scheduled 20+'s  before the marathon. They are grueling, but important, almost as much mentally as physically.

If you want an understanding about the ridiculousness that is long runs, here's a FB conversation between me and a buddy who is also training for a marathon earlier this week:

A1:  I ran 18.07 miles in 3:54. The overwhelming desire to lay down and rest at mile 15 means that your training is going as planned, right?

Janie: You did give in to the desire to lay down at mile 15 right? That is important an important part of training.

A1: I didn't lay down, but I'm pretty sure I blacked out somewhere between 16 and 18. Sadly, when I came to, I was still moving.

Janie: Don't you hate it when you get to that point where you decide to walk for a while, but then it hurts just as much to walk PLUS you're moving slower so it will take longer. And you just want to cry.

A1: My favorite part was when I was like, "OK, legs! We've only got three miles! We can do three miles, easy!" Then I started running. Except by running I mean walking. And by walking, I mean standing and staring off into the distance.

Janie: And no matter what you can't make your body move faster. And you wonder if someone came and threatened you with a gun if you could run. And you even envision that scenario. But when you open your eyes you're still standing staring off into the distance.

A1: I totally thought that! I was like, if someone mugged me right now, I would just hand them my sweaty damn money and be done with it.

Note to self, start crime ring that targets runners in their last month of training.

Janie: Seriously. While on my long runs that often take me a bit far from normal civilization, I used to fear hoodlums who might try to steal my virtue. But after 15+ miles you have to face the facts: even rapists have standards.

And then you remember that no one is forcing you to run this marathon. As a matter of fact you paid a pretty obscene amount of money to do this to yourself. Sigh. So as you can tell marathon training makes you crazy. I’m interested to see how much more of my mind I can lose before January 13.