yep, another training post

I made it, essentially, to the halfway point in marathon training, the half-marathon (13.1 miles). I have some things to say about this.

First, wow, wouldn't it be cool if my goal was a HALF marathon and I would know that I had reached this goal! I know I am saying something that makes no sense (especially since I reached this goal last fall) but see, I feel confident in my ability to go out and run 13 miles. This next 13, piggy-backed on the first 13 with a pesky .2 just to make a point? That feels like a completely different goal to be honest. I was TOAST after my run this Thursday. I cannot imagine having had to go back and do it all over again.

Second, I think, well that means only another 7 miles to go before marathon day (because I will only train to 20 miles). I equally think, WHAT?! SEVEN MORE MILES!

Third, having walked three prior marathons taking somewhere in the neighborhood of 6 hrs and 15 min to almost 7 hours, I think finishing in (hopefully) 5 hours or less seems like a dramatic improvement. But then I think, 5 hours of running? Who signed me up for that??

Fourth, I have come to realize that my biggest fear isn't that I won't finish (I fear I don't have the good sense to know when to stop and I would likely crawl if needed). It is that I will have a really bad time. And if I can adopt a "so what?" attitude then that will be one fear abated. If.

Fifth, Lady Gaga and I can run almost any hill together. Here's to hoping she comes out with some more music before May.

Sixth, I was saying something about my long run for this week and my friend Ange said, "Wait, didn't you just run 12?" Exactly Ange. Exactly...

I will be honest. I don't know that I would have become a distance runner if I didn't have little children. I'll admit it. I do some of it for the break from momma-hood. But this last run, when San and the girls dropped me 13.1 miles from home with kisses and "I'll see you in a couple of hours" I had a different experience. Maybe our girls are getting older and they don't tax quite as much. Maybe it was that poor little Maya had struggled to get good air the past 24 hours and it made me so very grateful that breathing and health are part of our everyday. Maybe it was that San had been so extra sweet to me, made me a new running mix, has been massaging my legs and so has my back through my crazy running schedule, always with a proud and encouraging word. I don't know, but I saw the van pull away from me and I ran for them. I ran home, my family, the people I love most in the world, calling me back.

Or maybe it was that Sandi wrote "Lake Champlain Chocolates" at the bottom of my marathon schedule on the box that reads "Marathon!" and told Ella that it was my reward chart and that if I checked off all the boxes that I could go back to LCC...