Training Update

Five weeks until the marathon. I can't believe how close it is.... But then I can, when I remember training in snow back in March. And now it's getting cold again, so I guess it's about time I run this bad boy I've been training for.

It feels like the weather changed from summer to fall within hours. I walked outside one evening last week for my routine run and the air was distinctly different. It felt different. It smelled different. I LOVED breathing it in. Is it almost time for me to pull out my spanks, too? I think so! Wooooo!

With only five weeks left of training, I'm ultra sensitive to every little thing that hurts, or may start hurting. I'm taking ibuprofen almost every day (secondary to developing tendonitis in my right foot) and there is almost always something I can think of to ice. It's not that I have any serious injuries. I just have little, slight developments that I fear are going to rear there ugly heads as full blown injuries that may prevent me from running a "comfortable" race. Hahaha! What could be comfortable about 26.2?

I'm thinking I'll finish somewhere between 3:55:00 and 4:20:00. I can't believe I thought I might be able to finish at 3:45:00 back in March. I've really lowered my expectations for myself but I don't feel bad about it at all. I'm already getting excited to see how I'll do on my second marathon. WAIT! Did I just verbalize desires to run another one? I'm such a sucker for punishment. This next time around, I think I'll be roping Emily into it with me. We are going to be doing the Halloween Half together. Training with someone (at least for the long runs) will make all the difference. And when I say "someone," that is strictly limited to girls. I refuse to run with guys. Well, that's not entirely true. I guess when it comes down to it, distance running is a fairly intimate activity. I'm dressed down to almost nothing, sweaty, make-up-less, panting, brought to my extremities, and I'm in no place where I want to think about conversation or what I look like or what I smell like, etc. There are few guys I've ever been willing to go on a long run with... I think I could narrow it down to Chris (because he's a runner and I'm pretty sure all my walls at one time or another have been down before him), Tim (the rock star, running-est brother of mine), Jared (who showed up at my place wearing cut-off jeans for our first run together... I was sooooo annoyed! Hahahaha! What a funny memory!), Aaron (only if he agreed to run ten paces behind me because he is a horrible pacer, ALWAYS coming out way too fast... show-off), and Pete (who I was way close to for obvious reasons). But none of these guys are available to me now, so the rules are GIRLS ONLY!

Alright, this cat has to get to bed. I'm a responsible, working adult these days. To close, I leave you with a song I can't get enough of lately:



And my latest favorite face melt (that must be listened to at a very high volume... did I mention I blew out the second speaker in my car last week? What's my deal with loud music?!):