December
What Happened in December?
A minor problem crept in. We were running the first long run of the month, which was a scheduled 12 mile run. Everything was going fine and then .... rubber legs!!!!!!!!!
As we were finishing 10 miles, suddenly my legs became rubbery. No warning whatsoever! We were coming up a hill and I began feeling like my legs were not going to give any more support. Feeling rubbery, I had to fight it to reach the top. About 1/4 mile further, and we reached our cars , meaning we had 1 lap to go, or 2 miles.
We stopped quickly, for less than a minute, and downed some sport drink, then began running again. I could actually feel myself becoming revitalized. Still tired and the legs were weak, but strong enough to go on. We finished the 12 miler with no further problems. This is unchartered territory for me, having never gone beyond 10 miles before.
The rubber legs brought a reality check. I told Walt it just hit me what a moumental task running a marathon actually is. 26 1/4 miles! I have a lot of respect for the people who have completed one. Our 12 miler took us 2 hours and 4 minutes. A few more minutes and the elite would be finishing the entire event. That is unbelievable!
Training will not be getting any easier. Every other week the long run will take us farther than we've ever run before. The sacrifices will become greater. Think about this. The long runs will be approaching 3 hours soon, then 4. That's a heck of a time period. Sometimes it's tough getting yourself out the door for a run, but you push yourself. After all, it's only 30 - 45 minutes. Now, pack the drink and something to snack on, cause its a half a workday spent running.
As I've mentioned before, i enjoy running and actually look forward to it. I think that might be a prerequisite for training for a marathon, because if you hate to run, I don't think a 3 to 4 hour run is going to be anything but torture. So far, I've actually enjoyed the long runs; at least for the most part. But it definitely puts a strain on the old body after the 7 or 8 mile mark. But you know what? We'll continue on. If it was easy, it wouldn't be much of a challenge, would it?
I forgot to mention I ran a 5K the first Sunday of the month. The racing is done for the season now. The next race I enter will be the Marathon.
Ran 8 miles on the off Sunday run. Legs were still feeling a little tired, but no problems. I drank a little more along the way. The 2 weekday runs are still between 3 and 4 miles, depending on how my legs feel. My cross training has slipped to once a week this month, and will probably stay there until after the holidays.
Good news on the second long run! No problems. We ran 14 miles and did it in 2 hours and 30 minutes. Made a few changes. We ran the same 5 running and 1 walking, but every 4 miles we stopped for a quick drink of sport drink. I also had water with me during the run, and drank some every 2nd walk period. My sister, Penny, gave me some sports gel to try. I used it every 15 to 20 minutes and washed it down with water. The result....
No rubber legs! Tired, of course, and a little sore in the legs. But didn't feel rubbery. This was a major difference! We've gone past the halfway mark, and things look good. Felt spent later in the day, but I'm sure that's to be expected. But no major problems. This was the sort of run we both needed. I think a combination of all of the above, plus probably the cumulation of all these miles, helped during this run.
We put in 65 miles this month.
2 long runs are again scheduled for this month, January 11th and 25th. The plans at the moment call for a 16 miler, then an 18 miler. I'm still holding to 2 30 - 45 minute sessions during the week, but will be jumping the cross training back to 2 days. Planning on some weight training, as well.
There's just a little over 17 weeks to go, but we are right on schedule at the moment. This month, I believe the 18 miler will be kind of like getting over the hump. That will leave single digits to go.
If you're training for a marathon, drop me a line. I'm going to be expanding this newsletter soon, and may just drop in a few comments from our readers from time to time. I'd love to hear from you. And thanks for the nice comments from some of you who have run a marathon or two in the past. I'm glad you're enjoying this section.