Marathon Madness Monday: Week 13

2/3 of Marathon training is behind me - 1/3 to go!! The last 3 weeks of training are all about tapering, so I feel like I am at the 'beginning of the end'. It's sort of surreal because it seems like not long ago I was re-capping week 1 of training. I pretty much just have to get through 2 20 mile runs in September! And hopefully by September, the weather will be a bit cooler. I am hoping my 20 milers go as well as my 18 miler did last week, but I guess we'll just have to see what marathon training has in store for me!

Since I had out of town guests this weekend, I shifted my training around and did my long run on Friday morning. I use the word "long" loosely because it was only 13 miles. I realize that it sounds delusional to most of you to say "only" and "13 miles" in the same sentence, but marathon training really messes with your perception of a "long run".

So I set out for my 13 miles on Friday morning. I decided to run those 13 in my neighborhood; I usually do my long runs in the "Chain of Lakes" or Minnehaha Parkway area, but I didn't want to waste any time driving to and from as Mandy was at my condo and I didn't want to abandon her for too long.

So I set out and headed for the path where I usually do my 8 mile runs during the week. That is the furthest I have ever run in my neighborhood. I do a 4 mile out & back route usually, but I was thinking/hoping that maybe this running path kept going and I could do a 6.5 mile out and back.

Wrongo batman. The path ended at 4.33 miles.

Hmm... What to do. I am not a fan of running the same path multiple times as I find that mentally grueling so I decided to just "wing it" and keep going. I linked up with this road that looked like it was a major thoroughfare with very few stops lights and was like - yes! I can make this into a 6.5 mile out and back easily!

I neglected to pay attention to the name of the road, though. After running along this road for about a mile I was like, "holy cannasta, this is fricking hilly."

Then I noticed the name of the road: Homeward Hills Road.

Lovely, Lisa. The word "Hills" was included in the name of the road for a reason.

So I did a pretty dang hilly 13 miles. I still maintained a 9:45 pace but I was definitely cursing myself for choosing such a challenging 13 mile route... There is a time and a place for hill work when training for a marathon, but for a novice like me, it's certainly not on your long run day.

So note to self: There is a reason why we don't usually "wing it". I'll plan ahead a little better next time and will avoid roads with the word "Hill" in them. ;)

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Training Tally:
Miles ran last week: 33
Training-to-date mileage: 344