Thursday, February 2, 2012

New territory. And January recap.

Before I got sick, I made a big step in my marathon training. On Sunday, I ran my longest run in over seven years. Let me say that again:

On Sunday, I ran my longest run in over seven years. Seven. Years.

Seven years ago, I was childless. Seven years ago I was seven years younger. Seven years ago I had little idea what I was doing with my running.

Now, I'm a wiser runner and, I hope, a better one. Sunday's run would certainly help me to believe that. It was great. I ran at a 9:30-ish pace, starting a little slower and finishing up with a few miles at my marathon goal pace (8:30). I was pleased with how I felt during the run, and after. I ate an English muffin with a little peanut butter prior to my run and took two gels on the run -- a vanilla Clif Shot and a chocolate one. The gels were easy on my belly and kept me energized. I'm more-or-less convinced that the Clif Shot gels are for me so now I just need to bite the bullet and order up a case. Or two. Probably two.

The next day? Well, that's when I was as sick as a cat. And the next, too. So, I haven't exactly run since the 16-miler but I am looking forward to today's run!

*     *     *

Now, about the recap. Marathon training kicked off this month and my mileage reflects that. It was a little lower than planned, because of my own illness (missed a 5-miler) and my son's illness last week (missed a 6-miler). But, that's no big deal in the grand scheme of marathon training. Overall, I'm happy with how my running went this month.

January stats:

Running (miles): 129.7
Racing: 2 -- half marathon and a 15K (both the local Winter Series)
Cross training: 9


Not bad. In addition to the running, I've gotten serious about my smoothies and have been making them almost every day again, experimenting with new and different ingredients and just generally enjoying them. I've also gotten back to having chia every day and I've been creating new healthy recipes. And, I went crazy with the running motivation


In other words, February has a lot to live up to.


Yup. Sure does.


Enjoy the rest of the day!


~ Felice

9 comments:

Suzy said...

Wow, big mileage!! It sounds like your 16 miler was awesome! I hope you are feeling better.

Lisa@RunWiki said...

Great miles at a speedy pace... congratulations!

Mel said...

congrats!

Take care of yourself, getting up there in miles can really wreck havoc on your immune system.

During training, I load up on Vit C and i'm a germ-a-phobe

Marlene said...

So cool to be hitting those milestones again! Sounds like it was an excellent long run.

Darlene said...

Congrats on your long run. Feel better soon.

Michael said...

Wow...a triple digit month on the miles is awesome. With everything else you have going on, AND the excellent long run, things are going your way.

Well done !

Bill Fine said...

Nicely done!!! I only got up to 121.8 myself (although that was a new high for me), so you crushed my total. Well done on the long run too....you're on your way!!!

Unknown said...

Wow, that is A LOT of miles! I aspire to get my mileage up that high. Great job!

Jim said...

Hey, you're doing great! I'm coming back from injuries that sidelined me in June last year. It is hard being inactive.

I'm looking forward to getting back into longer distances myself, but I hear your 'seven-years' loudly. It's been at least that long for me and I know I need to be gentle on this old-er body now . . .

Cheers
Jim

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