As I begin week 4 of Operation:Las Vegas, I can feel myself getting stronger already. The elite runners and coaches of the world say that the more miles you run, the more miles you can run. I'm beginning to realize just how true this is.
I thought I was surely going to die by the end of week 1. By the end of week 2, I was adjusting, but still exhausted. Last week was the first week where I actually clocked all the miles I was supposed to, and felt good about it. Granted, the 2:00:00 long run last weekend nearly killed me, but making the body do something new is usually never fun(ok, sometimes it's fun, but where exercise is concerned, not so much).
This weekend I spent at the beach, having fun with the new guy and his kids. We celebrated the oldest daughter's birthday by having a cupcake party, where I spent all afternoon Saturyda baking cupcakes, and then we all decorated them Saturday evening. We stuck candles in 14 of them and sang and the whole nine yards. Fun! The eating of the cupcakes? A bad plan. I didn't get to 300# by saying no to cupcakes. However, life goes on, and today, there are no cupcakes to be seen. Sadly, while at the beach, I coulcn't manage to get my long run because the humidity was monstrous.
So, today I got up and did my long run. And it's amazing to me how easy it was! I did 10 miles last Sunday, and suffered all the way through. Of course, that was the first 10 miler I'd done since May when I did my last 1/2 mary. Yesterday's long run was only to be 7 miles, so I went out this morning thinking I'd do 8, and get one of this week's miles outta the way. The sky was completely overcast, there was a breeze blowing, and my legs felt great. The more I run, the more my legs feel better running faster. My goal today was to have 35-40 minutes of marathon pace running, meaning that my normal 11:45-12:00 pace for long runs needed to average 11:30/mile for 35-40 minutes to get my legs used to running faster for longer periods of time, since the marathon will most likely take me 5 hours +. Wonder of wonders, my legs kicked it into high gear, and just went. I'm learning to lean back so that my legs and hips are rotating properly, instead of leaning forward. And when my headphones died at mile 6, I was relieved that I could just concentrate on listening to my foot falls and breathing. As I listen to each foot fall, I can stop any dragging that happens when I lean too far forward, and really feel my feet.
Week 4 is shaping up to be a great week. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to double up and run twice one day this week to get all my miles, but my brother/coach does that all the time, so it must be ok. I'm so in tune with my body that I can't imagine how I didn't do this earlier in my life. It feels so good to know what's going on, and to be able to get through everyday without caffeine and sugar and just exist on human energy.
I'm looking forward to having a good week, if today's run is any indication. The more miles I run, the more I want to run. Where can I go wrong?
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