Back...hopefully for reals this time... :)

K.

Long break. Too much to cover so most will be skipped and the good parts I'm sure will surface periodically :) Basically right as soon as I got back on track with everything my friend Melanie came to stay with me for 10 weeks while doing an internship down here. It is all her fault. (Well, that's my story anyway...). We go way back and unfortunately have a shared love of good wine, better cheese, red stripe and late nights. Needless to say my butt was kicked off the gym wagon before I'd even warmed up the seat.

The next ten weeks went by so quick in a summertime blur of good times. We did a bunch of stuff, ate out a ton, sat by the pool a lot....but we did walk four-six miles pretty regularly.... What we did not do was run. I didn't run once the ten weeks she was here, and then for good measure decided to take of the next two also. This brought me to the end of August, and the stark reality, that the marathon was 8 weeks away!

Now I hadn't planned on running it, but rather was going to walk it with my sister. While it would have made me sore as hell, I could have walked a marathon on August 27 (the day I realized my plan was falling apart). Sarah had hurt her foot, (really bad plantar fasciitis) and it wasn't getting any better. After her 10 mile walk almost killed her, she decided she would switch to the half and see if she could finish that. Now I am doing the marathon with Lauren, but without my sister with us we feel like we should run it. So with 8 weeks, the both of us are desparately trying to find some way to finish it, not die, and not get injured. Possible? We'll see...

So starting in beginning of this month I tried to become more dedicated. Stuck to my three midweek runs, long on the weekend. Due to such a shortened timeframe however I ramped up my midweeks more quickly. I think I did 3,4,3 the first week of the month, then 3,5,3, then last week 5,7,5 and stuck with that this week. For longs I did 6,8,10, and then this morning 13. Felt pretty good, though I am having horrible sciatica (from my %#%##!! piriformis....STILL) in my right leg and need new shoes before I get stress fractures in my left foot. They are a hair too small and it's giving me some pretty serious pain in my first two metacarpals right in front of my ankle over my arch....any ideas what causes that? Super sharp pain sometimes....

Anyway sitting now in my recovery sox (gift from Lauren!) and they feel real good! Wish I could've stretched and iced more, but not time. Anyway, barring any major injury the plan is as follows.....there are almost four weeks left (rest of this one then three), and I'm only doing this as a training run for ATL in November, so I plan to take it nice and easy. No time goals, just want to finish. Upright. :)

This week (1): tennis today, strenght tomorrow a.m., 4 miles recovery p.m, Thursday crosstrain a.m., 6 miles p.m. Fri-Sun off (I know- I should get something in here but I'm going to Athens for the LSU/UGA game so I may as well just be honest with myself...it's not gonna happen!)

2: Monday 16 miles LSD, Tuesday 4 miles recovery, Wednesday a.m. strength, p.m. 6 miles, Thursday a.m. swim, p.m. tennis, Friday a.m. Strength, p.m. 5 miles, Saturday off, Sunday 18 miles.

3: Monday off, Tuesday am 4 miles recovery, p.m. tennis, Wednesday a.m. strength, p.m. 7 miles, Thursday a.m. yoga, p.m. 5 miles, Friday a.m. strength, p.m. tennis, Sunday 20 miles.

4: Monday off, Tuesday 4 miles recovery, Wednesday 5 miles, Thursday 4 miles, Friday Strength, Saturday off, Sunday Marathon.

Now I know it's tough, but remember I'm not afraid of walk breaks and don't have any time goal in mind. I am looking at this as my last long run before the ATL marathon on Thanksgiving day, so that is why there's no taper....After this I will taper before the next! So is it doable? I think so...will I do well? Haha....NO. But I'm not worried about it; I am excited for a number of reasons:

1) to see the fam
2) to run a BIG marathon
3) for the entertainment (it's at like every mile!)
4) to relax and have no time goal
5) to be in DC again...Yay!

So anyway.....really looking forward too it, and hopefully after the Marine Corps I will feel fit and on track for Atlanta!

For those who may care, my plan is to do MCM, ATL, mobile in January, and then the New Orleans Rock 'n Roll in February. I am really hoping to PR in Mobile and then again in Nola, but we'll have to see :) Obviously MCM is going to be awful, and due to the hills in Atlanta I'm not too hopefull about that either :(

I know you all probably don't believe me, but I swear I'm back and can't wait to back on track reading all your blogs ;-)