Just one more

This is going to be hard work. But I love a new challenge. I've trained for my last 9 marathons in the fall/winter/spring, but never in the summer. Part of me feels a little nutty for trying to do 20 milers in late July when the overnight lows might drop down into the 70s. Part of me feels a little refreshed that I am still capable of having good runs despite the oppressive weather.

Whether you are a longtime reader (who are you?) or a newb, it is important to know that I'm all about gathering inspiration however I can get it. If you're lucky, a little might ooze out of my bloops and make you want to run.  

I was hesitant to post this video the last time because A) it's a commercial and B) I rarely every click away from a bloop myself to read something else or watch something else.

But I'll post it anyway, because I love the message:

 

It makes me think of that passage in Once A Runner where he runs the 3X20X200. Just one more, just one more, just one more. 

It's often my mind that wants to quit first, but not my heart or my body. As usual... more on this in a bit....

I ran 5 glorious miles with my favorite Tomato on Friday morning. We met up in the parking lot only to discover we had both just purchased the exact same handheld (mine in pink, his in black).

(Still not sold on the handheld versus the fanny pack, but it might be okay for short summer runs)

We spoke pretty much nonstop for 5 miles and despite the muggy conditions, I kind of wished we had a few more miles to run. Such is running with Loopsters, I 'spose.

When I got home, instead of cleaning up, I proceeded to get dirtier. I mowed the lawn, edged the curb/driveway/flower beds, trimmed the evergreens, and weeded. 3 hours later, I was filthy and tired.

I made a nice cold smoothie before maybe showering off...

But wait! Adam gets home and decides he wants to take the jet ski out on the lake and so I throw on my swimsuit. We are out there for less than an hour before an impending storm sent us back to the shore.

I slept well Friday night...

Saturday was a fairly physical day at work. We are undergoing a remodel and the floors are being ripped out this week. 20,000 square feet of merchandise and fixtures had to be squeezed into about 14,000 square feet. Small staff=everyone is helping schlep the stuff.

Sunday, I have a tempo on the schedule. I am admittedly full of nerves. I have been trying to take things a bit more seriously this week. Drinking a little less beer and eating more roughage. Besides the fact that summer dinner salads are super easy:

But I still haven't done a lick of real speed work since March. I'm nervous that my legs just operate at just one speed now. And it is hot and sunny even at 8am. My "goal" is 6 miles with 4@7:48. I'm shooting for 7:30 in my head.

It was definitely more effort than a tempo (4@7:17 pace), but I needed to see those speeds to feel confident again.

I stretched out on the balance ball Sunday night because my quads and hips felt really tight. I hate stretching. I rarely do it unless things are feeling wonky. But this actually felt pretty good. Luxy wondered why I was invading her territory:

Everything was puppies and unicorns at work on Monday and the excitement I had for my "early morning" long run grew palpable as the day grew on. I made coffee last night to stick in the fridge (mmm, iced coffee!) and laid out my clothes and fuel belt. No excuses to not get going before it got disgustingly hot!!

Fortunately, I was excited when I woke up (WTH is the matter with me?) and raring to get it done.

Once I got situated at the Greenway, I decided to just run the first mile by feel. My right quad was feeling achy and I was a bit worried that 13.5 miles was going to make it worse. So I tried to stay loose and enjoy the ride, but my confidence was waning. This didn't feel easy.

Should I even go for another BQ in Jackson Hole?

Who am I thinking I can gender place in a frickin' marathon?

Is this a twinge or something more serious?

But I pushed away the negative self talk. Just go for one more. Then see what happens. Let that iced coffee do its thing. Let Marky Mark put a smile on your face. Just another mile.

I started to relax by mile 3 and then the pace started to pick up. I still had 10ish more miles left so I tried to keep that in mind as my turnover increased. The quad was still a little iffy, but wasn't changing my gait so I mushed on.

I made a pit stop at the turnaround, refilled my water, and sucked down an espresso Gu. Something worked because all of sudden a wave of endorphins rushed over me and I was running high! Chasing down my shadow with the sun to my back, I felt amazing.

I love the feeling of my body running faster than what my mind expects. I knew that if I could just do one more I could use the last few miles as a cool down.

But I know that my body is stronger than my mind. Just keep pushing the pace past the realm of comfort, knowing I have just enough gas left to complete the task.

As I came upon the last 2 miles, I was relieved that while the end of the training run was near, I knew I had a little more in me. So I decided to round my 12 miles-that-was-really-going-to-be-13.5-miles to 14 miles. Just do one more.

It was a hard effort for a training run, but I needed it.

I'm hoping this sweat pays off: