Rehoboth Beach RR--A 26.2 mile runner's high

It always seems impossible until it's done. -Nelson Mandela

A quote I took with me on my first trip to Rehoboth Beach, posted in the newspaper I was reading the day after Mandela died. I was headed to complete what was once seemingly impossible--qualify for the Boston Marathon.

2 years later, I was headed back to Rehoboth with 728 days more experience. I really and truly didn't need anything better than a marathon finish. This year has been beyond incomprehensible running-wise and to ask for anything more would be extreme. But my training had been so good and I felt strong coming off my 50 miler. It seemed a bit wasteful if I didn't push myself to new limits.

Runners like to talk about race goals when they get together. I must have been asked a dozen times on Friday what my plan was for Saturday. A PR would be great, but I'll always be happy with a finish. And I meant it. I didn't need anything more than to grab a medal and hang out with a bunch of rad people for the rest of the weekend.

I took a half day on Thursday and ran my last 3 miles on a gorgeous fall afternoon with the best Atlanta RB. It was the perfect way to wrap up the last of my training as the next miles would also be in the company of Loopsters.

After piddling around for the rest of the afternoon, I finally returned home to pack and try to get a bit of sleep. The alarm at 5:30 a.m. was painfully early, but I was so excited I almost didn't care. I got to the airport with plenty of time and walked from security to terminal C while chatting with Adam.

Steve was my original ride to Rehoboth, but a last-minute opportunity for his kid meant that I had to find a new person to bother. Jill graciously agreed to shuttle me to and from the airport which was a bazillion times better than making that boring drive by myself. It is really fun to get to know someone one-on-one like that and I really lucked out with Jill. I seriously couldn't believe how fast time went both going and coming.

At the mansion-by-the-sea, we ran from room to room in childlike excitement before heading out to packet pickup. It was a bit of a zoo, but we grabbed our gear and ran into Jillian and Brian (yay Loopsters!) before head to Dogfish Head.

I had resigned myself to one to two beers pre-race and so I took the advice of Dan and grabbed a Hoo Lawd without really knowing what I was getting myself into. For $6, I received an 11 oz. pour of the hoppiest beer ever made and a half-pint of beer chaser. At 658 IBUs (most IPAs are 50-70), this was beyond hoppy. I think I was the only one who liked it. It definitely was potent in the ABV category too and one order was plenty to get me through the rest of the evening.

The group headed back to the house for dinner cooked by John who brought his delicious homemade pasta sauce for the crowd and Brian played sous chef. I sought out Abby's company over dinner as 2 of my 3 BQ times have come from dinner with Abby the previous night. (Spoiler alert: the record is now 3 of 4.)

I ate about 400 pounds of caramel corn and a 200 pumpkin spice yogurt covered pretzel washed down with gallons of water. Carbs and hydration, check.

I laid out my flat girl after saying good nights and attempted to get some sleep. JJ and I were sharing a bed and we talked for awhile with the lights out like we were at overnight camp. After a bit of nervous excitement to actually fall asleep, I managed to stay pretty dead to the world until just after 5. I could hear the murmur of soft talking and I headed downstairs in my pajamas for a bagel and coffee. Brian fortunately had made a pot already and I sucked down the liquid caffeine quickly.

Back upstairs, I slathered Vaseline all over and put on my race outfit. I realized I had yet to step outside and so I headed back down to figure out if I needed my throwaway sweatshirt. It was PERFECT outside. Chilly, calm, and I knew that I'd be happy in a tank and shorts once the sun came up. I swelled with excitement.

I traveled with a small pack to the start and jogged with Brad and Erin to stay warm. The group eventually huddled by the Candy Kitchen before parting ways. It seemed more packed by the start than in previous years and I didn't want to be too far behind losing time to weaving. If I was going to go for it, every second counted!

I pushed through the crowd like I owned the joint and when I came to a stop, I realized that Angie and Caitlin were right behind me. Sweet! I could huddle for a few minutes with them and listen to the national anthem. If I were a cartoon character, you would have seen a light bulb next to my head right before the start as I remembered to swallow an espresso GU. I could barely hear when the start gun when off, but soon the crowd of runners started moving forward and I followed.

With Drake's 0 to 100 blasting loudly in my ear, I punched my Garmin's start button and took off when I hit the start mat. The first mile at Boston was pretty slow for me because of the crowds and I decided that I would be okay if I just eased into the first mile of this race. I took the opportunity to relax and feel how the taper worked magic on my body. My feet and legs felt so fresh!

Having run this course before, I felt lucky that I knew where to situate myself in the crowd to make the sharpest turn. I hugged the right side of the course as we meandered through the first mile.

Mile 1: 8:06

At some point in the second mile, I realized that while I had made a goal of running in the 7:4X range, I hadn't really looked at a pace chart for a few weeks. Oops. Classic Carissa... So I decided to just hover in the 7:4X range as long as I could in the first half and then evaluate the situation.

Mile 2 turned into mile 3 and soon I started to see the fastest half runners as they made their way around the out-and-back. Erin was in the zone when I yelled out to her, but I did get to wave to Bangle. When I got to the half marathon/marathon split, I got focused again.

Miles 2, 3: 7:42, 7:33

I did notice a small drop in the speed as we entered the first trail section, but I started to pick people off one by one. Which would be a pattern I held all day--it was very strange to pass and pass and pass without hardly anyone passing me.

The sun had come up and I started to feel warm. I slid my gloves around my fingers and waited until I got to the next water stop to shed them. Then I bunched my arm warmers around my wrists--holding onto them mostly because they are Oiselle, but partially because it has been very windy along the highway in years past.

I swallowed a vanilla orange Roctane GU just past the 4th mile marker and was pretty impressed that I actually remembered.

The trail section is really pretty and I enjoyed pounding away the first miles. Everything still felt really, really good and though I was working, I felt no sense of mental shaking.

Miles 4, 5, 6: 7:40, 7:47, 7:46

Mile 7 is the last full mile in the trail/park area of this section and includes and out-and-back where runners can see those in front and those behind. I counted a few ponytails in front of me and used it to my advantage to dig a little deeper. Once I was onto the pavement again on mile 8, I could really get racing again. I remembered to eat a salted watermelon GU.

Skrillex Yo Skrill Drop It Hard came on about the time that I hit the pavement and picked up a tailwind. It was the perfect storm and I just flew along having the time of my life. Marathons are really, really hard, but here I was having a runner's high right smack in the middle of one!

Miles 7, 8: 7:42, 7:32

The next two miles were in the tailwind (which I didn't realize at the time), so I was happily moving down the highway keeping a nice pace. I saw the leaders of the marathon as they came back in the other direction and noted that the top woman was waaaaay ahead. No chance of me catching her. So now it was time to just catch my former self!

Bacon and I waved as he went by and then I started to look for the turn. Finally, I got to the end point, tapped the timing mat and circled back around towards the park.

Miles 9, 10: 7:38, 7:25

The headwind smacked me in the face as soon as I turned around. Oh geez, this is why I felt so good! But instead of letting it defeat me, I tucked in behind runners and started taking them down again one at a time. It was still early in the race, but I could tell that some runners were beginning to fall off pace.

My spirits soared each time I saw another Loopster as they yelled across the highway. JJ, Angie, Caitlin, John, Jill, and T.O. all waved and cheered and I flailed back. I slurped down an espresso GU at just past the mile 12 mark.

Miles 11, 12: 7:31, 7:37

As we headed back into the park, I knew I needed to just relax with pace for the trail sections. I still needed to run another half marathon+ and anything can happen in those last miles. So I stuck with a group of runners for a bit and paced off of them until I finally decided that I was ready to tackle the next section.

I crossed the 13.1 mile mark at 1:40:03. I couldn't really do runner math before that point to calculate a finish time (studying a pace chart beforehand would have been smart...), but now I knew I was set up to KILL my PR if I could just hold onto the pace.

As we wandered through the park in the next few miles, I started envisioning my finish. Positive vibes were going to get me through the day. The weather was spectacular, my stomach felt good, my legs felt strong, and best of all, I felt really, really happy to be running a marathon on a Saturday morning.

Miles 13, 14, 15, 16: 7:41, 7:46, 7:25, 7:24

The course goes back through town and a small crowd of spectators always helps. I ate the last vanilla orange Roctane GU I had tucked in my sports bra after I hit the pavement. In my brain, I had started running through some mad runner math. If I do 10 more miles at an 8 minute pace, I still PR. If I run to 18.2 miles and then 8 miles at a....dang, where is my calculator? It occupied my head a bit as I ran through the residential streets of Rehoboth.

Allison and Rob were manning the mile 18 cheer stop and I reached out to them for high fives and good vibes. Gosh, this is just going to be so good if I can hold on for another 8 miles. I grabbed another GU from the volunteers at the water stop and tucked it away for mile 20.

Miles 17, 18: 7:36, 7:26

Okay, okay, okay, one more out-and-back and I'm done. The section of the course from Rehoboth Avenue to the second trail is always bad. You watch the misery of runners on the other side who's faces look mostly exhausted and over it. There were a few smiling faces in the crowd, but many look dejected. Fortunately, one of the smiling faces was Sara who looked way happier than the people around her.

I tucked in behind a guy who I will forever be grateful to in this race. His pacing allowed me to keep on track until the final turnaround on the trail. Those miles between 19-22 were hard, but as long as I kept up with this guy and we were passing people, I was okay with maintaining.

The rocks on the trail were particularly bad this year. My feet were feeling the effects of running 20 miles and every sharp point seemed to find my shoes. I was really glad I had made the switch to Hokas this past year.

Somewhere between the road and the last water stop on the trail, I saw Bacon heading back to the finish. I reached out and we high fived. Later, he would exclaim that he didn't see me on the second trail. Maybe he just gets so many random high fives from weirdos he just forgets?

Anyway, I managed to tell the guy I was pacing behind that I was going to buy him a beer when we were done because of his pacing skills. He asked me what my goal was and I told him that I really wanted to PR. Better than 3:26. He said we were on pace for a 3:23 by his calculations. Cool.

Miles 19, 20, 21, 22: 7:39, 7:40, 7:51, 7:34

I felt reinvigorated by the turnaround point and my pacing guy told me to go for it as I slowly inched ahead of him. Suddenly, 4 miles seemed really, really doable. I was going to feel great and PR the heck out of this thing.

The warmth had started to creep up on me and I was very ready for liquid at the last trail water stop. All day I hadn't really cared what I was grabbing. Water, Gatorade, whatever. I had my GU and the temperatures were cool enough that the sugary Gatorade wasn't effecting my stomach.

I immediately felt better after getting in some liquid and just concentrated on getting to the next mile marker.

Mile 23: 7:30

As I got to the final 5K, I started to see a few more Loopsters and I would get newly excited with each passing. I was a bit zoned out because I just was trying to hold on. It was beginning to get tough.

Mile 24: 7:27

The 25th mile was the hardest mentally. I was ready to lay it all out on the line, but now I was tired. My legs were feeling heavy and I was struggling with the thought that I still had a mile to go after this one. I grabbed water one last time and sipped a bit from the cup before dumping the rest over my head.

Mile 25: 7:37

Heading into the final mile, I decided to keep steady until I hit Rehoboth Avenue. I saw Jill and her bright smile snapped me out of the zombie zone. As I rounded the corner to Rehoboth Avenue, I started to pick up the pace. There were 2 women and a man running together in front of me and I easily passed them. Just 2 more turns until I could sprint!

I made a left on Columbia Avenue and got closer and closer to another woman in front of me. Halfway to 4th Street, I saw her take a selfie with her phone. No way I was going to get beat by selfie girl! I sneaked right up behind her and then I revved the engine as we turned onto 4th Street. My conservation for the final kick paid off.

As I surged past her, I gave it everything I had down the final stretch. Everything was on fire. My lungs, my heart, my legs. I pumped my fist in the air as I knew I had just had the race of my life and bombarded the finish line.

Mile 26 and the last .3: 7:29, 2:12 (a 6:58 pace)

3:20:12!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A 6:15 PR and a 12:42 course PR. Heck yeah!

A volunteered caught me with a heat blanket and someone threw a medal around my head. I walked a few steps with a medal dangling around my ponytail. I wanted to savor this sweet moment as long as I could.

My dad and aunt met me at the finish line and I spent the next hour or so in a haze. I went back to the house for a shower and then to the beer tent for 4 bags of chips, a Coke, and finally, a beer. My dad took my aunt and I to lunch in Dewey Beach and then I rejoined the Loopsters back at the big house.

The rest of the day and night were the perfect end to the perfect race. I drank and sang and danced until I was so sleepy that JJ sent me to bed. It was the best fun with the best internet strangers.

Tryptophan Half Marathon Volunteer RR

It's really kind of embarrassing that I've never volunteered at a race before this Thanksgiving. I've been running for a bajillion years and have participated in my fair share of races, but I never have given back to the community that I love so, so much. It was time to change that.

One of my goals for 2015 was to volunteer at a race and thought it seemed like an 11th hour choice, Thanksgiving was the perfect time to hang medals around a bunch of sweaty strangers. The weather was nice, the race was super close (on the Greenway where I do most of my runs), and I could still have dinner with my family.

Adam decided to join me and once I posted on FB, my friend Angela signed up too. She works for Apple and they do really great things for their employees who volunteer for non-profits so it was kind of a no-brainer for her to hang out with us. We got there around 9a.m. where the 5K and 10K runners were finishing up their races. Our shift was to hand out medals to the half-marathoners and the first one crossed the finish line right as we figured out where we were supposed to go.

For the next couple of hours we stood 10-15 feet behind the finish line and hung medals around the racers necks. I happen to like when a volunteer puts it around my neck--I'm not really sure what the official protocol is, but it seems like it means a lot more than someone just tossing it to you. There were a couple of young teenage girls who were helping us and my friend Angela told them to watch what I was doing as I was the runner of the group.

It was a beautiful day to be out volunteering. Okay, maybe I was a smidgen sad I wasn't running. Sunny and chilly is kind of my thing. But it was also really, really fun to hang out and chat with Adam and Angela in between runners finishing on a gorgeous fall day.

Volunteering really does kind of put a different light on things. I suddenly was very aware that I am probably too tired to properly thank the volunteers at the end of a race. I'm usually good about doing it for police officers and at the first few water stops, but my enthusiasm typically wanes as the miles pile up. Most of the runners said thank you, but a few did say "thank you for coming out today". A small phrase that felt a bit more personal. I'm totally stealing this from now on.

It was definitely fun to see runners finishing their races. They were in all varying sorts of conditions as they crossed the finish line. Gritting their teeth, grinning from ear to ear, arms pumped in excitement, stumbling in exhaustion, etc. Two runners stuck out for me in particular. A lady who upon checking her time was almost jumping up and down and pretty much the happiest person on Earth as she realized she had clocked a 19 minute PR. Her proud moment was really, really awesome to watch. The second was a runner who literally held onto me after I put her medal around her neck. She wasn't in need of medical, but she definitely gave the race everything she got. Once she started to peel away from me, I could see that she was just happily exhausted.

As the runners started to stretch out their finishes as the morning wore on, the photographer took an opportunity to get a shot of the 3 of us 'adult' volunteers at the finish line. The pictures for the race were free so I'm glad he got a great shot of us!

The volunteer coordinator encouraged us to take a medal and a shirt for volunteering. I felt a bit weird about taking an unearned medal, but Loopville reminded me that I earned the medal by volunteering. I still might kind of put it to the side of my other medals, but it is a cool reminder from my first volunteer experience. 

We stayed until they deflated the finish line arch and were packing up the finish line food. I think there were still a few walkers out on the course though it was closed and it made me a little sad that they were not going to be greeted with the same warm welcome as the faster finishers. But a guy who was with some of the walkers had finished much earlier and said he would give them their medals when they got done. 

Once we wrapped up our volunteer efforts, Adam and I parted ways with Angela and got on with the rest of Thanksgiving. My sister was cooking this year and I was only in charge of bringing wine. Sorry there are no awesome food pics this year. But I did get a cute pic of my nephew at his first Thanksgiving. 

Really, he only got some mashed potatoes on his tray which he pretty much just used as play-doh. His doggie brother and sister are going to have a field day in the following months with all the food that "falls" off his tray.

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In other news, Rehoboth is on Saturday. I'm nervous and excited to run. Which is I suppose the way I should be. Doesn't matter that it is marathon #17--a goal race is always a bit daunting. I would be lying if I said I didn't want to run well, but I'm seasoned enough to know that not every race will go as planned. All I know is that I've put in the work and I hope that I feel great on Saturday. 

 

The taper has been about as expected. Lots of self-doubt. Plenty of weird aches and pains that seem to change with each run. That feeling that 3 miles is insanely long and I have no idea how I'm going to run 26.2? Wondering what in the hell to do with all this excessive time. You know, regular runner stuff....

 

See you peeps on the flip side of whatever Rehoboth has in store for me this year! 

To love running because I just love running

The late winter/early spring training cycle of 2015 treated me well. It's my favorite time of year to run in the deep south. On my days off, I can sleep in late, meander over coffee and breakfast, and go running just before noon in near-perfect temperatures. 

Summer is pretty much the complete opposite. I have to wake up early (re: muggy as hell) or plan my run late (re: hot as hell) to escape the midday feeling of simply wilting while standing. I'm still not really sure how I made it through a whole summer of ultra training. It did pay off in dividends at Woodstock and I think I am still reaping the rewards.

In mid-July, knee-deep in the inferno and among the piles of miles, I ran 10ish miles on the Greenway. It was 101 degrees real feel.

I carried my vest pack which has 2 25-ounce bottles to run 10 miles.

And despite my shorts/sports bra combo, I was still overdressed. But somehow I gutted out 10ish miles and hustled out an average of 8:00 minute miles. Sweet!

This was slightly slower than a MP run, but I cut myself a bit of slack given the temperatures.

Enter November 22nd. The first morning that Atlanta had seen temps with a "3" as the first digit since, um, at least April. I was like a kid on Christmas morning. I had even fueled with Christmas beer the night before!

And actually eaten a dinner that wasn't nachos. Perhaps this was actually the beginning of my alien takeover?

I had some coffee, ate a bowl of cereal, and put on my capris (!), short-sleeved shirt, and arm warmers (!!!). Sunny and chilly is my absolute favorite. The weather at Marshall last year was like, runner heaven.

When I got to the Greenway, I was all hyped up on caffeine and cold weather and I nearly skipped down the trail head. I told myself I could still play it cool though. This was just supposed to be an easy 10?

But I didn't really do the 8K-10K race as Pfitzinger suggested....so maybe I could tempo the middle miles. If I felt good...

The first mile was relatively uneventful, but as I got close to the mile marker, Garmin clicked off and I saw 7:33. I likey. And it felt good. I tried to maintain a similar feeling pace through the next mile. I loved feeling chilly in the shade of the Greenway.

As I headed through the next couple of miles, I knew it was more of a tempo pace, but my legs felt strong and my form felt absolutely perfect. Plus, all my favorite jams were blasting on Pandora!

There is one small incline just before mile marker 4 that crests at a major intersection. I look forward to a short rest break most days as I normally have to wait on the light. But when I got to the top of the hill, the walk signal was on and I happily kept going. Back down the hill on the other side and onto the one open mile of the Greenway that doesn't have shade. By this point, I was in a groove though--I was hungry to maintain my speed and every person in my sight gave me ammunition to push a little harder.

I passed the 5 mile marker and continued all the way to the trash can/bench at mile 5.25 before I turned around. Now it was time to make my way to the finish.

When I got back to the intersection, I did have to briefly wait before I started back up again, but I was just agitated now. I was in such a groove that I didn't want to stop. The miles clicked off and as I dropped below 7, I knew I just wanted to finish strong.

The last 2 miles were definitely at race pace. I was riding high on endorphins. My arm warmers were pushed down around my wrists. I was sucking in the cold air quickly and deeply. My thoughts drifted to the summer runs where I felt as though one of my lungs had been removed. Today, I could breathe!

It was overwhelmingly, deliriously good. People shouldn't be allowed to get this high on running.

As mile 10 clicked off, I just rode the wave to the finish. Everything was so perfectly smooth that I couldn't allow myself to back off the speed until I stopped.

When I did finally check out my Garmin, I was pretty happy that despite my forgoing a real 8-10K race, I actually set my own 10K PR.

This run was sufficient enough to give me all the joy I need for the rest of the year. Heck, I didn't even need a run this great after this year. It doesn't mean that I won't try my best at Rehoboth, but it does mean that I don't always need an audience or a medal to enjoy running my best.

Maybe that can be a hard thing for a non-runner to understand. Or someone who is very goal-focused. But for those of us who love running just because we love running, it's easy to comprehend.

Over the edge

The wind was picking up as I walked to my car in the dark parking lot. Though already dressed in my running clothes, I was negotiating ways to get out of my impending workout. 6x600s in the middle of 8 total miles. On a cool, sunny morning with fresh legs, this would be easy and exhilarating. But tonight, it would be a challenge.

I let the GPS take me to the track via the fastest route. Google is a godsend in Atlanta at 6 p.m. I secretly hoped the lights would be out and I could just take to the streets for a dark tempo run instead. But the track was lit up brightly and the parking lot was half filled with cars.

I grabbed my water bottle and keys and chose the '6X600' workout on my Garmin. I walked to the track as my Garmin attempted to connect and sized up the situation. A man was running on the inside lane and a walker was on the far outside. Approximately 20 teenage girls were scrimmaging soccer on the field. A ball bounced onto the track and rolled to the fence line.

My long sleeved shirt was necessary as the temperature had dropped in the relatively short time it took me to get to the track. I took a deep breath and tried to forget that my legs ached with 12,000 steps on them for the day and a half marathon pace run of 11 miles the day before. Whatever I had left to give, I would save it for that final 600.

I clicked the on button and trotted around the oval. Everything feels stiff. I am counting on the warm up to truly warm my muscles up. 2 miles on the Greenway seems to click off relatively fast. 2 miles on the track seems to take much, much longer.

I feel as though I'm on the climbing portion of a roller coaster as I head into the second warm up mile. It is both terrifying and exciting what awaits on the other side. Every time I do speed work, I wonder if it is worth the lung-searing pain, the waves of nausea, and the fear of getting to the last repetition.

But like the roller coaster, I suddenly hear the loud chirping of the Garmin signaling the first repeat is on deck. Time to go over the edge. I toss my long sleeve shirt off.

I pick up the pace and go out way too fast in the first 100 meters. As always. It doesn't matter the workout, it doesn't matter how long I've been doing it, I still sprint the first 100 meters each time I do speed work. Garmin is yelling at me that I'm way out of line with my pace. I had chosen 6:40-6:55 as my 600 meter pace. Pfitzinger says to do it at 5K pace. I don't race 5Ks. So I just guessed.

As I cross over the 200 meter mark, I slowly get into a groove. The pain eases a bit. I follow along the curve and use the wind at my back to go hard down the flat. Ouch. With just 200 meters left at the final curve, I lay it on again and hold tight until I hear the Garmin chirping that the pain is almost over.

For 1 minute and 30 seconds, I reprieve. I want to just let my form go, but there are still 5 reps on the line. I can't get sloppy yet. So I concentrate on taking short strides at a very slow pace. I jog 200 meters in 1:30 and am happy that my start/finish line should be the same with each rep.

I didn't plug in the pace goal when I set the next 5 reps so as I get to the end of my 100 meter sprint, I glance down to see that there is a 5:XX on my watch. Oops. That will not get me to #6. I dial back the pain. A similar situation that occurred in rep #1 unfolds in rep #2 and I fartlek the entire thing.

The new plan is to go 200 easy, 200 medium, 200 hard. I jog out my recovery and aim to stay steady in the first 200 meters. It seems better. But I'm not looking at Garmin. Takes too much work. So I just stare straight ahead and fly around the curves.

I'm conscious of the small crowd that has formed by the exit. Parents watching the last few minutes of practice are suddenly multiplying. My 'finish line' happens to be by the exit. I know they are there to watch their kids, but I pretend like they are my spectators. Grinding out a faster finish is easier when I have an audience.

I make a false promise that I can stop to get water after the 4th rep. Just one more and then I'll be on the homestretch.

My feet burn with the days' work. This workout couldn't be any more different than the 1200s I did in daylight on my day off last week. But I'm stronger for it. My form is still intact and the ache is not injury, it's fatigue.

I push on. When I finish the 4th rep, I decide to just finish the workout with nary a pause for water. The second to last rep is always such as tease. It reminds me of the 26 mile marker in the marathon. But wait, there's more!

I purposely save a little gas in the tank on the 5th rep. I want the last one to be fast. Really fast. So I maintain a bit of control. But I'm still not looking at my Garmin.

By the time I'm heading into the final rep, the field is completely cleared and a couple is power walking on the track. My audience is mostly gone. But I'm still working.

The first 200 meters takes forever. As I get to the final lap point, I aim to just speed up through the last 400 meters. My chest wails in pain as I hit 300 meters, but I am not backing down. Through the back straight and into the last curve, I wait to hit the sweet spot of 100 meters left to go. As I head down the final straight, I stretch my tired legs out as far and fast as they will allow.

There was never a sweeter beep than the one signaling the hard part was over.

The last 2.85 miles of cool down could be at whatever pace my body allowed. I just followed the oval around and around. The hard part was over.

An 11th hour Veterans Day Bloop

I'll keep this as short n' sweet as possible. After all, I did blog yesterday. Back-to-back blogs haven't happened since probably 2012. But cut me some slack, I did just finish up a 7 day stretch of running in my peak week of marathon training.

I took my Veterans Day run to the treadmill today. After logging 15,000+ steps at work today and on my 7th day of running, I was kind of expecting this 7 mile recovery run to be tough. But it actually wasn't too bad. In fact, I still had enough gusto to actually complete my 6 striders at the end of the run.

I donned some red n' blue to get in the spirit:

And grabbed my favorite picture of one of my favorite veterans to accompany me on the run (grandpa is in the middle):

I had a couple of other Loopster veterans join me, but they were watching from the wall (Colonel Cupcake, VBlevins, BBlevins....):

I was trying to find an Air Force movie to watch, but after spending 10 minutes scrolling through Netflix, I finally happened upon at running movie that I hadn't heard of. So 4 Mile it was:

After crank out just over 5.5 miles, I started doing my striders and finished up 11.11 kilometers:

I still needed to do a bit of a cool down so I kept going until I reach 1111 calories burned:

After I was done, I realized that my treadmill run was exactly the pictorial collage of an outdoor run. So I looked around for a bit of Veterans Day inspiration and saw my keyboard was kind of a perfect starting place:

Of the 4 books I play from with irregularity, Patriotic Songs for Piano is one of them. I decided it would be appropriate to play our national anthem post-run. I should have thought of it before, but hey, I had to warm up my brain I guess:

I did scan the room for other signs of Veterans Day signs, but all I could come up with was a patriotic medal:

And a really great race that happens to take place in November. The year I went, the Colonel and my local RB happen to run 13.1 miles together. Kind of perfect I think.

That's all I've got. Thank you for your service Veterans!

How did I get here?

I never considered this year's trajectory until I started doing the math. In 2014, I ran 1438 miles. I ran 6 marathons and maintained a fairly steady training schedule for the majority of the year. Mostly pavement. Mostly 25-35 miles per week. Mostly 100-140 miles per month.

This year, I'm already at 1800+ miles. I've had multiple 50+ mile weeks. I've had multiple 200+ mile months. I wondered where my extra free time went. Duh. Running!

When I was training for the 50 miler, I was spending about 30-40% of my mileage on the trails. Though it ate up a considerable amount of time because I was running much slower, I do feel like it was much easier on my body.

Lately, I feel as though my body has been put through the wringer. Nothing necessarily hurts outright--there are no gait-altering pains. Just a couple of extra twinges here and there. The main thing is that I feel fresh far less often. And when I do feel fresh, I really just take advantage of it. It doesn't matter if I'm doing a long run, tempo, or speed, if I feel fast, I want to go fast. All these extra miles that I'm not used to have been holding me back. Which I think it means this marathon training thing is working?

Fall is second to winter for my favorite time of year to run. It can be a touch on the warm side here so I cannot fully commit to loving it first. I was running in a tank top and shorts today. I think I got a bit sunburned. On November 10th. Womp, womp.

But on those proper fall days when I'm feeling fresh?! There really is nothing better.

In fact, I was feeling so good 2 weeks ago that I PR'd my half marathon time during the middle of a 20 miler. Sweet!

My last PR at that distance came while training for Boston.

As if on trend, I was doing 4x1200's at the track today and happen to PR in  the 5K and 10K.

The thing is, I never signed up for Rehoboth to be a goal race. I was perfectly content with all the awesome that 2015 has brought to me thus far and just was planning on going funning again. But as the training cycle progressed, I saw I had made progress even from Boston. All those monster mile weeks are maybe paying off.

I still am not laying all my cards on the table. I joined a new BQ age group this time around since I'm a lucky soul with an early April birthday. 3:40 should be achievable, but I never want to get to the point where I don't respect the distance. Getting cool mail is always a privilege, never a right.

So I continue to put in the work. Even when my poor Greenway has been flooded off and on for nearly 3 weeks.

I've been logging miles on the treadmill. Lots and lots of treadmill miles.

Fortunately, I don't mind it too much. I'd rather run outside, but it has helped me control recovery runs and I can watch trashy Netflix shows.

My local RB met me near the Chattahoochee last week where the trails were wet, but not impassable. The leaves were stunning and though I was a dying a humid, slow death, it was a scenic run.

I have a little over 3 weeks left in this training cycle. Two more long runs and then it'll be time to taper-ish. I'm using Pfitzinger again this time. I did a modified version for Boston, but I'm going pretty much by the book this time. I have wimped out on 2 runs since the end of September and haven't done any of the suggested races, but I do feel like the compounding miles and mix of hard workouts will make me stronger on race day.

Plus, any time I get wussy about my workout, I think back to the 50 miler.

Random side note: I love the idea that success isn't linear. I've had some really, really crap days running in this training cycle. Where I just didn't feel like doing it. Or that it just never got better the entire run. But I've had some really great days that I've made huge strides in my progress. So I have to believe that I am ultimately gaining ground little by little. And having no major goal helps. At the end of the day, I'm happy to finish a marathon. If I am better than I was before, that's cool too.

Lastly, since I haven't been blogging much, I feel like you should also know that I do other things besides go to work and run.

I mostly eat a lot of nachos and drink beer.

Sometimes I drink beer with friends.

I like wine too. And it's also good to share with friends.

I've been baking too. Mostly tons of pumpkin stuff. Like pumpkin whoopie pies.

Sometimes I get involved with desserts in the fall though. Everyone likes apple pie.

And chocolate chip cookies.

And I do like sleeping. Rest is essential for a training cycle, right?

I promise to not be such a stranger. Sheesh...