That's why they call it "The Wall"

Week of Jun 6-12
Last week was my 2nd successful week of running in 2011. Going into a marathon normally, I’ve built up a good base, worked though some serious speed work, upped the ante on my endurance training with 8-12 weeks of 70+ miles and had a 2 fairly quiet weeks leading up the event. Saturday’s marathon was an anomaly in my distance “racing” (term used loosely). I hadn’t been able to string together more than 2 days of successful running since surgery. I began running mid-Feb and struggled mightily. I continued on in the hopes that I would wake up one day and just feel better - but getting more and more discouraged with each failed run. Honestly, I was at the point, 3 weeks ago, where I was ready to wipe the racing calendar clean and just take running off the table for a spell. And then 2 weeks ago, I had a good run - 3 solid hours of feeling my feet hit the ground that felt not just good but great. It wasn’t speedy, but it was zen. I had no plan of action, no course pre-arranged. I just went, and as the miles kept ticking off I felt better and better. Somewhere in those moments, running down Jefferson Avenue, I committed myself back to running, to training with purpose and to reaching beyond my current limits. In this wheelhouse was the Indy Marathon Championship weekend, a race that had been booked on the calendar for months, but one I had all but given up hope of actually doing. I was concerned that I just didn’t have the miles on my legs, and that I wouldn’t actually be able to complete the distance without doing some major mental and physical damage to my body.

It was low key affair, no nerves, no butterflies, no expectations other than to cross the finish line and do my best to negative split the race. I surprised myself by feeling pretty great for 24 miles. I went out, very conservatively for the first 10 and then began trying to steadily increase my speed. I was doing a wonderful job of this. Mile 24 was a nice, comfortable 7:11 & then came the mile 25 marker: 16:44! Perhaps the slowest mile I have ever run in any sort of race. I HAVE NEVER - EVER hit the wall like that.  And honestly just 2 seconds before I was getting quite excited that I had "paced myself" appropriately and wasn't going to have any bonk miles. I was actually RUNNING, not walking at that pace. I am thankful the race was 26.2, as I’m honestly not sure I would have made another 10 steps. I did make it though and recovered quickly. For me it was a case of not fueling appropriately, being dehydrated and seriously under-trained to tackle a marathon with any sort of speed. But in this race I learned even more about my body, my mind & my limits. So I consider it a huge success and a great jumping off to my 100 mile training. Let the 40+ mile runs begin.

Mile Run: 48 + 2 hours yoga + 1 hour bike