The long runs are complete!

I was unable to update the blog last week - but I cruised right on through my 18 mile run! I even had a running buddy, who managed 17 of the 18 miles with me! It was awesome :)

And today... I RAN 20 MILES!!!!!

I honestly can't believe it. Well, no - I can believe it. It's just so surreal still for me to say (or type) those words out loud. Never in all my years prior to this one did I ever think I would have stories of workouts (especially runs) that lasted more than an hour. Today? I ran 20 miles in 3 hours and 27 minutes. I actually ran for 3 hours and 27 minutes!!! I didn't even hit a "wall" as I was expecting. I kept fueling myself with water, PowerBar Gels, and Starbursts - and everything just worked. It was amazing!

What I am realizing is more amazing than the quality of the runs, or what happens during my runs... is my overall feeling of self-worth. I feel so accomplished, so elated, so PROUD with each run that I complete. Training for the marathon has proved not only to improve my physical fitness - but my self esteem too. Many of you who read this blog have told me "I could never do that!" and I'm here to tell you that you can! More importantly, I'm telling you that YOU SHOULD. It doesn't have to be an actual marathon that you train for, but find some goal that may seem just outside your abilities at the moment... figure out how you could "possibly" accomplish it... and GO FOR IT. You will not regret it!

From here until marathon day, I taper down my mileage. The science behind it is that I have now trained my body to physically handle the distance, and now I need to scale down the distance so that my body is well rested and ready to tackle the 26.2 miles of the marathon. Next week my long run will only be 9 miles, and then 8 miles the week before the marathon. My mid-week runs (which have been 5 miles, 8 miles, and 5 miles) go back to 3 miles, 5 miles and 3 miles. I will spend the coming weeks really honing in on my mental training as well as my diet. I don't want to be overindulging in carbs, as any weight gain would be detrimental to my knees, but I need to make sure that just over more than 50% of my calories come from carbohydrates. With protein, good fats, fiber, and all my vitamins and minerals included in correct proportion - I should be ready to rock and roll come marathon day! :)

In exactly 20 days, from this very moment, I will have just finished the biggest goal of my entire life. I look forward to my personal experience and to sharing it with all of you. Thank you all for joining me on this incredible journey! :)

Signed,
Your-physically-ready-to-run-a-marathon-runner,
Kelly