Grandma's Marathon Training: Week 13

This week was a little bit crazy. But overall, it was still a good week, even if I missed a run. Life happens :)

On the plan:
M - 5 easy
T - 10 tempo
W - 5 easy
Th - rest
F - 10 tempo
Sa - 20 easy
Su - cross

And my reality?

Monday: 5.05 miles at a 9:48 pace. I ran some hills in Grant Woods with Kim and a couple women from the running club. It was sticky - not super warm, but the humidity made it FEEL like it was.

Tuesday: 10.55 miles at a 10:20 pace. I met my friend Sarah for a run on the DesPlaines River trail. Her knee has been bugging her, so we took it easy (10:48, 11:32, 11:05, 11:15). Her knee twinged in the second mile, but loosen up after that. After Sarah left, I picked it up for a few (9:45, 9:31, 9:44, 9:34) but then I got really tired, so I slowed down at the end (10:00, 10:09, 10:37 for the last bit).

It was a STUNNING day. We saw so much wildlife! And butterflies were everywhere.

This crane and his friend were not so happy to see us. Sarah described their chatter as "dinosaur noises"

Hissing mama geese and goslings

Wednesday: This morning was James' IEP meeting. I was hoping to get a run in later, but insert an emergency night meeting for John, and that just never happened. I did make it to strength class, which felt tougher than last week (we did the same dumbbell circuit with more resistance band stuff in between) but I was much less sore afterwards.

Thursday: Zoo field trip with James and his class. Does this count as a workout? James thought so...

the bus ride home :)

Friday: James had no school, and I was planning an evening 10 miler, but then my friends' emergency preempted everything. I managed the logistical nightmare of getting all 7 kids to my home after school, we ate hotdogs, played outside, and had a giant sleepover. It ended up really fun, despite the circumstances surrounding it. No running for me.

Saturday: I had a really lovely early morning run. I was hoping for 10, but was happy with the 9.15 miles at a 9:55 pace that I DID get done. It took almost 5 miles for me to actually feel good, but then I felt GREAT. I came home to John cooking pancakes for the whole crew, and he even made some for me! :) Happy.

I cleaned up quick and drove 90 minutes south of us for a baby shower. I ate so much AMAZING food, and visited with my friend (I hadn't seen her in years - she lives in Indiana now so we keep in touch via facebook) and then trekked home. I called it a night early - I had a big run coming up!

Sunday: Another early wake up call (I get up hours earlier on the weekend - it's crazy) and my stomach was a pissed off mfer. Great. I took it easy and choked down breakfast and coffee and waited for my stomach to feel better. Thankfully, it was ok by the time I needed to leave. I was nervous knowing I didn't have Kim for this run (she has been spoiling me!) but happy that a bunch of running club peeps were coming out.

We started at 6:30 from Independence Grove, and headed north. We ended up running nearly 6 before heading back. I ran most of this with Carrie (who was also doing 20) and Maria. With a couple miles to go before getting back to IG, Chris met us on her bike. She sherpa'd for us the rest of the morning, which was awesome. We left Maria and picked up Garett, and continued south (the much LESS hilly direction).

The entire run felt solid. My head was on so much better than the last 20. The only hiccup was a potty emergency around 15, which forced us to run a little further south than we intended to get to a bathroom. But that was it - no big deal. I felt great! 20.25 miles done at a 10:36 pace.

Week total miles: 45

I spent the rest of Mother's Day chilling with my family. A couple naps, a giant 5 Guys burger for dinner, cards and flowers from my family, perfect. I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day too!