Less than 2 weeks until Marathon #2

“Surround yourself with the dreamers and the doers, the believers and thinkers, but most of all, surround yourself with those who see the greatness within you, even when you don’t see it yourself.” -Edmund Lee

Sorry it has been over a week since my last Blog Post and update on my training.  Most of my spare time is spent resting or sleeping in hopes of giving myself plenty of time to recover.  These last few weeks are the most critical for your final steps of preparation until your race.

Taper, taper, taper...cut back on your miles. Let your body rest. Refuel. Prepare your body and mind.

Last Tuesday:

-Stretching

-Hip mobility and balance work

-Single leg squats

-Sumo squats

-Lunges

-Side Lunges

-Core work

Last Wednesday:

Short, quick 3.30 mile run.

Last Thursday:

Another short, quick run.

Friday:

Rest as usual. 

Saturday:

My Saturday run was 7 boyfriend miles + 4 girl miles back on the Montour Trail for a total of 11 miles at 9:25 avg pace.

Nick is training for a run in November which will be his first ever road race and first ever half marathon.  I remember how hard it was to get through some of the mental barriers of running when I first started, and I wanted to be there to help him through a few of his.

Neither of us took headphones on our run, so it was just us (pretty much alone) on a quiet trail.  I wore the watch and did not let him know of the time or the distance.  I wanted to push him (safely) to a distance that I knew he was able to accomplish at this point in his training.  I wanted to help him get through mental boundaries he had of a specific time period of consistent running and distance.

Earlier in my training I had major deficiencies in strength that Nick helped me through. He wrote me out lifting programs and schedules, ran power running workouts on the track with me, and motivated me in ways I could not do alone.  He continues to build my strength both physically and mentally.

Marathon training and running in general is often compared to life---the ups and downs, the mental endurance, the goal setting, and achievements.  My advice for those in training or just in life is the most important relationships are the ones where you both make each other the best version of yourself.  Keep the ones who make you stronger close by.

If you haven't already, check out Nick's Journey to his first road race.