The long haul

That's what today was. It felt like I was breathing in soup, wearing soup, and running through soup. For someone who's been back at running a whole 2 weeks now it was quite a challenge. But...it got done.



7 miles. Not fast, not pretty, but 7 miles. We started out with 3 of us but one of the woman had to be back for her kids so she did 4 with us. We all immediately felt the drain of the air quality. It's not just the lungs, it gets into your muscles -- everything! If I wasn't with my friend it would have been a much rougher time but, as always, she keeps me going and motivates me to be stronger. I used to think I could only run listening to music but now that I'm running with my friend more and more I don't want to listen to music. I love our chats as we're slogging through the mucky air. I'm going to miss her next week when I do 9 alone on Sunday. :(

I finally wrote out my training schedule for Goofy. I had to do it 3 times because, apparently, it's harder to count out 18 weeks than you'd think. I knew I missed the first week but now I think I have it all squared away. You know what? I'm hating it. I know all too well this feeling of unrelenting pressure for EIGHTEEN WEEKS of living under a strict schedule. Every long run is critical because it's a set up for the one the following week. And the week after.

I read through some blog entries from last year to see where the stress of the training schedule started to get to me. It was week 6. As soon as the long runs all got over 10 miles and the mid-length run started to creep up I felt like I was under incredible pressure that wouldn't end for another 3 months. That's a LONG time. Last year I wasn't coming off of major (yes, I'm going to keep saying it now that I have lived through it) surgery and 4 weeks off. I was strong when I started and I was well ahead of the long runs for the first month. The schedule had to catch up to me, not the other way around. This time is different. I'm starting weakened, both in body and spirit. I also don't have the flexibility of swapping out long runs on Saturday or Sunday from this point forward. The key to Goofy training (so I'm told) is to do your Saturday run half the distance of the long run on Sunday. That prepares you for the half followed by the full. I used to like to get my long runs over with on Saturday but I don't have that luxury this time.

And then there's scheduling in general. I live in fear of stuff coming up on the weekends that is going to screw with my schedule. This was the end of week 3 (my week 2) -- that's 15 more weeks of hoping that nothing comes up that gets in the way of training. Almost impossible. Whenever a work project comes up that involves travel I freak out, not because I have to work but because I don't know how I'll get my runs in.

All of this is incredibly daunting and I'll be on the edge by week 9 for sure. But I signed up for it again. I guess my memory was short of how tedious training got by the end last time. Then again, people run marathons all the time, multiple ones in a year. People miss long runs because life is unpredictable. I remember feeling completely overwhelmed last year at one point and thinking that there was no way that all 42,000 people doing NYC had followed a training program to the letter the entire time. It's impossible.

Today's run was good. It showed me I still have discipline. I still have the strength to pull off a decent length run in less than ideal conditions. I can still run when I'm sore and tired (Xfit last night and female issues). I can still focus on a goal that's months away and work for it. I'll need to call on that strength many, many more times in the next 15 weeks. This time is different though: I trust that I can do it and I have friends to help me get there.

Now that I'm feeling stronger and *almost* recovered, I have to make a few changes to training.

1) Hill work once a week. Disney is flat but hill work has never done me wrong for getting stronger and faster
2) Stick with the 2nd longest run on Saturday and the long run on Sunday, no matter how much I hate it
3) Figure out what the magic formula for Xfit vs running is (easier said than done)

I can't say I'm really looking forward to the next 15 weeks knowing how soul-sucking some of those long runs are going to be but I am looking forward to crossing off another goal off my list and becoming a Goofy Challenge finisher.