Marathon Training Week 5. I ran 14 miles and did not die.

Mileage: 28.92 Distance PR: 1

This week there’s not a lot to report, except for the meh of running the same routes for five weeks straight.  The meh of running 5 days per week. The meh of the same flavors of Nuun and GU. But…..I ran 14 miles on Saturday and did not die. That’s big for me. Up until this point, 13.1 was the farthest I had ever run.  And quite frankly — this is where I sound a wee bit crazy — it wasn’t that bad.

I won’t bore you with the details, but there are a few things I learned from this week’s long run: First, It’s ok to stop at the Quickie Mart to buy water. Twice. I credit my ability to walk and talk later that day with the fact that I probably over-hydrated, but this is Florida and it was 85 degrees at 5:30 a.m. when I started. Second, Elvis was right: a peanut butter and banana sandwich (in my case, a bagel) is awesome for breakfast. Third, a 30-minute recovery floating in the pool having your husband serve you coffee should be prescribed by doctors for every run over 10 miles.  And last, BRA CHAFING is real. Ho. Lee. Cow. Next to shoes, I probably spend the most money on a single item on something to hold down the ladies. After this week, I may just lash them down with bamboo stalks. I don’t think the chafing could be much worse, and I could use the money to go buy salve and beer.

The Run Selfie Challenge ended on July 31st, so I’m going to have to find some other reason to make stupid pictures of my running. I didn’t make one every day, but I sure had fun. And the 400 or so people that also participated in the challenge were so much fun. I’m certainly going to have to UP my creative side for the next challenge, and the medal is cool – I threw in a photo of me with the kids. I’m going to try to find a “real” race soon to see if all this low-and-slow training has had any effect on my shorter distances. Not that I expect to move away from the back of the pack, these are my people.

I’m sure that in the next few weeks my training is going to go from meh to ugh as the school year gets going and the 5 a.m. runs turn into 4:30, 4:15, and 4:00 a.m. runs. This summer has been great — and very much needed after last year. I slept. I ran. I read. I played. But now it’s time; I’m starting to hear the call of sweaters, football, and all-things-pumpkin. And yes, that means school – for everybody. In fact, new schools for everybody: Matilda, Lane, and Mommy. But I’m sure I can handle it, after all I ran 14 miles and did not die.