It'll have to do

Sigh..............marathon training is not my forte.  As a matter of fact I hate the actual training bit where I HAVE to run a set amount of miles on a set (more or less) day. It sucks all the joy out of running for me, much prefer listening to my body or agreeing to a crazy-stupid long run on the spur of the moment with my friends.  I hate this so much that the Marine Corps Marathon this year will prolly be my second AND last marathon that I plan to do.  If I ever get to the place where I go out and run 18-20 milers just for the hell of it I won't rule out doing one off the cuff............as in not deciding to run one until the week before but nope, not signing up for another one months in advance ever again.

Yesterday totally sucked ass for me. Had a 14-miler on the schedule and made plans to run with my great friends which usually pulls me through even when I feel less than ideal but a hard couple of days of driving combined with eating practically nothing the previous 48 hours totally and completely caused me to fall apart less than 1/2 way through.  Such a shame too because we were running the Emerald trail with the dogs and Elsie was thoroughly enjoying herself.  Starting back up for the 2nd loop, I started getting light-headed--well actually it started when I was on the first loop with a bit of shakiness and like an idiot I didn't take my gel until it was waaaaaay too late. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I certainly know better than this.

So I start back down, make it back to my car and just sit drinking some Heed, waiting for the gel to work its magic--a Chocolate #9.  Totally awesome by the way, not sickly sweet like a lot of the other chocolate flavored gels from other brands and if I take it at the right time, I'm betting it's going to work very well for me.  Once I got  past some of the "ohmygosh I think I'm gonna pass out" stage I took back off for another 2 plus miles and didn't experience any queasy stomach issues like I have had in the past with some other types, RESULT!!!

Managed to squeeze out 9 miles and got in some nice chat time with friends--I'm reluctant to discuss them too much on the blog because of privacy issues, so I apologize if these recaps seem too self-focused on these group run recaps but I've yet to find a balance in talking about our great times and revealing too much about their lives. Just know that I would find it VERY difficult to get through a lot of these miles and times without them.

Oh yeah, back to the "long" run, since I didn't get my 14 in yesterday morning I planned on going home, resting up, EATING (!!!!!!) and trying to get the last 5 in last night before bed.  Honestly didn't hold out much hope that I would get out there and get all of it done but I'm--pleased? satisfied? those don't actually fit--well, it got done and while less than ideal, it'll have to suffice.

Elsie and I recovering