got married, got on a boat, still running...

it is far too much for my brain to handle catching you all up. i'm not sure that any one has been waiting for my blog update on my training with any kind of anticipation, so if you were, i'm so sorry for the long delay.
first. i got married! yay! the running kind of went downhill that week, but who cares. in the end, i only took two days completely off -- thursday and friday.
the wedding was wonderful (of course). i couldn't have asked for a better day, better family, better friends. it was all i could have dreamed of and more. i look forward to catching up with everyone and looking at all the photos!
then sunday it was off to san juan, puerto rico where our cruise began. it was the perfect honeymoon. plenty of relaxation and yes, running. ben and i got up and ran every morning, either on the boat (if we were at sea) or on the islands where we stopped. i guess you could say we did our own island tours! we didn't really do any excursions. we just relaxed, hung out on the beach, walked through the little cities, and enjoyed our time together.
after the cruise ended, we stayed one extra day in san juan. i was glad to not have our vacation quite over yet. the hotel we were at turned out to be awesome and believe it or not, they were taping american idol the day we left! we tried to get a closer look but got quickly stopped by security. go figure.
now i am back in saint louis for one final day of recovery before i head back to work.
my next challenge ahead is the marathon this sunday!! a short workout tonight and then tapering all the way down.
wish me luck!

four weeks out: day 3 -- another solid workout

workout wednesday. today's workout was 1 mile at 15k race pace, 6 mile tempo at 10 sec slower that marathon pace, then 1 mile at 15k race pace.
i was a little nervous about this one coming off of a not-so-hot long run. i ended up feeling pretty good. i'm still sort of in debates with myself about what my goal marathon pace really is. it tends to range from 7:10 to 7:20, depending on my mood! secondly, i have no idea what my 15k race pace is, so i consulted the handy mcmillan running calculator. this is an awesome resource for all kinds of reasons. mostly though, i use it to determine my pace for workouts based on what my goal time is for the distance i'm running. i based it off of a 3:10 marathon (7:15 mile pace--right in between my "goal range"), which said i should be able to run 6:44 pace for 15k. sounds good to me!
with all that said, here's how the workout went...
first mile: 6:38 -- felt fast, but comfortable and controlled
6 mile tempo: 7:17, 7:25, 7:18, 7:11, 7:12, 7:29 for a 7:18 average
not quite sure what happened on that last one. i was thinking about the second fast mile i had to do and i think i relaxed a little too much. plus, that mile has a gradual up-hill that kind of sneaks up on you!
second mile: 6:29 -- i felt like that was smokin! ha ha. i did feel good. it was getting pretty dark and for some reason it's kind of hard for me to focus in on a pace in the dark. i knew it was going to feel a lot harder than the first one, so i tried to stay focused and keep pushing. i was still in control though and never felt like i was totally going to the well.
all-in-all i am going to say it was another successful workout.

i ran in my racer st's to get a little mileage on them. plus, the last time i wore them i got some blisters on the back of my heels so i figured i needed to break them in a little too. correctamundo. sure enough, two more blisters popped up. not bad ones though really. otherwise, i simply love the racer st. i will probably wear them for the marathon.

run: 11 miles
time: see above
shoes: brooks racer st (34)
week-to-date: 22

four weeks out: day 2

again, i was at the store until about 7:30. i did the last half of sara's run with her and then i added on a little more. the weather was really nice today. sunny and 70s all day, so by the time i ran it was maybe even upper 60s. at any rate, it was good. my legs didn't feel too bad. i felt like i ran a little more up tempo tonight, so the run may have actually been a little over 6. to make my life easier though, i'm not going to add the change.

run: 6 miles
time: 48 minutes
shoes: mizuno inspire (134)
week-to-date: 11

four weeks out: day 1

i cannot believe the marathon is only four short weeks away now. that means the wedding is only two weeks to go!
almost every night this week i am helping out at the store. matt and andrew are both gone for a conference so they are really short staffed. enter said stand-by employee.
tonight i didn't get to run until after 7 pm. sara was kind enough to wait around for me.
felt decent all things considered.

run: 5 miles
time: 40 minutes
shoes: mizuno inspire (128)
week-to-date: 5

five weeks out: day 7

long run. as expected, i felt terrible. i just could never really get into it. i called it quits around 18 miles. i know next week i will have to do my best to better prepare myself. it will be hard because it's a busy weekend, but i cannot have a repeat of today!

run: 18 miles
time: 2 hours 30 minutes
shoes: mizuno inspire (123)
weekly total: 51

five weeks out: day 6

ended up working from 8:30 - 2:30 and then again for another hour at 5 at big river helping with the sidewalk sale. as a result, i didn't really get to prepare for my long run like i would've liked. meaning, staying off my feet, drinking and eating plenty. i have probably set myself up for a poor run on sunday.

run: 4
time: 32 minutes
shoes: mizuno inspire (105)
week-to-date: 33

**two weeks until the wedding!!**

five weeks out: day 5

i had a bad headache when I got home for work. i decided it was a good day to take off.

run:
time:
shoes: mizuno inspire (101)
week-to-date: 29

five weeks out: day 4

i felt like garbage today. i made it about three miles and called it quits. plus, there is a knot or something in my right calf that is killing me.

run: 3 miles
time: 25
shoes: mizuno inspire (101)
week-to-date: 29

five weeks out: day 3 -- good workout!

workout wednesday. this is the first of a few key workouts before the marathon. i was a little nervous going into it. 3 x 3miles at 5 sec faster than goal marathon pace, 1 mile jog recovery between sets. it's also a pretty high mileage workout.
i'm not entirely tuned in to what my goal marathon pace is. somewhere between 7:10 and 7:20.
Here's how it went:
first set: 7:11, 7:07, 7:04 = 21:22 -- felt pretty good, pretty in control
second set: 7:01, 7:20, 7:08 = 21:29 -- this segment of the path was VERY hilly, i tuned out a little on the second mile here
third set: 6:48, 7:02, 7:00 = 20:20 -- the first mile was mostly downhill, past that, i was surprised i was able to still maintain close to 7 min pace. it felt hard, but in control. i definitely couldn't run that pace for 26 miles, but a few seconds slower might be a reality.
all-in-all, it was a good confidence boost and made me feel like all this hard work is starting to come together. two more pretty tough weeks and then it's smooth sailing.

run: 14 miles
time: see above
shoes: mizuno inspire (98)
week-to-date: 26

five weeks out: day 2

easy run with sara. 5 miles. felt pretty good once i got started.

run: 5 miles
time: 40 minutes
shoes: mizuno inspire (84)
week-to-date: 12

five weeks out: day 1

monday night group run. it was a small showing due to labor day. but i was lucky because kris, sara, and new addition to the team, jenny showed up, so i had plenty to run with!
i was still tired, stiff and sore from the 20 miler, but i got through 7 miles.

run: 7 miles
time: 59 minutes
shoes: mizuno inspire (79)
week-to-date total: 7