four weeks out

officially last sunday was four weeks from the marathon. it's starting to creep up and now i don't feel ready!!!

mon (10.19) - 7 miles with the group run. we ran at a pretty good clip which is probably why i felt at times like i was laboring a little. my legs are really beat up still.

tues (10.20) - met the gals in the a.m. we did a little longer loop today and were definitely rolling by the end! i'm calling it 8 for the day.

wed (10.21) - workout/disaster. the workout was 3 by 3 miles at 5 sec faster than marathon pace with a mile between sets (4 x 3 for the higher mileage folks). the first set was fine, meaning the pace was no problem, but my legs felt like absolute garbage otherwise. 7:03, 7:04, 7:04. then the next set i could really start to tell i was laboring in my stride. again, not really the pace that i felt was holding me back. it was my hamstring grabbing a little and my left hip flexor area just getting tighter and tighter and tighter. i went 7:04, 7:08, 7:11. which in all reality was still fine. i tried to stretch it out a little before attempting the next one. i had to call it at 2 miles. 7:06 and then am embarrassed to even say what the next one was. let's just say i knew it was time to stop. i was feeling pretty down but ben assures me i just need to get through this week and maybe a massage to help work out some of my stride issues. i hope he's right!! 11 miles for the day.

thurs (10.22) - took the day off. big night at the store--it's our Ladies Night that julie and i have been working on for several months now!

fri (10.23) - ran easy for two laps around francis--4.5 miles. then it was off to get a much needed massage. my stride was really off and really tight up in the hip flexor area. hopefully i will feel the effects from it soon...
i also started in on a new pair of shoes today. that should help a TON.

sat (10.24) - opted to take today off as well. still feeling a little stiff/sore from the massage and mostly just still really tired from the last two weeks of work/running and trying to find my motivation because i've lost it.

sun (10.25) - today marked the longest run of the segment. i ran for just over 3 hours mainly with kris, but we had meaghan's company for a while. we were out at castlewood so we had to loop around a lot because the trail we normally run on was flooded. the river was really high! it was good to get the time in. we probably ran about 22 miles or maybe a touch over. it was slower going while we were on the trails but the parts we ran out on the roads near the state park we were rolling along at a better clip. i followed it up with a great (big) breakfast at first watch followed by a nap. that's the real way to recover from a long run!

weekly mileage = 52 miles (in only 5 days of running)

shoes:
brooks trance = 26 miles
mizuno inspire = 97 miles
brooks trance (old) = 367 miles
nike lunar glide = 32 miles
brooks racer st = 59 miles