Double-digits, baby!

Yesterday my little Google Calendar reminder went off at 8:30am, and I couldn't for the life of me think of why I needed reminding. Turns out it was the 4 week mark of the Race. I feel like this next month is going to fly by, between the holidays and trying to get my training in. Especially with a week of it being across the country in Massachusetts. But let's get to this past week's training before I lament about the next couple of weeks.

I told ya I was looking forward to repeats last week- and I had SO MUCH FUN doing them! They certainly weren't easy, but they were fun and quick. The mid-tempo run was a bit more challenging, my leg is still going through some stiffness, so I had to keep stopping and stretching it out, which I am not sure is really beneficial. Once I stop, it's that much more difficult to get moving again. I can almost hear the squeaking as I'm moving the crank that is my body! It concerned me enough that I was wary of how my body would handle the 10-mile run I had scheduled for the weekend.

I have to say it went better than expected! I managed a good 6 or 7 miles before I tightened up enough where I needed to walk a bit, other than being forced to stop and wait for traffic at intersections. Hitting the 8 mile mark also suddenly made me feel a little more tired, simply my mind telling me that this is the furthest I've gone but I'm not done yet. But I kept pushing, and resisted the urge to tackle every cyclist that went by and steal their ride. My very first double-digit run!

So, the next two weeks are going to be interesting. Repeats this week are 3 at 2000m (1.25 miles), a 7 mile run, then another 10 miles for the long run. I'm trying to figure out how to get that in, Christmas is Saturday, and we leave early Sunday morning. It's suggested you put a day in-between your Key Runs, which is why I'm not doing Repeats today. So who knows. I wouldn't mind getting up extra early Christmas morning, but I know my younger daughter likes to wake us up. The decisions!

We'll see what happens- I also feel confident enough that if I missed a long run, it wouldn't ruin it all for me. Ten miles is definitely a milestone. Now I know I can do that, and 13.1 isn't that much further.

"This is not about instant gratification. You have to work hard for it, sweat for it, give up sleeping in on Sunday mornings." ~Lauren Fessenden, Cross Country Athlete

Amen to that!