I have completed all my long runs and also some speed work. As I always say you need to listen to your body so I have rested when my body asked for it even if that meant a few less miles. I think the resting and stretching will be more beneficial for my final goal than 6 miles run. Anyway I am still keeping an average between 45/50 miles per week.
Last Saturday I paced again for the NYRR and as the previous time I just loved it!!! Even more I am starting to feel I own the 11+ mm group…it is like my little baby since not many pace leaders want to lead this group because they also use this run as their own marathon training so they want to run their pace and everyone in my running group is faster than 11mm..GO FLYERS!
I know it is a slow group for my regular pace too and I should be doing a faster group but I am not doing this for myself but to give back something to the running community and what better than helping beginners, older people and people who struggle getting their miles done at a faster pace.
I am lucky enough to be able to do my long runs alone, I am my own motivator I don’t need a group or a pacer to complete my runs so joining this group it is totally for fun and also selfishness (no idea if this is the correct use for this word :) oh my English is still so poor!!!) since I love the idea of being a “coach” :)
Many runners were completing their first 20 miler and they were very excited about it, others completed their first 15,16,17 miles and we were having such a great time that every time someone did it they were screaming “ this my first time running XX miles” and we all cheer and clapped!! LOL We were having fun and for me that is the idea of running!!
I also had the pleasure to be joined by Deanna. She was running with a faster group but when she noticed I was leading alone such a huge group she joined me. Don't you know her?? I will tell you all about her in another post by for now I will just mention that she has just run a 100 miles ultra!!. Our group was by far the biggest one; I was impressed to see how many people we had. It is difficult to estimate but it may be somewhere around 200! When we were running Harlem hill I turned my head to see the end of the group but I couldn’t …they just kept coming and coming, that was at mile 1 and I thought “ WTF!! Are all these people really following us?? “ hahaha I needed no more motivation than that to finish! After completing 20 miles with the group I decided to keep going for a little more and see what I could do. I had some cramps @ mile 10 and my legs were a little sore after that. Anyway I decided to try. I am not going to deny that I was really tired and the idea of going home, take a shower and eat something really tempted me but I knew I had work to do!
Mile 22….I am really hungry…can I go home now?? Nooooooooooooooooooo just keep going girl…what will you do in the ultra?? You haven’t even completed half of the miles you will need to run…JUST DO IT!!! This is the kind of little conversations I have with myself during my long runs LOL…
Mile 23, my hip started to bother me…it was time for another self chat “ F___ your hip….pain is mental, hip is ok, just tell your body that nothing is hurting you…nothing…because you are stronger than any stupid hip….you have this !!” worked…..I kept running thinking not that I needed to run a couple of miles but that I needed to complete 50 miles…and telling myself that I couldn’t be tired as I still needed to run 27 more miles….LOL…
26.2….wow…I just completed another marathon distance !!! hoorah!!! I wanted to tell everyone around “ I did it, I ran 26.2 miles” but of course there were nobody to share it with because everyone else were already at home or having brunch!!!
27 Miles…can I call myself and ultramarathon runner already?? Isn’t running any distance further than 26.2 considered an ultra…27 should count !!...…LOL…I know, it doesn’t :(
I took a moment to think whether to run 3 more miles and complete 30 or not….I could have done it but I thought my body wasn’t ready for that big jump yet… 27 was a good number and I will have a 31 miles run in 2 weeks. Wisely I decided to stop before collapsing!!
When I woke up on Sunday morning I was afraid to stand up from my bed…seriously!! For a moment I remembered how sore I was after my first marathon (less than a year ago) and how I couldn’t even walk the following day. I knew I ran 26.2 just a couple of weeks ago but I guess thinking about 27 and also the cumulative effect of so many long runs scared me for a minute….I waited 15 minutes before trying to walk!! When I finally did, voila!! I was totally pain free!!! My legs were as fresh as if I haven’t had run in weeks!!! What a nice surprise!!! I felt relieved.....is this what endurance mean???
This weekend I will back off my miles a little, I am travelling and won’t be that easy to get many miles done. I don’t want to force other people to be waiting for me while I am going for a 4 hours run!! This will be like a mini taper before my first 31 miles on September 11…that will be my longest run before the ultra and after that I only have another 26 miles run and then 2 weeks tapering!!
The day is coming and I am excited about it…
I will do it, I will do it, I will do it!!!!!!!!!!!
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