The Work Is Meaningless If You Don't Believe

As I scrolled through my training log in an attempt to ease the out of the blue case of heart flutters, I realized that the work is indeed finished. There is nothing else I can do for this training cycle and really nothing else that I want to do. I'm ready to race and the occasional nervousness that I feel is normal and I have to focus on the big picture. Calmly execute the plan and race when it is time. Coach and I didn't put any races on the calendar for January, which allowed me to completely put my head down and immerse in the work of the cycle. I concentrated on taking one day at a time and emphasized on weights and core like never before. I finished up with a 13 mile easier run yesterday (Saturday) and finished with a sense of deep satisfaction. I know that whatever happens on race day, I believe that my work ethic has been impeccable and I have to carry that confidence with me onto the course. I really dislike when the seeds of doubt try to permeate into your heart and I readily throw all of that out with the garbage and accept the challenge to do what I love. Running truly is fun and it's also fun to test yourself and see just how far you can push the limit.

My body has been tired like never before and I giddly climb into bed each night and chug water like it's my job, yet I've had an insatiable thirst the last week or so, that is pretty intense. I know that my body is repairing itself and preparing for what it knows is coming. I've have really tried to listen to the signals it sends while balancing everything else.

Speaking of January, let's take a look back and get a snapshot of the month with the tail end of December included:

Monday December 24th - December 30th: 80.75 miles

Monday December 31st - January 6th: 67.13 miles

Monday January 7th - January 13th: 81.83 miles

Monday January 14th - January 20th: 76 miles

Monday January 21st - January 27th: 76.32


This last week of training looked like this (taper week):

Monday January 28th: 5 miles

Tuesday January 29th: 6.85 miles

Wednesday January 30th: 6 miles in honor of Elle's 6th birthday! This little girl has my heart... so much joy.

I made a cake for her actual birthday.

Thursday January 31st: 8.66 total miles: 1 mile warm up - 3 x 3 mile repeats. This was a less than successful last workout, but it is what it is: 
First 3 mile set: My shin started off very tight and legs felt pretty swollen. Tried to make it through the three miles, but I had to stop 1.85 into the set and spent 30-45 seconds stretching out my shin. I really had to force myself to finish the set, but I did and that is a huge victory. 20:01 total time for that set.
Second 3 mile set: Felt pretty tired, but finished in 20:14, with my shin feeling fine.
Third 3 mile set: So tired. I got through 1.2 miles and decided to call it. In retrospect, I can't believe I walked away from that last set without finishing, but I was done. D.O.N.E. 
I was so done, that I didn't even run the one mile cooldown. Crazy.

Friday February 1st: 7.52 miles

Saturday February 2nd: 13 easy miles + more birthday celebrations with a princess tea party with eight of Elle's friends - such a fun day!

...and an ice cream cake for the party - lots of treats this week!

Sunday February 3rd: REST DAY!
The kids had friends over, so we had 6 kids in the house and watched the game. Fun day, and next time we'll have to invite grown ups, so we can have our friends too. So much going on these past few weeks, I didn't even think about the Super Bowl...

Lots of food and snuggles on a rainy day - and I didn't run!

And now here we are, going into race week. Easy runs, with a bit of marathon effort on Tuesday and then downhill to Saturday's race. Fun fact - I have never raced a Saturday marathon, always Sunday.

All of the miles, training and prep are important for this race, but are so meaningful to me as a huge building block to where I ultimately want to go. If patience isn't your strong suit, then marathon training will definitely be challenging! It's not about one training block, but the months and years of cumulative work that really pay off in the long run (pun intended :).

We made it through January, my friends! February is here and I'm feeling great about good things in store for us all this month.

Do awesome things.

xo,
Natalie