10/21

Although some of you may think by the title of this post that it's a little late. In reality, it has nothing to do with October 21... it's not a date at all.

10/21 is what Millie and I ran this week for our marathon training.

Our long run was 10 miles and we ran a total of 21 miles this week (3, 5, 3, 10 miles).

For me, this was by far my longest run yet as my Iliotibial band was giving me some real problems and prevented me from keeping on schedule with the training. According to the marathon training book and the symptoms I've had, it looks like I've got Iliotibial Band Syndrome (ITBS).

After reading the information in the link above, I've spent much more time on stretching before and after my runs (moving my legs in a rapid fashion, not what happens on the toilet in unfortunate times) and the pain has been much more tolerable.

Millie has stuck to the training schedule much more closely and has been progressively building up to the 10 mile run (5 miles one week, 6 the next, then 7 and so on) and she's been kicking butt! She's really been my inspiration to keep going despite how my knees have been bothering me, and I'm glad I've been pushing through.

This 10 mile run was good. I did it this morning (yes, I ran on Sunday, many of you will think, "so what?" and other may think, "sinner!!") I think, it was a good run and I'm glad I did it today. It was a great morning, cool (almost cold), rainy, and a light breeze for the most part (until the last mile and a half).

Here was my route if any of you want to look at it HERE. If you click on the elevation option it shows the elevation of the route... as you can see there were two steep hills... both of which I was pretty sure I would die on, but was determined to not stop or walk... and I succeeded!!! It was a good feeling to keep going and finish the run non-stop. Not only was it a great 1 hour and 24 minutes to myself on a cool rainy autumn morning, but it made me excited to continue with the training and finish the marathon in January.

It feels good to hurdle this 10/21 mile marker! Hope to see all of you at the finish line in January!