Long Runs can be fun! #runforsteem

Am I crazy!?
When I decided to start training for another marathon with a time goal in mind, I went through the normal self doubt and questions that always pop up...

"why am I doing this?"
"will my knees hate me (more than they already do?)"
"do I really want to give up Friday nights again until May?"

and the list goes on... SHUT UP BRAIN! Finally, I told myself "get over it- you are doing it. Enough" So here we are about half way through and of course there have been up's & down's. BUT I am here, and I am doing the work.

Last weekend I had my first "mid-way check in" with a race. It went really well! *additional post coming shortly on my race!

Yesterday, I did my longest run for a while at a nice round 18 miles. I decided I am going to talk a bit about this, and then work my back through training a bit (it's nice when I know how things are going at this point!)

My course

Always the night before (Friday fun now!!) I like to sit up, normally while watching some great TV, and go to #mapmyrun for some exciting course mapping. This gives me the evening to relax and take it all in for the mental prep of the following morning. I have been running to the other end of the city, so I wanted to switch it up this weekend. This 18 miles took me through the presidio, Golden Gate park, the great highway and back home.

After the Presidio warmup, getting to the bridge around mile 3-4 is never leaving me disappointed.

Stow Lake is always a beautiful happy place (today luckily the birds kept out of my way) It was drippy fog for these miles, this was around ~ 7miles

Running past this windmill ~ 14 miles in, always a great sight to see! (It was not this clear, and the tulips were not this pretty - this photo was much nicer- sorry I couldn't take a picture, I was running my MP at this point!

The workout
Today I tried something different. In order to mix things up, I added a "workout" to my watch. Instead of just "go run 18 miles" I had some thought behind it.

2 miles warmup ~ medium pace, get the legs going
10 miles lighter pace/medium pace, nice and steady
When my watch said 12 miles, I had the goal of Marathon Pace for 4 miles. In my research, this should help with the "tired legs" feeling of having to pick it up when you are a bit tired.
12-16 miles ~ MP
2 miles "cool down"

Since this was my first time doing it this way, I didn't do a very good job here. I always like to finish strong so it was tough to "jog" and mile 18 was pretty much just as fast. OOPS.

Running buddies?
How did I pass the time? Music is normally my "get amped" type of deal, but with the length of the run (figuring ~2.5 hours) I wanted to have my podcast walk me through the warmup/beginning portion, then hit the music once I pick up the pace for my 4 miles at Marathon Pace.

Warmup + First 10 miles, = 12miles of podcasts including

Ironically Guy Raz told me about "slowing down" which was fabulous, but not totally fitting for my run. ha! 55 minutes down. #NPR & #tedradiohour is the best!

Kelly Roberts #runselfierepeat podcast is normally quite fast ~ 10-15 minutes. BUT I saved this 45 minute podcast talking with Dr. Bob about mental space and getting ready for running for quite a few miles. Her #BQorbust is much my motto this time around, so it was a great running buddy for that chunk.

Once mile 12 hit, it was time to kick it up a notch, and I reverted back to my Marathon Playlist. (Happy to share, but I won't bore you) containing an eclectic array of music from all walks of life from CCR to Pitbull... that got me through to the end.

Well, another week in the books. I am always happy it's over, and yesterday was able to meet with friends after for a BBQ, some good wine, and fun hang time. The feeling of accomplishment and checking off that long run, makes Saturday such a productive day before 12pm. Gotta love it. @runningproject

Happy Running! #runningproject #RunforSteem #letsdothisthing #runthismother #runeverymile