14 mile run and a half marathon for Shannon

Mark:

When my two older boys were little, their uncle taught them a funny saying. He would ask them, "What do supermodels do?" Their response was, "Supermodels always walk into the wind...always." It was cute and funny from two toddlers. A couple of Saturday's ago, we ran the longest we had ever run. 14 miles is a long way to run all at once. On top of the long distance, it seemed like we ran into the wind the whole time. My problem is that I'm not a supermodel. I don't have the looks or the hair to be running into the wind.

I will admit that I felt incredible after finishing the 14 mile jog. It is hard to believe that I ran 14 miles without stopping. I am learning about what to eat the day before and what to eat and drink the morning of our long runs. I have also learned that a ten minute ice bath after a long run does wonders for my body. Shannon and I were talking the other day, and I realized we are less than two months from the marathon. I don't feel ready, but it doesn't matter if I feel ready or not. The marathon is December 5, and it is rapidly approaching. We are running 14 miles again this Saturday. I had to take some time off because the bursitis has come back in my knee, and I wanted to try to give it a rest one last time before we make our final push in training.

Shannon:

That 14 mile run was one of my best. I deal quite a bit with sciatica that effects my left leg more than anything. I made up my mind before I set out that Saturday that I would break the run up into three increments...5 miles, 5 miles, and 4 miles. At the end of each increment, I stopped and stretched my left leg to work out the tightness and pain that creeps into it during my long runs. It really paid off, because I was able to run with a pace of 11:24 without hurting too bad after. That 14 mile run was two Saturdays ago...we have had a LOT happen in our busy life of kids and ministry since then.

This last weekend we were scheduled in our training program to run a half marathon. My theory with that is, if you have to run the distance of a half marathon, you might as well get a medal! So, I was excited to be able to run the Middle Half in Murfreesboro, TN. Not only did I get a medal, but I was able to set a new PR (personal record) for myself. I ran at an 11:15 pace and finished the 13.1 miles in 2:26:16. I was ecstatic! I was able to run pretty much the whole way. I did not eat before running (MISTAKE!) and ran out of gas at mile 12. I walked a little, ran a little, then made a final push the last half mile or so. It's hard to imagine running twice that distance, so I try not to think about it so I don't get discouraged. Lucky for us, we still have training ahead of us that will help condition ourselves to run those 26.2 :)

About that ice bath Mark was talking about earlier...I'm a big baby when it comes to those. I don't stay in for 10 minutes. I'm good to stay in at least 7. Well, since we were on the road this last weekend, I did not take an ice bath...boy did I notice a difference in my recovery! I will not be passing up that ice bath again after my long runs from now on.

This next weekend we are running another 14 miles, then we will be adding two miles each week before we start tapering down in preparation of our big race day! Do you know what I just realized? This year for Thanksgiving, I won't have to be as conscience as I normally am about what I eat because I will have a long run to burn all those calories just a couple days later! Woohoo!!

I hope you are enjoying our blogging about our marathon journey. Please remember that we are running as Hero Runners to raise money for St. Jude, their research, and the services they provide to families whose children have been diagnosed with cancer. We are a LONG way from our goal and would appreciate any donations you feel led to give. You can give a tax deductible donation on our fundraising pages by clicking on the links below. Thank you for your help!

http://fundraising.stjude.org/site/TR/Heroes/Heroes?px=3476880&pg=personal&fr_id=40881

http://fundraising.stjude.org/site/TR/Heroes/Heroes?px=3470299&pg=personal&fr_id=40881

12 Miles...Check!

Mark:

After a week of gradually getting back in the swing of things, I got to run a long run on Saturday. 12 miles...Woohoo! Every time I run I have the same two goals...finish and run the entire time. I am proud to say that I accomplished both on Saturday. I ran 12 miles without stopping. On Friday, Shannon and I ran 5 miles for our short run. It is crazy to think that 5 miles is a short run. I ran great, and I was looking forward to Saturday. Now, 12 miles is a long way, but you already knew that I'm sure. I started off great, and I felt great. In fact, I was running about 30 seconds per mile faster than what my goal is for the marathon. Then I hit mile 8. I didn't feel bad, but I had to slow down because I knew I wouldn't be able to maintain my pace. Then came mile 11. Let's just say that it was much hotter at 7:40 than at 6:00 when we started. I started counting down the time to try to figure out how much time I had left to run. The last mile was completely brutal. I kept thinking 4 more songs...3 more...2 more...last song. I finished, but I was completely spent. When we were done, Chev (my friend who is running the marathon with us) looked at me and said the marathon will be everything we did plus running it all over again. CRAZY! Honestly, I can't imagine running 26.2 miles right now. The thought of it scares, overwhelms, intimidates, and discourages me. I struggled running 12. How in the world can I run 26.2? People keep encouraging me by saying that I will get there. Just keep at it. Your training will make sure you are prepared. I appreciate all the positive comments and encouragement, but it seems like an impossible task at this point. Thinking about it just makes me tired. Writing about it makes me tired too.

Please don't forget we are running with a cause. If you haven't given yet, we would really appreciate your support. We both still have a long way to go to reach our goal as we raise money for pediatric cancer. Just click one of the links above if you would like to help out.