Six Weeks

Only six weeks to go until the marathon. Want to know a secret? I don't feel ready and can't imagine how I'm going to GET ready between now and October. I've got three really long runs left (16, 18, and 20) and then two taper weeks, which means I've really only got three training weeks left. On the up side, that means I'm almost done training. On the down side, I just don't feel ready. I'm not sure I've trained hard enough, crossed enough runs off my training log, or just generally done *enough*. I feel like I'm doing as much as I can possibly do, but it doesn't seem to be paying off. I don't feel any faster than I did when I started training. I don't feel like I've lost any weight. And I don't feel ready. So have I just wasted the past ten weeks?!

Last week was a cutback week, so my long run was "only" ten miles. You know you're a runner when you are excited that you only have to run ten miles. The run was fine. It felt perfectly doable, and I could probably have run another two or three miles and felt okay about it. But another 16 miles? I just really don't see how that is going to be possible.

Part of me wants to throw in the towel. I'm tired and overwhelmed and the training doesn't feel like it's getting me ready for anything other than a nap. But, of course, I'm way too...something to quit now.

Yesterday was a classic example of why you never, ever run long in untested gear. I just got a new running skirt from Skirt Sports. It seemed to fit fine, and I was "only" running ten miles, so I figured it would be fine to run long in it. The skirt has compression shorts underneath. Well, they don't ride up (which is a huge plus when you are running), but the compression shorts are so tight that they felt bunched funny when combined with tech underwear. Long story short, I found myself in a filthy porta potty at mile 5 trying to wrestle my way out of a sweaty skirt, so I could take off the undies. Unfortunately, this maneuver didn't help in the slightest, and to make matters worse, I then had a pair of undies I had to finish my run with. I ended up tying them to my water bottle belt. Hope no one else noticed what they actually were! I toyed with the idea of pitching them, but tech underwear costs about $15 a pair, and I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

Up this week: 3, 3, 8 (!!), and 16 (!!!!!!!). I honestly have no idea how I'm going to fit an eight-mile run in on a weekday that also includes working and spending time with the children. If I were faster, maybe... But there aren't enough daylight hours in the morning before work to make it happen, and there aren't enough daylight hours in the evening after the girls go to bed to make it happen. So it's treadmill or two a days (four miles in the morning and four miles at night or three on my lunch hour and five at night). And still, surely, I will not lose weight.

Looks like someone has a bad attitude going into week 11!