Some (long runs) are better than others.

....this is what Brad has always told me.  Some long runs will be awesome, and some will just suck.  This blog post is to talk about the latter; with the exception of a nice ending -- a cold ocean to soak our sore feet.  

Ending week 5 of marathon training: 10 miles on the last day of vacation in Ocean City, MD.

End of 10 miler on the beach.

We had a great week at the beach with our families and am happy that we stayed on track with training (with Brad as my "coach" of course we didn't slack off with running...) After the 8 miler last Saturday we ran 8 more miles during the week and finished with another long run.  Initially we planned to do the long run on Friday morning so we could enjoy Saturday, our last day of vacation and not have to wake up early.  The alarm went off on Friday at 7:30 and I knew my legs weren't ready, and I certainly wasn't about to get out of bed that early if I didn't have to.  We put off the run and had no other choice but to do it on Saturday morning since we were visiting our friends, the Howell's, at their new house until Sunday.  It was a cloudy, misty and (another) very humid morning on Saturday.  They were calling for T-storms and thankfully we made it home right before the down pour.  Knowing we had to run 10 miles and there are no trails in OC, our options were pretty limited.  We ran through the back roads of OC and made our way up to Delaware and ran along Coastal Highway 5 miles up to South Bethany Beach and 5 mi back.

Why this run particularly sucked:  hot, muggy, one long, endless, non-scenic road with lots of traffic, no sunblock, no hat, miserable chaffing, and finished my water half-way through the run.  As we turned around at mile 5 to make our way back there was very little motivation left in me.  I'm not sure what got me through the last half except knowing how bad I wanted the run to be over, how much I wanted to jump into the ocean to cool off, and singing the 12 days of Christmas...something my brother does during his triathlons and suggested I try (only I forgot most of the words...)  So, I just kept running until it was over. Mile 9 to 10 felt like it was a 5K, not one mile (isn't the last mile always the worst??)

The endless road to Bethany Beach.

I'll stop being a debbie-downer for now and focus on some of positives (and why I DO still enjoy long runs...)

- I finished 10-miles and today I'm not sore at all.  I'm finally feeling in shape and feel like my body is adjusting to the training schedule.  

- There is nothing better than throwing off your running shoes and socks and sticking your sore legs into an ice cold ocean and feeling the sand through your toes.

- My mom was waiting for us at the condo and made us a killer post-run breakfast of bagels, eggs with ham, cantaloupe, and some throw-back Sunny-D.  She even left us a little note (on a napkin) taped to the door of the condo that read "Yeah you did it!" for when we got back.

And that just about wraps up week 5 of marathon training.  B and I just got back from Whole Foods and stocked up on some healthy foods to get us through the week including fresh peaches, brown rice, beans, ingredients for my mother-in-law's gazpacho recipe, quinoa pasta, frozen berries for smoothies, greek yogurt, trail mix, and granola.  I also snuck in a huge fat cookie (double cookie with creme in the middle) from their bakery and am sitting here eating it while I blog and feel zero guilt....oh I love you, running.

   I'm happy I've made it through another week of training...1/3 of the way there!  

The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person's determination.

- Tommy Lasorda