2 (FINALLY!)

I stuck to the plan and did not skip the last 2!

The next time I wear those running shoes will be Sunday at the marathon!

The next time I post, I will be a marathoner!!!!!

Thank you Lord for running!

4

This afternoon I had a wonderful 4 mile run on the mill. I'm just not sure I can run with a pace group because I don't run "even splits". I always run "negative splits" and that's my strength in running. Usually. But who knows how I will feel on that day. You never know. I can't run this race how I ran my half marathon. The half is fast, the full is not. Not for me.

Tomorrow I am supposed to run 2 miles and I may or I may not. I think I will decide tomorrow. The work is done. My training is complete. It's time to rest, eat and hydrate like crazy!

Praying I can sleep tonight!

3

I ran 3 last night on the treadmill at the gym and it was something I just wanted to be done with. I don't know why I hate these shorter runs so much. What is wrong with me? Unless I run something in double digits, I feel sluggish. It's crazy!!!! I remember barely being able to do three miles when I first started.

Someone I knew got on the treadmill next to me and said, "Hey girl!". The time passed pretty quick as we talked about the Mom with 14 kids as the story flashed before us on the flat screen in front of us. The dreadmill was not so bad.

I'm loving how Basketball for Josiah, Dance for Ava Beth and the YMCA is bringing us a community of people. These people are great! This break we have taken from church until we move has been SO AWESOME and it's been amazing how God has totally supplied our relational needs through the activities of our children. It's nice to be back in the real world. The people are so genuine too. God is good! I'm so thankful God gave me my Dad's ability to strike up a conversation with anyone. It's so much fun going to the gym and meeting new people! I LOVE IT!

Knowing me I will come home from the marathon with a new friend. I hope so!

Taper madness

I really have been feeling depressed this week. I've been freaking out with all sorts of emotion. I've been feeling like I am slower in my runs and so much more. I've been cranky and just plan upset that my running schedule has me doing a lousy 8 miles for a long run. JUST 8!

I don't know what to expect. I'm not a marathoner YET! I'm a newbie, a rookie, a virgin when it comes to the marathon.

Thankfully I know I am not alone and everything I am feeling is quite normal. Thank you Wendy for this article!!!

http://www.runrichmond.com/id33.html

3 (Thursday)

The taper is hard. You would think it would be enjoyable to have the break and not log so many miles but to the mind I just feel like it's not enough. I have an 8 mile run this weekend that I am dreading. It's not a run to go fast or do anything crazy, it's simply designed to get miles in and that's it. BORING. But needed. :)

3 miles on the dreadmill last night at the Gym and lots of weights. I'm trying to get my upper half to match the physique of my lower half. The upper half looks like it's been on vacation while the lower half has been hard at work! I've always lifted free weights for my arms but never to the extent of bringing shape. But right now I'm trying and the more I work on the core, the more I realize how weak my core is. My legs are strong, my core is weak.

6 (wednesday)

6 miles in the beautiful sunshine!

My body is really beginning to feel this training. I'm a more tired than I have been in a very long time. Training for this marathon, homeschooling, having three small kids and taking care of the house is A LOT. I seriously don't know how I am doing it but then again, I don't know how I can't be doing this. Running is my medicine.

Yesterday on my run, I thought a lot about my friend Wendy and Jen. Both runners, both two women who I felt I needed to pray for. The time I spend running is so incredible for my prayer life. Every single thing I put in to running, it gives back even more. Abundantly more!

Today I only have to run 3! It's crazy to do a 3 miler but it will nice for my body and 3 miles on the dreadmill is not so bad!

10 days until the marathon!

4 (tuesday)

Last night was 4 on the Hal Higdon plan and I did it on the dreadmill. It wasn't too bad but I did the whole 4 miles on an incline and stayed at a very fast pace (5k pace). I HATE 5k's! I HATE running fast so why do it? Well I wanted it to be over soon because I wanted to go do weights with my husband AND speed really does help you in training.

A non-runner started talking to me today about the marathon. She starting talking about the hills, the pain, the agony at mile 22 and she really freaked me out! She has a relative that runs Austin every year so everything she knows about the marathon comes from the relative. This person was not trying to be negative at all. She was making conversation and adding her two cents and trying to talk about something she knew I was involved in. BUT, it really made me realize that I DO NOT want to talk to anyone next week.

I cannot handle any one's drama, including my own. I can't handle any comments like "Well, I drove to 5 miles to the donut shop this morning. Sorry you ran 5 miles." Or my favorite "Running a marathon is just stupid! Why would you do that?" I am seriously thinking about unplugging from email and facebook to get my mind ready. Any negativity right now just seems TOXIC! (And now I have a B. Spears song in my head! Dang it!) Family members can be really discouraging and so can acquaintances. Your friends believe in you, your friends know how important it is. I need my friends right now!
11 days!

12 (last long run before the 26.2)

Okay so I know some of you think I'm dorky for posting these pictures but I want to make sure I have a journal of this time in my life. The first pic is me right before I left. Loaded down with my gear and of course my mace! Josiah always says "Mommy, you look cool with your fuel belt on!"

The run was great! Not a run to push yourself and go nuts on but a run to get miles in. That's it! The weather was amazing but the wind was of course insane. I don't know what it is like anymore to run without wind. If there is no wind on race day, I will be shocked!

Then the next picture is after I'm done. Notice the crazy hair! Well, the wind is to blame!

Last but not least I thought I would show you how important it is to wear your body glide on long runs. I didn't think I needed it today. WRONG! Both of my arms underneath are raw! OUCH! They will scab too. So gross!

The REAL taper begins this week! WOO HOO!!!

Here's this week's schedule.

Sunday- Cross train and I will cross train at the Y in the pool as I swim!!! Very excited about that!

Monday- rest

Tuesday- 4 mile run

Wednesday- 6 mile run

Thursday- 3 mile run

Friday- rest

Saturday- 8 mile run

January, you have been an insane month for me. I can't believe you have brought me 126 miles! I'm tired!

14 DAYS!!!

4

Thank you Hal Higdon for finally giving me a day of only 4 miles! WOW! :)

I did weights and all kinds of new workouts at the gym tonight but I'm not doing ANY yoga or crazy class until the marathon is over! MUST NOT RISK INJURY!

5

I was supposed to do 8 yesterday and I HATE cutting my run short and not doing the planned amount. But Jeremy could not get home in time for me to run 8 without me running in the dark so I went to the gym and took advantage of the childcare and ran on the treadmill and I don't have it in me to run more than 5 on a the DREADMILL! I have to run 4 today and once again it will be a treadmill run because it's Jeremy's day to work out. It's been a nice break for my joints though. Tomorrow I am hoping to make up for yesterday's run and do a quick three outside!!! Saturday will be a 12 miler and I can't wait to get outside and soak up the beautiful sun!!

Off to finish school with Josiah and head to the YMCA!

16 days, 15 hrs!

5

We joined the YMCA and I think I LOVE it! I hate running on the dreadmill but on days when I have to, this will be great!

I ran two of my five miles at an 8:50 pace!! That's a record for me! I felt great and I'm glad I felt great because I was not sure my body had recovered after the 20 miler on Saturday but it did!! NO PAIN! NONE! NONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

5 miles! Done!

18 days until the Austin marathon!

Here's this week's schedule! After running 20 miles on Saturday, this schedule looks doable! Now if only it weren't so cold in Texas right now. I know for all of you people outside of Texas, 30 degrees is not cold to YOU. But, I'm a Texan and it's cold for me! So no sassy talk! :)

Monday- Rest
Tuesday- 5 mile run
Wednesday- 8 Mile run
Thursday- 4 mile run
Friday- Rest
Saturday- 12 mile run
Sunday- Cross train (if Jeremy will let us join the YMCA, I can do this!)

And if any of you are in Austin on February 15th, I could use a "GO AMANDA" sign at mile 6, 10, 15, 19, 22 and 24! :) Oh and a massage accompanied by a Michelob Ultra at 26.2! :)

20

(This was right before we started. We are both shivering. Don't we look great?! HA!)

Yesterday was the final HUGE run before the marathon. The next two long runs will only be 12 and 8. Which I can honestly say and have earned the right to say, is NOTHING. Yesterday was the peak of my training. Now the taper begins!

Without a doubt, running 20 miles was the hardest thing I have EVER done in my life. Giving birth to three babies was a piece of cake. An epidural is great! But there are no epidurals in running. I have no idea how I will run 6.2 miles more. Everyone tells me, you run it with your HEART so I guess that's what I will do.

Words cannot possibly describe the run. I laughed soooo HARD and at times shed tears. Heidi had me laughing so hysterically at one point that I thought I was going to pee all over myself. I think I did a little (thanks to giving birth to three kids).

Northerners, Mid Westerners (anyone who doesn't live in Texas!) could say that Texans are wimps when it comes to the cold and I would totally agree. We ran 20 miles in thirty degree temps and awful wind!!! The wind I can handle but not cold and wind together. Thirty degrees in Texas is bitter cold, especially when the day before was almost eighty degrees. I decided yesterday that I would take the Texas Summers over freezing cold ANY DAY. That's where we get our toughness. The heat! :) I'm sure when I begin training for the Chicago marathon in July, I will be cursing and wishing for the thirty degree weather to come back! But it's not July yet and the Austin marathon will be here in twenty-one days!

I will never forget yesterday. Yesterday was the first time I realized how much running hurts. I now understand why only 1% of the population run marathons. The incredible part is I never wanted to quit. It was more exciting to keep adding the mileage. There is a point you reach when you are so dang mad at your body that you basically just tell it to shut up and keep going. Many times I talked out loud and told my body to keep going. The mind is so much stronger than the body. SOOOOOOO MUCH STRONGER!

Towards the end, my lower half was in so much pain that I hobbled and then I would hobble long enough to get back on the "high" and pick up the pace. It is absolutely unbelievable how you can overcome pain. Heidi told me at the beginning of the run that Lance Armstrong's mantra was "Pain is something that leaves you but quitting stays with you forever." I LOVED THAT! The pain does leave. It does! That is what is so amazing about it! On one of the monster hills I said to Heidi "They shall run and not grow weary." Then a little bit later I felt my phone buzzing. I checked it to make sure it wasn't Jeremy. Instead it was a text message from my Dad who knew I was in the middle of my run. His text said "THEY SHALL RUN AND NOT GROW WEARY." It blew me away!!! My Dad and I had never talked about that scripture before so to get that text from him was such a God thing! WOW! That scripture will be my mantra! It was also a very emotional moment for me to have my Dad enter into my world like that. After it was over I called to tell him and he was gushing with joy and pride. He is coming in town for the marathon and I think he is more excited for me than I am. For those of you who know my testimony and my childhood, you KNOW what an incredible thing this is with my Dad.

Before we left yesterday, Jeremy and Josiah prayed over me. That was incredible hearing Father and son pray for me together. Then before Heidi I got out of her warm van and into the cold, we prayed. Many times on the course we prayed again. Something Heidi said when she prayed really stuck with me. "Lord, let this run be a time of worship." WOW! And I can honestly say that it was.

Yesterday was tough but I am absolutely in love with this sport. I simply cannot get enough. I'm already dreading the marathon being over. So for the next 21 days, I'm gonna take it all in.

This wife and mom of three is about to be a MARATHONER!

Thank you Lord Jesus for running.

Isaiah 40:31 31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

"Only those who risk going too far can possibly know how far they can go." -T.S. Eliot

5

Another crappy run! Ankle hurt. So I am taking the next two days off to rest and prepare for the 20 miler on Saturday. I will not do my scheduled 5 miler tomorrow. It's not worth it.

Ice
rest
homeopathic cream
sleep
prayer

If anyone is reading, pray for my health!

10

and not a good 10! but it's done!

14

Since last week was a VERY long run, this week was supposed to be a recovery week. Soooo I only had to do 14! Yes, ONLY. I got up early and did it this morning because Josiah had a basketball game at 11:40 and I need get back in the habit of the early morning runs because that is when the actual Marathon is.

My body is beginning to feel the uppage in mileage! :) From last Sunday to today, I have run 50 miles! SHOCKING to think about! Never has my back hurt but currently I am having weird back spasms. Surprisingly it totally goes away when I run but afterwards, I am back to feeling the spasms and stiffness. Ibuprofen works wonders!

Tomorrow is supposed to be a day of cross training but since I am not a member of the Y where I could swim indoors (this would be awesome) that won't work and I don't have a bike so I will stretch instead! :) Monday is rest and then the craziness begins and the training goes to a whole new level.

I was able to stick with Hal Higdon's Plan this week perfectly and that is a huge accomplishment for a Mom of three kids!

Here is this week's schedule!

Monday- Rest
Tuesday- 5 mile run
Wednesday- 10 mile run
Thursday- 5 mile run
Friday- Rest
Saturday- 20 mile run

After this next week, the taper begins! WOW! Can't believe it is so close!

If anyone is reading this, please keep me in your prayers this week! I need health and safety!

Thank you Lord for running!

5

Three days in a row is tiring but great! I am really looking forward to the day off tomorrow and I only have to run 14 on Saturday. I know it seems weird to hear "only 14" but next week's long run is 20! I am really looking forward to the 20 miler! By then I should have my new gel belt and fuel belt for water.

As crazy as it sounds, this is FUN! I AM LOVING IT!!!!

So far this week alone I have run 19 miles! CRAZY when I think about when I was training for a 5K!

Also I think I am running a 10 mile mud run in March! SO FUN!!! ALL IN THE MUD!!

Thank you Lord for running!

9 with some humor

Well, the first three miles of my run tonight, my body was ticked. It even started talking to me. My legs were screaming at me. I must share what they said! Kind of rude!

So I'm running and I hit mile 2 of 9 and my legs say, "Yo brain! What the heck were you thinking signing up to run 26.2 miles?" And then the feet said, "She even paid to run it! $125 buckaroos to put us through torture. She thinks we are holding up well but she has no clue what it will feel like when she hits 22 miles!" Then the hips, those smart ___ hips start jabbering! "Don't get me started! You guys think you have it rough! I hurt all the time! She drives me nuts every single time she sits and stands. I'm so battered, I start screaming at her every single morning when she gets out of bed but she could care less. She keeps pounding away!"

Thankfully my mind puts them in their place and mile 3 sets the tone for the rest of the run. "Look, you guys are babies! You think you aren't strong! You think you can't do this but you can. The pain is not that bad. Plus you get to rest all day Friday. You will get your ice, your nourishment, your relaxation and you may get a massage if she can arrange it so chill! Chillax! You are MUCH stronger than you think you are so quit complaining!!! JUST SHUT UP AND DO YOUR THING!"

So my body is ticked off! Especially because it's not used to running this much mileage in one week. 9 miles in the middle of the week really set it off but tomorrow is only 5 so it will just have to deal!

9 miles! Done.

Life is a marathon so why not run one?!

:)

5

(Those of you have run a marathon, I am teachable so PLEASE feel free to share any wisdom with me! I feel pretty silly because I have no clue if I am doing all the things I need to be doing!)

Well I followed Hal Higdon's plan for the half marathon and I am continuing to use his plan for the full. Tonight Hal had me run 5!It's crazy how 5 used to be quite the run but now 5 is nothing. I remember when Heidi and I first began this hard core journey and we were running 1 mile, then 2, then 3, etc. We did a 5k, then a 10k, then a half and now a full! Some people are content with a 10k but some want to go further. I was one of those people! A 10k showed me that if I could do 6.2, I could do 10 and if I could do 10, I could do 13.1! That's how it starts!

This afternoon as I began my run, I noticed a lot more people out. I saw three people running who I had never seen before. January tends to be the month where everyone starts running. But I was one of those runners. I was one of those people training for a 5k and I remember how exciting it was to finally be able to run without any walking. When I see those runners, I want to cheer them on and tell them to stick with it because I know how much it can change your life. I will be that newbie standing in line at the race expo waiting to get my Marathon packet. It still feels weird even saying it.

People who don't run often get the distances confused. I heard my Mom say something about me running a marathon back when I was training for the half marathon. I was like "Easy. I'm not a marathoner. Yet. " There is a HUGE difference between 13.1 miles and 26.2! HUGE! I know what a 17 miler feels like and my friend Wendy says that 20 miles feels way different than 17. That's the scary part to me! 10 miles does not feel much different than 12. There are certain miles that if you go easy on your pace, your body adjusts and you don't feel it so much. But 17 to 26.2 is HUGE. So even though I have made it to 17 and I will only train up to 19 or 20 before the race, I am scared! It's a fun scared though but scared!

I am currently in week 14 and this week I will do the following. This is Hal Higdon's NOVICE PLAN 1.

1/12 rest
1/13 5 mile run
1/14 9 mile run (i am not sure if I will have enough time for 9 miles but I'm hoping)
1/15 5 mile run
1/16 rest
1/17 14 mile run (do you know how great this sounds? 14 actually sounds easy)
1/18 cross train (something I am bad about because I don't have a bike or eliptical)

The reason Hal Higdon's plans work great for me is I don't use a heart rate monitor. A lot of runners do. His plan is pretty much to the point. My personality gets totally wigged out by running in zones and sprinting for 30 seconds and then run in zone 2 for 1 minute. Heidi is GREAT at this. That is how she has trained and she has taught me sooooooooo much!!! She is also faster than me. :) But I freak a little if I have a lot of directions to follow on a run. I am at home all day long, I homeschool and I have cabin fever daily. So I like to leave and not think about what I'm doing. I really wish I had the personality to do all the other stuff but it makes me dread it instead of crave it. Now if Heidi is running with me and telling me what to do, I love that. I like to be guided. Usually I want to be in control of everything but I love having her tell me what to do when we run together. She stretches me!

And that is what I love about running! There are all kinds of runners. I always have a plan because if you leave without deciding how many miles you are going to run, you will quit early. That is also why I always want to be training for something. It keeps me going!

The 5 miler was okay today. But my legs still felt a little weird after the 17 miler. This next month is going to be exhausting but it's totally worth it. Jeremy has been soooooooo supportive and very encouraging. Thankfully I have a sitter who is coming all week so I can do this. All of my "mad" money is going to her! Just a few more weeks!

5

INCREDIBLE RUN!

A little too hot but it was gorgeous!!!! I loved the warm sun on my back. It was nice to run in a sports tank and shorts but since it was 79 degrees, I should have taken water. Regardless, it was amazing!

I slowed it down, tried my new shoes and ran 5 miles with NOOOOOOOOOOO ankle pain!!

I am so excited I can barely stand it! It looks like I will be keeping the pair of Nike Max Moto 6!

Also I have a lady coming to buy my old washer for $65.00! The marathon cost for February 15th is $120.00 and Jeremy said I had to come up with the money. I'm almost there. Just praying the race does not sell out before I get all my money together. It's 65% full.

Getting excited!

I have a long run this weekend of 15 miles. I will do 16 if all goes well. I am behind because of the ankle but as long as I run at the pace I did today, I should be okay. I am not running for speed. I am running to complete! Hopefully by next month I will join the 1% of the population who have run a marathon!

Thank you Lord! Please keep me healthy!