Marathon Countdown - 15 days....

I know I've been MIA on blogging for awhile. My extended trip to Arizona left me limited internet access on my computer, so I missed making a lot of updates. But since I'm not in a reminiscent mood at the moment I'll just focus on the present and catch up on everything else later.

This morning I went to the Dallas Running Club monthly race. I was scheduled for a 10 mile run today, but the race was only a 10k, so I put in a few warm up miles before the race so I could stay on my marathon training schedule. 10k's are not my favorite distance, neither are 5ks actually. It takes me at least a good 40 minutes or so of running until I feel like I've finally settled in and can pick up my pace and enjoy it. Which means that I never settle in for a 5k, and for the 10k- just when I start to enjoy it it's over. Obviously I guess that means I'm not a speed racer. :) Although, maybe I could be- I've never practiced for it.... then again, it doesn't sound all that appealing anyway. lol Does anyone out there have a favorite race distance?

My last long training run (20 miles) was last weekend around Tempe Town Lake. Since my 18 mile run two weeks before that was pretty rough, I was a little nervous going into this one. It seems for any distance over about 14 miles now I can almost guarantee that I'll end up facing 'the voice' for longer than I want to. You know the voice, don't you? The one that says, 'what did you get yourself into?', ' you can't run this far', 'it's only been 12 miles and you're already hurting, just quit, no one knows you're out here anyway'. That's what my voice says anyway, not sure about yours. I hate that!! I would tend to think that I'd score fairly high on a mental toughness rating, but for a few miles on those runs it seems like no amount of positive imagery or any other tricks can make that voice go away. Come to think of it, maybe I should name my voice so I have someone more specific to battle against....Bob?, Ruben?, any suggestions?....................................

So I was definitely fighting the voice a few laps into my 20 mile run- but thankfully Amanda saved me. Now for clarification, Amanda is not another imaginary voice (you were getting worried about me there, weren't you? :)), she is an actual person- and an awesome friend for volunteering to run the last 5 miles of my 20 mile run with me. This made all the difference in the world!!!! Amanda rocks!! Just knowing that in a few miles I would be meeting up with her really helped keep up my mood. It makes such a huge difference knowing there is someone out there with you or waiting for you! Thank you Amanda!!!
Poor Amanda also had to tolerate my brief episode of runner's high the last 2 miles or so- every time we turned our last corner or crossed our last bridge I would let out this huge scream of joy! Which I realize probably made me look rediculous to the average passerby. However at that point I didn't care- it was my way of telling that voice I'd been fighting exactly where he could go! It's such an incredible feeling to get to that point! Definitely something everyone should experience! :)

And what's even more exciting is it looks like I'll have a few spectators on race day too!!! Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who has said that want to be there. You have no idea what this means to me for you to take time out of your weekend and cheer for a very slow, yet determined, first time marathoner. :)

And one last update... yesterday I bought THE shoes that will be taking me through all 26.2 miles! Here they are! Thank you Asics GT-2140! We have some serious bonding time up ahead. Don't fail me now. :)