Marathon Training Update Week 7

Sunday marked a milestone in my running career; I ran the longest distance ever in my life at 14.5 miles.

I was a wee bit nervous going into it mainly because I was unsure of what route I was going to do and was worried I would get bored because I knew I would be running the same loops more than once.

But the sun was shining, I stuck to mainly paved surfaces with the exception of a couple of miles on my favourite riverside trail, and our dog Glenn was with me for the entire distance.

I didn’t worry about pace and stuck to the 10:1 ratio that the Running Room marathon training plan uses for the LSD (long, slow distance).

I decided to wear my Saucony Cortana running shoes because they have a more grippy sole than my favourite Saucony Mirage 2 shoes. I also wore the same outfit I have been wearing on all my winter runs: Lululemon Ice Queen pants, Lulu LS Run Swiftly, Old Navy tank with built-in bra, De Feet low lite socks, and my ladies softball jacket (this desperately needs to be washed, it stinks).

I also always wear my hat with sunglasses but rarely put the sunglasses on my face.

I brought along my water (and realized that with the upcoming longer distances I am going to have to factor in a water refill along my route), two gels and one pack of Clif Shot Bloks.

My plan of fueling every 3-miles is working well for me and is definitely something I will stick with.

Overall the run went well. Repeating loops didn’t bother me like I thought it would and the time went surprisingly fast considering I was out running for 3 hours!

My hips are still feeling tight and I have been stretching and foam rolling like it’s my job this week. Fitness Glo (don’t forget to enter my GIVEAWAY for your own 90-day membership) has a perfect 10-minute stretch routine that I swear was made for runners.

The best part was seeing this little boy waiting for me at the end of our street after my run.

This record distance won’t last long though, I have a 16-mile run scheduled for Saturday – eek!

Then, the following weekend I’m heading to run the Snake River Canyon Half-Marathon with two of my girlfriends. I don’t have a time goal for this race, my main goal is to run a smart race so I don’t get injured trying to reach a specific time. Essentially I will treat it like a normal training run and listen to my body.