Week in Review

Wow- it is very hard to beleive that another week of marathon training / summer vacation has slipped by.  School is starting very soon (Tuesday after Labor Day)  for my older 3 kids and the marathon is only 43 days away.  Time is flying by.  

I am happy to report that I did get all my runs in for the week,  which as we all know is sometimes a huge feat. I got a total of 29 miles ( a step back week), which has felt so nice.   The miles went like this -      Monday 4 miles in 38:00   Tuesday 8 miles 76:30  

Wednesday 5 miles 47:03  Friday  12 miles 1:59:48

Question:  Do you ever have runs where your overall time is good (my 12 mile run above) but you are still disappointed in the outcome?  Why is that?   My goal for the 12 miles was 2:00,  I broke it (not by much, but I did). So why am I sad?  Because I got a headache (described below), got a side stitch that took me to walking for a few strides.  I don't know.  I really shouldn't be mad or sad, but I am.  The goal really is just to clear miles,  while improving, right.     I should be ecstatic, last year at this time, I got injured and was never able to complete anymore of my marathon training ( so now I am in unknown territory). 

Still trying to experiment and find the right 'fuel' for my long runs.  If you read my Chicago Marathon blog from last week, I have not needed / used any supplements during my long runs.  But now  I am running out of energy on the long runs.  Yesterday, I tried GU gummies (for the first time, thanks to my friend B).  Well, I will be truthful- I didnt really feel any different from if I had them or not.  The only thing that I did notice was that I got a headache about a 1 mile after I took them.  Is it purely coincidence or can headache be a side affect?    What do you use? Lots of other sites out there have been talking about proper fueling during long runs,  but there is so much information and so many things that can be taken before, during and after that it almost gets overwhelming.   I think I have the before and after figured out but am still lost during.   It gets so scary to experiment with only 6 weeks to go until the marathon,  but at the same I would rather know now than later.  Does that make sense?    I would like to have a game plan for next weekend , planned long run 18 miles. 

Have a wonderful weekend.  Looks like it is supposed to be beautiful here, summer is making one last showing