The last 3 weeks..

I have kept up with my training and am getting excited//nervous about the next few weeks.  I am only 40 days away from the first marathon my body will endure and I am surprisingly still able to stand! 

As you saw on my latest post, the half-marathon went great!!  I did have to go to work afterwards and ended up feeling wiped out with a major headache all evening.  The great feeling of accomplishment though, did keep me beaming though!  

A few days after the race I FINALLY got my long awaited shoes:

Mizuno Wave Elixir 6

 

 

.....AND THEY FIT!!!!!  Oh how I wished I had them during the race, however, my feet now willingly enter the comfortable new shoes and rejoice when they have room to breathe.  My last shoes were also Mizunos and other than them being too small, I LOVED the light weight feel of them.  I can easily say that I am a Mizuno gal through and through :-)

Throughout the past several weeks, it is amazing to be able to compare runs and try to analyze what works, what doesn't and why.  For example, last weekend I had a 16 mile run which went EXCELLENT!!  I was able to run the entire time from start to finish with one small break around mile 10 to stretch.  I also refilled my water bottle at that time and continued the route.  What an amazing feeling!!!  This past weekend though, I ran 12, and man, I struggled through it.  I just couldn't seem to get in a groove and stopped several times to either walk or stretch.  I would like to blame it on the meatloaf I ate the night before but at this point I can't be certain.

Immediately following the 12 miles of ache, I went to try and raise money for my DetermiNation goal (I am short about $560.00--To donate, click on the link on the right side of the blog...THANK YOU!!!) and worked at our booth set-up at Effingham's Oktoberfest.  I face painted for about 2.5 hours and had an amazing time!!!!

Me & a brave Samaritan!  What a spectacular day!!

I didn't have a poster set-up with painted options and instead tried my fate by asking each child what they would like.  As expected, I had some wild requests!!  Purple tigers, cats, dogs, fire-breathing T-Rex mixed with a Dragon, etc.  Fortunately, I grew up loving to draw and they didn't turn out so bad :-)  In fact, there were these two little girls that I painted and as a thank you, they brought me a hand-made necklace!  Fundraising or not, being able to see the happy faces and excited responses were worth every second.  I really wish I would've arrived earlier.

Our (Me & Jer) Cross-Training yesterday morning was SUP Surfing (Stand Up Paddle Board-Surfing) and was hosted by East Coast Paddleboarding (http://eastcoastpaddleboarding.com/).  They were excellent and I had a great time!!!  I highly recommend them to others and will definitely go there to rent boards.  I did, however, under estimate the beach's sun from 9A - 12:30P and ended up burned.  Not good.

AAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!  OK, I had to get that off my chest.  This upcoming weekend I have an 18 mile run..longest to date.  It really is amazing to think how quickly this is coming.  I feel so proud to have been training and participating in something so big and I thank you for being interested enough to keep reading.