Week 4

Training is slowly starting to pick up, and I am feeling it.

My parents came up from FL this week to visit, and we had a great time. They came in Monday afternoon, so I got in my 3 miles early that morning on the treadmill. For the Wed. and Thurs. runs, I got up before everyone else, and went out to run my 4 and 3 miles.

I sound like a broken record, but this humidity is just awful to run in, and it's really making running outside...hell. I decided to skip running with the group on Saturday - they were meeting at 5:30 a.m. at a park about 20 min. from my house. I love running at that park, but after a week of waking up early and entertaining all day, getting up at 4:30 to prepare for the long run and drive, was not something I wanted to do. So, I got up at 5:00 a.m. instead, had some breakfast, took my time stretching, and headed out. As soon as I stepped out of the house, I knew it was going to be hard. The humidity was so thick, it took so much extra effort to get a full breath in and fill the lungs. Miserable.

Despite that, I took off running too fast. I have a hard time slowing down. I know I need to slow down, but for some reason, I have the hardest time. I suppose it's that feeling that my running form is all off when I slow down, but it's also a feeling that if I slow down, I'll never get done. Nonsense. I did end up struggling big time the last couple of miles. The humidity, all the hills, tired legs...I found myself walking halfway up the last hill, drenched in sweat and breathing hard. I ran the last half mile to my house, but when I got inside and saw my husband, I had to fight back tears. I felt so defeated. And drained. Major doubts about the marathon - even the half marathon in Sept. - ran through my mind. I really need some cold weather. Really.

With the increased mileage, I am now experiencing the heel pain that comes with plantar fasciattis. It does not feel good, lemme tell ya. I'm doing my stretches in the morning, and rolling a ball under my foot when I'm sitting down. It helps, but worries me. It's all part of the journey, right? If it were easy, everyone would do it, right? Well, I'm still determined.