The Road to 26.2: Week 11

Week 11 tested my mental toughness and challenged my dedication to training.  Winter weather reared its ugly head, gifting us with the dreaded wintry mix and bitterly cold windchills.  I only made it outside for one run last week.  Though I worked hard to choose my attitude and select a positive outlook (I have a treadmill!  I can watch Netflix without interruption!), the monotony of treadmill miles wore on me.  My largely indoor workouts looked like this:

Monday (2/16):  5 mile run.
In several inches of new snow.  Neither the roads nor the streets were cleared, so it was slow-going.  My left hip definitely felt the extra effort this run required.  Running five miles in unplowed snow may not have been my brightest idea, but looking ahead at the week's forecast, I suspected it might be one of my few chances to run outside, so I seized it.

Bundled and snowy after Monday's run.

Tuesday (2/17):  yoga and strength work.
A nice gentle stretch to release the muscles that were tired from the snowy run.  Strength work was pretty much the usual: squats, planks, side planks, pushups, monster walks, and glute work.
Wednesday (2/18):  8 mile run.
Midweek mid-distance run on the treadmill.  It was long and hard, and I knew it was just a prelude to the even longer treadmill run I had in a few days.  I survived this run, but afterwards, I had serious doubts about my ability to go more than twice the distance over the weekend.

Thursday (2/19):  5 mile run.
More treadmill.  Thank goodness for Netflix to help pass the time and break up the monotony!
Friday (2/20):  pilates plus some extra strength.
A new pilates YouTube video that was an excellent core and glute workout.  It really targeted the low abs and hips, which this mother runner could certainly use help strengthening.  I added some of my usual strength work at the end to complete the workout.
Saturday (2/21):  18 mile run.
The big suck, which required extreme mental strength to embrace and overcome.  But I did it!

Replenishing carbs and enjoying a dance performance by my girls on Saturday evening.
Does life get much better?

Sunday (2/22):  REST!
So happy to have a day to recover from the long run and catch up on some much-needed work around the house.  Surprisingly, no laundry gnomes tackled the dirty socks while I was running this week...

Without a doubt, this week was the hardest of the training plan to date.  31 of the 36 miles happened in my basement with an unchanging view and lots of self-doubt.  Even as I write this, I'm shocked that I survived the week.  I've never run so many miles in a single week, and I've surely never run so many miles on a treadmill.  I tried hard to keep my crabbing and complaining inside my head, but I'm sure it leaked over into the rest of my relationships.  My sincere apologies to all my friends and family who had to listen to my frustrations.

With great pleasure, I bid farewell to week 11 of this training plan.  You came.  You sucked.  I survived - barely.