The Road to 26.2: Week 10

Life has hindered my posting of last week's training recap.  Each time I sit down to compose this post, thirteen interruptions surface, and the text lies half written.  Lest I am further deferred by interruptions, I'm going to cut right to the chase:

Monday (2/9):  4 mile run.
Easy miles to kick off the week.
Tuesday (2/10):  8 mile run.
A new weekday distance PR!  Squeezing in 8 miles before 6:00am is not for the feint of heart.  I left at 4:47, ran an 8-miler that felt surprisingly easy, stretched, showered, and was ready to get the kids rolling for school at 6:45.  Just another morning for this marathon-training mother runner...
Wednesday (2/11):  early morning walk with my BRF plus yoga and strength work.
Since my BRF is currently benched from running, I've missed our early morning chats!  It was so nice to have a chance to catch up :)  Later in the day, I did yoga for runners plus strength work, including planks/side planks, monster walks, squats, pushups, and glute work.

Thursday (2/12):  4 mile run.
With extremely cold temps outside, I took this one to the treadmill.  Though the treadmill is certainly not my favorite arena for a run, it gave me the chance to wear a skirt for the first time in months!  It's the little things.
Friday (2/13):  pilates and strength work.
A very thorough pilates workout that targeted my core.  Afterwards, I added extra strength work doing most of the same exercises as I had on Wednesday.
Saturday (2/14):  17 mile run.
A really terrific long run!  I plotted out a loop course that carried me farther than I ever dreamed of running.  The weather was quite cold, but I kept a steady pace, fueled efficiently, and pulled of a wildly fast finish for the final two miles.  I returned home exhausted but triumphant.  When my husband asked how the run was, I simply replied: "17 miles is a long way to go."  Trite and obvious, but it was all I could verbalize as my brain was still grappling with the enormity of what I'd just accomplished.

Sunday (2/15):  REST!
A day full of Hello Kitty and sparkly things as we celebrated my daughter's 5th birthday!

The birthday girl with her celebratory donut, our family tradition.

During Saturday's long run, my path included 4 interstate overpass crossings.  I don't really have a problem with heights, but running on highway overpasses unnerves me a bit.  In my head, I know it is a safe path to travel; in my heart, however, I am full of heebie-jeebies.  Without exaggeration, I think the .4 of a mile I spent running over highways were more difficult than any of the other 16.6 miles I covered.

Week 10 was overall quite solid, and though it included an uptick in mileage, I'm feeling healthy and strong.  During this training cycle, my feelings waffle rapidly between excitement and sheer terror.  I'm pleased that week 10 landed squarely in excited camp - with just a bit of terror on the overpasses.  Onward!