Week 18 Recap and a Winner!

The last long run is complete and I am in the final stretch to Race Day!  After all the months of training I've put in, it's a bit strange that it's so close. 

Wednesday: 5 miles on the treadmill.  It felt really good the whole time and it was nice to play around with the speed.  

Friday: I was debating running on Friday, but knew that I wanted to get my long run in on Saturday since the weather was supposed to be a little gross on Sunday.  I didn't want to have to worry about running 5 miles on Sunday after running 13 miles the day before, so I laced up and hit the treadmill.  I tried to keep it at a nice, easy pace and overall had a really great run.  

Saturday: I was so ready for this run.  I just got a Camelbak and was excited that I would be able to run as far as I wanted without having to loop back to my car for water.  It was a really nice day, but maaaaaan was this run tough.  It was not the confidence booster that I was hoping for, but I was proud of finishing when I wanted to quit about 17 times during this run.  I did stop several times to stretch my calves which helped a little bit.  They were incredibly tight and  I will be spending a lot of quality time with the foam roller over the next couple of weeks!  I think a combination of having a little extra weight from the Camelbak and an unexpected late night at the vet (don't worry, everybody's fine) made this run harder than it should have been.  After I ditched the water around mile 9 I felt a whole lot better.

At least I have a pretty place to run!

I know not every run will be perfect and I know it takes time to get used to running with extra stuff, but it's never fun when runs don't go as you would have liked.  I won't be using the Camelbak in the race because there are plenty of water stops on the course, but I am excited to keep using it on future long runs!  Maddux and I headed back to the trail later that day and had a great walk which helped to loosen up some tight muscles.  

Maddux always has fun at the park :)

Total Miles for the Week: 23.1

Total Training Miles: 296.7

There were some other long walks and some strength moves happening at some point this week, but honestly the days were just a blur!  I can't believe it's already March.  Where is 2014 going?

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Annnnd finally, the winner of the Hot Chocolate 15k/5k race entry is: 

Ja: "I love milk chocolate bars! :) I'd love to the race in Columbus! :)"

Ja has been emailed!  Thanks to everyone who participated!  And remember you can still get a free travel mug if you use the code LINDSRUNMUG for the Philly Race in April!