marathon training (week fifteen)

ever since decided i wanted to complete a full marathon i knew it was going to be tough. it's one of those things that you can't really prepare for. i mean, of course i'm training and all, but i'm talking about full on pre-to-the-pare. i've read a few articles about 'week fifteen' and how it can make or break you. there are all sorts of horror stories. at the time...it got me fired up. now, in week fifteen...i'm crazy nervous.

my weekday runs went okay this week. i started strong, but ended feeling pretty fatigued on thursday after my four miler. on thursday, it was nice getting a run in early in the morning before work. that's always a great way to start a day.

one awesome run this week was my three miler on tuesday with emily. since it was one day without shoes we of course wanted to run barefoot...so we did. we ran part of our four mile loop then broke off around the two mile mark to head onto the golf course where we kicked off our shoes and socks. it was only my second time running barefoot and emily's first. it was a total blast to run with her all over the course barefoot like a couple of little kids laughing the entire time.

...and then came the twenty miler. twenty miles! just say it out loud with me, "twenty miles!" one more time and let's yell it, "TWENTY MILES!!" anyway, the weather was perfect; mid-sixties and hardly any wind. it did get warm toward the end when the sun came out full force, but it didn't really matter because i couldn't feel anything at that point. unfortunately, i didn't even think i would need sunscreen, and as a result i got a wicked sunburn. so we're all on the same page here, it's not the type of sunburn where the next day people are like, "dang tony...you got some nice color!" it's more like, "tony...what the crap were you doing yesterday that gave you such awkward sunburn lines?" you can literally tell that i had my arms up in a running position for over three hours and just happen to be wearing taller ankle socks. whatever though...when i was finally done (it took me about twenty minutes longer than i was hoping for) i could barely walk. i've never felt anything like it, folks. it was gnarly to say the least.


one thing i learned/re-learned this week in regards to running: the infamous week fifteen during marathon training does suck!

week fifteen numbers:

starting weight: 184


monday - 4 miles / 32:52 (8:13)
tuesday - 3 miles / 28:04 (9:22)
wednesday - rest
thursday - 4 miles / 35:55 (8:59)
friday - rest
saturday - 20 miles / 03:24:09 (10:13)
sunday - rest

total mileage for the week: 31 miles

ending weight: 183

total weight loss/gain: -1