Accomplishments with #NTC

I had a HUGE accomplishment this week. I made it to the 10,000 minute of Nike Training Club. 

This was a goal of mine to hit it before the end of the summer but then I got named a Nike Women’s Ambassador and running was the most important part of my life at that point.

This week, on Wednesday to be exact it finally happened; I made it to the 10,000 minute mark. This is a huge achievement for the people that use the app because it is 10,000 minutes dedicated to Nike Training Club.

The transformation that has happened with my body has been amazing. Back in January when I was at the 3,000 minute mark my body was ok, but now I am starting to have a body that I am proud of. 

I am proud of it because I did it all by myself. I worked hard to get here with a lot of sweat and waking up early.

Sometimes we have to give up something we like for something we love. 

I had to sacrifice sleeping in here and there to get to this point but I did it and am I happy I did.

I have seen a massive transformation in my torso, but not only that in my upper and lower body strength. Also, how I view myself and how I feel. I think that is the most important aspect of how NTC has changed my life. 

I am super excited to see the changes my body will go through as I aim to hit 20,000 NTC minutes.

Wow, things got real this week

The fact that I am running the Nike Women’s Marathon became very real to me this week. 

On Tuesday I opened my inbox and what was there an email from a company called Epiphany, they are a social media company that works closely with Nike Women.

They asked me questions about who I am, what I do, my training, and my excitements. It was really cool to sit down and answer these questions because it really made me take a look at my training and see how far I have come.

The same day I received an email about my registration for the Nike Women’s marathon. At that point I was like this is really happening. I am really going to be flying to San Fran to run this and dominate it.

I am so excited for this opportunity. Sometimes it doesn't seem real and other times it’s all I have to stop from jumping up and down in exciting. I know all of my training is going to pay off. I have worked so hard and can’t wait to really show what I am made of. 

I can’t wait to run my very first marathon.

Marathon is coming soon

Last week was an amazing week for training.

Monday was a make-up day for not getting in my long run the week before and so I did a 4 mile run at lunch and killed it. I managed to run it in 29:53 with a pace of 7’26”/mile I was super happy with that pace. After work I headed to the reservoir and did a 9.21miles run I finished this in 1:28:27 with a pace of 9’36”/mile, not the greatest pace on the second run but I was still really happy with the way the run went.

Tuesday I did Nike Training Club True Condition and as you know I did hill runs with Renee and we killed it. I did a track workout with her this week also and it was so fun. I am glad I have a new running friend.

Thursday I did a 3.57mile run at lunch. It wasn’t my best time. I did the run in 30 minutes with a pace of 8’24”/mile. It was a warm lunch. It is great that it is September and we are still getting really warm weather, it makes me happy.

Friday I tackled more Nike Training Club doing the Gladiator in the Get Strong section and Leah Kim Yoga. Yoga is so important for a runner. It keeps your muscles long and prevents injury. Anyone who isn’t doing yoga with their training needs to add it in, your muscles with thank you.

Saturday was a 13 mile run day. I was ecstatic to run a half marathon distance. Everything has been crazy distances up to this point and to come back to the half marathon distance was a great treat. My goal for this distance was to do it without stopping once and took one stop to fill up my camel back. I was so pleased with my run and was happy I was able to complete the distance and with a pace of 8’58”/mile and a time of 1:57:51. Nothing felt better than to push through the limits and conquer my goal. This has given me lots of confidence for my actual marathon that is just around the corner. Now I know I can rock it!! Not only did I rock my half marathon run I also did my fastest marathon, this was a huge achievement for me. Hopefully I only continue to make it faster.

Last week was a great training week. I can feel the race getting closer and I am getting so excited. Happy Training. 

Hill Sprints with Renee

On Tuesday I had an opportunity to meet one of my twitter friends. Her name is Renee and she lives here in Calgary. It was cool to meet someone from twitter because too many times you say you’ll meet up but it never really happens.

Renee and I met at the Sandy Beach hill and had an evening of hills sprints. As you all know I am preparing for the Nike Women’s Marathon, Renee is preparing for the Bluenose half marathon.

I believe that hill training is important to anyone’s training plan. If you are missing out on the hill training you are only hurting yourself in the end.

I told Renee we were going to do 6-8 hill sprints. Well Renee I looked at the actual laps we did and we ended up doing 12 hill sprints!! No wonder my legs felt so sore the next day.

The laps went like this:

1.       3:02

2.       2:59

3.       3:01

4.       4:59

5.       3:20

6.       3:26

7.       3:29

8.       3:27

9.       3:26

10.   3:52

11.   3:38

12.   3:35

I kind of fell off the map on lap 4 but pulled it back together for the rest of the hill sprints.

The key to having successful hill sprints is in my arms. I find the more I use my arms the faster I can go up the hill. Of course while running a race you don’t want to run the hills too fast or you won’t have much energy left over for the rest of the race but if you can move those arms a little it will help propel you up those hills.

Hills have actually become a favorite part of my training plan and I hope to be able to dominate them in San Fran.

What is the favorite part of your training plan?

Renee and I are getting together again on Tuesday to do a track workout. I am excited to run the track and get my speed up.

Happy Training.

You Are Going to Want to Give Up ... Don't

When I first started my marathon training I didn’t think it was going to be this hard. I mean I knew it was going to be hard but I thought the hard part was behind me. You know the increase in mileage seemed really hard but truth be known the taper is my hardest part.

I have reached my maximum mileage of 22 miles and now it seems hard to get out there for my long runs. I try to justify it by saying you’ve already ran 22 miles so this 18 isn’t worth running. When in reality the taper is just as important in the training process.

I have to keep reminding myself that I am going to want to give up, but not to. Though 13 miles seems easy and not worth doing every run on the taper is just as important and just as needed as the runs leading up to your longest mile.

Week 11 of training didn’t go as planned.

Monday I did a little bit of catch up on the last week and did some Nike Training Club, Get Strong Gladiator to be exact. The Gladiator always scares me because of the amount of shoulder strength needed to do this workout. It is lots of sumo squats and planks and medicine ball push-ups. Once I am done it I always feel accomplished so that is a plus.

Tuesday I conquered a 4 mile run on my lunch break. I was so impressed with my pace, I pulled out a 7’31”/mile pace. All in all I killed it and it felt good. I love that I am running fast and strong on these short runs, I just wish that would transition into my longer runs. Wednesday I did another 4 mile run and this time did it with a pace of 7’48”/mile. I am always happy with a run if I keep it under an 8’00”/mile pace. 

Thursday morning Jamie and I met for some hills. We did the 5 this morning. They were hard I kept feeling like I was going to get sick, but I beat a cyclist up the hill at one point and that made me proud. I always get happy when I can beat a person on bike lol. Thursday at lunch I also did some ab workouts. The Jeanette Jenkins and Joselynne Boschen, they are my two favorite ab workouts on the app.

The weekend was supposed to be a 16 mile run but due to my company participating in Calgary Corporate Challenge I was unable to run Saturday morning. I was signed up to participate in basketball. One thing you should know about me. I am not a team sport person. I played basketball on a team once and I accidently broke a girls arm. My parents put me in single sports after that. I show up to the basketball game in my Nike capri’s, it was cold that day and I didn’t want to feel chilly. We were down by 10 going into the last 2 minutes of the game and our team came back to win the game by 2 points, however due to having too many people playing we had to forfeit the game. So sadly we lost. Sunday morning I woke up and was feeling super sick and wasn’t able to run. I was so disappointed in myself for missing my run.

I hope your week of training is going well so far. Only 25 days left until the Nike Women’s Marathon.

Happy Training. 

My Totem

I wrote NWM on my wrist, this stands for Nike Women’s Marathon. By now you proably know from reading my blog that I am running the  Nike Women’s Marathon and it is in 27 days. Ahh!!!

To help me gain more control over my eating habits (not to not eat, but to eat more) I have wrote NWM on my wrist. This is to remind me when I reach for a donut, a diet coke, a sugary snack, or when I am thinking I have ate enough for the day but I know that my calories are on the low side to eat a little more of my goals; my goal to qualify for Boston, my goal to get my body into better shape, my goal to have abs.

I have had a few questions today of what is that on your wrist and I am tell them. I get a few weird looks and I also get a few that is a great idea. I am not doing this for other people I am doing this for me so I can have the best race I can race. 

Happy Training.

My Struggle with Popular Media

I love have a little addiction to tumblr, it can be a very motivational website. It’s like an online get fit community where you encourage each other and push each other to eat healthier, run faster, workout harder.  It can also be a very scary place. This all depends on what hashtags you are using.

I recently stumbled upon #thinspo. Thinspo is one of those scary hashtags. It’s a site for girls people, because lets be honest the world is now telling guys how to look, who want to get skinny. Not just thin but anorexia thin. 

Some people on the site also use tags such as #proana and #promia. If you are not up to date on the lingo this is Pro Anorexia and Pro Bulimia.

This scared me. I was like there is a site out there that encourages anorexia and bulimia, why? Why would we want to encourage this? I thought to myself, we are not just encouraging this through tumblr, we are also encouraging this through TV and movies. I can't turn on the TV without seeing someone who is size 2 and throwing this into my face.

We are not educated about anorexia and bulimia. When I was 12 years old and I started starving myself was I aware that in 14 years I would have medical issues pop up because of my struggle with anorexia. No, I didn't think about that, I only thought about being thin. The girls on TV won't tell you that either, they will just show you the glamours life they live.

Recently I had blood test done. It was my yearly check-up time so I didn’t think anything of it. Until I got my test results back and the test said I have a kidney issue. I HAVE A KIDNEY ISSUE because back when I was 12 years old I wanted to look like Britney Spears because up until a year ago I wanted nothing more but to be thin because I thought being thin was the most important thing in the world. 

We don’t educate our young people, or our older people. We throw people in their face like Britney Spears, Karli Kloss or pretty much any other Hollywood actress. Tell them that this is perfection and tell them that this is what they need to strive to be to get the perfect job, find the perfect husband and have the perfect kids.

I recently read a statistic that thinner people get paid 20% more than their overweight co-worker. So great I put on a few pounds go to a job interview and guess what I am not getting the job because I don't look as good as the size two model looking girl, who doesn't have the same skill set as me, but because she is thin and beautiful she gets the job.

We don’t just get it thrown at us at a young age and then all of a sudden when we are 30 these feeling go away, no we have different women thrown at us now the Angelina Jolies, the Madonna’s. In our middle age we are told we are supposed to look young and perfect. Than when we hit our 60’s when we think we are finally free of the chains of society we are not we are told to look like Angelica Houston, Meryl Streep. 

When does it end, it doesn't. From the moment we are born until the day we die we are pushed to look a certain way.

We need to teach our young girls and ourselves to love, not other people (that is obvious) but love who they are first. If I loved myself as much as I was in love with being thin would I have fell into that hole. Probably not. I would have been happy with who I am. We need to love who we are flaws and all. Media isn’t going away and the internet is going to be an even scarier place so we need to learn to love ourselves no matter what.

If I could write a letter to my 12 year old self and bring it back for her to find it I would tell her to learn to love herself, to value who she is. I would tell her the negative effects of not eating. I would tell her that starving herself is not the answer. I would tell her that she is beautiful the way she is and though she doesn’t see how beautiful she is other people do. It’s like a butterfly, they can’t see how beautiful their wings are but everyone else can. I would tell her that there is so much more to life than being thin.

Unfortunately I can’t go back in time and talk to myself and I will forever live with what I have done to my body but hopefully I can save someone else out there from hurting their self.  

Fortunately my kidney issues are not yet serious and they will not affect my stander of life. I have to watch them and get blood test often to ensure that they don't get worst. I am a lucky one other people are not so lucky.

I used to be afraid of food. Today I am still afraid of some foods but I know that I must eat to be strong and to fuel my body. My body cannot work without me giving it the proper nutrients. Today I am fighting my eating disorder and I am winning. I know that everyday is a battle with myself and food but I have gained my life back. I think it is because I have new role models. Women who are strong and who I am happy to look up to.

Happy Training. 

One Month Until My First Marathon

This morning I woke up like any other Friday morning, looked at my iCal and realized that in a month from today I will be running my very first marathon, the Nike Women's Marathon. 

Than threw up. 

Seriously, I threw up. I got a shot of nervousness ring through me. What if I am not ready, what if I get tired an want to quit, what if I can't do it, what if...Than I looked at myself in the mirror and said "Tiara, you can give the world a million what if's and they all might come true but they might not come true and you will surpass greatness."

There is no doubt I am nervous I mean who wouldn't be, especially if it is their first marathon. 

Just in case I forgot to do this later, I want to thank a few key people in my success.

Nike Women, first off I can't thank you enough for giving me this opportunity. I am just a girl from Canada with a dream to run a marathon before her 27th birthday and you provided me with the way to do that. I thank you so much. Thank you for all the amazing running gear you have given me, seriously, it has lifted my spirits when my spirits have needed to be lifted and has made me look super stylish. You ladies are amazing and I can't wait to meet you.

Meho,you are an amazing boyfriend and should be given a prize for putting up with me these past few months. Thank you for running with me and for getting me out of bed at 6am on a Saturday morning for the long runs. You have been my greatest supporter throughout all of this. You have taken countless pictures of me and gone on countless runs with me. You have put up with my breakdowns on the middle of my runs and listened to me rant and rave about my marathon. You deserve a vacation for getting me through this. I couldn't have asked for a better training partner. 

Marie, thank you for an awesome training plan. I feel so much stronger and so much more confident in myself and my running. When I first said yes I was scared to run a marathon. I am still scared but I know I can do it. You have been amazing answering my outlandish questions and for being there to cheer me on.

Jamie, I couldn't have done 5am runs during the week without you. Thank you for being so willing to do this training plan with me even though you are not running the marathon. Thank you for keeping me sane when I was dealing with work issues and training at the same time and thank you for pushing me and not letting me stop when we run hills. 

To my co-workers and especially my boss, thank you for putting up with me eating during meetings (I can't promise that is going to stop) and for coming in late after lunch. Seriously guys I will be less of a pain once this is over and I will go out for lunch more often. Thank you for all of your support.

My Sisters In Nike, way to train hard ladies. We only have a month left of training so lets make it count. Thank you for being great virtual training partners, for being an ear to listen for giving great advice and for listening to my rants. You will always be my Sisters In Nike. 

Cory and Phillip, seriously you have been the greatest therapist ever. You two together have prevented me from getting injuries and have helped me realize the importance of proper stretching. I am so glad I walked into your office that day in May. 

Last but not least, my blog readers. You have all been amazing. My journey is not over yet but thank you for sharing this journey with me. Some of you have reached out to me personally and I have developed a relationship with you and others I haven't had a chance to speak with, but thank you for your support and for reading my blog. I am sure it wasn't the most thrilling blog out there but I am thankful you read it. 

Please continue to read as my journey has not ended yet. I just didn't want to miss out on thanking anyone or forget to do it. 

I am excited for what this month has to bring and I am even more excited to run this marathon because I am running it for each and everyone of you who have inspired me, who have encouraged me and who have supported me. 

Happy Training!

Starting a Taper

This is my very first marathon, but this isn't my first huge sporting event. I have an issue with slowing down. My motto has always been: Go Big or Go Home!! Hence deciding to run a full marathon before even attacking a half marathon.

This last week marked taper week. I have never been good at tapering back. It was never my strong point. That is likely the reason I ended up with an injury at such a young age. 

Now I am watching my mileage drop off I went from 22 miles one week to 18 the next week. It seemed like such a huge drop. I am not even a month off from the Nike Women's Marathon!

I keep telling myself to trust my training plan to trust Marie because she knows best, but it is so hard for me to start slowing down this far from race day. 

I have been reading up about tapering and it is a really important part of your training plan. Just as important as hitting those high miles. This is when your body begins to repair and get strong for the actual race. 

My big fear is that I will go from 9 miles to 26.2 miles and that my body is going to go into shock. It almost seems easier to go from 22 miles to 26.2 miles. I mean it's only another 4.2 miles. Yet I understand how important it is for my body to heal. 

I know after that 22 mile run I was wrecked. My body was sore, my legs were killing me, and even my shoulders hurt. I know realistically running a full marathon after running that 22 miler would have been hard. 

I guess I have worries that I am going to do bad and I don't want to do bad. I don't event want to do average. I want to do GREAT! Not by other people's standers but by mine. 

How have you dealt with a taper in the past? How have you pulled through decreasing your mileage. Did it help your marathon?

Happy Training. 

Push Through the Weakness

As my mileage gets longer I find that I have to walk through my training runs more.

When I did my 22 mile run I was doing a walk run by the end. This in away disappointed me. I so badly want to run the whole 26.2 miles, no walking at all.

I find I will get knee pain or a pain elsewhere in my leg, or my abs will start hurting, or my feet will start hurting and I look at that as an excuse to walk a little when really if I just pushed through the run I would probably feel better in another mile. I think I need to push through those times of weakness, those times of giving up, those times of exhaustion because the pain will end and the race will be over.

There is a difference between injury pain and pain from running the distance. 

I have made it a personal goal of mine to run the whole 26.2 miles.

I have a lot in my favour on marathon day. For one I will be going from elevation to sea level. Not just a few meter elevation but I am a good 1,000 meters above sea level, everyone knows that training at elevation and going to sea level is the best thing ever. Your lungs open up and you can get more oxygen going through your body. I won’t be running 26.2 miles with just Meho, I will be running 26.2 miles with other women just like me, with the same goal as me.

I think I just need to remember that though my body will feel temporary pain there will be no greater joy than finishing a marathon without stopping. What a huge accomplishment for my first marathon.

Happy Training. 

New Gear Arrives

Last week was one of those weeks, you know nothing ever seems to go right, you need to get one thing done but something jumps in your way to prevent that one thing. You have a million things you need to do but you just can’t seem to get anything done. I was hosting a major event for Oil and Gas people in downtown Calgary and my training, eating and sleeping cycle was anything but normal.

Monday was supposed to be a yoga day, but it was also a holiday in Canada and my yoga studio had a weird schedule and I spent majority of the day sleeping, the 22 mile run from Saturday before took a huge toll on my body.

Tuesday I wanted to do a 6 mile tempo run but I ended up doing a 4 mile tempo run due to time restrictions. I was very pleased with this tempo run; I remember the first time I saw tempo run on my schedule I was scared to death. I was like what I have to run that, tempo runs seem a lot more enjoyable now and I enjoy getting in speed runs. I ran this run with a pace of 6’44”/mile. It was fast and felt awesome. I wish I could run all my runs like that for all my runs. Maybe one day lol. 

When I got home Tuesday night there was a box waiting for me. I was so excited. I was like I wonder what it is. I opened it up and there was tons of goodies from the ladies at Nike Women.

·      The first thing I tried on was the Nike LegendTight Fit Pants, I love the feel of these. I haven’t had a chance to train in them yet but they feel amazing, my only problem with them is they are made for someone with longer legs than me. They are still super cute. Cute enough to wear doing errands around town. I think I might wear them on my flight to San Francisco.

·         I literally started jumping around my living room when I saw the Nike Speed Long-Sleeve. I live in Canada. Alberta to be exact and it is already starting to get cold here. The other morning when I went for a run it was around 1 degree Celsius. The afternoons are warm but the mornings when I normally do my runs are starting to get colder. I have been eyeing this top because I knew it would be perfect for my morning runs. The thumb holes are perfect since the arms don’t ride up your body and it keeps the wind out of your shirt. I was in love from the moment I put it on. I advise every runner out there to get this top because if you don’t you’ll be sad you don’t have it.

·         I also received the Nike Relay Women’s RunningTop. This is a dream top, it is comfortable and form fitting. It is girly at the same time, the ruffles add that effect. I have ran in this top a few times and also did Nike Training Club and have loved it.

·         Nike sent me three bras and they are: Nike ProHypercool bra. I used this on my long run and LOVED it. It felt like I wasn’t even wearing a bra, it is super comfortable and looks awesome on too. I got theNike Pro Printed Strip bra too and it’s super cute. I got the Nike ProCompression bra and I love it. Keeps my boobs just where they need to be and the print on it is so cute. Now I have 7 running bras from Nike Women and this will help me reach my goal of being able to run in just a running bra.

·         I also got a new pair of running shoes that were much needed. I received the new Lunarglide 4’s. These shoes are amazing. I ran with them for the first time on Sunday when I did my long run and they were great. I hadn’t worn them before and they were awesome until mile 15 when my feet started to hurt, but that was my fault because I didn’t break them in but 15 miles before pain in new shoes, that is amazing. It has never happened to me before. They are light, not as light as the Montreals so the first few miles were rough while my feet adjusted to a bit of a heavier shoe. I love them they are such an amazing fit. If you are an avid runner these shoes area must get.

·         Training shoes are super important. You shouldn’t be training in a running shoes it is bad practice. I was beyond excited when Nike sent me a pair of the Nike Free Training Shoe Twist. These are superlight weight and are very comfortable. It feels as if I am wearing no shoes. They are really cute I have had tons of compliments on them. If you are looking  for a training shoe I advise you to get these, you won’t regret it.

Wednesday morning Jamie and I decided to go for a run. We did a 5.02 mile run and I ran it in 37:15 with a pace of 7’25”/mile. I was happy with the pace and even happier that I got out there since the morning was cold. Coming into work I kept arguing with myself over running outside or not. Once I got running I felt great and my Nike Speed Long-Sleeve kept me warm the entire run, I was happy to have it.

Thursday was my event so there was no running on this day or even a Nike Training Club. I did however manage to gain over 13,000 Nike Fuel due to running around my event all day. Friday I did Nike Training Club I did the Super Fusion. I was so happy to get a workout in since missing my workout on Thursday, it felt good to get sweaty and get my iron pumping. Saturday morning I slept in my body was so tired from the day before all I wanted to do was sleep. Meho and I had a few appointments to go to. We decided to run on Sunday. Saturday ended up being a much needed rest day. 

Sunday I ended up forgetting to set an alarm, plus the fact that I started new pills under my naturopath’s care and needed to be close to a bathroom I ran my 18 miler on the treadmill. I wouldn’t allow myself to go under 7mph on the treadmill this made for a pace of 8’15”/mile with a total time of 2:28:43. I was glad when it was done because I hate treadmill running I find it so hard because you are looking at the same thing the whole time. On the plus side I did get to watch the US open match, which was intense.

Happy Training. 

Halfway to Nike Women's Marathon

I normally like to post my weekly updates no later than a few days after the weekend, however my life is being consumed by a Customer appreciation event I am hosting for a lot of important Oil and Gas people. The event is tomorrow and this is the first moment of quiet I have got in the past few weeks.

Last Monday was a fairly easy day with a yoga class. Instead of doing an actual yoga class I just spent an hour doing some stretching and Sun Salutations. I really needed to get in a good stretch. All the running I have been doing lately has been really hard on the body especially the legs. I know my body was thankful I just spent an hour going into a stretch and holding it. It felt really nice. Ever since I was a swimmer I have been a fan of sun salutations. If you haven’t ever tried them you should.

Tuesday brought me some Nike Training Club, which I was thankful for. I am getting so close to hitting the 10,000 Nike Training Club minute mark. I feel like I have been working forever to hit the 10,000 mark and I think I will finally hit it sometime in the month of September. I used to fear The Get Strong workouts in Nike Training Club mainly because there isn’t a whole lot of cardio and a lot of body strength. Having Marie put them in there for me to do have made a huge difference. I still really enjoy the Get Toned and Get Lean ones a lot more but I no longer shy away from doing Get Strong.

Wednesday was a hill run day. I live in Calgary. We are close to the mountains. Like I can see them from my balcony but far enough away that we are still pretty flat. I have been doing hill sprints on a smaller but steep hill. It’s a hill that is commonly used for running in Calgary. Don’t get me wrong it is by no means small; there is a set of stairs that is connected to the hill because some people prefer to run this instead, the stairs are 11 stories high. I had to run this hill 8 times. My times were as followed:

·         Lap 1 – 3:21

·         Lap 2 – 3:29

·         Lap 3 – 3:26

·         Lap 4 – 3:28

·         Lap 5 – 3:27

·         Lap 6 – 3:08

·         Lap 7 – 3:31

·         Lap 8 – 5:25

My last lap I am pretty sure I must have walked it looking at my time. I was tired, the hill murdered me. I think I am going to add in a few more hill workouts into my training. I looked at the Nike Women’s Marathon route and it is very hilly, a few more hills couldn’t hurt me.

Thursday was a 6 mile run day for me. I was actually extremely happy for a 6 mile run as I had a 22 miler coming up on Saturday. My 6 miler actually went really well. I ran it in 49:18 with a pace of 8’12”/mile. I really want this to be my race pace for the marathon that is what I will be working up to in the next few weeks.

Friday was a yoga rest day. To be honest I had good intentions of doing yoga when I got home from work but I had such a headache and I didn’t feel 100% I ended up just taking the night off and resting so that when Saturday morning came I was ready to go for 22 miles. Saturday marked the first day of September and my longest run for the Nike Women’s marathon. I was running 22 miles and I was scared to death. I had such a horrible 20 mile run I was really worried about my 22. Meho ran with me once again and from the beginning the run felt better. I felt stronger. By the time we got to downtown my legs were still feeling strong. I had pizza the night before for supper I think this helped a lot giving me carbs for energy. Meho kept slowing me down when I wanted to pick up the pace. He knew how far I had to run and he kept saying I need to save some of my legs for later. By the time I hit the 14 mile mark I was starting to feel the effects of running for an extended period of time. My body was getting that flu like feeling and my legs were starting to build lactic acid. Around the 15 mile mark I started more of a walk run. I would run for two songs and walk for about 30 seconds. It was a constant pattern until I reached the finish. I wish I would have ran the whole thing but I don’t think my body would have been too happy about it.

I feel my training is going great. I am really proud of how far I have come. 15 weeks ago running 22 miles was a scary thought and yes it is still scary I am so proud of myself for being able to do it. My goal for my marathon is not to stop running at all to keep going until I cross that finish line with a smile on my face.