"Say ehlo to my little friend(s)"!

Forget the wheel, electricity and all of that other nonsense...these lovely little toe covers are by far the best thing man has ever invented!! The outside is comparable to ace bandage material and the inside is silicone to prevent slipping while providing a lot of cushion and preventing blisters. The clouds have parted and the sun came though...100% comfort and no more damage to the feet. Finished 17 miles today...it is truly amazing to how quickly the body can acclimate to whatever it is that one does on a consistent basis and how the recovery time gets shorter and shorter. The 17 miles felt like what 10 miles used to feel like with less recovery. Amazing. I ran with Fleet Feet this morning and I asked if anyone would be running more than 10 miles... keep in mind this was their "long run" training day... (Insert crickets chirping.) No one responded. Ummmmm???? The whole point of me running with them on Sundays was to run with a group but only one guy did 10 miles...sigh. Needless to say, I ended up running on my own. We started at fleet feet on J street, ran past sac state and then a mile and a half past watt avenue...turned around and came back; I ended up on J and 55th streets and needed to get to J and 23rd. For those running the CIM (Calif. Int'l marathon) the numbered streets can be a huge mind trip. I looked at 55th street and knew I still had to run to 23rd street...32 BLOCKS left!!!! During CIM, runners need to get to 12th street for the last part of the race...DON"T LOOK AT THE NUMBERS...they're cruel!!!! So I am nearing Fleet Feet and the organizer of the run and his buddy were actually waiting for me outside of the store...three hours and two minutes later...he gave me water, iced coffee, a pat on the back and sent me on my way. Next Saturday 12 miles and then the following Sunday will be the big 19-20 with maintenance runs in between. Almost there.

My third, fourth and fifth child...

...that's what this whole marathon thing has become. My entire schedule revolves around when and where the next run will be. I schedule my eating, resting, real children and even look a week into the weather forecast to plan early runs...at the same time loving every minute of this challenge! It is slightly neurotic and I cannot even imagine what the Ultra Marathoner's go thru. I was following the Badwater Ultramarathon the past two days and there is something enticing about running 135 miles in the desert. I know....sounds weird but I want to know what it must feel like to hit the 89 mile mark, in the heat , and know that I have 46 more miles to go...non-stop...HELLO??? www.badwater.com (26.2 in Kaua'i doesn't look so bad.)

53 days to go!

Time is tickin' away! I completed 16 miles last Saturday...consistently ran the first 15 then walked the last mile to give my legs a chance to cool down...the ride home after a long run is never fun....muscles tend to tighten up so I like to get a good walk and stretch prior to getting in the car. Starting this Sunday I will now do my long runs with Fleet Feet to help with final training and some motivation; the long runs can get a little boring. Although, I have to say, running this whole time alone has really helped with the psychological aspect of completing long runs (10+ miles) and the discipline required to keep going when I want to stop and go home. I really believe this marathon will be a huge mind trip and I need to be strong enough mentally to finish the 26.2...physically, i believe my body is capable but my mind needs to be on the same page...hard balance. When my clients tell me they can't do something or they want to quit I always tell them the same thing: "If there were one million dollars in front of you and all you had to do was go one more minute or complete one more set to get that million dollars, you know you would complete that minute/set!" The mind can be a nasty little saboteur...i find that i talk to myself quite a bit, more like arguing, when completing those long runs...thankfully, my body does not listen and I have not been locked away for talking crazy while running. Sunday will be 16-17 miles and plan to complete 20 by the beginning of August...whew.