Marathon Training Week 14: Taper Time!

Training for a marathon means you will discuss your poop in great detail with your mom, your dad and your boyfriend. Seriously, marathon training is not sexy. I’ve never talked about my poop so much in my life as I have this weekend.

My 22 mile 20 mile run on Saturday sucked. There, I said it.

I started off feeling strong. Coach Jess recommended I partake in the New York Flyers 3 Bridge + 20 mile run since the last bridge mimics the marathon course– you cross the Queensboro bridge at mile 16 just like in the marathon.

Having a pace group was awesome. I proudly rocked the slowest pace group (12:00 mile, what up!) and found camaraderie with my fellow slow runners, even though I only really spoke to them during rest stops because I was too busy jamming out to show tunes as always.

I was feeling so good I even hung out with the 11:00 mile kiddies on the Brooklyn bridge around mile 6.

About halfway through my tailbone starting hurting in a really bizarre way. I bruised it when I was 18 and it sometimes hurts when I sit on a hardwood floor for awhile… but its not something I’ve really noticed while running. I couldn’t tell if it was my stomach telling me I should go to the bathroom or my tailbone. I’m still honestly not sure which it really was. My knee was also hurting on an off. I think I need new shoes which sucks because they cost a lot of money and I already bought 2 shoes at the beginning of training.

Over the third and final bridge (Queensboro) I even had the crazy thought that I enjoyed bridges because what goes up must come down. I retract that statement because I soon after realized that this particular bridge is SO freaken long. I did however get all weepy thinking about the fact that the next time I’m on this bridge will be the real deal.

Then I totally fell apart. After the bridge the group started to spread out since we were crossing the avenues over to Central Park to finish up the run. I stuck with people I knew from the 12:00 group because one of the girls knew the route better than I did. I started struggling to keep up and took a walking break to fuel some more. They ran ahead… and no one else that I recognized from the group was around. I felt somewhat lost in Central Park even though I sort of knew where I was.

As you can imagine my body was tired at mile 18. I woke up at 5AM for this run and was starting to feel it. Up until this point I was confident that I was going to conquer 22 miles just like my coach ordered. During mile 18 though my body was not having it. I could feel my knees and feet seriously hurting. My stomach wasn’t doing so hot and I was eating all the fuel I could to keep me motivated and going. It took every ounce of energy to keep my body walking and moving until mile 20.

Could I have pushed through for 2 more miles? I don’t know. It’s hard to listen to your body when you’re marathon training sometimes because marathon training is not normal. Anything longer than 13 miles is kind of ridiculous if you think about it. 2 extra miles wasn’t worth it enough for me to hurt myself and ruin all the training I’ve done so far.

I hit mile 20 and immediately hailed a cab home feeling a tiny bit defeated. I had felt so good last week at the end of my 20 miler, yet felt so miserable Saturday.

Back home Jeremy and I headed to brunch. Soon after I was starting to have stomach issues and bleeding where there shouldn’t be bleeding. I’ll admit now that I probably should’ve gone to the doctor, and probably shouldn’t have googled symptoms instead. My symptoms stopped by Sunday morning though which is when I would’ve gone to the doctor. Hence talking about my poop way too much with my parents and boyfriend.

Don’t let the smile fool you, I felt miserable.

I took it easy the rest of the night and basically laid in bed alternating between reading and watching Netflix.

As defeated (and sick) as I felt on Saturday, I also knew the worst is over.

Yesterday I told Jeremy that marathon training was kind of like getting a shot at the doctor. I’m a total needle-phobe so I always build it up in my head to the point that I’m freaking out long before the needle gets anywhere near my body. By the time I actually get the shot that I realize that while it hurt, it wasn’t as bad as I built it up to be in my head.

Marathon training has been like that for me. I built it up in my head. A lot. No matter how miserable I felt on Saturday, I still hyped up marathon training to be even worse than that.

I thought the chafing, blisters, soreness, exhaustion, stomach issues and lack of toenails would be unbearable. While it hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows, it also hasn’t been terrible.

The worst is over. I’m officially in taper town. HOLY CRAP! I really did it.

Now I get to visit San Francisco for the first time (!!!) and run a casual half marathon. Bring it on, hills.

 

This Week’s Plan:

MONDAY: Pilates
TUESDAY: 80 minute easy run
WEDNESDAY: Yoga
THURSDAY: travel day!
FRIDAY: tbd, run + maybe CorePowerYoga in SF!
SATURDAY: rest
SUNDAY: Nike Women’s Half!! 13.1 miles around San Francisco