Surf City | Week 17

I have one week until I can say I'm a marathoner. Me. A marathoner. Who would have thought at any point that I'd actually make it this far?

Monday: Rest
Rest
Monday was also travel day back from Austin. After rolling out of bed, hightailing it back down to the outlets in San Marcos for the most productive and most time-controlled trip ever (we had exactly an hour and twenty minutes, and I got to all 3 stores I wanted, victory!), we hightailed it back up to Austin to the airport. Thankfully we all left almost all together, so there was no way to leave someone behind.

I slept the entire flight back to Atlanta, drove home and desperately wanted to pass out when I walked in the door at 6:45. I ended up staying up a little longer to start unpacking, get some things done, and apparently didn't pass out until 10. Oops.

Tuesday: 45 Minute Tempo
Rest
I had packed for the gym and everything. I was going to go after work. After being at work until 7:15, I headed towards south campus to get to the gym... and kept on driving. I couldn't do it. Not with bags to unpack, dinner to make, and too many other things floating around in my head. Disappointed, especially as my only goal for tapering was to not miss a run at all. Urgh. Mental game, 1, Megan, 0.

Wednesday: 3 miles
2.57 mi / 25:32 / 9:50 pace
I decided at the last minute on Tuesday night that I needed/wanted that extra hour of sleep in the morning, so I sacrificed running in a warm building for running outside in some bitter coldness. Worth it? Totally. Not a great run by any means, but a run  nonetheless, given how Tuesday went.

I've also decided that the best part about running is the  how-many-colors-can-I-wear-at-once game.

 Happy to have gotten some miles in, felt like a fool running down the street in safety green and a houndstooth headband, but man... the cold felt good. I ran out of time, otherwise I'd have pressed on for more. Oops.

Thursday: 3 miles
3.27 mi / 30:26 / 9:18 pace + .36 cool down walk / 6:02 / 16:45 pace
TBD

Friday: Rest
Rest
Happily rested - took my casual time gettin' up, on the bus to work, and caught the bus home, which always delays the evening. Went to watch some things on Netflix in bed, only to discover that my laptop won't recognize that it's plugged in - and the battery doesn't hold a charge so it has to be plugged in to function. Cue freak out. Frustrated, went to bed at somewhere near 8:30 pm (on a Friday! I'm such an old lady) and called it a day. Prayed for my beloved little Dell and that she wouldn't be totally dead.

Saturday: 6 miles
6.1 mi / 1:00:03 / 9:50 pace
Dell is dead. Cue freak out, Part II.

Cleaned the house for a bit in the morning while (more importantly) waiting for it to warm up outside. With absolutely nothing but this run on the agenda for the day, why bother going out in 30 degrees if I have time to wait until it's 50, right? Right. Best move on my part - got to head out for a run in January in shorts and a long sleeve tech-tee. Busted out hard on 4:1 intervals for the whole run, pushed hard, even at the end when I had to jog out a little extra arm of the road to ensure I broke the 6-mile mark. Felt awesome - great last long-ish run of training! Weeee!

Got this for Christmas, and was finally not afraid to wear it out for a run.

Sunday: Cross
13.06 / 53:46 / 14.6 mph pace
Felt like the first legit cross-training session in a long time, even though I pumped out nearly 7 miles last Friday in Austin. Played a little interval game from the few spin classes I took a few years ago - push hard on the verses, push harder during the chorus. Made for an awesome workout and even better last XT day! I wish I had stuck with these more lately.

Spent the evening at the dog park, finishing cleaning the house so I can leave in peace on Friday, and cuddling with this kid:

Her life is hard.

By Sunday evening, I also picked up a terrible knot/cramp/Charlie Horse in my right calf. After the dog park, spent some time rolling it out with my stick, dosing it in Icy Hot and trying to stretch it out. Come today, Monday morning, it's still here, so I spent some of the morning rolling it out again, Icy Hot-ing up, and wearing a compression sock as a boot sock to hope that it works itself out today. Hope for the best, y'all!

Total Week Run Miles: 12.3 miles
Total XT Miles: 13.06 cycle
Total Week Miles: 25.36 

Bring on the last week of the training plan. Oh. Em. GEEEEE. And to get rid of this pesky calf knot - hoping these compression socks do the trick today - hope for the best - and to spend the week rolling it out if I need to!

ONE WEEK TO GO! EEEEEEK!

How did your training go this week? Any last advice for me for my first marathon on Sunday? Tips for things to do/not to do during the week leading up to it?