Ogden 26.2: Week FOUR

So...Nate bought me a little gift to say, "Thanks for being patient with me and our life for the past 9 years."

I'd like to introduce our newest family member.  Her name is Sweet Rose (don't ask).

She is fantastic!  She's a $2500 machine that we got on KSL for $450!  Not bad!  She works like a charm.  The previous owners are the original owners (even gave us the manual and the original receipt) and they only used it for light walking.  She goes up go a 12% incline, has 32 pre-set workouts and has the flex deck, which means the board absorbs the impact of each step, so it's easier on your joints.  I love her!

Sweet Rose is my back-up for when it's bad weather or I need to get back so Nate can leave, and I still have a few miles left.  My training plan is starting to get a bit more intense, so we felt like this was a good purchase.  Nate runs on her, too.

We got her on Monday night, and sure enough, I woke up Tuesday to a fresh few inches of snow.  Usually I don't mind running in the snow, but lately I feel like I have been having to run on SO much ice, and it has slowed my runs down a TON.  So I ran my 3 miles on the treadmill and threw in a little speedwork.

On Wednesday, Ashley and I ran 6 miles.  It was clear, but it was COLD!!  15 degrees!  We both didn't start feeling warmed up until about Mile 4.  But we finished our miles!

On Thursday, I woke up feeling awful.  Stuffy nose, headache, sore throat, coughing.  Ugh.  Again??  I was just sick a few weeks ago!  I was SO discouraged and frustrated.  I felt tears threatening to roll down my cheeks as I told Nate that I'm so scared about this marathon.  He hugged me and assured me that everything will be okay.  I could tell I was just feeling overwhelmed.  I have been told over and over how much marathon training changes you, especially on the inside.  It pushes you to your limits.  I felt like I got a glimpse of that this week.  I felt like the training plan was bigger than my abilities, and I let it get to me.  So I took Thursday and Friday off and rested up.

This morning I felt okay, so I headed over to Liberty Park with Ashley.  We met up with Josh, Christy, Katheryn and Jill.  I love my friends!!!

We were planning to run 10 miles, but Katheryn and I ended up doing 11.5.  Josh arrived a little late, so he was behind us in mileage.  He still had a lap to do when we hit 10, so we decided to run it with him.  Actually, when we finished running, he was at 9.9 miles, so he ran around this tree until he hit 10.  It was hilarious.

I felt surprisingly good during the whole run.  We kept it slow and took breaks for water and fuel.  About halfway through, we saw a 3-legged dog, which is Josh's love in life.

It was fun to run with Katheryn.  She has signed up for Ogden, and we plan to stick together and help each other finish.  This run boosted my spirits up a lot.  It wasn't a speedy run, but it was a nice endurance run that made me feel strong when I was finished.  These long, slow runs are the key to marathon training, so it was good for my mental state to have this run go so well!

Afterwards, we drove up to the Corner Bakery to stuff our faces.  YUM!  Excited for another group run next Saturday!