Stephanie's Training - Week 13

Training Day #38 - August 16, 2010

Monday.

Tired.

Sore.

Nope. Don’t feel like running today.


Training Day #39 - August 17, 2010

I felt really guilty for not running yesterday, but I think my body needed a big-time break.

This morning the alarm rang at 7am (we’re trying to get back in the groove for school---we’ll work up to 6am later). I knew it was going to be a nice morning. I truly believe the weather forecaster!! :) I gathered my running clothes and quickly got ready. I wanted to be back before Shawn had to leave for work.

I already knew I was taking a right out of my driveway this morning and taking a straight shot to the highway….about 7/10 of a mile. The trek to the highway has some nice inclines, so I decided to walk to the highway to warm up. When I reached the highway, I turned myself around and started my jog back to the house.

The gravel was much nicer to me than my last outdoor/country run. The morning was beautiful. I was able to jog back to the house and quickly got a shot of H²O from the water bottle I left at the end of the driveway. I about drowned myself….the water shot out a little too fast and went up my nose. Not so great when you’re puffing for air and suck water down your lungs! Geez.

I quickly turned around and headed back to the highway, walking, of course. And, again, at the end, I turned around and headed home, jogging. All in all, it was approx. the distance I needed to get in and with the weather so nice, it was a good jog.

I’m looking forward to my run on Thursday. We’ll be camping at Mark Twain area and it should be a beautiful run.

Training Day #40 - August 19, 2010

Mark Twain Lake. Ray Behrens area is where we arrived this morning. We got our camper set up and quickly meandered our way to my in-law’s camper. (They're camp hosts.) We visited for a bit and then headed out on the boat for some relaxing time and some tubing………..

Um, did I forget something! Oh, yeah, I was supposed to run today……….oops! Let’s look towards morning for that…….

Training Day #41 - August 20, 2010

Again. Felt guilty for skipping my run yesterday. But, it was too long of a day…….

Anyways, I had a cruddy nights sleep in the camper….always do the first night. I was up early to pee, of course, and decided I couldn’t hold it any longer. While I was up, I decided to throw on my running clothes and get this over with.

The morning was gorgeous! Shawn and I had done a quick trip estimate in the van the night before to decide the route. I strapped on my MP3 player and grabbed my water bottle and off I went.

I walked a short distance to warm up and then began the Stephanie Shuffle. I jogged along the campground site for approx. a half mile and found my way out to the campground entrance. I then set my sights for the almost mile to the check-in station (up where my in-laws were). It was a scenic view and enjoyable jog.

I turned around at the main entrance and then set out back to the campground.

I wasn’t looking forward to the run BACK……..I was going to have to run UP two hills……they weren’t so intimidating on the run DOWN them. I trudged along and found my way to the top of the first hill. (I had the Rambo theme playing in my head!)

Then came the second hill.

No Rambo theme.

I walked it.

Got to the top and turned into the campground to head towards “home”.

Not quite 2.5 miles.

Now time to hit the boat and enjoy some more R&R!!

Training Day #42 - August 21, 2010

Dragging total butt today…..again.

Another crappy night’s sleep in the camper. Going to have to muster up some energy today. :)

Today’s run is in Columbia. The race route. My sister and I arranged earlier in the week to get together so she could “see” the race route and get a feel for it. She is also in town for our family reunion. :)

We met this afternoon, just as the clouds cleared out and the sun….hot, so hot….was shining down.

We haven’t had the opportunity to run together in any of our training thus far, so this was going to be great to see how we kept up with each other.

We started out with a walk to warm up and to get to our “first” turn through campus. We then kicked it in……

There it was. The Stephanie Shuffle. I’m a little taller than my sis and should have length in my favor.

Nope.

I believe I surprised her with my itty bitty stride. :)

We cruised along and I really heaved today. I was tired and it was HOT! I purposely left my water bottle (a first for me) and really regretted doing so! But, really, where was I going to put it? I soooo needed some refreshment more times than I can count. Sad part….I was relying on a measly piece of chewing gum to create spit to keep myself hydrated. I soon realized I couldn’t even make spit and soon launched my gum out (on accident…good thing no one was in front of me!)

We split our time by walking/jogging and still we made it back to the car in approx. 40 minutes. Sweet. I’m still sticking to my average.

I enjoyed running with my sister and getting a feel for our “Day of Glory”. We’ll both finish that race………maybe not together……or maybe we will. :)

LOVE YOU, HEATHER!!