Long Run Success and Catching Up

Folks, I have issues. I've had a draft post about the Steelhead 70.3 relay in the works since August 22 and haven't dedicated 15 minutes to finishing it. Between freelance work, networking, my continued job search and my various other social media sites, my blog has sadly suffered. I will finish the Steelhead post because it was an incredibly fun weekend and a great race experience.

In the meantime, marathon training continues and it's going pretty well. My feet are cooperating and I'm finally starting to feel better during my long runs. Leading up to Steelhead I was only doing 13 miles and was finding it difficult to progress, but last weekend I did 16 miles on a hot day and still felt great. It was also the first long run that I wasn't completely laid up after. Being able to walk when I got out of bed the next morning was a huge victory.

 Still slow, but getting it done!

I've also continued my strength training and am learning to make it work with the marathon training. It's not easy. But it's not impossible. I did an hour with a personal trainer Wednesday with a focus on my hips and glutes, both underdeveloped and potential sources of running injuries. I was already sore from Monday's workout and woke up Thursday feeling like my legs had been brutalized. I thought of pushing my 8-mile run to Friday, but sucked it up and did it. And you know what? It wasn't that bad. After a mile I loosened up and ultimately ended up feeling great. The strength training is for my long-term wellbeing so I refuse to give it up.

In other news, I'm back to clean eating. I didn't have any sugar or grains all week and definitely feel better. I am determined to get back to my old race weight by the end of the year so I can start next season's Ironman training on the right foot. The one thing I didn't give up? Wine. A girl has to have some indulgence in her life.