Because, why not??

Week of October 31-November 6, 2016 - posting preemptively pre-marathon

Mileage - 18.1 + 27ish tomorrow = 45ish, with a short workout, some strides, and some core work leading up to a little race

We also got school pictures back this week!

My firecracker!

Monday - Cross-training (Halloween) Monday, sans bootcamp meant 60 minutes easy on the elliptical and 10 minutes of core work.  The elliptical is boring!  Don't let me get injured and stuck on it ever again!

I dressed up as a working mother this year

My favorite picture from the night!

Tuesday - 7.1 total with a "final tune-up" workout of 2 miles at tempo pace and 0.5 mile at 5K pace.  The 2 miles with some rolling elevation were 12:32 (6:17, 6:15) and the 0.5 mile that had some decline was 2:52 (average pace for all 7 miles was 7:09).  This was eerily like my final tune-up workout before Prairie Fire, in that it was the exact same run, but also in that I felt draggy on the warm-up and my stomach was unhappy.  Both times the stomach thing was due to eating dinner too late the night before.  On Monday, we were out the door to trick-or-treat the second I got home from work, and then returned home around 8:30 p.m. and I proceeded to stuff my face because I had gotten too hungry.  I knew I might pay for it, but it was a risk I had to take in my state of hanger, and I don't think it hurt my run any, just made me uncomfortable.

Wednesday - 5.5 base pace (7:23).  My friend Rachel was running a midweek long run on loops in my area, so I ran the same loop as her to have someone else out there, even though we are different paces (also she ran 4+ loops while I ran 1.5!).  This felt...short!  I also did 10 minutes of core work for the last time pre-Bass Pro.

Thursday - 3.3 shake out with 6 strides in the last mile (7:21).  It was 65 degrees and 100% humidity!  I'm all about continued warm weather and will take it as long as I can get it, but at the same time I am glad that marathon morning isn't supposed to be this warm.

Friday - 10 minutes elliptical for the sake of the streak, followed by a thorough stretch and foam roll.  I also took a "lunch break" at work (rare) and went to the race expo - the benefits of an expo that was 1.1 miles from my office!

Missy and I preparing to hit the gong instead of the wall

Shout out in the marathon program

Saturday - 2.2 miles shake out with 4 strides (7:23).  My friend Jamie was running the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon when I ran this, so it was hard to tear myself away from tracking her!  I waited until she passed the half, then went out to run knowing I'd finish before she hit the next timing mat at 30K.  She blazed a 2:53:09!!!  I am so proud of her!  She also ran so smart and put down an amazing negative split with halves of 1:28:17 and 1:24:52!  That second half is the second fastest half she has ever run too - amazing!  She said the course was fast and the weather perfect.  My friend Julie ran a 2:49 at that race last year (a huge PR for her), so I have no marked it as one to do!

Sunday -To be continued...  Because, why not get two marathons out of a marathon training cycle, right?