Weeks 10 and 11

In Week 10, I officially ran over 40 miles. In Week 11, I ran over 50 miles! The Hanson’s Plan is very strict about long runs being less than 30% of weekly mileage, but they seem less concerned about the 10% rule (don't increase mileage more than 10% per week). My legs feels trashed, but I don't think I'm injured. Sometimes it's hard to tell because my ankle tendons hurt on more and more of my runs, but after a good night’s sleep, they are more or less okay. My IT band is also pretty tight, but it doesn't actually hurt.

My half marathon (two weeks ago) helped me realize I have to downsize my A-goal for Disney. I no longer think a sub-4 marathon is possible, even on a flat course, so I'm currently aiming for 4:10 or 4:15, which is what the MacMillan Calculator says I can do. This means my training paces are a little slower now, which is good because an 8-miler at 9:09 pace (my tempo run) wasn't working out too well for me, and it goes up to 9 miles this week. In Weeks 10 and 11, I averaged 9:22 for the tempo run. More realistic.

On Thanksgiving, Sean, Maple and I ran a turkey trot. Maple wasn't thrilled after the first mile, but she ran about 3 minutes faster than her last 5k, finishing in under 37 minutes. She is running the Mickey Mile in January when we go to Disney, and she says she's more excited for shorter races.

Today was my first 16-miler, and it worked me. I didn't expect to feel so crappy afterward because I did longer runs last time I trained for a marathon, but the Hansons plan aims to tire you out during the week so that the long runs simulate the last 16 miles of the marathon rather than the first. You don't get a day off before a long run, nor after. I’m running a 5-miler tomorrow.

Next week my long run is just 10 miles, and then it goes back up to 16. There are a total of three 16-milers in the plan. Hopefully the next one will be easier than today's!

In general, marathon training is going better this time around. My legs are holding up, and I feel less worried about the impacts of MS. I haven't been dizzy or disoriented since Week 1. Sometimes I still freak out though. I was really nervous this morning about my long run (even though it wasn’t that long), and when I was done, I felt so out of sorts that I got a little panicky. Ever since my last big MS relapse in 2006, I get scared when I feel “weird”. That “weird” feeling landed me in the hospital, where I watched the room spin for a week and never stopped throwing up. But it's been over 6 years, I should get over it already! Some people have real problems! I keep reminding myself that my neurologists say exercise doesn't bring on relapses and I can do whatever I want, including run marathons.

Here are the details for Weeks 10 and 11:

Week	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total
10	3 easy	off	7 easy	10 (8@9:22)	5 easy	8 easy	10 long	43
11	5 easy	9 (6x1mi@9:00)	off	5k + 2.5 easy	9.7 (8@9:22)	8 easy	16 long	52

Time to get some rest before the alarm goes off at 5:30 for my next run.