Marathon Training! Weeks 10 and 11

I’m still training for my marathon. But, it probably didn’t look like it two weeks ago (week 10). I spent my time with my family doing everything but running. I actually planned to take that week as a break (although I did do 2 short runs before we left). I don’t regret it one bit. Since our military life doesn’t always let us visit our family as often as we’d like, I wanted to soak up every second spending time with them and not worrying about running. Plus, I think the break gave some much-needed rest to my weary legs. I ran last week (week 11) as a normal week. Husband went on a military trip (“TDY” in military speak) for a training conference, and I got to go with him. I ended up doing my runs on the treadmill in the small hotel fitness center. I figured that was easier than trying to become running buddies with death on the busy highways near our hotel. My longest run last week was 14 miles - on a treadmill! I’m almost prouder that I was able to survive the boredom of the treadmill more than just completing that distance. There was no one else in the fitness center the entire time. There was a TV, but it was angled in a way that would have ensured me falling off if I tried to watch it. And, I was forced to stare at a goofy girl during the whole run. Actually, there was a mirror in front of me, but the goofy girl part is still true. On the positive side, I didn’t have to worry about running routes, sunscreen, carrying water, avoiding stray dogs, or the heat. Though the treadmill definitely was boring, it turned out to be better than I thought. In fact, this whole marathon thing is turning out better than I thought. (I’ll try to remind myself of that when I’m running my 15-mile run (!) this week.)