Marathon Training! Weeks 18 and 19

Now that it's October, I can actually say that the marathon is "next month." I’ve realized that I have only a few more long runs left before the marathon itself! It’s exciting to finally see the light (or the finish line?) at the end of the tunnel. My long runs the past couple weeks have gone much better. For a variety of reasons, I ended up running my long run last week (of 16 miles!) at the gym on base. I figured that no one would notice that I was running for so long, since most (normal, sane) people do not spend nearly 3 hours at the gym. One of the workers noticed, though. After I finished running, he asked, “How long was that run? 5 miles?” I told him that it was 16 miles and that I was training for a marathon. For a few seconds, he just shook his head and kept repeating “wow, 16 miles.” I almost felt the same disbelief, too. This week I hope to run 18 miles for my long run. It will be my last long run for a few weeks because I’m going on a trip with my mom next week. And although I’m committed to running, I’m also committed to having a great time with my mom on a trip we’ve planned for a long time. So my running shoes will have a break of their own, relaxing in my closet while I’m gone. *** Since I’ve been running so much, I hardly ever go for walks anymore. But Husband and I decided, on a whim, to go for an evening stroll together around our neighborhood on Saturday night. The weather was perfect, and it was so pleasant to casually walk and admire the homes. We saw another couple that we knew, as well as a gorgeous sunset. I enjoyed it so much, and it made me miss the walks I used to take before I started marathon training. I do hope to do much more walking, once the marathon is over. I don’t think I’ll give up running altogether. But I probably won’t be running 16 miles…at the gym, or anywhere else.