Houston Marathon Training Week 6

The “unknown” is such a wild thing, especially when it comes to long distance running. I’ve been a part of this conversation a trillion times: “She runs marathons,” says person number one. Person number two responds with disdain “Go ahead, I couldn’t do this” to which I silently respond, “Yeah, you said it yourself.”

I have learned not to measure my motivation by people’s opinion of my sport. I can’t begin to tell you how much ridicule a real life marathoner goes through. I learned to laugh it off while maintaining my belief that exercising is better than choosing not to do so.

I’m not immune from being exposed to the “unknown” when it comes to other athletes. My response to this “unknown” is genuine amazement and praise to the person who chooses to do something most human beings won’t. I find myself saying, “congratulations,” “you’re awesome” and “give me some wisdom on your training.”

I don’t expect people to understand but I do welcome encouragement. When it comes to athletes that do something different than I, I try to learn from them. I admire people who love what they do. When mutual respect is the case, a bond develops and everyone is enriched.

 

2013 and 2014 Turkey Trot. So proud of my awesome husband!

Let’s talk training. I got one cross training session and I switched the other run with the Thanksgiving 5K virtual race. I cheered for Zeke and as soon as we came home I went for my run. The splits were really good. It felt “easy” which means I am finally back at my marathon training shape. The great news about the virtual 5K is that I won one of the $5 Starbucks gift cards. I was so excited to get these news yesterday! As my friend Elizabeth put it, I got $1 per K, so I better keep running J

I’m learning that rest is a must in order to run well. I’m no robot so each run is quite unique. My long run went well although some of my buddies said they’d be running “turkey speed” (I found this hilarious!). Turkey speed it was but we got it done.

My Motivation to finish the marathon is pretty intact. I’m actually looking forward to the race. I had a lot of fun in January and I can’t wait to experience it again in 2015. My Goal for 2015 is to PR. A sub-5 marathon will be just lovely and we’ll improve from there. The news of the week for the Houston Marathon is that they will no longer be a lottery but they’ll have 3 registration waves till they’re filled to capacity (which is increasing too). Read more here.

I’ll be running the super fun Houton’s 12K of Christmas on December 20. Do join me if you’re local. They also have a 6K course if you want a little less mileage. The race is 17 days from today which is plenty time to get rid of all your Holiday extra calories. I am using this race as a recovery run from a 17-miler earlier that week. I can't wait to have fun and enjoy this new experience!

Thanks for reading! I pray that this last month of the year is a winning one for you!

Previously in this Series:
• Houston Marathon 2015 Week 5
• Houston Marathon 2015 Week 4
• Houston Marathon 2015 Week 3
• Houston Marathon 2015 Week 2
• Houston Marathon 2015 Week 1
Archives:
• Chicago Marathon 2014
• Houston Marathon 2014