MLK 10K+5K

Martin Luther King once said, "Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step." Today, the staircase represented the hills of 20th Street. Sure, I've run them many times before. But today would be the first time I've run two long runs within a 3 day period. 

The goal of my long runs in this build phase of my IM training plan is maintain good form while trying to stay in zone 1 and 2. In essence, this means I have to learn to slow down my pace a bit in order to keep my HR in zone. Saturday's 8.35 mi long run called for a 1:30:00hr run. I ran the first 3 miles on the treadmill to warmup and then finished the last hour by running a sand pit loop (.3mi) course many, many times for 5:35miles.  By the time I was done, my legs were tired and my right toes were crampy but overall, I felt really good. 

Sand pit running with Jane and Mary. We dedicated this
run to #megsmiles

Sunday was a rest day and I took full advantage of enjoying the rest day with my family by doing activities outside of training. My husband and I shot a round of skeet  (he's an avid hunter and gave me a shot gun a couple years ago for Christmas), took the kids to bowl and then finished the night by playing family bingo at the local eagles club with some friends.

Bingo means serious concentration

Today, some of the BB ladies (Jane, Tacha and Mary) were meeting to run a 10K. If I had a choice between running a long run by myself or running with friends. I will always choose running with friends--for me it's both mentally and physically easier to run with friends than alone. So, I jumped on the chance to run with the BB ladies. However, taking this opportunity meant I had to rearrange my training schedule for the week and use this as my long run. My original schedule had me running my long run (1:45:00) at the end of the week. Knowing that the ladies were running 6 miles and I need to get in at least 9 miles, I decided to start my run a few minutes before them. I ran a loop so that I would be able to meet up with them on 20th Street. At my 2 mile point, I finally found them. Boy, was I glad to see them! We ran the entire length of 20th Street from Eisenhower to Spruce which is a little over 6 mile roundtrip with a steep staircase (ie. long hill climbs) going both ways. Step by step, one foot in front of the other, we ran at a strong pace up each staircase. It's an amazing feeling when you realize that taking a step at a time is so much easier than to think about how difficult it is as a whole.

Jane and Tacha rockin' one of many hill climbs

As we neared the finish of the 10K, I cut off and continued running to get in the last bit of my mileage. 

Week 3 long run - complete!

After some stretching and a shower, I am off to meet with my strength trainer, Spence of Warhorse Trng. Week 3 is going to be a great week!