Why I finished

The odds felt stacked against me for the marathon last Saturday. Of the previous 10 days, I spent 7 feeling like death with the flu. Of the previous 4 months' training, I missed or cut short half my long runs, and never ran past 16 miles. I ran less than 250 miles over that time frame. And often only ran 3 days a week... occasionally, less. What can I say, I got sick twice, and life got in the way.

Some people wouldn't have even attempted to run it. But, despite all of this, I KNEW I could finish, and I knew I could finish strong. I knew THIS

 would be my outcome.

Why? LOTS of this:

I'd been attending a strength and conditioning class twice a week, and thanks to the nasty winter we've had, our running group did circuit training at least once a week, if not both days we met.

S&C and this circuit left me feeling strong. Powerful. Like an athlete again.

That is why I persevered, and blew away my last marathon time by nearly a half hour.

In case you're interested, our running group's circuit is as follows:

6 suicides using the base lines, free-throw lines, and half court (so it's 4 different length of the court to make 1 suicide).
30 squats with a shoulder press
30 butterflies on an exercise ball
30 box jumps
30 pitcher pours
30 step ups with toe raise
30 bicep curls
30 high steps over that yellow hurdle
30 bench presses on an exercise ball
30 squats
40 push ups
60 sit ups
6 more suicides

On a good day, I finish this in about 25 minutes. Yesterday, 3 days after the marathon, I was a little slower- 31 minutes- but I still loved every minute.

I'm a believer that strength training is as important (if not more!) as the long run for endurance.

Don't worry, Mom, I'm resting again today. Even though I feel amazing, I am going easy on my body this week and the next. Today's agenda: dress shopping! We have a wedding to attend in May, so I need to find a dress. I'm both excited and dreading it.

Enjoy your Wednesday!