Veteran's Marathon training.... and so it goes.

Let's face it. The Air Force marathon is just going to be one incredible long run, surrounded by thousands of other people rather than by my lonesome on the trail. At this point, I must be honest with myself: I will probably walk half. And I'm ok with it, as long as I finish before the time limit and get my darn medal.

The Veteran's marathon, however, will be game on. I WILL break 5 hours. And smile doing it.

I've been officially cleared to run again for 2 weeks (which, if you've been reading, means I've been running again for three- bad patient). After the 5k on the 4th, my shins ached. And then, like an idiot, I ran 3 days in a row the next week (which I rarely ever do!). Which meant the shins hurt. Enough to have me worried.

So I took 4 days off from running.

Friday, I went to Chris's last ab class (so sad to lose a friend/coworker, but he got a great opportunity in Cali, so all the best to him).
Saturday I went rock climbing at Climb Time (awesome!!! Once I got over being afraid, and was able to trust my partner).
Sunday was a day of complete rest.
Monday, I ran through about 45 minutes of strength training before teaching yoga.

And then today, the lure of the Circus Festival was too strong. I could almost taste the elephant ears. I wanted one. I needed one. So I called a friend, and we ran there, alternating who pushed her 1 year old in the stroller.

2.6 miles there, then THIS:

With a lemon shake-up, of course. Aren't those mandatory when you eat deep-fried carnie food?

And then 2.7 miles home. Did I mention the heat index was 105? Searching for shade and taking a slightly different route made it a tad longer, but worth it.

And I never puked. Now that's what I call marathon training. If my stomach can handle an elephant ear mid-run on a hot-as-Hades day, I could probably nibble from a buffet come marathon day and be fine.

I could have taken the most disgusting selfie ever. Think beet red, looked like I'd been hosed down but it was all sweat disgusting.

But then, you'd be grossed out, instead of dreaming of your own elephant ear....


Fellow runners: how's training going for your fall races?

Everyone: elephant ears or funnel cakes? I'm an equal opportunity glutton, but if pressed, I'd go elephant ears.

Favorite fried food? Veggies. Preferably the mixed basket with green tomatoes, onions, cauliflower, broccoli, and zuchinni. YUM.