8.7.10 -- The good, the bad and the ugly.

So with training for a marathon comes the good, the bad, and the ugly.

First the good:

1. I have lost 16 pounds since beginning my training in March.
2. I am in the best shape I have been since grad school.
3. I have met some wonderful ladies.
4. I have completed two half marathons and signed up for a full marathon.
5. I have completed a 25k (15.5 miles) and a 30k (18.6 miles).
6. I have more energy than I've had in years.
7. My "goal" jeans are too big (YAY!).
   
8. I love Max Muscle (if you want help getting in better shape -- go there, Casey is amazing)!
9. Great coaches and assistant coaches that push you when you think you can't go any farther.
   

The bad:

1. With the exception of two weekends, I have given up sleeping in on Sundays (we usually have to be there by 6:00)
2. Walking 11 miles in the rain...brutal.
3. Walking is a much more expensive hobby than one would think...

The ugly:

1. I have the ugliest, most painful blisters I have ever seen or felt in my life! Seriously, I have no desire for anyone to see my feet or to have to walk on them at this point.

Our benchmark for August is a 30k (18.4 miles) in preparation for the Portland Marathon on 10.10.10 (26.2 miles). This is the farthest that I have ever walked in a single stretch in my entire life. Evie (one of our assistant coaches) had a conflict tomorrow when the rest of the group is walking and asked if we could do it earlier. I prefer to walk with her encouragement and was definitely up for doing it sooner. We met at Evie's house at 5:00 this morning (ouch!). I thought I would be a complete zombie getting out of bed at 4:00, but it actually felt pretty good. I had breakfast (tried having a bagel with peanut butter and my pre-workout drink instead of oatmeal with protein -- it was a good choice) and then taped my feet in a last ditch effort to keep the blisters away (my poor feet have been blistered since that 11 mile walk in the rain back in June). Mary and Evie were outside when I got to Evie's house. We left at 5:05 and were on the road.

For those of you who know Vancouver, this was our path...Evie lives off Andresen a little bit north of where you turn to get to the mall. We started there and headed south on Andresen all the way to MacArthur. We took a left on Blandford and went all the way down to 5th. Down 5th, turn left on Grand and walk past Fred Meyer. Then we took the Pearson Airport Trail up to reserve and went straight through Water Works Park. We continued up to St Johns where we took the Burnt Bridge Creek Trail back to Andresen and back to Evie's house. We replenished our water supplies and then took a round about route to the mall and in a loop around and back to her house.

That last 5 miles was the hardest thing I have ever done to my body. 13 miles seems pretty normal at this point, but then my body was done. I have two more months to train prior to the marathon and I am going to need to keep pushing my body. We got back to the house and I removed my shoes, tape and band aid blisters and my poor feet look like they've been to war. I have blisters on top of blisters on my heels and I got my first blood blister on the inside of my left heel. Thank God for Evie! She ran me an ice bath to soak my feet in and it definitely helped. My cousin recommended an ice bath for my whole body, but I haven't felt brave enough to go through with it. I might do it before the night is over though!

After we relaxed for a bit we went to Red Robin (talking about food seriously got us through the last five miles). I enjoyed half of a California Chicken Sandwich and some fries. I'm glad I stopped after half though, it's all my stomach could take! It was just what I needed though. I headed home and took a long nap where I slept hard (with crazy ass dreams). I have iced my knees and popped some Excedrin and with the exception of my feet I am feeling pretty damn good. I look forward to continuing my training and I know by October I'll be ready to reach all of my goals.