Marathon training

I am at the peak of my marathon training and I'm feeling very accomplished and proud of myself! Last weekend I ran 22 miles, although I'm not gonna lie, it was really difficult. First, it was very hot and windy that day and I have been running most of my runs later in the day, so it was new for me to get used to the morning and midday heat. Second, the day before Keith and I were at the beach all day so I don't think I ate as many carbs that day as I should have. And then, third, because it was so hot I was drinking tons of water during my run...too much I think. So, my stomach was hurting a little and it made my run a challenge. Nevertheless, I did finish the 22 miles, and then collapsed on my bed for a nice long nap. ha

Yesterday, I ran 24 miles...the most I have ever ran before!! This run felt a lot better because I made sure to carb up the day before. I also only sipped water during my run but did it more frequently and I added lemon juice to my water which helped. I was so proud of myself because I felt strong by the end and it took me a little less than 4 hours. :)

It's pretty unbelievable when I think of it that I was running from 8:15 in the morning until 12pm! How did my legs do it? I would never have imagined in the past that I could actually run that long. But I did thanks to my consistency with my workouts and thanks to my lovely husband, aka my personal trainer! He helped me design my marathon training program and he is giving me advice almost daily each time I have a question or concern. He is amazing! One thing that helps is getting a lot of rest before and after my long runs, and making sure I stretch a lot by doing yoga a lot during the week (especially the day before and the day after my long runs). Plus, I have been doing weightlifting, doing shorter runs during the week which focus on increasing my speed and also I have been doing bootcamp workouts and running hills. All of the off-training days and shorter quick runs definitely help for the marathon training.

Now, it's all tapering from here. This means I begin to decrease my running distance so that I can repair my sore muscles and rest my body so that I can have full energy the day of the marathon. The marathon is on Sunday, June 12th, which means I only have 3 more weeks to go! I am so pumped and just want the day to arrive.

Next weekend we have the beach volleyball tournament. I'm really looking forward to it. My team's name is Spikes n Spam and we have 3 guys and 3 girls on the team. I don't know my team members too well but I am looking forward to meeting new people and socializing during the weekend. There will be games playing all day + food, drinks, music, little contests, camping all night, partying, etc. Good times ahead! I will try to take a bunch of pics.

Other things...only 6 more weeks of teaching for me! (but this is also sad because I have to say goodbye to my students and school after working there for 2 years). Also, Keith and I are currently looking into booking another trip to Japan for the summer. Our India/Sri Lanka trip didn't end up working out because it conflicts with the start time for our training for our new international job. However, this may be a blessing in disguise because we found a great deal to Japan and we still have to see Tokyo, a sumo wrestling match, and see the beautiful northern national parks. Oooh, I'm getting excited just thinking about it.

Ok, well that's all for now. Have a great week!

-T

F.Y.I The blog website hasn't been letting me upload photos, so I will be adding photos to "Children's Day" and "Jihee's dad's farm" soon!