One Week to Go

 DSC_0018Only one more week until I run the Kenai River Marathon!! On one hand I feel like I have spent a lot of time preparing and on the other hand, I can’t believe I will be racing a marathon next week.

This was the second week of my taper. I ran about 50% of my highest weekly mileage.

Monday

6 miles/50:00

Chilly! 39*F But I’m still rockin’ the shorts. Good run—felt good.

Tuesday

10 miles/1:17

Tempo workout: 2 x (2 miles at marathon pace, 1 mile at half-marathon pace)

Splits: (7:30, 7:32, 7:36<–hill) (7:29, 7:28, 7:21)

Wednesday

AM – 6 miles/47:42

Felt really good. Can already feel the affects from the taper.

PM – 2 miles/19:48

With Craig.

Thursday

7 miles/58:40

Track workout under the stadium lights at the high school—now that was exhilarating.

4 x 1000 meters ~ Splits: 4:05, 4:00, 3:56, 3:56

Friday

5 miles/40 minutes

Went well—chilly thought at 33*F!!

Saturday

12 miles/1:38

Last long run before the marathon.

Sunday

Off – It felt so weird to take a day off.

Total: 48 miles

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Still loving the Wave Rider 16s!

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Two new things in my life:

Generation UCAN

I first learned about Generation UCAN from Nichole. She said she always struggled getting down to race weight (me too!) until she discovered UCAN. Since taking UCAN, she has become more lean and doesn’t crash during a long run and get dizzy. (I’ve experienced this too when low on fuel.) After Nichole raved about the product in a recent post, I was sold and went to purchase my own supply.

I wish I had a few additional weeks before running my marathon to really test out the product. One of the products I take before running and the other is a post-workout protein-enhanced drink mix. I will be sure to give a more in-depth recap once I test it out more.

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The other new thing is that we are now DINKWADs ~ Double Income No Kids With A Dog.

That’s right, yesterday we welcomed Sadie into our lives. We adopted her from Alaskan Animals Rescue Friends (AARF). She is a lab and shar pei mix and the sweetest thing ever. Plus Craig is over the moon happy. He has been wanting a dog for 5 years now. We couldn’t have one in our apartment, but since we moved into our new house he has been sure to let me know how much he has patiently waited for a dog.

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Hi, I'm Michelle

I love running around the lakes of Minnesota, running after my two boys, and racing anything from the 5K to the marathon. I have been blogging here since 2010 when I ran my first marathon. I finally secured my sub-3 hour marathon after trying for 8 years.

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11 Comments

  1. 9.22.13
    Caroline said:

    Ahh good luck! at both not getting super antsy during taper week AND (more importantly!) with the race 🙂 I can’t believe how cold it is already for you, but I guess that’s Alaska early morning, huh? I always find that I’ll get up and go for a run early in the morning and then dress for the day based on that weather…only to find that I’m totally out of line with what the day is really like! Also, question on the Mizunos (I know that was yesterday’s post but…) I’d always had the wave inspire but the 9 upgrade squished my foot too much in the toe box and left me sitting out a while until I figured out it was the shoe that was hurting me! Do you know the difference between the inspires and the wave riders? I”m interested that it has a big toe box – I love my mizunos (wave inspire 8) but the upgrade just didn’t work out…

    • 9.23.13
      Michelle said:

      It is sad how cold it is already. 🙁 When I dress for the day, I just always wear winter clothes because it is never warm enough to wear anything but here. . .sad but true. Actually, the temperature doesn’t vary that much from the morning to the high of the day. I remember it might be 50 in the morning in MN but then get up to the 70s even 80s during the day but that doesn’t happen here. It varies maybe 10* from the morning low to the high of the day.

      I had the Insprie 7s and the toe box definitely was not large enough for my foot. The toe box on the Rides is much better! I don’t have to go up half of a size and my toes have enough room.

  2. 9.22.13

    Yippee on getting a dog. That is so cool. Soon you will be showing up at work with dog hairs plastered all over the back of your skirt, and you can look in the mirror and say, “Yes, I am a real Alaskan now.” Kidding aside, good luck on the marathon.

  3. 9.23.13
    Nichole said:

    This is the BEST post – a new pup (with more training she’ll be able to run longer, hopefully?!?), UCAN (*LOVE!*), and the final preparations for the marathon. Life can’t get much better!

  4. 9.24.13
    Sarah said:

    good luck!! and congrats on the pup! super cute 🙂

  5. 9.26.13
    runnerbydefault said:

    Sadie is gorgeous! So great that you rescued her. Good luck on your taper. I can’t wait to read all about your marathon.

  6. 10.8.13
    Lauren said:

    I had to backtrack a bit to see this post- CONGRATS!! I’m so happy you got a dog!! I’m a crazy dog lady (I’m sure you know that)- they’re the BEST!!