Today’s Run:  15.20 miles

My husband and I are training for the Mount Desert Island Marathon in Bar Harbor, Maine.http://www.mdimarathon.org/

We just completed Week 4, Day 6 today of our training schedule today.  That leaves us 14 weeks until race day.  Tomorrow is a rest day.  YAY!

Today’s run was a bit over 15 miles.  We are wanting to try to get a 23 mile training run in before the race so we have accelerated our training schedule a little.

I learned something today.  15 miles is a loooong way to run.  I had never run that distance before.  And each coming week it will be the same.  It will be a new adventure in distance running.  How far this week?  Farther than last week!

All in all, I would say that today’s run was a smashing success.  I ran the entire distance~no walking!  That is good.  The furthest I had ever run before was 14 miles and that was back in March, so today was a HUGE day.  Next week will be 16 miles and so on, and so on…

My husband has run two marathons in the past.  When I mentioned to him that I really, really, really wanted to run one myself he kind of groaned.  I remembered him training for his last one and how all consuming it was for him.  But it really cannot be all that bad, can it?

Let us just say, I am happy that the runs we have during the week are little 5,6 and 7 milers.  If they were any larger than that, I think I might combust!

I talked to the people who host the running group each Saturday and asked them, “How early is too early to show up on Saturday mornings?” They said we could come as early as 4:00 am.  That was wonderful news!

I am a S-L-O-W runner and with these longer runs, I need all the time I can get!  Plus, we live in Mississippi and that equals very hot and humid weather.  The earlier we can begin our long runs, the better.

So, next weekend we will attempt 16+ miles.  Yikes!  I do realize that by the time the race arrives I will wish all we had to run was 16.  It is all a matter of perspective.  I can think, “Okay, 16 miles that means only 10.2 more miles and I will have run the entire distance!”  or it could be “Oh No!  I still have another 10.2 miles to go!”  It is going to be a mind game for me to keep myself motivated (and my husband motivated) and to think positive thoughts about this race.

So far, this training has been a blast!  Hope to keep it that way~!  Wish us luck!!!