Didn't Feel Like 20

This week starts my 4 toughest weeks of this training cycle and not only am I ready for it, but I'm excited for it, too!! My Tuesday and Thursday runs will be 10 miles and packed with speed work at paces a few years ago I never would have thought were possible. But building up to these weeks has felt great and I know I have this in me. I'm looking forward to my Tues/Thurs runs so much; I love pushing the pace and feeling stronger with each week.

I ran my first 20 miler since Shamrock training last winter on Saturday. Even though I'm coming off the summer tri season with a good endurance base, I was worried that this was really going to hurt. It's been a long time since I spent that much time pounding the pavement. But thankfully that wasn't the case at all and it might have been the best 20 miler I ever had. I ran by myself and mentally and physically I felt like a million bucks. Every time I looked at my Garmin I actually had to slow myself down. With the quick jumps in weekly mileage since the 70.3 I don't want to push the pace too much on  my long runs this early on and risk injury. So needless to say, I was happy when every time I looked at my watch I was running a 9 minute mile. It was one of those runs where I hardly broke a sweat, my breathing was so slow and controlled that I wondered at times if I was even moving, and when I was done I felt like I had another 20 in me. I ran into some friends when I finished and someone asked how far I ran. When I replied that I just finished 20 miles he commented that it didn't even look like I had run yet. And that's exactly how I felt! It was a great confidence boosting run to kick off the next few weeks of training. I know not every run will feel like that so it's so nice when they do!

I mentioned over tri training that I thought I finally found what nutrition worked for me on my long workouts. I was hesitant to say it was tried and proven though until I got back into marathon training. Nothing messes my stomach up more than a long run so it needed to be put to the real test. Well, after 4 consecutive long runs without crapping myself or spending the entire day not feeling well after the run, I think it's confirmed that I know what works. It only took me 3+ years to figure it out, but I finally did. Since I want to devote more to the nutrition info, I'll share my secret later this week!!

If you haven't already entered, don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY!! I'll pick a winner on Wednesday of this week. Good luck!

Here's my schedule for the week:
Mon - 5 mi, lift
Tues - 10 mi w/ ladders at 6:45
Wed - swim, lift (maybe a pm bike trainer session)
Thurs - 10 mi w/ 4 mi at tempo
Fri - swim, 5 mi, lift
Sat - 17 mi
Sun - off