Just so you know...

1. I love my regular doctor. I may have made it sound like I didn't in my last post but that simply is not the case. We just don't agree on this barefooting thing and I don't want to fight about it because I've already made up my mind on the whole thing. My doctor is one of a kind. He does house calls. He's come over on weekends, late nights, you name it. He is so willing to do anything to make us better. He genuinely cares about us. Plus he has an awesome garden and brings me fresh produce all summer long. We're good friends, we double date, he lives around the corner and his wife is also a really good friend. My kids all love him too. He brings them treats when he visits and makes sure that he's never the one to give shots. He is awesome and we are so lucky to have him in our lives. So now that we're clear on that one...

2. Push ups: I completed the 6 week program last week. It was hard. I'm sure I'll be going back to it after the marathon's over. The last set on Friday went something like this: 26, 26, 33, 33, 26, 26, 22, 22, 53. And that 53 was HARD. I was supposed to be able to do 60 but just couldn't squeak it out. I'm planning on doing my test for 100 in a row tomorrow. It should be far enough away from the marathon to affect me. It should be interesting!

3. I am feeling so unprepared for the marathon. My 20 miler was 7 weeks ago with an 18 miler 5 weeks ago. As a result I did a split run on Monday to try to simulate fatigue. I know I shouldn't wear my body out this close but needed a little mental training. After running that 5K last Saturday and then another 5 that night at tempo pace, I ran Monday morning 5.5 miles at a hard tempo pace. Then I was going for an 8-10 miler that evening. When I started my legs felt so stiff. My calves were so stiff it hurt to just walk. I considered turning back at mile 2. But I kept going because I had previously decided that I was out there for mental training. Embracing the suck as Mike says. So that was my mantra the whole run. I kept telling myself that this was really sucking. Everything was sore and hurting. But I stuck a fake smile on my face and embraced the suck. I turned on some good music and that fake smile turned into a real one. I was liking the hurt. I was really embracing and loving the suck. By mile 5 everything had loosened up a bit and though it still hurt, it wasn't torture anymore. The last 2 were hard but I just kept thinking about how the last part of the marathon was going to hurt and this was training for that. So although it wasn't a 20 mile run, those 10.5 miles were very hard and it hurt like a 20 miler and it was really good mental training. I was able to practice my own mantras and crazy finger touching techniques and I felt better prepared after that run. I needed that little mental boost.

4. I completed my last long run on Saturday and have begun the real taper week along with the obsessive weather checking for Saturday. Right now it says a high of 65 degrees and showers. I'm sure it will change 5 more times before the real day but if it ends up being that, I can handle it. The last two times I've run this marathon, the finish line was around 90 degrees. It's hard to train all winter and then go right to summer weather.

5. Toe update: Today is not so good. I didn't get retaped last week because of time constraints and after my Saturday trail run it is not doing good. There is no top of foot pain though and I'm getting taped tonight. And I'll be taped for the marathon so I'll just have to see what happens.

Lastly: some pictures of my gorgeous and hard trail run on Saturday. 8 of the hardest miles I've ever done. I ran a new trail that had some serious uphills and downhills that I wasn't really prepared for. My quads are still very sore today. I'll be rolling and resting and rolling all week long. I know. I'm so smart to do that right before the marathon.

Monday: 5.5 mile run in gorilla feet, push ups week 6, 10.5 mile run in Evo's

Wednesday: push ups week 6, fully body weights, 5 mile run (4 miles barefoot, 1 mile in gorilla feet)

Thursday: 5 mile run in VFF's

Friday: 2 mile run barefoot, push ups week 6, yoga

Saturday: 8 mile trail run in Evo's