Four weeks to the Finish Line!! I jogged 16 miles Saturday morning, and I felt good and strong while I was out there! Due to a bit of hip pain that may have caused me excessive concern, I toned it down and took Thursday and Friday as complete rest days, then Sunday was also rest and recovery, stretching and sitting with the heating pad. I was sore post-run, but nothing out of the ordinary, and I feel better and ready for some light hills and strength training today. My feet are getting tougher in a good way, and my mental resilience is growing stronger now too! I want to use wisdom and avoid pushing myself too hard, but by the end of Friday night, I felt tired of my own excuses and determined and ready to get out there on Saturday morning, and that was good for me to press through my own fear and inner drama... I'm in the home stretch, and it's exciting!!
I'm super grateful for Central Park at The Station in Moore - it's been the perfect training ground for me in so many ways... a lovely lake/pond with ducks and geese and turtles, a 1.27-mile clean and open trail where loads of people come to train or to walk their cute dogs, the ability to stop by my car regularly for water or energy chews as needed, and easy access to a clean bathroom and filtered water at The Station - YAY!! This = a turtle fam getting some sun this weekend. They're much braver when they have crowd support. One turtle by itself would've popped right back into the water when I stopped for a pic, as I know from lots of experience. lol
Once again, I stopped for a bathroom break and changed my socks at mile 9... I think that helps my mind to feel like it's a fresh start and it helps prevent terrible blisters (or so I tell myself), so I'm planning to pack a bag with extra running socks, body glide, etc. for Mom to have ready on Marathon day so I can stop and change into fresh dry socks once or twice. lol
I was out there for around 4 hours - I remembered sunscreen this time, but should have reapplied midway through. This round, I spent the entire jog listening to an Apple Music playlist of 2000s hits, which was a fun dose of variety and familiar memories! I had one slow interval set where I walked an extra 3 minutes because my heart felt like it was racing, but outside of that, I was very steady in my walk/jog intervals, so I'm confident that's the winning formula for race day!!
Yay for the redbud (should be purple-bud) trees! Boo for the wasp duo that I dramatically changed course to avoid! lol
Four weeks from now, I'll have reached this long-anticipated goal, and I'll be recovering and feeling proud and grateful for this journey. And shifting my focus to new meaningful goals for the road ahead of me. I still feel confused and disenchanted sometimes, but the lack of purpose I felt for most of my 20s and 30s has vanished. There is so much I want to do and accomplish, and I'm more concerned that there isn't enough time for all of it (but whatevs, we have eternal life ahead of us - what a gift!!) Anyway, happy last day of March, friends and fam!! I'm confident that you're finishing strong in this first quarter of 2025! (*Friendly reminder that tomorrow is April Fool's Day.)
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