Whirlwind Week

So I last left off with my 16 miler that turned into an 8 miler after my knee decided to have a hissy fit. I wanted to have a hissy fit but when I called my mom for some moral support on the way home from training, she suggested I come over for lunch. Free lunch and some time with my parents, I headed right over. It's hard to have a hissy fit when you are almost 30 years old and your mom suggests that you put a "boo boo pack" on your gimpy knee...especially when it's an Elmo boo boo pack (I still love that little red fuzzy monster!). I know enough that ice is just what my knee needed and I'm old enough and smart enough now to know that my mom is always right. I was still pretty bummed about my knee though. It's been years since I've had an injury that has made me stop training.
This gets me to the week of Thanksgiving! I love the holidays and I'm not one that gets stressed out about the holidays. It goes against my personality but I sort of enjoy the chaos of trying to fit in all the parties and family gatherings. This year is particularly chaotic now that The Pilot is in my life and there is a whole other dynamic with trying to coordinate his crazy schedule with the holiday plans of my family and his family. And then to throw it all out of whack, I headed to Orlando on Thanksgiving day to work my annual shift at Walt Disney World so I can maintain my seasonal cast member status (that is a long story for another time for my bloggy followers that don't know me personally).

Originally I had planned my 10 miler for Thanksgiving Day (no guilt for me if I decided to eat a whole pumpkin pie!) and then a 18 miler on Black Friday. I returned to Ohio on Black Friday but was exhausted so a nap was required. By the time I got up from the nap though, I was starting to run out of daylight. I also hadn't really tested out my knee other than during some strength training and walking around the airports so I was reluctant anyways. I decided doing some laps was best so that I wouldn't get too far from my car and I wouldn't get caught in the dark (I do NOT train in the dark, alone EVER. Even though I love winter marathon training, I HATE that it is dark so early.) I was able to get in 5 miles at an decent pace and NO knee pain! I was so excited.

The Pilot came in late on Friday night so I snuck out around 7:30 am on Saturday morning to meet up with the Team for the group training while he slept in. I wasn't coaching but I like to go to as many practices as possible because the Team always helps keep me motivated. I walked a couple miles with the spring Teams and then headed back out with some alumni for a total of 6 miles.

I hopped in the car and headed home where The Pilot had a chance to sleep in a little and was waiting to go back out with me. It was pretty cold out and I was walking (I'm going to lay off the running for awhile. It's just not worth it to me this close to the Goofy Challenge) so The Pilot left the bike at home and said he would walk a few miles with me and then head back out on roller blades. We walked out 3 miles, straight into the wind and then headed back. I kept asking him if he wanted to turn around since he hasn't walked that far since doing volksmarches while living in Germany as a kid. I'm glad he was up for it though because I much prefer going out as far as possible before turning back so I can avoid having to do laps...I also genuinely enjoy his company and we had been apart for several days.

I had picked up a new pair of shoes on Black Friday (yeay for the running store not being too busy!) but didn't want to wear them for all 18 miles. Even though they were the same shoe, I ended up going with a narrow version in the same size. I have been having some issues with my foot sliding from side to side in the toe box and I was getting a hot spot on the ball of my foot. Anyhoooo....we got back to the car and I changed into my old shoes and The Pilot changed into roller blades. We headed back into the wind (ugh!). I was really starting to drag but I also really wanted to get all of the miles in. I started to have some stomach issues though and that is when I discovered another downside to winter training.

We weren't near that wonderfully clean port-a-potty that I mentioned from the previous weekend so that only left one other option (since outdoors is still not an option in my book!). We headed towards the public park where we discovered that the bathrooms right off the trail were closed for the winter and a sign directed people to use the other restrooms at the park....which were not close. But I didn't have a choice. The upside to the bathroom being further away, I totally counted that towards my mileage for the day. The Pilot looked on Google Earth when we got home and added a 1/2 mile for the 2 round trips (once on that first trip out). Normally I can make it through a full marathon with only one pit stop but I think the combination of flying and being dehydrated left me a little out of sorts before I even started the training which led to the cranky stomach. OK, that was a lot of bathroom talk. Before you know it, I'm going to be talking like Beth over at SUAR!

There's my man in black on roller blades.
The dudes certainly don't get as much of a selection in athletic gear as the ladies!

When it was all done with though, I made it a total of 17.5 miles. Yes, I am fully aware that I intended to do 18 miles but I really had given it all I had and was just exhausted by the time we got back to the car. Now, I'm sure I could have squeezed out another half mile but it would have been junk so I called it a day without any guilt. And thanked The Pilot over and over again for covering a whopping 11 miles with me! He's such a trooper and definitely kept me going. He may have also learned the hard way about why marathoners have the mantra, cotton is rotten. :)