Getting by with a little help from my friends...

With lots of advice and supprt from my running buddies I tackled the second 20 miler training run toward the Gettyburg Marathon.

On Thursday evening I took Mary's advice and used the jacuzzi in my hotel room (thank you Marriott upgrade) on my calf. On Friday night at home I wrapped it in a heating pad. I took an aleve before bedtime and wore compression socks to bed (Thanks Maggi..although I had to take them off halfway through the night). On Saturday, I ran 5 miles with John, 12 miles with Kristie and walked 3 on my own.

The calf was fine. It was tight when I was finished but not sore. I iced it when I got home and I'm wearing compression socks now. The walking of the final three miles had nothing to do with the calf. My legs just weren't with the program. I've only run three days in the two weeks since the last 20 miler and I was feeling the effects. I will run short 3-5 mile runs 3 days a week for the next three weeks with easy runs. I think I'll be fine.

The run itself was good. Not as wow as the last one but still a good positive run. I took gels every 3 miles (used to do every 5) on Pete's suggestion that I needed more calories on the run. I had a bit of trouble deciding when to take the endurolytes and waited too long at one point. I could feel my heart to that hard pump thing. The endurolytes are really hard to judge. I need less in cold weather and as we move into warmer weather... I'm just going to have to be more conscious of it. I struggled with hydration a bit too. The fountains as Valley Green were off so I started taking in less to make sure I'd have enough to take gels and endurolytes. My body let me know it was not happy with this. I had a dizzy spell (could also have been the endurolyte mistake) around mile 14-15. Not serious but before this I would take sips of water every walk break (3 min run/1 min walk) and then more water with gels and endurolytes. I wasn't doing that and I really think my body was upset at the break in routine. I will be wearing my belt with full bottles on the marathon so I can stick with the routine.

Despite the minor mishaps above I never hit the wall (as I know it ,, and I do know it..lol). So I'm very happy about that. My recovery from my mistakes was quick as well. My calf held up and although I'll be tending to it carefully to be sure, I think it will be fine.

I'm ready and excited! Bring it on.